Awaiting takeoff from Los Angeles to Tokyo, the Japanese flight attendant asked, “Ma’am, have you already had a chance to buckle your seat belt?” This question, presented as a pleasant request, intrigued me because an American attendant might say, “Please put on your seat belt so we can take off.”
By Nili Olay; New York, NY
Madagascar, the land of lemurs and baobab trees, wasn’t even on our short list of places to visit. Furthermore, we don’t like group tours. Yet my husband, Jerry, and I traveled to Madagascar as part of a group of 10 from May 16 to June 9, 2010. Why?
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 417th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.
A group of us decided to take the cruise “Brazil and Argentine Discovery,” offered by Holland America Line (HAL), March 11-25, 2010. Starting and ending in Rio de Janeiro, the Veendam would go as far south as Buenos Aires, with stops at several ports in Brazil and Uruguay.
We booked a pre-cruise extension offered by HAL in which we would arrive in Rio on March 7, spend the night, fly to Iguazú Falls for two nights, then go back to Rio for one night before boarding the ship the next day.
In planning for a trip to China and Nepal in October ’11 to celebrate my 50th birthday, I went online to www.airlinequality.com/main/forum.htm to determine which airline to use. Passenger reviews I found on the site rated Cathay Pacific highly, with a five-star score. On Cathay Pacific’s website, www.cathaypacific.com, I found they had nonstop flights to Hong Kong.
by George & Elena Vander Voort, Wadsworth, IL
by Philip Wagenaar (Part one of a series)
We take a couple of cruises a year and like to make our own flight arrangements. The key is to leave a few days early and not only get our jet lag under control but have time to see the port. Leaving early also helps if weather causes delays or luggage is lost.
On a birding trip to Namibia in March-April ’10, my wife, Kathy, and I had to purchase some safari clothing. We went to Safariland/Holtz (Gustav Voigts Centre, 129 Independence Ave., Windhoek, Namibia; ), which is a medium-sized store crammed with a wide selection of safari clothing and other gear.
On our travels overseas I have never applied for a VAT (value added tax) refund, but since the VAT of 15% was a fairly significant amount in this case, I saved the receipt on the chance that we might be able to get a refund upon our departure.
I spent six weeks in India in February-March ’10, traveling through Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Rajasthan, with brief visits to Ahmedabad, Delhi, Khajuraho and Varanasi (June ’10, pg. 27 and July ’10, pg. 30). I have the following tips to offer.
Reconfirm flights in India a day or two before departure. Jet Airways canceled my flight from Ahmedabad to Delhi on two days’ notice, and I learned about this only because I happened to have a chance to check my e-mail.