June 2006

by Michael Algar, Toronto, ON

From our trip to COSTA RICA in October-November ’05, we highly recommend the following:

For the past three years, we have explored the REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA during its so-called “secret season” of October. We have been awed by most all of the country’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites and even more impressed by the spirit and graciousness of the South African people.

While in Prague, five of us stayed at the Guesthouse Lida (Lopatecká 26, Praha 4, Podoli 140 00, CZECH REPUBLIC; phone/fax [420] 261 214 766, e-mail lidabb@seznam.cz or visit http://sweb.cz/pensionlida) — a 5-minute walk from the efficient Prague metro.

My wife, Ione, and I stayed in two hotels in Athens in September ’05.

We had a lovely stay at the recently remodeled Hotel St. Josef (Hirschengraben 64/68, CH-8001 Zürich, SWITZERLAND; phone 044 250 57 57 or visit www.st-josef.ch) in November ’05.

The apartment at 13 rue de la Providence in Nice, FRANCE (call Gerald Bedrich in the U.K. at [0033] [0] 626140006 or 493319297 [up to 9 p.m. U.K. time] or visit www.nice studios.co.uk), is in a great location in the Vieux Nice (Old Town).

It’s very near the Gare Routière bus stop, convenient for taking day trips by bus and for the city’s public transit. The Gare Lycée and Garibaldi stops are also nearby. There is a bus that goes directly from the airport to Gare Routière.

At the suggestion of Ellen Jacobson of Centennial, Colorado, we asked readers, “What makes a good guide and why and what makes a bad guide and why?” We threw in the questions “What are some constructive ways to communicate with a guide or help him or her better their performance, deal with a specific expectation of the group or improve the progress of the tour?” and “Have you come up with ways to salvage a tour led by a poor guide?”

by Jim Hendrickson, Bellingham, WA