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provide you with ideas & inspiration!
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SPECIAL PLACES
- Ichobezi
Houseboat
We have a new
favorite way to view wildlife. . .
Ichobezi Houseboat on the
Chobe River in Botswana!
On your next Southern
African safari, we recommend you include 2-3 nights on
the Ichobezi Houseboat. We love taking a break
from safari camps in the bush to enjoy the comforts and
views from this wonderful floating safari
lodge.
Elephants!
-the
houseboat provides a perfect platform to watch huge
herds of elephants sauntering to the river's edge and
frolicking in the water, while the baby eles chase each
other around. In the dry season, it's not unusual
to see thousands of them!
New
Perspectives and R&R from the
Decks
 -kick
back with a cool drink on the deck while guides explain
the behavior of the elephants and other
game
-watch
fisherman pass in their traditional boats
(mekoro)
-enjoy
sundowners while taking in the breathtaking
sunsets
Speed
Boat Game Drives
 -see baby crocs (1' long), big crocs (15'),
hippos, large herds
of Cape buffalo, Water Monitor
lizards, lion, antelope (puku, sable, Red lechwe...),
hyena, baboon, monkeys, African Fish eagles, Pel's
Fishing owls, loads of aquatic birds & much
more
Being on top of the
World
-well,
maybe not the world but by climbing the large baobab
tree on Impalila Island you can look out over 4
countries (Botswana,
Namibia, Zambia and
Zimbabwe) |
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TRAVELTIPS -
Major Delay in
Processing Passports!
Stories of passport
application nightmares have been
circling; trips have been missed,
money has been lost and frustrations are
high.
Don't get
stuck in this mess!
So,
what exactly is going on?
Earlier this year a law was passed requiring all
Americans traveling by air to the Caribbean, Mexico
and even Canada to have a valid
passport. This caused a major rush and "the pile"
of requests turned into a mountain.  Unfortunately, all signs show it will be some
time before "the mess" gets cleaned up.
To further compound the problem, the passport
requirement is set to broaden and include ALL travel
outside the US by land and sea, beginning in
January 2008.
If you don't have 3-5
months to wait for your passport, consider using an
expedite service. They aren't cheap but may be
well worth the investment. Processing times for
expedited passport services are based on your date of
departure. It is possible to get a quick
turnaround of 24 / 48 hours. You'll need to pay a
fee to the expedite company along with expedite fees to
the government. A number of companies offer this
service. One I recommend is Passport Visas
Express.com.
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SOJOURNERS' TRAVEL EXPERIENCE
 The Post Travel Blues
by Global Sojourner Laurel from
NYC
I don't
consider myself a pessimist, but when packing for a trip
I have been known to dwell about how quickly the trip
will end. In my head I'm thinking that although I'm
about to get on a plane for South Africa now, in three
weeks' time I'll be back in my tiny NY apartment
unpacking and going back to work. So after
planning our itinerary with Global Sojourns, off I go to
Africa.
I have the trip of a
lifetime - fine wines, elephants, giraffes, beautiful
sunsets, amazing local people and lots of laughs.
Now and then as we're enjoying our sundowners in
Botswana or Namibia, my mind starts to wander. I
think about my real world, the reality of going back to
work, 500 unread emails, going to the dentist, paying my
bills. But then the sound of the water lapping
against our houseboat, or the sound of an elephant
trumpeting kicks me back into the reality of the moment
and I continue enjoying my trip. Even on the long
plane ride back to NYC, I still feel like I'm on
vacation. Using my reward miles, I sit in first
class, enjoying my warm nuts and glass of cabernet,
watching movies, and reclining in my swanky seat as the
people in coach struggle to feel their toes. Going
through customs, still got the vacation buzz going
strong! Then I take the last leg of my long flight
from Atlanta to NYC and Delta loses my luggage.
Hence the beginning of my "post travel blues."
 Taking a cab from JFK to
the Upper West Side, I'm already in a fog, sooo many
people, so much consumption, no elephants. I go to
work the next day, and I feel like I can barely speak
English, it's like starting my job all over. I
have forgotten people's names, I can't remember my
passwords and I have the 500 unread emails.
Uggh. Everyone's asking to see my pictures but
somehow I feel like those are so personal and I don't
want to share. They won't understand the meaning
behind the photo, why I took it, what the sunset felt
like on my face, in my eyes. Friends will fast
forward through my three weeks of photos in about three
minutes and then say "Nice trip! How much?"
I feel like my life lacks meaning, living in New York
and working at MTV when people in Africa are dying of
AIDS and malaria. Everyone wants to get together
with me, but I'm feeling very introspective and all I
want is my solitude. I go through my souvenirs and
I can still smell Africa! Please don't go!
As I do errands - pharmacy, Whole Foods, laundromat, I
take notice how lucky I am to have the means to buy my
medications, my organic produce and my laundry
services. I then think about all the Africans that
don't even have clean water for daily life and that
brings me down. I find myself embarrassed by my
priveleged lifestyle after coming from a continent so
beautiful yet so desperate on so many levels. Then
I struggle and wonder how I can come to terms with this
feeling?
Now, after a little over a
month after coming back from my trip, I've slowly but
surely fallen back into my life pre-Africa. I
enjoy my flat screen TV, my wineclub, my fine dining
experiences. But in the back of my head, I still
have a piece of me that is still in Africa, remembering
all my experiences and feelings, and I now see
everything
differently.
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RESPONSIBLE SOJOURNER
For those of us with connections to Africa,
the July Vanity
Fair issue represented a good starting point for
the mainstream and especially those who plan to travel
the continent to see the complexities of its history
and obstacles of its future. It has always been
our philosophy at Global Sojourns to dig deeper into the
places that we visit to maximize the experience, our
understanding and the ways we can make a positive
difference.
To
read the Vanity
Fair July issue, click here.
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TRIPS IN THE
WORKS
Machu Picchu/
Mountain Lodges of
Peru *Just
a few spots remain!
 *NEW dates: October
12-21, 2007
We''ll experience the first
Trans-Andean lodge to lodge trek to Machu Picchu.
Instead of
camping on the much traveled
traditional route, we be staying in cozy
eco-lodges on this pristine new route to one of the most
spectacular sites in the world. Also, we're
benefiting from the introductory season
special rates! For more info, click here.
Tanzania
Exploratory
Join us in exploring the
plains of Tanzania! Details to come. Winter 2008
Mountain
Biking in
Mongolia
Join Peter in celebrating
his "special birthday" on this adventure. Details
to come. June 2008
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JUST FOR
FUN
DID YOU
KNOW... 
The airlines lost 10,000
pieces of luggage
per day in
2005?
More reason to limit yourself to a
carry-on!
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We hope you've enjoyed our
newsletter, Off The Beaten Path and that you
will share it with friends. We hope
to provide you with travel ideas, stories and
tips that inform and inspire.
Priscilla
Macy
Global
Sojourns
Global Sojourns
customizes itineraries for individuals and small groups
to Africa and around the globe. Through a
commitment to responsible tourism and relationships with
local experts, we provide you with trips that balance
outdoor adventures with cultural insights and authentic
interactions with local people. We are
passionate about our work and providing you with fun,
meaningful and memorable travel
experiences.
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