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Our 6-week trip to Brazil, Jan. 26-March 8, 2011, was flawlessly organized by Clara Tort of SouthAmerica.travel (Seattle, WA; 800/747-4540, www.southamerica.travel).
We spent three or four days each in Belém, São Luís, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Natal, Olinda/Recife, Salvador, Brasília, Ouro Preto/Mariana/Tiradentes, Rio de Janeiro, Paraty and São Paulo.
A friend and I were on the Azamara Quest during the fire at sea that occurred the evening of March 30, 2012.
I read the subscriber’s letter praising Oceania Cruises’ “Sun-Splashed Holiday” (May ’11, pg. 27). I was a passenger on the same sailing of the Regatta, Dec. 22, 2010-Jan. 2, 2011, cruising from Miami through the Caribbean. I have taken this holiday cruise every year for the past five years.
The subscriber wrote, “The brochure plainly states, ‘Oceania Cruises… are designed for adults and do not provide for the care, entertainment or supervision of children’.”*
In the last three years, my husband and I booked tours with Adventures Abroad, smarTours, Vantage Deluxe World Travel, Overseas Adventure Travel, Odysseys Unlimited and Road Scholar. The tours were each in the range of roughly $3,000-$5,000 per person.
In each case, we paid the initial deposit by credit card, but some companies preferred that the balance of the tour cost be paid by means other than a credit card. In fact, some of these companies “penalized” you by adding a fee if you paid the balance with a credit card.
by Cecilia Morrissey, Port Townsend, Wa.
The “Discover HK City Walks App,” compatible with iPhone, iPad Touch and iPad, guides visitors to Hong Kong on four themed walks: architecture in Central and Western districts; Garden Road leisure walk; cosmopolitan Tsim Sha Tsui, and “living culture” of Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok.
As ITN went to press, the State Department had travel warnings on 31 destinations: Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Israel/West Bank/Gaza, Kenya, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Republic of South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
For details, call the State Department at 202/647-5225 or visit www.travel.state.gov.
After four years of wrangling, in May Nepal’s Constituent Assembly failed to agree on a new constitution, leaving the country without a functioning government.
In Montreal, Québec, Canada, students have been protesting tuition increases since August 2011. One protest on March 22, 2012, was 200,000 strong, prompting legislators to quickly draw up Bill 78, which became law on May 18. It made it illegal for more than 50 people to demonstrate spontaneously, with high fines imposed for infractions, and suspended classes until August.
More than 30,000 people marched through Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 20 in support of Bidzina Ivanishvili, a candidate for Prime Minister in the elections set for October. President Mikhail Saakashvili indicated he also will run for Prime Minister, a decision considered by many as a bid to retain power. More political rallies may precede the elections.