Kabala Teatro Colombia Travel Tips

Archive for February, 2012

Backpack in hand, you are ready to head to Europe for some fun and sun. Here is some advice for backpackers from someone who has done it multiple times and made the mistakes.

Advice For Backpackers Going To Europe

In my personal opinion, spending a few weeks or months backpacking in Europe should be a mandatory task for every person. Admittedly, it can’t really be called a task since you will love every minute of it. Having backpacked Europe more times than I can count, here are some of the lessons I learned which can help you.

The first piece of advice is to limit the number of things you take. Europe is not located on a far away planet. If you can buy it here, you can buy it there. This includes items such as soap, socks, toothpaste, disposable digital cameras and guidebooks. I guarantee that you will take too much junk with you. Don’t. One or two pairs of shoes, shorts, one pair of slacks [to get into museums and churches] and a couple shirts is all you need. If you need anything else, you can just buy it there.

There is a lot to see and do in Europe, so most people want to maximize their time. One way to do this is to travel and sleep at the same time. Yes, I am talking about the night trains. When moving from one location to another, try to take the latest train and sleep during the trip. You only have a set amount of time. Taking this approach will keep you from wasting valuable daylight hours on the road.

One of the key pieces of advice I can offer you is to use your common sense. If you wouldn’t walk down that alley or into that establishment at home, why the heck are you going to do it in Europe? Europe is very safe and the people are friendly. That being said, every location has its rough spots. Avoid them. Particularly in the Eastern European countries. Trust me on this one!

To maximize your experience, it is best to get off the beaten path. When you visit a city, spend at least a day in a town outside of the city limits. You will discover the real nature of the country. Tourists are fewer, so people tend to be interested in talking with you. There are always a group of older men sitting in a café. Join them and you will be laughing for hours. I did this in Austria and ended up speaking a week in a little village called Halstatt. One of the best times I ever had.
Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone has their favorite Caribbean Island but if you don’t know, cruising the Cayman Islands is a highlight of a Caribbean Cruise. The three islands hold many attractions some that are unique to these islands. The world’s only commercial Green Sea Turtle farm is located here and is an interesting tour. Other attractions include the National Museum, Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Park and Garden, Bird Sanctuaries, Nature trails and Wetlands Preserves. And, of course, for those who can’t live without it, shopping is abundant without the hassle of street vendors (prohibited by law).

One of the most famous natural attractions in Grand Cayman Island is Stingray City. This is an area in the ocean not far from the northern tip of Grand Cayman where tourists can get up close to hundreds of friendly stingrays. Stingray City will be one of the organized tours from the cruise ships visiting Grand Cayman as a port of call. There will also be tours available from local operators in Georgetown where the cruise ships dock. The cruise organized tours will almost always be the more expensive option but you will save a lot of shore time.

Scuba divers can book specialized dives at Stingray City through one of the many diver operators in Grand Cayman. The scuba diving at Stingray City is at a deeper section away from the tourist crowds who are usually brought to a very shallow area. Certified scuba divers and even snorkelers are recommended to take the dive trip option with the dive shops to experience Stingray City with fewer crowds. For non-divers, the sandbars here are shallow enough to stand and feed the stingrays.

It is believed that many years ago, sailors visiting the area while cleaning their catch threw fish remains overboard and soon noticed the stingrays coming into the cove for the free food. These particular stingrays became conditioned over the years to humans and the food handouts unlike stingrays elsewhere in the Caribbean.

The stingrays here are friendly enough that people could touch them and local guides have been known to even hold them. The guides will warn everyone that even though these stingrays appear to be quite friendly, they should still be regarded as wild animals so it is never recommended to touch them by their razor sharp tails or abuse them in any manner. It is possible to feed them with the squid parts provided on site. The mouths of the stingrays are located underneath their bodies and people are instructed to hold the food in their palms flat facing up. With their keen sense of smell, the stingrays will hover towards and over the food to collect their snacks.

The guides, a devilish lot, usually target in on the squeamish of all the passengers. As soon as those passengers are in the water they throw food around the hapless folks to attract the stingrays to that area. So seem brave and you won’t get picked on.
Read the rest of this entry »

What is so unique about a luxury motor yacht charter? The list goes on and on, but the most poignant trait may be it is the only vacation you will ever take where you get both the control of calling all the shots and the pampering of an all inclusive vacation package. Whether you choose a motor boat or sailboat charter you will be on the trip of a lifetime. Hire a crew to make your vacation even more carefree and you’ll never travel any other way again.

Destinations of the Sea

A typical vacation for you may have been to some pretty exciting or peaceful destinations. Chances are you booked your flight and hotel online or through a travel agent then anxiously awaited your vacation. You fly to a specific airport then perhaps rent a car to use public transportation. Next you see all the sites within a day’s drive of your hotel, hope your flight home and it all becomes a distant memory as you try desperately to recuperate from your adventure.

When travelling aboard a luxury motor yacht charter the experience is entirely different. First and foremost you are not limited by geography and you don’t have to worry about booking a hotel for each city you visit. Your luxury suite travels with you along with your personal chef and butler. On top of that, all of your closest friends and family can come along.

Luxury yacht vacation packages that also include a flight to the departing port can range from weekend trips around the Caribbean Islands and the Bahamas to week long travels to the Mediterranean sea. Generally the Caribbean is reached via Miami and European Islands and those in the Mediterranean are reached by a number of different departure cities. The all inclusive trip is yours for the designing. You choose where you will stop and how long you will stay. There are no other passengers to accommodate other than those you have invited so the choice is yours.
Read the rest of this entry »

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines (Oasis) today further boosted the strength of its management team, with the appointment of seasoned aviation management professional, Mr David Solloway.

Mr Solloway takes up the position of General Manager – North America, reporting to Fritz Blayney, Senior Vice President – North America. Solloway is primarily responsible for providing strategic leadership to regional staff to achieve established revenue targets, passenger goals, and service standards.

Based in Vancouver Mr. Solloway will also ensure Oasis’ high benchmarks of safety and efficiency continue to be met in the Canadian port.

From there he will also serve as company representative to civic and community organizations, as well as involvement with government affairs relating to the airline.

Mr Solloway has a plethora of international aviation management experience, most recently serving as the director of marketing for Sangster International Airport, at Montego Bay in Jamaica.

Prior to that he worked in a variety of positions at United Airlines over eight years – traveling the globe as the airline’s general manager in New Delhi, India; the divisional manager of marketing and sales in Hong Kong, as well as general manager in Hong Kong; and as general manager, Thailand/Indochina in Bangkok, Thailand.

For nine years preceding that, Mr Solloway worked for Canadian Airlines International, in similar senior management roles based in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore. Read the rest of this entry »