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Post by chech on Mar 21, 2015 19:34:07 GMT
I've been looking at other companies that go a little further afield than TT or Insight. Has anyone heard or used: Eldertreks Overseas Adventure (OAT) Adventures Abroad G Adventures (which I've discounted given reports of sexual assaults by the guides...which indicates to me that the guides are not screened very well).
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Post by marielouise on Mar 21, 2015 22:28:59 GMT
Chech sorry but I have only heard of G Adventures not the other companies. G Adventures used to be called Gap and around 5 years ago or maybe it is even longer, they lost a ship going from Chile or Argentina towards Antarctica in a severe storm. It did not seem to be mentioned on wikipedia, I don't think any lives were lost but the tourists had to be rescued and I believe the ship went down. I don't know if it was Gap fault or just bad luck with the weather.
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Post by chech on Mar 21, 2015 23:00:15 GMT
Ahhh...I noticed the word Gap used in relation to them. It just took a quick search to turn up the assaults and a less than ideal response from the company over very serious issues. One problem I have with other companies is some won't list the hotels. Eldertreks has a great Egypt tour...but I would be hesitant without knowing what the hotels are.
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Post by bet on Mar 22, 2015 7:13:38 GMT
Czech I haven't heard of them either, but I know of Peregrine Adventures and Intrepid Travel as I've looked at them for myself. Unsure if they're your cup of tea or if they exist in Canada.
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Post by Tulips on Mar 22, 2015 12:17:31 GMT
Chech,
G Adventures/Gap has been in business for many years. It diesnt mean they don't screen the guides. Screening people doesn't prevent abuse either. Teachers, for example are screened and yet abuse still happens. Nit minimizing or condoning anything, but the full story is it necessarily out there either. I know several people who have used threm and have had great trips.
Intrepid does a lot of camping trips.
Tauck has some nice tours. They are more all inclusive, but you pay for that. They are expensive.
I have two TA's, one who does more adventure, further afield, photography type stuff and the other goes the Trafalgar, ?Insight type stuff.
The reason some companies font list hotels is because they change.
There are lots of companies out there.
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Post by chech on Mar 22, 2015 13:33:05 GMT
I did a little more research and a guy that works as a guide said he won't work for G Adventures. He said they often hire people with no experience and don't pay well or treat them well. And I have an issue with how the company treated the women who complained. I know it won't apply to all their tours or guides, but I'd play the law of averages here. If I were going to Europe, it wouldn't matter as much, but the tours I'm looking at are to places like Nepal and Egypt etc. where I would want to at least know where we were staying or what kind of class of hotel. I wouldn't even mind camping (as some offer in Tanzania) but details on that are not available. I don't want to show up and have the guide look at me and say "where's your tent?" Or as one commenter said...the guide in Africa put them in a car with a driver and said "seeya when you get back." LOL On a good note...Globus does go to Tanzania! That I would do in a heartbeat. I'll go look at Intrepid now...
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Post by Tulips on Mar 22, 2015 13:50:11 GMT
Gate 1 is a good company. I have a friend who has done a couple of tours with them, including Africa.
Exodus is another one. They do tours to Tanzania that stay in hotels. I have their brochure.
Tucan a Travel are another one.
If if you have questions about these, I can pass them on if you like.
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Post by chech on Mar 23, 2015 0:22:19 GMT
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Post by tiffany on Mar 23, 2015 12:00:38 GMT
I have a friend who travels regularly with Gap (now G Adventurers) and he loves them. He likes that it’s a younger crowd than Trafalgar/Insight, and that they offer different types of tours, like adventure tours, camping tours, hiking tours, etc. He’s never complained about the tour company or any of the travel directors. My aunt has also done two tours with Gap, and she loved them. She’s been trying to convince me to go on one with her, but the itineraries she’s shown me don’t appeal to me. She’s a more casual traveler than I am, which is why she prefers Gap to Trafalgar/Insight. It’s too bad to hear such bad reviews regarding their travel directors and how they deal with sexual harassment complaints.
I’ve only know one person who’s done a Tauck tour, and she loved it. It was very expensive, but everything was included, and she said it was worth the money.
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Post by chech on Mar 23, 2015 12:25:47 GMT
Yeah...Tauck is really expensive. When we were at Bryce Canyon with Insight, the Tauck bus was parked at the hotel outside the park. The guide pointed it out and laughed....then said "wait until you see where you're staying!" Right on the canyon rim in the park! LOL Looking at ones like Eldertrek, I like how it is for 50+ so I know I can do everything they offer. They're physical scale from 1 to 5 is no problem for me. With G, I'm only good to activity level 2. LOL
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Post by mary on Mar 24, 2015 22:34:26 GMT
A work colleague has traveled with OAT and had a positive experience.
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Post by chech on Apr 5, 2015 17:26:03 GMT
Has anyone travelled with Monograms - Globus' independent arm? Just looking at a great tour of Australia that includes all the major points in the centre and east including Tasmania and Fiji...all for about $11,700 - and that includes the tour, intra-air and single supplement. It's essentially everything included like hotel, intra-air, transfers and city tours with optionals and it includes a local host to arrange anything that one wants to do. To do this with a regular tour with Globus would be $15,000 minimum - and it gives one less night in Cairns and Darwin, but an extra night at Ayer's Rock and Adelaide. This one also starts in Sydney, so no extra jump to Melbourne on arrival. TT no longer offers the long version of the similar independent tour. So, has anyone tried or heard of anyone who went with Monograms?
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Post by californian on Apr 5, 2015 21:45:31 GMT
Yeah...Tauck is really expensive. When we were at Bryce Canyon with Insight, the Tauck bus was parked at the hotel outside the park. The guide pointed it out and laughed....then said "wait until you see where you're staying!" Right on the canyon rim in the park! LOL Those hotels outside the parks are really gorgeous and the size of the rooms and suites! I understand why Tauck travelers would prefer to stay there. The park facilities are historic, but some look like fire traps. I have stayed at a couple of them in Grand Canyon and at Old Faithful, very elegant dining, but very small rooms, and a little scary if you ask me.
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Post by chech on Apr 5, 2015 23:57:44 GMT
Not in this case. The park hotel was a gorgeous one in an awesome location. That was what the guide was saying - the hotel they were staying is was like staying in a Super 8. The quality might have been a bit better or a bit worse - but it didn't matter. The location of ours was unbeatable. I would happily sacrifice some hotel quality for the ability to walk to the rim on my own schedule...which started at 6 am (before the shuttles started from outside). We stayed at a number of Park hotels along the way and they were all fine. I never felt like they were fire traps or too small. My only complaint was the lack of a TV in the room. (Which apparently applies to park hotels not only in the US, but elsewhere).
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Post by californian on Apr 6, 2015 0:28:21 GMT
I think you might be right Chech, I was thinking of the outside Grand Canyon area, which are very, very nice. And you are right of course being able to walk by the rim. I have stayed in some cabins which are very nice as well, but the big old hotel in Yellowstone, and El Tovar in Grand Canyon really scare me!
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Post by chech on Apr 6, 2015 0:33:03 GMT
I think the Yellowstone one is amongst the oldest - its certainly been an attraction going back more than a century. Is El Tovar on the south rim? We were supposed to stay in the Grand Canyon Lodge on the north rim but we got bumped by a convention of dentists and stayed in the hotel just outside the park (it had an adjoining campground where I had actually camped when I visited the north rim in 1991). That was a deja vu moment.
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Post by gary2002 on Apr 6, 2015 1:40:40 GMT
In Yellowstone National Park, the Old Faithful Inn's initial design was prepared in 1898. Its design was approved by the Park Service but construction never started. A new building was designed in 1902, construction started in 1903 and continued through the winter to open in 1904.
In Grand Canyon National Park, the El Tovar Hotel was designed in 1902, built in 1903 and opened in January 1905.
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Post by californian on Apr 6, 2015 3:12:00 GMT
I think the Yellowstone one is amongst the oldest - its certainly been an attraction going back more than a century. Is El Tovar on the south rim? We were supposed to stay in the Grand Canyon Lodge on the north rim but we got bumped by a convention of dentists and stayed in the hotel just outside the park (it had an adjoining campground where I had actually camped when I visited the north rim in 1991). That was a deja vu moment. Yes, El Tovar is in the South Rim, don't know now, but years ago you needed to make reservations 1 year in advance, which we did. Same for dinning there, well not a year, but if you didn't make reservations early you might dine at 9:00 local time, like we did, and it was 10 pm for us Californians!
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