Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Sep 25

Destination Venezuela

One of the 9 countries bordering on gigantic Brazil, Venezuela sits to the north. It rests on the shores of the Caribbean Sea and has a whole host of pristine beaches,strands of coral reef and isolated tropical islands to it’s name.

To the east you find the Orinoco Delta weaving it’s way across the land into the Atlantic Ocean; and to the west you can find the snow-capped peaks of the Andes, which can be seen for miles around. Finally, the mighty Amazon sits to the south of this diverse destination and offers a whole host of tropical rain-forest and amazing wildlife to explore – including the highest waterfall in the world: Angel Falls.

Lets take a quick glance at what each of these locations has to offer the visitor.

The Caribbean:
There are several groups of islands in the Caribbean sea that are worth visiting and are inhabited. Of course there are many more islands that are uninhabited and are great for snorkeling and diving but there are too many to discuss here.

Archipielago Los Roques- This chain of small coral reef islands around 160km north of the mainland – about 40 of which are large enough for names – where as the other 250 or so are just rocks or sandbars. This area is a real paradise for divers and snorkelers and the infrastructure makes getting around very easy. The whole region is a National Park, so you will be charged an entry fee when visiting here.

Dos Mosquises Sur – This inhabited island is home to the Marine Biological Station which rears turtles from the surrounding area to be released locally. There are therefore some restrictions about activities in these waters.

Isla de Margarita- This large island is a vacation spot for package tours and is very popular with Canadians and Europeans. The island has some amazing white sandy beaches and 2 national parks. It is also a duty-free shopping zone so is very popular with Venezuelan vacationers too.

The Orinoco Delta:
This river basin is second only to the Amazon Basin in size and at it’s widest, the river is over 20km wide. It then splits into around 40 main channels that spread out across the delta and empty in the Atlantic Ocean.

It is easy to arrange a boat tour of the delta from most surrounding towns and even from some more distant destinations, such as the Isla de Margarita. Along the river banks you will find a whole host of wildlife species, including spider monkeys, caiman, hummingbirds and toucan to name a few. And in the water you are sure to find pirahna, but also pink river dolphins if you are out at dusk……

Many tour companies will arrange for you to stay overnight in an old oil prospectors cabins or local stilted houses on the river itself the very places that gave this country it’s name – Little Venice. Take some serious insect repellant though if you are out in the rainy season!

The Andes Mountains:
The very tip of this huge mountain chain splits into 2 and creeps into the western corner of Venezuela and can be snow-covered all year round. Many of the highest peaks are around 5000m and most towns between 2500m and 3500m. Hiking is risky at any time due to the changeable weather, but August to October really are the worst months here.

Merida state is nestled in-between the 2 ridges and does have an excellent infrastructure for travel and touring, however; neighbouring states can still offer some amazing landscapes and are probably less touristy – although you may have to be a bit more flexible with your arrangements.

Remember that the altitude here can easy reach over 3000m, so it is possible that you will need to take a few days to acclimatise yourself, otherwise you may find yourself feeling terrible the whole time possibly with some serious headaches and other unpleasant (and possibly fatal) side effects.

The Amazon Jungle and Angel Falls:
The Venezuelan Amazon is only small – just a 5th of the country’s size, but never-the-less it is a beautiful place to visit. It is predominately thick forest filled with networks of streams and rivers criss-crossing the land. Many indigenous tribes live here, and around 20 different languages are used.

Puerto Ayacucho is the main town on the Orinoco River and with a landing strip, but the infrastructure is poor and private guides are the only option here if you want to explore. Flora and fauna abound here, with birds, insects and reptiles fitting in every niche. Mammals such as the giant river otter and the ocelot do live here, but are rarely seen – but monkeys may be more frequently seen.

Salto Angel – or Angel Falls is the most visited tourist destination in the country – and I know why. When I flew here recently, the views from the ‘plane were amazing. We flew low over the tops of the giant outcrops of the ‘tepuis’ – the flat-topped mountains. Rather than the mountains coming up out of the ground, these 1000m high plateaus are what is left of the original ground when all the rest fell away!!

I though that was a great site until the ground fell away from under our plane in an instant and we tilted to the left over the falls. All I could see was the continuous drop of this amazing waterfall all the way to the ground below me!!!!! All that water, falling away into the depths of the jungle below leaving a rainbow behind as evidence of it’s beauty!

This is certainly a place to return to, over and over again. And I will.

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posted by Travel Cat on Sep 15

If you travel without travel insurance these days – you must be mad…….

Everyone who has been keeping an eye on the travel news lately, must be more than aware of the changing face of the industry.

What Can Go Wrong? 
This season, prices seem to be staying unusually high – even last minute deals aren’t that cheap.   Destinations are disappearing from brochures as flights are re-routed or cancelled altogether.  Freak weather is pummelling coastlines and scaring off holiday makers.  Airline companies are going bust across the globe due to the unstoppable rise in oil prices.

You need to be covered if you are going away, in-case you are affected by one of these many problems – which could affect you at any time after you make the booking until you are safely back home.  And for those people who like to book their vacations in advance – that could be well over a year of waiting.

What’s The Best Cover?
As with anything you purchase, you need to find the policy that suits YOUR needs – and your needs only.  Don’t settle for a policy or company that worked for your friends and their family.  Why?

Well, there are different types of insurance depending on your age, your health, where you are going, what you plan to do there and how many of you there are for starters.  So always look around for what YOU need and what they offer.

What Do I Need?
One great way is to go to a travel insurance comparison site that shows the breakdown of the policies – and one that has clear explanations of each clause – for example www.money.co.uk and hit the Insurance tab and select travel insurance from the list.

Select any of the options you require – the destinations you require, whether it’s ’annual’ or ‘single trip’ you are after, etc. Then hit ‘Go’.  It will then bring up all the policies it has found for you or your family with general headings of Medical Cover, Cancellation Cover and Baggage Cover – plus the overall cost of each policy.  You then skim down the list looking for the amount of cover for each category and tick the box to their left.

When you have selected 2 or 3 that you are interested in, click COMPARE and it will bring up those policies in much more detail.  Every single detail of the policy is followed by a question mark logo which explains a little about what it is asking for – helping you to see what is being covered – and what could be available to you on another policy.

Spend your time investigating all the options and making a list of the type of things you are hoping for with your policy and then you are more than prepared to make an informed decision about what cover you want and what cover you can’t do without.  It is also possible this way for you to also make sure you are not paying a large amount for a clause that you do actually not need.

That way you will know that everything you had planned cover for is insured and you can enjoy your vacation – even if it is at the end of 2009.

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posted by Travel Cat on Aug 3

Top 10 Reasons to Learn a Foreign Language

For some, learning a second language seems very easy – and to some learning a third or fourth is also easily achieved – however, for the majority it seems as though being fluent in a second language is a goal that is never truly achieved.

I was never very good at French at school – and that is all they offered to you – unless of course you were good at French, when they offered you Spanish and German???

I always wanted to learn Spanish, but was absolutely rubbish at French, really bad – to the point where I would try to hide in the lessons in-case the teacher (a French lady) chose me for any reason to answer a question. It was awful.

Time Flies….. 
Now as an adult, I have found that a second language is not so hard to learn (and how irrelevant French was to my adult needs). I am able to understand French and Spanish from text books and local signs when travelling – but it was the speaking of it that held me up – I didn’t have the confidence.

However – since spending a month in Costa Rica – I have found myself able to converse in basic Spanish and actually get things done like I would at home. I even had a word with the lady at the laundrette because she said that our clothes would be ready tomorrow but I needed them today!!! How’s that for courage. I really felt proud of myself and hope to improve for my return.

I am also part way through qualifying in my TEFL, so hope to live abroad at some point in a South American country, so will ‘keep up the good work’.

Basically there are too many good reasons to learn a foreign language, I have list 10 great ones, to hopefully get you spurred on as well. Some are standard, others are more personal.

1) To book a night in a hotel or ‘pension’
2) To order food and drink when you are travelling
3) To understand directions when trying to find places
4) To understand warning signs while adventuring and for your own safety
5) To have a grasp of local laws if you find yourself in a spot of bother
6) To be able to communicate about your health in times of sickness or injury

7) To befriend local staff in hotels and cafes, as a way of being polite
8) To become more involved in social events while travelling, and to feel more welcome
9) To chat to local children and help them to understand your journey and where you are from

10) Sometimes speaking the language can help you to get better service, advice and prices in certain locations. And it is no doubt one of the best ways to get the most out of your vacation abroad.

My trip to Costa Rica was certainly the better for my getting a head start on the language and culture. And to be honest, there were many occasions where the staff did not speak a word of English (and why should they really), so even parts of sentences were valuable at times!

I don’t think I’m ready for a 3rd language just yet – so I’ll stick the Central and South America for my travels for the time being…….

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posted by Travel Cat on Apr 30

It seems very difficult to believe that there isn’t just on set of rating available for everything – I mean it’s either 1* and a bit basic, 5* and it’s everything you ever hoped for with bows on top, or it’s 3* and somewhere in-between.

Why all these travel companies have to invent their own scale and play it off against other companies can only mean disappointment for some people.  Some even use the ratings used by the country itself, which will never be useful to us because most of the countries we visit will be ‘developing’ so won’t have some of the things that we would be used to.

I once booked a vacation that was offered as a 3* through a high street tour operators brochure – this rating has never caused me any problems before. It’s clean, accommodation is nice and you don’t have to dress up for dinner! However, what I didn’t find out until I got there was that the high street tour operators only rated it as a 2*, but were selling it on the higher star using their ‘sister companies’ to advertise it in their brochure.

The 2* meant that not only were the beds made of concrete (as were the cupboards and shelves) but the ‘buffet restaurant’ was more like a school canteen. Some of the rooms didn’t even have a window! The TV only showed 2 channels, and one wasn’t English speaking!

The rep did very little about this apart from offer us an official complaints form, or offer us another hotel if we paid them nearly a quarter again of our original vacation cost!

Another vacation a few years later, was booked for a 4* island and I couldn’t believe the price, so I checked everything I could and sure enough, it was ours if we wanted it. The only thing I didn’t check (as I have never heard of this ever happening before) was whether our room was actually 4*, because on arrival it clearly wasn’t! The rep happily confirmed that ‘ yes, the majority or rooms were 4*, but that ours wasn’t’ and that was that. How can they sell it as a certain star, and then not give you that upon arrival!

I book my vacations as they are a great price for what they say they are – but if they aren’t even that, then I would have paid a different price to make sure they were! I once had a rep tell me that ‘what did I expect for the price I paid’!

I expected the one I saw in the brochure, but at a cheaper price! If it meant I got a worse vacation I wouldn’t have booked it. It’s like seeing great boots for half price, then getting a pair with a broken heel instead – ‘well, what do you expect for that price?’!

I now always take the pages of the brochure with me on vacation to make sure everything they offer is at the hotel, but unfortunately when you are there, sometimes you are just stuck with it.

I think this is totally unfair; many people only get 2/4 weeks off for the whole year for their time off, and they can be misled by the only thing they have to rely on – the tour operators brochure description!

All of the above vacation ‘problems’ I had were with the same company, so they will never get my money again! One time could be my mistake or a disgruntled employee, but 3 times must be their fault, their low professional standards! The pain of it is that they are not always that much cheaper than the larger more reliable operators like Kuoni (which I can only say great things about).

Motto: Never reward bad customer service.

There are plenty more companies out there waiting for the chance to impress you, give them a chance! And when you find one you like – stick with them, even if it means paying a bit more. It’s worth it if it’s your only vacation this year…..

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 4

We all know that everyone buys smart looking carry on luggage and print patterns aren’t usually the most popular, but aren’t you forgetting something important here?

Everyone else has plain dark luggage too!

If you have ever gotten off a charter flight, packed full of tourists, and had to wait for your bag with 200 other people, you will certainly start to regret having that plain color suitcase.

I myself have a mango yellow suitcase, with a few discreet stickers on as well – just in-case anyone else out there was as bold as I was (and there have been a couple).

So unlike you – I never have to investigate little signs on every dark piece of luggage that trundles round the conveyor belt in-case it’s mine. I can see my beautiful suitcase a mile away, and have very little worries about finding my bag among a plane-load of other luggage.

Now you’re all thinking that the Hawaiian Luggage Floral Print suitcase set isn’t such a bad idea after all!

Don’t worry though if you have already got your plain cases – there are still some things you can do with them to make yours stand out. Examples include tying a brightly colored strip or material (like a shoelace) around the handle of your luggage, or investing in purple combination luggage straps to make your stand out (but make sure your luggage straps run through the handle and any other loops so that they don’t fall or get pulled off in transit).

Use bright stickers, or large more plain stickers on your solid cases so that whichever side up they get thrown out onto the conveyor, you can still tell which is yours from some distance. There’s nothing more annoying than seeing someone else nearer your case having a closer look at it in-case it’s theirs. Now with yours looking so different, hopefully they won’t prod it about or take yours home by accident!

Tapestry travelware luggage, crocodile pattern luggage and polkadot luggage sets are rarely seen and neither is a retro luggage set that is bright pink!!! Look at all these as potential niches for you to exploit – as long as you don’t mind everyone seeing you carry it around the airport of course…….

I know this article is only a bit of fun, but it really is something to consider before purchasing some expensive luggage for you or your family.

Other more serious things to consider about luggage include:

Weight of Hold Luggage: Maximum weight for individual hold luggage is 32kg per item. Most airlines will allow a certain weight for each person – usually 20kg – but that can be combined within your group, so for example 2 people can travel with a case each; one weighing 25kg, the other weighing 15kg or less. Many airlines will charge you per kg for overweight luggage and let you take it on-board, but ALL will refuse to take any one piece over 32kg. Therefore, do not buy a huge piece of luggage for airline use unless you can guarantee it will not be over this limit when you fly – if in doubt weigh it as you pack it.

Carry On Luggage: There are restrictions on the weight of this too and it is usually around 5kg in weight. Most airlines are ok with any style of bag, as long as it is not ridiculous in shape or size. Some countries are stricter than others and will actually weigh hand luggage before you leave the check-in desk, charging you for any excess.

There are also many restrictions about what you can HAVE in your carry on luggage and printing out the requirements for your AIRPORT (not airline) is advised so you can pack according to the ‘rules’, and put anything your are not allowed to carry on board in your hold luggage.

If you lie about what’s in your hand luggage at the check-in desk – they won’t know; but once you get to security – they will! And now you don’t have your hold luggage with you, so anything they find that is not allowed on the plane will be taken from you – without exception. You will lose it!

Internal Flights: Something I only recently came across myself was that internal flights in some countries may have a different weigh allowance per person than international flights, so say for example that you fly to Guyana in South America on an airline with a 20kg allowance per person – No problem? But what are you going to do if you want to travel on an internal flight there as you are only allowed 10kg per person! Where will you put your spare clothes and accessories?

Check all regulations on luggage for your whole journey before travelling to make sure you don’t have to throw your belongings away, or pay excessive charges for transporting it home.

Remember Hawaiian luggage – floral print……….