Image Of The Day • An Island Of Faith

An Island Created By An Ancient Fisherman’s Pledge

Our Lady of the Rocks is a man-made island located in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It was built by the local seamen who keep an ancient oath by local fishermen who found an icon of Madonna and Child while fishing in the bay. The tradition of throwing rocks into the sea continues to this day.

The island features a Roman Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which houses a collection of 68 Baroque-style paintings by Tripo Kokolja. There are also various artifacts and treasures, such as silver votive tablets and tapestries, on display inside the church. source

Our Lady of the Rocks is a popular destination in Montenegro, attracting visitors with its rich history, art, and scenic views of the bay. You can reach the island by boat from the nearby town of Perast.

Are Bloggers Victims of Social Media Algorithms?

Blogging & Are We Being Played? There’s a lot in the news lately about the social media companies manipulating our children online to keep them engaged and how much harm it may be doing. It is obvious that these entities know a great deal about human psychology and how to take advantage of people online.…

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Standing Watch Above The Rhine

People, places and captured moments selected from The Intentional Travelers photo collection. Marksburg Castle on the Rhine River Marksburg Castle, a majestic fortress located above the town of Braubach in Rhineland, Germany. This castle holds the unique distinction of being the only hilltop fortress on the Rhine that has never been captured or destroyed. Originally…

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The Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The History Behind The Celebration Of Easter Without question the holiest site in all of Christendom is located in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem. It represents the location where Jesus was crucified and where his body was laid to rest. Today there is a high level of certainty that the location has been actually identified.…

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Exploring South America

with From Cartagena, Columbia to Ushuaia, Argentina the South American continent is an amazing land of natural wonders and human accomplishments. Explore the islands of the Galapagos or hike around Iguazu Falls, climb up to Machu Picchu or cruise through the Panama Canal. You can even cast off for a trip to Antarctica or walk…

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Where In The World #5?

It seems so other worldly, like Mars or the Moon but it’s right here on Earth. It’s so alien that the NASA space program uses it to test rovers and other equipment. Find the answer HERE. Here Are A Few Of Our More Recent Postings You might Find Interesting…

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Image Of The Day • Elephants, Elephants & More Elephants

As we spent two days on safari in South Africa’s Kruger National Park it was amazing the number of elephants we encountered. Sole bull elephants, large herds moving through the bush and families coming to watering holes to drink and bathe. Twice we had bull elephants challenge our truck for getting to near the herd.

If you are looking to experience African wildlife without question it’s Kruger.

Discovering Kruger National Park, South Africa

Visiting Kruger: The Ultimate Safari Experience For The Trip Of A Lifetime Rated as one of the world’s greatest wildlife experiences and reported to be the number one African safari destination, Kruger National Park is not to be overlooked when considering your travel plans. Larger than many countries and containing mostly undeveloped land, Kruger is…

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Todays Images • Mykonos

The Iconic Windmills Of Mykonos. Traditionally, these windmills are heavy, three-story buildings made of stone, are circular in shape, reflecting the simple yet functional design typical of the Cycladic islands. They were primarily built by Venetians in the 16th century and continued to be constructed into the early 20th century for milling wheat. Mykonos is…

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Todays Image • Safe Harbor Castries

The Caribbean is the number one cruise destination in the world for good reason. It’s easily accessible from American cruise ports. It offers a wide range of interesting ports of call and it provides great winter beach escapes.

A favorite cruise port of call is Castries, St. Lucia where you can bask in the tropical Sun, sail the coast by catamaran or hike to the peaks of the soaring twin Pitons. In addition take the opportunity to snorkel the near-in reefs, tour the island’s rainforests or explore the fishing villages of Anse-La-Raye. 

St. Lucia’s twin Pitons

Need more information on Caribbean islands? If you’re thinking about a Caribbean cruise you can learn more about what itineraries are available HERE and more specifically on St. Lucia’s cruise port HERE.

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Todays Image • Point Atkinson Lighthouse

For thousands of people each year seeing this Canadian lighthouse means they are on their way to Alaska. Most north bound Alaska cruise ships from both Vancouver and Seattle will cruise through this stretch of Canada’s Inside Passage bound for Alaskan waters.

The Alaskan coast at sunset

The Point Atkinson Lighthouse was built in 1888 on the western tip of Point Atkinson in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was built to warn ships of the dangerous reef and shoals in the area. The lighthouse was originally powered by kerosene, but it was electrified in 1930. The lighthouse was automated in 1975 and is currently operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.

Come along as we visit historic treasures, natural wonders and vibrant cities set against backdrops that are endlessly changing and visually magnificent.

Check out a few of our recent articles below…

Join Us • We understand that the last thing you want is more emails cluttering up your inbox, but we promise we’ll work hard to make this worth while. Give us a try and if we don’t live up to our promise all you need do is click the unsubscribe link in our emails.

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Packaged Tour To South Africa • A Review

Traveling Again With Exoticca To South Africa

After our experience traveling with friends to South America using Exoticca we booked another trip with them. This time we went to South Africa for almost three weeks, just the two of us.

Our View Of Packaged Travel Tours

We’ve always been skeptical of packaged travel tours and if we’re really saving money and will we get to see the things we’re really interested in? Several years ago we wanted to visit Iguazu Falls and ended up booking our own trip from Buenos Aries to Iguazu Falls. We beat the 2 and 3 day package tour prices by over 50%. One of the packaged tours we did book was from North Dakota to Utah spending time in Yellowstone. The reason we booked that tour was because I had spent a couple of years trying unsuccessfully to book the Old Faithful Lodge.

These Exoticca packages are completely different. For comparisons I tried to duplicate our South American package tour by finding hotels, flights, along with allowances for tours, transfers and admission fees. I couldn’t come any nearer than 140% of the package price and I didn’t include any meal costs.


Reviews, Reviewers And A Grain Of Salt

First, our perspective on travel is based on decades of planning
international travel for ourselves. We’ve come to understand that it’s complicated and fraught with the unexpected and at times things still go wrong. Cancelled trains and delayed flights, lost reservations at hotels,
drivers not showing up and a lot worse. Our favorite expression has been “I
guess we’re not in Kansas anymore”.

Like everything today everyone turns to the internet for reviews, from hotels and restaurants to tours and much more. Lately though we’ve started discounting many bad reviews as more and more often we find that our own experiences just don’t match up with those bad reviewers. Today we’re in the habit of eliminating a number of the worst reviews when researching for a trip.

This was the case with Exoticca Travel. What we found initially was that many reviews of trips were pretty harsh, especially to Greece and North Africa . The most common complaint was nobody picked them up at the airport and some thought the hotels had been downgraded from the original selection. For Exoticca the reviews for Peru and Galapagos were much more positive except on TripAdvisor some moderators seemed to be holding a grudge that goes back years so we questioned what was going on with that?? TrustPilot was mostly positive but there are people who don’t trust TrustPilot. Our own experience in South America was very positive.

Now after two trips and talking to dozens of fellow tour travelers we’ve gathered a collection of opinions about Exoticca. that are mostly really positive. More than a few had traveled many times with Exoticca and several people had recently visited India. They had nothing but praise for the tours.


Our South Africa Tour Experience

On this trip we traveled by ourselves and the reservations, documents and schedules were all fine. What did we get for our US$4,400 packaged South Africa trip?

Once we got to Africa we became part of a tour that included 26 travelers and had a guide with us for 5 of the days. While we extended our stay in Cape Town half of our group went on to visit Victoria Falls for an additional 4 more days after Cape Town.

Flights (all flights included checked baggage)

  • Florida to Newark and Newark to Johannesburg
  • Pretoria to Cape Town, South Africa
  • Cape Town to Newark and return to Florida
Our Glamping Teent

Accommodations

  • 1 night in Johannesburg with breakfast
  • 4 nights in a glamping resort in Kruger National Park with all meals
  • 7 nights in a Cape Town Hotel with a good location and breakfast included

Tours and Transfers

  • Bus from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park with 2 sightseeing stops along the way
  • 2 full day safaris in Kruger National Park
  • Bus from Kruger to Pretoria with 2 sightseeing stops
  • An included 2 Days Hop-On Hop-Off bus pass in Cape Town and Tickets to Cable Car to Table Mountain
  • Guided van day tour to the Cape of Good Hope
  • Guided bus day tour to wine country
  • Transfers to/from hotels and airports

For a second opinion on Exoticca from a travel professional click HERE. In our opinion considering the tours cost we got way more than our money’s worth. We have now booked an Exoticca Morocco trip for next year with our travel friends and will update you.

Hidden Gems: Florida’s Small Museums to Visit

A Few Attractions Well Worth Your Time There was a time when small roadside attractions where the highlight of family road-trips to Florida. Today they have been overshadowed by the mega-parks and major resorts, but there are still a number of roadside gems that you should explore – amazing little pieces of history encased in…

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Todays Image • We Didn’t Feed Them!!

A Short Story

Those signs are everywhere, but apparently the monkeys can’t read. In a picnic area in South Africa’s Kruger Park the trees are filled with monkeys and if you don’t hold onto your bag lunch they’ll drop down, grab it and be back in the trees before you can blink. Two girls sharing our table had just taken out their two bananas and were rummaging around in the bags when the bananas just disappeared. They’re not just thieves they can also peel a banana in under 5 seconds. Park rangers can appear very menacing when they accuse you of feeding the monkeys, but I think they’re just having fun with us.

Bangkok, An Overnight: A Must for Cruise Travelers

A number of South China Sea cruises will offer overnights in Bangkok as part of an itinerary and those two days will be the highlight of the cruise. Visiting Bangkok is an exciting experience as the culture is rich and peaceful, the food is plentiful and diverse and there are almost too many things to…

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Where In The World #2?

Sure, It’s A Hard Rock Cafe, But Where Is It? Guess before you scroll down and let us know how you did… Located at the very end of the world is the Hard Rock Cafe Ushuaia, Argentina. Civilization can’t be found any further south than Ushuaia and this one boasts three levels of indoor dining…

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Our Free Emergency Travel ID Card

YOU REALLY NEED THIS CARD! In an uncertain world you can never be too prepared.and that goes double for international travel. Will your health insurance cover you overseas? In an emergency how will foriegn officials know who to contact and how? In addition to your passport you really need to cary an additional emergency ID…

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Where In The World #1?

It’s Often Those Small Ports That Make Cruising Special Cruising has become increasingly popular for a number of obvious reasons, but one advantage that offers real appeal for us is often neglected by many cruise fans. It’s those small out of the way ports. In selecting a cruise there are dozens of ports of call…

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