Travelers using Nadi International Airport in Fiji often face several empty hours before the next stage of their journey. I’ve used a number of the airport hotels there in the past; all were adequate though nothing special.
On my most recent visit to Fiji, however, on Oct. 16, 2010, our family stayed at a delightful new hostelry, The Fiji Orchid (Saweni Beach Rd., Lautoka, Nadi, Fiji; phone 679 664 0099 or, in the US, 800/224-0220 or 888/345-4669).
I first traveled to West Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia, 19 years ago when it was called Irian Jaya. I hiked steep trails to villages, slept on the floors of longhouses in headhunter/cannibal territory and wondered at the never-ending variety of penis gourds that were the dress for men, complementing the women’s grass skirts.
In June ’10 I traveled to West Papua with a friend. Perhaps not surprisingly, I discovered that it has made tremendous strides in catching up with the “modern” world in the intervening years.
After visiting Argentina in November ’10, my wife and I flew home to Charlotte out of Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) on Continental Airlines. I will compare our experience to that of another ITN subscriber who returned to the US through EZE in February ’07 (Sept. ’07, pg. 44).
Good news — the departure tax was included in the cost of our airline ticket. One less queue!
I read Wanda Bahde’s article “Ultimate Africa — Going Beyond the Simple Safari in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe” (Oct. ’10, pg. 44), about the trip she and her husband took with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) in September-October 2009, and I could not concur more with their recommendation of this trip. My wife and I took the “Ultimate Africa” trip with OAT in July ’09 and had a superlative experience.
I have a few comments on Ms. Bahde’s assessment.
In the Domodedovo Airport near Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 24, a bomb in the arrivals terminal killed 36 people and wounded about 110. It has been declared the terrorist attack of a suicide bomber.
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 421st issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine, the place to share helpful trip-planning information.
My wife has long suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, making walking long distances an ordeal. On our last trip, we requested wheelchair assistance at the airports where we were making connections, the first time we have done so. This is new to us and we are wondering what level of tipping is customary.
On this trip, we encountered varying levels of service, sometimes by an employee of an airport-services company contracting its services to the airline and at least once by an airline employee.
by Lois Edwards, Greensboro, NC
It was easy to pick out our driver/guide, Anton Prole, at the arrivals area of Gatwick airport. He was the epitome of a proper British gentleman — ramrod-straight posture, perfectly trimmed moustache and beard, knife-sharp creases in his trousers and a twinkle in his eye.
As in the previous winter, many airports throughout Western Europe were closed and thousands of flights were grounded, Dec. 19-22, as storms brought heavy snow and freezing temperatures. France, Germany and the UK were the hardest hit, with stranded travelers sleeping in airports.
Trains, buses and cars also were unable to run because of ice and snow. Hundreds of people were stuck on trains between London and northeast England when power lines were damaged.
Upon returning from a September-October 2010 trip to Ethiopia, I had two occasions to use the papers that I had squirreled away relating to the trip.