Our Story
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born.
Today, Lonely Planet has offices in Franklin, London, Melbourne, Oakland, Dublin, Beijing and Delhi, with more than 600 staff and writers. We share Tony’s belief that ‘a great guidebook should do three things: inform, educate and amuse’.
Our Writers
Mara Vorhees
In 20 years of travel to Costa Rica, Mara has spotted 162 species of birds, all four New-World monkeys, anteaters, sloths, tapirs, peccaries, coatis, agoutis, a kinkajou and a jaguarundi. None of it, she attests, is quite as wild as her five-year-old twins, who accompanied her while hiking, snorkeling, surfing, zipping, rafting, birding and horseback riding around Costa Rica. Mara has written many guidebooks for Lonely Planet, including Central America on a Shoestring and Belize. When not spying on sloths, she lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with her husband, two kiddies and two kitties. Follow her adventures at www.havetwinswilltravel.com.
Ashley Harrell
When Ashley was 12, her dad took her on a medical mission to León, Nicaragua, where she remembers diving into a muddy swimming hole, devouring whole fried fish (eyeballs included) and downing her first beer. Twenty years later, Central America enticed her again, and she moved to Costa Rica to be closer to sloths and to work as a journalist, eventually enlisting with Lonely Planet. Research for this guidebook involved sampling the capital’s new farm-to-table restaurants, befriending a crocodile whisperer and exploring far-flung corners of the Caribbean.
Anna Kaminski
This was Anna’s second research trip to Costa Rica and on this occasion she was lucky enough to tackle the southern part of the country – with the best dining scene, most rugged mountain and jungle trekking and the best opportunities to delve into indigenous culture. With a university background in the history and culture of Latin America, Anna has been traveling all over this part of the world for nearly 15 years. She tweets at @ACKaminski.
STAY IN TOUCH
AUSTRALIA
Levels 2 & 3, 551 Swanston St, Carlton, Victoria 3053 %03 8379 8000, fax 03 8379 8111
USA
150 Linden Street, Oakland, CA 94607 %510 250 6400, toll free %800 275 8555, fax 510 893 8572
UK
240 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NW %020 3771 5100, fax 020 3771 5101
Published by Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
ABN 36 005 607 983
1 edition - Jan 2017
eISBN 9781786575166
© Lonely Planet 2017 PHotographs © as indicated 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, and no part of this publication may be sold or hired, without the written permission of the publisher. Lonely Planet and the Lonely Planet logo are trademarks of Lonely Planet and are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Lonely Planet does not allow its name or logo to be appropriated by commercial establishments, such as retailers, restaurants or hotels. Please let us know of any misuses: lonelyplanet.com/ip.
Although the authors and Lonely Planet have taken all reasonable care in preparing this book, we make no warranty about the accuracy or completeness of its content and, to the maximum extent permitted, disclaim all liability arising from its use.