Less strenuous tours

lovestravel

My husband and I have taken about 25 tours, although not all with Tauck, plus we have been to all 50 states. Most were on our own, although we were on tours to Hawaii and Alaska, so I do consider us to be well traveled. We've visited 5 continents, with the exception of South America and Antarctica. We're in our mid 70's now, and I, more so than he, am less physically able to walk as far and as fast as many tours require. I also have difficulty with ascending stairs, much more so than descending them. With all that said, what are some of the easiest tours that Tauck offers? We love the riverboat trips, but even there a lot of walking is required. What about an African safari? Both British and Alan, who shares a home state with us, have indicated in various posts that sometimes they'd have welcomed more walking on their fantastic tours there. Tauck puts those tours in their mid category as far as difficulty is concerned. I'd very much welcome advice on tours there as well as to other places. As my moniker indicates, both of us dearly love traveling so I hate to give up traveling now, when other than having less stamina, I'm still pretty healthy!

British

Hi Lovestravel! --- yes, I think you could manage either the Kenya and Tanzania tour or even the Bridges Safari in Tanzania----the latter is the only one I have not taken of the safaris that Tauck currently offer, I think that would be more suitable than the extra journey to Zanzibar and the chaos of The Dar Es Salam airport at the end of the Tanzania and Zanzibar tour. The safari vehicles on these tours are lower and much easier to get up into than the ones on the Elegant South Africa ( which also has more walking on the cultural parts of the tour) or the Botswana, South Africa and Zambia tour, that we took quite recently, the vehicles are really high and you have to launch yourselves into those, we were not offered help into those, you have to climb over the sides. So----As long as you do not have a bad back, because the roads are very bumpy, and you can cope with long flights, I think you could do it. As always, I recommend getting there two days early to have time to adjust to the time difference and prepare for getting up very early.
After another think. I think The Bridges tour should be the number one because it also avoids the horrible Nairobi airport in Kenya. Arusha airport in Tanzania is fine and you use it at the beginning and end of the Bridges tour. I hope to do the Bridges tour in the near future, the grandchildren are too young to take along, but my dream is to take them on my Safari when they are old enough.
I wonder what Alan thinks?

joycesw

Hi Lovestravel,
Do I remember reading your posts from the old "Ask and Share" days? I agree with British that the Grand Safari tour is not as strenuous, mobility-wise. However, it is strenuous with bumpy roads and adapting to some small airplane travel, both of which do not seem to be problematic for you. The Kenya/Tanzania safari tour is the only Tauck tour, out of 14, on which I gained weight. I attributed it to the lack of strenuous walking about, and not adjusting my eating habits to account for that! With that said, it was our favorite! Since you are a well-heeled traveler, adapting to this tour should be a no-brained for you!
Joyce

judy05

Believe it or not -- we found Essence of South America to be one of the least strenuous tours we have taken. The exact opposite of what you would think reading the itinerary. There is a lot of moving around but not a lot of walking other than when you are visiting Iguazu Falls -- and even then you can do as much or as little as you'd like. The activity level of the tour is 2. We loved every minute of it. Probably our favorite trip -- and we too are well traveled. (P.S. I deactivated my Facebook account in January which is why you haven't seen me on since then!)

lovestravel

Thanks to all three of you for your prompt replies to my post. For others still out there who haven't replied, I will still welcome other suggestions!. Judy, I've missed your Facebook posts and the pretty pictures of your Connecticut scenery! Joyce, you have a good memory. Our first Tauck trip was Classic Italy in late March and early April of 2004. Prior to that, I'd never heard of Ask and Share, or whatever its name was then. I started posting and asking questions almost immediately after our return and I've never stopped, always using lovestravel as my moniker, no matter what the sharing line was called. You and I are among the very few who've continued to participate for so many years! I've only hated that there have been so many changes to its names that so much wonderful information has been lost with each change. Although we haven't taken a Tauck tour recently, I continue to post when I think my experiences can possibly help someone else. I still check the site every day, many times more than once a day! British, because you've traveled so extensively, I truly appreciate your insights, experiences and recommendations from your many, many trips.

Thanks again for your replies to my post. I hope others will add their suggestions to those you've made.

AlanS

I think Classic Italy has been our most active (strenuous?) tour to date, more so than the Alps & Dolomites, and certainly much more so than K&T (like Joyce, the bumpy trails/roads didn't prevent us from gaining weight). Much of that was self-imposed, however- going two days early to tour Capri, Herculaneum and other sites around Naples, taking in as much of Rome on foot as we could in the time available, climbing one of the towers in Orvieto, walking everywhere and climbing Brunelleschi's dome in our free time in Florence, and taking a side trip to Pisa where we climbed the leaning tower. We are on the downhill side of our 60's but luckily still going strong.

We have traveled some over the years (Hawaii (4), Caribbean, CONUS) but just started serious travel with Tauck in 2013. We depart for Tauck #7, Peru & Galapagos, next week so it is a toss-up whether we will run out of health or money first. But, in any case, it is very unlikely we will ever reach 25 tours in our lifetime!

lovestravel

Although my husband hasn't said yes yet, he hasn't said no. This is probably more my dream than his. I know that if we decide to book this tour there are several shots and pills we'll have to have and that we'll need to talk to a travel doctor. However, from your own experiences, what shots and/or pills do you remember having to take and an approximate cost, realizing ahead of time that the cost may vary widely according to where you have them and to what your insurance will cover.

British

You say you have visited 5 continents, so there is a chance you have had most of the shots required already because of your past travels. If you do the research yourselves by looking on the CDC and WHO websites, you might be able to go to a pharmacy that specializes in travel shots, we did that for a few boosters we needed last year and it was much cheaper. He was also able to give us our malaria pills. When we went to a travel Dr some years ago, he charged us a large amount for each individual malaria pill!. So, are you up to date with all the regular shots that anyone should have under their belt, TDAP, flu, pneumonia, Hep A, Hep B, amd so on. But you might need, yellow fever, typhoid and something like a Cipro script just in case, of course don't forget those malaria pills! Costs can vary widely from free to hundreds of dollars. As you have plenty of time, you can research cost and speak to your insurance company.

joycesw

We have Kaiser, and their travel clinic is part of the plan. Book a phone appointment, review your itinerary and they will recommend immunizations/medications. Cost for immunizations? Zero? Cipro? $10. Malaria meds? $10. You will need all up to date immunizations for an African trip. Although, you are over 70, and Yellow Fever immunizations are not required, you might do some research. We were over 70 but had the shots and had no ill effects. We are of the mind that preventative medications/immunizations are a smart move.

lovestravel

I don't think any shots have been suggested or required for any of our trips. We went to China and Tibet in September of '07 and to Egypt and Jordan in early June of '09, but even with those I don't remember having any specific shots. Even when I taught for about 30 years I don't remember having the Hep A and B shots, although a few teachers who worked in more precarious situations did have them. I'm up to date on flu, pneumonia, shingles, etc. but I'm not sure about some of the others. We've taken Cipro pills with us before on trips and have used them once or twice. My regular doctor can probably give me at least some of the shots I'm missing. Thanks so much for all your advice!

By the way, June is NOT the ideal time to go to Egypt! We're from NC and are used to hot summertime weather, but not to 109-114 temps, that even those it's a dry heat and not the humid heat we have here, is still terribly, terribly hot for us!

British

Hi Lovestravel. Surprised you have not had Hep A vaccine, this Hep can easily be picked up from food and can cause death. Hep B vaccine is given to babies so it's obviously thought of as a risk even in the US. Being a teacher, I would have thought the school boards would advise teachers have their boosters up to date. It's good to review your shots now and keep them up to date for your optimum health. Hope you can go to Africa!

Dixie Chick

Hi to all
We have only been on 7 Tauck trips and have one more booked for spring 2018, Holland and Belgium in the spring, so we are not experts, but we do fall in the 70+ category. I do notice that my balance is not as good as it used to be, so I try to always go to the side of the steps/stairs where there is a railing.
We went on the Paris, Loire Valley, and Normany tour in fall, 2015. I think it is my very favorite trip, and Tauck has made it even better since we were there. There are the usual early mornings and a fair amount of walking, but the terrain is flat. Just hold onto the rails on the cathedral steps. I thought I might fall over several times in Italy. That country is nothing but hills!! And all the towns on the Danube cruise were uphill from the riverboat. You have probably already done FRance, but if not, please consider this tour.
Another super easy trip was Tauck Grand Alaska...one week on a cruise and one week on land. It doesn't sound like it would be easy, but you ride just abput everywhere, and the terrain is mostly flat. It was incredibly wonderful...and my husband's favorite trip.
Good luck, and happy travels.
Nancy

nana bug

I am 83 years old and travelled to South Africa [an Elegant Adventure] with Tauck last year. I found the pace of the tour reasonable and even the early morning starts [5.45am] on safari were not too demanding as there was plenty of time for a nana nap in the afternoon if necessary . I found the amount of walking and standing on the Christmas Market cruise tour much more demanding as there was a lot of time wandering around the markets and then waiting for the bus [we had to stand as there were no seats] to return us to the ship - especially difficult in Aachen, and Heidelburg. I am not particularly fit and energetic, but as a solo traveller I managed really well. Good Luck.