Travel tips, Safaris,hotels,kilimanjaro climbing and Travel information about Tanzania: Tanzania safaris budget travel southern circuit safaris selous, ruaha, mikumi

Travel tips, Safaris,hotels,kilimanjaro climbing and Travel information about Tanzania: Tanzania safaris budget travel southern circuit safaris selous, ruaha, mikumi

Southern circuit safaris tanzania trips, tours to selous game reserve, udzungwa, ruaha and mikumi national parks.

Budget camping safari trips on Selous and ruaha available, 6 days wildlife safaris.

Lodge safari to selous game reserve, ruaha, mikumi and mikumi national parks.

Budget travel packages available, backpackers travel can be organised to meet budget of any travel group.

Top Tourist destination in 2012, Tanzania is one of them

Tanzania top tourist destinations worldwide

Tanzania is proved to be world top tourist destination.

Tourists planning their next vacation holiday in Africa have a best choice, this is Tanzania.

Adventure tours, travel packages, vacation holidays and things to do in Tanzania are wonderful.

Lonely planet, international travel guide with great repute indicated Tanzania as top 10 tourist destinations in 2011.

READ MORE FROM LONELY PLANET

This is a result of suggestions and votes from tourists who visited tanzania, travel forums,tourism community and travel tips across the world.

Now Tanzania repute is still growing as more tourists and more news paper and travel magazines verifying it. This is New York times, provided top 45 places to go in 2012 and Tanzania is ranked no 7 out of 45, which means that Tanzania quality as Tourist destination is increasing internationally.

AFRICAN TRAVEL NEWS, AFRICAN TOURIST DESTINATIONS, AFRICAN WILDLIFE SAFARI HOTSPOT


TANZANIA NEWS PAPER, TRAVEL TIPS, NATIONAL PARKS AND GAME RESERVES

Tanzania travel tips, wildlife safaris, kilimanjaro climbing trips,trekking,hiking

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Travel That's Easy on the Wallet

(photo courtesy World Money.com)

It's a Sunday night in ATL & we're talking about some of our favorite ways to travel smart on a budget. Thought you'd like to see a few of our tips. The rest will be in our upcoming book! Here we go:

A. Airfare:

* Use FareCompare.com & other "fare aggregator" sites to see the best airfares offered by many airlines.

* Monitor the ups & downs of your airfare between your town & your intended destination (fare alerts) at Farecaster.com.

* Buy international airfares through an experienced travel agent for the best consolidator/wholesale deals in high season; otherwise, consider traveling in low or shoulder season to your destination to save big.

* Be flexible with your travel dates, if possible. Buy your ticket immediately if a good fare pops up. "You snooze; you lose," esp. in the airfare world.

* Go to whichbudget.com or flybudget.com for great inter-European, etc. fares to places more "under the North American tourist radar"...i.e. certain eastern parts of Europe, Scandinavia, etc. Then buy airfare from your gateway city to the more affordable European hub & connect on a "puddle jumper" to your destination. (i.e. fly into London Gatwick on Delta/British Airways) & get a separate ticket to Dubrovnik on easyJet, Monarch, etc. Not recommended for packers who take a lot of luggage or travelers extremely particular about roomy seats!

* Use those soon-to-expire frequent flyer points for your complete ticket or to get a partial discount on your fare.

B. Lodging:

* Explore the U.S.A. & Canada! Find the perfect campsite listing in Kampgrounds of America's online camping directory: http://www.koa.com/ Or, head to our national parks for affordable lodging near the best of America's natural wonders: http://www.nps.gov/

* Consider staying in hostels to save money. From castles to more rustic digs, many of these budget accommodations are no longer only for youth. Good sites to check out: hostelbookers.com, hostels.com, hostelworld.com, or hostelz.com

* Join homestay programs like Coachsurfers, Servas, Women Welcome Women World Wide (5W), Hospitality Club, etc. Not only will your wallet smile, but you'll meet some fascinating people too.

* Rent an apartment, stay on a farm, & overnight in a convent or monastery. There are some wonderful opportunities out there both in North America & worldwide. For organic farmstays: wwoof.org. For apartment rentals: vrbo.com, interhome.com, homeway.com. Check out our post January 14, 2009 "Sleeping Pretty on a Beer Budget" post for more details.

C. Activities:

* Tourist offices & chambers of commerce are terrific sources of free info.

For a listing of many world tourist offices, go to: towd.com. Remember to time your museum visit for the day admission is free or greatly reduced. Advance research before your trip can pay off royally!

* Spice up your stay with a neat folk festival, free concert, or other local happening. In addition to the tourist office sites, this one offers a good overview of events: whatsonwhen.com

* Many shops/stores give discount coupon booklets for savings on local attractions. (movies, concerts, skiing, etc.)

D. Eating:

* Eat your main hot meal at lunch time when specials are common.

* Buy supplies at a deli or grocery store & picnic in your room or outside (depending on weather) for suppertime. Carry healthy munchies in your small daypack to stave off hunger during the day. Avoid impulse eating.

* Ask a local (esp. college or university-age student) where he or she most enjoys a good affordable meal. We've discovered many a great restaurant value by following a person-in-the-know to a favorite hole-in-the-wall. Believe it or not, university cafeterias ("Mensas") in Europe are often open to visitors of all ages.

E. Local Transportation:

* Recheck your rental car rate just before you go on vacation. If the price is lower than before, you can score even a better deal.

* Consider rail passes, esp. in the countries "with the more expensive cost of living." Twin passes (for 2 or more travelers joined at the hip for the whole trip) can be a great value. Did you know for example, that the Swiss Rail Pass is valid on lake steamers, on private mountain railways, & for free admission to over 400 museums all over the country?

* Get in shape before you leave. Use local transport, your feet, & bikes for the environment, your wallet, & your waistline. Happy travels!

Ann Lombardi & Wendy Swartzell

The Trip Chicks 404-320-3033

Ten Tips on Nailing That Frequent Flyer Ticket

by Ann Lombardi & Wendy Swartzell
The Trip Chicks™

1. Start your hunt early.

Especially when you’re dreaming about a faraway and popular destination like Hawaii, Alaska, Europe, or the Orient, the earlier the better. Some airlines let you request award travel as early as 331+ days in advance! Phone just after midnight on the first day you are allowed to call for a ticket. Calculate the earliest date you can phone by going to www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html

2. Don't limit your search to just nonstop flights.

It’s always a plus to get Delta nonstop from Atlanta, United nonstop from Washington Dulles, or American from Chicago, but be willing to change planes en route to your destination. Consider your airline’s partner carriers for award travel. (i.e. Air France, KLM, etc. instead of just Delta Airlines non-stop). Visit www.frequentflier.com for a summary of major airline award programs.

3. Call the frequent flyer partner desk of the airlines with which you have the most points.

Availability of "partner airline" award tickets sometimes can not be checked online so be sure to telephone. Partner desk frequent flyer agents not only can check possible flights with your main airline but often can find creative partner airline routes which other agents might not be willing to research for you.

4. Don't phone during the peak weekend times or on weekdays in the early evening.

The best, most experienced U.S.-based agents often work during the off hours or later at night. If you suspect you have reached an agent who’s rushed, inexperienced, or an outsourced newbie, politely say something's come up and you will call back.

5. Be more flexible with your travel dates and destination.

During high season to Europe for example, if your preferred city or dates are sold-out, ask the agent to check an alternate destination. Budget airlines like Snowflake, Germania, Central Wings, Easy Jet, BMI, and others connect many cities from hubs such as London and Amsterdam. Before calling about a frequent flyer ticket, know your options from other cities, in case your first choice destination is not open. Go to http://www.flybudget.com or http://www.whichbudget.com for details on low-cost connecting carriers worldwide.

6. Sincerely thank the agent for helping you with your hunt.

Remember that the airline agent is trying to reserve “non-revenue” flights, and that award tickets are a bit hard to come by. For a job especially well-done, ask to be transferred to the agent’s supervisor to leave a compliment for the agent who assisted you. Reward great customer service!

7. Be patient at all times.

Travelers hoping to redeem points for a ticket should be prepared to stay on hold a long time with the airlines. In some instances, you too may have had to stay on the phone almost two hours! Multi-task while waiting and don’t hang up if in the queue. Don’t ever lose your cool or be rude. It's common sense but bears repeating here: "the squeaky wheel rarely gets the grease." You certainly don’t want any airline agent to write something negative in your reservation.

8. Consider booking dates later than your first choice and ask the airlines about the official standby policy.

You can try to fly standby a few days earlier than the outbound date on your ticket. Phone the carrier 48 to 72 hours in advance and ask "how open the flights from ________to _________ are" for that day. Don’t attempt standby award travel on an overbooked flight. Ideally, a “wide open” flight is the best bet. Your success will depend on the mood of the gate agent, but we have been able to successfully board flights as standbys not only on the return portion of our ticket but first leg too for a flight a few days earlier than our reservation. Recommended only for open-minded travelers who don't mind the suspense, the wait, or the risk. In other words, if you are a nervous traveler, this strategy may not be for you.

9. Request that the airline put you on a priority waitlist for award travel flights which were showing not available when you made your frequent flyer ticket reservation.

Then call the airlines back every few days during off-peak hours to see if "anything has cleared" for your frequent flyer award ticket. Be sure to give your work/ home numbers and email address to the frequent flyer reservation agent. It's important that even if you have bought your award ticket for less than desirable dates, immediately after completing the purchase you ask the res agent to put you on a priority wait list for your preferred travel days. If you forget this important step, you will have to pay a big change fee if the flights open up after you have ticketed. And remember, after ticketing you can change dates but not departure or arrival cities.

10. Write down your record locator number and the ticketing deadline.

Airlines won't hold a frequent flyer reservation for more than a few days and you certainly don't want to miss a deadline or lose the space. Mark your calendar and call before midnight in the time zone of the airline's main hub. P.S. If your miles are about to expire, several airlines (i.e. Delta for one) allow you to purchase 2,000 points for about $50 so your account shows yearly activity, and your miles are safe twelve more months. Now go out there and nab an award ticket!

Happy hunting!

Ann & Wendy

The Trip Chicks™

Black Forest's Gengenbach: Jewel of A Hideaway

""All those cookie cutter Europe Christmas Market tours go to crowded big cities," grumbled our client. "Why don't The Trip Chicks come up with an 'under the North American tourist radar' place to stay?" And so we did. For eight enjoyable days this past December, the welcoming 13th century half-timbered village of Gengenbach was our Europe group's holiday "homebase."

Boasting the world's largest Advent calendar (the 24 windows of the classical town hall Rathaus facade), the ideally-situated Black Forest town offered us easy train access to a host of neat places. We visited Strasbourg (enchanting Alsatian French town with the best of French and Germanic cultures and a striking, giant gothic cathedral begun in the year 1015), Triberg (home of the standout Black Forest folk traditions museum and the stunning Wallfahrtskirche Maria in der Tannen pilgrimage church), friendly Black Forest capital university town Freiburg im Breisgau, "upper-crusty" Baden Baden, famous spa town, and other appealing destinations only a stone's throw away.

One of the best travel bargains of the Black Forest region is the Konus card, a complimentary transportation card which comes with a two-night minimum hotel or bed and breakfast stay in the area and entitles the card holder to free bus and second class train regional transportation (except for the fast ICE or Intercity trains.) As a matter of fact, the KONUS pass is good all the way down to Basel Bad, the German border town one stop before Switzerland's Basel SBB station. For a map of where the Konus card is valid, go to: http://www.konus-schwarzwald.info. Then click on "In welchem Gebiet ist KONUS gültig?" link. (German for "in which area is Konus valid?") For train travel on longer rail routes outside the Schwarzwald region (i.e. from Gengenbach to Heidelberg), we recommend consulting a travel agent who is a Europe rail expert to determine the rail pass that'll give you the best bang for your out-of-pocket buck.

Jawohl and bien sûr ! We could have easily spent two weeks in the colorful area and never run out of sights to see. If you go, don't miss sampling the delicious thin-crusted tarte flambées of Alsace (called Flammkuchen in the Black Forest region of Germany), addictive thinly-rolled rectangles of bread dough topped with cream, onions, bacon, and ham or veggies and cheese. The dessert version is a chocolate lover's delight with scrumptiously gooey bittersweet chips. More of our happy trip memories include getting the skinny on a 350-year-old Black Forest tradition during our Triberg cuckoo clock factory tour (bet you don't know what makes that cuckoo sound!), rolling in the white stuff to make our year's only snow angels in winter wonderland Titisee, sharing Baden Baden's steamy outdoor thermal spa pools with a mini UN of visitors, and enjoying the unique camaraderie of our small tour group, congenial travelers from 17 to 84. Our newly-created Christmas Market itinerary is definitely a keeper for The Trip Chicks, and we plan to repeat it in 2009. Happy travels und bis zum nächsten Mal!

Ann Lombardi

The Trip Chicks

Cool Convent Stays in La Bella Roma

Rome, the "Eternal City," is a perennial favorite on many a traveler's must-see list. But with a twin-bedded room in a 3-star Rome hotel often going for 200+ Euros a night, our dollar doesn't go half as far as it used to. So, we encourage you to consider a more colorful, definitely less costly alternative:

"Hye thee to the nunnery!"

Yes, a convent! Granted, some of them have curfews and offer just basic lodging. Others, however, are a bit more heavenly in creature comforts and ambience. The glorious one in which we recently stayed was more like a villa! (We're saving the insider scoop for our book!) A few of the sisters will even cook up a dinner for you for a modest fee. A helpful website, created by the American Catholic Church in Rome, lists a number of convent accommodations both near the Vatican and closer to the center of the city:

http://www.santasusanna.org/comingToRome/convents.html

For monastery accommodations and convent stays all over Italy, check out:

http://www.monasterystays.com/

Buon viaggio!

Ann Lombardi & Wendy Swartzell
The Trip Chicks