Hello Fellow Travelers,
Since we were fortunate?? enough to get a nice cover of white on our grass today, we decided to get back on track with a fall newsletter. Although it may not seem like this style of staying home, not traveling, is the norm, I have to remain optimistic that 2021 is a new year and are making plans to continue our lives as we previously knew it. Please read end note for 2022!!!
2021 trips being planned:
Jan 2021- Antarctica cruise going from Santiago Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina with four days at Antarctica. We are hoping that this will be a safe area to go by Jan. The penguins are waiting! The cruise tells us that we will be going with the new Covid rules in place at this time…wearing masks, testing, temperature checks, no buffets, etc.
May 2-6-Iceland-This is a quick overview of Iceland to the most popular areas in the southern portion. This should be an excellent time to view the many breeding areas of the thousands of birds calling this place home. We hope to get up close looks of the puffins especially. The waterfalls should still be pretty full from the winter snows also.
Early June -another possible Alaska trip if there is enough interest. If you want to be on that list, please let us know.
June 22-July 3-Ireland we plan to visit both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Their restrictions seem to change daily, but they do seem to be open to opening up as soon as possible to do this safely.
July 12-23- Alaska-This will be our usual trip to Alaska with the one day fishing opportunity. This trip is completely filled.
Aug 3-16–Alaska– This will be another usual style trip to Alaska with the exception that it includes two days of fishing…one day of halibut and one day of salmon fishing. This trip is also filled.
Aug 30- Sept 20-Africa (dates may change slightly depending on flight schedules) could use 2 more. This trip includes visit to 5 countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Two of these countries are already open for tourists, so things are looking good for this trip also. This trip includes 9 safari game drives of various styles. We will be remaining in our own “travel bubble” for almost the entire trip, as we will have our own safari jeeps.
Sept
28-Oct 12-Alpine
(Germany, Austria, Switzerland) (again dates might change due to flight
schedules). We have a full group but are
accepting waiting list persons as some people are not certain at this point due
to their potential health issues. We
will be taking trains from city to city and then have private guides to the
particular sights we are visiting. Most
of time will be spent in the smaller villages to get a flavor of the country
and to make for a more relaxed style journey.
Oct-Denmark, Norway, and Faroe Islands This trip will be a 3-4 day stop in each
area with a guide from Denmark to escort us to the sights. Exact dates will be set after the flight
schedules are released.
Dec- European Christmas markets-we have a few people interested in a return to the Christmas markets of Europe. Most of our time will be spent in Germany and Austria as there are so many fests in that area to easily get from one city to the next. This trip will be confirmed as soon as we get sure commitments from at least 5 people.
2022
TRIPS
As some people may not be ready to travel quite yet, we also are making plans
for 2022 to accommodate those persons (or in case we all need to wait a bit
longer)…ugh
Late Feb 2022-Costa Rica Everyone enjoys a winter break and what better place to go than a short distance from home, but still a warm area with natural beauty that is not easily surpassed.
May/June 2022 Italy (Sorrento and Tuscany areas) This will be a laid back, little- travel trip with short jaunts throughout the area on day trips returning to the same hotel at the end of the day.
****June 2022 Oberammergau Passion Play **** Because of the cancellation of the play for 2020, it was postponed to 2022. We have been given a very special opportunity to get tickets from a missionary friend for this once in every ten years performance. There are only 15 tickets available to us and we will need to tell them how many we would like by next Monday. We realize that this is a short notice, but it is a special that you will not want to pass on if you are at all interested. This will be a three day stay in that city and then we will add another week in that area to complete the journey.
July 2022-Alaska Another return to one of our favorite states for those of you who have not been there yet and those who would like to return.
August 2022 Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland) We will visit each country long enough to see how they differ from each other and how they are similar to each other. Some of the special stops will include going to the Lapland reindeer area, blowing your own glass piece, visiting Hans Christian Anderson’s home and museum, and sailing in a Viking style ship.
**Remember to let us know if you are interested in any of these trips and we will send you additional information. MOST IMPORTANTLY…we need to know if you wish to attend OBERAMMERGAU Play as soon as possible this week.
The vast world on which we live is but a small island if left unexplored.
Jerry and Diana (507)456-6611