Baja to Patagonia: Latin American Adventures

In these nine travelogues recounting exploration in Latin American wilderness regions, Rice ( Gathering Paradise: Alaska Wilderness Journeys ) provides some helpful tips for fellow adventurers but hardly anything else. Rice and his wife, Judy, tramp through remote Patagonia, where they are ``smothered'' with hospitality by a rancher's wife who claims she doesn't get lonely in her isolated home. On the way to Chile's Lauca National Park, near the Peruvian border, the author watches astonishingly swift vicunas race alongside his minibus. He observes that Costa Rica's very popularity with ecotourists--its protected areas harbor a variety of animal and plant life--has led, ironically, to ecological degradation. Kayaking in search of the California gray whale off Baja California, the author becomes an instant expert on the nuances of whale behavior. While Rice offers some good descriptions of the outside world, the reader learns little about the author himself and his relationship to what he sees and experiences. The book does contain a useful bibliography concerning Latin America's wilderness, flora and fauna. Parts of the book originally appeared in Canoe and Americas magazines. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)