So Nairobi, Tanzania/Zanzibar is less than 2 months away. Anyone here been to these fine spots? We booked a while ago, but are just now putting together the itinerary.
Re: Tanzania, so you plan on going inland to Kilimanjaro and such? The Ngorogoro Crater is the big thing to do in terms of safaris. Massive asteroid crater from millions of years ago has its own unique ecosystem within the crater. Tanzania is an easy bus ride from Nairobi, but def try to be low key. Sometimes extremeist Islamic elements drop down in to Kenya (not an issue in Tanzania). Never got to do Zanzibar, our primary activity was climbing Kili so stayed around there mostly.
In the early stages of planning a trip to South America for mid-late December and wanted to lay out a rough itinerary for you guys to poke holes at: 12/14 - 12/22 Rio - have a family friend we’d be visiting (would be traveling with my dad this segment) 12/22 - 12/29 Peru - Want to do Macchu Picchu (how many days do I allocate?) and possibly ayahuasca. How many days should I allocate for Lima and Cusco? 12/29 - 1/5 Colombia - How should I split my time between Bogota/Medellin/Cartagena? Thanks fellas.
skip bogota, id stay in medellin until at least the 2nd and then go to cartagena. or you could just do medellin the whole time but id be there for new years for sure
Just a heads up, that's A LOT of traveling within South America. International flights in SA are pretty expensive, especially to/from Rio. You don't realize how far away the eastern coast of Brazil is from everything else. It's about 6 hours from Rio to Lima, assuming you can even find a direct flight. Look at going to Foz de Iguacu from Rio. And Ilhe Grande. Re: Peru, it depends on whether you want to do a trek (HIGHLY recommend, even if you're not a big hiker) or just see MP and do the tourist thing. If you're only going to see MP, 6 days should be fine. If you want to do a 3-4-5 day trek, you'll need more time. Ayahuasca would be tough, if you want to do it right. You're supposed to be on a very strict diet, no alcohol, no sex, etc. in the weeks leading up to it. I was supposed to do it before I left Peru, but canceled because I had been partying/just finished MP. It can still be done in that setting, but I don't think you'd get the full benefit/experience. I'd either try to do Rio and stay on the eastern side of SA, or Peru and Colombia. Only a week in Colombia for 3 cities seems too short, in my opinion. I've made the mistake of trying to fit too much in to too short a time and always regret it.
Did the Salkantay Trek (4 or 5 nights) to Macchi Picchu, would highly recommend. Less well traversed and much more scenic than the traditional Inca Trail. This was 2011 though, I’ve heard it’s a lot harder to get a permit or spot to go there now. Government thought visitors were getting out of control and wearing out the monument...so check on that before booking flights. I thought the ruins at Saqsayjoman (sp?) right above Cusco were more impressive from an engineering perspective, massive 3-4 ton stones moved with human braun and timber with incredible precision. There’s also a Christ the Redeemer-like white Jesus statue overlooking Cusco that was built by the Nazi’s. Go figure.
Salkantay is still really easy to get on, Inca is the one you need reservations months in advance and where they cap the number. Agreed that three countries in that time frame is probably pushing it. Aya and MP probably isn’t happening get in a week. It’s not that easy to get into the Peruvian rainforest.
3rd for Salkantay. You could arrive in Cusco, find a tour outfit, and leave on a Salkantay trek the next day if you wanted. And still never see another group on the trek. Sacsayhuaman, pronounced "Sexy Woman." It was pretty damn cool, not sure I'd put it above MP given where MP is. It's way up in those mountains, hauling those stones would've been insane.
Not as visually stunning, as rewarding a hike, no doubt MP is the prize. Just from an engineering perspective it was incredibly impressive along with the oddity of Nazi Jesus
Salkantay isn’t that empty anymore (or at least it wasn’t when I went), we saw groups along the way. But we still had plenty of space.
Agree with the squad. Skip lima and bogota and focus on the actual cool places MP without a hike to it is cheating. Don't forget a day to acclimate to altitude I like medellin more than cart but I'd rather be in cart on NYE
this is a great deal for our seattle travelers BamaNug is the only person i remember off hand https://thepointsguy.com/deals/deal-flying-blue-biz-deal-13500/
There should be multiple Copenhagen write ups in this thread because I remember reading them prior to going myself. I’ve lived in Oslo for two months now so I can be of some help if you need it. And you probably already know this but the train ride to Bergen is supposed to have spectacular views, so it’s suggested to travel during the morning to make sure you can see everything.
forgot my suitcase broke last trip I made and going on a trip next week it seems like the AmazonBasics suitcases are the best value, was thinking of going hard case but seemingly a not insignificant amount of people get them shattered by baggage handlers
I just went to the 9/11 Memorial in NYC for the first time...damn did they do a great job on it No idea why I never came before but it's fantastic and eerie and all the things it should be
If you travel a lot, I’d recommend investing in luggage that has a lifetime warranty. I have a Briggs & Riley bag that is amazing and if you have any issues, they’ll fix it (including airline damage). I worked on the amazon basics luggage and it’s as good as anything around that price range.
my biggest concern with those is paying the shipping, I imagine it's expensive as hell to ship a checked bag like that probably be = or > an entirely new amazonbasics piece
Yeah that’s fair. I will say that it’s a nice benefit, but the quality of the bag (expansion, durability) are pretty amazing. I think you can drop off your bag locally for repair too.
I'm of the opposite opinion. I travel 2-3 times/month and just get a new $40 American Tourister bag every couple of years. My larger suitcase is a $60 Wenger that has lasted me 4 years. It is on its last legs now because it has been beat to hell all over the world, but at that rate it would take 20 years or more to realize the ROI on a good suitcase (and that's if I didn't lose the warranty info or just didn't follow up on it). So like anything else it depends on whether you like to spend more for quality or not. This is one case where I choose not to. If I did get something more expensive for a carry-on I'd think hard on the SkyRoll. Several people I work with have them and swear by them. https://www.skyroll.com/skyroll-spinner-bag/
If I am going to be flying premium economy to Japan, would you guys suggest booking it at the outset or booking a regular economy ticket then paying the upgrade amount as we near the actual flight? Also, when using the Chase portal for points, do you guys find that it is better value to book using the Chase portal or transfer the points to their partners?
It just depends. Price it out with the airlines award chart (probably 80k round trip for regular economy, upgrades vary) and then price it out in the travel portal
If you really want the premium economy, I'd just buy it now, because you can't always upgrade easily. As far as using points. Using the portal is generally better for economy flights (plus you'll earn miles/eqms on the flight which you don't when transferring), transferring to partners usually much better for business/first.
You should save up and book ANA in business from DC for 95k points round trip. It’s easily one of the best reward redemptions out there. Slightly more than what United charges you round trip for economy. https://onemileatatime.com/redeeming-virgin-atlantic-miles-ana/
Heading to Cabo for a bachelor party in a few months. Just found out this is the house we have rented: https://www.cabovillas.com/properties.asp?PID=140
Cabo is expensive as fuck for houses though, so its really not that bad. Only problem with that place is you’ll have to take a taxi back and forth to town as theres nothing on the pedregal side, plus the beach is pretty dangerous to swim there.
Useful info, thanks. You seem to know the area, so do you perhaps have a charter boat recommendation? The bachelor wants to golf for a day and fish for another.
Anyone have recommendations for killing an afternoon in Indianapolis? Going to the PSU-IU game in two weeks and my buddy will be dropping me in Indy on his way out in the morning Sunday and I don't fly out until 6. My only previous time in Indy was for the B1G title game 2 years ago and we just went to St. Elmo's and bars near the stadium. Thinking of going to the Benjamin Harrison presidential site and grabbing brunch/lunch somewhere. Doesn't look like there's much around that though.
Great experience. Lots of entertainment options, cheap snacks, good legroom. Don’t expect more than that, of course.
Ngorogoro is one of our "must sees" for the trip. We're definitely getting a driver around Nairobi, one of my African buddies is hooking us up. Zanzibar is another item I've got for top of the list. Not sure how we're getting there yet though.
Hate to do this but I am just drawing a blank right now. Wife and I looking to take a week long trip Dec. 29 to Jan 6 this year. We normally do something more strenuous like Europe but this year we want something relaxing. Most likely a beach but doesn't have to be. Doesn't have to be a big resort or have diving either if it is a beach. What are some spots yall would highly recommend for that time or year (north, latin, and south america) that is a reasonably priced?
Last two years I've flown to Amsterdam for 550/person and Dublin for 800/person. not great but not terrible and I booked those in july and august
Sure there are certainly very small lucky windows that pop up for stuff like 550/person at some point. I'm usually the one who posts them in here. But it's super rare and even more rare in October
Currently discounted flights to Dublin. I got the Scott's email about it a few hours ago. New year's flights are expensive. They're always expensive. This isn't anything ground breaking.
I disagree with that early, but of course it generally helps to book earlier than later for holiday destinations. I've flown internationally the past 4 years for pretty cheap and don't think I booked that early for any of them. Anecdotal of course, but there are deals to be had if you pay attention. Doubt this late, though. LSU90 anywhere warm/popular/tropical is going to be super expensive this late. May be able to find a deal to Central America, and there are plenty of cheap fights to Europe right now for NYE (although I know you specifically excluded it in your post). I've been looking at South America for the past 2+ months and you're not finding anything worth a shit round trip for below $1,000.
Also, if you're not set on NYE, flights drop a ton in the 2nd and 3rd week of January. I'm looking at taking a week off over MLK (short work week), Jan 21, and flights are very reasonable.