Visitors to Tokyo can take open-top bus tours of two areas of the city with VIP View (www.vipview.jp/en): the Bay Course along Tokyo Bay and the City Course through the central city, each lasting about 70 minutes.
During the drive, and using GPS to pinpoint the bus’ location, recorded commentary in English is piped through the bus’ sound system. Headphones with a 3.5mm jack are required and can be purchased for ¥100 on location.
In Canberra, southeastern Australia, the chance to sleep beside wild animal enclosures on the grounds of the National Zoo & Aquarium is given to overnight guests at the Jamala Wildlife Lodge (999 Lady Denman Dr., Canberra; phone +61 2 6287 8444, www.jamalawildlifelodge.com.au), located at the zoo.
Each of the luxurious “jungle bungalows” has floor-to-ceiling windows providing 24-hour views of either lions, tigers, sun bears or cheetahs.
In Queensland, northeastern Australia, visitors can ride a restored steam train with Mary Valley Rattler (Historic Gympie Station, Tozer St., Gympie; phone +61 07 5482 2750, www.maryvalleyrattler.com.au).
During high tide in Cornwall, southwestern England, visitors can ride horses in Mounts Bay, near St. Michael’s Mount, with Cornwall Swimming Horses (At The Peep Out, Long Rock, Penzance, Cornwall; phone +44 07460 856167, www.cornwallswimminghorses.co.uk).
On May 20, the United Kingdom announced that travelers from the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand are now eligible to use ePassport gates when arriving at airports. The ePassport gates are unmanned, automated passport checkpoints that allow for quicker entry into the country.
To use an ePassport gate, place your passport, open to the photo page, onto the scanner and look into the gate’s camera. Facial-matching technology will compare your face to your passport photo. When the light turns green, you are free to proceed.
Citing a “risk to flight operations,” the US Department of Homeland Security suspended all commercial passenger and cargo flights to Venezuela on May 15. This suspension was described by the department as “indefinite.”
American Airlines, the last major US passenger airline to offer flights to Venezuela, ceased its only two routes, Miami/Caracas and Miami/Maracaibo, on April 15.
As of June 1, 2019, plastic grocery bags are banned in Tanzania. Anyone taking plastic bags into the country will have them confiscated at designated desks at ports of entry. Zip-lock-style bags are specifically exempt from the ban.
The African nations of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have similar bans, with Kenya’s being particularly strict by including zip-lock-style bags in their ban.
As of May, the Italian island of Capri, off the coast of Naples, banned many common disposable plastic items from being brought from the mainland. Prohibited items include plastic bags and plastic plates and utensils. The ban will be expanded in 2020 to include disposable plastic bottles.
Anyone caught carrying prohibited plastic items onto the island could face a fine of up to €500 (near $560).
The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0022, Japan; phone +81 3 5245 4111, www.mot-art-museum.jp/eng) reopened in March 2019 after almost three years of renovations.
Its collection includes about 5,400 objects of modern art from Japan and overseas along with three floors of galleries for temporary exhibits. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Tues.-Sun. Closed Mondays. Entry, ¥500 (near $4.50), main galleries or, including special exhibits, ¥1,300.
