Tag Archives: Travel preparation

Good to Know About Melbourne

01 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by in Australia, Melbourne

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Melbourne proved easy to live in, another testament to Jonathan’s Airbnb research skills. We were walking distance from the beach, very handy on hot days, and also close to public transport. We drove into the center of the city on our first day to go to my eye doctor appointment and it was as nightmarish as in any big city. So was the price of parking. We learned the bus, tram, train system immediately, and had no trouble getting around in the city subsequently. In fact, there is virtually no down side to Melbourne apart from the big issue–it is difficult to emigrate. We met lots of young people from all around the world in Australia for a year or two, including a woman who arrived from England the day before, and a young man returning to France next month after two years working and traveling here. None knew of a legal way to emigrate apart from marrying an Australian. The young Frenchman said, “Yes, I could, but I am here with my girlfriend and she would object.”…..

Our half of a duplex.

Airbnb: Airbnb is legal here despite the scarcity of housing across Australia. We found lots of choice, though it was not inexpensive. The neighborhood we lived in, Elwood, was a good balance of proximity to the city and also the beach. Our Aribnb was a duplex that shared a wall with neighbors, though we rarely heard them. I liked having the chance to live in one of these older houses. Ours had been thoroughly renovated, so none of the Edwardian inconveniences remained.

Bus, tram, train: Melbourne has an integrated transit system that allows you to use one pass (Myki card, $6) to get around. A genius policy decision provides free transit in the heart of downtown for everyone, card or not. The system is not inexpensive, but there is a cap on the fare you pay each day at $8.80, a full fare round trip. When we went to the Botanical Garden in the evening to see a play, my tram ride was free because I’d been in and out of the city during the day. To pay, you scan your card on a device in the station or onboard, and you scan again when you get off. In the month of our visit, only one time did a conductor pass along the aisle of the train double-checking tickets. These checks are random and the fines are high, so people pay up.

Markets: So much shopping, so little time! The Queen Victoria market is probably the best known of the Melbourne markets, and it was full of delicious goods, but so is the South Melbourne market, which we hadn’t even heard of. There’s an equally large market in Footscray, just across from the railroad station. We are visiting during the summer and that means there are weekend markets in many neighborhoods. We went to a good sized spread at the Elwood elementary school, just two blocks from our house. There are more specialized markets that lean toward artisan items on Saturdays, Sundays (St. Kilda), monthly dates, and special events including the St. Kilda Festival, the Bright’n Sandy Festival (Brighton), and many others.

Parking: This is one reason people travel by public transport. We paid $16/hour in the city center, comparable to any other world city (and less than Chicago). Parking at the beach was $5.70/hour and the price per day is capped at the three hour price, so it isn’t bad for a full day outing. Beach-hopping is a bit pricey–not that it stopped us. It is always possible to look for free parking in the neighborhoods across from the beach, but some of these areas are now posted for residents-only parking.

People: We found people in and around Melbourne to be friendly and helpful. People were easy to talk to and we often ended up in conversation on the beach, in the store, anywhere we happened to be. We got our recommendations on where to stop along the Great Ocean Road from a couple we sat next to at Mozart by Moonlight. We felt very comfortable here.

Phone: We use the Optus phone service we began in Tasmania, and renew automatically every 28 days ($30). The pay as you go service is heavy on data. Apparently people who use this tend to watch video on their phone. The good news is this means we’ll never run out of data and can look up directions constantly. The phone battery runs down long before the data runs out.

Weather: Welcome to global warming. Some days it was 95, others topped out in the high 60s. I don’t think this is unusual anymore–call it the new normal. It can be difficult to have the right clothes at the right time. Dress for something between sunbathing and cross-country skiing. We tried, and mostly succeeded.

Places we visited and recommend:

Food/Shopping

  • Lune Croissanterie, Fitzroy
  • South Melbourne Market
  • Queen Victoria Market
  • Wineries, Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley
  • St. Kilda farmer’s market
  • Elwood school weekend market
  • Melbourne arcades and laneways

Outdoors–

  • Any beach around Melbourne Bay (St. Kilda, Elwood, Frankston, Hampton, Mentone, Mornington, Mt. Eliza, Rye, Sandringham)
  • Beaches on the ocean: St. Andrews, Torquay, Bell’s Beach
  • Royal Botanical Garden–see an evening performance in the garden
  • Walking the laneways and shopping arcades of downtown Melbourne
  • Walking in any older neighborhood
  • Brighton Bathing Boxes
  • Healesville Sanctuary
  • Great Ocean Road, Koala cafe stop is a short bird/koala walk
  • Yarra Bend Park
  • Lake Connewarra

Indoor–

  • Federation Square, Australian Center for the Moving Image
  • Melbourne Museum
  • Heide Museum
  • The National Opal Collection (store/museum, with a very pleasant, informative salesman who didn’t push us to buy)

 

 

Good to Know About Tasmania

02 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by in Australia, Tasmania

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We always learn as we go, and Tasmania was no exception.

Airbnb: Our Airbnb in Tea Tree was different. We enjoyed the view out over a vineyard, but it was a bit more rustic than we like. I didn’t mind the geese, but we did have to watch our steps.

Car: We rented a Kia Rio through Budget and though we had no problems, the car was underpowered. It’s a good thing there aren’t any real mountain passes in Tasmania.

Cost of Living: A recent TV report put Tasmania as the fourth most active economy of the Australian states. Tourism is climbing and the cost of housing is not falling as it is elsewhere in Australia. Food costs are comparable to Chicago and food purchased at a farmer’s market usually costs more than the grocery store. Most of the seafood that is consumed is farmed locally. Fresh oysters, shrimp, lobster, and salmon are available and delicious. We found few other choices and almost no whole fresh fish. Having lived in Peru for a while, we are used to looking at the eyes and gills of a fish to asses freshness–you can’t do that with a plastic wrapped fillet.

National Parks: Every state in Australia make their own rules for National Parks, so you can’t buy a pass to use all around Australia. If you are staying in the Hobart area for a few weeks, you can purchase a $40 month long pass and use it to visit three beautiful places, Fortescue Bay in Tasman National Park; Wineglass Bay in Freycinet National Park; and Mount Field National Park. Though each of these parks merits a longer visit they can be reached by car as a day trip from Hobart. Individually, they cost $24 per car (up to 8 passengers), thus the month long pass is economical.

In the summer, these parks are very popular. The road in to Fortescue Bay is 14 km of bumpy dirt. There is a sign 2 km in letting visitors know if there are already no vacant campsites, so that visitors don’t bump all the way in just to find out there is no space to stay overnight. When we arrived, the ranger asked us why we weren’t staying for five days! She really likes it there. We met two couples who had just emerged from a hike they called both short and family friendly, the new Three Capes trail–a four day three night hike. (Australians are outdoorsy.)

People: Everyone has been friendly and helpful. We’ve chatted with people who have visited many places in the US, though mostly California. I’ve been promoting Chicago as a tourist destination–just not in the winter.

Phone: We bought Optus SIM cards and service that costs between $20 and $30 per month per phone. This plan has worked well and we had enough data to find directions and look up random facts all month. We’ll keep these the entire six months of our visit.

Weather: I cannot recall any place we’ve visited where the weather changed so dramatically from one day to the next. Several times the temperature has soared to well over 90°, and the next day the high has been closer to 60°. Occasionally it’s been even more extreme. We have clothing for all weathers, and have used it all in a single week. It takes some getting used to.

Wine: We learned a lot about Tasmanian wines by visiting the “cellar door” at wineries and tasting wine, lots of tasty whites and pinot noirs. Most tastings cost $5, waived if you purchase a bottle. We found that few producers export wine beyond the Australian mainland, though they can ship cases of wine to the US. Tasmanian wine is not produced on a massive scale yet, and a number of wineries don’t own their own wine-making equipment. Frogmore Creek Vineyards makes wine for several labels. Inexpensive wine comes from Australia. Most Tasmanian wine starts at about $20 (AU) per bottle. Not expensive, but there is no Two Buck Chuck.

I Love New Zealand (and here’s why)…

07 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by in New Zealand

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We have just spent two months in New Zealand, a truly wonderful place. People are interested in nature and the outdoors, conservation is important, and kids are taught to carry their trash home from the beach at the same time they are taught to surf. I like the balance. Our interests are the outdoor variety and we leave happy. As always, we could have spent more time everywhere we were and we could have spent all our time in other equally wonderful places. No one place is really a must-see.  As our daughter Lyra says, there’s no need to take the Hobbiton tour, the entire country is a movie set for Lord of the Rings.

Places we really wanted to see were beaches, the bush (forest), which is amazingly dense and different, birds, and Milford Sound.

We saw what was on our list, but also ended up with favorites that we hadn’t known about, like the round boulders on the coast near Shag Point, not far from the better known Moeraki boulders.

We were amazed at the number of unique, endemic birds we managed to see. New Zealand has a remarkably large native pigeon, a giant purple chicken (gallinule), and a bell-bird that has a song much larger than its size. And others. We saw a kiwi!!

Efforts to tame nature result in hedges at least 12 feet high that encircle–empty fields. Others surround houses with only a driveway opening. I liked the one with a “window” cut into it. Some hedges were so high that they couldn’t be trimmed into shape. Imagine large trees growing out of the top of your hedge.

I like New Zealand because I felt welcome. People were friendly, and took time to chat. The eye doctors I visited (!) I would like them as my friends. Their advice was excellent, too.

We had some fun with language, finding that we didn’t always understand people. There are entertaining names for things:

  • Biscuit—Cookie
  • Caravan—RV
  • Eftpos—Payment by credit card. The first time someone looks at you and says “Eftpos?” can be confusing. (The technical name for a credit card payment made by a machine in a store is: Electronic Financial Transaction at Point of Sale: Eftpos!)
  • Forecourt Concierge—Gas station attendant
  • Panelbeaters—Auto body shop
  • Trolley—Shopping cart

Good to Know About New Zealand

They know we’re coming! The roadside is regularly punctuated with billboards of advice for visiting drivers: you’ll need extra time getting anywhere in New Zealand. They are correct. Take your time, rest if you feel sleepy, don’t use your phone. There was a billboard telling us not to drink coffee while driving, What!!!!!????

My version of Afghan biscuits.

Biscuits (Cookies): There are crazy and beloved sweets like lolly cake (broken up meringue-like neon colored candy in a paste of sweetened condensed milk and vanilla wafers. Other cookies harken back to the early 20th century wars that New Zealand took part in, the Boer War, and WWI & II. Women sent sweets to soldiers, including Afghans and Anzac biscuits, durable concoctions of corn flakes, oatmeal, coconut, chocolate and such.

Cafes: Our favorite cafe was the Bus Stop Cafe in Te Horo. Say hello to Kirsty for me when you are there. We also liked the corner store in Piha on weekends when they have delicious pastry.

Coffee: New Zealanders (do I have to call people Kiwis?) drink their coffee very, very strong. Order a flat white, but remember, it only looks white.

Driving: Drivers were rational, if generally opposed to passing. That’s not a bad thing, just don’t be in a hurry. We did not find any speed cameras or meet any of the local constabulary. On the other hand, we were never in a hurry. Some roads are narrow and lack shoulders, like places in Ireland and Scotland. You get used to it, sortof.

Sheep vs. Cows: Dairy products are uniformly delicious, from butter and cream to yogurt, cheese and anything else they make. I believe the dairy industry is creeping up on the famous woolen/lamb industry. We didn’t see as many sheep as we expected based on the statistic that there are 23 sheep for every person in New Zealand. All the merino wool products we saw for sale were blended with possum fur in a conservation theme for tourists. (Possums are an invasive pest with very soft fur. I bought gloves.)

Restaurants: We don’t eat out often, but Fleur’s Restaurant in Moeraki is very much worth a visit.

Shopping: Even the grocery store was friendly. The New World chain offers their discount card in visitor form, no local address required, yet it gives you shopping and gas discounts. Thanks, NW.

Weather: We timed our visit to be in the North Island in their Spring season (Nov.) and South Island in their Spring (Dec.), and both proved mostly cool and regularly rainy. People said that “Last Year”….it was much warmer in the spring. If I visit again, I guess I’d wait until January or maybe even February. New Zealand is never hot, it’s a bit like Ireland. People wear heavy wet suits to go in the water in the summer. Children and adults alike swim in wet suits with ear-covering caps. We admired their enthusiasm and did 99% more beach-walking than swimming.

Wine: We did not select a favorite wine since the country is wall to wall wine, but we did like the pink Pinot Gris from Weaver Estate. We visited a number of “cellar doors” (tasting rooms). Tasting is inexpensive compared to California, though wine prices are comparable.

Visa: No visa is required if you stay less than 90 days. That makes life easy. Contrast this with my post on trying to getting a six-month tourist visa for Australia. Stick to 90 days if you can.

I leave you with sunset over Kapiti Island.

Australian Tourist Visas

27 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Australia, Travel General

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Australia offers same-day, on-line free visas for stays up to 90 days. We wanted to stay for six months, and found the 600 visa, for stays up to a year. This takes longer and costs a minimum of $140. We decided to go for it. The complication seemed minor, your passport must be valid for six months after the end of your planned stay.  Jonathan’s passport was set to expire in February 2019, so he needed a new one before we could begin the visa application process, but he did not arrive in the US until Oct. 1.

On Oct. 2, he ordered a new passport with expedited delivery. I waited to file our visa paperwork until the new passport arrived on the 13th. I needed his new passport number. Since each application asks about your traveling companions, it seemed impractical to apply before we were both ready. Here’s what we did for the first step.

Quick Summary

A 600 visa allows you to visit Australia for 6 to 12 months continuously. You may not work at all, or study for more than three months on this visa.

What you need:

You must get a (free to set up) Australian ImmiAccount https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa/immi

You can only apply for the Australian visa valid for six to twelve months from the ImmiAccount site.

Your US passport must be valid for at least six months after you plan to leave Australia, and you need a digital copy of your passport.

You must show income sufficient to support yourself.

You may not be planning a hospital stay or medical treatment.

A list of all countries outside your home base where you have spent more than three months continuously during the past five years.

There are other questions about whether you have applied for or hold a visa for Australia.

The on-line form is long but not difficult, and the questions are basic. How is your health, what are your finances, when do you plan to arrive and leave? It took a us a few minutes to fill in the page that asks you to name countries where you have spent more than three consecutive months annually going back five years, because we have traveled a lot, but the only place we’ve stayed more than three months continuously is Peru. I had to upload a photo of each of our passports. It was relatively painless apart from the $140 per person, though the fee can be higher. The immigration web page suggest that 80% of applications for this visa are processed within 20 days. I submitted the forms on Oct. 15 and late on Oct. 19, we each received a note requiring us to have a physical exam and chest xray because we have spent more than three months a year in Peru, a country with high risk of tuberculosis.

Really? The odds of either of us getting TB in Peru is around zero, as we don’t live in a rural area, or around animals, or where it is damp, or where our neighbors have TB. This was a bit of a setback because of the fine print. The exam must be done by a doctor that is empaneled by the Australian authority, a group called Emed. There are three offices in California, and a call to LA got us appointments at 11 am on Oct. 23. After the exam, the office uploads the results directly to the Australian immigration authority. We thought that would do it. The physical exam was cursory in the extreme and the chest xray was unnecessary. I’d asked the price and was told $125 a person. We got to the end of the process and were charged $325 each. The receptionist apologized for the “confusion,” and couldn’t think why we were misquoted the cost.

Still reeling a bit from sticker shock, we hoped that the process would move quickly, and sure enough, I received my visa four days later, via email. Jonathan did not. We waited over the weekend, and he finally received an email the following Monday, but the news was terrible! His chest xray showed some streaks of abnormality and he was required to see a specialist to have his xray assessed. Now we had two dilemmas, one worse than the next. Did Jonathan have a previously undiagnosed lung ailment? He does cough and has asthma. Next was the fact that we might not get visas to visit Australia. At this point it was Oct. 29, we were due to leave for New Zealand in two days, and it was impossible to get an appointment with a lung specialist before leaving the US. We decided to go ahead with our visit to New Zealand, find a doctor there, and connect with the Australian immigration system electronically. If we had to return to the US after two months, we would.

When we arrived in Auckland, Jonathan had to find a doctor affiliated with the Australian immigration system. Then he found that his xray couldn’t be transferred from Los Angeles, he’d need another. We went into Auckland where the doctor at the Emed clinic was very nice, but not qualified to write the needed opinion. He called around Auckland to try and get Jonathan an appointment with a lung specialist, but he couldn’t find anyone who would see him while we were there. We tried not to panic, and Jonathan began calling clinics in Wellington, to see whether he could get an appointment during the end of November. He did finally get an appointment for the day after we arrived in Wellington, and we waited for that day.

Jonathan went in for his new chest xray and then saw the specialist in Wellington. This took a bit more than an hour, and after all the tension of waiting for the appointment and getting to it, waiting, etc. and the additional cost, the results were truly surprising. The doctor couldn’t understand why the xray had been flagged. He described the “abnormalities” in the first report as trivial, and sat down and wrote a letter to that effect. He gave Jonathan a copy of his xray on his jump drive and promised to convey the xray and his results to the Emed office in Auckland that is our official contact point for the visa process.

Following up by phone on the Monday that followed, all the information was uploaded to the Australian visa system as promised. By Wednesday, Jonathan had his visa. Our six month visas shouldn’t have been such an irritation, and the extra exams and xrays ended up costing about $1000. It did all work out in the end.

Here we come Australia!

Rather than take the time to get a six-month visa, we could have flown to New Zealand and spent a month, then spent three months in Australia, another month in New Zealand and three more months in Australia. We could have done this for less than $1,000 (not flying business class).

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on Australian 600 visas, and I cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy of my description of the visa process for everyone. I am sharing my personal experience as a US citizen, presently located outside Australia. lf you plan to apply for a visa, double check everything at  https://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/immigration-and-visas

 

It Took A Week to Pack?

30 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by in Peru

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We’ve now been traveling for more than four years. From two checked suitcases each we graduated to one checked bag, with our carry-ons packed as tightly as possible. Now there’s always space left over. I still check a bag, though. Eight months is a long time in climate that ranges from hot and wet to cold and rainy. Eight months may be underestimating how long we’re gone this time, but that’s how long we plan to stay in New Zealand and Australia.

Even though I knew what I wanted to pack, it took me all week. It’s much harder to pack when you have more than you need in drawers and closets. Once you’re on the road it’s just a matter of rolling and folding and shoving it all back into the suitcase. In the guest room that became my staging area, I packed the guidebooks we’ve accumulated thus far (4), and a memoir on Australia.

Next, I packed the least crucial elements, my wetsuit and mask, because I really want to go snorkeling in Australia. I experimented with an alternative shoulder bag, but went back to my mini-backpack. Next came arts and crafts. Now that I make oddball jewelry out of things I find on the beach, I want to have a few tools and materials so that if I find something on the beach I can make stuff. After contemplating the giant mess spread across the studio (former lab space), I packed up hundreds of pieces of beach glass that I’ve accumulated, picking out a few pieces to work on in the short run. I set out a small zipper bag to hold tools, deciding that when it was full, no more tools would come along. By the third day I had stowed away my materials so they won’t be too dusty when I return. I have piles of beach glass, beads, watch parts, seashells, and plastic cowboy, Indian, and superheros that have come from beaches around the world.

In went multiple bottles of sunscreen, bug spray, and vitamins all non-negotiable, and the rest of day four was spent emptying out my travel accessories and restocking. I tried to minimize the things that I can purchase there (soap, shampoo, deodorant), and take things like over the counter pain relievers that can be very different. Once I decided on a flashlight and not a clip-on reading light, an extra chapstick of my favorite brand and backup dental floss, the day was over.

The next day I chose a cap rather than a straw hat, though one scarf rather than two hung on as a question until the last minute. Shoes are another hurdle. One pair has to be waterproof, while another has to be able to go into the water. Which should be the third pair? More sandals, sneakers, flats? I went with flats, common for most people, unusual for me (I usually go with two pairs of sandals. Truth is, I wanted to bring my newest shoes that I just bought in Colombia. They’re covered in mola-style fabric, really pretty. The bed was piling up with possible shirts and pants. The shoes were wrapped and stowed and that was it.

In the morning, I realized that it was really time to pack up. I started with two beach tops and two bathing suits. With one last evaluation, I went with two long sleeved button down shirts, one of which is 100% cotton, the other a built-in sunscreen shirt. Two long sleeved t-shirts because New Zealand is never warm, then short sleeved (2) and t-shirts (3), a sleeveless top, shorts, and capris. My travel slacks were set out to wear to Lima. My travel tunic and leggings went in the carry-on for travel day. Underwear goes in it’s place and I take six cotton hankies to cut down on Kleenex.

The final packing day was dedicated to electronics, making sure my tablet, phone, and laptop were charged, the cables packed. New batteries went in the flashlight, and I squeezed in the travel scrabble game. Paperwork to take included printing itineraries, copies of all important cards, and my passport, as well as storing copies on a jump drive to take along. I made back-ups of files from the past six months and left them on the storage device in our office in Peru, then spent a while tracking down our yellow-fever vaccination documents. I don’t think we’ll need them but you never know.

Last minute additions included a pair of insoles, flip-flops, and an alpaca sweater. I had room in my carry-on for some snacks and lunch on the road to Lima, a big bottle of water, and go-cup of coffee for the road. (I sent the cup back home with Carlos.) That’s how you spend a week packing for a long trip. By doing all my picking and choosing over a week, I managed to be ready to go promptly at 9 am on Saturday, when Carlos and I left for Lima. We were at the hotel by 1 pm, and he turned around for the trip back to Barranca. He would be home before sunset, the safest way to drive in Peru. Meanwhile, I would spend the night in Lima and head to my flight at 7 am on Sunday, packed and ready to go.

 

 

Good to Know About the Galapagos

25 Tuesday Sep 2018

Posted by in Ecuador

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If you’re thinking about a trip to the Galapagos, there are several things to consider.

-Land or Sea? I prefer sea because you can get to more of the islands, even though I am not a cruise person.

-Choose your tour company carefully. Ask for recommendations from friends who have been to the Galapagos, keeping in mind their interests and personalities. Read reviews online. The tour company organizes your experience and that will be fundamental to whether you enjoy yourself and are satisfied with the itinerary and range of activities.

-Size of ship. We were on a ship that holds 48 passengers, with only 29 on board. Ships range from about eight to 96 passengers. The trade-off is that there are more amenities onboard larger ships.

-Promises, promises. Read all of the tour materials carefully. If an amenity is not specifically mentioned, it is not available. Be sure to as many questions as you can before you book. Do you need internet? Do you want a double bed? Would you like air-conditioning? Need a special diet? Refrigerator for medications? Everything has to be specified before you book. Once you book, you have no leverage.

-Who else will be there? For best results, recruit people you enjoy to go along. That way you know what your company will be. We were fortunate to be with family and an interesting group of fellow passengers, but there are no guarantees. If you are an outgoing, friendly person you’ll be fine, but not everyone has that gift.

-Check to see that your guides will be appropriate. There are highly qualified guides that do not speak English. If you do not speak Spanish make sure that you will have guides of the highest qualification level who are also English speaking–or who speak the language you want.

-Keep your expectations reasonable. Every group sees the Charles Darwin Research Center, but not every group sees everything else.

-Take responsibility/do your homework. Some months the weather is hot and you can burn easily on the water. Other months the water is frigid and the days often overcast. You won’t get sunburned, but you might feel chilly.

If you have your heart set on seeing an albatross, or a white-tipped shark, find out when and where you are most likely to see them. Ask about it before you book, too, as the odds of seeing particular animals vary by season and location. You don’t want to get there and find that you are in the right place, but at the wrong time, or that you are on a ship with a different itinerary than the one that would take you to see your favorite animal.

-Have a great time. Once your plans are made, relax and enjoy the trip. The stark landscape is beautiful and if the animals aren’t posing exactly where you would like them to be, it’s still beautiful  all around you. Talk to the other passengers, learn new things and enjoy the experience.  Sitting on deck in a lounge chair or a hammock with a cold drink and a book can be as worthwhile an experience as seeing a giant tortoise. Trust me, I’ve done both…..

 

Visiting the Macaw Clay Licks

17 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by in Peru, Scotland

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We opted for a tour after finding it complicated to arrange an independent trip, choosing Birding Ecotours, a US based company that runs birding tours all over the world. An important starting point is to realize there are several clay licks. Make sure you know where you are going and what you may see. It’s also important to find a tour company that you believe will give you a good tour. I found Birding Ecotours through the website: Fatbirder.com that I’ve used to find birding spots on several occasions at places around the US and Europe.

Birding Ecotours home page

Travel

Visiting the clay licks involves a flight to Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Our group of six and a guide stayed overnight at the inexpensive Cabana Quinta. Our room was small but the AC and hot water worked. Dinner in the restaurant was fine. In the morning, we drove for about 40 minutes on a paved road and another 40 on a very rutted unpaved road that can be impassable in rain. We visited the area in August, the dry season (Wet season is approx. Nov.-May). A short boat ride took us from the end of the road to the lodge. We left Puerto Maldonado at 8:30 am, did some birdwatching and arrived at the lodge by about 2 pm.

Lodging

We stayed at Chuncho Lodge, slightly closer to the clay licks than other lodges. They have five cabins that sleep 1-3 persons each, and a cabin with two adjacent rooms of similar size. Beds have mosquito netting. Two more cabins were under construction during our visit, and construction noise began at breakfast and continued until late afternoon.

There is no wifi.

Phone service is limited to customers of Claro, and that can only be obtained at the top of the canopy observation tower that is 129 ft high and a 15 minute walk away from the lodge. A maximum of six persons can be at the top of the tower at one time. Despite this, guides and guests seemed to walk to the tower in the evenings (in the dark!) to make calls and admire the Milky Way.

Hot water and sometimes all water is only available when the power is on, 6 am-1 pm and 3:30-9 pm.

Weather

During the day the weather was very hot and very sticky with lots of insects. Bug spray was necessary and the day I forgot to shake all my clothes out in the morning before I got dressed I got a bunch of bites from a spider that seems to have climbed my pant leg. Consider tucking your pantlegs in your socks. The guides do.

Despite the lack of air conditioning and the fact that fans stop runnning at 9 pm when the power goes off, we had no trouble sleeping because of an unusual weather phenomenon, a “friaje.” In the past this occurred about twice a year at predictable times, this year it has occurred more than six times. Currents of cold air from further south toward the Antarctic are channeled up the river and chill the area at night resulting in temperatures much lower than normal. It can get to 10 degrees C. (50 F). Rather than tossing and turning in the sticky heat, we slept under all the available blankets. It was coldest on our first night at Chuncho Lodge but it was cool all three nights we were there, and it was easy to sleep.

Meals

All meals were provided. The food was very abundant but utterly uninspired. One birder who had been on the tour for three weeks before we arrived said he’d never look at another plantain after the tour ended. I was happy to have brought a few packets of starbucks instant coffee, cookies, peanuts and dried fruit. We ate it all.

Several different species of birds were in and out of this huge tree during our morning on the observation tower.

Tour

Our tour included everything but alcoholic beverages and tips. It was expensive for us, just over $1600 pp for four days but there were no hidden costs. Our guide, Eduardo Ormaeche, was excellent. He worked hard to make sure everyone saw what they wanted to see and more. There are both cheaper and more expensive ways to see the phenomenon of the macaw clay licks and we were content with this version. Our tour included lots of birding time in addition to the visit to the clay licks. We spent at least six hours a day birding in total. We went on a walk at night to see owls, and on a sunset boat ride to see owls, nighthawks, nightjars and a potoo. The trails near the lodge always yielded new birds. The morning we spent on the canopy tower was full of interesting birds seen from a new angle above the canopy of trees. We saw 106 different species of birds during our four-day visit.

Positives and Negatives

Positives

1) Experience of a lifetime.

2) It’s all organized. People met us at every stop or change of transport. Eduardo was on hand from Lima to Chuncho Lodge and back to Puerto Maldonado. There were no surprise expenses.

Negatives

1) The region is hot and humid, there’s lots of walking, mosquitos, spiders.

2) The lodgings are rustic.

3) Seeing birds involves early mornings. We left at 5 am for the clay lick and almost as early on the other mornings. There is time for napping at midday but it can be too hot to sleep.

4) On a tour, you take your traveling companion as they come. You may or may not make new friends.

Would I do it again? Heck, yes.

FYI: We were in the Amazon rainforest, where the humidity was usually at least 80% and the temperature over 80°F. Giant trees like the one we posed by are rare, most were logged over the past 20 years as the population of the region expanded and foreign desires for mahogany furniture overcame the scruples of people who had been farmers. One of the lodge staff members told us that his mother trained to be a nurse, but took a loan from an uncle and made a handsome living heading into the forest to commission (illegal) tree-cutting, until there were almost no large, desirable trees left. At that point, nature reserves and national parks were established. Everyone shrugged and became tour reps. There is still a lot to see and lots of birds in the forest even if it is recent regrowth. The occasional giant tree is a reminder of what is gone now.

 

About Aruba

06 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by in Aruba, Paula

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We don’t consider ourselves to be on vacation, but we had a wonderful two weeks of vacation in Aruba–it’s too hot to call it anything else. Here’s my advice based on our visit.

Airbnb

We rented a house in Savaneta that was quirky but worked well for us. I didn’t think a pool was very important since we were so close to the ocean in Aruba, but I had no idea how hot and humid it is just sitting still. A pool lets you sit around outside for a while reading or writing or whatever you enjoy and when you feel really hot you can take a dip and feel refreshed without a hike to the beach or drive in a hot car. We swam at least twice a day.

The covered patio and pool were a highlight, especially since there were shaded spaces at either end of the pool so you could be in the shade morning or evening. There were colored lights you could turn on at night..and a tiki bar….Jonathan did almost all our cooking on the grill in the tiki bar/kitchen on the patio. Air conditioning is the essential ingredient for a happy stay in Aruba, “One Happy Island”, and ours worked well. Only one bath had hot water though that was rarely an issue.

Climate

If you have delicate skin you might consider another destination for your vacation. We all got as much sun in two weeks in Aruba as we might in an entire summer in the US. Most activities involve being outdoors or in the ocean, with breaks to jump in the pool. The temperature is at least 80°F all day and night. After a week we all felt like human potato chips. Between the salt and the sun, your skin dries out completely. Liberal application of sunscreen and lip balm can ward off burns and blisters, but it’s really impossible to avoid the sun entirely. On the other hand, why would you visit Aruba and plan to stay out of the sun?

Driving

Driving our rental car was no problem in Aruba, it’s just like the US. Roads are narrow and not always in good repair. Rental cars need to stay on reasonable surfaces, they are too low for the really bumpy unpaved roads. If you are going to be in Aruba for a week or more you might consider renting a jeep or other high-centered vehicle for a day or two to explore the Arikok National Park and the north/east coast of the island. There are wonderful small beaches and inlets to visit. The mighty power of the crashing waves is remarkable. We were able to visit much of the area, but barely made it over some of the rough spots in our rental car even with two experienced off-roaders in charge.

Money

Aruba has its own currency, the Aruba Florin (AFL). Change a $20 but don’t bother getting more. You’ll only use it for the occasional soft drink. Local people do all their shopping in florins, but prices aimed at foreigners (restaurants, supermarket, gift shops, even the flea market) are almost always in dollars—vendors don’t seem to want florins and often charge double the dollar price in florins. That is, a $10 item costs 20 florins. The problem is that a florin is worth about $ .75, meaning that you just paid $15 for a $10 item by using the local currency. Not worth it.

Language

Aruba is united by the local language, Papiamento. All local people speak it among themselves and it’s a quick guide to who is local and who is not. If you can understand someone, they’re tourists, or working with tourists. People from Aruba are Dutch citizens and school children learn Papiamento, Dutch and English. Many people also speak Spanish, especially if their family came to the island from Colombia or Venezuela. It’s pretty impressive to find your average person speaks at least three languages. People working with tourists often speak five or six. Be careful what you say!

Shopping

There is a lot of publicity about shopping in Aruba, but it’s shopping for items imported from other places. This part of the Dutch Caribbean is a desert island. Its industry is tourism–there isn’t much that is made in Aruba itself. There’s some local white rum, including Palmera, there’s locally brewed Balashi beer, some aloe products, and a very few local crafts. Everything else is made elsewhere, stamped Aruba and brought in by the container-load.

There are no markets like there are in Central and South America because there are no local food products. We found fresh fish but it took some effort. There’s only fresh fish when someone goes out fishing and fishermen don’t go out every day. Some of the best known fish restaurants serve frozen imported fish and shrimp most of the time.

Water

Aruba has no natural surface water, and all water comes from an impressively large desalination plant that serves the entire island. Everyone drinks the tap water and it is very pure. We drank the water and put ice in our drinks from our first day and had no stomach troubles. It saves a lot of plastic bottles.

 

About Colombia

20 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in Colombia

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Our visit to Colombia was only two weeks and we spent the first week visiting specific places. I have fewer general comments about Colombia as a result.

Airbnb

Our Airbnb rental was eight days, much shorter than usual. Our experience shows the ups and downs of Airbnb. Our host texted us GPS coordinates, and Jonathan recognized the house from the Airbnb listing. As I mentioned, the place was gorgeous, but when we arrived, the host was not there, left no message, no booklet of carefully worded instructions. There was a caretaker whose job was to open the gate across the driveway as we went in and out, water the garden and clean the pool. There was no wifi and the local phone signal was minimal. We never book a place without wifi and had no idea what happened. The house was completely empty of food, too. There was no welcome basket of fruit, bottle of wine, loaf of bread, butter or bottle of milk in the fridge as we sometimes find. There was not even salt, and it was 5 pm on Friday evening. We asked about a grocery store and found the nearest was 20 km back the way we came. With no alternative we set off again.

Driving

            We rented a car at the Barranquilla airport, and though the checkout took a long time, we had no trouble with the car. We were warned that visiting Santa Marta and Cartagena required checking to make sure that the car wasn’t banned from the city that day (It depends on the last digit of the license plate). We were also warned about speed cameras and police stops, though as far as we can tell we did not run afoul of any of the cameras and we were not stopped by the police.

Language

Like every country, Spanish is spoken in its own way in Colombia, and we had little trouble being understood with our Peruvian vocabulary. It was sometimes difficult to understand the directions we were given. Many people speak some English, though our waitress at La Perla seemed relieved that she could bring us Spanish language menus. Outside of cities we didn’t run into a lot of English speakers.

Shopping

There are lots of handicrafts available in Colombia, including woven bags, hats, leather goods that seem to be mostly handbags, and lots of souvenirs. The border with Panama seems to be influential as there are lots of molas for sale and things made from molas, like bags, hairbands, clothing, and even shoes (I bought a pair). There are lots of beaded necklaces and earrings hung on boards in the street, especially calle 7 in Bogota.

We saw two spectacular “spirit boat” carvings made by Amazonian people, one in the gift shop of the Museo de Oro and another in a shop in Cartagena. Both were too large and too fragile to get home easily.

Tipping

Most restaurants and service businesses in Colombia add a 10% “propina voluntaria,” or voluntary tip. We paid the tip every time and when I tried to ask a waitress whether the tip could be removed from the bill if a customer was dissatisfied, she said yes, but in a way that suggestedl it would be awkward to decline this “voluntary” donation. We did decline to tip the guy who stood in the exit of a parking lot that we had already paid to enter.

 

The puzzle that is Bolivia

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Bolivia

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We saw wonders in Bolivia, a remarkable plain of salt, the capital of an ancient empire, rare birds. In between those high points we flew around La Paz in a gondola, then drove across miles of altiplano where we passed quinoa fields, grazing herds of cows, horses, sheep, llamas, alpacas, vicunas and even pigs. We saw an Andean condor with its 8-10 ft wingspan as well as the bird I called a “flying peach”. We had one of the best dinners of our lives in La Paz and ate as much excellent Bolivian chocolate as we could in Sucre. Why do I plan never to return?

  1. Altitude. More than half of Bolivia is tropical, but the best known part of Bolivia is the altiplano, a grassland area between 3500-4000 m above sea level, about 11,500-13,000 ft. My head ached most of the first week. Jonathan’s asthma made him short of breath. We both had trouble sleeping. Adjusting to high altitude takes time and flying from Lima at sea level to the El Alto airport in La Paz (4,050 m), in less than two hours, was a huge shock.
  2. Getting to the wonderful places in Bolivia takes a lot of effort. Our usual scheme of renting a car and driving around was perfect when we wanted to pull over at a shallow lake and look at birds, or stop to check out ruined chullpas, ancient burial towers. Driving in major cities was nerve-wracking and it was very nearly impossible to find our way. Maybe we’re just getting too old for this. We hate the thought, but it’s out there. By the end of our trip we were both tired, ready for a well-seasoned, properly cooked meal where the hot dishes were hot and the cold dishes cold followed by a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed–one of life’s great pleasures that is not usually available on the road.

Good Things About Bolivia

Cell phone service and data worked very well and cost us about US$10 each for a month of service, a bargain. We used Entel because it appears to have better coverage in Bolivia and had no trouble. We didn’t make many calls, but used the data for mapping our routes.

Gasoline was inexpensive, where else can you say that? The Bolivian government subsidizes gasoline, and resists making regular increases. We spent less than US$20 to fill the tank of our rental RAV4. It costs about triple that to fill up in Peru.

Food costs are low and there is a wide variety of products available, many coming from the lowland portion of the country that is focused on agriculture (and removing tropical forest…).

Textiles. If you want weaving, Bolivia is for you. We found the most interesting and highest quality weavings in Sucre and the Tarabuco market, in the Tarabuco and Jalqa styles. There are many other styles from different regions. Typical of Bolivia, there are specific markets and towns that sell the greatest variety of each. There’s a lot of travel involved.

Llama in the road.

Wildlife. We saw vicuna grazing by the side of the highway, and a lot of other animals, too. You have to be careful not to hit them with your vehicle. Bolivia has a tremendous variety of birds, too. There is lots to see every day, and specialized tours for anything specific you want to find.

Minor Annoyances

  • The google maps algorithm for directions works very poorly in South America so far. In both Peru and Bolivia, it sends us on unnecessarily complex routes and detours. We have to critique and second-guess every route that is not highway point-to-point.
  • There is no international mail service. I took my postcards to the Post Office and the man behind the window looked at me blankly. “We have no directions for this process at this time.” What? No international mail.
  • You have to give your name and passport number every time you get gas, part of a vain government effort to prevent smuggling of petroleum products.
  • To pay for a service by putting money in a specific bank account, a common practice in parts of South America, you not only have to provide your name and passport number, but an explanation of what the payment is for (e.g. lodging), but also where the money comes from. I had to explain that I am retired and receive a pension.
  • US citizens require a visa. Don’t forget to fill out the forms and pay your $160.
  • The final indignity was having our luggage stay behind in La Paz when our flight left for Lima. Two days later it all turned up safe. Just one more Bolivian moment.
    Tiwanaku museum
    Advertising in La Paz

    Abandoned in Perereta

    In Bolivia, some passengers ride on top of the bus.