The Eco-travellers鈥� Wildlife Guide to Belize and Northern Guatemala by Les
Beletsky, Academic Press, 拢19.95/$27.95, ISBN 0120848112
Travel isn鈥檛 what it used to be. And perhaps that鈥檚 not all bad: what
Westerners have lost in the way of pristine destinations, they鈥檝e gained in
tolerance and street smartness. Victorian travel guides, after all, were written
by xenophobes braying about the venality awaiting English travellers heading off
to do their Grand Tour of Europe. Admire the palazzi, they said, ogle the art,
but never drop your guard against the untrustworthiness of the locals. And (said
with a snigger at alien customs and foods), don鈥檛 drink the water under any
circumstances.
Now, the culture buffs鈥� artistic pilgrimages to Italy have given way to the
eco-tourist rush to venerate exotic life forms. Thousands, it seems, are anxious
to swap Sunday afternoon鈥檚 armchair Attenboroughing for the sweaty reality of
the Amazon rainforest or African savanna, and embrace a world where 鈥渨ild life鈥�
smacks less of dockside bars we鈥檙e meant to avoid after dark, and more of the
other sort of jungle.
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Today鈥檚 travellers don鈥檛, however, want adventure in all its unmapped, dirty,
risk-laden glory. They prefer reliable information鈥攑recise insider
knowledge, and not just on hotels, bars and customs. They want the wild in a
book, with all attractions picked out and as bang up to date as a listings guide
for local cinemas.
Absurd, perhaps. But inadvertently they鈥檝e created a good market for
guidebooks which deal with nothing more than the local wildlife. And words alone
don鈥檛 do it for them. Accustomed to pin-sharp images of gasp-inducing excellence
at a click of the print button, the modern traveller demands a lot from a
guidebook. And Les Beletsky has written one that amply measures up.
The Eco-traveller鈥檚 Wildlife Guide to Belize and Northern Guatemala
isn鈥檛 just a collection of outstanding photographs, however. It also contains an
array of superb drawings clearly illustrating the salient points of species of
the local wildlife that the visitors are most likely to spot. These magnificent
illustrations illuminate everything from marine life, through the light-haunting
lizards and post-storm-emerging frogs, to mammals and birds. It鈥檚 a gem, part
field guide, part aesthetic kick.
Beletsky鈥檚 writing is excellent, too鈥� concise and informative in
dealing with the most common species on a group-by-group basis, plus ecology,
breeding times and conservation. Each illustrated species has a companionable
little snippet of points you might enjoy knowing. To get you started, Beletsky
has added sections on how best to see the various beasts and鈥攊f numbers
are what you鈥檙e after鈥攚hich national parks to visit to improve your
tally.
Erudite, informative and readable, this sensibly indexed, well-printed and
sturdily bound book (it鈥檒l stand a few rough weeks in a rucksack) is the kind of
guide that an ecotourist to the area really needs. No one should consider
visiting the natural treasures of Belize and Guatemala without it.