Informing the international traveler since 1976.
Archive for March, 2005
Foul first impression
A trip we made to Kenya was a near disaster. On Sept. 29, ’04, I drove us from Arusha, Tanzania, into Kenya. A tourist visa cost $50. After a noon lunch in downtown Nairobi, we were blocked in traffic on busy Kenyatta Avenue, surrounded by thousands of pedestrians, when we were approached by a street beggar. At [...]Calling on IsCard
This is a follow-up to my letter in the February ’05 issue, page 16, regarding making phone calls through Iscom, Inc. While calls can be made with the IsCard FROM the U.S. to Austria (Country Code 43) at the rate of nine cents per minute from a regular phone and 49¢ on a mobile phone, Austria [...]Pleased with global phone
A discovery! I purchased a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) phone for a trip to Egypt/Jordan in November ’04. Although there was no need for lengthy conversations with my progeny, I did feel a need for a phone should a crisis of some kind occur. This phone is a winner. It cost $49 (I believe [...]Visit to Transnistria
My wife, Arlene, and I spent a few hours in a little-visited part of the world that is well worth seeing because of its complex history and location. Transnistria (Trans-Dniestria or Transdniester) is a self-proclaimed autonomous republic that is part of the Republic of Moldova. This pseudocountry consists of a narrow strip of land bordered on [...]Following the locals to Croatia’s choice coastal towns
—Deanna Palic, Contributing Editor, ITN Guidebooks point travelers toward the more internationally known Croatian islands and cities on the Adriatic: Hvar, Korcula, Split, Opatija and Dubrovnik. For this holiday, however, my husband, Josip, and I were searching for a destination relatively unknown to international tourists. Our ultimate goal was to alternate between relaxing at the beach [...]Careful attention to detail makes the most of a customized Botswana safari
—Diane Powell Ferguson, Scottsdale, AZ Inspired by a positive review in International Travel News by Charles R. Cusack (Nov. ’02, pg. 82), we chose Fish Eagle Safaris (phone 800/513-5222 or visit www.fisheagle safaris.com) for our ninth African safari — the second to Botswana. Planning ahead We contacted company owner Bert du Plessis to customize wildlife viewing in the [...]Accomodations Worldwide
Europe If you’re looking for a quiet hotel in Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, that is within a 5- to 10-minute walk of the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum, then the very quiet Hotel Washington (Frans van Mierisstraat 10, 1071 RS Amsterdam, the Netherlands; phone +31 [0] 20 679 74 53, fax +31 [0] 20 673 44 35, [...]Travel insurance industry response to the South Asia tsunami
How did the travel insurance industry respond to the Asian tsunami disaster in December 2004 and how did this affect travel insurance coverages for this period and for subsequent travel? General travel insurance policy coverages Claims for medical, trip interruption, trip delay and miscellaneous coverages such as baggage loss, etc., are being accepted as a result of [...]A hands-on study program grants special access to the art treasures of Russia’s Hermitage Museum
—Kathryn Whitmer, Bellingham, WA If you are fascinated by the art treasures at the Hermitage and are not content with a typical 2-hour tour with hard-to-hear commentary, an extraordinary opportunity awaits you in St. Petersburg, Peter the Great’s gleaming city on the Gulf of Finland. In the January 2001 issue of ITN (page 12), an article by [...]Companies came through
• A promotion run in 2003 by Grand Circle Travel (347 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210; phone 800/221-2610 or visit www.gct.com) promised two $250 travel certificates applicable to your next GCT trip if you completed an extensive questionnaire on your future travel plans. We dutifully completed it and sent it in and waited and waited [...]
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