Wednesday, November 9, 2011

TAHITI on SALE!




End of the Year Sale!
Outstanding Values for Tahiti

Tahiti is on sale! When you book Tahiti before December 31st, you can take advantage of a number of terrific offers for travel now through March 31st, 2012. Find out below how you can get a FREE dinner at the world-famous Bloody Marys, a Free parasailing excursion on Moorea, Free nights at 18 different resorts throughout French Polynesia, Free breakfasts, and so much more.


Buy 1 get 1 FREE





Book 5 nights on Moorea or Bora Bora and get 5 nights on another island FREE with Pearl Resorts. Book a Circle Island Tour on Tahiti and your companion goes free.






Buy 2 get 1 FREE Buy 2 nights get the third night free at 13 resorts. Available for stays on Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, Tahaa, Tikehau, Manihi, and Rangiroa - most include free breakfast.







Buy 3 get 1 FREE
Buy 3 nights get the 4th night free at 5 resorts. Available for stays at select luxury resorts on Bora Bora, Moorea and Huahine. All include daily breakfast.

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EVERYONE who knows me knows how much I love TAHITI!

I have access to a very special sale with a lot of freebies! Some of the freebies include hotel nights, meals and activities.

Your trip would need to be reserved from now until December 31, 2011 for travel from now until March 31, 2012 on select travel dates.

Please call me as soon as possible to check availability.

Mari

Monday, November 7, 2011

My Final Thoughts About My First African Adventure

My Final Thoughts My First African Adventure



Many people feel that visiting Africa is a “life changing” experience. Some people are moved by the African vastness. Others are moved by the primitive way that the local people live. Other people are challenged by how the different races are moving to resolve their racial issues. Many people are moved to tears as they observe how animals live in the wild. The quiet, the remoteness moves people to become more introspective. To me, Africa opened me up to many different thoughts, challenged me to live a different way and gave me a chance to be thankful that I live in such a wonderful country.



To begin with, I PACKED TOO MANY CLOTHES. REALLY, too many clothes….so many that I’m embarrassed to say just how badly I over packed. I found myself only using 2 pants and 1 pair of shorts while we were in Botswana along with 4 t-shirts/tanks. After we didn’t have our luggage, I lived with even less.



So imagine, Beverly Hills Mari going on her first safari. Of course I had to have 3 dresses (in all fairness because part of our trip was in the Wine Lands and Cape Town which was city living). I also packed 2 dress slacks and a sweater and even a sweater set. I threw in a few scarves and makeup. Wow…too much stuff! Next safari (sorry, Jeff, there WILL be another safari) I will develop my own safari list using the lists out there in cyberland but fine tuning it Mari-style!



What I experienced was a gradual stripping of my societal conventions. Formal clothing evolved into camp clothing like Exoficio pants and button down bug and sun protection blouses. This was another first, since I wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing these clothes anywhere in the greater L.A. area. For the first time in my adult life, I allowed my naturally curly air to go wild. No blow dryers for me. At least I didn’t scare any monkeys that I know of when I encountered them with my wild native hair.



Living without my clothing, my face wash, toothbrush and my comforts of home was challenging. Talk about having experiences “out of my comfort zone”. Well, I did it!



I still can’t believe that I got into a 6 seat airplane. Well, I did and by the time we took our final small airplane flight, I was a calmer Mari. Facing my fear of flying in a tiny airplane accomplished! Bring them on!



We ate at wonderful restaurants – those South African chefs take their cooking seriously and it shows! Taste, presentation and delivery are quite apparent.



We saw Southern Africa’s Big 5 and enjoyed our game drives and our introductions to the various breeds. Four of the six of our guides/trackers were outstanding and we learned a lot from them and enjoyed hearing about their perspectives. We experienced &Beyond’s little surprises such as lunch along the Gamote Canal and sunset drinks with hippos to name a few.



So, would I go again? Yes, definitely. I would love to return to Kirkman’s Kamp and Sandibe and choose somewhere else rather than Xarana (they had too many internal management problems and poor guides that made me feel uncomfortable because they tried preaching their religion). I would also recommend 2 nights at Victoria Falls rather than rush to do everything in less than 24 hours. Breaking up the camps and finding civilization at a nice hotel with good air conditioning was the right plan so no regrets.



I am so proud that I made this arduous journey. Ruth, Dan, Jeff and I worked well together and I think this experience brought us even closer as friends. We each brought our individual experiences together to give insight and assistance to the group. Dan, Ruth and Jeff were 3 brilliant doctors with biology and physiology degrees working to match up their combined knowledge to the professional guides with their extensive written and practical experience. The discussions that they had were exciting and because I was the non-science person in the group, I definitely learned a lot.



We also worked well with helping each other carrying luggage, sharing the tips, Dan and Ruth were there for me urging me to drink more water and pour water on Dan’s bandana to help keep my neck wet that Dan insisted that I use after he noticed that I was close to having heat stroke. Sorry, Dan, the color looks better on me so…I’ve borrowed the mustard and brown bandana forever :-).



I loved our discussions about animal mating, child birth and the male/female behavior of each individual animal. Dan’s an internal medicine doctor, Ruth’s specialty is obstetrics and gynecology and my Jeff is a veterinarian specializing in dogs and cats. We definitely kept our guides on their toes and everyone was engaged. I credit &Beyond for this. You can’t teach how to be an interesting guide– it must be a part of you. We all felt that Gift in Sandibe and Anton at Kirkman’s were the best of the best guides that &Beyond had to offer. Hats off to them!



So now, I am returning to life in Beverly Hills, as a slightly changed person with wild African curly hair. I’ve walked where wild animals have walked, overcome my small airplane fear and more.



Here are my hints if you are thinking about visiting Africa:



*Work with an experienced Safari travel consultant. This is not the trip you want to plan independently. It is important to work with someone who understands the pace of life while you are in Africa as well as can anticipate any problems that could occur.
*Stick to the packing lists. In time, I’ll have my personalized list that I plan to create after consulting with Dan who is a packing expert. While we were away we borrowed 3 hats, a bandana (still mine), a handkerchief and a pair of undies and pants for Jeff. I’m in awe of Dan’s packing abilities.
*Invest in excellent cameras and binoculars.
*Bug spray was given but if you have sensitive skin, please bring your own
*The African sun is unforgiving. Bring plenty of suntan lotions a wide brimmed hat and a cloth to cool yourself with. Water,water, water!
*As far as money, bring lots of 1’s, 5’s, 10’s, less 20’s maybe 2 50’s and 1-2 100’s to be used for tips and miscellaneous items.
*Bring something that you think someone else in Africa might use. Jeff and I brought colored pencils and markers for the children to be used at their school. Giving is a good thing!
*Purchase the correct luggage and travel purses. Please contact me for my recommendations. *If Cape Town is in your itinerary, PLEASE make dinner reservations well in advance of your visit. I would love to help you with this too.
*Dan mentioned that this was the most physically rigorous trip that he had even taken and it was. You have to be physically fit to climb into a Range Rover. The roads are fair in Kirkman’s Kamp but really bad in Botswana. We would hold onto the bars in from of us and be jostled up and down, side to side. We were driven off road during our game drives. Places like Victoria Falls have mobility issues as well such as climbing up then down stairs. So, if you think that a safari like mine sounds wonderful, please double check with your doctor and get his/her opinion about whether you are able to visit Africa.

If you want to go to Africa get ready to open your mind and try new things like eating Kudu stew or stay a night or two at Le Quartier Francais so you can dine in their world respected restaurant, The Tasting Room so you can taste African food and hear about how the food was prepared. You will learn about the different African vegetables, local herbs and roots that are used in the preparation as well as hear more about the recipes.



Remember, when you arrive to this disorienting special place that took such a long time to journey to…



*Take your time to stop and open your mouth to taste the unique flavors of Africa.



*Close your eyes to better hear the large and small sounds that enrich Africa.



*Feel the richness of the cloth made in Africa as well as feel the beading that is a part of some African masks.



*Use your nose to smell the earth, the fragrance and the spices that make up Africa.



*Watch the stars on a clear African cloudless evening.



*Try to do more with less.



It has been an absolutely wonderful transforming vacation for me. I was moved by the surroundings and in awe of animals that I would never have imaged seeing in the wild like Jeff’s beloved lions, leopards and cheetah.



I hope that you have enjoyed my insights about our first trip to Africa. Please contact me if you have any questions. Let’s work together to create your own African Safari experiences to share with me and others!



Until then…

Mari

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Kirkman's Kamp in South Africa

& Beyond Kirkman's Kamp
Our third and final safari camp was &Beyond Kirkman’s Kamp in South Africa. By the time we got to Kirkman’s Kamp, we were tired, cranky, hungry and thirsty. Duncan, the General Manager greeted us with his hard working team. I was grouchy and Ruth was so hungry and it was an effort to even be nice. All we wanted was a restroom and water ... LOTS of water!

We had been told that the journey from the airport would take 45 minutes but it really took 2 hours – 45 minutes on a dirt road. It was dark – very dark and we were in a place that we hadn’t been before. We didn’t feel unsafe, it just was that the journey seemed never ending.
I’ve always believed that when you travel it’s ok to have 1 melt down day and that travel day between Zambia and Kirkmans Kamp was mine. Kirkman Kamp’s Duncan and Ruth took pity on us and opened the camp store so we could purchase clothes for the following day. I really love my 2 button down cotton shirts and plan to use them while we are back in Tahiti in December.



The rest of the evening included dinner, a discussion about the camp and briefly meeting the one person who would become so important to the 4 of us and then bed. Oh, did I mention that our wake up was for 5:00 am?

So, 5:00 am if was... Knock on the door, quickly getting dressed…no clothes meant easy clothing choices and off we went to meet our outstanding guide, Anton and his tracker associate, Victor. We quickly drank our coffee (hot chocolate for Jeff), ate our biscuit and away we went.


Kirkman’s Kamp vehicles are Land Rovers without a covering. The weather was bright and cool. We saw many wonderful things while we were with Anton and Victor. We got up close and personal with rhinos, had drinks with hippos and learned so much about the birds and wildlife due to Anton’s vast eclectic knowledgebase. Some of my favorite memories were encountering 3 male lions on the road sunning themselves. After observing and taking a million photos of the 3 lions, we began to drive away to continue our adventure and low and behold we found 3 rhinos approaching the lions. Anton expertly turned the Land Rover around and got us in position to observe what could be quite a battle. Imagine being on a low hill waiting, waiting, waiting…wondering if there was going to be a confrontation and if there was a confrontation, who would win. 3 lions versus 3 rhinos. Here’s what happened. The rhinos approached the lions and the lions stared at the rhinos then the lions got up and slowly walked away giving the rhinos the right of way. Since I’m not a blood and guts kind of girl, this was quite a moment!

My other favorite moment involving Anton’s intuition was observing a mother leopard laying beside the road under a huge tree. This mother had left her male cub 2 days before to hunt. As she sat, we watched. She would call out in a quiet cry hoping that her cub could hear her but not too loud to let other predators know her position. Anton told us to be patient. After 10 minutes, we were rewarded with a distant call from the cub. Watching and hearing the cub approach his mother was breathtaking. Their reunion was so touching as the mother leopard groomed her baby and they both did the leopard version of purring.

We were so fortunate to have Anton and Victor with us. Anyone reading this blog, please ask me for more information and stories about them. I would work with them again…anytime!
Our total experience from rocky beginning to the end was wonderful. Kirkman’s Kamp is a beautiful, restful lodge that allows wildlife to roam through it. At night, you must be walked to your room by a guide so they can protect you from any unexpected wildlife encounter. We walked carefully past a hyena and saw the dung (poop) of an elephant during our 3 night stay. The rooms are cozy and very thoughtfully arranged. There was air conditioning! Temperatures ranged from high 60’s when we woke up to 100 degrees from 2-4 pm. I also want to mention that at all 3 &Beyond camps, shampoo, conditioner, liquid body soap, and body scrub is available in everyone’s rooms. I loved their products. The only thing that you really need to bring is your suntan lotion.



The food at Kirkman’s was the best of the 3 lodges. I believe it is accessibility to good, fresh food in South Africa than gives Kirkman’s the edge up. Botswana is just so remote.




As far as game goes, you get more bang for the buck at Kirkman’s Kamp. The camp is part of the Sabi Sands region of Kruger National Park. This area is greener and wetter than Botswana. Because Botswana has more vast open land than Kruger, accessing game was easier at Kirkman’s. We did not experience the larger numbers of animals in the herds that we saw in Botswana though. I still feel that it was important to have bush drives in 2 completely different areas so we could learn about what makes the experience so different.
Going back to our luggage…Ruth and Katie (Anton’s fiancĂ© btw) tried so hard to get answers. The commuter plane division of South African Airlines really is a lousy company. We were in Kirkman’s for 3 nights. Many promises and “stories” later, we received our luggage at 8:30 pm the night before we left. Learning to live with basically the clothes on our backs was a challenge but…we did it.




Leaving Kirkman’s was quite sad. This is a very well run lodge with the emphasis on the guest’s experience. The lodge feels warm and is genuinely friendly. Two of our dinners included 5 African songs performed by the staff. Can you imagine sitting outside under the African sky with the 4 of us and Anton listening to the staff singing African songs as they danced? This is a memory that I will cherish forever. So, hat’s off to Duncan, Ruth, Katie, Simon our extraordinary server, Zanila, the best massage giver and to Anton and Victor.



Stay tuned for the wrap up blog about our African experience.



Mari

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Zambia and Thoughts about Airlines & Transfers

Zambia and Thoughts of Airlines and Transfers




Well... I’ve been an avid traveler for the past 15 years. We’ve always been pretty lucky with our luggage up until now…





First, though…I survived my plane rides to Zambia!!! We were promised 1 flight which would last 1 hour and a half. We actually had to take 3 flights. The first was a 5 minute flight to a tiny airstrip called Pom Pom in a 6 seat plane.


Next, we transferred to an 8 seat plane for a 15 minute ride to another tiny airstrip called Chitibe where we were transferred to our 3rd flight. This “lux” plane held 12 people. Prayers said, moist palms…but I DID IT!!!



We were transferred to a passport control point in Botswana in a van then taken to the water border between Botswana and Zambia. We had to take a tiny motorized boat to the Zambian point of the river and were met by another driver who then took us to the Zambian passport control where we paid our $50 per person Visa fee. It was completely unsettling as we past people with guns sitting idly as we had our van visually inspected.



We drove to the Royal Livingstone Hotel which is an elegant hotel by Zambian standards. We were formally greeted by their representative and then offered a cool drink and a warm hand massage. The rooms were disappointing but the grounds were outstanding. Animals roam free at the Royal Livingstone. We past a zebra on our way to our room!


After being in the bush for the past 6 hot days, all I wanted was a shower and air conditioning. Jeff joined Ruth and Dan and went to Victoria Falls. They walked through the Falls and had a blast. Afterwards, we were met by our driver and taken down a long bumpy dirt road to the dock where we met the 3 deck boat called the African Queen to take a sunset cruise down the Zambezi River. It was very crowded and full of cigarette smoke so we went to the top deck and joined the captain. What a guy! He shared his knowledge of the region and made sure that our group of 4 didn’t miss anything. The views were spectacular. We enjoyed watching an elephant swim from the shore across the Zambezi River to the other shore as the sun was setting. We were mesmerized watching an elephant mother caring for her baby. We also loved the hippos (especially Dan). Bad drinks, icky food but what a memory!


The following day, was our most difficult travel day. We had a formal tour of Victoria Falls in 100 plus degree weather. This is the low season at Victoria Falls so we were actually able to see the rock formations that the Falls flow over. This is not possible during high season. Victoria Falls is a must – the best that the impoverished nation of Zambia has to offer.


Our driver ran us back to our hotel to pick up our luggage for the airport. We stopped at a local market to purchase our a few things for Ruth and I found a batik with 4 dancing African women that I had to have to remind me of this very special place. Off to the airport we went where we had to wait…and wait…and wait. We watched our luggage being loaded on the airplane…then unloaded form the airplane. The excuse that South African’s commuter plane used was that it was too hot (42 c) and the plane wouldn’t take off with all of the passengers’ luggage on the plane. We were promised that our luggage would be delivered the following day…NOT!



Let’s talk about transfers…we put our trust with people on the ground on the local level. Having a clean, reliable car with a knowledgeable driver will be something that I will never take for granted again. All of our transfers and believe me, there were A LOT were reliable except our sunset cruise tour in Zambia. The issue was the tour company’s fault but they did resolve the issue and we did go on the sunset cruise. Having ProAfrica’s connections was the key and to you my clients, I assure you that knowing the right people and companies makes all the difference. Hat’s off to Maggie at ProAfrica!



Remember how I said that the airline promised that our luggage would be on the next flight? What they failed to let us know was that the next flight was 2 days later. I am now an experienced flyer who can live on next to no clothes. We bought a change of clothes at the gift shop at &Beyond’s Kirkman Kamp when we finally arrived (4 hours later than scheduled) but as Jeff and Dan said…WE ARRIVED!!



More on &Beyond Kirkmans Kamp with my next blog...



Mari