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Post by chech on Aug 8, 2016 18:44:37 GMT
The tale can be found here. I booked the cruise through Eldertreks and it is run by Adventure Canada. It's one of the few that offers single cabins for the Arctic/Antarctic cruises. The visit to Greenland completed my visitation to all the Scandinavian countries as such...where I actually came across one of the original inhabitants that were conned into settling the island when they called it "Green"land. The Vikings learned the hard way that calling a land Iceland did nothing to help with settlement.
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Post by tiffany on Aug 10, 2016 11:49:19 GMT
Didn’t you just get back from a tour? How many tours have you been on this year? I think it’s great that you are able to do so much travelling. I wish I could! Looking forward to reading about this one when you get back.
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Post by chech on Aug 10, 2016 16:49:13 GMT
I've done three so far this year (Cuba, Italy, South America) so the Arctic and Costa Rica at Christmas will make it five. I have my name on the list now for Egypt (Feb 17), Nepal/Tibet (May 17) and Kenya/Tanzania (Nov 17). They're all cheap or mid-cost tours compared to Australia and the Arctic. I can do two of them for the cost of one Australia or the Arctic....so hopefully my bank account won't be as mad at me come 2018. That being said, I'm being very frugal now so that I can squirrel away as much as possible...and my new house isn't costing me much now...the one I just sold was costing thousands in new doors, floors etc and when I realized windows and roof weren't far off, I said enough of that. I'd rather spend the money on a hike to Everest base camp than a roof.
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Post by bet on Aug 10, 2016 21:15:16 GMT
With all your travels you should rename yourself Nomad. I'm excited to see your travel plans for Kenya and Tanzania, as I've booked in an overland safari tour of Kenya, Tanzania & Zanzibar for August next year, it will be a birthday present to myself, with Peru in 2018 for my 40th. I guess you'll be visiting either Masai Mara or Serengeti or both, looks like it will be an amazing experience. Keen to hear about it when you get back. Happy travels Chech
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Post by chech on Aug 10, 2016 22:03:02 GMT
Ah, if you're going in August, you'll be going before me. I booked that one for November 2017. It's an Eldertrek tour with a maximum of 16 travelers. (It's adventure travel for people over 50 but they don't check IDs....LOL)
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Post by bet on Aug 10, 2016 23:13:36 GMT
Oops can't read, I thought it was Nov this year. Small groups tours are the way to go, for me anyway.
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Post by chech on Aug 11, 2016 11:34:24 GMT
I guess you can tell me all about it then.
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Post by Tulips on Aug 11, 2016 23:24:55 GMT
Thirteen on my tour of Africa. The Galapagis was also small group. I'm all about that now.
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Post by chech on Aug 12, 2016 11:47:13 GMT
Yeah...me too! Eldertreks does pretty good pricing for max of 16. And Monograms...can't beat being a Tour of One.
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Post by chech on Aug 16, 2016 22:41:21 GMT
Got my docs! Looks like we're staying in Leduc for the tenth so a visit to Edmonton is out of the question. Even if I could figure out buses and that, I wouldn't have time to get there and back for the welcome dinner/meetings. Looks like Leduc has a cinema...might take in a matinee or see what the town has going on since it'll be a Saturday. We take Nolinor Airlines from there to Kugluktuk. Only a 2.5 hour flight! They also recommended a soft sided bag with a max of 40 lbs so I hauled out my old back pack and managed to stuff all my winter gear in it including my boots. It weighs 23lbs....I'm almost in OzT range for packing light! (And 4.7 of those pounds are the bag).
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Post by chech on Aug 23, 2016 16:40:14 GMT
Down to 18 days. I spent the last few days giving my blog a facelift, so if you read anything on it and find a link that doesn't work or something funny, let me know. Also read in my docs that I can get 200mb of internet for $100. Worth it to check emails but not enough to download football games and not enough to post my tale but I usually have enough time on the ship to have it ready to go when I get home.
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Post by 1jhwks on Aug 25, 2016 23:27:29 GMT
I like the new blog. I didn't see any broken links.
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Post by chech on Aug 25, 2016 23:50:41 GMT
Cool!! The new theme is so much better! I like that I can widen the pages that I write the tales on now!
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Post by mary on Aug 26, 2016 1:45:02 GMT
Looks like a fabulous trip! Looking forward to reading your blog.
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Post by chech on Aug 26, 2016 20:58:16 GMT
With any luck, I'll be able to start posting the blog as soon as I get back on the 27th. I should have enough time in the evenings on the ship to have everything typed up, checked and the photos picked out. Oh...you just reminded me of something I can do before I go (set up the shells of each day on the blog). Two weeks to go. I did a trial pack today and decided I can't take the soft sided bag I wanted...just can't fit everything in, so I'll take my usual one. The winter stuff really takes up so much room. And the ship has a theme night and sent us the theme so that we could take something with us. It's "Figures in Canadian History," so I dug out my UN beret, bought a fake grey mustache and I'm going as Romeo Dallaire.
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Post by solaria on Aug 26, 2016 22:05:06 GMT
Not up with Canadian history. Who is/was Romeo Dallaire?
I know I could Google him but this way your travel page will get tagged in participated!
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Post by chech on Aug 27, 2016 0:10:36 GMT
He was a Canadian army general and retired member of the Senate. He was the UN commander in Rwanda in 93/94 during the genocide where they were helpless to stop it with the small number of forces he had there but with what he had, he was able to protect more than 30,000 Tutsis. A few years after he came back, he was found passed out in a park and the country learned he was dealing with PTSD. This was important as veterans like myself were being dismissed by many in the chain of command who said people with PTSD were lazy or weak. But with Dallaire's admission, they could no longer fault the individual. It was a start of many changes on how the army and veteran's affairs deal with veterans with PTSD.
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Post by purvis on Aug 27, 2016 16:47:28 GMT
Chech: Dallaird is one of Canada's finest. Watched the movie "Hotel Rwanda" a couple of times and it displays him in a very good light. He did more for Canadian vets that any defense minster in my memory ever did especially the one who was the former police chief of Toronto . Farentino was a nightmare for vets. Purvis
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Post by solaria on Aug 30, 2016 22:36:19 GMT
Hi Chech
Small world! I just saw this morning that you replied to my cousin on Facebook who is currently on a TT and is now in Venice! Vivienne Stokes-Langley. I was born a Stokes and she is 1 of my 5 first cousins!
Cheers Jay
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Post by chech on Aug 31, 2016 0:02:04 GMT
LOLOL. That is too funny!! Say hello!
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Post by purvis on Aug 31, 2016 18:21:56 GMT
Chech: Read in the paper a couple of days ago about a luxury cruise ship (13decks high) has just gone through the Northwest Passage . Over 900 of it 1000 passengers were taken ashore in small boats to visit a village of about 1,500 people. It seems the villagers knew they were coming so posted on facebook to the neighboring villages so that all might benefit from sale of trinkets . I'm sure these villagers will never be the same. Some idiots asked the villagers if they spent the winter in these locations. Will stupidity never end. Purvis
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Post by chech on Aug 31, 2016 23:12:46 GMT
Yeah. The coast guard wasn't too thrilled about it cause they don't have the capacity to deal with so many people if the ship got into trouble. Mine has a max of 198 passengers and it's not sold out, so we won't be full. The cruise ship apparently cost a minimumof $22,000 USD. And yes, I'll have pen and paper in hand to write down any funny questions or comments (I had to listen to one guy whine that the internet was slow on Easter Island....one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth...LOL)
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Post by purvis on Sept 1, 2016 3:16:48 GMT
Talk about idiot travelers. At a dinner in Vienna I was asked by a fellow Trafalgar tour traveler if we in Canada had TV. Believe it or not this screwball worked for a bank in Penn.State which by the way is not too far from the Canadian Boarder. Her traveler companions acted like they didn't know her. All work at a US bank which by the way I wouldn't want to have my monies in. Purvis
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Post by chech on Sept 1, 2016 10:53:06 GMT
LOL...and the irony is that our TV options are better than in the US. We get all the same channels and can get TV channels from the east and west. Last time I checked, a friend in Oregon had no option to order TV channels from Buffalo, Boston or New York. And we get far superior Olympic coverage. My favourite is the couple who arrived here on a cruise ship for an 8 hour visit and asked about doing an excursion to Toronto....2600 km away.
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Post by plane2catch on Sept 1, 2016 11:33:05 GMT
LOL...and the irony is that our TV options are better than in the US. We get all the same channels and can get TV channels from the east and west. Last time I checked, a friend in Oregon had no option to order TV channels from Buffalo, Boston or New York. And we get far superior Olympic coverage. My favourite is the couple who arrived here on a cruise ship for an 8 hour visit and asked about doing an excursion to Toronto....2600 km away. Too Funny! Talk about clueless!!!!
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Post by chech on Sept 2, 2016 20:58:09 GMT
A week to go...and yes, Boop, I packed today.
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Post by purvis on Sept 2, 2016 22:52:31 GMT
Chech: Have a great trip. Will be looking forward to reading your posts and seeing your photos. Maybe I'll learn something about our Canadian North as not much was taught when I went to school aeons ago. Purvis
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Post by chech on Sept 3, 2016 10:50:21 GMT
Yeah, the first education will be learning the Inuit names of the settlements that I knew with English names....like Kuglugtuk which used to be Coppermine. I'm following the current cruise which is going west right now and visiting many of the same sites that we will visit sailing east. The photos are spectacular.
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 7, 2016 4:36:56 GMT
....I'm almost in OzT range for packing light! (And 4.7 of those pounds are the bag). I'm impressed, Chech, but you still have some way to go if you could only see my latest packing achievement...
I was a bit annoyed at the travel destination stickers doubling the weight....
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Post by chech on Sept 7, 2016 11:15:11 GMT
LOL! My latest attempt to do a final pack has resulted in 37lbs. Just some things one can't do without in the Arctic....like wool socks...mitts...fleece...
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