Itineraries

Indonesia 2019-20 Orangutans and Raja Ampat Snorkeling | Our itinerary

Dec 25: Travel Edmonton to Singapore via Vancouver and Hong Kong; lose a day

Dec 27 - 30: Singapore

Dec 30: Travel to Medan in north Sumatra and to our hotel

Dec 31 - Jan 5: Tour Sumatra including Lake Tobo and Mount Leuser National Park

Jan 6: BIG travel day arriving in Sorong in Papua, board our boat, the Seven Seas

Jan 6 - 17:  Eat, sleep, snorkel aboard the Seven Seas with Wendy Simon and Snorkeling Etc

Jan17-19: Home from Sorong, via Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vancouver, arriving  in Edmonton on Jan 19.

Québec North Shore and Gaspésie October 2019 | Our itinerary

We are heading out to check out some fall colour and hopefully see some whales in the mighty St. Lawrence.

Sept 27-29: Quebec City

Sept 30- Oct 3: Tadoussac Hotel; crossing from Baie Comeau to Matane

Oct 4-6: Percé Chalets Nature Océan

Oct 7: travelling the south road heading for QC; overnight somewhere along the road and near QC airport

Oct 8: flying home to Edmonton 

Morocco then Menton, France 2018 | Our itinerary

Once again, I'm overly focussed on one part of this trip to the neglect of the next, but here it is in detail for Morocco. We are traveling with a very small group (6) and a native Berber Moroccan who lives and works from Santa Cruz California, Fattah Abbou. Get details on Fattah's tours by checking out Moroccan Cultural Tours and his music here.. For the Walkers World information you can check it out in greater detail here. I'm sure I'll be just as enthusiastic about the walking tour once we get to France in a couple of weeks. Here's the daily itinerary:

Sept 28: depart for Casablanca via Montreal arriving Sept 29

Sept 30: Casablanca, Rabat and Sale
Oct 1: Rabat/ Fes
Oct 2-3: Fes
Oct 4: Fes/ Midelt: Middle Atlas mountains
Oct 5: Midelt / Arfoud/ Sahara Desert, camel trek to camp
Oct 6: Sahara /  Todra Gorges / into the High Atlas Mountains
Oct 7: Todra Gorges / oasis of Toudgha
Oct 8: Todra / Ouarzazate / Dadess Valley and High Atlas
Oct 9: Ouarzazate, Marrakech
Oct 10: Marrakech
Oct 11: Marakech / Essaouira Women's Cooperative
Oct 12: Essaouira
Oct 13: Essaourira / Imi N'Tanout/ Berber villages
Oct 14: Casablanca

Oct 15: Casablanca to Nice and Menton

Oct 16 - 22: Menton and around (details at Walkers World)

India and Maldives 2018 | Our itinerary

I don't remember ever spending quite so much time preparing for a trip, but as the days tick off I am feeling close to ready. This trip takes us to three quite distinct eco-systems (different weather, different challenges), so I feel like I am preparing for three trips. And it's longer: I need more of everything that I don't intend to buy. 

Although India is on the itinerary, for me, this is all about the Maldives. I could have gone anywhere ahead of time; my goal was to get to the Maldives, and into the water. I've wanted to go for a long time, and after a  fun trip to the Great Barrier Reef in 2014, I am looking forward to another snorkeling adventure. So where (or is it what?) are the Maldives? Check the first post for a map. But first, we are in two different areas of India: Rajahstan in the north, starting in Delhi and ending far to the west, in Udaipur. We fly from there to Cochin, then head out to the mountains and waterways. From Cochin, we fly to Male, and begin our 7-day snorkel tour.
Here's the daily itinerary:
Feb 23: Arrival in Delhi
Feb 23 - Mar 5: Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Ranakpur, Udaipur
Mar 5: Fly to Cochin
Mar 5 - 10: Cochin, Munnar, Thekkady, Kumarakom (houseboat starts), Alleppey, Cochin
Mar 10: Fly to Male, Maldives
Mar 11-18: Aboard the Carpe Vita Explorer
Mar 18: Fly to Male; and onward to home.

Colombia | Our itinerary

This trip will certainly be nothing like the Cook Islands. We start in Bogotá for three days, then off to the south east, then to Medellín to visit a friend, and finally to the Atlantic coast.  We anticipate various cultures and communities, from big cities like Bogota, Medellin and Cali, to tiny villages barely accessible in the colonial era villages in the south east. Margaret is looking forward to visiting the salsa capital of the world, Cali, and I am looking forward to the extreme darkness of the Tatacoa desert where astronomy buffs go to see stars rarely seen. We are fortunate to stay with Gloria, and to enjoy her hospitality as we explore the region around Medellín, the city of eternal spring.  The weather will be beautifully warm, everywhere, except perhaps at night in Bogotá. I am hoping to spend a few days on the coast, escaping the cold dry winter in Edmonton. Here is the day by day as best we can post it.

Jan 20-23: Arrive Bogotá

Jan 23: Fly to Neiva and on to Villavieja and the Tatacoa Desert

Jan 24-29 San Agustín, Cali, Popoyán, Cali

Jan 29-Feb 4: Fly Cali to Medellín; Medellín and around

Feb 5-? Atlantic coast; destination TBD

Feb 9-Fly to Bogota

Feb 10: Fly home

The Cooks | Our itinerary

And now for pure decadence and self-indulgence.  Sun, sand, surf, snorkeling, maybe another dive. Fish and fresh everything on the menu. Flying on tiny airplanes with open cockpits between four very different islands: Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu (Ah-choo) and Mangiia (Mang-eye-a). And then we rest.  We have 8 sleeps on the big island (all of 36 km in circumference) to explore the restaurants and clubs, eat local and (apparently) drink local. And climb the mountain in the middle. It's my first trip to the South Pacific and as the sun sets early on a chilly September evening, I'm ready.

Oct 25-26: En route to Rarotonga and onward to Aitutaki

Oct 26-30: Aitutaki

Oct 30-Nov 2: Atiu

Back to R for a couple of days

Nov 4-6: Mangiia

Nov 6 -14: Rarotonga

Nov 14-15: En route to LAX and on to Edmonton

Read about the Cook Islands here: http://sale.cookislands.travel/

Sand and Surf in Australia October 2014 | My itinerary

I'm off to a conference in Uluru, the site of Ayers Rock. Another conference, a trip through Kings' Canyon, The Daintree rainforest, and a 5-day small boat cruise on the Great Barrier Reef. I'm expecting lots of beef (but I just saw camel burgers on a menu), and weather in the high 20s to high 30s. Packing will be easy and light!

Oct 22: depart YEG

Oct 25: Arrive Adelaide; overnight

Oct 26: on to Alice Springs; get on the bus

Oct 26 - 28: Bus trip on the back roads

October 28 - 31: Uluru; Ayers Rock

October 31: Sydney overnight

Nov 1-8: Cairns; overnight in Sydney on the 8th

Nov 9: Depart Sydney and arrive YEG  

Milan and the Lakes August 2014 | My itinerary

I'm off to Milan and the Italian Lakes district on Monday. A conference, some hiking, good food, and not much more jammed into a very short time frame.

Aug 25: Depart YEG

Aug 26: arrive Milan Malpensa; airport transfer to Como

Aug 26 - 29: Lake Como and around

Aug 29 - Sep3: Milan AMEE conference and around

Sep 3 - Sep 6: Stresa

Down Under January 2014 | Our Itinerary

The itinerary for our trip to New Zealand focuses on the south island, with hopes of daily hikes and walks, including a self-guided walk along the Abel Tasman trail starting and ending in Nelson, some wine (I don't drink Sauv Blanc so will be looking to see what else I can find),  and hopefully some decent food, although we aren't expecting much on that account.

Here's the day-by-day plan:

Dec 28:  late night departure from SFO

Dec 30 am: Arrive in Christchurch. Drive to Kaikoura.

Dec 30-31: Kaikoura

Two nights including New Years' Eve in Kaikoura currently booked at motel.

Jan 1-2: Drive to Blenheim

Two nights in wine country.

Jan 3 - 6: Nelson

Drive to Nelson for one night then 3 days and 2 nights on Abel Tasman walk.

Back to Nelson - The Absolute Beach House one more night.

Jan 7-8: South to Franz Joseph  and Fox Glacier

Booked 2 nights in BnB I think called Lynwood.

Jan 9: South to Wanaka 

Jan 10-11: Te Anau and the Milford

Hiking day trips

Jan 12: Queenstown

January 13-16: Oamaru and Lincoln

January 17-18: Christchurch

January 19: Christchurch to Auckland and Auckland to San Francisco on Air New Zealand

January 19 (again or is that still): San Francisco

My sister and I like to travel together.  Here we are on trips over the last few years.

 

Near the top; Menton walking tour

 

India, smelling the....mint...at the leather factory

Maldives snorkeling

Athens, Greece. May 2006

This is Margaret and me, many hair cuts, colours and stylings later, in 2011, in Puerto Varas, Chile. We followed the Cruce de Los  Lagos Andinos, a boat-bus-boat route from Bariloche in Argentina, to this pueblo, nested alongside Lago Llanquihue with its stunning backdrop of Volcán Osorno. Che Guevara took this route on his motorcycle trip made popular in the movie The Motorcycle Diaries.  I dream about retiring here.

And here we are on a drive along the South Ocean in Australia, enjoying the ocean spaces and the Twelve Apostles.

Dalmatian Coast, Croatia. September 2013

  And here we are en route between Korchula and Mljet in Croatia this last September. 

And, to end this introduction to my travel partner, this is Annie, snuggled in a warm quilt on a winter's day waiting for her morning walk. She is always with us, if only in spirit.