Welcome to this edition of Footnotes, the Footloose Adventure E- Newsletter,
full of important, interesting
and newsworthy items.
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Tailor made holidays
Footloose Adventure Travel is a leading UK specialist for independent travel world wide. We can tailor-make all your holiday, trekking, activity, hotel, transport and tour requirements. | |
Group Trips
Footloose is a preferred agent for many adventure companies including Exodus, Explore and the Adventure Company. If you want to join a group we can help find the right one for you and book it for no extra cost.
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Footloose Travel Blog
Here's our occasional blog with thoughts from the world of travel. If you would like to know more, or add your comments, please read here travel blog | |
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Footloose Travel
Footloose offers a full range of travel services such as hotels, bookings, car hire, airport transfers, parking, anything you like. So please go to our travel page
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Footloose is fully bonded and insured, so you can book with confidence. We hold an ATOL, are members of the Travel Trust Association, and we have insurance cover for each booking - no other travel company offers better protection! |
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Contact us on
info@footlooose.co.uk
or
01943 604030
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Spring 2012 Edition
- Mount Kenya
- World's Greatest Wildlife
Spectacle
- Self Drives
- How Safe is your Money
- Our partner in Kenya
- Travel Health
- Europe
- Survival International
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Quick Links
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...and with Easter out of the way, you may think that Summer is on our doorstep, but it seems we're still waiting. So while it's still raining, sleeting and unseasonably cold, this is a perfect time to plan your trip.
We have starting getting our first bookings for next year, so to help you on your way we will hold this year's prices for Kilimanjaro and Costa Rica for anyone booking before the end of August.
If you have driven a car on the continent and are confident driving on the right-hand side, why not venture further afield to Costa Rica for example. If driving on the 'other' side is not for you, then maybe the long empty roads of Namibia may be more of interest to you.
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Last February Susanne climbed Mt Kenya and now admits that Mt Kenya is a more interesting mountain than Kilimanjaro. It's Africa's second highest mountain and offers mind-blowing scenery, enormous Lobelias, imposing glaciers, and emerald-coloured glacial lakes.
Apart from the guide and six porters she was also accompanied by Felix, the Footloose Kilimanjaro guide from Tanzania, who some of you may know from when you climbed Kilimanjaro. We thought it would be a good idea for Felix to join her, so he could climb a mountain other than Kili and Meru, and see how his Kenyan colleagues run their show.
They climbed via the hut-based Sirimon route and also intended to take the technical climb to the ultimate summits of Mt Kenya (Nelion 5188m and Batian 5199m) after they had reached Lenana, at 4985m, the trekkers peak. Unfortunately due to high altitude sickness, they had to abandon the rock climb, which was a slight disappointment.
All in all though, the trip up Mt Kenya was very successful. The Kenyan guide learnt a lot from Felix, and he will be climbing Kilimanjaro this Summer, accompanied by one or two of his porters. Mt Kenya is an excellent choice for a first "big" mountain, particularly with a safari. If you can manage a longer trip, it's great as an acclimatisation trip before Kilimanjaro.
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World's Greatest
Wildlife Spectacle | |
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The migration of wildebeest across the northern plains of Tanzania is one of the world's great wildlife spectacles, as the herds move from the calving grounds in the southern Serengeti to the short grass plains in the Masai Mara, far to the north.
We get calls asking when this will happen and can we arrange trips to guarantee seeing this, but we have to say no, it doesn't work like that. The part that many people want to see is the dramatic river crossings, but remember that the movement is dependent on the weather patterns, so will vary each year. Throughout the year the herds are constantly moving in search of food and water, so the rainfall pattern is the most important factor.
In March and April there are usually heavy rains and new grass in the south so this is when the young are born. As the weather becomes drier in June and July the herds move west, searching for fresh grass. By August they have turned north and are reaching the Masai Mara in Kenya. As the grass here is eaten, they turn south in September and October, heading for the eastern Serengeti. In the next few months they will travel south until they reach the calving grounds ready for the rains in March.
The herds cause serious interest among the local wildlife as they pass through, particularly with the predators, so there is always more activity at these times.
But don't think that the plains are empty when the wildebeest are elsewhere. All the resident animals are still there, and often there is better wildlife viewing without the distraction of the migration.
More details can be found here.
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In the past two years, Footloose has seen an increase in our tailor-made self-drive trips to Costa Rica and Namibia
. Both countries are perfectly safe to travel around independently, when there are two or more people travelling together.
And even though some may be initially hesitant when we mention self-drive, people are usually persuaded by the flexibility and independence a trip like this can offer.
You can start the day whenever you want, stop wherever you want, chat to local people, or just sit in the sun for a while read more...
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The world of air travel has changed unrecognisably over the last few years. Budget airlines, the internet, climate change and fuel prices have all played a part. One immediate effect of this is that there are no fixed fares - every fare is the best deal you can find on the day. Passenger numbers have not increased by much but fares have gone up as airlines have reduced the numbers of flights. Taxes and charges (which include fuel supplements, airport charges, UK taxes and destination taxes) have all increased so that they are often more than the basic fare.
The ease with which tickets can be bought on the internet, and the deals available, mean that getting flight tickets through a travel agent is becoming uncommon. At Footloose we now usually only sell flights as part of our packages.
All these changes mean that there is much confusion amongst the public about whether their holidays are protected if their travel company fails. The whole area of holiday protection is very complicated, with different bodies covering different types of holidays.
To add to the confusion, the Civil Aviation Authority (the main regulatory body) has introduced a new type of cover - Flight Plus, which "is designed to offer the consumer greater financial protection, as well as improve clarity on which elements of their booking are protected". Whether the public will understand this is a moot point, but the CAA is committed to a big educational programme to get the changes across to the consumer. The single biggest improvement is that travel companies will have to issue a certificate to their customers to show clearly how the protection works for each booking.
Improvement it may be, but there is still confusion. In their wisdom the CAA will not cover people who just buy a flight, so if the airline goes bust   you lose your money. There is also no cover under this scheme for those who buy their own flight and then buy the tour or hotel from another company, which is a very common way of doing it these days.
Footloose covers all this with a combination of a trust account and insurance, so our clients are totally protected. If you are booking this sort of holiday remember to ask some very specific questions about this!
Read how Footloose protects your money here.
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Patrick and his younger sister Jane have been our partners abroad for many years. Specialising in organising Mt Kenya climbs and luxury safaris, their family come from the Kikuyu heartland around Mt Kenya and are highly respected in the area.
In fact Patrick himself oversaw the building of the two huts on the Sirimon route owned by the family - Old Moses and Shipton's. Patrick and his sister don't go to the annual World Travel Market, unlike most of our other agents, so it was a great opportunity for Susanne to meet them both for the first time when she was in Kenya in February.
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We often get asked by our clients what vaccinations are needed for their destination. We can give general information but we are not qualified to answer detailed questions about travel health. The best way is always to contact your GP or a Travel Health Clinic at least 8 weeks prior to departure for up-to-date information.
Footloose has now teamed up with On Site Health Solutions Ltd in Ayrshire, who can give you a full Travel Health Briefing for the country you will be visiting free of charge by ringing: 01292 - 262770.
Furthermore working in partnership with the Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad (MASTA) their newly opened clinic, as well as all the other clinics throughout the UK can also offer our clients:
- Up to the minute information on vaccinations, outbreaks and disease alerts.
 - Full range of vaccinations including Yellow Fever Vaccination and Certificates.
- Malaria prophylaxis and advice
- Mosquito nets and repellents
- Anti sickness medication, First Aid and much more.
All travellers who attend the New Ayr Clinic receive a 10% discount off the value of their vaccinations / treatment.
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The Earth's Most Threatened Tribe | |
We have always supported Survival International in their campaigning for the rights of tribal people. Their present campaign is based on the plight of the "world's most threatened tribe" - the Awa tribe in the Brazilian Amazon.
It's sadly the same old story of a people losing their cultural identity because of the incursions of the modern world, and having no power to control their destiny.
Survival have produced a beautiful video which powerfully tells the story. Colin Firth makes an impassioned plea for help - surely you can't resist him!
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