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I read the subscriber’s report “High & Low Points of Chile/Argentina Tour” (March ’12, pg. 25), about his January ‘11 tour with Grand Circle Travel. My husband and I took the same 3-week itinerary with Grand Circle, Feb. 7-March 3, 2012 (though we also went to Peru and Brazil on pre- and post-tours). We stayed at the same hotels as he and did the same activities and LOVED everything about the trip.
After canceling a cruise to the Middle East because of the uprising in Egypt, my wife and I looked for another sailing during the same time period, though it was only months away. We purchased the “Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships,” a terrific book that has everything we wanted to know and more, to aid in our search.
We prefer ships that hold fewer than 1,000 passengers, and we found a listing for Swan Hellenic, an English company specializing in “programs of highly academic lecturers and speakers.” This appealed to us.
My wife, Charlotte, and I took a wonderful trip to the Middle East and Europe, Nov. 8-30, 2011, that included a 16-day cruise from Safaga, Egypt, to Barcelona, Spain, on Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Voyager. Although we were in Cairo when the demonstrations in Tahrir Square ramped up again and we were in Israel when two Qassam rockets were launched into the western Negev from the Gaza Strip, the event that caused us the most concern on our trip happened the day we left our home.
by Marsha Caplan; Boulder, CO
My husband, Michael, and I left Denver on a nonstop Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt on Aug. 29, 2011, continuing on to Madrid for five wonderful weeks in northern Spain.
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.
As Myanmar continues to move forward on political reforms, Western nations are easing financial and travel sanctions. In April, the EU ended all sanctions but retained the arms embargo. The US, Australia and Japan have committed to diplomatic relations with the newly elected parliament.
Myanmar is seeking to promote tourism by increasing the number of hotels and working with private tour operators. It is considering visa-on-arrival changes for some Asian countries.
Following the November 2010 elections in Côte d’Ivoire, the incumbent president refused to step down, finally being forced out in April 2011. Since the post-electoral crisis ended, government services have nearly returned to pre-crisis levels, and over the past several months the security situation has improved. With international support, the government is planning the reopening of the national assembly along with infrastructure and educational upgrades.
The security situation in Chad has slowly but steadily improved since its peace agreement with Sudan in early 2010. Historically, however, it has been volatile.
Although there have been no kidnappings in Niger since January 2011, the US Department of State still warns that Al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, a terrorist group, continues its attempts to kidnap Westerners in Niger.
Recently, the possibility of violence related to extremist and criminal groups filtering up from northern Nigeria has led the government of Niger to recommend armed escorts for travel in far-eastern Niger.
Because Burundi participates in peacekeeping operations in Somalia, the terrorist organization al-Shabaab, based in Somalia, has threatened terror attacks in Burundi, the US State Department reported.
Low-level political violence is a concern in Bujumbura Rural, Makamba, Rumonge and the area by the Kibira forest.