We started to plan the trip almost 2 years ago, we put a group together and then we had some problems, which meant a few people decided to drop out. So the search was on for people to fill the places. We thought everything was going to plan until 12 months ago when we had problems with the US agent who imposed a mandatory gratuity on to the invoice as they had had “problems” with European guests who where not used to tipping as much as the US guests. In the end we had no choice but to accept the additional imposed costs, we always knew that we might not get the service other guests would receive as the staff wouldn’t really have to try very hard. Then back in July just after we had paid the balance and after reading on Scubaboard there were problems with the National Parks Service and they had suspended all diving from boats, which apparently didn’t have the correct permits. This issue took weeks to resolve and some trips were cancelled, I looked into other locations so as not to miss out on a holiday.
Eventually and only a couple of weeks before we were due to fly the trip was back on, although we had no idea what the itinerary would be and wouldn’t know until we got there. At last it was time to fly and most of the group met up in Amsterdam and boarded the long flight to Quito in Ecuador. I think we had more take off’s and landings than I have ever done before.
We eventually landed in Quito and the transfers were done quite quickly and we were met by the local agent and pilled on to a bus which didn’t seem to have enough luggage space, we got to the hotel and checked in, well I say checked in because we didn’t actually check in as we were just handed our keys, no passport requested, no signatures. We met in the coffee shop for a few coffees to wake ourselves up with and then decided to head off to the cable car to the top of the mountain at 4200m, probably a bit silly having stepped off an aeroplane about 2 hours earlier.
The view from the top of Teleferico was fantastic, even though a little difficult to catch your breath, some of the group went on a little higher but I decided a nice large rock was far enough for me and I decided to wait for them to come down. We had lunch, a burger and fries and a beer, the beer was probably a mistake because when we went out of the restaurant, I felt quite dizzy and had to lean against the railings, it soon passed as we were all on our way down, again the view was spectacular.
The weekend turned out to be election weekend and Quito was “dry” so when we went out to dinner we all had soft drinks – bet that hasn’t been done on a dive trip before. On the Sunday we decided to take in a city tour, a trip to the Mitad del Mundo – Middle of the World (Equatoral line) and lunch.
The Middle of the World was the accurate one, not the tourist one which is in fact not quite on the equatoral line as the French got it wrong. For some reason, I quess we were out of the way, we could have a beer with lunch but again at dinner back in Quito, we had to make do with soft drinks.
We were then off to the airport even though our transfer arrived almost an hour late, which we were not happy with and I think the agent realised this and didn’t speak all the way to the airport, she didn’t even introduce herself. Passports were collected and our bags were scanned and even though it had been suggested we check in as individuals all our bags were whisked off and went as one group, no excess was charged which was a result.
Finally we arrive in the Galapagos and I am somewhat overwhelmed by being there and get a little emotional, silly me. We meet up with the guys from Deep Blue and Gary is taken to one side and advised of our itinerary, we get 3 days at Wolf and 2 at Darwin, I am happy – it could have been a lot worse. We are taken to identify our bags and they are loaded on to a truck, we have to wait for one of the buses to come back from the dock so we sit and wait for a short time. We are soon off to the dock and get off the bus to find sealions on the landing stage, they have no intention of moving so we stand around and are loaded in to the pangas (zodiacs) in two halfs, I find having to put on a lifejacked for a 5 minute trip out to the boat quite amusing.
We arrive on DeepBlue and as usual have to remove our shoes which I am surprised about I thought this was just Redsea boats. We sort our bags and are given a welcome talk but there is no mention of dive qualifications – which seems odd to me, given the conditions we will be diving in, even nitrox certs aren’t requested. We have a weight check dive and I load 6 weights on my kit, 4 on the belt and 2 on the STA in pockets, I thought this would be about right and I asked for another weight, although I soon ditch this on the other dives as I ensure that I suck all the air out of the wing for the negative entries. The water is cold and I surprised at how cold it is, so the check dive doesn’t last very long especially since Jenny finds a fin and is carrying it around so I decide we have had enough an ascend to the boat, Jenny uses the ladder on the back of DeepBlue but it looks very vertical so I opt to dekit in the water and exit via one of the pangas, which have ladders on – very civilized.
That evening we have a boat drill which is a first, although being told you should put your shoes on if the deck is burning when they are all in a box by the door is a little strange. The aircon in the salon is a little chilly on one side and for most of the week I prefer to sit outside on the upper deck despite the air temperature and windy conditions at times, fleecey hats and socks are the order of the day, even scarves were used at times.
The diving around Wolf and Darwin was quite a bit warmer and there were lots of big life, we had 31 whaleshark sightings during the 2 days at Darwin and lots of hammerhead, eagleray and shark action. The currents were strong and a lot of the dives were spent hanging on to the barnacle covered rocks, a good pair of gloves were essential. Water temperatures ranged from 16 degrees on the first dives to between 22 – 26 at Wolf and Darwin, but much colder in the south. I had recently read a trip report about the dive guides spending time in the evening talking about the Galapagos wildlife but we didn’t seem to have any of this and our lead guide spent his evenings in his PC room editing the trip DVD, I even found him to be quite rude at times but I guess like I said before you really don’t need to try very hard when the company have over £3000 in tips already, we wondered how much of the money the crew would see.
The food on the boat was OK if you weren’t a vegetarian although it lacked imagination especially since the head guy dressed like a proper chef. I would have been annoyed if I was a vege person as the food was very limiting. But worse was to come, after only a couple of days the boat ran out of diet coke, then some very suspect varieties appeared. Towards the end of the trip we did actually run out of softdrinks, which frankly is unforgivable when you consider how many times you stock for a trip. It appeared that nothing was going to be done to rectify the situation so I had a word with the one guide we did get on with and that was Luis, I put it to him that it was unacceptable and that as we were in a location with other boats they should go and seek out further supplies, to be fair they did but only 2 cases – not a lot between 16 people especially since most seemed to be going into the kitchen.
The last day we ended up in San Christobel and not Santa Cruz to the Darwin Research Station, I thought this was to do with the itinerary until the wife’s and girlfriends arrived on the boat, incidentally they didn’t seem to have to remove high heeled shoes. One of the wife’s turned out to the be wife of the owner and when she was advised we had run out of soft drink she was surprised as she had put 150 bottles onboard – wow less than one each per day. I thought these people knew what they were doing. All the crew associated with the dive deck were excellent and helpful, Erick was everywhere, so can’t fault them. Luis one of the guides was a really nice and helpful guide. I enjoyed my trip, apart from the niggles with the boat, I am glad I went but would I go back – no.
October 22nd, 2007
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Fiona |
Holidays |
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The Galapagos trip is now over and I had a night back in quito, 6 of us went to find some spicy food as this had been sadly lacking on the boat. We found an Indian restaurant which was OK and as usual cheap about $10 including a beer. Some then head of for another beer but Jenny and I head back to the hotel and have a coffee in the coffee shop. Jenny is off on a trip to Cocapaxi the next morning so has an early start, I stay out of the way until she has gone then go for a lesuirly breakfast where I am joined by Lou and Caroline who also decide to have a free day. We go back to the old town and have a quick look round then off to a park and walk round the handicraft stalls. Back to town and we have a nice lunch at the Magic Bean. Lou and Caroline come and wave me off, it’s sad to leave them but we are off on different adventures. The Taca flight from Quito to Lima is on time and quite good, I am met at the airport promptly but have to wait 40 minutes for the driver I am not happy by this time, I am taken to my hotel in Lima – the less said about the Hotel Carmel the better. I request a 05.30am wake up call then get an apology at 04.45am for getting it wrong.
Back to the airport in Lima and arrive to find out the plane will be departing early, exit taxes paid I make my way to the departure gate. On the plane AreoGal could take note of Lan’s inflight catering, which was very simple. I arrived at the airport in Cusco but had to wait for the agent as the flight landed early – not a problem as I am soon at the hotel and meeting up with my friend Lou. The hotel is like a lot of the hotels in Cusco hiding behind a door on a street like all the rest, once behind the door this is where the surprise happens, I walked into a lovely courtyard with the rooms on two floors, I am immediately given a cup of coca tea and checked in. My room is though another walkway in another courtyard and there is a small Peruvian music group playing and children dancing, we later find out this is a charity the hotel is involved in for single mothers. The children look to be having a good time, then room is nice although quite dark because of the “cell like” windows, but it has a big comfy bed and a decent bathroom. Soon we have to leave for our city tour which turns out to be more of a walking tour than I had imagined and the altitude takes it’s toll. At this point I should mention the hotel has a first aid station with oxygen cylinder, I didn’t need it but when we were checking out it was being used. The city tour was a long day and Lou visited the last location in the dark – I didn’t get off the bus as I didn’t think it was safe.
Back at the hotel we find Gary and Kathy have been also checked in and while Lou and I are chilling in my room there is a knock on the door, we have a quick chat and then head off for some dinner, we end up in a small pizza place and order a bottle of wine which we think they had to go and get from somewhere, the pasta meal is lovely and is about a fiver each. The one thing about Cusco is your money goes a long way.
Next day we are off on a Sacred Valley tour, which begins in Pisaq market, very touristy but we find the local part and have an empanarda (cheese pasty) and then find the cake stall, I have a piece of pineapple cake and Lou has banana. 
Then we are off to visit the Inca location of Ollantaytambo but it looks quite a climb to the top so I opt to stay around the base and wait for the others. Lunch is a very touristy affair and for some reason the group is booked into 2 restaurants, we are given about 45mins for lunch so we make our way back to the vague meeting point at the appointed time only to wait a further 35 minutes for the rest of the group. Organisation could have been better. Our next stop is Chinchero for a local market, which is small and set around a courtyard, I buy myself a silly Peruvian hat and a small bag which I can use for our overnight stay at Machu Picchu. Lou buys a bag and had already been talked in to one earlier in the day.
We meet up again with Gary and Kathy who have to wait for the local agent to arrive at 7pm with their kit bags for their Inca Trail trek, so we all head out for dinner after that, we were looking for a restaurant call Baco which had been advertised in the Lan brochure on the flight but couldn’t find it, it turns out we were only yards away. We go back to a restaurant call Incanto although seated next to the kitchen so being picky not the best table the food was good and again cost about 25 Sol or about $8 with wine. Gary and Kathy are off on their trip in the morning and we have to leave the hotel at 05.30 ish so we say our goodbyes and we wish them luck with their trek.
Lou and I are picked up from the hotel and taken to the station we have seats on the Vistadome train which is OK. We arrive at the station at Aguas Calientes and are met by Jonny our tour guide for our trip around the citadel, Jonny is Quechua and is passionate about his culture, he spent 7 years being a porter on the Inca trail, his favouite phase was “now pay attention” when he wanted to give up another piece of information.
We spent about 3 hours touring the citadel and I could have stayed longer but Lou wanted a loo break and some lunch so we head back down the mountain to the hotel, Lou plans to return the next day and walk to the Sun Gate but I decide the one day is enough as it is a steep entrance and the steps have taken their toll on my knees. Back at the hotel we find the spa and Lou has a massage and I have a foot threapy which the thearapist finds amusing as I have very sensitive feet. Dinner is at either 7pm or 8.30pm and we have opted for the 7pm sitting, I head down to the lobby where they are serving complimentary Pisco sours while Lou has her shower, I also have Lou’s as she doesn’t like them – Lou has a champagne cocktail. Dinner is lovely and served in a very nice restaurant, I have as starter of soup which is made with a local grain, but can’t think of it now and the main dish is an Alpaca steak and jacket potato, followed by 3 flavours of icecream, we have a bottle of wine which we finish with coffee next to a roaring fire in the lobby.
Lou has an early start so head off to bed, I have a lovely relaxing breakfast which is the best of the whole trip, I spend the morning around the hotel, chatting to other guests and reading a book. Lunch is another nice meal and then it’s time to head back to the train station for our return trip to Cusco. Next day is a free one in Cusco and I am shattered so spend another relaxing day, we are then determined to find the restaurant in the Lan brochure so this time we check the street map and know where we are going. We have a drink at another bar/ restaurant I can’t remember the name to now and then head off for Baco. The combination of rich food, a large Pisco sour and half a bottle of wine take their toll. It’s all over and we are back to the airport for our return flights to Lima and my long flght to Amsterdam, there is a mix up at the airport and I have to wait almost 2 hours for my bag to be returned to me as they took it to Lou’s hotel, it was supposed to be left with the agent in Lima so I didn’t have to pay excess baggage.
After travelling about 27 hours I am finally back home. A great trip to the Galapagos and then Peru but I am glad to be back home – it was a busy 3 weeks.
October 20th, 2007
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Fiona |
Holidays |
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The holiday is finally here, we are off tomorrow and because of the National Parks issues in August I never thought we would get here. I started packing last weekend and I must have packed my bag at least 6 times since then, good job I have nothing better to do.
I had always thought a 20kg limit plus a 20kg sports package would be ample until I started packing – what the heck I have packed, the initial packed bag sees the dive kit coming in at 29kg – it was never like this in the buddy commando days. My first overseas trip was 10 years ago and everything had to be packed in to 20kg so why have things changed so much.
I have had back plate in the dive bag, in the clothes bag and even in my hand luggage, which now weighs an absolute tonne so it’s back in the clothes bag. So we have checked in online – well almost as there was a problem and I can’t now check in for the main flight, I am sure it will be fine at the airport.
September 27th, 2007
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Fiona |
Holidays |
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I have recently returned for a lovely week in Cornwall. My friends Lou and Caroline moved down at the beginning of the year and were renting a house before finding somewhere permanent to live. In July they moved in to their new home in a lovely little village not too far from Truro. I haven’t been working since the end of April so I was invited to stay for a few days.
I travelled down and the next day Caroline was off work and we had a “ladies who lunch” day, after taking cylinders in to the dive shop for fills as we were diving that evening. Dive kit sorted and Lou arrived home and we set off for Falmouth Marina, I don’t think Gary of DiveAction could have had a mooring further away and it was a hike just to get the kit on the boat made even worse by having to return the marina trolley’s to their home by the marina building, why is it always low water when loading boats :(.
We had a nice run out and chatted to people I had heard of on the forums but never met before, we kitted up and jumped in and down to the reef, it was a drift dive and unfortunately during the dive my smb must have caught on something and I had to let go – I was not a happy bunny. Thank heavens when we got back to the marina some trolleys had been left and we were able to get the kit off in one go and best of all the pontoon was now higher and flat :). We had a pint of Doombar in the yacht club bar, there was a party going on and a lovely local choir was singing traditional songs.
Saturday morning and we headed off for a shore dive at a spot I was assured was a lovely bay. After walking out about 100m and still only being knee deep Lou called the “dive” Caroline had already given up and was almost back at the slipway. Lou and I couldn’t see our feet in the sandy water and I fell over only to emerge looking like a sea monster covered in green seaweed.
We packed up and went off to Padstow for pasties and ice cream 
.
Lou and Caroline bought a lovely painting from a small gallery and we headed home, we finished off the day with a lovely meal at Chantek in Truro.
I had been to Cornwall last year during a dive trip to Porthkerris and had thought I would take a trip to the Eden Project 
but didn’t get round to it, so I had planned to go this time while Lou and Caroline were at work, but lucky for me they decided we should go on Sunday and we had a cracking day, the weather forecast wasn’t good for the afternoon, but it was glorious all day. Cornwall seems to be one long round of cider and pasties which were great, Caroline had a go on the zip wire and Lou and I watched, claiming dodgy knees. The afternoon was finished off in the little village of Charlestown obviously with yet another pint of Doombar 
.
Monday and Caroline and I had another “ladies who lunch” day as Caroline had some errands in Truro and we took the tanks back in for fills. Walking round in the sun we just had to have an ice cream – well you have to don’t you. Tuesday wasn’t a good day and it started raining in the morning so I planned to go to the National Seal Sanctuary at Qweek, not a particularly great place to visit but I suspect that might have been because there were no little seals and just the older ones who live there all the time. I had promised myself a trip to Roskillys so headed of for lunch of pasty followed by ice cream; you see there is a pattern here, I just had to buy some take home packs – it would have been rude not to.
Lou’s Mum and Dad, Brother and his girlfriend came round on Wednesday evening and we had a lovely BBQ with Rosikilly’s ice cream to finish, it was almost time for me to leave I had diving plans that weekend but I had a great time and hopefully didn’t outstay my welcome. It was great to see Lou and Caroline again it had been too long but hopefully our next meeting will not be too long off.
August 18th, 2007
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Fiona |
Holidays |
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Almost two years ago I was part of a very excited group who met up at the dive show in Birmingham to meet up with a specialist diving tour operator to try and organise a holiday of a lifetime to the Galapagos. We met the operator and informed them what we wanted and as they could provide the trip we wanted we signed up and were given a couple of weeks to get a full charter and pay the initial deposit, this was back in October 2005 all we had to do was sit back and get organised.
As we were going such a long way I decided I would extend my trip and visit Machu Picchu in Peru, I did my research and found a travel agent who could organise the trip for me, MP is a popular destination so I had to commit to certain aspects of the trip quite early on. I had decided to stay overnight at MP and so chose a lovely hotel close to the site, I can’t tell you how many times I have looked at their website as I looked forward to the trip.
In the summer of 2006 we were informed there would be some changes to our booking and we had to pay what should be a discretionary staff gratuity up front before our trip, some of the group weren’t happy with this and were given the option to cancel, they did and I bet they are glad they did. The rest of us agreed reluctantly as another couple of hundred pounds wasn’t going to make too much difference. We then had to find a few more people to fill the boat, we managed eventually which wasn’t too difficult as the BBC were running some programmes about Galapagos and the region.
So yet again we sat back and waited, constantly checking the same websites and dive forums for trip reports to whet our appetite, July 2007 came round and we paid the balance for the dive portion of the trip, then on July 12 came a bombshell, I read on one the US dive forums that most of the boats had been confined to port as they weren’t operating with the correct permits. We contacted our dive operator for more information and where informed that they had been notified of the problems but these would soon be sorted out, our quest for information has been constant. We are told something will happen and then it doesn’t so we wait again, then I read that the President of Ecuador has lifted the “illegal” sale of shark fins IF caught accidentally – yeh right 
so it seems he has declared open season on the sharks we are hoping to see. I certainly don’t want to see dead sharks lying dead on the seabed and I don’t think any diver does.
We heard that the boats could operate the southern islands only but then we hear that the boat we are due to be on has floated the current regulations and headed for the islands of Wolf and Darwin anyway, now they have been spotted and reported, jeopardising any future trips. We gave our dive operator a deadline for information on a go no go but they have once more come back and asked for an extension, we have no choice but to comply. I was due to pay the balance of my trip extension today (15th) but because they were not able to extend my payment date for a few days I have decided not to pay the balance and therefore have cancelled that part of the trip I was particularly looking forward to, not least that I was going to meet my friend who lives in Oz after the dive trip and continue our trip together.
I can’t explain how upset I am about the whole situation, the trip of a lifetime has turned into complete and utter frustration, the most frustrating aspect is the lack of accurate information we are getting and I seem to have more contact with a complete stranger on the other side of the Atlantic who is also in the same “boat”.
August 15th, 2007
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Fiona |
Diving, Holidays |
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A friend of mine Mal Bridgeman had organised this trip last year but I couldn’t make it because of getting time off work. When I was made redundant I decided this was just what I needed and phoned Mal to see if there were any places available, lucky for me there was and I phoned the agent and booked my space.
The trip couldn’t come round quickly enough and I was looking forward to it immensely. Mal, Mike and Di had already decided to order twin sets, I wasn’t too bothered but agreed to dive them so we could dive together.
I drove down to Norfolk to meet Di and then we drove to Gatwick, the time pasted quite quickly and it was soon time to board, we arrived at the gate and boarded a bus to the aircraft, we had to wait for a couple of people and then missed our slot which meant we sat on the plane for about 90mins before takeoff.
The flight wasn’t too bad although as always it seemed to go on forever, even though it had taken the same time the week before to drive down to Dover, we arrived at Hurgharda and the transfer through the airport wasn’t too bad. We arrived at the marina and walked down the jetty the bags were driven down on the pickup, as normal everyone wanted their “pound” to load and offload the bags.
We boarded Hurricane and noticed there was only one twin set, don’t worry we were told they would arrive shortly. We went up to the main deck and met Thijse and Nicole the dive guides and paperwork had to be completed, all the usual stuff. Then we went to set up kit, which took longer than I thought it would, the bands on the twin set didn’t seem to be round and one of the rods wasn’t straight – anyway we got there in the end. I had taken my tail weight and 1kg V weight, I also started with a couple of kilos on a weight belt but soon ditched that, I should have removed the kilo V weight but really couldn’t be bothered.
Cabin was sorted and then it was time for a beer, the first dive brief was to be quite leisurely and wouldn’t be until 7.30am, a bell would ring for either a dive brief or a meal, you would know which by what you had just done. Time for bed and as usual a restless night. I got up early and headed for the main deck and cup of tea – routine never changes 
The first dive was at a local site called Gota Abu Ramada, quite a nice little dive site for a check dive, we had been told the max dive time was 60mins but these seem to get extended by us just a little. Usual variety of reef fish, blue spotted ray, small moray, huge titan trigger fish and my favourite the masked puffer. A couple more local sites followed then a night crossing to Little Brother. This was a bad day for me as during the first dive of the day my knee locked and when I signalled to Di I had a problem she thought I had cramp and proceeded to try and stretch it for me, ouch and I continued the dive with only one working leg. Getting in the zodiac was interesting and so was getting back to Hurricane from the zodiac. Most of the afternoon was spent in my cabin and having been given strong painkillers by Di I don’t remember much about it. Nurse Di was great organising a huge bag of ice for me. I took it easy when I eventually got up as tomorrow would be Big Brother and I didn’t want to miss it.
The dive brief was of the Numidia and was my deepest dive of the trip at 38.6m, which was done on 28% mix. Unfortunately we were dropped in the wrong place and ended up on the Aida, the current was also in the wrong direction and Nicole the dive guide turned the dive. Nicole and another two guests surfaced soon after, so as she indicated she was ascending, I deployed my SMB so they would know where we were as we continued our dive. We arrived on the surface as a 4 and realised we couldn’t see Hurricane or the cover boats, we all deployed SMB’s so we had 4 on the surface. We got together and drifted with the current, the waves were quite big. We were on the surface about 10mins; I thought what a good decision a twin set was. The zodiac arrived and picked us up, Nicole and the others had been on the surface 30mins; we were on the opposite side of Big Brother to the one we should have been on. Two more dives on Big Brother including the Numidia again drifting over the Aida during the dive.
Another overnight sail to Deadalus which was like a mill pond when we arrived and the chance of hammerheads, we took the zodiac with Thijse the guide and dropped into the blue, we waited a little and then they came in the distance but none the less they were there about a dozen hammerheads, yes just what I had wanted to see. They must have gone round a couple more times and we also saw a grey reef shark. The entire dive was spent out in the blue, which was an odd feeling, as I had to keep checking on the position of the reef as you can soon become disorientated. The second dive was also done in the blue and as before we were to see the hammerheads; I also saw a large pod of dolphin’s way below.
Overnight to Elphinstone which was also flat calm, it is hard to imagine the same dive site where people were lost due to strong currents and big waves, we did have a current to negotiate as we made our way along the line down to north plateau and down to see if there were more sharks. There was one and a hammerhead out in the blue on the east side. Another dive on the west wall but there no more sharks.
We did a couple of local dives on the way back but these weren’t a patch on Big Brother, which has to be one of my favourite dive sites. Apart from the hammerheads, just as dinner ended one evening there were shouts and whistles from the crew - we had a pod of dolphins riding the bow wave :D. We spent about 15mins at the bow before I decided to try and get my camera which I hadn’t picked up, I thought they would have gone by the time I got back but they hadn’t and we must have had them with us for nearly 30mins :) Fantastic, hammerheads, sharks and dolphins what more do you need.
June 24th, 2007
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Fiona |
Diving, Holidays |
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A group of us are booked on to a dive trip to the Galapagos in 2007. We decided to go when we read a dive trip report on YD, some of us had recently returned from a very successful Redsea live aboard trip and after reading the report we decided to meet up at the dive show and have a chat about it. We spoke to Maldives Scuba Tours who some of us had dealt with in the past and we wanted to use a boat called Deep Blue , we had found some very positive reports on the internet so this was the boat for us. We discussed our plan with MST and they gave us until the end of October to fill the places on the boat, if we did this we would be able to get a full charter discount.
After contacting a few people we were able to put our plan into action, so we paid an initial deposit of £250 and sat back waiting for October 2007 to come round.
I have done loads of searching on the internet for flight options and trip extensions, as it is such a long way to go it would be better to combine this trip with an add on to Machu Picchu
A few days ago we were issued with an ultimatum because of some issues the boat crew have recently had with European guests, apparently we aren’t as generous as our American cousins, the US boat operator has decided to make tipping a mandatory part of the trip for European guest and therefore has contacted MST to inform them of their decision. To say we weren’t happy with this is an understatement and much communication followed, we were informed that the US owner would not move on this discision and if we didn’t agree to the charge they would cancel our trip.
It is very sad that unfortunately some of our group have decided to cancel but I have decided to continue with the trip, although I would have preferred to make my own decision on whether the crew have worked for their tip.
August 2nd, 2006
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Fiona |
Holidays |
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It was months since this social evening had been planned and on Saturday it finally arrived. We decided to hold it in the north as most of us from from this end of the country, well that was until Steve and Helena had to drop out because of a coaching scheme committment, so unfortunately we still haven’t met Helena. Helena on the other hand might think that is a bit of a bonus.
We were due to go to a local restaurant but we decided to stay in and do a take away which actually was the better plan as we had a great night in a relaxed atmosphere, although we were a couple of people short of a full house I think those who hadn’t met before found that the holiday would be a good one, at least there aren’t any smokers on board - for the time being anyway.
I am sure we had an idea of doing more planning but as it turned out we didn’t actually decide on anything except we would fly out a day earlier than we needed to just in case anyones bags were a little slow off the aircraft. The only thing I know for sure is the diving element of the trip apart from that I am probably going to do a few days getting Macchu Picchu, the easy route by train and bus. That will be more than enough for me.
Picture taken from website
March 19th, 2006
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Fiona |
Holidays |
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