December 2008

Larry Taylor, Fullerton, CA. Photos by Gail Taylor

Helene Schechter of Livingston, New Jersey, described having been unhappy with the flight arrangements that Overseas Adventure Travel had made for her and her husband for a tour; they ended up with a 7-hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany (May ’08, pg. 29).

Well over a year before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, my wife, Margi, and I discussed the possibility of attending. Never having attended any Olympic event but having some familiarity with China, we felt this might be a unique opportunity. We signed on with CoSport (Box 905, Far Hills, NJ 07931; 877/457-4647 or 908/766-2227, www.cosport.com), the official ticket agent for the United States.

I had the pleasure of taking an outstanding 20-day tour of Papua New Guinea with ElderTreks (Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 800/741-7956, www.eldertreks.com), Sept. 3-23, 2008. The land price was $8,995.

Most companies “do” PNG in 10 to 14 days and tour perhaps a festival and the main cities. ElderTreks’ 20-day program was the only group tour I found which spent three days on Kiriwina in the Trobriand Islands and two nights in a village setting on the Sepik River.

I took an amazing 2-week, September-October cruise through the islands east of Bali, Indonesia, to Asmat, West Papua. It was arranged by Phyllis Hischier of West Papua Artifacts (San Luis Obispo, CA; 805/549-8371, www.asmat-artifacts.net) in conjunction with the American Museum of Asmat Art (www.stthomas.edu/asmat) at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Oman is an incredible country, the creation of one man, Sultan Qaboos, who took control of the country in 1970 at age 30.

I’ve taken six trips to Syria, most recently in March ’08 (Oct. ’08, pg. 17), and recommend the guide Nabil Mallah, who works with the travel agency Omayad Tours & Travel in Damascus (P.O. Box 34968, Damascus, Syria; phone 00963 11 3342255 or 3316058, fax 11 2212639, e-mail omayad.trvl@net.sy or visit www.omayadtours.com.sy). The office is located on the first floor of the Mazloum Building, behind the Four Seasons Hotel on Brazil Street.

I booked a week-long horseback safari in Botswana from Equitours (Dubois, WY; 800/545-0019 or 307/455-3363, www.equitours.com) for Aug. 5-12, 2007. The land price was $2,450, and I used air mileage to upgrade a $2,000 round-trip coach fare to business class on Delta (Lexington, Kentucky, to Johannesburg, South Africa, via Atlanta, Georgia, and Dakar, Senegal).