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International
Travel News
December 2014 Vol. 39, No. 10 $3
A Celebration Of Travel
Featured this month:
Spain
Valencia festival
Africa
Botswana, South
Africa & Zimbabwe
Guatemala
Spanish school
Nepal & Tibet

Mt. Everest
Columns:
Discerning
Traveler
Import duties
(1 of 3)
Garden Path
Windhoek,
Namibia
Far Horizons
Japans
Kansai region
Using a
Travel Agent
(part 3)
Keen on Kenya
Winning essays
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(1 of 2)
INTERNATIONAL
TRAVEL NEWS
December 2014 $3
Valencias Las
Fallas festival
p. 6
Boarding
Pass
David Tykol
Editor
The nearly 4,200-foot-long and

up to 75-foot-tall aqueduct in
Santiago de Quertaro, Quertaro, Mexico, built 1726-38,
is still virtually intact but no
longer transports water from
mountain springs. Photo Bryan
Busovicki/123rf.com
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 466th issue of your
monthly foreign-travel magazine.
Within the last month, Ive heard
several subscribers describe this
magazine as real, by which, they
explain, they mean its full of candid
accounts from travelers who write
for the benefit of other international
travelers.
Youll see that as you flip through
the pages. For now, I have the following to report.
The US Department of Homeland

Securitys Customs & Border Protection agency has been installing automated kiosks in major US airports to
make the process of passing through
Customs easier and faster. The first
to receive kiosks was Orlando International in February 2014.
Travelers arriving on international
flights at participating airports will
no longer be given paper forms to fill
out by hand to give to Customs officers. Each traveler now will display
his passport to be scanned by a kiosk,
have his photo taken by the kiosk,
answer a series of questions about
biographical information contained
in his passport and then declare items
purchased outside of the US and any
cash hes bringing into the country.
The kiosk prints out a receipt showing his identity, flight information and
any declared items, and the traveler
presents this to the Customs agent.
The kiosks are free to use, without
2
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL NEWS, December 2014
prior registration, by anyone with

a US or Canadian passport and by
eligible international travelers in the
Visa Waiver Program.
According to the Vancouver Airport Authority, which manufactures
some of the airport kiosks, the automated system will reduce wait times
at Customs by up to 89%. Not all
travelers are finding the system more
efficient yet, however; see pages 14
and 56 in this issue.
Expansion is planned for the
system, but, currently, the kiosks are
operating in 21 airports in the US
and three in Canada: Seattle Sea-Tac
(SEA), Los Angeles (LAX), Phoenix
Sky Harbor (PHX), Denver (DEN),
Austin-Bergstrom (AUS), Dallas/
Fort Worth (DFW), Houston George
Bush (IAH), Minneapolis-Saint Paul
(MSP), Chicago Midway (MDW),
Chicago OHare (ORD), Detroit
Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW),
Boston Logan (BOS), New Yorks
JFK (JFK), Newark Liberty (EWR),
Philadelphia (PHL), Charlotte Douglas (CLT), Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
(ATL), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
(FLL), Orlando (MCO), Tampa
(TPA) and Miami (MIA) and, in
Canada, Vancouver (YVR), Toronto
Pearson (YYZ) and Montral-Pierre
Elliott Trudeau (YUL).
According to the Association

for Safe International Road Travel
(www.asirt.org), road crashes are
the single greatest cause of death
for healthy Americans traveling
abroad. At least one country has
taken notice.
In New Zealand, an increase in
(please turn to page 66)
To see the world. . .
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Editor.....................................David Tykol
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visit us at www.intltravelnews.com
International
Travel News
Spain
December 2014 Vol. 39, No. 10
F eatures
Drawn by the colorful Las Fallas festival, a traveler finds much

more to explore on a visit to Valencia.................................................
Africa
A first-time luxury safari includes wonderful wildlife and a

waterfall walk on a tour of Botswana, South Africa and
Zimbabwe........................................................................................
Guatemala
A couple accompanies their granddaughter on a one-week

language-learning trip to share their love of the local culture.........
The Benefits of Using a Travel Agent
Subscribers positive experiences with professional travel

advisors (Part 3)...............................................................................
Nepal and Tibet
18
34
39
A journey to Mt. Everests North Base Camp provides glorious

views without the extreme physical stress of a summit climb.........
44
Im Keen on Kenya
Essay contest winners................................................................... 49
cover: Statue of the Virgin

Mary decorated in red and
white carnations for Valencias
Las Fallas festival. Photo by Thom
Wilson
6
D epartments
First-time safari in Southern

Africa.
18
Travel Briefs (also see News Watch). . 4,

64, 76
Subscription Form: Only $24 a
year (money-back guarantee!).... 9, 31, 47,
51
Travelers Intercom: Readers candid
comments and recommendations....... 12,
25, 51
Calling All Readers! Share your travel
experiences and knowledge (this month,
Cemeteries Worth a Visit).....................15
News Watch (also see Travel Briefs).16,
69
Funniest Thing: Readers anecdote....53
Tours: Selection of escorted tours .......54
Travel Awards Challenge (this
month, South and Central
America).............................................65
Send a friend a free copy

of ITN...................................................69
Person to Person: Let ITN readers
answer YOUR travel question..............70
Crossword...........................................71
The Mart (classified ads): 77 per
word......................................................72
Traveler Information Hotlines......72
Advertisers Directory.....................75
On the Money: Exchange rates .........76
Where in the World? Test your
travel knowledge; identify the site.........77
C olumns
The Geografile: Found facts.............38,
43, 48, 59
Discerning Traveler: How much in
US Customs duties will you need to
pay to bring or send home your latest
purchases from overseas? (1 of 3)........55
Call 800/486-4968 to subscribe
Garden Path: Expect something different from the National Botanic Garden of
Namibia, located in Windhoek.............60
Far Horizons: In the first of two parts
on the Kansai region in the south-central
area of Japans main island of Honshu,
Randy visits chosen sites in Kyoto and
Kinosaki (1 of 2)...................................62
Studying Spanish with a grandchild in Guatemala.

34
Travel briefs
Louis Vuitton
museum, Paris
In Bois
de Boulogne Park
in Paris, the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation (8 avenue du
Mahatma Gandhi, Bois de Boulogne,
75116, Paris, France; phone +33
1 40 69 96 00, www.fondationlouis
vuitton.fr/en) opened on Oct. 27.
Designed by architect Frank Gehry
and comprising 12 soaring, disjointed
glass panels, the 41,441-square-foot
museum is the new home of the
Louis Vuitton companys art collection. It will also feature temporary
exhibits and artist performances.
Full-price ticket, 14 (near $17.50).
Under 26 or student, 10. Under 18,
5. Family (two or more adults and
up to four children under 18), 32.
An Architectural Visit Ticket (valid
only between exhibitions) allows
museum entry plus exploring of the
building, the Gehry exhibit and the
Jardin dAcclimatation for 9 adult
or 4 under 18.
Open noon-7 p.m. Mon., Wed.,
Thurs., noon-11 Fri. and 11 a.m.-8
p.m. Sat., Sun. Closed Tues.
Eiffel Tower In Paris, the

level of
glass floor lower
the Eiffel Tower
now has a glass walkway through

which visitors may gaze down
187 feet to the ground below. The
walkway is part of a $38.4 million
renovation in which shops, restaurants and a museum were added to

the first level. To allow better views
of the city, that levels safety barriers
now curve outward.
Modern M o r o c c o h a s
its first major
art in opened
museum since becomMoroccoing independent from
France in 1956. Featuring modern and contemporary

Moroccan art, the Muhammed VI
Museum (Angle Avenue Moulay
El Hassan et Avenue Allal Ben
Abdellah, 10,000, Rabat, Morocco;
phone +212 [0] 5 37 76 90 47, www.
museemohammed6.ma [in French
only]) opened in Rabat on Oct. 7,
2014, after 10 years of construction.
Its first exhibit, 1914-2014: 100
years of Creation, includes pieces
created within the last 100 years
from more than 150 Moroccan
artists. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Mon.
Entry, MAD20 (near $2.30).
Maasai A museum dedito culture and

museum, cated
art of the MaasaiNairobi and Maa-speaking
peoples opened in
Nairobi in early 2014. It includes
exhibits on marriage, livestock,
mythology, medicine, religion and

social organization plus a replica of
a Maasai manyatta, or hut.
The Maa Museum, Kenyas first
privately registered museum, is
located at the Enashipai Resort
(office on 5th Floor, Prosperity
House, Westlands Road, Nairobi,
Kenya; phone +254 20 5130000,
www.enashipai.com).
Resort rates start at $350 per night
for a single and at $486 for two in
a room. A 3-bedroom cottage rents
for $1,455. The museum is open to
nonguests, too.
Burj
A new observation
deck has opened in the
Khalifa worlds tallest building,
view the Burj Khalifa in
An existing deck
deck Dubai.
on the 124th floor was
closed for two months in 2010 following an elevator breakdown (April

10, pg. 80). The new deck, on the
148th floor and featuring an outdoor
terrace 1,821 feet in the air, is the
worlds highest viewing point within
a building. (Now second highest, at
1,601 feet, is the one in Guangzhou,
Chinas, Canton Tower.)
Tickets may be purchased in
advance for a specific date and time
at www.burjkhalifa.ae or by calling
(within the UAE) 800 288 43867
or (from outside the UAE) +971 4
8888124. Prices range from AED125
(near $34), for access to the 124th
floor, to AED400 ($109) for access
to all three levels (124, 125 and 148).
An immediate-entry ticket at the door
costs AED500 ($136).
North Korean T i c k e t s
can be
airline tickets now
purchased
online for North Koreas state-owned

airline Air Koryo. In September,
Spain-based airline ticket broker
Destinia (US residents, phone +34
91 524 24 00, http://destinia.us)
became the first agency to offer the
tickets online.
The website offers three roundtrip routes: Pyongyang-Beijing,
China, starting at $962; PyongyangShenyang, China, from $1,233, and
Pyongyang-Vladivostok, Russia,
from $1,865.
4
A whimsical falla near our hotel in Valencia. Photos by Thom Wilson
The festival
So what is Las Fallas? It is costumes, color, fireworks and
Disneyesque satirical characters assembled at many intersections all over the city.
This traditional celebration is held in commemoration of
Saint Joseph every March 15-19 and may have its origins in
the Middle Ages, when carpenters and artisans burned scrap
6
Bay of Biscay
RTU
GA
FRANCE
PO
alencia is the third-largest city in Spain; its a 2-hour

train ride from Madrid and one hour south of Barcelona, yet it gets little mention in guidebooks about the
country. The city features a long, wide and not overdeveloped
beach, spectacular modern architecture, a charming large
center with many pedestrian-only streets, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site and an amazing festival called Las Fallas. In fact,
it was a chance viewing of a video clip about Las Fallas that
lured my husband, Thom, and I to Valencia in March 2014.
Las Fallas was all we expected and more, but Valencias
other charms made our stay of five days too short.
Atlantic Ocean
Valencias fanciful Las Fallas festival

SPAIN
Madrid
Valencia
Gulf of
Cdiz
MOROCCO
Mediterranean Sea
ALGERIA
Margo Wilson
Scottsdale, AZ
wood to celebrate the spring equinox.

Eventually it coincided with the
festival of Saint Joseph, the patron
saint of carpenters.
The wood scraps gradually evolved
into effigies and, finally, into the
structures called fallas. The largest
of the 350-plus structures are made
of papier-mch, wax, polystyrene,
cork and wood and are packed with
explosives. There are also numerous fallas infantiles, smaller fallas
designed for children to enjoy.
The construction of each falla is a
neighborhood project. A theme for
the festival is selected as soon as the
last one is over, and neighborhoods
raise money to fund their elaborate
constructions, which are now almost
exclusively professionally made and
very expensive. People also decorate
the streets of their neighborhoods
with lights that arch over the streets
and with flags.
The themes of the individual fallas
are traditionally satirical, lampooning
anything or anyone: politicians, organizations, businesses, celebrities or
society in general. During Francos
long reign, the satirical content was
censored, but now the fallas are often
R-rated!
Each neighborhood has a tent near
their falla for socializing as well as
a group that parades in traditional
costumes with a neighborhood band
each day of the festival. This group
also participates in the

Offering of Flowers,
a custom which was
adopted at the time of
the Spanish Civil War.
On the third and
fourth days of the
festival, each falla
neighborhood proceeds
in costume to take
an offering of red or
white carnations to
a huge statue of the
Virgin Mary, the base
of which is eventually
completely covered
with flowers. This procession includes men,
women and children
in gorgeous traditional
Fallas costumes.
Other traditional
activities of the festival Traditional hair arrangement for Las Fallas.
are La Despert (which kicked off at City sights
8 a.m. with bands and people lighting
We spent a day and a half enjoyfirecrackers and parading through the ing the other charms of Valencia
neighborhoods), La Masclet (a bar- as well, and they are myriad! At
rage of firecrackers in each neighborhood that happens at 2:00 each day)
and the nightly fireworks show, all
featuring lots of noise.
On the last evening there is a
parade known as the Fire Parade,
with floats, costumes, rockets, street
performances and music. The grand
finale is the burning of all of the
fallas, followed by the most spectacular fireworks display of all.
The individual characters on a
falla are called ninots, and each year
one ninot is voted to be placed in the
Museum of the Fallas.
a minimum, one should visit the

Palacio Marqus de Dos Aguas with
its National Museum of Ceramics;
La Lonja, a medieval building with
Gothic architecture and memorable
interiors; Valencia Cathedral, a blend
of Gothic and Baroque styles; the
Art Deco Central Market; the two
remaining medieval city gates; the
City of Arts & Sciences, and, of
course, the beach.
After having visited three major
museums in Madrid, we didnt visit
the two major museums in Valencia,
but here is a brief description of our
three favorites.
Housed in an 18th-century palace,
Palacio Marqus de Dos Aguas features fully and elaborately furnished
and decorated rooms along with a
remarkable collection of ceramics,
dating from ancient times to modern,
including four plates by Picasso. My
favorite exhibit was a reproduction
of a typical Valencian kitchen with
18th- and 19th-century wall tiles,
utensils and pottery.
La Lonja is a medieval merchants
hall where silk and other commodities were traded. The Gothic central
hall has four rows of slim, fluted
columns supporting a vaulted ceiling;
the adjoining halls have painted and
coffered ceilings.
The Turia River, which used to
surround the old section of town on
Within this park are

gardens, playgrounds,
joggers, bikers and a
spectacular assemblage
of very contemporary
buildings (primarily
designed by noted
Valencian architect
Santiago Calatrava): the
Palau de les Arts Reina
Sofa, a multihall auditorium; LHemisfric,
an IMAX theater
and planetarium; the
Prncipe Felipe Science
Museum; the gora, a
multipurpose exhibition
center, and Calatravas
iconic bridge. A little
distance on there is
the Oceanografic, an
aquarium.
Impressions
I wondered whether
we would be put off
by the crowds and the
noise of the festival, as
we dont really enjoy
A child participates in the Offering of Flowers. either. Certainly, the
old section was filled
three sides, was redirected in 1957 with people all five days of the
following a significant flood. A festival following the parades,
5-mile city park known as the City viewing as many of the fallas as they
of Arts & Sciences now sits on the could and filling the cafs. Amazingly, there was never an unpleasant
old riverbed.
situation.
This was a family occasion, without pushing, excess drinking or loud
music, and the noise of the fireworks
was limited by time and place. The
only random explosions I heard were
the little caps children put on the
pavement and stepped on.
The night of the fires was our
least favorite festival event, as much
smoke was generated. Because all
of the fallas are set afire at approximately the same time, you can really
only pick one infantile and one large
one to see in flames.
The crowds were festive, friendly
and almost exclusively Spanish.
Although an enormous amount of
trash was generated, the human and
mechanical sweepers were always
working, so the city remained amazingly clean.
We spent our days walking
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the streets, peering down to the

next intersection to
spot another falla,
photographing the
displays from every
angle, following
the parades and
visiting the sights
mentioned previously.
On our fifth day,
the day after the
festival, we went
out early to see the
burnt remains of
the fallas and were
amazed to find that
the streets were
immaculate. Traffic
had returned to the
streets where the
crowds had been
walking, and life
was back to normal.
The only visible
remnant was the
beautiful flowerbedecked Virgin,
which stood until The ornate facade of the Palacio Marqus de Dos
Aguas & National Museum of Ceramic Arts.
the flowers died.
On that day we took a bus to the The details
beach and walked the long beach
We flew nonstop from Chicago
promenade, seeking out the best to Madrid on Delta. Getting from
Valencian paella (chicken and rabbit) Madrids new, modern airport to the
at a beach restaurant. Found it!
area of our hotel and the Atocha train
10
station was easy, as an express bus

went from the terminal to the Atocha
train station.
We stayed three nights in Madrid
before taking the train to Valencia.
There were several trains to
Valencia from Atocha daily. I had
researched the schedule before we
left and selected one that worked
best for us, typing it out. I handed
the schedule to the man at the
ticket window in Madrid and he
seemed very pleased that I knew
what I wanted. We got our tickets
without difficulty, our charge cards
accepted.
I used www.bahn.de/i/view/DEU/
en/index.shtml to research our route.
For more information, go to www.
ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transporta
tion/trains/online-schedules, which
gives very detailed instructions for
planning train trips. Rail Europes
website (www.raileurope.com) is
also helpful.
It was easy and pleasant to ride
the trains, even in second (turista)
class. A screen at the end of each car
showed upcoming stations.
It seemed more like taking a plane;
our train was called, we had our
ticket scanned and our bags scanned,
then we went to the indicated track
to wait the short time until we
boarded.
Instead of taking the train straight
through to Valencia, we got off after
an hour to visit Cuenca, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site famed for its
hanging houses. Old Cuenca, situated on the hill above New Cuenca,
was walkable and charming, and we
enjoyed a night at the beautiful Parador de Cuenca (Subida a San Pablo,
s/n 16001) at a special senior rate of
135 ($169) including breakfast.
We traveled from the Cuenca station to the center of modern Cuenca
by bus (which was waiting at the
station) and transferred to another
bus that took us to the Plaza Mayor
of Old Cuenca. From there, we got
directions from a local for our walk
to the Parador de Cuenca. It was not
a long walk, but it was not an obvious route.
Heading back to the station by taxi
in the morning, we caught the same
train we were on the day before,
arriving shortly in Valencia. We had

selected a hotel that was in the center
of the Las Fallas action and within
walking distance of the station.
The new station for high-speed
trains, next to the old Art Deco station, was a longish walk from the
hotel. Id recommend taking a taxi if
you are traveling with more than one
roller suitcase per person.
Hotel Sorolla Centro (Convento
Santa Clara, 5; www.hotelsorolla.
com) was very convenient and
honored our request for a quiet room.
We slept well.
The hotels all hike up their rates
during the festival. We paid 199
($249) per night for the four nights
of Las Fallas and 99 ($124) for our
fifth night, all inclusive of taxes and
a nice breakfast. The hotel staff was
exceptionally friendly and helpful.
We returned to Madrid by train in
the morning and had an afternoon
and evening to enjoy the city before
spending the night at Hotel Paseo
del Arte (Atocha, 123), a 4-star
Warwick hotel located a short walk
from the station. Priced at a very
LHemisfric, with the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofa behind, located in
the City of Arts & Sciences. Photo by Margo Wilson
reasonable 138, without breakfast, was modern and comfortable, and
it was convenient for visiting the the staff was superb. This hotel was
not quite as well located for walking
museums.
Our hotel for the first three nights to/from the train station, museums
we had spent in Madrid was the or bars and restaurants, but it was
boutique Artrip (Valencia, 11), otherwise very satisfactory.
This trip was so special that were
which cost 120 on weeknights and
140 on weekends, including taxes already thinking of returning in
and a very nice breakfast. Our room 2015.
11
Travelers Intercom
Readers opinions, tips & recommendations
Send your travel

appraisals the good and
bad of airlines, cruises,
restaurants, hotels, auto
rentals, etc., plus travel tips
and warnings to Travelers
Intercom, c/o ITN, 2116
28th St., Sacramento, CA
95818, or email editor@
intltravelnews.com (please
include the address at which
you receive ITN).
Remember to state WHEN
you took the trip (dates
and year; do not just say
Recently or Just back).
And specify PRICES paid
at hotels, at restaurants, for
guide services, etc. (Please
give approximate prices
and not generalizations
such as moderate or
reasonable.) Always
include CONTACT
information of tour
companies and any other
firms mentioned.
ITN does not print
articles, letters or news about
destinations in the United
States.
ITN will forward mail
to anyone whose complete
address is not given; you
are welcome to write to that
person c/o ITN.
12
Lux Express in the

Baltics When my wife, Paula,
Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and

Lithuania by Charles and Nita
Swartz (June 09, pg. 6). For our
four tickets, Helen got us a great
sale price of 5.40 (about $7) each,
about a third of the usual price.
Lux Express operates several
classes of buses. We rode a Lux
Express Lounge bus almost 4
hours from Tallinn to Rga, Latvia.
A few days later we took the 4-hour
ride from Rga to Vilnius, Lithuania, on an older Lux Express bus.
Both buses offered a WC, airconditioning, reclining seats with
seat belts, free Wi-Fi, 220V outlets
and free hot drinks.
Our Lux Express Lounge bus
added individual touchscreen media
and I visit Europe, we typically

travel by train. But while arranging
intercity transportation for our visit
to the Baltic States in September
2014, our research indicated that
buses were a better transit option in
those countries.
A few minutes of Internet
searching revealed that several bus
companies served the region. Lux
Express (www.luxexpress.eu), with
its English (one of six languages
available) website providing
comprehensive information, quickly
became my favorite.
While you can purchase tickets
online, at a bus
station or from
the driver,
ours were
purchased
by Helen
Allikme of
HansaTravel
(Randvere tee
15-22, Haabneeme 74001,
Estonia;
phone +372
600 9933,
fax +372 608
0947, www.
hansatravel.
ee) in Tallinn,
Estonia. She
expertly made
all of our trip
arrangements,
with the exception of our
flights, which
were booked
by our local
agent.
We learned
of HansaTravel
from the inforSt. Peter & Paul Church in Vilnius, Lithuania. Photos by
mative article
Stephen O. Addison, Jr.
Touring the
systems with music, movies, games,

Internet and GPS plus headphones
at no cost. There was even an
onboard magazine (in English and
Russian) that was more interesting
than most airline magazines.
The buses were clean, quiet and
comfortable. No smoking or alcohol
consumption was allowed on board.
Our bags were tagged before
being loaded into the bus, and
the tags were checked before we
collected our luggage upon arrival.
You dont need to carry your ticket;
just present your passport to board.
Overall, the experience was considerably more relaxed and pleasant
than US domestic flights in coach
class.
In addition to the Baltic capitals,
Lux Express serves Helsinki,
St. Petersburg, Moscow, Berlin,
Warsaw and Wrocaw, along
with a number of smaller cities in
Northeastern Europe, including
Kaliningrad and others in Ukraine
and Belarus. There are few stops
along the routes, but in larger cities
View of the lower town from the upper town in Tallinn.

there may be a stop, often near a
major hotel, in addition to the citys
bus station.
In Vilnius we exited our bus at the
city-center Panorama stop, which
is much more conveniently located
to the northern part of the city than
Vilnius bus station. If you use this

stop, be advised that, while it has
no services, its adjacent to a large,
modern shopping mall with clean
and free WCs, an ATM, an information desk and a nearby taxi stand.
Overall, we were very pleased
13
Travelers Intercom
with our Lux Express experience.
The buses were on time, the Wi-Fi
was fast and we experienced no
problems. It would have been
nice if more drivers spoke English
(announcements were in a language
we didnt recognize), but that
wasnt an issue.
The other passengers appeared
to be an equal mix of locals and
tourists. Lux Express seems to be a
well-organized, reliable and professional organization that we can
readily recommend.
STEPHEN O. ADDISON, Jr.
Charlotte, NC
Computers at JFK
Customs My husband, Ray,
and I arrived at New Yorks JFK

Airport on Delta Air Lines flight
185 from Paris, Sept. 21, 2014. Our
flight was on schedule.
When we entered the terminal,
officials were barking orders for US
passport holders to get into a line
that looked a mile long. (I really
wanted to take a photo to post in
ITN, but signs prohibiting photography were posted everywhere.)
We joined the line at 4:10 p.m.
Progress was very slow as we
inched toward computer terminals.
Apparently, at certain airports, US
citizens now complete the Customs
form by entering data into a computer, not on paper.
Only a fraction of the bank of
computers was working, and only
three agents were available to
assist confused passengers. The
new system requires citizens to
scan their passports, answer the
traditional Customs questions, get
their photos taken and, eventually,
get a printed receipt. The computers
seemed slow and temperamental.
We then waited in a second (fairly
short) line for an agent to see our
printed receipt before we could collect our bags, after which we faced
a mob line to have one of three
agents take our printed receipts.
From there, we joined the relatively
small crowd at the Delta connec14
tions desk to recheck our bags to

Orlando.
We next were routed to the
Departures section of Terminal 4 to
go through security again. This line
proved neither short nor efficient.
Once we were finally through
security, we ran to Terminal 4s
Gate 18, where we caught a shuttle
bus to Terminal 2, then ran directly
to Gate 63, where our 6:40 flight to
Orlando was boarding.
All in all, the process at JFK
required two hours and 10 minutes,
causing us great confusion and massive stress. In the future, if we must
go through JFK, well ensure we
have extra time to clear Customs.
WANDA BAHDE
Summerfield, FL
Expo Milano
2015 I love fairs. Whether its a
street fair in Paris, the Hong Kong

Book Fair, the Seville Feria, the
Bergen Food Festival in Norway
or the Frampton Country Fair in
Gloucester, I enjoy them all. But,
by far, the best are the worlds fairs
and expositions (expos) that are
sanctioned by the Bureau of International Exhibitions and which take
place every two to five years.
The purpose of these fairs
is to bring people of the world
together around a theme of global
importance. The next expo is
Expo Milano 2015, to be held in
the northern Italian city of Milan,
Europes capital of fashion and
design, May 1-Oct. 31, 2015. Its
theme will be Feeding the Planet,
Energy for Life.
Ive attended expos in the US, in
Seville, Spain (1992) and in Aichi,
Japan (2005). I enjoy seeing how
various nations each display their
culture, music, dance, dress, industries and technology.
For my wife and me, highlights
include displays showing visions
of the future; pavilion architecture,
ranging from traditional to futuristic; the excitement and displays
of color on the midway; the food,
including that offered at kiosks as
well as in more formal dinner outlets, and the chance to casually meet
Calling all readers!

Cemeteries worth a visit
Liz and Jack Kaufman of Lake Quivira, Kansas, wrote, We have visited
cemeteries all around the world. The
best ones combine history with
beautiful gardens and superb architecture. Cemeteries are a wonderful addition to peoples
travel plans. Moreover, admission is free, though some
may ask for a donation. We would like to read travelers
recommendations for cemeteries to visit.
Subscribers, tell us about an interesting, special,
elegant, historic or quirky cemetery that you visited
outside of the US in the past few years. As best you
can, tell us its name, where it is located or how to find
it, approximately when you were there and what most
impressed you about it. Did the tombs or markers have
visitors from around the world.
Approximately 150 countries will
participate in Expo 15, featuring
their histories, architecture and
culinary traditions and focusing on
social and economic issues related
to the production and consumption
of food.
Included among the 60 pavilions
will be the centerpiece Italian
pavilion, which will attempt to
answer the question How can we
best use available resources to feed
something unusual in common? Perhaps there was one

tomb that drew your attention the most.
Describe the propertys terrain, foliage or atmosphere.
What was visible or audible around the cemetery? Were
there certain days or dates when a visit was recommended
(or not recommended)? Did you have a memorable
encounter with a local? Were there any significant sights
nearby? What etiquette should someone follow when
visiting a cemetery in a particular country?
Write to Cemeteries Worth a Visit, c/o ITN, 2116
28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or email editor@
intltravelnews.com. Include the address at which you
receive ITN. If you have photographs, do send them;
please include a caption for each picture. Responses will
be printed in ITN.
a growing world population? The

US pavilion, with the theme Food
Truck Nation, will highlight products, ingenuity and entrepreneurship, with the context of sustainable
health and nutrition; street foods in
the US will be featured.
The expo will include canals,
ponds, botanical gardens, a gondola
that soars over the 10,000-acre
site, entertainment and childrens
educational areas.
Some 20 million visitors from
countries worldwide are expected

to visit, with the biggest crowds in
May, July and August.
My wife and I are planning a
3-day visit to Milan in June, when
the crowding should be less, with
three days at the fair and a day
or two for museum hopping and
shopping in the city. (We dont plan
to attend Expo 17 in Kazakhstan,
but a trip to Dubai for Expo 20 is a
strong possibility.)
For full information on Expo 15,
including access to the official app,
visit www.expo2015.org/en.
FRED STEINBERG
Riverside, CT
More Travelers Intercom, page 25
15
News Watch
Airports screen for ebola
Concern about the spread of the

ebola virus has prompted some
nations to begin screening passengers
arriving from affected countries.
In the United States, ebola screening is being performed at JFK
Airport in New York, WashingtonDulles, Chicago OHare, HartsfieldJackson in Atlanta and Newark
Liberty International. Passengers
arriving from countries where ebola
cases are present will be tested for
symptoms and given a questionnaire
from which their risk of exposure
will be determined. They will also be
asked to check in daily to local health
departments to monitor their health.
Passengers arriving from countries
with ebola are also being screened
at Heathrow and Gatwick airports
in the UK, Charles de Gaulle airport
in Paris and Brussels Airport in
Belgium. On Oct. 24, North Korea
closed its borders to foreign tourists
as a preventive measure.
Ebola infections have killed more
than 4,800 people, including, in the
US, one Liberian national; two nurses
who caught ebola while treating him
in Dallas recovered. At press time,
an American doctor who returned to
New York after providing medical
assistance in West Africa was still in
isolation after being diagnosed with
the disease.
Most of the infections have
occurred in Liberia, Guinea and

Sierra Leone in West Africa. Nigeria
and Senegal were declared ebola-free
in late October after being free of any
new cases for six weeks.
Sri Lanka landslide
A landslide at a tea plantation

near the town of Haldummulla in
southeastern Sri Lanka on Oct. 29
engulfed 140 houses over an area of
one square mile. Some houses were
under 30 feet of mud. As of press
time, 10 people were known to have
died, with at least 100 still missing.
Heavy rains had triggered landslide warnings across Sri Lanka and
washed away sections of major roadways. The landslide in Haldummulla
occurred after parents returned home
from taking their children to school,
leaving many children unharmed.
Initial rescue operations involving
heavy machinery and up to 500 military personnel had to be suspended
due to poor weather conditions.
Pakistan border bombing
At least 55 people were killed

and more than a hundred were
injured by a suicide bomber on the
Pakistani side of the Wagah border
crossing with India after the evening
border-closing ceremony on Nov. 2.
The blast occurred outside a nearby
restaurant. Three Pakistani terrorist
organizations, including the Taliban,
have each claimed responsibility for

the attack.
Located in the town of Wagah,
situated between Lahore, Pakistan,
and Amritsar, India, the Wagah
crossing is the only road crossing
between the two nations.
Each day, hundreds of people on
both sides of the border visit to witness the highly elaborate and colorful
ceremony performed at 5 p.m. by the
Indian and Pakistani border guards.
During the ceremony, border guards
dressed in flamboyant uniforms
march and posture aggressively
toward each other as they lower their
nations flags and close the gates.
The military ceremony proceeded
as scheduled on Nov. 3.
Riots in Burkina Faso
Violent protests in Burkina Fasos

capital, Ouagadougou, on Oct. 30
resulted in protesters capturing and
setting ablaze the parliament building, the city hall and the ruling partys
headquarters. Witnesses reported that
homes of members of parliament also
were set on fire as protesters moved
toward the presidential palace. At
least three protesters were killed
when the military fired on crowds.
The protesters rallied against a proposed constitutional amendment that
would have allowed President Blaise
Compaore, who had held the position
for 27 years, to run for another term.
Compaore had won four consecutive
elections, all of them disputed by
the opposition, after gaining power
in a 1987 coup. Some members of
the military, including the former
defense minister, were reported to
have joined with the protesters.
From an undisclosed location, the
president resigned on Oct. 30 and
called for elections of a new government to be held in 30 days.
On Nov. 1, Lieutenant Colonel
Isaac Zida took over the leadership
of Burkina Faso with the support of
the military. A military spokesperson
said that civilian rule would be reestablished as soon as possible.
Yemen suicide bombings
In eastern Yemen and in the capital,

Sanaa, a series of suicide bombings
in October targeted ethnic Houthis.
16
The Houthis, a Shia Muslim group,

have been in conflict with both the
ruling Sunni government and Ansar
al-Sharia (in the West, commonly
known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula). After deadly clashes in
Sanaa in September, Houthi rebels
captured government buildings and
demanded a change in government.
A peace deal between the Houthis
and Yemens government, brokered
by the UN on Sept. 21, required the
rebels to give up control of captured
sections of Sanaa in exchange for
allowing them to name a new prime
minister and form a new coalition
government. Despite the peace deal,
armed Houthi rebels maintained a
presence in Sanaa and other cities
in Yemen.
On Oct. 9, a suicide bomb set off
during a Houthi rally in Sanaas
Tahrir Square killed at least 47
people. Later in the day, a suicide car
bombing at a military checkpoint in
Hadramawt Province killed 20.
On Oct. 13, with the support of the
Houthis, Yemens president, AbdRabbu Mansour Hadi, appointed
Khalid Bahah, a Shia, as prime

minister.
On Oct. 20, at least 67 Houthis
were killed by suicide bombers and
shelling in central Yemen.
Mexican students missing
In Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, on

Sept. 27, students from a teaching
college who were protesting unfair
hiring practices were fired on by
police as they boarded buses they
had hired to transport them. Six
people were killed. Witnesses say 43
students then surrendered to police,
were forced into police vehicles and
have been missing ever since.
Searches for the missing students
have uncovered more than a dozen
mass graves around Iguala. DNA
tests have, so far, excluded the missing students from being among any
of the uncovered bodies.
On Oct. 14, protesters demanding
the return of the students burned state
government buildings in Guerreros
capital, Chilpancingo. Protests in
support of the missing students have
occurred throughout the country,
including in Mexico City.

Mexican federal police were
deployed to 13 towns in the area on
Oct. 20 to restore peace. As of press
time, they had arrested 56 people
allegedly involved in the students
disappearance, including police and
government officials and members of
the Guerreros Unidos gang. Arrested
officers reported that they turned
the students over to the gang after
detaining them.
Mexicos attorney general issued
a warrant for the arrest of Igualas
mayor, Jos Luis Abarca, and his
wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda,
and Igualas chief of police, accusing
them of ordering the attack on the
students. All three fled the city after
the protests and, at press time, had
not been seen.
The US Department of State
recommends travelers defer nonessential travel to Guerrero, except for
the cities of Acapulco, Zihuatanejo,
Ixtapa and Taxco and the caves at
Grutas de Cacahuamilpa. Even in
these tourist-friendly places, cau(please turn to page 69)
17
Robert Ono
Davis, CA
Evening at MalaMala.
A luxurious first-time trip to

Southern Africa
18
QU
ZAMBIA
Chobe ZIMBABWE
NAMIBIA
Mashatu
BOTSWANA
MalaMala
AM
BI
Victoria Falls
OZ
ANGOLA
espite lifelong interests in wildlife, my wife and I had

never been to Africa. After looking through a variety of
safari brochures, we found it was easy to become overwhelmed by the many travel options.
We were faced with a number of questions, such as do we time
our trip to watch the Great Migration or are there other equally
outstanding viewing options? What time of year should we go?
Which safari lodges would best fit our interests? Do we need a
rental car? How do we avoid becoming part of a large vehicle
pack converging on a rare animal sighting? Can we arrange an
African safari for the two of us or do we need to join a group?
And how many days should we stay at a particular camp for
optimum animal viewing?
Trying to find answers to these questions on the Internet had
us confused.
Several friends had shared with us their wonderful travel experiences to Africa arranged by Fish Eagle Safaris (Houston, TX;
800/513-5222, www.fisheaglesafaris.com), an ITN advertiser, so
Johannesburg
Atlantic
Ocean
SOUTH
AFRICA
Indian
Ocean
we decided to call Bert Duplessis, the

companys owner, to better acquaint
ourselves. This was a great start to
our planning efforts.
Creating a plan
With more than 20 years of experience plus making frequent trips to
review existing and new lodges and
camps, the Fish Eagle staff is well
acquainted with travel in Africa.
Their website was also very helpful
to us as we started to define our
plans.
With Berts guidance, we were
able to develop an itinerary with the
objectives of including broad opportunities for game viewing; avoiding
the primary malarial season: traveling during a time of year that offered
moderate temperatures; limiting
viewing competition among guestladen vehicles during game drives;
scheduling minimal driving time
between safari locations; building the
expense of all meals and game drives
into our tour cost, and visiting both
Victoria Falls and Chobe National
Park.
We chose to stay in lodges rather
than tented camps, as I am a rather
light sleeper and thought the evening
sounds, however exciting, would be
sleep disturbing.
After much consultation with
Bert, we finalized our first-timers
African safari, incorporating stays at
MalaMala Game Reserve in South
Africa, Mashatu Game Reserve in
Botswana, Victoria Falls Hotel in
Zimbabwe and, finally, a stay at the
Chobe Game Lodge in Botswanas
Chobe National Park.
This trip would cover about 20
days and cost a total of $18,000. This
included all intra-Africa flights, land
transportation, accommodations,
meals, refreshments, game drives
and a Victoria Falls guided walk for
two.
Fish Eagle Safaris arranged all
aspects of the trip except our travel
from San Francisco to Johannesburg,
South Africa, and return.
fornia. Im no longer
willing or able to
squeeze my 6-foot-tall
frame into a limitedlegroom coach seat
for more than eight
hours. So, even though
we had enough points
for only one frequentflyer ticket, that ticket
dictated our rather long
flight schedule.
The free ticket
had us flying from
San Francisco to Chicago, laying over for
five hours in Chicago
before departing on
an 8-hour flight to
Heathrow, then having
a 9-hour layover at
Heathrow before taking
an 11-hour flight to
Johannesburg about
37 hours of traveling in
total!
With several flight
delays due to equipment and weather
problems on the day of
departure, the somewhat long layovers A watchful kudu at MalaMala Game Reserve.
helped us to avoid any
missed connections.
Reserve wasnt until the next mornAt O.R. Tambo International ing, we were escorted to the airports
Airport in Johannesburg, Fish Eagle City Lodge Hotel, which reminded
Safaris had arranged for us to be met us of a Holiday Inn. (The alternative
by a representative of Wilderness was the airports InterContinental
Safaris, a large African travel opera- Hotel, which was almost twice as
tor. The representative assisted us in expensive.) Our room was clean,
picking up our luggage and finding a reasonably sized and within short
nearby ATM.
walking distance of the airport
As our flight to MalaMala Game terminal.
Getting there
Over the past few years, weve
been using business class for longhaul international flights from CaliCall 800/486-4968 to subscribe
19
A leopard stops for a drink in Botswanas Mashatu Game Reserve.
Living in luxury
After breakfast the next morning,
included in our room cost, we made
our way down to the Federal Air
charter kiosk in the airport. There
we loaded ourselves and our luggage
into a van and were transported to
the nearby Federal Air terminal,
where we boarded a 19-passenger
Beechcraft for a 55-minute flight to
the MalaMala airstrip.
Arriving at our first safari lodge,
we were immediately aware that this
trip would be special. We were met
with cold drinks and facecloths upon
check-in and were introduced to
Grant Roodt, our ranger during our
stay at MalaMala.
While our reservation was originally for a room in the larger Main
Camp, we were upgraded to the
more intimate Sable Camp next
door. Sable Camp can accommodate
14 guests, with no guests under 12
years of age.
The MalaMala lodge area was a
visual oasis surrounded by broad
game-viewing areas near the Sand

River. The lush grounds and wellmaintained suites, pool, dining area
and central lodge facilities were
beautiful.
Our room was a rather luxurious
air-conditioned stand-alone suite
with a living room, a veranda, a
bedroom with a king-sized bed and
three bathrooms yes, three full
bathrooms, each with heated towel
racks. One bathroom had an openair shower. The tap water in the
suite was safe to drink, and our stay
included laundry service.
After lunch we had an hour to
relax before boarding a Land Rover
for a 4-hour afternoon safari. Grant
would turn out to be the best ranger
we met during our trip to Africa, in
respect to his knowledge of plants,
trees, flowers, birds, animals and
tracking, not to mention his interest
in showing guests as much of Africa
as possible.
The afternoon game drive ended
with our following a leopard through
a rough area of bushes, trees and gullies. Stopping to observe a glorious
orange sunset, we snacked on chips,
dried fruit and biltong (a dried South
African meat snack) and were offered
adult beverages, which included ginand-tonics, wine and/or beer quite
a way to end our day!
After our sundowner, the temperature gradually cooled, and we
slowly added vests and jackets as we
made our way back to the lodge, all
while periodically observing game
with the help of Grants handheld
searchlight.
Dinner was served in a boma, a
circular outdoor dining enclosure,
typically with a campfire in the
center. Our 4-course buffet meal
included a few game offerings.
Completing dinner around 9:30,
we were escorted back to our suite
by Grant. Though we never saw any
wildlife during our after-dinner walks
to our room at MalaMala, there was
nothing to prevent wildlife from
entering the compound.
Settling in
For the next two mornings, hot
coffee and pastries were delivered to
our suite at 5 a.m. We had breakfast
20
at the dining area at 6,

and at 7 we departed for
our morning game drive.
Apparently, this was the
typical winter morning
schedule. (During the
summer, the higher
daytime temperatures
require an even earlier
morning start and a later
afternoon game drive to
avoid being out during
the hottest part of the
day.)
With over 33,000
acres in the MalaMala
Reserve, we had many
areas to visit. During
our game drives we
saw a broad range of
birds, such as vultures,
swallows, weavers,
owls, lapwings, go- View from a walk along Victoria Falls.
away-birds, rollers,
shrikes, sparrows and storks. We also ris arranged a charter flight for us. A
observed many animals, including 4-passenger Beechcraft took us to
lions, white rhinos, zebras, impalas, Polowkwane International Airport in
duikers, steenboks, nyalas, monkeys, South Africa and then on to Limpopo
hares, civets, mongooses, wilde- Valley Airfield in Botswana.
The drive to Mashatu Main
beests, cheetahs, Cape buffaloes,
Camp took about 30 minutes
giraffes, leopards and elephants.
Each morning, we would stop mid- through a rather dry, sparse landdrive for a coffee-and-pastry break. scape. Once at the camp, we each
Sometimes we hiked up a small hill were given a cool towel and a cold
to observe the reserve from a higher glass of juice, then we met Bashi, our
perspective. Grant pointed out ani- personal ranger for our stay there.
Our room was very luxurious, with
mals, insects and plant life along our
walks, all while balancing a large- air-conditioning, a sitting area, a full
bathroom with a separate shower
caliber rifle over his shoulder.
During one afternoon game drive, and bathtub and an additional half
we came upon a leopard eating a bathroom. Internet service was availfreshly killed kudu. Soon, hyenas able via a single desktop computer in
were gathering to watch the feast a common lounge. Our stay included
and, within a short time, they dis- all meals but did not include laundry
placed the leopard. Shortly thereafter, service.
While not all of the Big Five could
30 to 40 vultures gathered to eye the
kudu carcass. As the hyenas moved be seen at Mashatu, the wildlife was
away, the vultures quickly dove in still abundant. We saw cheetahs,
and picked the carcass clean to the wildebeests, jackals, elands, kudus,
bone. The unfolding scene provided mongooses, monkeys, leopards,
a harsh view of life, all in a single giraffes, zebras, klipspringers,
ostriches, hyenas, baboons, warthogs
location.
and the ever-present impalas.
There were also many varieties of
On to Mashatu
One of our travel requests was to birds, including babblers, hornbills,
avoid long drives between distant ducks, bustards, cormorants, doves,
safari locations. As airstrips were eagles, egrets, fish eagles, francolins,
available at MalaMala and Mashatu, guineafowl, kingfishers, lapwings,
our next destination, Fish Eagle Safa- plovers and herons.
21
To get these documents back, you

are then asked for payment.
I recalled the location of the South
African Airways counters, so we
declined this assistance. While the
offer may have been completely
innocent, while traveling in a foreign
country we are sometimes a bit
wary.
Our room at the Victoria Falls Hotel.

The elephant herds at Mashatu
were the largest we saw during our
time in Africa.
Dinner was again served in the
traditional boma around a roaring
campfire. Four courses plus dessert
were offered. With so many food
selections, no one ever went hungry.
Back to South Africa

Our transit from Mashatu to
Victoria Falls began by car. We left
Mashatu at 8:30 a.m. on our way to
the Pont Drift Immigration and Customs station. The drive took about
45 minutes.
From Pont Drift, we left our
ranger, Bashi, and rode in a 4-person,
open cable-car gondola over the
Limpopo River, crossing from
Bostwana into South Africa. (The
higher river level prevented our Land
Cruiser from crossing.) Once over
the river, we were met by Allen, a
South African driver, in a Mercedes
sedan, as arranged by Fish Eagle
Safaris. We quickly cleared South
African Immigration and continued
on a 2-hour drive to the Polowkwane
Airport.
Due to commercial flight schedules, we couldnt travel to Victoria
Falls directly from Polowkwane, so
we flew back to Johannesburg first.
We picked up our duffels from bag22
gage claim and walked the familiar

path to the City Lodge Hotel, since
our flight to Victoria Falls was scheduled for early the next morning.
As we walked through the terminal
the next morning, perhaps looking
somewhat lost, we caught the interest
of a stranger who offered to help us
find our check-in counter. Allen, our
South African driver from the previous day, had warned us about unofficial airport helpers who offer their
assistance. Some will ask to inspect
your tickets and passports as they
help you through airport processing.
On to Victoria Falls
The flight to Victoria Falls airport
took about 90 minutes. With turkey
sandwiches and a small pastry served
during the flight, we were set for
lunch.
After landing in Zimbabwe, the
150 or so passengers queued for
Immigration, and the slow process
took about 45 minutes. There were
too many passengers for the two
agents to handle.
A driver from Wilderness Safaris
met us in the airport terminal for the
20-minute drive to the Victoria Falls
Hotel. Built in 1904, it had the feel of
a historic hotel in a US national park.
The hotel was nicely maintained and
the staff was very helpful.
Our hotel room was beautiful, decorated in a style reminiscent of the era
in which it was built. However, we
didnt spend much time in our room,
as we had a 3:30 p.m. car departure to
take us to the river dock for a cruise
down the Zambezi River.
The Zambezi Queen was a large,
3-decked riverboat. The $60-perperson fare included all drinks and
six different delicious hors doeuvres.
As we cruised down the river, we
watched the other boats on the river,
the crocodiles, the hippos and the
birds. The sunset was beautiful, and
by the time the cruise ended at 6:00,
we were too full to eat a complete
dinner.
We met our Wilderness Safaris
guide for the next days tour of Victoria Falls at 8:30 a.m. As part of our
walking tour, we received admission
tickets to the falls along with water
bottles and a long rain jacket for the
walk.
It was dry at the beginning of the
walk, but soon the heavy mist from
the falls made it feel like hiking in
a rainstorm. We had to stop taking
photographs, as it was no longer posvisit us at www.intltravelnews.com
sible to keep the camera lens dry.

After our walk, we stopped at the
Rainforest Caf in the falls area to
dry off and have coffee and a very
large slice of chocolate cake.
Despite the rain jacket, it would
be nearly impossible to stay dry
while visiting the falls during high to
moderate river levels. We were glad
to have worn shoes and clothes that
could dry quickly.
Later in the afternoon, we took a
brief walk to a lookout point over
the Zambezi River, near our hotel.
At the lookout point there were
kids harnessed to the Flying Fox
cable slide zipping halfway over the
river before being pulled back. As
the rides origin was in Zimbabwe
and the other end of the cable was
in Zambia, cable riders could not
completely cross the river; otherwise,
they would be obliged to pass through
Immigration!
Chobe National Park

Victoria Falls was not very far
from Chobe National Park, our
final stop. After an hours drive to

the Zimbabwe/Botswana border,
we were met by a Botswana-based
Wilderness Safaris driver who took
us on a 20-minute ride to Chobe
Game Lodge.
Our lodge stay included all meals,
all game drives, laundry service
and Wi-Fi access. Our room, which
had a deck overlooking the Chobe
River, had air-conditioning and,
among other amenities, contained
a king-sized bed, a telephone and a
bathroom en suite.
We joined a small family from
Spain on our introductory river game
drive, with Gobe serving as our river
guide and boat captain. We saw fish
eagles, skimmers, buffaloes, hippos,
elephants and crocodiles along the
river.
We returned to the lodge to clean
up and get ready for dinner at 7:30. I
appreciated the earlier dining schedule, as I found MalaMalas 8 p.m.
start time often meant we finished
our meal at a late, for us, 9:30.
Each morning, we departed the
lodge for a game drive at 6:00. As

we were not in a private reserve
but in a national park, our vehicle
was restricted to the parks existing
dirt roads. This meant we could
not pursue the viewing of animals
beyond the road. Consequently,
binoculars and my telephoto lens
provided the best wildlife viewing.
One morning, no more than 200
feet from the lodge gate, we saw a
leopard, a small pack of hyenas and
a large impala herd. Within minutes,
the leopard killed a smaller impala,
dragging its kill to the brush. One
of the hyenas must have heard the
impala herd issuing an alert cry, as
it circled back, looking for the kill.
Soon the single hyena spied the
leopard and impala and the leopard
gave up its meal. The hyena sat in
the bushes and proceeded to eat.
This was a recurring sight on our
trip. Unless a leopard was able to
drag its kill into high tree branches,
it was willing to leave its meal if
threatened by the smaller but fierce
hyena.
23
Each morning at 10:30 we joined

other lodge guests for game viewing
from a riverboat. It was very peaceful as we motored down the river.
One distinct advantage of being on a
boat was that we could get closer to
the animals, though disembarkation
was not permitted.
During afternoon vehicle-based
drives, we watched elephants,
giraffes, wildebeests, warthogs and
impalas and tried to get good views
of the big cats. With the off-road
restrictions in this park, we quickly
had a greater appreciation for how
we were able to track and follow
animals at the private game reserves
wed visited previously.
One afternoon, our Chobe
Game Lodge vehicle was among
16 others jockeying for the best
position to see a single leopard. As
the big cat moved and the vehicle
drivers kept changing positions, it
became hard to view anything, so
we decided to move on. This type
of contention never occurred in the
24
private reserves.
For our last dinner
at Chobe Game
Lodge, we were
seated at a quiet table
on the lodges wooden
deck overlooking the
river. The table, lit
by candlelight, was
nicely set, and the
atmosphere was very
relaxing. We were
served sirloin steak
and a Nioise salad,
with pecan pudding
for dessert.
A fish eagle in the Chobe River.
Our visit to Africa
was amazing. We saw scenery, along the Chobe River. It was amazwildlife, trees and plants that we had ing to see the water habitat and watch
never seen before, met many new the animal herds that came during the
people and greatly expanded our day to drink along the riverbank.
understanding about life in Africa.
Determining if you want a more
We also learned a bit about the char- intimate small-party Africa experiacteristics of each lodge we visited ence or are willing to travel with a
and the different safari experience larger group is important. At one
each provided.
camp, we were the only passengers
Our favorite safari lodge was Mala in our game-drive vehicle, which
Mala. While the accommodations gave us more ability to focus the
and dining were terrific, we were drive on the game we wanted to
most impressed by the knowledge of see. On the other hand, it was fun to
our MalaMala ranger, Grant Roodt, share exotic animal viewing experiwho had an unsurpassed interest ences among three or four other
in sharing his knowledge of Africa guests.
with us.
Spending at least three nights at
any safari location will give you two
full days, or at least five opportuniSome suggestions
As guidance to others thinking ties, to see wildlife common to the
about a trip to Africa, I would sug- area youre visiting.
I would suggest consulting an
gest scheduling a winter-season visit.
Our trip during this time avoided Africa travel specialist for guidance
extremely high daytime tem- in planning a safari. Agencies such
peratures, and we could easily layer as Fish Eagle Safaris, with staff who
clothing during the cooler mornings continually visit African locations
and early evenings. Also, during the and publish helpful trip reviews and
dry winter season (May-August) the travel recommendations, are valuable
malaria risk is reduced, and animals planning resources. Using a travel
may be more likely to be seen as they specialist greatly reduced our worry
seek drinking water from receding about selecting individual safari
lodges, figuring out how to deal with
sources.
Using air travel, when possible, to moving from one safari location to
reduce driving time between safari another and selecting and arranging
camps is also recommended. If you activities such as our Zambezi River
have limited time available for your cruise and Victoria Falls tour.
Although we have trips lined up
safari, you really dont want to spend
for the next couple of years, our
a large part of your time in a car.
Try to include a safari camp on first-time trip to Africa whetted our
or near a large water source. We appetites for a return visit. Viewing
particularly enjoyed seeing birds the Great Migration remains on our
and animals living and/or feeding bucket list.

Travelers
Intercom
Continued from page 15
Tragedy on a scenic
Arctic cruise For our third
trip to Svalbard, the Arctic archipelago northwest of mainland Norway,

my wife, Gwen, and I chose to
travel on Quark Expeditions
(Waterbury, VT; 888/332-0008,
www.quarkexpeditions.com) allsuite, 120-passenger Sea Spirit. The
ship is the old Spirit of Oceanus
of the former line Cruise West.
Excluding airfare but counting a
5% discount for being past customers, the cost for our 10-night,
11-day cruise, June 14-24, 2013,
was approximately $20,000 for the
two of us.
This included hotel/ship transfers,
all meals and snacks on board, all
Zodiac-craft transfers and shore
landings, daily lectures by noted
naturalists, service taxes, port
charges and emergency evacuation insurance (coverage up to
$100,000).
Most passengers arrived in Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen island
in the Svalbard Archipelago the
afternoon of embarkation, Friday,
June 14. You can fly there from
Oslo either nonstop on Norwegian
Air Shuttle ASA or via Troms on
SAS.
From the airport, youre taken by
bus to the center of town and left to
wander on your own for about two
hours. Since Longyearbyen is cold
and windy and its often raining
there, its wise to dress warmly and
pack your hat, gloves and waterproof jacket in your carry-on. But,
since Quark provides each passenger with its excellent signature
yellow parka and fleece on the ship,
you do not need to carry your heavy
winter jacket.
Embarkation may be by Zodiac,
so its also a good idea to have your
waterproof pants in your carry-on,
since the ride out to the ship can be

a wet one.
The cabins aboard the Sea Spirit

were spacious and nicely appointed.
Gwen and I had a premium suite
with two singles made up as a king
bed plus a foldout couch, armchair,
coffee table, TV/DVD player and
a good-size private balcony. For an
expedition ship, you couldnt ask
for nicer accommodations.
The hotel staff was excellent, and
we never lacked for towels or toilet
amenities.
The tap water in the cabins was
supposedly safe to drink, but it had
a yellow-brownish color. The chief
engineer told me the reason for the
off-putting color was that the ship
desalinates its water. Bottled water
was available and we preferred that.
If you are planning to hand wash
any clothing while aboard, I advise
washing only dark colors. The
yellow water stained our whites and
light-colored clothing.
The ship lacked adequate hot
water. This was not a problem if

you timed your showers with care.
My wife chose to skip breakfasts
so she could get a hot shower while
the other passengers were eating. I
was always up an hour before the
morning wake-up call, and on most
mornings I was able to have a quick
hot shower.
Quark provided only liquid soap,
so if you prefer to use a bar soap,
pack your own.
The Sea Spirit has a small gym
and one outside deck on which
you can walk around the ship (170
meters). The presentation room and
the lounge are both nicely appointed
and large enough to hold all of the
passengers, as is the dining room.
The ship has an excellent kitchen,
and the staff was accommodating of
specific dietary needs. The food on
the Sea Spirit was, by far, the best
we have eaten on any expedition
cruise.
Gwen and I have been on seven

cruises in the Arctic and one
25
Travelers Intercom
30-day Antarctic cruise; three of
those cruises have been operated
by Quark. Over the course of this
cruise, we went ashore eight times
and took four Zodiac excursions.
This was less time off the ship than
we expected, and in this regard
we were not alone in being disappointed.
The issue seemed to be the ships
inability to sail through ice, even if
the ice was broken. One expedition
staff member told me the ship has a
low ice rating and has to avoid sea
ice.
As a result, we spent several days
cruising in the open ocean and were
unable to enter some of Svalbards
most beautiful fjords or to sail along
the face of its largest glaciers. Still,
what we did see was pretty spectacular.
The Svalbard Archipelago is a
beautiful place, with snow-covered
peaks, magnificent glaciers and
an almost innumerable number of
places to walk on stone-covered
beaches or tundra.
If you take this cruise, you will
see lots of birds and are almost
certain to see reindeer. With luck,
you may also see a few polar bears
and an arctic fox and visit a walrus
haul-out. Many passengers had
come for the wildlife and not the
spectacular scenery.
Svalbard is sold as the realm of
the polar bear, but, in our experience, to have the best chance of
seeing polar bears you need to be
able to venture into the ice, and that
is something this ship cannot do.
On our cruise, passengers were
able to see three polar bears, including a mother with a cub, through
binoculars. A fourth was spotted
only a couple of hundred meters
away one evening on a Zodiac
cruise to a walrus haul-out. For
many of the passengers, that was
the highlight of the cruise.
The low point came the fourth
day out when we stopped at the
14th of July Glacier.
Since boarding ship the evening
of the first day, the passengers had
26
gotten off the ship only once, so

even though the winds were high
and the seas quite choppy, we got
into the Zodiacs to cruise past a bird
cliff and the glacier. An expedition
staff member told me that Quark
will conduct Zodiac operations in
winds as high as 35 knots. This
is possible because Zodiacs are
remarkably stable craft.
The sea in front of the glacier face
was calm enough for those who had
signed up for a kayaking excursion.
However, the sea was not calm by
the bird cliff, where waves were
crashing upon the rocks. There also
were submerged rocks close to the
shore.
The expedition coordinator
made sure that none of the Zodiacs
ventured too close to the glacier,
since a calving glacier can generate a huge wave, but, apparently,
no such instructions were given to
the Zodiac drivers who took their
Zodiacs to the base of the cliff.
Upon approaching the cliff, the
Zodiac my wife and I were in was
knocked about so badly in the
surf that we were concerned we
would be dashed against the rocks.
Another passenger and I became so
sea sick, we had to be returned to
the ship.
Unfortunately, a tragedy occurred
when one of the Zodiacs that had
been taken close to the cliff was
overturned by a crashing wave. One
woman died, and two passengers
were evacuated by helicopter to
Longyearbyen for medical treatment.
Nine other passengers and the
Zodiac driver were able to make
it to shore, freezing cold but with
only minor injuries. Some of those
passengers had been trapped under
the overturned Zodiac for about five
minutes, though (I was told on the
ship by a relative of a passenger in
the capsized craft) they were able
to stand and did have air to breathe
and ended up wading to shore. One
passenger hit her head on one of
the rocks; she came to lunch that
afternoon with an ice pack on her
head.
With respect to those most in
need of medical attention, the crew
sent a copy of the following Media

Statement No. 5:
Gwen Kaltman on deck to view one of the Svalbard archipelagos many

glaciers. Photo by Al Kaltman
seemed to respond well to the
emergency.
A retired nurse did complain that
when the soaking-wet passengers
returned to the ship, the staff had not
prepared heated towels or blankets.
She told me she went from cabin to
cabin collecting towels and blankets
and used a hair dryer to warm up
one severely chilled woman.
At the end of this cruise, disembarkation in Longyearbyen is at

about 9 a.m., and if you are flying
back to Oslo that day, you will be
left in town for about four hours and
then taken to the airport.
Keep in mind that the SAS flight
from Longyearbyen to Oslo stops
in Troms, Norway, where you and
all hand and checked baggage are
unloaded.
Svalbard is a part of Norway,
but, because it is a tax-free zone,
you must clear passport control and
Customs in Troms and then go
through security before reboarding
your aircraft. For this reason, our
flight out of Troms was late, so it
is not wise to have a short connection in Oslo.
Gwen and I flew from Longyearbyen to Oslo the same day
the cruise ended. One suggestion to check in for your flight
from Longyearbyen to Oslo, use
the computer at the Radisson Blu
Polar Hotell Spitsbergen and print
your boarding passes before going
to the airport. The charge is NOK3

(near 50) for each page printed
a bargain, since you then can go
straight to baggage drop and right
through security without having to
stand in the long check-in line.
Gwen and I spent the night at
Oslos Radisson Blu Airport
Hotel, which was a short outdoor
walk from the airport terminal,
before continuing home the next
morning.
I realize this report is not all positive, but if you are looking to spend
some time in the high Arctic, there
are few places that are as accessible
and beautiful as Svalbard.
AL KALTMAN
Vienna, VA
ITN emailed copies of Mr. Kaltmans account to Quark Expeditions on Aug. 20, 2013, and was
Quark Expeditions, Inc., confirms

that an accident occurred during
a Zodiac sightseeing excursion
near the 14th of July Glacier, just
outside of Longyearbyen, Svalbard,
Norway, at approximately 11 a.m.
local time on Monday, 17 June
2013.
A Zodiac carrying 12 passengers
capsized, resulting in the fatality
of one passenger and the injury of
two other passengers. The injured
passengers were not critically
injured, received medical care in
Longyearbyen and were released
from the hospital. Quark worked
with the passengers travel agents in
arranging for their return home.
The ship, Sea Spirit, underwent
a full formal investigation by local
authorities and the Bahamas flag
stage in Ny-lesund, Svalbard,
Norway, and was released to
continue the rest of the expedition.
The results of the formal investigation have not yet been released.
Quark did carry out a full and
thorough internal investigation
which indicated that the emergence
of a sudden large wave caused the
Zodiac to capsize.
An additional statement included
the following:
First-aid- and CPR-trained staff
were on the scene immediately
following the accident. The first on
the scene was our kayak guide, who
is a registered nurse and wilderness
first-aid instructor. Additionally,
27
Travelers Intercom
Quarks doctor arrived within 10
minutes, followed by the ships
doctor. Each of Quarks ships
has two doctors on board. The
Governor of Svalbard also dispatched additional medical support
via helicopter.
On June 17, 2014, Al Kaltman
emailed to ITN a copy of the
Report of the investigation into
the capsizing of a Zodiac craft and
passenger fatality at Fjortende,
Juli-Bukta, Norway, on the 17th
June 2013, issued on Feb. 10 by
the Bahamas Maritime Authority
(120 Old Broad St., London, EC2N
1AR, U.K.; www.bahamasmaritime.
com/downloads/Casualty%20
Reports%202001%20onwards/
Sea%20Spirit%20Final%20
report%20-%20February%202014.
pdf). The report included numbered
chapters titled as follows: 1. Summary, 2. Particulars of Vessel, 3.
Narrative of Events, 4. Analysis, 5.
Conclusions and 6. Recommendations. Here are selected passages
from the extensive report, with each
preceding number indicating the
chapter and paragraph:
[3.6] Sea conditions at the time
were reportedly calm to moderate,
with a long, southwesterly swell
breaking onto the shore.
[3.7] Shortly before 10:55, whilst
passing along the shoreline, the
Zodiac Poseidon was struck by
two rolling waves in short succession. The driver and passengers
were thrown overboard into the
water, with some trapped underneath the craft, itself. Deck log book
entries indicated a sea temperature
of six degrees Celsius (42.8F).
[3.8] Having completed the predeparture safety checks in line with
the company operating procedures,
the driver had attached the engine
kill cord prior to commencing the
expedition. This safety measure
ensured that the engine was stopped
immediately once the driver had
been thrown clear of the craft.
[3.9] By 10:55, all other tour
boats were on scene to provide
28
rescue assistance, and a medical

party muster was completed on
board the Sea Spirit. The capsized
Zodiac was reported to have
beached in the upturned condition
with large waves smashing into it.
Weather conditions at this time
were reported as being very
challenging, with large waves
dumping on shore. These conditions made it extremely difficult for
the other Zodiac craft to land on
the beach at this time. This meant
that expedition staff had to enter the
water to assist the occupants of the
capsized Zodiac to safety.
[4.4] The driver of the Zodiac
Poseidon at the time of the incident was qualified by Quark up to
a Level Three standard, as defined
within the Quark training competencies, as having the capability to
carry passengers in calm conditions. A Level Four competency
would certify the driver to operate a
Zodiac carrying passengers in any
weather condition.
[4.9] none of the statements
taken during the investigation
indicate any concern amongst the
Zodiac drivers or passengers that
conditions were anything other
than relatively calm when the trips
began.
[4.10] All statements are consistent in reporting that two large
waves in close succession were
experienced. The appearance of
these waves appears to have taken
everyone by surprise, but it is clear
that the attention of everyone on
board, including the driver, was
directed towards the shore and

wildlife.
[4.11] It is noted that the Quark
Expeditions Arctic Handbook 2013
Zodiac Operations (at sections
9.6.6, Zodiac Underway) states,
inter alia, Each Crew driver should
be paired up with an Englishspeaking driver, and for all cruises
there should be an English-speaking
nondriving staff member in the
Zodiac, if at all possible. This is
crucial for safety and for interpretation.
In this case, there appears to have
been only a driver in the Zodiac
(i.e., no nondriving staff member
was present) and, at the time of
the incident, the drivers attention
was divided between pointing out
wildlife and watching water depth.
[5.3] Both the capability and
competency of the operator of the
Zodiac Poseidon were in compliance with the Quark Expedition
training and competency standards
for Zodiac operations in calm conditions. However, given the prevailing
weather conditions and reported sea
state at the time of the incident, it is
considered that a higher level than
the driver possessed may have been
necessary.
[5.4] The absence of an Englishspeaking nondriving staff member
from the Zodiac is considered
to have resulted in the drivers
attention being divided between
providing a tour guide service to the
passengers and the primary responsibility of operating the craft and
monitoring the surrounding waters.
It is possible that this diversion
may have prevented the early
recognition of the two rolling heavy
waves which appeared in quick
succession and capsized the craft.
In October 2014, ITN sent Quark
Expeditions a copy of all of the
above and received the following in
a reply.
Following the incident last year,
a number of investigations were
carried out, including a formal and
exceptionally thorough one undertaken by the Norwegian authorities
based in Longyearbyen, in whose
jurisdiction the incident occurred.
They concluded that the matter was

a tragic accident which could not
have been foreseen or forestalled.
We would point out that certain
statements made by Mr. Kaltman
are contrary to investigative findings involving the incident.
I can confirm that Quark is
the only polar expedition cruise
company to currently operate
an externally accredited health
and safety system. The external
accreditor carried out their own
investigation following the incident
and concluded that there was no
reason to rescind or amend Quarks
accreditation.
I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate Quarks commitment to health and safety and advise
that we consider these to be key
aspects of the Quark Expeditions
product. We are constantly reviewing our processes and practices to
ensure that we fully comply with
industry standards and requirements.
We note Mr. Kaltmans com-
ments about the Sea Spirit and

would like to advise that, for the
Arctic cruise itinerary described, we
have replaced the Sea Spirit with
a vessel that has a higher ice-class
rating, which we are confident will
optimize the wildlife experience for
passengers taking this voyage.
RACHEL HILTON, VP,
Marketing & Product, Quark
Expeditions
Quark Expeditions website
showed the Sea Spirit scheduled
to sail on Antarctic cruises from
late 2014 through March 15, 2015.
SMCCU Dubai culture

tour My husband, Ed, and I
spent four days in Dubai, United

Arab Emirates, in April 2013 (May
14, pg. 14). Our final full day there
was special.
On its website, we learned about
a tour at the Sheikh Mohammed
bin Rashid Centre for Cultural
Understanding, or SMCCU (www.
cultures.ae). We made reservations

via email (smccu@cultures.ae) for
the 90-minute Heritage Tour,
which cost AED55 (near $15).
Our guide was a charming
young woman who provided much
information and debunked many
misconceptions about Islam and
Muslims, especially about a womans role in Islam and why Muslim
women dress the way they do.
In my opinion, the tour of the
SMCCU (whose slogan is Open
Doors, Open Minds) should be a
must for everyone. I personally
believe everyone would expand
their understanding and awareness
through educational and cultural
programs such as this one.
We started by visiting the Bastakiya Heritage Village, a charming,
car-free area near Dubai Creek. This
old section of narrow walkways is
filled with restored houses and wind
towers built over a century ago by
wealthy Persian pearl and textile
merchants.
Typically, each house has two
29
Travelers Intercom
stories and a central courtyard
from which radiate the various
rooms. Although the homes have
plain exteriors, the interior of each
has elaborately carved archways,
wooden doors, grillwork and stucco
panels.
Next was the Diwan Mosque,
where we sat on the floor while
the guide briefly explained the
basic beliefs of Islam. Our group
was allowed to ask any questions
about the Islam faith, and the guide
responded in a very candid manner.
Lunch was served in the courtyard
of a typical bastakiya wind tower
house. We sat on pillows, although
chairs were provided for those who
had difficulty sitting on the floor.
The meal started with Arabic
coffee. In many Arab countries, it
is customary to serve guests bitter,
unsweetened coffee. Our guide got
great delight in having us try to
guess the coffees ingredients. We
gave up and she told us it contained
cardamom and saffron.
Lunch was laid out on an elaborate rug on the floor. Our guides
said this was a pretty typical Emirati
meal dishes mostly of fish,
chicken and rice seasoned with
spices such as cardamom, cloves,
cinnamon and dried lemon. There
were lentils and squash, too. The
food was abundant and delicious.
During lunch, our guides
explained family life in the UAE
and the social aspects of Dubai life.
30
The meal ended with dates and

lots of sweet tea. While we sipped
our tea, the female guide asked if
any women would like to come
up and put on an abaya (a Muslim
womans dress) and a hijab (a
head covering). While she helped
the ladies dress, she explained the
purpose and function of each item.
She also emphasized that the
Koran is silent on how Muslim
women should dress. She said the
dress is based upon country, culture,
tradition and fashion, not religion.
It was a most enjoyable and
educational afternoon.
Following our morning visit to
the SMCCU, Ed and I toured the
ancient fort, which now houses the
Dubai Museum. This low-key
museum takes only about an hour
to traverse, but it provides a good
background to the history, culture
and traditions of the country. The
entrance fee was under $1.
Leaving the museum, we walked
over to the Grand Mosque, which
has nine large and 45 small domes
along with Dubais tallest minaret.
Rebuilt in 1998, it is a replica of
the original mosque from the early
1900s.
It has been our general experience
that, except when religious services
are being conducted, visitors can
tour a mosque as long as they do
so in an appropriate manner, but
we found the interior of the Grand
Mosque to be off-limits to nonMuslims.
NANCY J. NORBERG
Charleston, SC
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Boutique hotel in
Prague Prague is truly a city
for walking. My husband and I

went there for the first time in June
2014. We chose one hotel as a base
from which to do some genealogical research and travel around the
countryside.
We decided on Residence Agnes
(Hatalsk 943/19, 110 00 Praha
1, Czech Republic; phone +420
222 312 417, fax 312 840, www.
residenceagnes.cz).
A letter in ITN (Nov. 13, pg. 33)
recommended this small, 22-room,
boutique hotel, and we were not
disappointed. For the two of us, our
9-night stay cost CZK39,607 (near
$1,784).
Weve traveled quite a bit, so we
know it would be difficult to find a
more wonderful place. It is owned
and operated by the on-site manager, creating a family atmosphere.
Breakfasts were fun to wake up to.
I counted nine different fresh fruits
one morning plus many other kinds
of goodies.
It was clear from their demeanor
that the young staff loved their jobs.
I had occasion to need medical
treatment due to a fall before we
arrived in Prague, and the hotel
provided a car and driver for each
occasion.
In a beautiful city, this is truly a
gem.
MARIAN LOKAY
Williamsburg, VA
and Roberto. I
enjoyed the fresh
fruit (cantaloupe,
pineapple and
kiwis) and blood
orange juice, great
scrambled eggs
(including cheese,
bacon and ham),
yogurt, perfect
small croissants
and cakes and
individually made
coffees.
There was free
Part of a spacious double room at Ca Beatrice. Photo on-site parking.
by Marilyn Hill
I took a taxi
from
the
Mestre
rail station to
Agriturismo in
the hotel for about 25, and it
Veneto Following a Bolzano would have cost 30 from the
visit during my 14-day/13-night
hotel to the airport but the agriItaly trip in 2014 (Oct. 14, pg.
turismo owners gave me a ride
16), I spent six days around and
(at 4:30 a.m.!).
in Venice, in the Veneto region.
Also at no extra cost, they
Because I had a 6:45 a.m. flight out
provided rides to (and from) the
on my last day, I looked for a place
bus stop. From there, it was a
to stay near the airport for the five
20-minute ride into Piazzale Roma
nights, May 10-15.
in Venice. Round-trip bus tickets
After much research, I settled
were available at the front desk for
on the 14-room, family-run
2.60.
Agriturismo Ca Beatrice (Via
Ca Beatrice is only a few steps
Triestina, 99/A, 30173 Favaro,
from their restaurant, Trattoria
Veneto [VE], Italy; phone +39
da Olinda (Via Triestina, 99,
041 63 53 22, www.agriturismo
30020 Favaro, Veneto, Mestre,
cabeatrice.it). Almost new, it is
Italy; phone +39 041 63 00
handsomely constructed. What a
20), where I enjoyed pasta with
find! Everyone involved bent over
homemade strozzapreti noodles
backward to be kind and helpful,
(9). It was open for lunch and
making my stay one to be rememdinner.
bered.
From my second-story window
At 102 (near $128) per night,
at Ca Beatrice, I enjoyed watching
including all taxes and breakfast,
the process of hay being baled. A
my large, super-clean, light-filled
small machine pushed the hay into
double room with beamed ceilings
long piles the entire length of the
couldnt have been better. It had
field. The next afternoon, a different
comfortable reading chairs and two
machine swallowed the hay and
large windows that opened and
disgorged huge bales wrapped in
faced east toward the fields, the
shiny plastic. The following day, a
Alps visible in the distance. The
machine lifted each bale into a tiny
fantastic modern bathroom funcflatbed truck and they were taken to
tioned perfectly.
the back of the field and piled up for
The room was exceptionally
storage.
quiet at night; I slept well. Instead
In the midst of the harvest activiof the proverbial rooster, a cuckoo
ties, many gulls swooped down to
bird in the trees told me it was
eat the displaced field mice, and by
morning!
evening a cat was patiently stalking
The airy breakfast room was
its supper.
most pleasant, with the food cooked
MARILYN HILL
and served by owners, Anna
Portland, OR
March 2003 $2.50
INTERNATIONAL
TRAVEL NEWS
ng
brati
Cele r 28th
ou ar!
ye
Tanzania
pg. 6
plus
Reference
Index 2002
31
Travelers Intercom
Day tour from
Lisbon Before joining a
Douro River cruise in Portugal

in June 2014, my husband and
I booked a small-group day trip
from Lisbon to Sintra and Cascais
at $70 per person. We booked it
through Viator (San Francisco, CA;
866/648-5873, www.viator.com).
Departing from and returning to
the Hard Rock Caf, the tour lasted
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and included
round-trip transportation in a van
with a driver/guide, who provided
commentary throughout the day,
as well as admission to the Pena
National Palace. At the palace, we
had about 1 hours of free time to
guide ourselves through the interior.
Our guide/driver for the comfortable van, and what turned out to
be a group of eight, was Augustus
Silva (email augustus.silva23@
gmail.com), who also represents
Lisbon Ahead (phone +351 967
717 341, lisbonahead.com).
Gus recommended a nice restaurant with a special fixed-price
meal at 30 (near $40) each, which
included salad, entre, dessert and
wine.
We took an afternoon drive to
the Cabo da Roca Lighthouse near
Sintra, had 1 hours of free time
in Cascais, then drove through the
seaside resort area of Estoril before

returning to Lisbon.
Fluent in English, Gus is a great,
safe driver with a most pleasant
personality. He knows everything
about Lisbon and the surrounding
areas and can tailor a tour to suit
your needs.
ANN CYR
Delray Beach, FL
Joys of finding
souvenirs and gifts
My
husband and I have been very
blessed to travel to many places.
One of the joys we have is bringing
home treasures that remind us of
our journeys and the people and
places weve visited.
Over the years, we have found
various items we love to collect.
For example, we have interesting
carpets in a variety of sizes, textures
and colors. Some hang on the walls,
and some we walk on every day.
We continue to add to our collection of Nativity scenes, which we
display at Christmas.
I have an unusual grouping of
15 handmade brooms from Brazil,
Peru, Ecuador, India, Russia, Israel,
Egypt and many countries in Southeast Asia. Displayed in my laundry
room, which is occasionally called
the Broom Room, all are different.
We like to share items from our
travels with others. Im a piano
teacher and often bring home
small items to give to my students
either after the trip or at Christmas.
Recently, I was talking with the
younger sister of a former student,
and she started listing off various
things I had given her older sister
from our trips.
On each trip, I try to find something (such as pins to wear) for the
ladies I have coffee with each week.
My husband, a pastor, occasionally gives items to members of
a medical-profession group with
A FREE SAMPLE COPY
of International Travel News will be

sent to any of your traveling friends.
Send their names and addresses to
ITN 2116 28th Street Sacramento, CA
95818 info@intltravelnews.com
32
which he meets weekly. We do not

spend a great deal of money, and
we dont expect that these will be
lifetime treasures. Sometimes we
bring edible items, such as coffees,
teas or snacks.
On occasion, the sharing comes
only in a tour of the house. A
friend who taught talented and
gifted students asked to bring three
middle-school boys to visit our
home. We enjoyed spending about
45 minutes with them; they asked
very thoughtful questions.
Being boys, they particularly
enjoyed the weapons: a beautiful sword made in Spain, a neck
breaker from Fiji, a dart blowgun
from Brazil, a boomerang from
Australia and Maasai spears from
Tanzania. The boys asked to come
back a second time!
When we travel, especially when
were hosting a group of travelers to
a particular destination, our phrase
becomes Keep (country name)
green. We want to support the
local economy.
On a 2013 trip to Tanzania, our
last stop was at a recycling facility,
Shanga Shangaa Ltd. (Burka Coffee
Estate, Dodoma Road, Arusha, Tanzania; phone +255 689 759 067,
http://shanga.org). Shanga hires
people with disabilities who might
otherwise have difficulty finding
employment.
They collect glass wine bottles
from hotels and restaurants, melt the
glass and make beautiful blownglass items and glass beadwork.
They have a wonderful painter and
a weaver, and others have made a
small, outdoor table and stools from
recycled tires. We found interesting wire sculptures and amazing
decorative items, buying a few
items for ourselves and several for
Christmas gifts.
It was a very fascinating place.
We even had lunch at their lovely
restaurant.
We could ship items home, and
occasionally we have, but mostly
we lug them back in suitcases. Oh,
yes, we pack a scale to weigh our
bags before we check them.
We have a great deal of fun with
all the treasures we bring home. We
lay everything out on the dining

room table and take a picture before
we start giving things away or
finding the right spots in the house
for them.
More power to those who travel
light, but for those of us who take
29-inch suitcases around the world,
the items we bring home are worth
their weight in gold.
LINNEA HOLMER
Algona, IA
Touring whisky distilleries in Scotland Uisge
Beatha, Gaelic for water of life, is

known around the world as Scotch
whisky. When my wife, Margaret,
and I traveled in Scotland in June
2014 (Nov. 14, pg. 20), we knew
we had to learn more about the
national beverage.
There are more than 100 distilleries in Scotland, and more than 30
of those offer tours. We toured four
distilleries and learned a great deal
about making and tasting whisky.
Most distilleries charge for a
tour that includes a wee dram
to sample, and the tour price starts
at $10. If you want more than one
sample, the price is higher.
However, on our first tour in Oban
we learned that Diageo, which owns
a number of distilleries in Scotland,
offers free membership in Friends
of the Classic Malts. Membership
allows you free tours at any of
Diageos 12 distilleries that produce
single-malt Scotch whisky.
If you visit all 12 and get a stamp
in the free Friends Journal, you
also receive a pewter quaich (Scottish ceremonial drinking cup) as a
memento. You can register at www.
malts.com or at the first Diageo
distillery you visit.
By the way, no cameras, cell
phones or other electronic devices
are allowed on the distillery tours,
out of caution that a spark could
ignite the alcohol.
In addition to visiting the Oban
distillery (Stafford St., Oban,
Argyll, Scotland; phone +44 1631
572004), we stopped at Dalwhinnie
(Inverness-shire, Scotland; phone
+44 1540 672219), Glen Ord
(Muir of Ord, Ross-shire, Scotland;

phone +44 1463 872004) and
Glenkinchie (Pencaitland, Tranent,
East Lothian, Scotland; phone +44
1875 342004), the latter so far off
the main road that finding it was a
real adventure in itself.*
We learned that, by law, Scotch
whisky has to be distilled in
Scotland using only water, malted
barley and yeast and then aged in
oak casks for at least three years.
Although there are some variations,
the whisky can be categorized as
single malt or as blended.
Single-malt Scotch whisky is
produced at a single distillery using
a pot still. Blended Scotch whisky
may be a blend of malt whiskies
from different distilleries and
whiskies distilled in Scotland from
other grains.
About 90% of the Scotch whisky
on the market is blended. The
process of making the whisky is
simple, but the results are an incredible range of tastes and flavors.
Those flavors are a result of the
water, the malting process and the
location of the distillery.
For example, the whiskies from
the Island of Islay, such as Laphroaig or Bowmore, have a very
strong, smoky taste because the
malted barley is dried over peat fires.
Oban malt whisky has a balance

of richness and flavors with a slight
taste of salt because the distillery is
very close to the ocean.
Glenkinchie is distilled in the
Lowlands of Scotland and is light
and delicate.
The Diageo whiskies are aged in
oak casks from the US that were
first used to age bourbon. Some
whiskies are also aged in casks that
were used for sherry, giving them a
sweeter flavor.
Single-malt whiskies are aged
from 10 to more than 25 years,
which adds to the taste and character, not to mention the price.
Unfortunately, the longer the
whisky ages in a cask, the more the
alcohol evaporates. For a whisky
that is aged 12 years, about 25% is
lost. The Scots call this the Angels
Share.
We left Scotland convinced that
these happy angels are responsible
for the beauty of the country and its
friendly people.
JOHN GRAHAM
Granite Bay, CA
*Details on the four distilleries
can be found on the Diageo-associated website www.discoveringdistilleries.com
More Travelers Intercom, page 51
33
Rosie and PJ in front of a pila (a public laundry place) in Antigua.
ould a 14-year-old girl find

happiness taking Spanish
lessons in Guatemala with
her 75-year-old grandparents? We
hoped so!
Making plans
Our granddaughter, PJ, was
graduating from middle school, and
my wife, Rosie, and I realized that,
given her increasingly busy schedule,
we had better offer her a trip sooner
rather than later. So for the summer
of 2014, we gave her a choice of
trips: to Williamsburg, Virginia, to
see American colonial life or to Antigua, Guatemala, to study Spanish and
learn about the countrys culture.
After some hesitation (she
34
expressed a bit of concern about

being in a one-on-one Spanish
class for four hours a day), PJ
opted for Guatemala, partly
because she had developed an
interest in Spanish after a year
of taking it in school and partly
out of a sense of adventure. Her
summer schedule limited us to
one week.
Rosie and I have been to
Guatemala 15 to 20 times,
beginning in 1994 with a
6-week one-on-one Spanish
program, and we have grown
to appreciate its people and
culture.
After PJs acceptance of our
proposal, we faced a variety
BELIZE
MEXICO
GUATEMALA
Carib.
Sea
Chichicastenango
Antigua
Pacific Ocean
Guatemala
City
HONDURAS
EL SALVADOR
of questions. Could we ensure her

personal safety and health? Would
she become homesick (or sick of
eight days with the idiosyncrasies of
two 75-year-olds)? Would culture
shock overwhelm her, or would she
find being in Guatemala and taking
Spanish lessons to be stimulating
and fun?
Despite the reputation that Guatemala has for being a crime-ridden
country, much of it especially
Antigua, with its special tourist
police force remains relatively
safe for travelers as long as they take
the normal precautions, including
taking a taxi or tuk-tuk to their destination, not walking alone at night
and keeping a mindful watch on their
belongings. (The safety of riding in a
tuk-tuk is another matter.)
In response to our questions about
possible health concerns, our son and
daughter-in-law provided us with
PJs medical insurance card and an
authorization for us to make any
emergency medical decisions.
For this trip, we rented a 3-bedroom house ($800 for a week)
instead of staying in a hotel or with
a family. It provided greater privacy
than a hotel or homestay, and with a
kitchen we could eat breakfast and
prepare an occasional lunch. We also
had the convenience of being located
five blocks from the central park and,
Individual classrooms at the Francisco Marroqun school.

in another direction, five blocks from
the school we would be attending.
Our house came equipped with a
TV (never used), board games, for
some friendly evening competition,
and Wi-Fi, which enabled PJ to stay
in touch with her family and friends
via messages and photos.
An especially delightful perk of
this rental was that the Guatemalan
woman who looked after the house
for its Norteamericano owners
would shop each day for us, delivering tortillas, tamales and paches
(similar to corn tamales but made
with potatoes).
Spanish lessons
For Spanish lessons, we attended
Proyecto Lingstico Francisco
Marroqun, or PLFM (6 Avenida
Norte No. 43; phone 800/552-2051,
www.spanishschoolplfm.com/sitio),
the oldest and one of the most
well-respected programs out of the
50 or so Spanish-language schools
located in Antigua. (See www.
guatemala365.com for a survey of 30
of the schools.)
Its facility, located near La Merced
Church, north of the Parque Central,
can accommodate nearly 90 students
(although there were only 15 during
the week we were there) and includes
separate open-air booths, each with a
desk and chairs, that open up onto
35
verdant gardens, plus clean restrooms. Complimentary tea, coffee

and filtered water are available to the
students.
As do most of the language schools
in Guatemala, Marroqun offers
an immersion program in which
students each work one on one with
a teacher for seven hours ($200 per
week) or, as we chose, four hours per
day ($150 per week).
The school offers a low-cost housing option of living with a family
whose accommodations and offered
A chicken bus in Antigua.

meals have been prescreened. (Wed
lived with a family on prior trips and
found it to be an excellent opportunity to practice Spanish and experience Guatemalan life up close.)
Antigua has several excellent
language schools. Over the years
we had attended three or four, and
we selected Marroqun for this trip
because of our earlier positive experiences there.
The quality of instruction and the
classroom setting in the lush gardens
of a colonial building impressed
us, as did the broad range of ages
and backgrounds of the students it
attracted, including government,
NGO and religious workers needing
to learn Spanish for their work, as
well as US and European college
students and backpackers and Spanish aficionados.
Before we made our school decision, Rosie contacted a few schools
and indicated that we would be
attending with our granddaughter and
asked about their teaching methods
for younger students. The director
of Marroqun assured her that they
could accommodate the needs of a
14-year-old with one year of middle36
school Spanish. (The week prior

to our attending, the school had 30
teenagers from northern California.)
PJs teacher, a warm and supportive woman with two preteens of her
own, combined each morning with
conversation, grammar drills and
numerous games. By the middle of
the week, PJ had become comfortable enough with her Spanish to
order food in restaurants, bargain
in shops and engage in a few mini
conversations in Spanish.
While one does not learn a language in four hours per day over five
days, from my experience and from
observing PJ, it seems to stimulate
interest in improving ones Spanish
skills. Discovering that a stranger
actually understands you and
responds accordingly clearly boosts
confidence.
Cultural experiences
We had hoped to provide PJ with a
glimpse of a culture that was significantly different from what she had
experienced in southern California
or on family trips to Hawaii, Fiji and
Costa Rica. However, spending only
one week in Guatemala while going
to school half of each day severely

limits the amount of time one can
spend exploring its indigenous
cultures, markets, textiles, colonial
architecture, ruins and arts-and-crafts
museums and, of course, shopping.
Each afternoon, following our
Spanish lessons, we would traipse
about the streets of Antigua poking
around in shops, ruins and other
sites.
We were able to include an all-day
trip to Chichicastenango to visit the
Sunday market, the largest market
in Guatemala. The Hermosa Beach,
California, farmers market, where
PJ and her friends would meet
on Fridays after school, is a mere
shadow of Chichi, with its throngs
of locals in their bright and finely
woven local dress carrying packages
on their heads or shoulders, showing
off wares, pushing and bargaining,
all in close quarters.
There is also a church where indigenous holy men and women stand in
front of the entrance to the sanctuary
praying and waving burning incense,
while others on the steps below

sell flowers, chat or sleep.
The sights and odors of
produce and meats not usually
found in supermarkets at home
contributed to the assault of
colors, sounds, smells and
people. PJs initial response
to this was that it gave her a
throbbing headache. However,
after a weeks reflection, she
said this was one of her favorite
parts of the trip.
For another cultural adventure, we visited the home of a
Mayan family in the village of
San Antonio Aqua Calientes,
located not far from Antigua.
The town is noted for its weavers, and among them is our
friend Rafaela Godinez, who
has traveled several times to
the US to demonstrate the technique of backstrap weaving.
After our visit, we returned
to Antigua via chicken bus,
Guatemalas main means of
mass transport. Old yellow US
school buses have been trans-
PJ and Sra. Rafaela Godinez, a weaver.
37
formed with bright colors,

many being adorned with
Bible verses and silhouettes
of shapely women on
the windshields. Usually
packed with Guatemalans,
often sitting six abreast,
the buses are frequently
stacked with produce and
animals on top. In our bus,
the driver had one hand on
the horn, and his assistant
was hanging out of the
front door shouting out the
bus destination.
Dining in Antigua
Antiguas numerous
restaurants offered a variety
of tastes that appealed to
an American teenager (as
well as to her grandparents), including traditional
Guatemalan cuisine as
well as Italian, Asian and
Californian. While most
Guatemalan food is not
highly spiced, it still has
ingredients and flavors not
found in North American
fare.
Among our favorite
restaurants were Caf Antigua market stand with fruit for sale.
Condesa (Portal del Com erc io preparations of tilapia and lasagna,
4), located across from Parque and La Fonda de la Calle Real
Central, for a breakfast; Quesos y (www.lafondadelacallereal.com) for
Vino (phone 502 7832 7785, www. traditional Guatemalan food, such as
quesosyvino.com) for pizza and pepin chicken.
pasta dishes; Sabe Rico (6 A Avenida
At the exquisite Casa Santo
Sur 7) for sandwiches and salads Domingo Hotel (3a Calle Oriente
in its verdant garden; Epicure (3a No. 28A; www.casasantodomingo.
Avenida Norte No. 11B) for gourmet com.gt), built on the former site of
a convent, we combined a stop for
lunch with a walk through the ruins,
tunnels, crypts, ossuaries, art galleries
and museums around the grounds.
Our last meal a hearty brunch
accompanied by traditional marimba
musicians at La Posada de Don
Rodrigo (Calle de Arco No. 17;
www.posadadedonrodrigo.com)
proved to be PJs favorite restaurant
meal.
Besides excellent food and reasonable prices (meals averaged about
$50 for the three of us, including
wine for the adults at dinner), all but
one of these eateries offered inside
and outside dining, and most were
38
located among ruins or in

old colonial homes and
buildings.
All hopes realized

By the end of the week,
we felt that PJ had gotten
an excellent introduction to
Guatemala and a glimpse
of a different culture. She
seemed to enjoy it and even
indicated a desire to return.
For the most part, she confirmed our hopes.
Following our return
home, when we talked
about the highlights of our
stay, her favorite memories
revolved around the feeling and sense that she
had experienced a different
and interesting culture.
In contrast to her original
anxieties about going
to school, she said, It
was more fun than I had
expected, and mentioned
that the school experience
its pretty environment,
the one-on-one teaching
style and the teacher
ranked among the highlights
of her trip.
Another highlight for PJ was the
food, especially the homemade
tamales and paches made by the
neighbor and the huevos enfrijolados
(similar to huevos rancheros) at Don
Rodrigos.
She even mentioned that she liked
being with her grandparents!
Hopefully, the memory of this
trip will be the seed that inspires
further curiosity in visiting more of
Guatemala.
From our perspective, the trip
allowed us to spend a week with our
granddaughter by ourselves, to share
our love of Guatemala and other cultures and to have an experience with
her that may never be replicated.
What could be better than that?!
Greece has, by
some estimates,
up to 6,000 islands and islets,
of which only 227 are inhabited. Bryan Henry, Contributing Editor, Hollywood, FL
The benefits of using a travel agent
A lot of you make all of your

travel arrangements, yourselves,
these days, using online booking
engines to purchase flight tickets
and reserving tours on tour companies websites, but
we wanted to hear from any of our subscribers who
prefer to let a travel agent do the work or who have
had a positive experience using one recently. We
asked you to include the following details.
For a trip to what place(s) outside of the US that
took place approximately when, what have you had
a travel agent do for you? What have you found
to be some of the particular benefits of using an
agent? Did an agent arrange something that you
ince 2008, I have been using one

travel agent, Joanie Reisman of
All-Travel (2001 S. Barrington Ave.,
Ste. 315, Los Angeles, CA 90025;
800/300-4567, www.all-travel.com),
for virtually all of my travel needs,
internationally and domestically,
and I would never go back to doing
without.
Joanie, initially recommended to
me by a friend who had been using
her services for many years, has
assisted me with travel to/around/
from England, France, Switzerland,
Austria, Italy, Germany, New Zealand, China, Peru, Chile, Argentina,
Turkey and Bhutan.
Travel professionals like Joanie
have expertise and a breadth of
experience that we lack. Tapping
into that experience and expertise
has certainly proved to be invaluable
for me.
The immeasurable value I have
attained by using a travel professional who has encountered such
a broad spectrum of experiences,
vis--vis her clients over the years,
and who is, herself, an experienced
traveler includes
hotel selections fitting my criteria
in locations that are unfamiliar to
me;
being able to make hotel changes
on the spur of the moment (as when
I was in a foreign country on a group
hiking trip and found myself in a
poor-quality hotel; Joanie got my
boyfriend and me into another hotel
within hours, changing our experi-
may not have been able to do without expending

a lot more time, money or effort? Did one come
through for you recently when you were in a pinch
or accomplish something that you could not have
done otherwise? If there is a particular agency that
you rely on or a certain agent who you trust, tell
us the agencys or agents name and their contact
information.
We printed a number of responses in last months
issue. More appear below. If you wish to comment, email editor@intltravelnews.com or write to
Appreciating Travel Agents, c/o ITN, 2116 28th
St., Sacramento, CA 95818. Include the address at
which you receive ITN. Photos are welcome.
ence from horrid to wonderful);

obtaining a flight home from
Turkey for me on an earlier date
(to quickly accommodate certain
unexpected circumstances);
on trips where I am joining a
group, the assurance that my dietary
restrictions will be known well in
advance;
to and from international destinations, having flight and seating
arrangements synchronized with
those of my boyfriend, who lives on
the East Coast;
having all internal flights and
transfers arranged (e.g., between
Istanbul, the Aegean coast and Cappadocia in Turkey);
canceling trip arrangements and
having an insurance claim filed on
my behalf when knee surgery interfered with a planned hiking trip, and
having her get to know my pref-
erences (likes, dislikes, etc.), which

makes future trip planning so much
easier and more pleasurable.
And the list goes on.
Randi Val Morrison

Manhattan Beach, CA
or an elaborate 5-week retirement-kickoff trip to Australia,

New Zealand and the Cook Islands,
Oct. 6-Nov. 12, 2013, my wife and
I benefited enormously from the
services of About Australia (226
W. Rector, Ste. 1, San Antonio, TX
78216; 888/359-2877, www.about
australia.com).
About Australia is based in the US
but is run by Paul Watkins, a native
Aussie, who added an enormous
amount of value to our trip by
repeatedly interviewing us about our
preferences, budget and schedule
and then creating over the course
39
Using a travel agent

of many weeks and via many phone
calls and emails a fantastic itinerary.
Prior to our departure, Paul peppered us with a great number of
helpful tips about each destination
restaurants, the best times of day
to see various sights, where to shop
and so forth.
We had the company book our air
travel and choose hotels, though at
one destination we specified a particular hotel, which they incorporated.
They also recommended various
side excursions, some of which they
booked for us and some of which we
booked on our own.
At about $12K per person, the trip
we designed included several internal
flights, an overnight boat to Doubtful
Sound, a hike on the Fox Glacier, a
jet boat ride, a day trip to a thermal
park near Rotorua in New Zealand, a
Sounds of Silence dinner at Ayers
Rock, a hike through Kata Tjuta, a
day trip to Kakadu National Park in
Australia, a Rarotonga Island tour
and a cultural dinner in the Cook
Islands.
A hot-air balloon ride in Alice
Springs, Australia, was canceled due
to weather, but the cost was refunded
to us without difficulty.
If we return to that part of the
world, we will be sure to use About

Australia again. We recommend
them very highly.
Rich Isaacman, Edgewater, MD
n the 1990s, Kim Blackwell of

Tropical Dreams Travel Agency
(2500 Marconi Ave., Ste. 104, Sacramento, CA 95821; 916/971-9449,
www.tropicaldreamstravelagency.
com) did a super job of finding
good, reasonably priced resorts and
hotels overseas. She booked hotels
and flights to Mexico (1992, 1993),
Greece (1994), Australia (1995), the
Cook Islands (1996), Samoa and Fiji
(1997).
This was before we used computers for searching for trips and flights.
Because she had visited some of
the locations, it was nice to have
her relate her experiences and give
travel tips, wardrobe suggestions
and recommendations of restaurants
and sights to see. It gave us a great
deal of comfort as novice overseas
travelers.
The second company I used was
Goway (400 North Brand Blvd., Ste.
920, Glendale, CA 91203; 800/3878850, www.goway.com).
Twice I used Goway for travel
to Australia. In 2004, my husband
and I took a 2-week trip on Air New
Zealand from Los Angeles to Cairns,
Australia, and on to Sydney for a
hotel stay. The agent gave us tips

for preferred locations close to bus
stops, museums, restaurants, parks
and more.
In 2006, my cousin and I took a
month-long trip to Australia. I asked
the Goway agent to keep within the
budget I determined and the hotel
class I preferred. For us two seniors,
she arranged flights, hotels and transfers and found us hotels close to bus
stops and museums. She also gave us
maps, coupons and suggestions. The
agent did research to find answers to
my questions, and the trip was quite
reasonably priced.
Lastly, for that trip I specified the
type and location of seats we needed
on the planes to and from Australia,
since I have to get up and walk
almost hourly. I told her that if she
could not guarantee the seat location,
I would not be able to travel. She
did what I requested and I was very
grateful.
I do not like researching airfares
and hotels online, but I can give a
travel agent specifics dates of
travel, departure airports, preferred
destinations, hotel class, location
parameters of hotels, and nearby
amenities and they can do the
search work and give alternative
ideas. That is why agents are important to me.
Denise Doporto
Sacramento, CA
y wife, Carolyn, and I have

traveled extensively over the
years, and weve been in the habit of
either making our own arrangements
or traveling with a tour group. To
celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary in 2013, we made arrangements
to take a cruise from Rome, Italy,
to Lisbon, Portugal, with Oceania
Cruises, leaving Rome on June 6.
Shortly after this was in place, our
son, Rick, and his wife, Maggie, in
Boise, Idaho, decided to join us and
enjoy their fifth anniversary during
the same cruise. We scheduled time
together in Rome and Lisbon also.
Since our planning time was getting short, we deferred the rest of
our travel arrangements to Kimber
Johnson of CruiseOne (203 S. Tremont Dr., Greensboro, NC 27403;
40
A waiter in Rome talking to Rick Sherrick, Maggie Joy and Carolyn

Sherrick. Photo by Richard Sherrick
336/691-1500 or 336/370-0045).
Our plan was to meet at OHare
airport in Chicago and travel together
from there. Kimber had our flights

booked with a 2-hour connection
time in Chicago, and he made our
hotel arrangements in Rome.

Then things started to go wrong.
The flight from Boise was delayed
and Rick and Maggie missed the
connection. It was Sunday evening,
and the rebooking of a flight was
difficult. The United Club attendant
was working with me and finally got
something arranged for Rick and
Maggie. The agent personally met
them at their arrival gate and directed
them to their newly arranged connecting flight to Rome.
Carolyn and I arrived at our hotel in
Rome, the Atlante Star Hotel (Via
Giovanni Vitelleschi 34), but we had
no idea where Rick and Maggie were.
After we were settled into our room,
at about 5 p.m. Rome time I went to
the hotel desk to explain our problem.
I had the phone number for Kimber in
Greensboro, North Carolina, and the
hotel dialed it. Kimber answered and
I explained that we wanted to know
Rick and Maggies status.
He asked if I could hold the line
open while he checked, the hotel
desk agreed, and a quick check con-
41
Using a travel agent

firmed that they had been rebooked
on a Lufthansa flight. With that flight
number and scheduled arrival time,
the hotel was able to meet them at
the airport and transport them to the
hotel. They arrived about two hours
behind us.
Our travel agent played a major
part in our having a successful and
wonderful trip.
Richard Sherrick
Greensboro, NC
ndrea Fairbanks, owner of

Marco Travel International
(601 E. Elkcam Circle, Ste. C-2,
Marco Island, FL 34145; 239/3942564 or email marcotravelintl@
earthlink.net), has been my go to
person for more than 20 years.
My husband and I have traveled
to all seven continents and more
than 100 countries, and Andrea has
booked them all while managing to
integrate our ideas and desires with
the necessary details, such as visas
and plane, train and ship schedules.
Based upon her experience with
other customers, she also offers
alternate ideas.
When she has had a problem
fulfilling our wishes (we do choose
some exotic places), she has located
42
resources that could help. When we

were crossing from Argentina to
Chile, for example, we had to use
whatever transport was available.
We started on a ferry, then were
met by a school bus on a dirt road,
then another boat and so on until we
finally arrived at Puerto Montt.
There was very little information
available as to how to book this
crossing, which included going
through Customs in the middle of
the wilderness of two national parks.
Andrea finally found a source that
was able to work with her.
She has also taken the hit of having
resources fail to pay her for the
business, yet we have never heard a
complaint from her.
She is unfailingly cheerful and
excited for us and, best of all, shes
a determined worrier who wants to
be certain that all goes well. That is
important to us! A sense of security
comes with a travel agent and not
with the Internet. A computer does
not worry about you, the traveler. We
cannot ask a computer to fix a problem. We can and do go to Andrea.
The comfort of knowing that we
have a backup for help if it is needed
means that we will never give up our
use of Marco Travel International!
Sydney S. Mellinger
Naples, FL
do believe in travel agents, and,

although my husband and I are
aging and dont travel as we once
did, I felt compelled to share a story
with you.
Back in the very early 1900s, my
grandfather, M.J. Connery, who
She is unfailingly
cheerful and excited
for us and, best of
all, shes a determined worrier who
wants to be certain
that all goes well.
had emigrated to the United States
from Ireland, established himself in
business and made enough in his first
efforts to open a travel agency. In the
beginning, it was there to help other
immigrants from Ireland bring their
family members to the New World.
Once they had become established,
many wanted to journey home or to
other places.
From the agency, I still have wonderful old travel brochures for tours
both ways on Cunard ships, escorted
by my father, to seven countries in
45 days at a total cost of $495!
Of course, my father stayed in
the business, and, once married,
my Mom worked there also, as did
an aunt. Our familys vacations
were to Europe, South America, the
Middle East and Egypt because, in
those days, agents got really good
discounts.
Of course, when folks then came
to us to plan vacations, Dad, Mom
and Aunt Kath were knowledgeable
about the cities, hotels and modes of
transportation, so they could really
help with good planning and suggestions.
That is still what travel agents can
do for people who want to arrange
special or complicated itineraries.
They are able to cobble together
interesting itineraries, contact hotels
and secure reservations, and, when or
if plans go awry, they can generally
be reached to help straighten things
out.
Travel agents dont get as many
clients and
often at the same
or lower cost than
the public can find
for themselves.
Sharon
Phillis,
Kingwood, TX
had researched
and booked
trips for my husband and myself,
so it was natural
that I became a
travel agent. I
began by taking
travel courses
and then offering
my services to
a travel agency
for free. I was
hired and have
been an agent for
decades.
While it is easy
to book flights
and hotels online,
it can become
quite difficult and
time consuming to coordinate
more complicated
travels. Agents
can advise the
Patricia Kokos grandfather, M.J. Connery, printed best way to strucup this flier advertising a cruise his travel agency was ture your travels,
such as what city
promoting in the 1930s.
to fly into and out
commissions and perks as in the old of for the best price and convenience,
days, and they work really hard, but as well as what travel documents you
they can be a vacation saver.
may need and the connection times.
Patricia Koko, Oak Park, IL
I match clients with a tour or cruise
line I know will fit their pace, abilities, interests, ages and, especially,
budget. I have arranged dialysis on
cruises and private sightseeing in
exotic ports. And I would not recommend an expensive tour, for instance,
for a client on a budget!
Most travel agents services are
free to clients, so there is no risk in
seeking their expertise, and we often
have access to contracted lower
airfares, lower hotel rates and daily
cruises as well as tour specials.
My suggestion is to speak with a
travel agent, but if you do not feel a
connection, find another one. Even
though we may be a dying breed, a
good agent works hard for his or her
clients!
Amy Romano, Syosset, NY
Ernest Hemingways granddaughter, Mariel Hemingway, was

named after Mariel Bay in Cuba,
where her father and grandfather
regularly fished. BH
am a professional travel agent. I

take pride in my work.
I also am an ITN subscriber,
and in letters and articles in the
magazine, theres one thing that
Ive seen again and again. People
get into trouble because they are ill
informed about the reality of their
travel plans or they completely
ignore a fantastic resource
namely, the travel professionals
who specialize in so many destinations or specific niches.
These are professionals who provide superior experiences for their
43
Bob Henson
Hoover, AL
View of Mt. Everest from the barren, rocky Base Camp in Tibet.
To Mt. Everest and beyond
or as long as I can remember,

Mt. Everest has fascinated me
not only for its lofty height
of 29,029 feet but for its ruggedness
and the strain it no doubt places on
the minds and bodies of those who
attempt to scale it. Enormous hardships are faced by the climbers, the
Sherpas and the beasts of burden
who must toil up the steep slopes
and narrow, rocky paths in extreme
cold, enduring mind-numbing loss
of locomotion due to the brains lack
of oxygen.
Nevertheless, the human drive
to overcome such challenges has
driven brave men like Edmund
Hillary and his Sherpa guide,
Tenzing Norgay, the first to attain
the summit in 1953. They opened
the way for other brave adventurers, with their ever-advancing
technology.
Today, more than 4,000 people
have made it to the summit. However, Chomolungma, as Everest is
known by Tibetans, has claimed over
200 lives in the process.
44
Planning our journey

some reliable information. Many of
My wife and I have long discussed these firms want to sell you a tour
making a trek up the mountain, that begins in Lhasa, Tibet, and stops
but, at our current age, we had to only at a lookout point as the tour
adjust our ambitions to backpack- bus passes by Everest while heading
ing partway and hiring a driver south on the Friendship Highway
and a professional guide with a toward Kathmandu, Nepal. Since
Land Cruiser-type vehicle to reach my wife and I had been to Tibet and
the North Base Camp, located at traveled the Lhasa Plateau a couple
approximately 16,900 feet. These of times, and because we really
became the broad parameters for our only wanted to travel to the Everest
once-in-a lifetime journey.
Base Camp in Tibet, our search
Like any good expedition leader, I deepened.
began by seeking out people
who had been
CHINA
there, done that.
(TIBET)
In my very wide
circle of traveling friends, I
NEPAL
Mt. Everest
could find no
one who had.

Kathmandu
I then started
my online search
on Google to
find a reputable
INDIA
firm from which
I could obtain
I finally made contact with a firm

in Chengdu, China, named Tibet
Discovery (phone +86 891 6809260,
www.tibetdiscovery.com) and spoke
with representatives Bruce, Mary
and Bella.
I carefully outlined that we did not
want a Lhasa-based tour but wanted
to put together a private tour to take
us from Kathmandu to Everest Base
Camp, with an overnight there,
returning to Kathmandu in order to
continue our planned around-theworld trip.
I also found a blog called The Longest Way Home (www.thelongest
wayhome.com), authored by a man
named Dave, who writes of his
extensive travels and experience in
that part of the world. I was able to
pose many of my questions to him,
and he gave me a lot of very, very
good and valuable advice on how to
proceed.
I read other online blogs and, being
a lifetime subscriber to National
Geographic Magazine, found great
help in its illustrated magazine The
Call of Everest. I also read Into
Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, a great
book and a lot of help!
Hesitations
It bothered me to try to negotiate
arrangements for this trip over the
Internet with a firm in western China.
Two things bothered me greatly.
First, it seemed they had a high
turnover rate of their employees.
Bruce left the company, then Mary,
leaving me only Bella to help me
over a 6-month period.
I worked with her to construct a
suitable culturally oriented itinerary, to acquire all necessary travel
documents and permits, obtain
English-speaking guides and drivers with appropriate vehicles and
reserve overnight accommodations
for an 8-night journey beginning
May 6, 2014, in Kathmandu,
Nepal, and ending with our westbound departure out of there on
May 14.
Our drivers and guides did very
fine jobs, and both spoke excellent
English.
My second concern was that
they used PayPal for their payment
intermediary. I was
concerned that my
funds might not reach
their Chinese bank
account. However, our
payment of $1,901 per
person for this landonly tour was received
without issue.
We then delved into
in-depth research of
the various cultural
events we wanted to
attend and the stupas
we wanted to visit,
and we tried to learn
as much as we could
about the food available, safe places to
stay and the clothing
we would need for
our ascent to Everests
North Base Camp.
We carefully
watched the political
situation between the
local Buddhist and
Chinese authorities in
Tibet for any sign that Self-appointed holy man in the Pashupatinath
the border between Temple area on the Bagmati River.
China/Tibet and Nepal
might be closed.
Nepalese guides. It was the single
Then came the tragic news of the deadliest Everest tragedy ever, and
massive April 18, 2014, avalanche the aftermath has raised questions
on the west shoulder of the mountain about the largely unregulated way
that killed 13 Sherpas and three other the mountain is run.
45
Buddhist temples and stupas in Patan City, Nepal.

Everest has become big business
and, along with the seven other highest ascensions in the Himalayas, has
become the centerpiece of Nepals
nearly-half-a-billion-dollar-per-year
trekking-and-tourism industry. In
2013, more than 650 people climbed
Everest. That was more than twice as
many as in 1990.
With the help of large expedition
organizations and better meteorological data from the mountain, a
climbers success rate of reaching the
summit has risen to over 53%.
Area sights
While this great tragedy and its
consequences still hovered over
Kathmandu, we had arrived and were
ready to start seeing the city and the
surrounding area and to begin our
medical regimen to get our bodies
46
and blood acclimated to the higher

altitudes we would face.
We started taking two Diamox
pills per day (one in the morning and
one at night) as prescribed by our US
travel doctor. We had used the same
regimen when we climbed Machu
Picchu, Kilimanjaro, Whitney and,
in the Philippines, Pinatubo.
We settled in at the Samsara
Resort Hotel in Kathmandus
Thamel neighborhood, then headed
off for a lovely Nepalese dinner and
folkloric dance performance before
getting to bed early.
On our first day, after an American
breakfast of pancakes, sausage and
eggs, we visited the Swayambhunath
Stupa (Monkey Temple) and nearby
Durbar Square, including the legendary Kasthamandap Shrine and the
Hanuman Dhoka Palace.
There was much burning of

incense, painting with chalk on the
sidewalks, body piercing and sacrificing of chickens and other animals
going on in the vast courtyard of the
stupa. All of this was being watched
by the monkeys and the eyes of
Buddha that are painted below the
gold-plated, ornamented top spire of
the stupa.
After another big American
breakfast, we were off the next day
to see Pashupatinath, a Hindu temple
on the bank of the Bagmati River.
We walked in and, in absolute awe,
observed a cremation service taking
place on the banks of this holy river.
We watched the entire process
the washing of the body in the holy
water, the building and blessing
of the wooden pyre, the fire being
lighted, the stirring of the ashes and
the placement of the body on the fire
bed.
The oldest son circled the fire bed
to insure that the cremation was
complete, and the priest gathered the
ashes and presented them to the surrounding family members in a suitable container. Most of the cremains
were strewn upon the waters of the
holy river.
In all our travels, this was our first
up-close viewing of this holiest of
Hindu rituals. (We had viewed it
from afar in Varanasi, India, while
floating on the Ganges River.)
To the mountain!
Early on our fourth day we were
off to the mountain. We were picked
up by our driver and guide at 6 a.m.
and left Kathmandu for Kodari,
where we would cross the border
into Tibet via the Friendship Bridge,
meet up with our Tibetan driver and
guide, go through all of the Tibetan
entrance formalities and change
vehicles.
It was a 6-hour drive up very
narrow, curving roads through rough
terrain, but we made our rendezvous
on time.
We left our Nepalese colleagues
and carried our luggage and
documents across the bridge as our
guides reported by cell phone our
whereabouts on the half-mile trek
to the border. We linked up with the
Schoolchildren also travel on the only road south of Kodari.

Tibetans, and with their experienced
help we were able to clear Immigration by 2 p.m.
We then proceeded about 12
kilometers to the border city of
Zhangmu, where we lodged in the
Zhangmu Hotel.
Zhangmu is a very busy border
town built into steep mountainous
terrain. The roads were narrow and
curving, and the traffic was really a
mess, with hardly any police presence to untangle it.
We departed the next day at 6 a.m.
for a 10-hour drive to the Mt. Everest
Base Camp (EBC) and the Rongphu
Monastery for our overnight stay.
Once we cleared the bus/truck/car/
pedestrian chaos of Zhangmu, we
followed the curving, narrow roads
for about two hours, passing lush
green, jungle-type vegetation, lots
of bridges and tunnels and very few
intersections.
As we cleared the tree line, the
terrain became a tan, rocky, barren
desert, like the countryside. We saw
many herds of goats, sheep and yaks
trying to find food in the tundra-like
soil.
About noon we reached a major
pass where the Friendship Highway actually leaves the foothills
and passes through a valley with
extensive farming fed by snowmelt
streams, the very fertile, black soil
left from the retreat of old glaciers.
After a lunch of pancakes and a

topping off of our fuel load in the
small village of Shegar, we turned
east off the paved highway onto a
dry, dusty, rocky, potholed dirt road
the only road to the EBC.
Reaching our goal

We arrived at the Rongphu Monastery about 4 p.m. knowing we still
had to ride a public bus 5 kilometers
to our final destination. We hopped
on the bus and paid our $5, as we
needed to get to the EBC while we
still had good sunlight and there was
no storm on the top of Everest or the
surrounding peaks.
Upon arrival at the EBC, we took
a deep breath, did high fives and dug
out the cameras. After all of the planning, we were there! What a great
feeling it was, even though we were
a little lightheaded from the altitude
and we were very cold with the 0F
temperature and 30-mph winds.
However, getting to the EBC
bus stop was not the end of our
journey, as we had another major
trail to climb to get some even better
pictures. It was called the Photo
Platform, and it required us to
traverse another very steep and rocky
trail but it was worth it!
We hung around to get some
pictures of beautiful Everest as the
sun set in the west. As it disappeared,
we retreated by bus back down to
47
the monastery for a snack (we carried along our own fresh water and
snacks) and to see where we would
be housed for the night.
Boy, were we in for a surprise!
One rough night

We discovered that we would
be bunking with visiting Buddhist
monks who had, in most cases,
trekked to this holy mountain.
The room was about 10 feet by
10 feet, with no running water, no
heat, no bathroom or sanitary toilet
This climbing, curving road separates the green vegetation from the dry
high desert.
and little protection from the outside
weather conditions, as the only
window in the room was broken
and covered only by an old woven
rug. We had one 40-watt lightbulb,
operated by a twist switch that was
connected to a series of 220V electrical wires strung up by the door.
Needless to say, we were concerned
about the conditions, but we learned
that we were just experiencing the
same conditions under which the
monks live all year.
We did finally get a thermos bottle
of hot water, a tin basin for washing
(though no towels or soap) and a
metal trash can and some plastic bags
to use as a toilet. My wife and I just
laughed and made the best of this
unique situation.
We had lumpy twin beds with two
thick comforters on them, so we
kept all of our cold-weather clothing
on, including our thermal socks plus
another pair of socks and our boots,
but we still froze in the windy, -10F
environment.
It was too cold for us to really
sleep, even with all of our coldweather gear on, but we survived
for an early-morning rendezvous
with Everest as the sun rose. What a
beautiful sight! We concluded that it
was all worth it.
After more pictures of the yaks
48
and the monastery, we started

back toward Kathmandu. Since we
took the exact same track back to
Zhangmu, we overnighted in the
same hotel in which wed stayed on
the way up. The next morning we
slept in and had a leisurely breakfast
of eggs, sausage and toast, as we
were not scheduled to meet with our
Nepalese guide and driver on the
south side of the bridge until noon.
After the usual distribution of
gratuities, we bid our Tibetan colleagues good-bye and met our trusted
guide and driver in Kodari right on
schedule. It was a long, winding,
dusty trip back to Kathmandu, but
we made it.
At 7 a.m. we headed to the Kathmandu airport for our trip westward
to Yemen by way of Doha, Qatar.
We disappeared into the airport
terminal, happy with our visit to
Everest and very pleased with what
we had seen and the people we had
met.
The European
Space Agency
uses the Earths spin near the
equator in French Guiana to
get a payload advantage at
least 10% higher than that on
an equivalent launch at Cape
Canaveral in Florida. BH
Im Keen on Kenya
When travelers are asked to express
what impressed or inspired them
about a particular country, its not surprising
that they write detailed descriptions of specific experiences,
but it turns out that Kenya is a country about which the
memories are especially vivid a place offering out-ofyour-ordinary-environment experiences. All of the essays
submitted painted wonderful pictures in words, but ITN
staff judged the works of three subscribers to stand out
above the rest because they each provided not only a sense
of place but expressed something more, the imprint it left,
making it more clear why they were keen on Kenya.
Taking first place was the essay written by CAROL
PROBST of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who will receive
a 3-year extension to her ITN subscription. In second
enya was full of surprises for

someone from Kansas.
My first surprise was at our hotel in
Nairobi. At the Norfolk Hotel there
were many photographs displayed
that were taken by Osa and Martin
Johnson from, of all places, Kansas!
I learned that they were adventurers who studied and photographed
wildlife from all over the world,
including Kenya, introducing the rest
of the world to exotic places, animals
and people during the first half of the
20th century.
Kenya is on the equator, so I
expected it to be dry and hot, with
lots of mosquitoes. However,
the land was beautiful, a perfect
temperature, and I never saw a
mosquito.
Having seen African animals only
in zoos, I loved witnessing their
behavior in the wild. The pride of
lions scolding the little ones for
leaving their hiding places while
the mamas were out hunting, the
young male impala trying to steal
the females from anothers herd, the
huge Cape buffalo urging her day-old
baby to keep up with the others, or
the herd of elephants coming within
inches of our van on their way to the
river: all made each day an amazing
adventure.
The Kenyan drivers and guides
made our safari more special by
doing things secretly, like setting
up wine and cheese to enjoy while
watching the sun go down over Lake
place was the submission of EILEEN RAGSDALE of

Sheridan, Wyoming, whose subscription will be extended
two years. The third-place winner was CATHY DUNLAP
of Salina, Kansas, winning an extra years delivery of
ITN. The three essays are printed below.
The essay contest currently in play for ITN subscribers
is titled Ill Praise Prague. If you have been there,
in no more than 300 words (note: 300 words), write on
Prague, Czech Republic, and what you found interesting
or alluring about it, then e-mail your essay to editor@
intltravelnews.com or mail it to ITN, 2116 28th St.,
Sacramento, CA 95818. Include the address at which
you receive ITN. The deadline is December 31, 2014.
A prize will be given for the winning essay, which will
appear in ITN.
Nakuru one evening. Or arranging a

British-style breakfast by the river,
with linen tablecloths, etc.
Watching the Maasai running in
their beautiful red robes, silhouetted
against the setting sun and moving so
gracefully, is a sight that will live in
my heart forever.
Cathy Dunlap, Salina, KS
een on Kenya! So keen on
Kenya that Ron and I have
K
returned six times. I was introduced
to this fascinating country on our
40th wedding anniversary. We flew
in from Nairobi on a WWII DC-3
airplane, landing on a grassy runway

inhabited by zebras.
We spent exciting days in a tent in
the bush with a dug-out potty and a
bucket shower. . . with warm water!
Meals were enjoyed in the dining
tent, with the glaring eyes of hyenas
who wished they could join us. A
serval quickly grabbed Rons dinner
roll off his plate!
We have also stayed in lovely
lodges and charming bungalows and
even in a tree house. Where else can
an elephant walk past your window
and monkeys play on your balcony?
Where else can you hear the screams
49
Keen on Kenya
of hyenas, rumbles of elephants and
growls of lions at night?
One afternoon we came across a
troop of baboons. While watching
the antics of the youngsters, we felt
the Land Rover tremble. The granddaddy baboon had jumped inside.
His hairy arm brushed mine as he
grabbed a bag of lemon drops, then
ran a few feet away and unwrapped
each candy while scaring the young
ones away. He was not willing to
share his loot!
At an elephant orphanage, a baby
elephant greeted me with raised
trunk and splashed mud, staining my
pants a remembrance each time I
wear those decorated pants.
We witnessed thousands of
animals, from Antelopes to Zebras,
and observed the nursing of young
as well as lions and cheetahs killing
prey while vultures waited their turn.
We marveled at the beauty of the
land, sunsets and, mostly, the people
in the Maasai villages and handicraft
markets, plus a surprise birthday
party for Ron.
Kenya a new experience every
time!
Eileen Ragsdale, Sheridan, WY
ecently, I asked my well-traveled
93-year-old mother what she
R
considered a highlight of all the
places shed been. Mom responded

immediately, That parade of wildlife you and I saw in Kenya 18 years
ago.
A vivid image flashed into my
50
Reach a reader
ITN will forward your email or

letter to another ITN subscriber.
Write to that person, c/o ITN, 2116
28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or
email editor@intltravelnews.com
mind: the two of us were sitting at

an outdoor bar in Amboseli Serena
Safari Lodge sipping drinks while
enjoying a spectacular sunset.
Suddenly, several hundred yards
away, there appeared silhouettes of
animals passing in seemingly, single
file. Our conversation ceased as we
stared transfixed. Profiles of wildebeests, zebras and buffaloes plodded
along, back-lit by the last flaming
rays of light. We werent sure, but
wasnt that a Maasai carrying his
staff in their midst?
Suddenly darkness descended and
Mom and I gazed at each other in
amazement. What had happened?
We looked around. The few other
patrons at the bar were totally
engrossed in their drinks and apparently oblivious. Did we imagine the
whole thing?
Lodge staff later told me that big
cats, which hunt at night, are wary
of villages, thus herbivores have
learned to leave their grazing lands
by dusk and head toward perceived
areas of safety, closer to human
habitation.
Observing such an incredible
phenomenon was an experience that
neither my mother nor I will ever
forget.
Carol Probst, Bethel Park, PA
Travelers
Intercom
Continued from page 33
Daceys Cornish
Tours My husband and I
had booked a cruise on Holland

America Lines Prinsendam, which
had a port call in Fowey, Cornwall,
England, on July 24, 2014. Were
great fans of the PBS British
comedy Doc Martin and wanted
to see the town of Port Isaac, where
its filmed. In February, I decided
to contact Daceys Cornish Tours
(St. Paul, MN; 651/484-4689,
daceyscornishtours.com), an
advertiser in ITN, to see if they
would have suggestions on how to
get there.
David Warner quickly responded
to my inquiry, saying he would find
someone to pick us up at the dock
and take us there, as there was no
scheduled public transportation to
that location. Harry Holman and
a driver, his daughter, picked us
up right on time in a 2-door Ford
Focus, wasted no time getting on
the road, and in an hour we were in
Portwenn.
When we reached Port Isaac,
we used one of the car parks, then
walked into town. We did a lot of
walking up and down winding lanes
that were pretty steep, but it was a
delightful three hours that we spent
there. The little town was crowded
with people who apparently were
also Doc Martin fans.
The pharmacy in the series is
actually a Buttermilk Confectionery
Co. shop, and they had maps for
sale for 1.50 that showed the
locations of places filmed in the TV
show. It was interesting to see how
this picturesque town was used in
the series.
The ride from and to Fowey went
through some beautiful countryside.
There was traffic, and it was raining, but Harry spent about a half
hour showing us some of Fowey,
as well, a charming, old port town

with interesting shops and buildings.
From start to finish, the tour lasted
about 5 hours, and the two of
us paid 65 (near $104). We also
bought lunch for Harry and his
daughter, since we enjoyed their
company so much.
I was especially pleased with the
assistance we received from David
Warner of Daceys Cornish Tours
and would recommend him to
anyone wanting to see Cornwall.
CAROLINE (LYNN) W.
BISHOP, Daytona Beach, FL
I know of many who seem to

receive this designation on virtually
every domestic flight, regardless
of airline, airport or destination.
While I understand it has always
been random, Ive dutifully put our
Global Entry numbers on all of our
airline profiles, yet were still rarely
granted the TSA Pre.
Am I missing something? Have I
missed a step in the process?
JUDY SULLIVAN
Lighthouse Point, FL
Issues with Global

Entry I read the letter Global
charge wire fees if you have a

good relationship with them
for example, if you have a bank
account thats connected to a stock
brokerage account, as account
holders with Bank of America could
have with Merrill Lynch.
Someone with a significant
stock brokerage account (perhaps
$250,000) in an IRA or a large bank
account with CDs may be given
premier banking status. In that
case, there would probably not be a
charge for wire transfers. Another
perk to having premier banking
could be access to airport lounges.
Im sure that several financial
institutions offer special privileges,
but it may take research and
Entry Advantages (Sept. 14, pg.

54), regarding programs allowing approved travelers expedited
security screening for selected
departures in US airports.
My husband and I have had and
have used the Global Entry program
flawlessly on our returns from
international trips. However, it has
seldom been the case for us that
TSA Pre (Pre-check) has been
assigned us on any domestic
trips. Even queues marked TSA
Pre/Global Entry refuse us if
TSA Pre is not actually printed
on our boarding passes.
Having money saves

money Some banks do not
51
Travelers Intercom
consolidation of assets to achieve.
Speak with a banking representative
or financial advisor.
Even if you do confirm that you
wont be charged for money wires,
the person on the receiving end
of your wire may still be charged.
Their charge will vary, depending
on their own financial institutions
fees.
JOYCE BRUCK
Ocean Ridge, FL
Barcelonas Poble
Espanyol Visitors to Barce-
lona who confine their sightseeing

to the Gaud architecture, Las
Ramblas pedestrian mall, the Gothic
Quarter and the inviting beach
miss one of the citys most enticing
attractions.
El Poble Espanyol, or The Spanish Village, (Avda. Francesc Ferrer
i Guardia, 13, 08038 Barcelona,

Spain; phone +34 93 508 63 00,
www.poble-espanyol.com/en), is
an open-air museum that combines
an introduction to that countrys
architectural treasures and various
cultures with an enjoyable shopping
and dining experience.
During a visit to Barcelona, July
14-18, 2014, my wife, Fyllis, and I
spent a very pleasant day wandering
through the streets and squares of
El Poble Espanyol checking out
boutiques and craft workshops and
enjoying the sounds of flamenco
and other traditional Spanish music.
We bought our tickets at the
entrance to the village, but you may
also buy them in advance online
(www.poble-espanyol.com/en/
tickets-and-passes). Tickets cost
12 (near $15) for adults, 8.4 for
seniors 65 and older and 7 ($9) for
children ages 4-12.
The Spanish Village was built for
the 1929 Barcelona International
Exposition and was supposed to
be demolished after the 6-month
exhibition ended. It proved to be
so popular, however, that it was
retained as a permanent attraction in
the heart of the city.
Strolling along the winding streets
and through squares occupied by
outdoor cafs, visitors are immersed
in the atmosphere of a Spanish
town, one that brings together 117
outstanding architectural treasures
from throughout the country.
While every reproduction in the
109-acre site is magnificent in its
own right, Fyllis and I had a few
favorites.
The entrance gate into El Poble
Espanyol is an exact copy of one of
nine gates in the wall surrounding
Sending travel
info to ITN?
Please include the dates

of your trip, contact info
for any companies mentioned and the approximate prices you paid at
hotels, restaurants, etc.
52
Avila, a town dating back to the

11th century.
El Mirador Sigenza, which
replicates a 15th-century house in
the La Mancha region, is adorned
by the balconies from which people
watched bullfights.
Calle Cuna is characteristic of
the whitewashed houses set off by
arches that abound in Andaluca.
In addition to its role as an outdoor museum, The Spanish Village
introduces visitors to typical crafts
from around Spain. Artisans in
nearly two dozen workshops make
and sell pottery, textiles, baskets,
jewelry and other wares.
Adding to the realistic setting are
more than 20 restaurants and cafs
that offer fare ranging from traditional tapas dishes to several-course
meals. In the evening, flamenco
shows, concerts and other entertainment invite visitors to linger longer.
VICTOR BLOCK
Washington, DC
Joys of trip journals Ive

been writing journals of my travels
ever since my first trip to Italy in
1980 with my husband.
My dad died just before he and
my mom were supposed to go to
Europe after waiting until he retired.
My husband and I decided not to
wait, and our first trip to Italy was
followed by others to visit my
husbands family.
We also visited Morocco, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Cuba and
many more. I kept notes on each
one in a notebook, then wrote the
journal after I returned home.
Whenever friends or family are
going on a trip to a place Ive been,
I give them a copy of the journal
Ive written on it. There are names
of hotels, restaurants and historical
sites, with occasional family history. Everybody seems to enjoy
them, and they pass them around to
friends.
I love writing the journals, and I
even reread them once in a while
and experience the trips all over
again!
JO ANN MICHETTI
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Travelogue blog I found

Florence Drakes letter, Keeping
a Travelogue (Oct. 14, pg. 32),
to be interesting. Traveling with a
group to Romania in 2007, I used
a borrowed laptop and dial-up
Internet to send my first travelogue. It was a difficult process, at
best.
Over the years, I improved as I
went along, purchasing a laptop
and building a database of 200
email addresses. It then got to the
point where sending pictures and
travelogues required three separate
emails because of the length of the
address list.
I now post to a travel blog
website: MapQuest Travel Blogs
(http://travelblogs.mapquest.com).
My travel blog now shows my
last four trips (http://travelblogs.
mapquest.com/dedmands/france2014).
A friend once told me, We travel
through you!
DON EDMANDS, Jr.
Vonore, TN
Funniest
Thing
Tell us about the funniest thing that

happened to you while traveling in a
foreign country. (ITN prints no info on
destinations in the United States.) There
are no restrictions on length. ITN staff
will choose each months winner, who
will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Include your full mailing
address. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged. This months winner is
DAVID RIEGERT of Reno, Nevada:
During a cruise-tour with Stanford Travel Study several years ago, our group
stopped at The Gordon Highlanders Museum near Aberdeen, Scotland. Like
most museums, the place was staffed by volunteers who, among other things,
provided guided tours for visitors.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and interesting. When we came to a
room containing some very old guns and other military equipment, I noticed
a rifle that appeared to have a metal jacket along the length of the barrel. I
asked the guide if he could tell us what the purpose of the jacket was. He said
that he didnt know.
One of the men in the group who knew something about firearms said that
it was a silencer. At that, one of the women spoke up and said that it seemed
silly to put a silencer on a gun when the Scots are out there with drums and
bagpipes making all kinds of noise anyway.
OK, somebody had to say it, so I said that it seemed to me that the silencer
might have been put to better use on the bagpipes.
At that, the guide spun around, gave me The Look and said, Now youre
getting personal!
53
Tours
A selection of tours and

cruise-tours
The Danube Express travels

throughout Central and Eastern
Europe. Photo courtesy of Society of
International Railway Travelers
DANUBE EXPRESS: VENICE-BUDAPEST BALKAN

ODYSSEY 9-day, 8-night
private luxury train trip, May 4-12,

2015. Highlights: Depart Venice,
ITALY/tours of Ljubljana, SLOVENIA, and Zagreb, CROATIA/
in SERBIA, Titos Memorial/in
BULGARIA, Alexander Nevsky
Cathedral, fourth-century Thracian
tomb/in ROMANIA, 14th-century
Bran Castle/in Budapest, HUNGARY, Royal Palace, St. Matthias
Church. Land, $9,795 per person,
double occupancy (ppdo) or $15,295
single, Heritage Class, or $15,395
ppdo or $23,995 single, Deluxe
Class. Society of International
Railway Travelers (Louisville, KY;
800/478-4881, www.irtsociety.com).
EXPLORING CRETE:
ARCHAEOLOGY, NATURE
& FOOD 12 days, 11 nights
on GREECEs largest island, April

24-May 6, 2015. Highlights: In Heraklion, Minoan Palace of Knossos/in
Phaistos, view Mt. Ida/Roman ruins
of Gortyn/on Akrotiri Peninsula,
monastery of Gouvemeto/in Venetian city of Rethymno, stay in 16thcentury palazzo/wine tastings. Land,
3,295 (near $5,302) ppdo. Single
supp., 475 ($764). Peter Sommer
Travels (Chippenham House, 102
Monnow St., Monmouth, NP25 3EQ,
U.K.; phone +44 [0] 1600 888 220
or, in US/Canada, 855/443-3027,
www.petersommer.com).
GRAND YANGTZE DISCOVERY 9-day, 8-night cruise
on Yangtze River to Chongqing,

CHINA. Highlights: Board Victoria
Sophia in Shanghai/in Nanjing, Sun
Yat-sen Mausoleum/in Chizhou,
Mountain of Nine Lotuses/in Wuhan,
54
the commercial, pedestrian-only Han

Street/Three Gorges Dam/in Fengdu,
Ghost City on Mingshan Hill or
village of families relocated due to
dam. $1,040 ppdo or $1,820 single,
Superior Suite, or $2,360 ppdo or
$4,719 single, Executive Suite.
Travel Indochina (Westminster,
CO; 800/342-1957, www.travelindo
china.com).
ANCIENT KINGDOMS
18 days, 17 nights. Highlights:

In Bangkok, THAILAND, Grand
Palace, Emerald Buddha/cooking
class at coconut farm village/in Luang
Prabang, LAOS, Wat Xieng Thong
temple/Pak Ou Caves/in Phnom Penh,
CAMBODIA, Killing Fields/near
Siem Reap, Angkor Wat temples/
in Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM,
Bn Thnh Market, Cu Chi Tunnels.
Land/internal air, $2,695-$3,795
ppdo. (Extra cost for international air.)
No single supp. Overseas Adventure
Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/9551925, www.oattravel.com).
CAMPING SAFARI IN
UGANDA 10 days, 9 nights.
Tented camp pitched at each location. Full mobile kitchen with chef.
Highlights: Hotel night in Entebbe/
drive to Budongo Forest to walk in
chimpanzee sanctuary/boat trip in
Murchison Falls National Park/game
drives in Kidepo Valley National
Park home to zebras, giraffes, lions,
elephants/Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
Land, $3,640. Bahr El Jebel Safaris
(Calle Benito Juarez 35, Alamos,
Sonora 85760, Mexico; phone +52
647 428 1493, www.bahr-el-jebelsafaris.com).
PACIFIC RIM NATIONAL

PARK PHOTO TOUR
Learn new photo techniques on a

5-day, 4-night photo tour aboard the
70-foot schooner Passing Cloud in
British Columbia, CANADA, April
21-25, 2015. Highlights: Starts and
ends in Ucluelet/Barkley Sound/
Broken Group Islands, home to black
bears, otters, whales, tide pools,
towering trees. Max. group size,
six. Land, CAD2,600 (near $2,315)
ppdo plus 5% GST. Outer Shores
Expeditions (360 B Harbour Rd.,
Victoria, B.C., V9A 3S1, Canada;
toll free in US/Canada, 855/7147233, www.outershores.ca).
IN THE REALM OF THE

GREAT EXPLORERS
19-day, 18-night voyage from

ARGENTINA to ANTARCTICA
aboard expedition ship MS Fram,
Oct. 30-Nov. 17, 2015, and Feb.
25-March 15, 2016. Hikes on uneven
terrain require moderate fitness level.
Highlights: Sail from Buenos Aires
to Falkland Islands, home to cara
cara, penguins/South Georgia, home
to albatross, Grytviken whaling
station/Antarctic Peninsula/through
Drake Passage to Ushuaia, Argentina. In 2015, $8,622-$16,459 ppdo
or $9,148-$17,475 single. In 2016,
$14,582-$25,471 ppdo or $18,475$27,040 single. Hurtigruten, Inc.
(Bellevue, WA; 844/227-8948, www.
hurtigruten.com).
The Discerning
Traveler
by Philip
Wagenaar, MD
Import duties
(First of three parts)

Intrigued by the round marble
table with its intricate designs, my
wife, Flory, and I sat on the marble
stools surrounding it and twirled the
attached lazy Susan. We decided to
buy the table and stools and have
them shipped from China to Seattle.
It was November, in the year 2000.
A few weeks later, we received
a notice from US Customs that the
table could be picked up. We didnt
have to pay duty. My son, Paul, and
a friend volunteered to move the
table and stools to our home. As they
left for the airport, Paul remarked,
Please tell me exactly where you
want this heavy table placed. You
only get one chance. Once we put it
down, we are not going to move it
anymore.
After five years, a big crack
developed in the center of the table.
My son-in-law, Shorty, moved it
to his home and repaired the crack.
The table lived for many years
thereafter.
At the time, I didnt question the
fact that we were not required to pay
duty. However, after having cruised
extensively, I found out that people
would bring back to the US the most
unusual items, each of which would
be subject to duty in a different way,
depending on many factors, among
others the country where the item
was bought. I decided to research the
subject of import duties, the result of
which is this 3-part article.
The information that I present
has been paraphrased from the
US Customs & Border Protection
(CBP) website www.cbp.gov/travel/
us-citizens. In addition, I have used
other websites, which are mentioned
in the text.
The report is limited to the
importation of personal items,
which indicates that I have excluded
goods imported for commercial

purposes. In addition, I have omitted
tobacco products.
When considering a purchase
overseas
As you start reading this article,
you might wonder which foreign
goods you can import. According to
the CBP, when you buy goods (used
or new) from any foreign sources,
you become the importer, and you
are responsible for assuring that the
goods comply with a variety of both
state and federal government import
regulations.
To find the qualifications of any
goods that you buy or order overseas, go to the CBP checklist at
Travel Smart (www.cbp.gov/travel/
us-citizens/know-before-you-go).
In addition, keep the following
questions in mind before you buy
something from a foreign source.
Can the goods be legally
imported? Are there restrictions on
or special forms required for your
purchases importation?
Will you be responsible for shipping costs? If so, you should discuss
with the seller how your purchase

will be shipped.
If the seller does not arrange for
postal or door-to-door delivery, you
will either need to hire a Customs
broker or go to the port of entry and
clear them, yourself.
In filling out the Customs section
of the shipping documents, can you
trust the seller to provide accurate
information about the item being
shipped? Giving inaccurate information about the nature of the item and
its value is illegal. Moreover, since
you are the importer, you could
face legal action and fines for this
violation!
Depending upon the country of
origin, quota restrictions could hold
the goods up in CBP for a long time,
and storage charges in such cases can
be expensive.
What you must declare on
Customs form 6059B
Every traveler who enters the US
by plane or ship must fill out CBP
Declaration Form 6059B. If you are
bringing in any of the following, they
must be declared on this form (visit
www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/
know-before-you-go/declare):
Items you purchased and are
carrying with you upon return to the
United States.
Items you inherited.
Items you bought in duty-free
shops, on the ship or on the plane.
Repairs or alterations to any items
you took abroad and then brought
back, even if the repairs/alterations
were performed free of charge. (You
will be declaring the cost of the
repairs.)
Items you brought home for
someone else.
Also, if you acquired items in the
US Virgin Islands, American Samoa
or Guam or in a Caribbean Basin
Economic Recovery Act country
(for a list of these countries, see the
section on the $800 exemption) and
asked the merchant to send them
to you, you must still declare them
when you go through Customs. You
must state on the CBP declaration, in
US currency, how much you actually
paid for each item. The price must
include all taxes. If you dont know
55
Discerning Traveler
for sure, estimate. If you did not buy
the item, yourself for example, if
it is a gift estimate what its fair
retail value was in the country where
you received it.
Remember, even if you used the
item you bought on your trip, its
still dutiable. You must declare the
item at the price you paid or, if it was
a gift, at its fair market value.
A new CBP Form 6059B has
recently been enacted. It differs from
the old one in that one combined
family declaration, also called a joint
declaration, now can be presented to
the CBP officer upon arrival.
To be considered members of a
family and to group exemptions from
Customs duty and Internal Revenue
tax, the travelers must have lived
together in one household at their
last permanent residence and intend
to live together in one household
in the US. Regulations allow US
residents to combine the personal
duty exemptions of each family
member.
On my Sept. 9, 2014, return to
Seattle from overseas, Customs had
me check off an electronic version
of form 6059B after deplaning. This
took more time than it would have
taken to fill out one of the old paper
versions on the plane. The electronic
version, which I could hardly read, as

it was too far away from me, required
my getting help from an assistant to
make the check marks.
Registering items before you
leave the US
To prove that you owned an item
before you left the US
a) you can use documents that fully
describe the item, such as a sales
receipt, insurance policy or jewelers
appraisal, or
b) you can register certain items
with CBP before you depart, as long
as the items have serial numbers or
other unique, permanent markings.
Take the items to the nearest CBP
office and request a Certificate of
Registration for Personal Effects
Taken Abroad (CBP Form 4457).
A CBP officer must see the item
you are registering. You can also
register items with CBP at the international airport from which youre
departing. Keep the certificate for
future trips.
Definition of the personal
exemption
You may import a certain value
of goods to the US without having
to pay duty; this is called the
personal exemption. Depending
on the countries you have visited,
your exemption will be $200, $800
or $1,600. This applies if

The items are for your personal or
household use or are gifts. They must
accompany you. Items to be sent later
may not be included in your $800
duty-free exemption. (Exceptions
apply for goods sent from Guam or
the US Virgin Islands.)
They are declared to CBP.
You are returning from an overseas stay of at least 48 hours. This
time limit does not apply if you are
returning from Mexico or from the
US Virgin Islands. (See also the section on the $200 exemption.)
You have not used all or part of
your exemption allowance in the past
30 days.
The items are not prohibited or
restricted as discussed in the section
on Prohibited & Restricted Items.
Note the embargo prohibitions on
products of Cuba.
Requirements for the $200
exemption
If you cannot claim other exemptions because you have been out of
the US more than once in a 30-day
period or you have not been out of
the country for at least 48 hours,
you may still bring back $200
worth of items free of duty and
tax.
If the total value is more than
$200, the entire amount is dutiable. You may include with the
$200 exemption your choice of the
following: 5 fluid ounces of alcoholic
beverages or 5 fluid ounces of perfume containing alcohol.
Family members may not
combine their individual $200
exemptions.
Also, duty on items you mail
home to yourself will be waived if
the value is $200 or less.
Requirements for the $800
exemption
If you are arriving from anywhere
other than the US Virgin Islands,
American Samoa or Guam, you
may bring back $800 worth of items
duty-free, as long as you bring them
with you.
For Caribbean Basin or Andean
countries, your exemption is
also $800. These countries include
56
Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados,

Barbuda, Belize, British Virgin
Islands, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada,
Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras,
Jamaica, Montserrat, Netherlands
Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru,
Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia,
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines and
Trinidad & Tobago.
duty on items
you mail home to
yourself will be
waived if the value
is $200 or less.
You may include two liters of
alcoholic beverages with this $800
exemption, as long as one of the
liters was produced in one of the
countries listed above.
Requirements for the $1,600
exemption
If you return directly or indirectly from a US insular possession
(US Virgin Islands, American Samoa
or Guam), you are allowed a dutyfree exemption of $1,600.
If you travel to a US insular
possession and to one or more of
the Caribbean Basin or Andean
countries listed above, lets say on
a Caribbean cruise, you may bring
back $1,600 worth of items without
paying duty, but only $800 worth
of these items may come from the
Caribbean Basin or Andean country
or countries. Any amount beyond
$800 will be dutiable unless you
acquired it in one of the insular possessions.
Similarly, you may include five
liters of alcoholic beverages in
your duty-free exemption, but one
of them must be a product of an
insular possession. Four may be
products of other countries.
Frequent travelers can apply
their personal exemption only once
every 30 days.
Duty-free or reduced rates
Duty-free or reduced rates apply to
items from the following developing
countries or are duty-free under a

trade program called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
(The GSP Guidebook provides
basic information on the program.)
The countries are Andean countries,
Caribbean countries, sub-Saharan
African countries, Israel, Jordan,
Chile, Singapore, Mexico and
Canada.
Visit the website of the Office of
United States Trade Representative
at www.ustr.gov for additional GSP
information.
If you are bringing in products
that originate in a country eligible
for a special trade program, you
may automatically bring the
goods into the US duty-free.
However, you should have proof
of the goods country of origin. For
example, the goods should have
marks stating that they were made
in the country they were produced
or manufactured in, and the country
of origin should be indicated on the
invoice or receipt.
Increased duty rates
Under what is known as its 301
authority, the United States may
impose a much-higher-than-normal
duty rate on products from certain
countries.
Currently, the US has imposed
a 100% rate of duty on certain
products of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden and Ukraine.
If you should bring more of any of
these products back with you than
what falls within your exemption or
flat rate of duty (see below), you will
pay as much in duty as you paid for
the products.
While most of the products listed
are not the type of goods that travelers would purchase in sufficient
quantities to exceed their exemption,
diamonds from Ukraine are subject
to the 100% duty and might easily
exceed the exemption amount.
Determining Customs duty
The Customs duty rate is a
percentage, which is determined
by the total purchased value of
57
Discerning Traveler
the article(s) paid in a foreign
country. The Harmonized Tariff
System (HTS) provides duty rates
for virtually every existing item.
CBP uses the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUS), which is a reference
manual that provides the applicable
tariff rates and statistical categories
for all merchandise imported into
the US.
To find duty rates in this manual,
go to http://hts.usitc.gov. Determine
the 10-digit HTS code for the goods.
After the HTS code is determined,
reference the duty rate in the General Rates sub-column. Look for a
special trade program.
Paying duty
Duty-free articles sold in a Customs duty-free shop are duty-free
only for the country in which that
shop is located.
As the term implies, duty-free
shops sell products without duty.
For example, by buying goods in a
duty-free shop in Paris, you avoid
paying the duty that France slaps on
imported goods (like Swedish vodka)
and that French stores ordinarily
include as part of a products list
price. You also frequently avoid the
valued-added tax (VAT).
However, if the goods acquired
in a duty-free shop exceed your
personal exemption/allowance, the
amount in excess will be included
in the calculation of your duty.
Thus, as an example, if you buy
wine in a duty-free shop in France,
you would pay 20 per bottle if you
take it out of the country, while a
Frenchman would pay 26 if he
bought a similar bottle in a regular
store.
When you enter the US with that
20 bottle, it would be just one of
the items that would be totaled to
find out if you have to pay duty. If
you have other wares that total $800
(assuming an $800 exemption), you
would have a total of $800 + $25
(equivalent of 20) = $825, of which
$800 is free of duty and the $25 are
subject to duty.
58
The flat rate

The CBP officer will place the
items that have the highest rate
of duty under your exemption.
Then, after subtracting your exemptions and the value of any duty-free
items, a flat rate of duty of 3% will
be charged on the next $1,000 worth
of merchandise. Any dollar amount
beyond this $1,000 will be dutiable
according to the HTSUS listing.
The flat rate of duty may be used
only for items for your own use or
for gifts. As with your exemption,
you may use the flat-rate provision
only once every 30 days. Special flat
rates of duty apply to items made
and acquired in Canada or Mexico.
The flat rate of duty applies only
to those purchases that accompany
you.
The flat-duty rate also will be
charged on items that are dutiable
but that cannot be included in your
personal exemption, even if you
have not exceeded the exemption.
The best example of this is liquor.
If you return from Europe with $200

worth of items, including two liters
of liquor, one liter will be duty-free
under your exemption. The other will
be dutiable at 3% plus any Internal
Revenue Service tax.
Determining duty rates for a
particular item
Whether or not you are eligible
for an exemption and what it will be
Frequent travelers can apply their

personal exemption only once
every 30 days.
depends on your residency status,
the country you are coming from,
how long you were there, what you
purchased or received, the country
the goods were made in, and the
price paid for the goods.
Here are some examples.
Jewelry worth less than $200 is not
dutiable because it falls under the
$200 exemption.
A carpet bought in Turkey and
worth $700 would fall under your
$800 exemption if the Customs
officer agrees that the carpet you
are importing is identical to the one
listed in the HTSUS book. However,
the Customs officer may decide that
your carpet has a different benchmark and is worth $1,300, which is
$500 over your exemption, in which
case you would pay a flat rate of 3%
of $500 = $15.
On a $3,000 coat imported from
India that would be listed in the
HTSUS book under the description coats and capes of wool, fine
animal hair, there is no duty, as
textiles from India are free from
duty.
The same coat imported from
China, after subtracting the $800
exemption, would cost $489.93 in
duty. It also might be considered a
formal entry, as its value is above
$2,000, necessitating extensive
paperwork or the services of a
Customs broker (to be discussed next
month in part two of this series).
A watch bought in India with

mechanical display worth $500 over
your exemption would require your
paying a duty of $32.12.
Personal imports of diamonds,
pearls, rubies, etc., from countries
with normal trade relation status
are duty-free as long as they are not
permanently mounted. When these
items are mounted with some sort of
metal, they are classified as jewelry
and are subject to duty. (See the
HTSUS, chapter 71.)
For sterling-silver tableware
valued at $1,900, you deduct $800
for your exemption. That would leave
a balance of $1,100 subject to duty.
$1,000 of this is taxed at the flat rate
of duty, usually 3%, and the remaining $100 is taxed at 3.3%, according
to the HTSUS book. On the other
hand, if the tableware comes from
one of a number of specific countries,
as listed in the HTSUS book, the
entire $1,100 may be duty-free.
Note that original paintings and
antiques over 100 years old are not
subject to duty.
Although, in principle, articles
can be classified in only one place,
classification often requires interpretation and judgment. The CBP
has authority to make classification
decisions and may disagree with a
reasonable classification offered by
the importer. Published Customs
rulings (http://rulings.cbp.gov) are
often useful to see how Customs
looks at the issues.
Disclaimer I found the above
duty figures in the duty calculator
(www.dutycalculator.com) and in
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
(HTS), which assume the correct
classification of the item and may
or may not agree with the Customs
inspectors identification of your
import. Therefore, your duty may
be different from what is listed
here.
The duty calculator allows you
to look up duties for free only
three times. After that, there is a
charge for looking up the duty on
an item. Also, you have to register
even to look up the duties on the
first three items.
Looking up tariffs in the HTS is
free.
Internet purchases from abroad

For info about Customs duties on
Internet purchases from abroad, go
to www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-importexport/internet-purchases.
How to pay Customs duty
If you owe Customs duty, you
must pay it before the conclusion
of your CBP processing. You
may pay it in any of the following
ways:
US currency.
Personal check, in the exact
amount, drawn on a US bank and
made payable to US Customs &
Border Protection. You must pre
sent identification, such as a passport
or US drivers license. CBP does not
accept checks bearing second-party
endorsement.
Government check, money order
or travelers check if the amount
does not exceed the duty owed by
more than $50.
In some locations, you may pay
duty with either a MasterCard or
Visa credit card.
be brought in duty-free as household

effects. However, duty is usually
waived on personal effects more
than one year of age. All vehicles are
dutiable.
Next month, I will report on duties
on items sent back to the US and on
finding a Customs broker.
Brazil ranks fifth

in the
world in both land area
and total population. BH
Household and personal effects

Customs duty guidance
Household effects are duty-free.
These include such items as furniture, carpets, paintings, tableware,
stereos and linens as well as tools of
the trade, such as professional books,
implements, instruments and similar
household furnishings.
Your personal belongings can
be sent back to the US duty free if
they are of US origin and if they
have not been altered or repaired
while abroad.
Personal belongings like worn
clothing can be mailed home and
will receive duty-free entry if you
write the words American Goods
Returned on the outside of the
package.
You may import household effects
you acquired abroad duty-free if
You used them abroad for no less
than one year.
They are not intended for any
other person or for sale.
For Customs purposes, clothing,
jewelry, photography equipment,
portable radios and vehicles are considered personal effects and cannot
59
The Garden Path
by Yvonne Michie Horn
their swollen trunks and sparse

branches provided the foundation
for what has become the gardens
ongoing additions of species.
Unlike many other botanical gardens in the world, ours hasnt been
landscaped or adorned with exotic
plants from elsewhere, Rgheimer
Left: At the entrance to the
National Botanic Garden,
the wrought-iron gate depicts
plants indigenous to Namibia
Windhoek. Below: Silke
Rgheimer, the gardens director/curator. Photos by Yvonne
Michie Horn
The National Botanic

Garden of Namibia
Namibias National Botanic

Garden was right there, according
to my map, close by Windhoeks
impressive Parliament Building
and a hop, skip and a jump from the
citys landmark Christ Church. But
where was it?
As I trudged along streets and
roads that invariably didnt take me
to the garden, there was no need
to remind me that Windhoek is the
capital city of the driest country
south of the Sahara. My water bottle
had long ago gone empty.
Can you tell me where the botanical garden is? I asked passersby
along the way. Replies ranged from
I think its somewhere over there
to I didnt know Windhoek had
a botanical garden! to Whats a
botanical garden? Finally, one said,
You get to it via Hugel Street, two
streets over, adding that Hugel
translated to hill and that I was in
for quite a climb.
Needless to say, my mood was
not happy when, at last, I pushed
open the wrought-iron gates to the
60
garden a mood enhanced on the

not-happy side when I poked my
camera through a wire fence to take a
photo of the garden sign only to find
the fence electrified!
To collect myself, I sat in the shade
of a gracefully drooping moringa
tree, as it was labeled, before heading
into the gardens entrance building to
ask if Silke Rgheimer, the gardens
director/curator, might be available
to tell me a bit about the garden.
The gardens origins

In 1969 the property was fenced
and set aside as a game reserve, I
learned from Rgheimer. Paths were
laid out and the first trees, planted.
Funds, however, soon became
depleted and the park was closed.
So it remained until 1993, when the
National Botanical Institute asked
permission to find a permanent home
on the property and administer its 12
hectares as a showcase of Namibias
indigenous flora.
The trees earlier planted among
them a stand of fully grown quiver,
seven varieties of acacia, and
prehistoric-looking bottle trees with
told me. It remains purely and

proudly Namibian.
While the garden was initially
designed to showcase species
indigenous to Windhoeks immediate area, Rgheimer has gradually
increased its diversity with the addition of flora from far-flung areas of
the country.
Seasonal hues
Every season has its beauty,
Rgheimer said as she handed me
a map and encouraged me to go
exploring. During the dry months,
the garden is golden and tawny,
she said. When the rains begin, it
instantaneously turns green.
Transformed
overnight
Id arrived
in Windhoek a
day prior to my
participation in
an ElderTreks
tour of Southern
Africa (Oct. 14,
pg. 6). The destination for our
first nights stay
was the Namib
Naukluft Lodge,
located on a
25,000-hectare
private reserve,
its cluster of cottages banked
hard against a
rock hill with
golden savannah
grass billowing toward red
mountains in the
distance.
A thunderstorm roared
through that
night with an
Labels identify specimens throughout the garden, such a c c o m p a n y ing drenching
as the Kokerboom Quiver Tree (Aloe dichotoma).
downpour. In the
My late-2014 visit was at the morning, I was astounded to see that
tail end of the rainy season. While the golden savannah had erupted into
the garden had not yet entered its a landscape of wildflowers blues,
golden and tawny season, it had
experienced several weeks of dry
weather and was no longer lushly
green.
Paths and stone stairways took me
through an enormous collection of
succulents, through the quiver tree
forest, past the picnic area, through
a planting of lilies (which I was told
would erupt into extravagant bloom
when doused with a drizzle), specimens of aloe and euphorbia.
I passed plants familiar to my
northern California home landscape
and others, like the Pachypodium
lealii with its strange bulbous trunk
and topknot of sparse branches, that
appeared absolutely prehistoric.
Interesting as it was to read plant
labels, the propertys hillside location
captivated me with its stunning views
of the city below and surrounding
landscape.
yellows, reds giving me sudden

insight as to what occurs when rain
falls on Namibias National Botanic
Garden.
Periodic late-afternoon and evening
showers followed us through our
days in Namibia, transforming dusty
plains and rocky mountain peaks into
botanical gardens overnight. Entire
fields turned into stunning carpets
of aptly named yellow devils thorn.
Gorgeous to look at, but dont even
consider walking across it in your
flip-flops!
Planning a visit
The National Botanic Garden
of Namibia (phone +264 61 202
2014, www/nbri.org.na) is located
at 8 Orban Street in Windhoek.
The garden is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday to Friday plus 8 a.m.-11
a.m. every first Saturday. Admission
is free.
Words to the wise paths and
stone steps are uneven throughout
the garden; wear sturdy walking
shoes. Carry bottled water with you
and wear a hat. Consider arriving by
taxi, asking first if the driver knows
of the gardens existence and is
acquainted with its location.
Email Yvonne Horn at yhorn@

sonic.net. Also visit www.thetraveling
gardener.com.
61
Far Horizons
by Randy Keck
The lift to
Kasamatsu
Park
provides
spectacular
views over
Miyazu
Bay and
the Amanohashidate
sandbar.
Photos by
Randy Keck
Japan
Kyoto and Kinosaki
(First of two parts)

In late June of 2014 I, along with
two other journalists, participated in
a trip through Japans Kansai region
as a guest of the local tourism board.
Our 6-day journey focused on utilizing the very efficient railway system
to explore the Kyoto, Kinosaki,
Osaka and Nara areas of Kansai.
Being an aficionado of both Japanese cuisine and many aspects of the
culture in general, this adventure was
right up my alley.
We were accompanied throughout
the trip by the guide Michiko Moriwaki and by Takayoshi Okumura
of the Kansai International Tourism
Promotion Center.
62
Kyoto and surrounds

With travel primarily by rail, our
initial touring day in the expansive
Kyoto City area was a nonstop
whirlwind of activity.
First up was the impressive Fushi
mi-Inari Shrine, only a 5-minute ride
on the Japan Rail line from Kyoto
Station. The shrine is famous for its
thousands of vermilion gates, which
straddle an extensive network of
trails leading into the wooded forest
of sacred Mount Inari. One trail
eventually climbs to a peak at 233
meters, offering broad views over
Kyoto.
Fushimi-Inari is the most important
of several thousand shrines dedicated
to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Our
schedule didnt allow time for us to
Green tea shops abound in Kyoto.

climb to the peak, but, given the heat,
perhaps that was a blessing.
We hopped back on the rail to
Uji and the beautiful, 11th-century
Byodo-in Temple, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site that is popular
with visitors. The finest elements
of imperial culture were brought
together to construct the main hall,
and the spectacular ancient architecture remains unchanged today.
Uji was also the starting point
of our journey-long green tea
exposure, as we participated in an
educational traditional green tea
ceremony at Taiho-an tea house (1-5
Uji, Togawa, Uji City; phone 0774
23 3334). At 500 yen, about $5, the
ceremony is a bargain.
Gion treasures
From Uji, we continued by train to
the Gion section of Kyoto City, first
visiting the ornate, Shinto Yasaka
Shrine, originally built to expel the
epidemics of disease in the 17th cenCall 800/486-4968 to subscribe
tury. It is praised today as something

of a good-luck charm that can bring
people prosperity and protect them
from illness.
The natural beauty of the mountains frames the majestic 3-level
pagoda of Kiyomizu Temple, which
was our next stop. A World Heritage
Site, the 15-story-high main wooden
structure was completed without the
use of nails an impressive feat in
any century. Superb views of Kyoto
City are possible from some of the
halls on the temples top level.
We also wandered the streets
of Gion, birthplace of the Geisha
culture, where visitors try to spot the
elusive Geisha in what seems to be
something of an on-foot photo safari
experience. After enjoying a Kyotostyle shabu-shabu (beef-and-seafood
hot pot) dinner in Gion, two of us
finally managed to spot and photograph two lovely Geisha prey.
In Gion, I was amazed by the
number of younger (20s) female
and male tourists from surrounding
Asian countries who were strolling
the areas around the temples dressed
in traditional Japanese costume. We
were advised this is a very popular
visitor pastime, although I never
quite understood why.
Our movements on this day were
managed by three well-coordinated
train transfers and a final taxi ride
back to our hotel after dinner. My
recommendation for most visitors
would be to take a minimum of two
full days to do what we deftly managed in one with our expert guides.
s Beyond the
ck
e
K Garden Wall
This is a place for cleansing on

so many different levels
The body, nourished naturally
from the land and sea
The mind, finding solace as calm
replaces clutter
The heart releases the me
The soul embraces the we
Alignment, harmony, peace
Randy acknowledging the
inner-wealth package the experience
of Japan can offer
across the beautiful forested sand

spit to Moto-Ise Shrine. After taking
a chair lift to enjoy the sweeping
views overlooking Amanohashidate,
we returned to the main village by
boat and continued to Kinosaki, our
overnight destination.
Kinosaki dreaming
It was early evening when we
arrived at one of Japans premier hot
springs destinations, Kinosaki and
the ryokan (traditional-style hotel)
Nishimuraya Shogetsutei (1016-2
Yushima, Kinosaki-cho, Toyooka
City, Hyogo Pref., Japan 669-6101;
www.nishimuraya.ne.jp/shogetsu/
en). Upon checking in, there was just
enough time to get in a quick soak
at the hotel baths before our formal
Japanese dinner.
Amanohashidate bound
The following morning, we traveled by limited express train through
the inviting green Kansai countryside
to Nishi-Maizuru. There we switched
to the decorative, 2-car Alcamatsu
tourist train for a leisurely ride to
Amanohashidate, considered one of
the three most scenic spots in Japan.
The areas main feature is a
narrow, 3.6-kilometer-long sandbar
with more than 8,000 pine trees
cradled by the pristine waters of the
Aso Sea and Miyazu Bay.
On arrival, we briefly visited
Chionji (god of learning) Temple,
followed by a relaxing bicycle ride
63
Far Horizons
Mostly, I wanted to get familiar
with the baths process, as I was planning to visit several of the towns
seven public hot spring bath facilities
after dinner. We had only one night
in this paradise and I needed to make
the most of it.
Visitors staying at any local ryokan
can use Kinosakis seven public
bathhouses without paying admission
charges. In order to gain free admission, you need to wear the ryokans
yukata (kimono) and carry admission
coupons provided by the ryokan.
Upon the completion of our
lengthy dinner, one of our trip
hosts, Mr. Okumura, and I managed to visit and enjoy the hot
springs at four of the seven public
bath houses: Jizo-yu, Mandara-yu,
Ichino-yu and Goshono-yu. The
following day we were dubbed the
hot springs express by the rest of
our group.
While we had only a one-night
whistle stop in Kinosaki, I would
recommend a minimum of two
nights or, for hot springs aficionados,
three or more.
The rooms in our traditional-style
Japanese hotel were quite large. In
the main room of each, a sitting table
magically disappeared in the

evening, replaced
by a comfortable
sleeping mat on
the floor. It was
a most enjoyable
cultural experience but, for me,
would take some
conditioning to
get used to as a
constant. Room
prices range from
$320 to $550 per
night.
In next months
column, I will
report on the
Osaka area of
Japans Kansai
region.
Before you
go
The all-encompassing information source for
Kansai is the
website of the Entrance to Fushimi-Inari Grand Shrine in Kyoto.
Kansai International Tourism Promotion Center, information about the four railways
www.kansai.gr.jp. On the website, go that operate in Kansai.
to Sightseeing and also 100 Hot

You may reach Randy at 80
Spots. You will also find detailed
America Way, Jamestown, RI 02835;
401/560-0350, randykeck@yahoo.
com.
Van Gogh In Amsterdam, the

of Vincent van
Museum life
Gogh, his develop-
ment as an artist and his influence on

art are examined in a new, buildingwide, permanent exhibit at the Van
Gogh Museum (Paulus Potterstraat
7, 1071 CX Amsterdam, Netherlands;
phone +31 20 570 5200, www.van
goghmuseum.nl/en).
Along with his paintings, the
museum now includes drawings and
letters from the artist. Subjects such
as his mental illness and suicide are
addressed in the museum for the first
time.
9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (to 10 p.m.
Fri.). 15 (near $19) or free for under
18. For Fast-lane entry, purchase
tickets online.
64
ITN Travel Awards Challenge

This months recipients:
Globetrotter
Bonnie Schmidt Clover, SC
All of Europe
Jeff Carrier Naples, FL
Antoinette Vogel Pittsburgh, PA
North & Central Asia

United Kingdom
Patricia G. Heringer Otis, OR
Bonnie Schmidt Lake Wylie, SC
Following are the travel awards now available from ITN. 100 Nations (You need to have been to 100 of the 196
on the list.) Quarto Mondo (Tackle 49 countries.) Travel is My Forte (A fortuitous 40.) All of Africa (Visit
all 54 countries.) Half of Africa (Visit 27 of the 54.) Asia Awards (Visit destinations in North & Central Asia,
East & Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and/or All of Asia 49 in all.) All of Europe (Tag 45 countries.)
Oceania XV (Set foot on all 14 nations.) All South America (Have you stopped in all 13?) All Central America
(The seven.) Caribbean X (10 of 13 nations) United Kingdom Travel Award (All four countries) The Continents (Separate six- and seven-continents awards.) 24 Time Zones (Spent time in all of them?) Following
The Equator (A toughie all 13 countries along the line between the Northern and Southern hemispheres.)
Phileas Fogg (Major destinations from the Jules Verne novel Around the World in 80 Days.) Hit The Road
(Visit destinations in the Road To... movie titles.) Shellback Plus (Cross the equator, prime meridian and
International Date Line.) For rules on all of the awards, visit www.intltravelnews.com and click Awards (e.g.,
you must accomplish the feat before applying for the award).
Dont see your name above? See which award YOU qualify for! Visit www.intltravelnews.com for a complete
list of awards and rules for each.
Featured this month
Visited All South America, Central America awards

If you have traveled to all of the 13 mainland countries on the continent of South America
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay,
Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela you are eligible for the ITN VISITED ALL SOUTH
AMERICA AWARD.
If your explorations have taken you to all seven countries in Central America Belize, Costa Rica,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama you qualify for the ITN VISITED
ALL CENTRAL AMERICA AWARD.
To receive the All South America Award, list the 13 countries along with the year of your visit to
each. Place the list and a check for $7 (payable to ITN) into an envelope
addressed to ITN Visited All South America Award, c/o ITN, 2116
28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818.
For the Visited All Central America Award, make a list of the seven
countries along with the year of your visit to each and send it with a check
for $7 to ITN Visited All Central America Award, c/o ITN, 2116 28th
St., Sacramento, CA 95818.
In each case, you will be sent a special certificate personalized with your
name and measuring 8"x11", mailed flat and suitable for framing. (Years
of visits are not indicated on the certificates.) If applying for both awards,
you need send only one envelope, of course, plus a check for $14 to ITN
Visited All South and Central America Awards (to same address).
65
Boarding Pass
(continued from page 2)
traffic accidents involving foreign

drivers has spurred legislators to
consider making tourists take driving tests before being allowed to get
behind the wheel.
New Zealand Associate Transport
Minister Michael Woodhouse
encouraged the idea after being presented with a petition in June 2014.
The petition, calling for new regulations and signed by 31,000 citizens,
was organized by 10-year-old Sean
Roberts, whose father was killed on
his motorcycle by a vehicle driven by
a visiting student in 2012.
In 2013 in New Zealand, at
least 558 accidents resulting in an
injury or death involved a tourist.
Tourists were found to be at fault
in three-fourths of those accidents,
11 of which involved fatalities. In
2014, from Jan. 1 to Oct. 3 in New
Zealand, there were seven traffic
66
accidents resulting in fatalities and

involving foreign drivers.
Though police in New Zealand
estimate that foreign drivers are
involved in only about 2% of
incidents nationwide, tourists are
involved in a staggering 25% of
accidents in the central and lower
portions of the South Island, particularly around Queenstown.
In October, the Tourism Industry
Association of New Zealand created
a series of guidelines for car rental
companies to distribute to visitors.
These advocate access to videos on
traffic safety, encourage the use of
GPS and suggest travelers rest overnight when arriving in the country
before picking up their vehicles.
In Mexico, anyone with a
US-state-issued drivers license
is allowed to drive throughout the
country for a short period of time.
Extra caution may be advised in
Mexico City (aka Mxico, D.F.),
however.
Until now, Mexico City residents
(including resident foreigners) over
the age of 17 have never needed to
take driving skills tests or written
tests to get their drivers licenses. All
that has been needed is proof of residency, 677 pesos (about $50) and a
completed application, although any
foreigner is also required to show his
passport.
A potential driver picks up the
application at a Public Ministry
office, takes it to one of three supermarkets to pay the 677-peso fee and
collect a receipt, then goes back to
the Public Ministry to be issued a
license. (The supermarket step was

introduced to reduce corruption. No
longer do city workers collect the
money.)
This was expected to change
before years end, however. Mayor
Miguel Angel Mancera has signed
a new law in the city requiring each
new applicant to pass a basic aptitude
test and driving skills test as well as
an eyesight test.
Travelers planning on driving
in any foreign country may want to
apply for an International Driving
Permit, or IDP ($15). The permit,
which contains information from the
holders state license translated into
10 languages, is accepted in more
than 150 countries and is mandatory
in 78. If you have an IDP and are
driving in a country that accepts
it, you can leave your state-issued
license at home. (Both New Zealand
and Mexico accept the IDP but do
not require it.)
Two organizations are authorized
by the US Department of State to
distribute IDPs in the US: AAA
(to apply, go to www.aaa.com and,
after being redirected to your states
branch, type IDP in the search
bar and click on Get Peace of
Mind with an International Driving
Permit) and the National Automobile Club, or NAC (www.national
autoclub.com/idp_faqs.htm).
While many travelers with IDPs
admit to seldom actually needing
them, I remember one traveler saying
that whenever he was asked to
present a photo ID overseas, he first
would hand over his IDP, thereby
keeping possession of his passport.

Caution you may find other
companies offering IDPs in the US,
but these are scams. Any license not
issued by the AAA or NAC is not
legitimate.
Diane Robbins of Penfield, New

York, wrote, I would love to have
some feedback from other travelers
who have stamina issues.
When sightseeing, my husband
does well for a while, but after about
an hour or so of walking or being on
his feet, he needs to rest for a few
minutes. We nixed a trip to Rome
because of feedback that visiting
the Vatican can take hours, with no
place to sit.
Im curious about travelers who
take those canes that open into seats.
Are the seats easy to use? Do they
feel secure sitting on them? Where
can you buy them?
I would like to hear from anyone
who has used a travel scooter. Have
you used it in small European cities
with cobblestones and hills?
Can anyone recommend a travel

company that travels at a slower
pace, one that offers trips with few
(or no) one-night stays and walking tours that dont feel like youre
taking a forced march?
Because we knew this time of
having to slow down was coming,
we did a lot of adventure travel over
the past few years. But we were
wondering if we really do need to
eliminate future adventure travel or
if there are companies we could use
and places to see that allow for a
slower pace.
If you have suggestions for Diane,
email editor@intltravelnews.com
or write to Travel Solutions for
Stamina Issues, c/o ITN, 2116 28th
St., Sacramento, CA 95818. Letters
will be forwarded to Diane and
shared with ITN readers.
A few CORRECTIONS to note

In two letters on page 55 of
the October 2014 issue (Notes on
France and Be Aware of Pickpockets), editors notes referred to a pre-
vious item on pickpockets on pages 2

and 67 in the September 2014 issue.
Each should have referred to pages 2
and 67 of the August 2014 issue.
George F. Mueden, Jr., of
Providence, Rhode Island, read the
subscribers letter Vaporetti in
Venice (Nov. 14, pg. 32) and wrote
with a clarification.
In the letter about Venice, the
subscriber had written, I could take
buses and the vaporetti (water taxis)
anywhere I wanted to go.
Mr. Mueden points out, In
Venice, vaporetti are water buses
with fixed routes and schedules, and
you may go only where they go.
Alternatively, water taxis will take
you wherever you want to go.
The subscriber wrote of the specific
vaporetti routes she took, and they
went everyplace she was interested
in, so the sentence should have read,
Buses and the vaporetti (water
buses) went everywhere I wanted to
go. Thanks for setting that straight,
George.
Bob Kastelic of Sunnyvale,
67
Boarding Pass
California, took issue with The
Geografile statement The worlds
tallest volcano is Ojos del Salado,
which straddles Chile and Argentina
and rises to about 22,570 feet (Nov.
14, pg. 43).
He wrote, The tallest volcano in
the world is Mauna Kea in Hawaii,
which, measured from the base, rises
to more than 30,000 feet. Ojos del
Salado is the highest in altitude.
Bob is right. The prominence of
Mauna Kea (the base of which sits
on the ocean floor) is greater. We
should have used the word highest
instead of tallest.
A fan of the tour company Road

Scholar (Boston, MA; www.road
scholar.org) read the letter Road
Scholar Tour of Cuba (Aug. 14,
pg. 28), in which a traveler told what
he liked and disliked about his 7-day
tour, including, I felt very controlled
and would have appreciated more
walking and free time and less talk.
The fan was concerned that people
might get the wrong impression
about Road Scholar tours, which, for
most destinations, she wrote, offers
everything from fully organized tours
to very independent tours.
Unlike in other countries, how-
68
ever, the OFAC-licensed People

to People tours offered in Cuba by
ANY company have restrictions.
ITN sent a copy of the published
letter to Road Scholar and invited
comment. JoAnn Bell, Vice President
of Road Scholar Programs, wrote,
Due to US regulations outlined by
the US Department of the Treasurys
Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC), our programs to Cuba, by
design, must maintain a full-time
schedule of people-to-people educational activities.
While we realize that the days
can seem extremely structured, our
ultimate goal is to foster interactions
between our participants and the
people of Cuba in the most meaningful and impactful way possible.
In this issue of ITN, we present the

winners of the latest essay contest.
The subject this time was Kenya,
and one subscriber wondered at that,
since, she wrote, There is currently
a US State Department warning
on Kenya and there have also been
violent events there recently.
The list of essay topics was written a couple of years ago by the
creator and publisher of ITN, the
late Armond Noble, in his November
2010 Departure Lounge column.
One day he had the idea of running
an essay contest. He was always one
for puns and alliteration, and the next

day he came in with a list of topics,
some clever and some corny but all
Armond. Im Keen on Kenya was
next on the list.
Yes, as repeatedly reported in ITN,
the State Department has been posting warnings about threats and acts
of terrorism in that country lately, or
particular parts of it, anyway. Many
people have canceled trips to Kenya,
but others continue to travel there.
We feel it is our job to keep travelers informed, not to tell them where
they should or should not travel. Its
up to individuals to decide where
they would like to visit.
Contributing Editor Philip Wagenaar has been traveling to several

countries since his column, The
Discerning Traveler, last appeared
in ITN, in our May issue. Hes back
this month in a big way, with the
first of a 3-part article about paying
Customs duties on items brought or
sent back to the US.
He has taken a daunting amount
of government-speak and broken
it down into a form thats easier to
follow. This series is sure to serve as
a helpful information resource.
The holiday season is upon us, so

heres a helpful shopping tip. A great
gift for any traveling friend or family
member is a subscription to ITN.
This magazine isnt known for
glossy photos. What it does have is
the straight scoop on hotels, tours
and cruises plus travel advice and
enthusiastic accounts written by
people who love to travel.
From independent travelers to tour
takers and from those on a budget to
the deluxe set, all types of travelers
find something of interest in ITN
because all types contribute letters
and articles to be printed.
Call 800/486-4968, purchase a gift
subscription to ITN, and let us know
when you want the gift card to go
out. Or visit our website and click on
Subscribe and Send a gift, then
select a subscription length.
This is the gift that keeps on
coming every month! How will it be
received?
Dianna Sutherland of Annandale,
Virginia, wrote, Ive said it before

and Ill say it again: ITN is the BEST
travel publication there is! No hype,
just simple honesty written by those
who have experienced and shared the
joys and trials of travel.
I suppose its good that it comes
only monthly; otherwise, Id have
my head/nose in it all month long
instead of just a couple of days.
Philip A. Shart of Tamarac, Florida, wrote, I always look forward to
my copy of ITN. I refer to it as the
mom-and-pop candy store of travel
magazines. I say this because these
family-run candy stores had goodies
that you could afford. The same is
true of ITN. Unlike the flashy travel
magazines, it has goodies and ideas
on trips to fit any budget.
Sounds like a stocking stuffer to
me!
DT
News
Watch
(continued from page 17)
tion should be exercised. According
to the Mexican Executive Secretary
of National Public Security, Guerrero was the most violent state
in Mexico in 2013, with 2,087
homicides and 207 reported cases
of kidnapping.
Ukraine skirmishes
Fighting between Ukrainian armed

forces and separatists continued in
eastern Ukraine in October, despite
a cease-fire agreed upon on Sept.
5. The heaviest fighting occurred
in and around the rebel-held city of
Donetsk. At least 13 Ukrainian soldiers were wounded. Rebel casualties
were not reported.
Shelling in Donetsk on Oct. 18-19
killed four civilians and injured nine
others, with neither side claiming
responsibility. An explosion in the
city on Oct. 20 destroyed a munitions
factory, with no reported casualties;
a Ukrainian military spokesperson
denied the armys involvement.
Amnesty International has accused
both sides of committing abuses
during the conflict, which began on
April 2014 and has resulted in the
deaths of more than 3,500 people.
On Oct. 11, Russian President

Vladimir Putin ordered more than
17,000 Russian troops to pull back
from Russias border with Ukraine.
Somali forces retake city
Somali and African Union (AU)

forces retook the coastal city of
Barawa, Somalia, from the al-Qaeda
allied, militant Islamist group alShabaab on Oct. 6. The city was
the last major port controlled by
al-Shabaab, which used it as a center
for importing and exporting, keeping
the group funded and armed.
Somali and AU troops have
retaken seven al-Shabaab controlled
cities since launching new operations
on Sept. 1. Al-Shabaabs leader,
Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed by
a US drone strike in August.
The US Department of State continues to warn travelers to avoid all
travel to Somalia. While some parts
of south-central Somalia are now
under Somali government control,
with AU military support, al-Shabaab
still can carry out attacks there.
Koreas test borders
North and South Korean militaries

exchanged fire three times in October. In the first incident, ships from
both countries fired warning shots
after a North Korean vessel crossed
a disputed maritime border.
On Oct. 10, North Korean soldiers
fired at helium balloons carrying propaganda being sent across the border
by South Korean activists.
On Oct. 19, South Korean soldiers
fired at North Korean soldiers
encroaching on the demilitarized
zone, prompting the North Korean
soldiers to return fire.
No casualties were reported during
any of the events.
No. Korea frees American
American Jeffrey Fowle, imprisoned in North Korea since early

June 2014, was released on Oct. 21.
Fowle had been arrested for antistate crimes as he tried to leave the
country. He is reported to have left a
Bible in a restaurant or hotel room.
Attempting to spread religion is a
crime in North Korea.
Send A Friend
(or two) a free sample copy of
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69
News Watch
American Kenneth Bae, currently
serving 15 years of hard labor in
North Korea, was arrested in 2013
for crimes against the state while
working as a Christian missionary.
One other American, Matthew
Todd Miller, arrested in April 2014
after tearing up his visa and demanding political asylum, was sentenced
to six years hard labor on Sept. 14.
Nepal blizzard deaths
On Thorong La Pass, part of the

Annapurna Circuit trail in a section
of the Himalayas in north-central
Nepal, at least 41 people died from
exposure when an unseasonable and
sudden blizzard dropped over 5
feet of snow on the pass in less than
12 hours on Oct. 14. Nearly 400
hikers became stranded.
The Nepalese Army rescued hundreds of the hikers, many suffering
from frostbite or injured with broken
bones, before the effort was halted
on Oct. 19 due to worsening weather.
At press time, recovery efforts were
ongoing, with the number of hikers
still missing not known.
Current warnings
As ITN went to press, the State

Department had travel warnings
on 38 destinations: Afghanistan,
Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central
African Republic, Chad, Colombia,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Djibouti, El Salvador, Eritrea, Haiti,
Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Israel/West
Bank/Gaza, Kenya, North Korea,
Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya,
Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Niger,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi
Arabia, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
Republic of South Sudan, Sudan,
Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and
Yemen.
For details, call the State Department at 202/647-5225 or visit www.
travel.state.gov. For health news,
call the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention at 800/232-4636
or visit www.cdc.gov or visit the
World Health Organization website at www.who.int.
70
Person to
Person
Reader-to-reader info exchange
Planning a trip overseas and need

specific info? Your fellow ITN readers
may provide the answers. Send your question to Person to Person, c/o ITN, 2116
28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or email
editor@intltravelnews.com (include the
address at which you receive ITN).
Please indicate if you do NOT want
your complete address to be printed along
with your question. (Your phone number
will be printed only with your written
permission specifically stating, You may
print my phone number.) If your email
filter blocks senders not on a specific
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responses.
With lag times of printing and mailing,
you will not receive answers for one to
two months. Answers may be received
faster by posting onto the Message Board
at www.intltravelnews.com. Queries
printed in the magazine will also appear
on the ITN website for one month, viewable to subscribers only. ITN prints no
information on destinations in the United
States. ITN will forward mail to anyone
whose complete address is not given;
write to that person c/o ITN.
I am looking for suggestions for a

guide and driver for four people for
three days in Iceland in early May
2015. Bert Model; bertmodel@
gmail.com
Four people, one of whom uses a

cane, are planning a trip to Norway in
June-July 2015 and would like to take
a cruise from Bergen to Kirkenes.
We would like suggestions for a
cruise that is lower priced than those
of Hurtigruten and still stops at all
the main cities. We will go only one
way and fly back. Helen Haefner;
hhaefner@verizon.net
A couple planning a trip to the
Italian lake region in May 2015
would like recommendations for a
small-group tour or an Italian travel
guide who is familiar with the area
and whom you have used. Tom;
trosica@aol.com
I am planning a trip to Romania
for November 2015 and am interested
in finding my fathers family roots. I
would like suggestions for searching
for family and ancestors in that country. I also would like a recommendation of a tour company or personal
guide. And what areas of Romania
should I not miss? Donna Altes;
daltes@sbcglobal.net
A well-traveled couple and their
adult daughter are making a 3-day
visit to Hong Kong in May 2015. We
would like suggestions for must-see
sights and experiences, the best area
to stay in, medium-priced hotels, womens tailors, Chinese cooking classes,
walking guides and restaurants.
Marvin Rogers; marvinrogers@
hotmail.com
I will be cruising from Cape Town
to Mombasa in December 2015 and
would like suggestions on day tours
at the ports of Port Elizabeth, East
London and Richards Bay in South
Africa, Maputo in Mozambique,
Mahajanga, Nosy Be and Nosy
Komba in Madagascar, Zanzibar
in Tanzania, the Comoro Islands
and Mayotte. In addition, I would
like suggestions for day tours in
Swaziland, Zululand and Lesotho,
which I will be visiting in advance of
my cruise. A big problem is traveling
alone, as there are no tours for singles.
Driving alone is probably not a good
idea. Any suggestions? Joyce
Bruck; 561/738-9311, jbruck@bell
south.net
Travel Crossword
Across
1. Belgian city referred to

as The Venice of the
North
4. Arabian Sea gulf
8. Tour transport
10. Round and ___
11. They all lead to Rome,
its said
13. Yukon or Xterra, for
example
14. Southeast Asian capital
15. Something to build on
16. Dorothys auntie
18. Herzegovinas go-with
19. Londoner, in the US
20. Fish often found in hotel
pools
22. Large moon that circles
Jupiter
23. Airline purchase (3
words)
27. Acted as an event
controller on a cruise
ship, for example
28. Swedish city near
Stockholm
33. End-of-year holiday, abbr.
34. Romantic and
picturesque city in
Germany
36. Goulash cooking
equipment
37. Verb Hamlet used a lot

38. City where Nobel Peace
Prizes are awarded
40. You will have to pay to
cross it (2 words)
44. Popular destination in
Croatia
45. Midnight at the ___, put
your camel to bed
Down
1. French Polynesian island

(2 words)
2. Russian range
3. The lands of Southeast
Asia (2 words)
4. First word of a capital
in the United Arab
Emirates
5. English town famous for
white cliffs
6. France, Germany and
Greece are all part of it,
abbr.
7. Ultimate, as a degree
8. Thailands capital
9. Mountain cable (2 words)
10. Request
12. Quixote title
17. Niagara Falls Maid of
the __
21. Capital of Barbados
22. Cools down a
drink
Solution on page 75
by Myles Mellor
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
18
17
19
20
21
23
24
22
25
27
26
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
38
39
37
40
41
42
43
44
45
24. Historic German city on

the Danube
25. London currency
26. Sushi delicacy
29. Sicilian seaport
30. Street abbreviation
31. Where you can visit the
Casbah
32. Noted old university in

England
34. Over 90 degrees, for
example
35. Fall away, as a tide
39. Tennis maneuver
41. Albanian money
42. ___ and donts
43. Italian river
71
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2116 28th Street
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or email
ITNMart@intltravelnews.com
Ad cost: 77 per word, prepaid.
Ad deadline: 15th of the month,
two months prior to issue date.
Addresses must appear on all ads
so prospective clients can contact
you by mail, if they prefer.
Tours
STILL THE BEST WAY TO TOUR
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72
WINE LOVERS TOURS 2015 to

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DACEYS CORNISH TOURS: Small
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BA R G I N G I N C H A M PAG N E ,
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COSTA RICA EXPLORATIONS:
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www.goexploring.com
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Planning a trip? Got a complaint?

Call these information hotlines
Tour-operator/travel-agent problems Contact the American Society of Travel
Agents (800/275-2782 or 703/739-2782, www.asta.org) or the US Tour Operators Association (212/599-6599, www.ustoa.com); however, neither one takes complaints about
nonmembers. Also, contact the Better Business Bureau in the city in which the company
is located. European Union citizens may contact europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel.
Air-travel complaints (domestic and foreign) Contact the US Department of
Transportation (www.dot.gov/airconsumer) or the FAA (consumer hotline, 866/835-5322,
www.faa.gov/passengers).
Travel advisories The US Department of State (202/647-5225, www.travel.state.
gov) provides updated information on danger areas as well as visa, passport and health
info. Trip-planning publications also are available. Also visit www.reliefweb.int, run
by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Health The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention provide an International
Travelers Hotline offering recorded messages or faxes on current health risks, suggested
immunizations and food/water precautions; call 800/232-4636 or visit www.cdc.gov/
travel. Visit the World Health Organization at www.who.int. Travelers can join the
International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (1623 Military Rd., Ste.
279, Niagara Falls, NY 14304-1745; 716/754-4883, www.iamat.org) and receive a list
of English-speaking doctors worldwide plus info on malaria, immunizations and climate
overseas.
For info on weather and road conditions worldwide, visit the website of The
Weather Channel Interactive, Inc. (www.weather.com).
n a January 2014 tour to Peru and Bolivia, my husband, Phil, and I (pictured above) visited the Uyuni
Salt Flats in southwest Bolivia. The Uyuni Salt Flats are the largest in the world. In the rainy season, the
O
flats are covered in two to twelve inches of water, but this did not stop us from slowly driving five miles on
the flats to find a spot for a picnic. The scenery was otherworldly mesmerizing! DOROTHY MORRIS,
Honolulu, HI
TIRED OF DOING ALL THE DRIVING and missing out on the sights?
Now you can sit back, enjoy the ride
and the view with a small group. Marthas Travel Corner will indulge in a
Cultural & Culinary tour of Ireland,
June 14-25, 2015. September 10-19,
2015, we will explore many hidden corners of Ireland that include a two-night
stay at Dromoland Castle and a onenight stay on the Aran Island of Inish
Mor. Space is limited to no more than
20 people; sign up now while space is
open. MARTHAS TRAVEL CORNER,
124 Bertram Dr., Yorkville, IL 60560;
814/712-9048, marthatravel@att.net,
www.marthastravelcorner.com 1214
TWO-WEEK IRELAND DISCOVERY. August 8-22. Two weeks exploring the Emerald Isle with small group
(max 16) and private guide. Custom
itinerary includes Dublin, Kilkenny,
Waterford, Kinsale, Cobh, Killarney,
Doolin, Clifden, Trim. Several twonight stays, one 3-night stay. Catch
The Wind Tours, DRIFTER SISTER
LLC, PO Box 60042, Boulder City, NV
89006; 702/294-4365, www.driftersister.
com
1014-115
TWO WEEKS IN TUSCAN VILLA

W/CINQUE TERRE EXTENSION:
May 23-June 5. Small Group. Affordable. Villas, rental cars and gas, breakfast & evening snacks, and some meals
provided. Extension all-inclusive.
Catch The Wind Tours, DRIFTER
SISTER LLC, PO Box 60042, Boulder
City, NV 89006; 702/294-4365, www.
driftersister.com
1014-115
MACHU PICCHU & CUZCO:
Explore the heart of the Inca Empire
with our 8-day Andean Inca Exploration!
Overnight at Machu Picchu, witness and
learn about incredible Inca archaeology,
Spanish colonial history, the living history of the Quechua Indians, the majestic
Andes mountains & more! EXPLORATIONS INC., 27655 Kent Rd., Bonita
Springs, FL 34135; 800/446-9660, www.
goexploring.com
1214-315
ANDIAMO TO ITALY IN MAY:
Rome to Taormina plus Taormina to
Palermo. Other 2015 escorted tours:
Cherry Blossom, Virginia or Roman
Languedoc, Catalonia. Since 1979.
ANDIAMO, Box 406, Santa Rosa, CA
95402; andiamotravel@hotmail.com,
www.nbicf.org (CST 208083440) 1214
M YA N M A R , I N D O C H I N A ,
BHUTAN, NEPAL, CHINA, NORTH
KOREA, THAILAND + AFRICA:
Yangon- & Bangkok-based Swiss owner
Myriam & her travel experts (ITN Jun
03, p. 52; ITN May 06, p. 36; ITN Jan
13, p. 24; ITN May 14, p. 48) offer
the ultimate experience to now more
exotic destinations. Her personalized
service & own handcrafted itineraries,
her devotion to travel with class & in
style will make your journey unforgettable. NEW: Ask for her 2014/15 travel
dates where she escorts private groups.
MYANMAR TRAVEL, LTD., #27,
Shwe Pin Lon 4, Yangon/Myanmar;
info@myanmartravel.net, www.travel
withustoasia.com
1214
TWO WEEKS CROATIA SMALL
SHIP CRUISE IN COMBINATION
WITH MONTENEGRO LAND
TOUR: May 2-17. One week in Perast,
Montenegro, with daily excursions.
One week on small ship visiting islands
off Dalmatian Coast. Catch The Wind
Tours, DRIFTER SISTER LLC, PO
Box 60042, Boulder City, NV 89006;
702/294-4365, www.driftersister.com
1014-115
73
The Mart
MUNICH/BAVARIA/AUSTRIA/
NORTHERN ITALY: Professional
guide available for Munich city walks,
driver-guided tours hourly, daily, or
weekly by private limousine/minibus
services in Munich & Bavaria (Kingscastles, etc.). Discover also the mountains on narrow winding roads through
Austria, Switzerland and northern
Italy, away from the tourist crowds.
ERNST GARTNER, Eisvogelweg
35, 81827 Mnchen, Germany; +49
176 23898956; saseg-reisen@gmx.de
1214-116
ITALIAN INFIORATA TOUR: May
31-June 13, 2015. See the splendid
floral carpets of the Infiorata of Spello
on this special tour. Two-week guided
tour in the small towns of central and
southern Italy. Rome, southern Tuscany,
Umbria, Campania and Amalfi coast.
Smaller groups (8-16 people), relaxed
pace, emphasis on superior regional
food and wines throughout. Call Paola,
ANDIAMO TOURS, PO Box 8907,
New Haven, CT 06532; 888/313-6380,
info@andiamotours.com, www.andiamo
tours.com
1214
TURKEY LAND TOUR AND/OR
GREEK ISLES CRUISE. June 12-26.
Choose only one, or both. Turkey
includes Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus with small group. Greek Isles
cruise is on private 12-person motor
sailer with unique custom itinerary in
Cyclades. 7-day Peloponnese extension
also offered, following cruise. Catch
The Wind Tours, DRIFTER SISTER
LLC, PO Box 60042, Boulder City, NV
89006; 702/294-4365, www.driftersister.
com
1014-115
ITALY, YOUR PERSONAL ADVENTURE: Americans living in Italy with
over 25 years experience will design
your perfect tour and escort your group
or family (2-7 guests) to your chosen
destinations anywhere in Italy and Sicily
in a Mercedes van. Relaxing pace, fantastic dining, exceptional wines and
very unique accommodations. Travel as
you wish without the worries and stress
of independent travel. See, understand
and savor the True Italy! Let our references speak for us! TREASURES OF
ITALY, Via Prandone 24, 14100, Asti,
Italia; call collect 011 39 0141 294 801,
treasuresofitaly@outlook.com, www.
treasuresofitaly.com
1214-115
74
COMING ATTRACTIONS
to be featured next in ITN
Seeing the sights in St. Lucia.

Accessible travel in Europe.
A luxury desert experience in Abu Dhabi.
Plus news updates, upcoming tours and readers travel
experiences, tips and cautions.
VIETNAM, LAOS, CAMBODIA
References on request. Small group
tours, budget, moderate, deluxe and
independent planning. All tours, option
of driver/guide/AC auto are recommended & affordable. No-obligation
very competitive quotes. You wont be
disappointed! Visa service provided
and credit cards accepted. We also
offer Bump Protected tours for all
active/retired airline eligible pass riders.
Please contact us for more information.
SOUTHEAST ASIA VOYAGES, 55 Hai
Ba Trung Street, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi
City, Vietnam; phone +84 913234507,
info@southeastasiavoyages.com, www.
southeastasiavoyages.com
214-215
THAILAND Relax and enjoy a trip
to the Kingdom of Thailand. Individual
and group tours designed with you
in mind. Visit our website for preset
tours to Thailand and other countries of
Southeast Asia or for ideas to include
in a special tour just for you. H2T3
TOURS, LLC, PO Box 2114, Springfield, VA 22152; lee@h2t3tours.com,
www.handheldtripstothailand.com
914-915
GREECE SMALL GROUP CULTURAL TOUR, May 22-June 2, 2015.

WELIVERS TRAVELS, 4505 State
Park Hwy., Interlochen, MI 49643;
evelyn@weliverstravels.com, www.
weliverstravels.com
1114-315
FRANCE 6 DAYS/5 NIGHTS.
Touring rural Normandy to see Omaha
Beach, Point du Hoc, American War
Cemetery, Monets Gardens, Bayeux
Tapestry, Mont Saint Michel, some of
the prettiest chateaux in Normandy and
much more. For further info: NORMANDY SAFARIS, 57 Raley Road,
Locks Heath, Southampton SO31 6PB,
UK; info@normandysafaris.co.uk,
www.normandysafaris.co.uk 11-1214,
2-315
EAST TIMOR: An interesting trip to a

seldom-visited country. Gather in Bali
& fly to Dili, the capitol. Fascinating
markets & cultures, historical sites, villages & the National Park. Nice weather
& good food. Can add on the Indonesia trip. Full board in East Timor. Jan
31-Feb 6, 2015. $1950 in Bali. Local
guide plus an experienced American
escort. Prof Robert Phillips, MEKONG
TOURS, 7135 Fawcett Creek Rd.,
Tillamook, OR 97141; 503/842-7198,
mekongtour1@hotmail.com, www.
mekongtours.com
11-1214
www.themayantraveler.com Highquality, value-priced package and
custom tours to the enigmatic world
of the ancient Maya since 1984. 205
Golden Shadow, The Woodlands, TX
77381; 1-888-The-Maya
1114-115
POLAND CULINARY VACATIONS:

May-September. All-inclusive land
packages. Weeklong cooking with local
village women and sightseeing in various regions of Poland. Small groups,
fully escorted, off-the-beaten-path
tours. Stay in romantic castles, palaces
or manors in the beautiful Polish countryside. POLAND CULINARY VACATIONS, 129 39th Dr., Vero Beach, FL
32968; toll-free 888/703-8130, www.
polandculinaryvacations.com (FL#
ST39171)
1114-115
LETS GO TO ITALY! Small
private and personalized groups to
enchanting Sperlonga on the Mediterranean; 13 nights at Marconis charming
B&B. Relaxed day trips: Rome, Amalfi
coast, Pompeii, Positano, quaint villages. Having lived in Italy for over 10
years, I can truly provide you with a trip
of a lifetime. Small, intimate groups of
4-16 people. Great price, all-inclusive,
approx. $4,500-$5,500 with airfare.
Owner/guide JUNE MORROCCO, 233
Morewood Ln., Grants Pass, OR 97526;
541/474-3541, 971/706-9328, www.
toitalywithlovetours.com
1214
JAVA & SULAWESI: Visit all the
major sites in Java: Jakarta, Bogor, Yogyakarta, Borobudur, Prambanan, Sukuh,
Mt. Bromo, etc. Fly to Sulawesi for five
days in the Tana Toraja culture area.
Unique culture, traditional structures,
Toraja funeral. Possible add-on to East
Timor. Almost all food included. Local
guide plus an experienced American
escort. Jan. 15-Feb. 1, 2015. $2,700 in
Bali. Prof Robert Phillips, MEKONG
TOURS, 7135 Fawcett Creek Rd.,
Tillamook, OR 97141; 503/842-7198,
mekongtour1@hotmail.com, www.
mekongtours.com
11-1214
Puzzle on page 71
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AFRICAN SAFARI, 17 DAYS, May

8-24, 2015: Cape Town (South Africa),
Timbavati (South Africa, Kruger Park
area private lodge), Victoria Falls
(Zambia), Chobe (Botswana), Johannesburg. US$7,211 per person, (6-10 pax).
AFRICA 2000 TOURS, PO Box 1025,
Knysna, 6570 South Africa; mobile
phone +27 (0) 828181541, fax: +27
(0) 866718365, gill@africa2000tours.
co.za, www.africa2000tours.co.za
1214-115
www.mexicancolonialcities.com
High-quality, value-priced package
and custom tours to the beautiful and
historic Colonial cities of Mexico since
1984. 205 Golden Shadow, The Woodlands, TX 77381; 1-888-The-Maya
1114-115
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND ~

UNIQUE & UNUSUAL planning
customized vacations to Australia &
New Zealand for 25+ years for independent travelers soft adventure,
honeymoons, nature, history, Aboriginal
& Maori culture, wine and food, diving
and more! We work closely with you
to design the trip of your dreams, at
your pace and budget. We are experts
in Australia & New Zealand, having
lived down under, and know the South
Pacific well. Call us about the experiences you seek! TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS LTD.. 37136 Mojave Sage St.,
Palm Desert, CA 92211; 858/550-9622;
858/550-9696; anzlindsey@earthlink.
net (CST 100877340)
1113-1214
Advertisers Directory
Absolute Travel Service
/ Magic Switzerland
26
Advantage Travel &
Tours 71
Adventures Abroad 10,
40, 45, 61
Adventures In Japan 14
Africa 2000 Tours 19
Albania Travelnet 28
AMA Waterways 41,
67
American Tours 24
Asia Travel & Leisure
39
Asian Pacific Adventures
26
Augustine Tours 22
Bestway Tours & Safaris
50, 57
Bhutan Travel 43
Buon Gusto Tours 4
BushBaby Safaris 20
Ceylon Express Intl
42
Chilean Special
Journeys, Inc. 38
David McGuffins
Exploring Europe,
Inc. 7
ElderTreks 23, 29, 37,
outside back cover
Essential Downunder
Travel 71
Essential Travel & Tours
35
Explore! North
America 11
Fish Eagle Safaris 21
Galapagos Travel 16
Garuda Indonesia
inside front cover
Geographic Expeditions
14
H2T3 Tours 14
In Focus with Michele
Burgess 14
Indebo India 52
Interlake China Tours,
Inc. 70
Intimate France 8
ITN Gift Subscription
31, 47, 51
ITN Send-a-Friend 69
ITN Statement of
Ownership 74
ITN Subscription 9, 66
ITN/Award-South &
Central America 65
JMG Tibet Tours 48
Joel Wolfson
Photography LLC 30
Journey Pacific 55
MIR Corp. 5, 68
Mountain Lodges of
Peru 35
New Guinea Travel 32
Olde Ipswich Tours 7
Orient Odyssey 64
Original World Journeys
/ Spirit of India 15,
49, 56
Pacific Delight Tours/

China Experience
62
Pennsylvania Travel
50
Petro Shore Travel
20
Russian Art Tour 33
Silk Road to Asia
Travels & Tours,
Ltd. 54
SITA World Travel,
Inc. 25
Society Intl Railway
Travelers 58
Spiekermann Travel
Service 53
Spirit of India /
Travelcircuit 59
Tara Tours, Inc. 36
Third Eye Travel 46
Tours by Locals 63
Travel Downunder 15
Travel Insurance Center
27
Treasures of Travel 4,
43, 66
Value World Tours
13
VJs Exotic Safaris
14
Wallach & Co. 17
Wangulen Odyssey
Tours 26
Wild Card Adventures
14
75
On the Money with XE.com

The value of $1 worldwide
Rates effective as of October 28, 2014
The following mid-market rates of exchange are

provided for reference purposes only. Rates vary by
date and provider.
Country
Currency
US$1 = 1 unit =US$
Argentina . ................Pesos.......................8.49100.... 0.1177717559
Australia ...................Dollars.....................1.13267.... 0.8828686560
Austria.......................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Belgium ....................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Belize ........................Dollars.....................1.99488.... 0.5012814800
Bhutan ......................Ngultrum...............61.30786.... 0.0163111202
Bolivia . .....................Bolivianos...............6.90963.... 0.1447255000
Botswana . ................Pulas.......................9.10751.... 0.1097995000
Brazil . .......................Reais.......................2.52245.... 0.3964399691
Cambodia .................Riels..................4073.31975.... 0.0002455000
Canada . ....................Dollars.....................1.12347.... 0.8900929894
Chile . ........................Pesos...................584.96997.... 0.0017094895
China..........................Yuan.........................6.11426.... 0.1635520557
Costa Rica ................Colones...............541.27199.... 0.0018475000
Croatia ......................Kuna........................6.03702.... 0.1656445482
Czech Republic . ......Koruny...................21.82243.... 0.0458244037
Denmark ...................Kroner.....................5.85571.... 0.1707733328
Egypt . .......................Pounds....................7.15000.... 0.1398601380
Finland . ....................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
France . .....................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Germany ...................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Greece ......................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Guatemala ................Quetzales................7.61348.... 0.1313460000
Honduras . ................Lempiras...............21.30470.... 0.0469380000
Hong Kong ...............Dollars.....................7.75733.... 0.1289103366
Hungary ....................Forint...................243.13861.... 0.0041128803
India ..........................Rupees..................61.30786.... 0.0163111202
Indonesia . ................Rupiahs...........12175.25998.... 0.0000821338
Ireland . .....................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Israel .........................New Shekels...........3.76186.... 0.2658259058
Italy ...........................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Japan ........................Yen.......................107.84813.... 0.0092722976
Jordan . .....................Dinars......................0.70780.... 1.4128285403
Kenya ........................Shillings................89.42944.... 0.0111820000
Malaysia . ..................Ringgits...................3.27495.... 0.3053481733
Mexico ......................Pesos.....................13.54374.... 0.0738348219
Mongolia . .................Tugriks..............1850.13876.... 0.0005405000
Morocco . ..................Dirhams...................8.72135.... 0.1146611071
Nepal . .......................Rupees..................98.09999.... 0.0101936801
Netherlands . ............Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
New Zealand . ...........Dollars.....................1.26543.... 0.7902435313
Norway . ....................Kroner.....................6.59138.... 0.1517131430
Oman ........................Rials........................0.38500.... 2.5974026617
Papua New Guinea ..Kina.........................2.57069.... 0.3889999986
Peru . .........................Nuevos Soles..........2.91199.... 0.3434075000
Philippines ...............Pesos.....................44.77900.... 0.0223318966
Poland . .....................Zlotych....................3.32218.... 0.3010072581
Portugal ....................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Russia . .....................Rubles...................42.46411.... 0.0235492979
Singapore .................Dollars.....................1.27395.... 0.7849546498
Slovenia ....................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
South Africa .............Rand......................10.94371.... 0.0913766353
South Korea .............Won....................1049.44630.... 0.0009528834
Spain . .......................Euros.......................0.78658.... 1.2713215666
Sri Lanka ..................Rupees................130.80000.... 0.0076452598
Sweden .....................Kronor.....................7.29173.... 0.1371416475
Switzerland . .............Francs.....................0.94870.... 1.0540690203
Taiwan . .....................New Dollars...........30.39448.... 0.0329007067
Tanzania . ..................Shillings............1706.48464.... 0.0005860000
Thailand.....................Baht.......................32.44025.... 0.0308259007
Tunisia ......................Dinars......................1.80230.... 0.5548470000
Turkey .......................Lira..........................2.22851.... 0.4487264890
UAE ...........................Dirhams...................3.67299.... 0.2722577395
Ukraine .....................Hryvnia..................12.95504.... 0.0771900000
United Kingdom . .....Pounds....................0.62037.... 1.6119234299
Venezuela .................Bolivares Fuertes...6.28770.... 0.1590405000
Vietnam . ...................Dong................21263.02360.... 0.0000470300
Zambia ......................Kwacha....................6.36000.... 0.1572325000
Rates provided by XE.com, the worlds favorite currency site. Visit
www.xe.com for live currency rates and free currency and travel
tools. Use of these rates is subject to the XE.com terms of use found
at www.xe.com/legal.
76
Places to Stay
PARIS BEAUTIFUL 1-BR/
S T U D I O A PA RT M E N T O F F
CHAMPS-ELYSEES: Sleeps 2/5.
Safest area, near Presidential Palace.
Large, beautifully appointed, equipped
for comfortable stay. Typical Parisian
building, parquet floors, antiques, rugs,
marble fireplace, designer fabrics.
Phone, Internet, CNN. Queen-size bed,
double+. Kitchen/bath, washer. $1,470/
week (or day). RIVIERA/BEAULIEU/VILLEFRANCHE Gorgeous
2br/2b, sleeps 6. Right on the Mediterranee own swimming area/park. Winter
rate, $2,100/week; high season, $3,600/
week (or day). MARIE LEFEBVRE,
4 Weymouth Ct., Newport Beach, CA
92660; 949/433-5110, mariebalboa@
cox.net, www.parisianapartment-2to5.
com
914-115
Books/References
GALAPAGOS The essential 295page how to travel adventure to the
Land of Darwin is now available in
the comprehensive 4th edition of A
Travelers Guide to the Galpagos
Islands. Entire chapters are devoted
to tour sources and cost, what to bring,
how to get there, photography, Galpagos history, wildlife and detailed
descriptions of each island. If youre
thinking of going to the Galpagos, this
is your handbook. $16 postpaid from
GALAPAGOS TRAVEL, 783 Rio Del
Mar Blvd., Ste. 49, Aptos, CA 95003;
800/969-9014.
1113-1214
GET OFF YOUR STREET A
PERSONAL TRAVELOGUE by
Frank E. McGinity, CPA. $20 ($18 + $2
S/H). In high school a teacher advised,
Get off your street. I took that comment to heart and traveled the world;
here are some of my stories. FRANK E.
McGINITY ACCOUNTANCY CORP,
1114 State St., #250, Santa Barbara,
CA 93101; 805/965-2022, fax 805/9658032, AIHSFrank@aol.com 9-1214
LOOKING FOR TRAVEL BARGAINS? Get the inside scoop from world
travelers. Feature articles from travelers
just like yourself as well as helpful tips,
valuable warnings and candid appraisals. You get it all for $24 a year. Dont
miss another issue. INTERNATIONAL
TRAVEL NEWS, 2120 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818; 800/486-4968 or visit
www.intltravelnews.com
Travel Gear
TREKR SELF-CLEANING
TRAVEL WASHCLOTH! Rinses
clean, dries fast and stays odor free.
Our dishcloths are even more amazing. LUNATEC, PO Box 261367, San
Diego, CA 92196; 858/653-0401, www.
lunatecgear.com
1214
PACKING FOR A TRIP? Divorce
your shoes from all the rest in your
luggage with our unique shoe bags.
SHOES ON THE FLY, 601 W. Belden
Ave., Chicago, IL 60614; 773/248-3611,
www.shoesonthefly.com
1114-115
Travel briefs
British
Columbia
gondola
Located near
Squamish, 37 miles
north of downtown
Vancouver, the Sea
to Sky Gondola
(36800 Highway 99, Squamish, B.C.,
V0N 3G0, Canada; phone 604/8922550, www.seatoskygondola.com)
opened on May 16, 2014.
The 10-minute gondola ride takes
visitors from the base camp just off
Darrell Bay to the Summit Lodge
on Mt. Habrich, 2,903 feet above sea
level. Along with a deck and plaza
with views of Howe Sound fjord and
the coastal mountains, the lodge has
a self-serve restaurant and a shop.
The gondola and lodge are open
year-round. Hours of operation
(weather dependent) are, from May
17 to Oct. 13 (in 2014), 9 a.m.-5
p.m. Mon.-Thurs. and 9-9 Fri.-Sun.;
from Oct. 14 to Nov. 2, 10-5 daily,
and from Nov. 27 to April 30, 2015,
10-5 Thurs.-Sun. The gondola is
closed for maintenance Nov. 3-26.
A round-trip gondola ticket
costs CAD34.95 (near $31) adult,
CAD32.95 senior, CAD22.95 youth
(13-18) or CAD13.95 child (6-12).
Rotterdams In the NethRotMarkthal erlands,

terdam now
boasts a residential building with 228

apartments arching over an indoor
food market as big as a football
field, with 96 vendors. The Markthal
Where in the World?

You could win a years subscription to ITN simply by identifying where the
above photo was taken. The winning entry will be drawn from the pool of correct answers. (You may, if you wish, transfer your prize to another person.)
Answers must reach the ITN offices by December 26. Send your postcard or
letter entry to Where in the World?, c/o ITN, 2116 28th St., Sacramento, CA
95818, or email editor@intltravelnews.com. Include your name and mailing
address. One entry per household, please. ITN does not cover destinations in
the United States.
(Markthal Nieuwstraat, 3011 Rotterdam) is centrally located in the
Laurens district next to the central
Blaak railway station. The markets
130-foot-high arch features a mural
depicting fruits and vegetables.
Jules Verne- O n t h e
in the
inspired park island
Loire River
across from
in France
downtown
Nantes, the amusement park Les

Machines de lle (Parc des Chantiers, Bd Lon Bureau, 44 200,

Nantes, France; phone +33 251 17
49 89, www.lesmachines-nantes.
fr) opened in 2007. Based on the
imaginary worlds of Jules Verne,
who resided in Nantes, the steampunk-genre park is full of Victorianfuturistic mechanical creatures.
Attractions include the 40-foottall Grand lphant, constructed of
45 tons of wood and steel, whose
legs, etc., move as it wheels along.
It carries up to 49 visitors on con-
Octobers photo
The iron sculpture shown in the

photo in the October 2014 issue is
one of nine power-operated, waterspouting pieces of art installed in
the Tinguely Fountain in Basel,
Switzerland.
The fountain sits on the site of the
stage of the former old city theater.
The creator of the whimsical sculptures, Swiss artist Jean Tinguely
(1925-1991), had black asphalt
poured into a shallow basin in 1977
before placing the structures.
Tinguely was considered a maverick postmodernist, using scrap
metal and bits of common junk in
his kinetic sculptures. (More of his
unusual metal sculptures can be seen
in the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris.)
Nineteen people correctly identified the location of the photo, and
E.F. SCHLENK of Marshalltown,
Iowa, won the drawing. We thank
Nancy DiPietra of Costa Mesa, California, for submitting the picture.
secutive 45-minute walks around

the park.
The Carrousel des Mondes Marins,
an 82-foot-high carousel, has three
levels, each with mechanical sea
animals. In the Galerie des Machines,
artists have created various mechanical creatures that visitors can view
while riding a mechanical heron
with a 26-foot wingspan. There are
also smaller machines that can be
operated by staff.
Park admission costs 8 (near
$10).
77
December 2014
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