Seeing Wild Animals

I think the next grandchild I take will be a girl who will be 13 in
July 2009. We will probably travel in the summer of 2009 - mostly
likely June, because I don't think she's a good enough student to take
her out of school.

She is interested in animals (and boys of course). Ideally I'd take
her where my mom took her dad - on African safari. But I don't think
I want to go to Africa ATM. I'd like to stay in this hemisphere if
possible. I've been to Costa Rica and Belize. If that was the only
option, I'd go back, but I'd rather go somewhere different.

SO - What would be the best bet for a cruise in about June 2009 for
seeing animals with a young teen and her old grandmother?

Is there an Alaskan cruise that we could take? How about someplace in
Central or South America? Or the Galapagos? Or Hawaii?

On 4/24/2008 9:45 PM Rosalie B. plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger and
said:
I think the next grandchild I take will be a girl who will be 13 in
July 2009. We will probably travel in the summer of 2009 - mostly
likely June, because I don't think she's a good enough student to take
her out of school.

She is interested in animals (and boys of course). Ideally I'd take
her where my mom took her dad - on African safari. But I don't think
I want to go to Africa ATM. I'd like to stay in this hemisphere if
possible. I've been to Costa Rica and Belize. If that was the only
option, I'd go back, but I'd rather go somewhere different.

SO - What would be the best bet for a cruise in about June 2009 for
seeing animals with a young teen and her old grandmother?

Is there an Alaskan cruise that we could take? How about someplace in
Central or South America? Or the Galapagos? Or Hawaii?





It's not a cruise, but you could do a land tour of Minnesota. In the
northern part of the state, there's the Gray Wolf research center.
There's an observation area where you can watch a family of wild wolves
socialize and interact with each other. In other parts of the state you
can watch black bears, from bear watching platforms. There are also
eagle watching locations. The state truly has many lakes. It is
possible to go fishing for trout or walleye in downtown Minneapolis. If
you go there stalking the wild mark down, she'll have bragging rights
for getting the deal of the century at Mall of America.

Check out this link: http://www.exploreminnesota.com/home.aspx

Also, there are several cruise lines that do Alaska cruises during the
Summer months. In fact that's the peak time for whale watching and
seeing other wild life. So, you can do an Alaska cruise, Royal
Caribbean would probably be a good one for a teenager. They have all
those activities like rock climbing walls and such. If it turns out
that she has a major seasickness problem that nothing will fix, then
maybe you might want to do Minnesota and mix it up between wildlife and
the Twin Cities.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

On Apr 24, 6:45*pm, Rosalie B. wrote:
I think the next grandchild I take will be a girl who will be 13 in
July 2009. *We will probably travel in the summer of 2009 - mostly
likely June, because I don't think she's a good enough student to take
her out of school.

She is interested in animals (and boys of course). *Ideally I'd take
her where my mom took her dad - on African safari. *But I don't think
I want to go to Africa ATM. *I'd like to stay in this hemisphere if
possible. *I've been to Costa Rica and Belize. *If that was the only
option, I'd go back, but I'd rather go somewhere different.

SO - What would be the best bet for acruisein about June 2009 for
seeing animals with a young teen and her old grandmother?

Is there an Alaskancruisethat we could take? *How about someplace in
Central or South America? *Or theGalapagos? Or Hawaii?

I would recommend taking a cruise to the Galapagos because it is so
endangered and unique. There is enough activity to keep the teen
happy, plus the grandmother can hang out on board or just sit in the
sun on the island and watch all the wildlife go by. The cruise I took
was with Quasar Expeditions, and it was great - see
http://www.galapagosexpeditions.com/...n.php?activo=2. The
Galapagos is a real treasure, but might not be around by the time the
teen becomes the grandmother.

wrote:

On Apr 24, 6:45*pm, Rosalie B. wrote:
I think the next grandchild I take will be a girl who will be 13 in
July 2009. *We will probably travel in the summer of 2009 - mostly
likely June, because I don't think she's a good enough student to take
her out of school.

She is interested in animals (and boys of course). *Ideally I'd take
her where my mom took her dad - on African safari. *But I don't think
I want to go to Africa ATM. *I'd like to stay in this hemisphere if
possible. *I've been to Costa Rica and Belize. *If that was the only
option, I'd go back, but I'd rather go somewhere different.

SO - What would be the best bet for acruisein about June 2009 for
seeing animals with a young teen and her old grandmother?

Is there an Alaskancruisethat we could take? *How about someplace in
Central or South America? *Or theGalapagos? Or Hawaii?

I would recommend taking a cruise to the Galapagos because it is so
endangered and unique. There is enough activity to keep the teen
happy, plus the grandmother can hang out on board or just sit in the
sun on the island and watch all the wildlife go by. The cruise I took
was with Quasar Expeditions, and it was great - see
http://www.galapagosexpeditions.com/...n.php?activo=2. The
Galapagos is a real treasure, but might not be around by the time the
teen becomes the grandmother.

That's a good idea. She has said she wants Australia, or Peru, so
maybe Ecuador and Galapagos would be good.

You will probably have a maximum window of 8 nights but it is possible to work
out a schedule that would include a short Galapagos Cruise along with a visit to
Machu Pichu in Peru.

Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises



In article , Rosalie B. says...

wrote:

On Apr 24, 6:45*pm, Rosalie B. wrote:
I think the next grandchild I take will be a girl who will be 13 in
July 2009. *We will probably travel in the summer of 2009 - mostly
likely June, because I don't think she's a good enough student to take
her out of school.

She is interested in animals (and boys of course). *Ideally I'd take
her where my mom took her dad - on African safari. *But I don't think
I want to go to Africa ATM. *I'd like to stay in this hemisphere if
possible. *I've been to Costa Rica and Belize. *If that was the only
option, I'd go back, but I'd rather go somewhere different.

SO - What would be the best bet for acruisein about June 2009 for
seeing animals with a young teen and her old grandmother?

Is there an Alaskancruisethat we could take? *How about someplace in
Central or South America? *Or theGalapagos? Or Hawaii?

I would recommend taking a cruise to the Galapagos because it is so
endangered and unique. There is enough activity to keep the teen
happy, plus the grandmother can hang out on board or just sit in the
sun on the island and watch all the wildlife go by. The cruise I took
was with Quasar Expeditions, and it was great - see
http://www.galapagosexpeditions.com/...n.php?activo=2. The
Galapagos is a real treasure, but might not be around by the time the
teen becomes the grandmother.

That's a good idea. She has said she wants Australia, or Peru, so
maybe Ecuador and Galapagos would be good.

Cal Ford wrote:

You will probably have a maximum window of 8 nights but it is possible to work
out a schedule that would include a short Galapagos Cruise along with a visit to
Machu Pichu in Peru.

Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises

I am not sure that I could physically handle the altitude in Peru (?).
Why do you say a window of 8 nights?

The Quasar site, when you get down to the price part is VERY
expensive. (Not as expensive as Regent or something like that, but
high.) I discarded Celebrity's weekly Galapagos cruise because there
are only 100 pax and it did not seem as though there would be many
young people. Perhaps I will rethink that.

I would recommend taking a cruise to the Galapagos because it is so
endangered and unique. There is enough activity to keep the teen
happy, plus the grandmother can hang out on board or just sit in the
sun on the island and watch all the wildlife go by. The cruise I took
was with Quasar Expeditions, and it was great - see
http://www.galapagosexpeditions.com/...n.php?activo=2. The
Galapagos is a real treasure, but might not be around by the time the
teen becomes the grandmother.

That's a good idea. She has said she wants Australia, or Peru, so
maybe Ecuador and Galapagos would be good.

Rosalie B. wrote in
:



The Quasar site, when you get down to the price part is VERY
expensive. (Not as expensive as Regent or something like that, but
high.) I discarded Celebrity's weekly Galapagos cruise because there
are only 100 pax and it did not seem as though there would be many
young people. Perhaps I will rethink that.


Galapogos cruises are limited to smaller ships Celebrity is one of the
"big" ones!

--
Joseph Coulter, cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell

Rosalie B. wrote:
Cal Ford wrote:
You will probably have a maximum window of
8 nights but it is possible to work out a
schedule that would include a short Galapagos
Cruise along with a visit to Machu Pichu in Peru.

Having done both the Galapagos and Machu Picchu, I would not try to do
both in only 8 days, as a lot of your time is simply spent
travelling.

When we did our Galapagos cruises, the travel advice was to allow for a
24+ hour long layover at Ecuador's mainland connection, due to very poor
performance in checked baggage delivery. As it worked out, we had a ~28
hour layover (technically 2 hotel room nights = $600) on the way down
and a ~20 hour layover on the return (1 night, another $300).
Your international flight to the mainland's gateway city will either be
to Guyaquil along the coast, or Quito in the mountains. Each has its
advantages & disadvantages: Quito is an ancient Inca city and generally
more interesting, but its then a longer flight to/from the Galapagos,
with frequently a stop in Guyaquil en route...and Qito is at a 10,000ft
altitude if that's a concern. There's also some sporatic volcanic
activity near Qito that occasionally puts up enough smoke & ash to
completely shut down the airport for a week.

FWIW, here's a few Galapagos critter photos:
http://www.huntzinger.com/galapagos.html

If you go, ask me about camera gear, for I had a few unexpected
surprises, such as minimum focus distance with my telephoto lens.
There's no doubt that you'll see critters up close and personal in the
Galapagos.

For Peru & Machu Picchu, the flight from the USA is similarly long, and
one hotel night in Lima is typically recommended before then taking the
domestic flight out to Cuzco (11,000+ft altitude), which is the gateway
to then get to Machu Picchu. Same situation for the return, although
IIRC, the flight home was like ~10pm, so technically, one could do it in
one day if you're willing to risk leaving all of your checked baggage
behind, hung up between two different airlines.
For flying from Ecuador to Peru, I don't think that overnights in both
Guyaquil and Lima would both be necessary, so I think that you might be
able to save a day here...ie, go from the Galapagos to Cuzco in only 2
days instead of 3 days by overnighting only in Lima. Naturally, it will
depend on specific airline schedules.
For heading homeward, the train Machu Picchu from/to Cuzco is pretty
much the better part of a day (supposedly 4 hours; felt like more), as
is also the flight Cuzco to Lima and (probably) Lima to USA. As such,
if you left MP on a Monday, you would arrive in Cuzco monday night,
overnight in Cuzco, fly on tuesday to Lima, and either catch a late
flight out of Lima and get back to the USA on Wednesday, or overnight in
Lima and leave on Wednesday AM and gethome get home sometime very late
on Wednesday (or Wednesday PM and arrive Thursday by noon). Again, it
is all depending on specific airline schedules and your tolerance for
lost checked baggage for how much of a layover you choose to build into
your connections.

I am not sure that I could physically handle the
altitude in Peru (?).

Cuzco is 11,000ft. Machu Picchu is actually a bit lower...around 8,000,
which surprisingly is a noticable difference.
Its generally a good idea to spend a day or two acclimating to the
altitude in Cuzco before taking the train out to Machu Picchu, plus its
generally recommended (again, to let lost checked baggage catch up), but
it also makes the train connection easier.

FYI, if thin air is a big concern, I believe that most hotels that have
O2 available, and at the 5-Star Hotel Montasario, they actually offer
entire rooms that have extra O2 piped in (think 'Nitrox' from Scuba
Diving) so that you don't have to be uncomfortable wearing an O2 mask
while you sleep. Just be aware that this is an expensive option to
what's an already expensive hotel room.

Nevertheless, my general recommendation would be to get out and exercise
now, ask your doctor and do it before you're much older. You'll also
find that the Galapagos isn't a picnic either, as you need to be
somewhat of a "Billy Goat" for the shore excursions there ... there's
wet landings and dry landings, which are then typically followed by 3-4
hours of walking on sometimes rough trails. Its not a stroll down the
Atlantic City Boardwalk, so this is another "Do it NOW, before you're
too old!" destination.

Why do you say a window of 8 nights?

IMO, way too short. Adding up what I outlined above:

USA -- Ecuador Mainland
Mainland -- Galapagos
(cruise duration)
Galapagos -- Mainland, then to Lima (same day)
Lima -- Cuzco
Cuzco -- MP
(MP visit; probably staying in Aguas Calientas)
MP -- Cuzco
Cuzco -- Lima
Lima -- USA

Thus, you're probably looking at 8 days worth of travel, in addition to
actual time spent at the intended primary destinations, which IMO should
be a week on a Galapagos cruise, plus an extra day to see Cuzco and at
least 2 days for MP would be 8 + 7 + 3 = 18 day duration trip,
door-to-door.

Plus there's other things to consider seeing while in Peru (Rain Forest,
Nazca, etc), which is part of the reason why we did it as two trips,
each of which was roughly of two weeks duration.

I discarded Celebrity's weekly Galapagos
cruise because there are only 100 pax and
it did not seem as though there would be many
young people. Perhaps I will rethink that.

As was stated, 100 is pretty much the largest ship and IMO, I'd look for
an even smaller boat, probably around 50. Main reason here is that all
of the land excursions require being tendered in on small boats that
only take 10-20 pax, and even if they have a large enough fleet of small
boats to minimize waiting, you can easily end up with a crowd ashore
that overwhelms the shore destination. Even the small ones will
typically have two daily (morning/afternoon) itineraries, one of which
will always be an island wildlife hike and the other could be time on a
beach, kayaking, etc.

Also, be aware that different boats run different itineraries and don't
all cover the same islands. There are some subtle differences and its
just one more thing to sort out. For example, look for an itinerary who
visits the Darwin Station (where the big tortoises are) on one of the
mornings where they get fed (only 1x or 2x per week), as they're more
active and interesting. I've done both a "feeding day AM" visit and a
generic PM visit and they are different.

In general, a lot of these transit hassle issues can be smoothed over
through the selection of a good travel consolidator company...these
airports aren't particularly "First World". For Peru, we used
'Southwind Adventures'; I forget who we used for Ecuador. In general,
you'll pay a bit more, but you'll have a handler meet you at each
destination and it will also cover skycaps to carry your baggage, which
is worth every penny in the high altitude cities, as if you're coming
from living at Sea Level, it will definitely knock you for a loop (the
first hour in particular), until you learn to slow down. BTW, the Cocoa
Leaf Tea that's commonly offered does "reportedly" do a good job at
minimizing altitude-related headaches, and if you're retired, you don't
need to worry about any potential implications of an employer's drug
test upon returning home.


-hh

On 4/27/2008 10:28 PM plucked Senior Frog's
Magic Twanger and said:
On Apr 24, 6:45 pm, Rosalie B. wrote:

I think the next grandchild I take will be a girl who will be 13 in
July 2009. We will probably travel in the summer of 2009 - mostly
likely June, because I don't think she's a good enough student to take
her out of school.

She is interested in animals (and boys of course). Ideally I'd take
her where my mom took her dad - on African safari. But I don't think
I want to go to Africa ATM. I'd like to stay in this hemisphere if
possible. I've been to Costa Rica and Belize. If that was the only
option, I'd go back, but I'd rather go somewhere different.

SO - What would be the best bet for acruisein about June 2009 for
seeing animals with a young teen and her old grandmother?

Is there an Alaskancruisethat we could take? How about someplace in
Central or South America? Or theGalapagos? Or Hawaii?


I would recommend taking a cruise to the Galapagos because it is so
endangered and unique. There is enough activity to keep the teen
happy, plus the grandmother can hang out on board or just sit in the
sun on the island and watch all the wildlife go by. The cruise I took
was with Quasar Expeditions, and it was great - see
http://www.galapagosexpeditions.com/...n.php?activo=2. The
Galapagos is a real treasure, but might not be around by the time the
teen becomes the grandmother.

Actually, the Galapagos Islands are starting to feel the impact of the
rise in ecotourism. There's been talk of limiting the number of people
who can go ashore.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

On Apr 28, 2:20 pm, Brian K wrote:
On 4/27/2008 10:28 PM plucked Senior Frog's
Magic Twanger and said:

On Apr 24, 6:45 pm, Rosalie B. wrote:

I think the next grandchild I take will be a girl who will be 13 in
July 2009. We will probably travel in the summer of 2009 - mostly
likely June, because I don't think she's a good enough student to take
her out of school.

She is interested in animals (and boys of course). Ideally I'd take
her where my mom took her dad - on African safari. But I don't think
I want to go to Africa ATM. I'd like to stay in this hemisphere if
possible. I've been to Costa Rica and Belize. If that was the only
option, I'd go back, but I'd rather go somewhere different.

SO - What would be the best bet for acruisein about June 2009 for
seeing animals with a young teen and her old grandmother?

Is there an Alaskancruisethat we could take? How about someplace in
Central or South America? Or theGalapagos? Or Hawaii?

I would recommend taking a cruise to the Galapagos because it is so
endangered and unique. There is enough activity to keep the teen
happy, plus the grandmother can hang out on board or just sit in the
sun on the island and watch all the wildlife go by. The cruise I took
was with Quasar Expeditions, and it was great - see
http://www.galapagosexpeditions.com/...n.php?activo=2. The
Galapagos is a real treasure, but might not be around by the time the
teen becomes the grandmother.

Actually, the Galapagos Islands are starting to feel the impact of the
rise in ecotourism. There's been talk of limiting the number of people
who can go ashore.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page:http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

This is part of the reason to plan to go to the Galapagos earlier than
later. I suggested the Quasar Expeditions cruises because they offer a
lot of activity for a teenager - snorkling, dinghy rides, hiking,
diving -- while at the same time the ships are comfortable enough for
a grandmother.

By the way, Brian, I LOVE your sig file.