Tours in Review

My husband, Allan, always looks for the best travel for our dollar, shopping via the Internet. For a Feb. 4-17, 2006, safari in Kenya and Tanzania, we used a small company based in Nairobi: Njewa Safaris (Box 2009-01000, Thika, Kenya; phone/fax +254-20-210531, mobile +254-722-752520 or visit www.njewasafaris.com). The land price for our tour was $2,700 per person.

Before our trip, we talked to a couple who had used Njewa’s services and they recommended the company highly. Allan’s e-mailed questions to Njewa were always answered promptly, and she provided excellent service and, for...

My husband and I have done many trips all over the world, and our itineraries, up until this trip, were planned by American tour companies or on our own. Finding the prices somewhat high with U.S. companies for a trip to southern India, I tried an in-country company, Indian Panorama (No5 Annai Ave., Srirangam, Trichy, Tamil Nadu 620006, India; phone +91 431 243 3372, fax 243 2874, www.indianpanorama.in).

It has offices in several Indian cities, including Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Periyar. I contacted Smitha (e-mail smitha@indian panorama.in) at the Kochi office and began...

On my first trip to Europe in 1958, my mother and I sailed on the Italian liner MN Augustus from New York to Naples, with a one-day stop in Lisbon. The ship’s route took us through the Azores, approximately 1,000 miles off the coast of Portugal. We sailed through them around 8:30 in the morning, and I can still remember how beautiful and sparkling they looked in the bright morning sunlight, just like jewels in the water. I promised myself that one day I would return to explore those peaceful islands.

Never able to locate a tour to the islands, I had almost given up hope when, thanks...