Venezuela occasionally features in world news in connection with its rich oil resources, its obsession with beauty pageants, its outspoken and colourful president, Hugo Chávez, or the world's highest waterfall – and little else. However, beyond the headlines, this beautiful and diverse country has so much more to offer to all types of visitors – hiking the 'Lost World' landscape of Conan Doyle, piranha-fishing from dugout canoes, paragliding from Andean peaks and windsurfing on Margarita Island. Taking travellers to the wildest of fiestas, inside the steamiest salsa bars and introducing visitors to the quirkiest of local customs, Bradt's Venezuela leads tourists from the Caribbean coast to the southern tropical wilderness, delving into the culture and eccentricities of the country more deeply than any other guide. Having lived and worked in Venezuela for 12 years, author Russell Maddicks has covered the length and breadth of the country as a travel reporter for Venezuela's English-language newspaper.