after much deliberation I have rebooked Uganda for June ‘22.

A read through the itinerary once again got the adrenaline rushing .. such a great looking tour.

Hopefully, in 14 months time things will be a lot better and safer.

So, fingers crossed it will be a case of third time lucky !!

Good, also, to see Australia/New Zealand flights back running. A hopeful sign down there, but I’m still doubtful September’s trip will survive. We shall see ...

Keep the faith everyone. Enjoy those beer gardens (!). And stay safe

Roger

Hi all.

I got the call from Rozey aswell, who was really helpful and have also transferred to June 2022. I didn't want to miss a place. Although prices have gone up (unfortunately thats just life) with the JY goodwill saving its not that much more than the original cost. I've also had a look through the Sherpa link and it seen pretty straight forward to organise an eVISA and looks to be less than £60.

I also have Peru booked for Oct this year so i'm still keeping my fingers crossed for that one.

Hope to meet some of you next June.

Stay safe everyone

Paula

Hi Paula

Look forward to meeting you next year

I did Peru a few years back, its a good tour albeit there are a number of flights and the timings when I went meant a number of really early or late hotel arrivals and departures.  The amazon add on was really good

Tim

Hi Tim and Paula

I too have transferred my Uganda trip to June next year.  I had a very good deal for the original booking - I had received £500 off for booking in December 2019.  Plus the price was much lower so the new trip is going to be expensive but I think Gorillas are worth the extra expense (they better be there when we trek to find them! :))  My personal thinking is that going forward most tours are going to be expensive and I also doubt if there will be many cheap flights either as both the tourist industry and the airlines have to make up the big losses they have suffered.  I feel 2 years have been lost as far as travel is concerned.  If it was not for Covid, I would have done Ethiopia, Madagascar, Uganda and Japan (I booked Japan with another company as they had a longer itinerary - but it was not meant to be).  Now I will have to rethink which tours to prioritise since I am retiring after next year plus am getting on age wise.  I may not be able to do many long haul trips in the future.  Still there are many places in Europe I have still to see.  I think we can organise E-Visas ourselves.  I have done this for Kenya and Myanmar though you have to be very careful to make sure you are getting them through the  country's websites and not through agents.  Let us all stay positive and hopefully we will be able to travel to 'safe' countries later this year.

Best wishes

Jaya

Hi Jaya

I agree prices are only going to go up and it should be a wonderful experience to see the gorillas

It seems June 2022 is already fully booked so fingers crossed it will go ahead.

Like you I hope to retire soon and won't necessarily want to do so many long haul flights.

I was on a Christmas in Marrakech trip with you a few years back and on a South Africa trip with Roger a few years ago, so some friendly faces to look out for in the lounge

I too want to vist Madagascar, hopefully Just You will add this to the itinerary

look forward to our trip next year 

Stay safe

Tim

Hi Tim and Paula

I too have transferred my Uganda trip to June next year.  I had a very good deal for the original booking - I had received £500 off for booking in December 2019.  Plus the price was much lower so the new trip is going to be expensive but I think Gorillas are worth the extra expense (they better be there when we trek to find them! :))  My personal thinking is that going forward most tours are going to be expensive and I also doubt if there will be many cheap flights either as both the tourist industry and the airlines have to make up the big losses they have suffered.  I feel 2 years have been lost as far as travel is concerned.  If it was not for Covid, I would have done Ethiopia, Madagascar, Uganda and Japan (I booked Japan with another company as they had a longer itinerary - but it was not meant to be).  Now I will have to rethink which tours to prioritise since I am retiring after next year plus am getting on age wise.  I may not be able to do many long haul trips in the future.  Still there are many places in Europe I have still to see.  I think we can organise E-Visas ourselves.  I have done this for Kenya and Myanmar though you have to be very careful to make sure you are getting them through the  country's websites and not through agents.  Let us all stay positive and hopefully we will be able to travel to 'safe' countries later this year.

Best wishes

Jaya

Hi Jaya

I agree prices are only going to go up and it should be a wonderful experience to see the gorillas

It seems June 2022 is already fully booked so fingers crossed it will go ahead.

Like you I hope to retire soon and won't necessarily want to do so many long haul flights.

I was on a Christmas in Marrakech trip with you a few years back and on a South Africa trip with Roger a few years ago, so some friendly faces to look out for in the lounge

I too want to vist Madagascar, hopefully Just You will add this to the itinerary

look forward to our trip next year 

Stay safe

Tim

Hi Tim.  My memory is failing me as I cannot remember you from our Christmas in Marrakech trip.  It will be so nice to see you again and hopefully I will remember you when I see you again.  My Madagascar tour was rescheduled from June last year to July this year and it has again been cancelled.  I have now transferred it to October next year.  Because of this I cancelled my Japan tour which was moved from this April to April 2022.  All this juggling is driving me crazy.  I am now trying to remain positive about my Canada trip in September.  I will be so disappointed if it does not go ahead this year.  If not, then I will not be able to do it till 2023 as next year now is fully booked and God only knows how expensive it will be then.  I still want to do Ethiopia but at the moment no one has got it on offer.  If it was not for Covid then I would have done Ethiopia last year.  Let us all pray that we can start travelling soon - I am already having withdrawal symptoms! 😉  I have now had my 2 doses of Covid vaccine.

Best wishes

Jaya

I’m guessing you saw that phone call coming !

Interesting that I haven’t heard about my September trip yet. Mind you I’d given up hope for that one a few weeks back when Australia announced no foreign travel allowed before ‘late 2022’ ... can’t blame them to be fair !

I was looking at the ‘green list’ countries and the only feasible/desirable one for me would be Iceland. A place I’d like to see, but the JY tour is only for 5 days including travel to and from. It warrants a bit longer for me.

With the reports coming out of Heathrow and the likely manic rush to flee these shores I think I’ll be staying put for a while and see how things develop.

Fingers crossed for Uganda next June. I’m keen to discuss Madagascar with you and Jaya !

All the best

Roger