GOT A TRAVEL SUGGESTION, QUESTION OR INQUIRY?

Just e-mail travel@rpcvsf.org

Picking up where her predecessor left off, former President Virginia McNaught has made the position of International Travel Coordinator a permanent feature of RPCVSF. Through this service, we shall exchange international travel information. All of our members have been somewhere and can help you get there and, once there, help you see the sights. The new International Travel Coordinator is the current one: Greg Zell (Nigeria). Email: mailto:travel@rpcvsf.org .

    The travelers on our amazing Haiti trip agree there should be more travels with our members, their friends and families. The group has now completed two trips, one to Haiti and to Namibia, read in our Travel tab about the Namibia Trip.

June 1, 2021 - Travel Tidbits - Lots of travel news in bits and pieces. No time to put it in a cohesive form so you are getting it as I got it: in tidbits.

1. Iceland is accepting fully vaccinated international tourists. Several of our members and friends made a pre-pandemic visit there and came back with excellent reviews. Quite an eyeful adventure.

2. Israel has vaccinated enough of its citizens so that masks in public are no longer required. Similarly, much of the USA; the EU too.

3. Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) is requiring proof of vaccination from all its travel customers. Its trip leaders and guides are all required to be vaccinated.

4. The rains came to southern Africa this year. Locals are hoping the drought that has plagued the region for nearly 10 years is broken. Parks and wildlife management agencies had to bore water holes to fill ponds and catchments. Rain means wildlife should be teeming and Victoria Falls in full glory when Travel’s birthday safaris are rescheduled.

5. When planning the air portion of international travel, look into Qatar Airways for fabulous service which encourages an overnight in Qatar, an emirate on the Arabian peninsula. This gives a break in your journey with enough time for a city tour of Qatar and a stay in a 4 star+ hotel for about $25 a night. The sidewalks are air conditioned from underground machinery! An Islamic country so it is not easy to get an adult beverage but there are specific hotels licensed for foreign tourists. Travel has been told Emirates air out of Dubai, a nearby emirate, has a similar program and great service but Travel has not used it.

6. Travelocity just announced air tickets purchased through them carry no change fees.

7. Paris is the most beautiful city in the world when the weather is good. April in Paris? Nice tune; crappy weather. Travel is seeking 2 or more virgins for a week in Paris sometime between June 10 and September 30. (A virgin is someone who has never been to Paris or someone who has been to Paris but does not speak French.) September is probably better in 2021. There are plenty of one week Paris bargain packages. We upgrade to the 4 star level. Planning starts by comparing the list of what you want to see with Travel’s suggestions. There are many options for you as to the amount of participation by Travel who pays his own way, an overall guide who costs you nothing. Most sights offer rental recorded self-serve tours which we avoid because they are too long. You are free to leave the group and use them.

8. Travel would like to lead a group to Belize with a member who served there as co-trip leader. A major activity is diving in the cayes (pronounced keys). We avoid that and only do the mainland. If you want diving, stay home. The sights are definitely on the small side but do not tell Belizeans that. They think this is a piece of heaven. It is a hoot.

9. Whenever travel opportunities are offered by RPCVSF, these are official activities of the group. Neither the volunteer Trip Leader nor the organization receives any compensation from the trip though. We just like to see the world. There’s such a lot of world to see.

10. A new cheap fare airline from the founder of Jet Blue has popped up. Breeze Airways has a base in Tampa which may mean opportunities for south Floridians.

11. Germany will pay Namibia $1.3b US as reparations for genocide against the Nama and Herero tribes from 1904-1907 in the colonial period. Bounties were paid for noses or ears of these people. It was thought these tribes might be hunted to extinction but they have managed to survive. Herero women, particularly, dress in elaborate gowns that make one think back to the Old American South. If you try to photograph them, they will raise their arms over their face or do something to spoil your picture. Give them a $20 N note and you get your photo for less than $2 US. Anthropologists describe the clothing style as memory fashion. This is how they recall the apparel of the original German colonists.

12. Air fares, particularly domestic fares, are rising rapidly. If you find a bargain, TAKE IT. Tell everyone, especially Travel. No apparent change in cancellation or other modifications fee policies. (Yet)