Best Of
Re: Essence of South America Trip Review (10/15/23 - 10/28/23)
The reports above are comprehensive and were much appreciated.
We took this trip in late January 2025. Weather in Rio was hot and humid. We had a very congenial group of just over 20.
Our group had lunch one day at the Cultural Center in Rio which was delicious. We regret not staying afterwards to see more of the Center as the entire afternoon was free.
In Rio our taxi driver recommended Satyricon in Ipanema where we had a delicious seafood lunch in a lovely garden room with excellent leisurely service.
Highlights for us were Iguazu Falls and the Vik in Chile. Buenos Aires is a lovely city.
The walks at the Falls are easy. For the helicopter you need to be fit enough to climb up and in but it’s not hard. Belmond Hotel is beautiful. We enjoyed the tasting menu dinner, others said the buffet was good and the buffet is quicker if that matters to you. The offsite dinner at a chef’s home was entertaining as well as delicious. The bird sanctuary was fascinating. The local guide suggested a movie, The Mission, which was filmed in Foz, for later viewing.
The rooftop bar at the Alvear Palace was open and we had a light dinner there one evening. One weekends there is a local crafts market a couple blocks from the hotel. The trip through the countryside to the estancia was very interesting with two good stops. The estancia experience was relaxing and very enjoyable.
The Vik Winery was a unique and interesting experience. We enjoyed the cooking class; the wine tasting group was adjacent and seemed to have had a great time too. Would have been good to do both. The kitchen garden at this venue was very nice. The hotel is very interesting, each room is indeed different. Food was good. The trip to Vik Winery from Santiago was accompanied by commentary by the local guide and was interesting. The orchards and the homes and slices of local life were interesting to drive through.
If you are a history buff someone recommended the book, The Real Odessa by Uki Goni, a journalist. There is also a YouTube video by the author.
There is a lot of free time on this trip so do some research beforehand as to what is available to see that interests you and do take a swimsuit.
Augrl
Re: Please help with shoes for Classic K and T
Mine is retiring soon after knowing him for over forty years. I dread having to find a new one.
kfnknfzk
Re: Paris, Dordogne & Bordeaux
I, too, am delighted to see extended hotel stays and look forward to reading critiques of this tour.
kfnknfzk
Re: The Rhine and Moselle 5/58/2025
I would love to read your thoughts of this tour. Please consider posting a review afterwards.
kfnknfzk
Re: England, Scotland and Wales
I've done the tour in the past and given how I pack for most tours these days I could do it with one pair of well broken in walking shoes ( probably sneakers) and a nice pair of flats to wear in the evening. A second pair of walking shoes in case of rain maybe as a backup. I pick my wardrobe, especially colors, to minimize shoes due to weight. Its tough as I love shoes.
Re: Reflections of Morocco
Essouaria is enchanting! I spent three nights there on a post Moroccan tour with another company. You can ride a horse or camel on the beach if you are so inclined!
Re: Reflections of Morocco
It was incredible how many unfinished homes and apartments there were, all over the country. Many people run out of money and just stop, who knows whether they will ever be completed.
That's not the situation. I asked about those "unfinished" houses and got two answers:
1. They don't have to pay tax until the house is "finished". That doesn't make sense because the government is not that dumb. Here in the US, if you don't make "progress" on your house, the permit is cancelled, and you can't get a certificate of occupancy. I'm sure the Moroccan government would have some similar law to prevent people from cheating.
2. People build the structure so that they can add on to it later. It's common for children to marry and move in with their parents. Most of the "unfinished" houses you see have rebar sticking up so that walls can be added for a second floor. You also see people living in the first floor.
Re: Visa for Namibia
Three of us, one who works in IT, tried to get this done for our upcoming trip. One got it done except for the photo upload, the IT friend and I are doing ours on arrival.. We have plenty of times we don't have to collect luggage. The Tauck people, on two different phone calls, said it is easy on arrival and don't worry about it because they aren't going to not admit you.
Re: Visa for Namibia
My husband applied for the visa and he spent a tremendous amount of time on it. He used a credit card for his visa and it went through but he had to use a different card for my visa and it had a security feature that blocked it the second time around. It was difficult but finally we were successful.
Noreen
Re: June 14 2025 trip
Hello! We'll be with you on safari. Our group includes 3 grandparents, 1 Funcle, 2 parents and 3 kiddos (boys 10 and 11, girl almost a teen). We're excited and looking forward to making great memories with ya'll... we're Southern.
MPSchaaf