April 2022 Newsletter
Happenings
If you aren't tired of hearing about my Galapagos Islands trip, you must not be following the business page on Facebook. Go do that now. Lots of pictures! If you want to learn more about the trip, read on.
This trip was hands down a top five travel adventure. I put it right up there with taking a safari in Africa, exploring Machu Picchu in Peru, climbing the steps of the Great Wall in China, and bathing rescue elephants in Thailand. This experience was out of this world unbelievable.
I tried to keep my expectations realistic in the hopes we would see a blue footed and Nazca boobies, swim with playful sea lions, and glimpse a waved albatross. Not only did I see many of these wild animals, I saw so much more than I ever expected. I saw blue footed boobies before I even got off the panga for the first island hike. I saw hundreds of them in all stages of life. I saw grown, baby, and even egg blue footed and Nazca boobies. I saw 15-20 of them nose diving in the water hunting. I was floored!
Sea lions were at every turn. They swam in the water with us. I saw a father sea lion protecting his young from a tiger shark. The sea lion pups blocked the steps to the islands when they saw the pangas coming for a landing. One even made it into one of the pangas. We were there for their enjoyment just as much as they were there for our enjoyment.
The tour guide thought we might get lucky to see a wave albatross one afternoon. During our hike we spotted on in the bushes in a nest. How lucky! Until we rounded the next corner and we counted eight. They continued to appear around every turn on our 3 hour hike.
There isn't enough room here to talk about all the amazing experiences I had in the Galapagos Islands. There are a few blogs up now with more to come. Read about Christina's experience now. Be on the look out for future blogs about life on a smalls ship and the wildlife of the South and East Islands. There are also some of my favorite pictures and videos on the Facebook page.
Contact me today if you want to start planning your trip to the Galapagos Islands. Tours book up quickly. I am already planning my next trip to the North and West Islands.
-Anne
V&V Travel Info
I love working on group trips whether I am the group leader or it is someone else's trip. If you need an excuse to start planning your next group trip (or joining one of mine), here are a few benefits of traveling as a group:
Trip Requests
Here are some of the 2022 and 2023 trip requests I worked on this past month:
Celebrity Beyond Spring Break 2023 - My favorite Celebrity cruise family is back at it. They have sailed on a number of Celebrity ships together. They fell in love with Celebrity's newest ship, the Apex over Thanksgiving. Celebrity has a new ship that just started sailing this past month, the Beyond. They knew immediately that they had to be on that ship. They booked a week in the Caribbean for spring break 2023. I can't wait to hear if this ship takes over the Apex as their favorite.
European Honeymoon- Paris, Rome, Greek Island Cruise, and Munich - A honeymoon client contacted me about replanning their cancelled honeymoon. They were ready to plan something different and wanted to take off for two weeks in Europe. They will be stopping in Paris for a few nights staying next to the Eiffel Tower before heading to Rome for a night before getting on the Rhapsody of the Seas and sailing down the coast of Italy to the Greek Islands. After a week cruising, they will hop a short flight to Munich for some beer and German history. They are going to love every exciting minute of this trip.
Guided Italy Tour - A past honeymoon client contacted me about planning part of their family trip to Europe. They already had Octoberfest plans set and wanted to add on some days in a nearby country. I reverse engineered their dates and went on the hunt for a river cruise or guided tour that would line up with their current travel dates. After a phone consultation and a zoom call with the family we came up with the perfect Italy tour. They will be visiting Venice, Florence, and Rome before heading off to Octoberfest with the rest of their extended family.
My Groups
I love hosting group trips. Here is where I am heading in the coming year(s). Which one do you want to join me on?
August 2022 - Cruise and Land tour in Alaska. We will be sailing on Holland America and spending three days in Denali National Park. I have rooms available if you want to join us.
October 2022 - Iceland and hunting for the Northern Lights. October gives us the best opportunity to see the northern lights. I have 8 rooms being held for 60 days. These are first come, first serve and will sell out.
December 2022 - Antarctica. This is my last continent. We will be taking an expedition cruise from South America and through the Drake Passage to the Antarctica peninsula with Ponant Cruise Line. Trip of a lifetime.
April 2023 - Tulip Time River Cruise. I have only a few rooms available on the AmaMora. We will spend 7 days exploring the Netherlands and Belgium enjoying the blossoms, chocolate, and beer.
October 2023 - Coming Soon - Egypt and Jordan
If you are interested in joining me on one or all of these trips, please reply to this email.
