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Introducing Uganda’s Shaka Tours & Travels

Working as adventure travel contributing editor for Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine, I once wrote a story on eliminating the middleman. How big-name American tour operators were jacking the price by adding another layer of cost to the traveler. Simply go to the same small tour operator they’ve hired to design their trip and you’ve eliminated the excess cost. Uganda’s Shaka Tours would certainly make the cut if I were writing that article in 2017. They join a growing list of small African operators I’ve worked with over the past five years that clients have loved, including African Scenic Safaris in Arusha, Tanzania, and Ghana Tour Consult. I work with Okongo Joshua Fredrick, managing directing at Shaka Tours, designing a wondrous 5-day gorilla trek tour to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Longer trips included chimpanzee tracking at Kibale National Park, game drives at Muchison Falls National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park, and cultural highlights of Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Price of the 5-day gorilla trek starts as low as $950 per person, not including visas. That’s what I call a bargain. 

 

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Checking Out Cartagena and the Rosario Islands on My College Break

Guest Post and Photo by Sophie Basseches 
 
A few weeks ago, during my 5-day fall break from college, I was lucky enough to go on an adventure. I journeyed all the way to Colombia to visit my brother who is teaching English at a school there. I know, it seems kind of crazy to go so far for such a short period of time, but it was amazing! 
 
My brother is stationed in Barranquilla. One look at the city and you can tell it’s not an ideal tourist destination. Instead, my brother, his two friends, and I took a 2-hour bus ride over to the old walled city of Cartagena. From $5 dollar vegan brunches to 4 am salsa dancing, this city has everything a newbie to the country could want. Cartagena is the perfect mix of beauty and culture, quite appealing to a college student like myself. 
 
Cartagena is also not too far from some other interesting destinations. On our second day in the city we headed 35 miles southeast to San Basilio de Palenque. We went there expecting a tiny drum festival but were in for a huge treat. After a bumpy and cramped bus ride, we landed in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere and had to take motorcycles down the 5-mile dirt road to the city. Once we got there, what we experienced was anything but dull. There were hundreds of people, amazing food, quality beer, and stunning singing and dance performances done by citizens of all ages, each of them more talented than the next. The drum festival isn’t the only unique aspect of Palenque. Many Africans escaped from the slave ship port of Cartagena and set up Palenque de San Basilio. In 1691, the Spanish Government guaranteed freedom to the Palenque de San Basilio Africans. They were, in fact, the first free Africans in the Americas, and as a result, Palenque was named a UNESCO world heritage site. 
 
I know you’re thinking that this sounds like a lot to do in just five days but there were more adventures to come! Cartagena is on the coast and we had to take advantage of the ideal location. We took a small boat out to the Islas del Rosario (Rosario Islands), a group of approximately 30 islands, all of them beautiful with crystal blue water, white sand, and exquisite sunsets. On the islands there are numerous trails to hike or bike, perfect snorkeling spots, and for those lazy/tired like myself, hundreds of picturesque beaches to nap on. This trip to Colombia was my first time in South America, but after my amazing experience, I know it won’t be my last. 
 
(Photo caption: Sophie and her brother, Jake, in San Basilio de Palenque)
 
 

 

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Travel Outside the Box, Fourth Stop, Tasmania

Having spent over 3 months in Australia, I know the country fairly well. Now I’m pleased to have the opportunity to design itineraries for clientele heading to Oz for often their first and more than likely last time. Sydney, Melbourne, and Port Douglas/Cairns are a must. If they’re feeling more ambitious, I’ll add Uluru, Alice Springs, Darwin/Kakadu National Park, Adelaide, and Perth. But rarely is Tasmania on their radar and that my friends is a major mistake. Tasmania is the Australia of yore, an island the size of Ireland that boasts a diverse landscape of lush forest, dramatic sea cliffs battered by Antarctic gales, craggy peaks, and alpine lakes. Combine it with Hobart, quickly becoming an international destination for art lovers thanks to the opening of MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, in a stunning new building, and you have an island that’s worthy of a week of your time. 
 
If you’re in the least bit active, you should book one of the 6-day Cycle, Kayak, and Walk Tasmania tours with Tasmanian Expeditions. Another excellent way to appreciate the vast Tasmanian wilderness is on the legendary Overland Track, a 40-mile trek that links 5,069-foot Cradle Mountain with the waters of Lake St. Clair. If you want to head to Tasmania simply for the art and food, stay at the Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart, check out the Farm Gate farmer’s market on Sunday morning, sample the whisky at the Lark distillery, and grab dinner on the waterfront at Frank. Just do yourself a favor and put Tasmania on your Aussie itinerary. 
 
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A Perfect Fall Foliage Ride with DuVine Cycling

Saturday morning was a bit nippy when we met Andy Levine, founder of DuVine Cycling, along with the marketing department of Deena Giancotti and Gwen Kidera at the clock tower in Wellesley Hills. A table was laden with fresh croissants and coffee from a South End bakery, along with printouts of the 30-mile route Andy had designed for a dozen members of ActiveTravels. We soon warmed up on the hills out of Wellesley into Weston under sunny skies. Andy was zipping back and forth between the faster riders in the front and slower riders to make sure we didn’t get lost. Soon he was called into action when one member of the group had a flat. The foliage was abundant as we cruised by DeCordova Museum in Lincoln and turned left on Baker Bridge Road past the minimalist Gropius House. At the edge of a vast field, tall maples were ablaze in crimson and orange colors. We turned right past Walden Pond and stopped for a snack at the Old Manse in Concord, best known as the house where Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the book, “Nature.” We were treated to the history of the house, where Hawthorne also lived, by a docent who worked there as we dined on another spread complements of DuVine that consisted of shrimp, an assortment of local cheeses, freshly made blueberry pie and other goodies. Then we made the return trip back, invigorated by the route, scenery, and conversation. 
 
Lisa and I want to thank Andy, Deena, and Gwen for throwing this together for our clientele, a small taste of what DuVine does on their trips to Tuscany, Bordeaux, Napa, and many other locales. Celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2016, they continue to be one of the best in the business. Just ask the father and son we sent to the French Alps this summer who did stages of the Tour de France before watching the best bikers in the world cycle the exact same route. An exhilarating vacation they won’t soon forget. 
 
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Introducing Wanderu

One of my favorite websites for designing European itineraries for clientele is Rome2rio.com. It lists the best ways to get from city to city via a number of options, including train, bus, car rental, and flight. For example, I just saved my sister and her family of four $1500 by going on Rome2rio.com and finding out that the flight from Innsbruck to Amsterdam is significantly cheaper than flying directly from Salzburg. All you have to do is take the 1 hour and 42 minute train from Salzburg to Innsbruck to catch that cheap flight on Transavia. So I was excited to hear about Wanderu, a new app listing all the bus and train routes in North America. So far, it seems to work better for cities. For example, I put in Ithaca to Boston, the route my son takes to college, and Wanderu has him going though New York City instead of the far more realistic Albany, New York. Also, the bus I usually take from my hometown of Newton to New York, GO Buses, was nowhere to be found. Wanderu is relatively new. I’m hoping it works out its kinks and becomes just as valuable for North American travelers as Rome2rio.com is for European travelers. 
 
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Vienna Celebrates the 150th Birthday of Klimt

Despite the flagging economy and increasing concern over Eurozone debt, Vienna’s tourism industry is booming. Overnight hotel stays in Austria’s capital city in 2011 reached 11.4 million, a 5% increase from 2010, which was already a record-breaking year. Increased traffic from Russia, Spain, and Switzerland spurred on the high numbers, but the US still remains a vital market. The numbers of travelers to Vienna should only increase in 2012, with the city hosting a 150th birthday party for artist Gustav Klimt. Ten Viennese museums are offering special exhibitions in 2012 to display the paintings, drawings, and designs by Klimt. First stop should be the Belvedere, which owns the world’s largest collection of paintings by Klimt, including The Kiss. A show at the Albertina will delve into Klimt’s versatility as an artist, displaying 170 of his drawings.

 
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Time to Enter Lowell Thomas Travel Awards Competition

Since its inception in 1984, the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation has handed out more than 2,100 awards and over $420,000 in recognition of outstanding travel journalism. Named the Lowell Thomas Travel Awards Competition after the renowned travel scribe, it has become the premier competition in North America in the field of travel journalism. Every year, the awards and prize money is handed out for outstanding print, online and multimedia works, travel photography, and audio and video broadcast. I’m proud to be on the board of the competition, now open until April 1st. Please send your best work and walk away with cash and the chance to call yourself an award-winning travel writer. 

 

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