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Books, etc

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Maps

Good maps of Venezuela are hard to find.  Local Corpoven and Lagoven petrol stations used to stock good road maps, but the companies stopped printing them several years ago and they are now impossible to find.

The best map of Venezuela for travellers is undoubtedly that produced by International Travel Maps 345 West Broadway, Vancouver BC, Canada V5Y 1P8.  ISBN 0 921463 59 6.  The scale is 1: 1,750,000.  It was compiled by Kevin Healey, a uniquely tenacious cartographer who grilled us mercilessly in the course of his research, which was done in 1994-96.  Kevin died before the first (and only) edition was published.  It remains to be seen if his thoroughness will be reflected in future editions.  We have seen this map in Stanfords (12-14 Long Acre, London WC2.  Tel 020 7836 1321 - mail order accepted) from time to time.

Be warned, however, that the petrol station maps, and even Kevin's map, show roads which are not normally passable except by 4WD, particularly in the Llanos.

Corpoturismo, the Venezuelan tourist authority, has produced some great looking leaflets on several parts of the country.  These include outline maps but these are not suitable for travelling with and not trustworthy enough if you are planning an unusual itinerary.

Guide books

There is now a good choice of guide books for Venezuela.

Insight .  This is a book to read before you go or when you return - not to take with you.  It is one of the better guides in the Insight series.  It has lots of excellent photographs and has sections on Venezuela's history, culture and society as well as a chapter on each region.

Lonely Planet "Venezuela" 1998.  This is primarily a guide for backpackers.  It was written by Krzysztof Dydynski who spent several months travelling through most parts of the country.  It has some good maps and is good for the main cities, but a little patchy on some of the more interesting off-the-beaten track places.  All-in-all a good choice for the budget traveller.

Footprint "Venezuela Handbook" by Alan Murphy, 1998. Hardback.  The most up to the minute of the dedicated guide books, nicely produced with plenty of city maps but not in as much detail as the older Lonely Planet Book.  A useful guide, though the latest edition seems to have less information in it than before.  Footprint's "South American Handbook"  is indispensable if you are travelling independently around the continent. It gives very detailed advice that other guides often irritatingly omit - such as exactly where to catch a bus, how frequently they run, etc. The Venezuela chapter is disappointingly brief, however.

The Bradt "Guide to Venezuela" 3rd Edition 1999 was one of the first of the recent crop of Venezuela guides.  It is written by Hilary Dunsterville Branch a well-travelled and thoughtful lady journalist who is based in Caracas.  Here and there she makes use of contributions from travellers, some of whom are rather less reliable.  New editions appear every few years.  A good all-purpose guide book for the general traveller in a very enjoyable, informative style.

As yet there is no Rough Guide to Venezuela. 

Travel Writing

Out of Chingford - Round the North Circular and Up the Orinoco by Tanis and Martin Jordan, published by Frederick Muller books. This is a witty and entertaining account of pioneering river journeys, including one to Angel Falls, undertaken by a hairdresser and a builder from Essex.

South American River Trips by Tanis and Martin Jordan, published by Frederick Muller books. This very entertaining book is written as a handbook of practical advice for first time, independent river travellers. Don't be put off by anything you read!

In Trouble Again by Redmond O'Hanlon, Penguin. This is a very enjoyable account of the author's navigation of the River Casiquiare which links the Orinoco and the Amazon river basins.

Into the Heart - an Amazonian Love Story by Kenneth Good, Penguin. This is an autobiography of an American anthropologist's life with the Yanomami people of the Venezuelan rainforest and the courtship of his Yanomami wife.

Worlds Apart - an Explorer's Life by Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Arrow. This is the absorbing autobiography of one of the most famous modern-day adventurers. His book briefly describes his many action-packed expeditions, including several in Venezuela and Brazil, and chronicles how he came to be a founding member of Survival International.

Tarantulas, Marmosets and other stories - an Amazon Diary by Nick Gordon, Metro. Account of a natural history film producer's ten years of filming in the Orinoco and Amazon rainforests.

Literature

Doña Barbara by Rómulo Gallegos, New York 1948. This is perhaps the most famous novel by a Venezuelan author. It is the strong tale of one woman's stand against the male domination of society, set on the plains of the llanos. Gallegos's "Mene" and "Canaima" have also been translated into English. (Gallegos was a president of Venezuela).

Keepers of the House by Lisa St Aubin de Terán, Penguin. The author left her Dulwich school at 16 to marry an exiled Venezuelan, later returning with him to manage a farm in the Andes. Her spellbinding novel based on this experience won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1983.

The Hacienda - my Venezuelan Years by Lisa St Aubin de Terán, Virago 1998. Autobiography of her life on a remote, farm in the Andes.Totally absorbing, I had to keep pinching myself that it all happened so recently.

The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier, Penguin. An existentialist tale of how a New York composer replaces one interpretation of life with another on an expedition in the jungles of the upper Orinoco.

Green Mansions - A Romance of the Tropical Forest by WH Hudson, Robin Clark Books. This is a charming and mystical love story first published in 1904. Set in the Venezuelan rainforest it tells the story of a young adventurer and his encounters with the exquisite, ethereal forest girl Rima who lives there.

At Play in the Fields of the Lord by Peter Matthiessen, Collins Harvill. Matthiesson's overblown style mars this moral tale of the relationships between invading developers and missionaries with the unprotected tribal peoples of the Orinoco/Amazon rainforests. The excellent (for Hollywood) film of the book appeared briefly in the UK in 1991: see it if it comes round again - it includes some breathtaking photography of the tepuis.

Banco - the further adventures of Papillon by Henri Charrière, Harper Collins 1994.  The continuation of Papillon's autobiography covers the new life he started in Venezuela.  Although portrayed by Dustin Hoffman as an old man when released, Papillon was only in his mid-30s.  He quickly fell in love with Venezuela and its people and got up to many hair-raising exploits that make a darn good read.

History

The General in his Labyrinth by Gabriel García Márquez, Jonathan Cape. This is a weighty, historical narrative by the Colombian Nobel-winning author about the last years of Simón Bolívar, the great Venezuelan hero and liberator of much of South America

A History of Latin America by George Pendle, Penguin History - a beginner's guide to the history of the continent, its human background, discovery and conquest, its emancipation, social reforms and revolutions.  On the reading list for every Latin American History 101.

The Discoverie of the Large, Rich and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana by Sir Walter Ralegh. Transcribed, annotated and introduced by Neil L Whitehead, Manchester University Press 1997.  This narrates Ralegh's expedition to South America in quest of an indigenous 'empire' in the highlands of Guiana in a scholarly yet accessible form.

Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent Alexander von Humboldt, Penguin Classics. Fascinating and surprisingly readable diary of Humboldt's explorations of the tropical Spanish Americas between 1799 and 1804. Particularly interesting for those who will be visiting the Paria Peninsula region.

The Creature in the Map by Charles Nicholl, Vintage.  This is based on the story of Sir Walter Ralegh's quest for El Dorado in 1595 - an attempt to restore his fortunes after his fall from grace as Queen Elizabeth's favourite.  Part historical reconstruction, part travel story, part study in the psychology of obsession. The subject of a TV documentary a few years ago.

Culture, anthropology and politics

Culture Shock! Venezuela - A Guide to Customs and Etiquette by Kitt Baguley, Kuperard 1999 Offers a fascinating insight into Venezuela society, business, food, geography, history, politics and economics, culture, leisure and language.

Venezuela's recent politics is revealed in ex-Guardian writer Richard Gott's In the Shadow of the Liberator - Hugo Chávez and the Transformation of the Venezuelan Left, Verso 2000.  Venezuela's President Chávez, a hugely popular figure, is creating a new dialectic that throws down a challenge to neo-liberal orthodoxies.  A lucid account of by far the most intriguing political figure to have emerged in Latin America since Fidel Castro, whose often controversial efforts to replace the entrenched elite who have held power in Venezuela for decades are still in progress.

In similar vein is Utopia Rearmed - Chávez and the Venezuelan Left 1992-2000 by Maximilien S. Arvelaiz.  This is a Latin American Politics dissertation at MSc level which is notable for its clarity.  Includes an extensive bibliography.  Copies are available from the author via Geodyssey, price £30.

Venezuela in Focus by James Ferguson, The Latin American Bureau 1994. A good general guide to Venezuela's culture and politics, now overtaken by the Chávez phenomenon.  (Available from Geodyssey at the cover price of £5.99)

Rainforest issues are, of course, also much written about. One of the earlier works, which has set a high standard for others is Catherine Caufield's In the Rainforest, Paladin, which includes a look at the tribal peoples in Venezuela's rainforest and the New Tribes Mission trying to convert them. Norman Lewis's The Missionaries, Vintage, also addresses this issue, which is depressingly one of the most important for the survival of the rainforest's indigenous people, ranking with the direct commercial exploitation of the forest.

Yanomamo - the Fierce People by Napolean A. Chagnon, Holt Rheinhart & Wilson, 1983.  A classic anthropological study which precedes much recent literature on the Yanomami.  Chagnon's work has been reinterpreted by his successors, not always to the latter's credit.

Johannes Wilbert's Mystic Endowment - Religious Ethnography of the Warao Indians, Harvard 1993 is a collection of anthropological papers by the author on the culture of the Warao people of the Orinoco delta.  A rather dry read, but with many interesting insights into one of the most successful and attractive indigenous cultures of South America.

The Forest Within - the World View of the Tukano Amazonian Indians by Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, Themis 1996.  An ethno-ecologist's account of a tribe found in the northwest Amazon in Colombia and the way they have adapted to their rainforest environment.

Wildlife, birds and butterflies

The Birds of Venezuela by Steven Hilty, 2nd edition, Princeton (US) Helm (UK). This is THE bird book for Venezuelan ornithology, covering 1,381 species in a volume whose first edition (by Schauensee and Phelps) became a classic of its type.  The second edition, published in 2003, has received a major update and expansion.

Birding in Venezuela by Mary Lou Goodwin, Sociedad Conservacionista Audubon 5th edition 2003. Essential aid to birders with sketch maps of key birding sites and species checklists for each location. ISBN: 84-87334-48-2.

The Butterflies of Venezuela - A comprehensive guide to the identification of adult Nympalidae, Papilionidae and Pieridae.  Part 1: Nymphalidae I (Limenitidinae, Apaturinae, Charaxinae) by Andrew F.E. Neild.  Meridian Publications, 1996.  ISBN 0 9527657 0 5.  Available from Geodyssey price £60 plus P&P.  This is the first volume in an intended 4-part series which will be the first comprehensive identification guide to the Nympalidae, Papilionidae and Pieridae of any South American country.  Andrew leads our The Butterflies of Venezuela trip.

Neotropical Rainforest Mammals - a Field Guide by Louise Emmons and Francois Freer, Chicago. Well produced and illustrated, this is a guide for researchers and tourists with a serious interest in this rich and elusive fauna.

New books on the rainforest habitat seem to crop up every month. The best are those written for the lay reader by expert biologists such as the excellent Tropical Nature by Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata (Scribners NY), which is both informative and very enjoyable.

A Neotropical Companion: An Introduction to the Animals, Plants and Ecosystems of the New World Tropics by John Kricher, Princeton Paperbacks. This is an excellent primer for students of ecology and scientific amateurs. It gives an overview of the different ecosystems of the tropics, including the tropical savannahs (llanos) before discussing tropical trees, vines, orchids, bromeliads, tropical pharmacy, and the diversity of birds, mammals, reptile, amphibians and arthropods.

Amazon Wildlife, APA Insight Guides, Discover Nature series. Wonderful colour photography in a general guide to the rainforest.

Roraima, Angel Falls and the Gran Sabana

The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Puffin. You probably read this classic adventure yarn, first published in 1912, when you were eight but it is worth rereading now. It tells the tale of an expedition to the top of a fictional South American table mountain based strongly on Mt Roraima in Venezuela's Gran Sabana. The heroes discover a prehistoric world of dinosaurs and ape-men, cut off by the mountain's unscalable cliffs.

Quest for the Lost World by Brian Blessed, Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1999. A jolly tale well worth reading, but frustratingly little about Mount Roraima itself.  Recently available in paperback.

Venezuela's Islands in Time by Uwe George, National Geographic Vol 175 No 5, May 1989. This article focuses on the tepuis of the Gran Sabana. It is well worth reading and has spectacular photographs of the table mountain summits. (Your local library should be able to get hold of a copy).

La Gran Sabana by Karl Weidmann, Editorial Arte Press, Caracas ISBN 980-6028-01-5. A collection of beautiful photographs of the Gran Sabana region. The captions are in Spanish, with translations into German and English at the back. This glossy, large-format, coffee table book is only available in Venezuela.

Roraima - The Crystal Mountain by Charles Brewer Carias, Editorial Arte Press, Caracas (English and Spanish editions). This coffee table volume is only available in Venezuela, price approx £30 e.g. airport book shop. Brewer Carias is a leading Venezuelan explorer - a sort of Chris Bonnington and David Attenborough rolled into one. The text is unfortunately pretty turgid, particularly the pseudo-scientific parts.

Climb to the Lost World Hamish MacInnes, Hodder & Stoughton 1974. The ascent of the huge sheer face of Mount Roraima's 'prow' (not our trekking route!) by the famous rock climber. Out of Print.

To the Lost World Paul A Zahl, Harrap 1941. An entomologist's account of his quest for giant ants and diamonds on a journey through the Guyanese jungle to the top of Roraima. A fun read, but long out of print.