Everyone has heard of the Mayan prediction that the world will end on 21 Dec 2012. I think most people don’t believe that is actually going to happen …………………..
Hey, the world better not end, I have 2 awesome trips booked with miles next year! I am sure many of you guys do too. OK, I don’t really believe the world is going to end. But let’s just pretend it is for a minute. You have 25 days left in the world as we know it. Let’s say that the human race will survive but it will never be the same again. Habitats will be flooded or destroyed by dust clouds. Many species will be gone. This is your last chance to see any part of the world you haven’t had a chance to yet while it is still there. Where would you go and why? Let’s assume you have enough miles and points to go anywhere in the world and you don’t care if your credit cards are maxxed out because the banks won’t be there anymore. Would you go to the Amazon Rainforest (like I did in Sept)? How about the Serengeti in Tanzania? Or Australia’s Daintree Rainforest? What species would you want to see?
I had my dream trip in Sept. My favourite all-time species is the Golden Conure (Guarouba guarouba), a highly endangered species and they can best be found in the Amazonia National Park in Brazil. I will save the details of this trip for a future post but here is a teaser pic.
If were to make another trip in the next 25 days, it would be to the Marquesas to see the Ultramarine Lorikeet (Vini ultramarina).
Now I would love to know where you would go and why. It’s your last chance to see the world as we know it! Please tell me in the comments. If you have trouble commenting because of the spamblocker, please contact me. I am still new at WordPress and trying to figure it out as I go along.
UPDATE 23/12/12 We are still here. The world did not end and neither should our dreams! Let’s keep them alive and make them come true. Click here.
I’ve been a traveler for many years. I first started as a budget backpacker in the 80’s and 90’s, then when I discovered the world of miles and points I upgraded myself to more of a flashpacker. My husband and I usually travel in business class for long haul these days and we stay in 4 and 5 star hotels at gateway cities before heading off to our eco-lodge in the rainforest. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of traveling light. Many times, you will be transported to your lodge down a river in a small boat and they won’t have room for large suitcases. Also, most airlines have extra fees for checked bags. That is why we both now travel with only one carry-on and the most versatile travel gear on the planet – the Scottevest!
As birders, we have heavy camera gear, lenses, a laptop and guidebooks in addition to normal clothing. Many airlines have such a small carry-on allowance such as 5-7kg, we would be stuck having to check a bag and risk damage to our gear if we didn’t have the Scottevest to help us sneak the extra gear onboard. I usually put my netbook in the left pocket, some people put an iPad or a Kindle there. I have my iPhone in the top left pocket and documents in the pocket below. I may have an extra lens in the right pocket or a sandwich if the airline doesn’t serve food. My husband will have his pockets stuffed with birding guides, maps and any travel guidebooks. We are never asked to weigh our Scottevests on check in and security doesn’t care as long as we don’t have LAGs or other no-nos. They are very versatile for all weather conditions and have zip-off sleeves to turn a jacket into a vest.
Here we have an X-Ray view of both sides of a Scottevest so you can see exactly how much you can carry in one of these!
Scottevest has both a men’s and a women’s line with just about anything you could ask for-jackets, vests, pants, shorts, hats and many different travel accessories. So what could be better than traveling with a Scottevest? Getting 30% off on Cyber Monday! Click on any of the images to visit their website.
***Disclosure: I am a marketing affiliate of Scottevest and receive a commission on sales generated through my link. I wouldn’t be recommending this product if I didn’t use it myself and absolutely love it! Thank you for using my link!
In the previous post of this series, we have used miles and points to get from your hometown to Lima, Peru and have an overnight stay to get you refreshed before you arrive in our destination, the Tambopata National Reserve aka Tambopata-Candamo National Reserve. So where exactly is the Tambopata National Reserve? As the crow, Macaw flies, it’s not really that far from Cuzco, and it’s close to the border with Bolivia.
HOW DO YOU GET THERE?
To get here from Lima, most people will fly in from Lima or Cuzco. If you are going to do a stopover in Cuzco, I advise you do it on the return. Cuzco is at very high altitude and unless you are already acclimated to high altitudes, you may suffer from altitude sickness which can leave you feeling lethargic and ill for days. There are medicines to combat that, but I prefer to err of the side of caution as I know that I personally don’t deal well with high altitudes. Here are the flight schedules on LAN Peru (One World) and Avianca/Taca (Star Alliance). If you used One World or Star Alliance miles, these flights will have been included in your ticket. If they weren’t, this is a typical situation when it is nice to have some BA Avios on hand for a cheap 4500 Avios redemption. Later on, I will go into more detail about this but you can always ask in the comments if you need info urgently. Depending on the rules of your airline’s FF program, you may be able to book the whole trip as a RT from your home to Puerto Maldonado with a stop in Cuzco or as an open jaw Home-Puerto Maldonado /-Cuzco-Home and buy a separate ticket between Puerto Maldonado and Cuzco. As you can see, most flights are very early in the morning, making it well worth getting those Wyndham points so you can use the airport hotel. I won’t show fares here as they vary widely but be aware that the cheapest fares are usually for Peruvians only. Use miles!
BUT IT’S SO CLOSE TO CUZCO, CAN’T I TAKE A BUS?
Yes, you can take a bus between the two and many backpackers do choose this option because buying flights can be very expensive. The trip will take between 12-20 hours depending on if you go in the rainy season or not. Just be grateful you have miles! 😀
WHAT PARROTS CAN I SEE IN THE TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE?.
Blue-and-yellow Macaw(Ara ararauna)
Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao)
Red-and-green Macaw (Ara chloroptera)
Chestnut-fronted Macaw(Ara severa)
Red-bellied Macaw(Orthopsittaca manilata)
Red-shouldered Macaw(Diopsittaca nobilis)
White-eyed Parakeet (Aratinga leucophthalmus)
Dusky-headed Parakeet(Aratinga weddellii)
Peach-fronted Parakeet(Aratinga aurea)
Black-capped Parakeet(Pyrrhura rupicola)
Blue-winged Parrotlet (Forpus xanthopterygius)
Dusky-billed Parrotlet (Forpus sclateri)
Cobalt-winged Parakeet(Brotogeris cyanoptera)
Tui Parakeet (Brotogeris sanctithomae)
Amazonian Parrotlet (Nannopsittaca dachilleae)
Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlet (Touit huetii)
White-bellied Parrot(Pionites leucogaster)
Orange-cheeked Parrot (Pionopsitta barrabandi)
Blue-headed Parrot(Pionus menstruus)
Yellow-crowned Parrot (Amazona ochrocephala)
Orange-winged Parrot (Amazona amazonica)
Mealy Parrot (Amazona farinose)
Orange-cheeked Parrot
WHAT ABOUT OTHER BIRDS?
WAY too many to copy here, but I found a good comprehensive list online. Some of the most highly sought-after birds are the toucan species: Channel-billed and White-throated Toucans, Chestnut-eared Aracari, Curl-crested Aracari, Emerald Toucanet and the Golden-collared Toucanet. Raptors include: Harpy Eagle, Bat Falcon, Gray-lined Hawk, Great Black-Hawk and Roadside Hawk. And there there are numerous species of Tinamou, Caracara, Owls, Nightjar, Kingfishers, Tanagers, Mot-Mots, Trogons and the enigmatic Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) just to name a few!
Hoatzin
MAMMALS
Monkeys are always popular and fun to watch. Tambopata has several species: Brown Capuchin, Dusky Titi Monkeys, Red Howler Monkeys and White-bellied Spider Monkey. If you are REALLY lucky, you may see a Jaguar! You are much more likely to see Giant River Otter, Capybara, Brown Agouti, Armadillos, Peccaries and Brown-throated three-toed sloth. A more comprehensive list can be found here.
Brown-throated three-toed sloth
In the next post, I will show you what kinds of lodges are in the Tambopata National Reserve, how to choose one and show options for all budgets.
Ecotourism isn’t always about exotic, far-away destinations. There are many wonderful bird species practically on your doorstep or no further than a typical Sunday outing. Since many readers will probably live in North America, let’s get to know the beautiful little Bluebird. There are 3 species of Bluebirds. Many people are lucky enough to have them visit their backyards and some people like to put out feeder trays to attract them.
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)
Western Bluebirds have a range that extends from British Columbia to the north as far south as Oaxaca, Mexico and includes the western states of the USA. They nest in cavities and generally lay 2-8 eggs; which average 20.8 x 16.2mm. Eggs are oval shape with a smooth and glossy shell. They are pale blue to bluish white and sometimes white in color. Nestlings remain in a nest about 19–22 days before fledging. They mainly eat insects and berries.
Eastern Bluebird(Sialia sialis)
Eastern Bluebirds can be found in the eastern part of the USA and Canada and as far south as Nicaragua. They prefer to nest in woodlands where cavity holes excavated by a previous species will serve as their home. These woodlands must be near clearings or meadows because this is the preferred hunting ground of the species. Approximately two-thirds of the diet of an adult eastern bluebird consists of insects and other invertebrates. The remainder of the bird’s diet is made up of wild fruits. Favored insect foods include grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and beetles. Other food items include earthworms, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs and snails
Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)
Mountain Bluebirds are migratory. Their range varies from Mexico in the winter to as far north as Alaska, throughout the western U.S. and Canada. Northern birds migrate to the southern parts of the range; southern birds are often permanent residents. They nest in cavities and lay 4-5 eggs. Young are naked and helpless at hatching and may have some down. Incubation normally last 14 days and the young will take about 21 days before they leave the nest. Both males and females fiercely protect the nest. They mainly eat insects and berries. They may forage in flocks in winter, when they mainly eat grasshoppers.
It may be Friday morning in Australia but it’s Thursday evening in the USA and right now many of my friends and family are sitting down to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. I can’t be with them in person, but I am there in spirit. There is so much to be thankful for and while I don’t want to go into my personal life, I will share what I am thankful for that is in keeping with the topic of this blog.
I am thankful that I have the opportunity to travel and see the world.
I am thankful that there are beautiful nature reserves all over the world that protect so many endangered and not-endangered species.
I am thankful that there are birds in the world whose beauty enchants us and charm delights us.
I am thankful that there are organizations such as the World Parrot Trust who have research biologists out there trying to save endangered parrots so we don’t lose them from the planet.
I am thankful for the local people who gave up poaching wild birds and are now working as guides and other occupations because of ecotourism and that they are able to share their local wildlife with us.
I am thankful for the social media that allows us to be more aware and informed and teaches us to respect, cherish and protect nature.
These are the main hotel chains you will find at the typical gateway city. In some cases, the parent company has several brands and they all use the same loyalty program. I have provided links to the loyalty program on their website. When you have a layover at a gateway city traveling to or from your destination, be sure to check if you can use your hotel points for a free night. I generally try to stay as close to the airport as possible and get an early flight onwards but if the city interests you, you may want to layover a few days.
Accor: Ibis, Mercure, All Seasons, Novotel, Sofitel
Marriott: Autograph Collection®, Courtyard by Marriott® , EDITIONSM, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott® , JW Marriott® , Marriott® Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance® Hotels, Residence Inn by Marriott®, SpringHill Suites by Marriott®, TownePlace Suites by Marriott®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club® (mileage-earning stay) Tara’s Tips
Starwood Hotels: Aloft, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, St. Regis, W Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts
Wyndham: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Wingate® by Wyndham, Hawthorn Suites® by Wyndham, Ramada®, Days Inn®, Super 8®, Baymont Inn & Suites®, Microtel Inns & Suites®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge® Knights Inn®, Tryp by Wyndham
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we are going to build a sample trip step by step that will ultimately get us to the birder’s paradise of the Tambopata Research Centre.
In most cases, you will arrive in the gateway city after a long, tiring flight. Maybe a little less tired if you were in business class! If you are lucky, you may be able to connect straight through to your destination, Puerto Maldonado; but more often then not you will have an overnight layover either before or after the trip. Here’s how to find an overnight hotel and pay for it with your hotel points so you have more to spend on ecotourism.
First, get familiar with the major hotel chains as some of them have more than one brand. I have a chart to help you out. Then go to Google maps and type in Lima Airport. Look for hotels in the immediate vicinity of the airport.
BINGO! There’s a Ramada right there at the airport! So how many points do you need? I plugged in some random dates. Wyndham is unusual in that you can’t book the reward night online, you have to call them but if you have 30,000 points you’re sorted for the night and only a short walk to the airport the next morning.
So what if you don’t have Wyndham points? Try some different chain websites for hotel programs you do have points in. Since we are planning pretty far in advance, you would also have time to build up your points account. These hotels aren’t near the airport but luckily taxis are pretty cheap in Lima.
What’s that? You don’t have any hotel points at all? You can still participate in a rewards program such as Hotels.com’s Welcome Rewards. 10 paid nights gets you a free night based on the average cost of the 10 nights you booked to earn it. So go to www.hotels.com, type in any random date and look at the results. Use the map view to see which options are close to the airport, for our purposes we just need somewhere safe and convenient. You will find a variety of accommodation ranging from backpacker cheapies at $20ish up to 5 star hotels.
It’s actually a pretty long list so I can’t put it all here but have a look for yourself. What I do is use the map to get as close as possible to the airport or if I have to stay downtown, I will go middle of the range. I also make use of Trip Advisor to check out the hotel reviews by other people who have stayed there. Start at the top with the top-rated hotels and scroll down until you see something in your price range. $67? Looks promising, let’s have a closer look.
It looks pretty good. I read a few reviews and most people seemed to like it. It’s not near the airport but like I said, taxis are cheap. I’d feel comfortable staying here.
That’s it for today. Get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow we will finally reach the lodge we’ve chosen and the adventure begins!
One of the first things you need to know about to get you to your destination as cheaply as possible is how to work with airline alliances. Yesterday, I showed you how to use a guidebook to identify possible locations to see the targeted species, Scarlet Macaws. There are several places in South and Central America where they can be seen so I will just pick the famous clay licks of Peru and show you how to build a trip.
The gateway city is Lima (LIM) and you need to get to Puerto Maldonado (PEM) where you can be transferred to one of the outstanding lodges in the area. Once you have been in the miles and points game for awhile, you will get a feel for which airline to use where but if you are just starting out, Wikipedia will show you a list of all airlines that fly into a given airport. So we can see that Lima is served by a nice choice of airlines, but Puerto Maldonado is only served by 3 airlines. If you want to use miles to get all the way to Puerto Maldonado, you have two choices-One World or Star Alliance. Sky Team can get you to Lima, but you would have to use a separate ticket to get to Puerto Maldonado.
From North America you can use Avianca, Copa or United.
From South America you can use Avianca.
From Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Asia and Africa there are no direct flights, you will need to travel via the USA. Depending on which program’s miles you have, this may require one or two awards.
In all cases, once you get to Lima, you will be connecting on Taca to Puerto Maldonado.
There are no options all the way to Puerto Maldonado so in all cases you will need to get to Lima and buy a separate ticket to Puerto Maldonado.
From North America you can use Aerolineas Argentinas, AeroMexico or Delta.
From Europe you can use Air Europa, Air France or KLM, or you can connect in the USA or Buenos Aires on Aerolineas Argentinas.
From Australia you can use Aerolineas Argentinas, from New Zealand possibly Qantas to Sydney and then Aerolineas Argentinas.
From Asia and Africa there are no direct flights, you will need to travel via the USA or Europe.
HOW MANY MILES WILL IT COST?
Every airline member of the 3 main alliances has it’s own frequent flier program. They often have alliances with other airlines outside the program. I have made some reference charts for the airline alliances and I strongly recommend that you check out the program of the airline in your country and the USA based partners of each program as the USA airlines tend to have the most lucrative bonuses. Americans can get very generous credit card bonuses. Details of credit card partners (and other partners) will be on each airline’s website, however often there are more lucrative sign up bonuses. Details are usually posted in the Flyer Talk thread so I strongly suggest you read this thread and the Miles Buzz forum before you apply for any cards just in case a better bonus has been offered. I don’t have any affiliate links and I recommend you do extensive research on your own when applying for airline credit cards.
USING ONE WORLD
So how do I go about booking an award for myself? Lots of advance planning! I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go and which airline alliance is the best option. To get to Peru, I would use AAdvantage miles and take a route similar to BNE-AKL/SYD-SCL-LIM-PEM using Qantas or LAN between Australia and Santiago, then LAN Peru to Puerto Maldonado. Looking at AA’s award chart, we can see that Peru is in Central/South America Zone 1.
So let’s look at the chart. You will notice there are taxes and fees with certain routes and that the awards are prices as one way trips.
We can see that a South Pacific to Central/South America award will cost 40,000 miles each way (80,000 round trip) in economy, 65,000 (130,000 round trip) in business class and 75,000 each way (150,000 round trip in first class. AA doesn’t allow you to transit the USA on this award so you must fly on the only carriers that operate between Australia and South America-Qantas and LAN.
If you are based in North America, economy will cost 17.500 each way (35,000 round trip), business class is 30,000 each way (60,000 round trip) and first is 40,000 each way or 80,000 round trip. You would be flying on AA or LAN.
If you are based somewhere else, leave a comment if you don’t understand this part and I will help you out. Meanwhile, here is a reference list for other One World carriers.
USING STAR ALLIANCE
Star Alliance can also get you to Peru. Let’s use US Airways as an example. US does not offer one way awards so these are round trips. Peru is obviously in South America so it is pretty easy to just follow the line across to see how many miles it would cost from your region. You can use any Star Alliance carrier so if you are in North America, you could use a combination of United, US Airways, Avianca/Taca and Air Canada to get there. For Aussies and Kiwis it gets a bit more complicated. Theoretically you should be able to use Air New Zealand to LAX and then pick up Avianca/Taca which is probably fine in economy but availability is scarce in business. US Airways has recently been enforcing MPM (maximum permitted mileage) so while in the past we could route through Asian airports such as Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo and Seoul; this may no longer be possible.
United Airlines is a USA based carrier that offers one way awards and so do some of the other Star Alliance carriers. I have made up a reference list of all the airlines with links to their websites so check them out to see if any of them are better suited to your needs. Bear in mind that the tickets are not completely free, there is usually a booking fee of $25-50 and various taxes, but you have to pay the taxes whether you pay cash or miles for the ticket.
Well, that’s Step 1! We have now used our miles to get to Peru. Next step is to get to the lodge where you can start your adventure but enroute you will probably need a night to transit in Lima. Tomorrow we will look at the gateway city of Lima.
Sky Team is the youngest of the 3 alliances but the second largest. They are very strong in Europe and Asia but weaker in the Americas and they have no member at all in Australia or New Zealand. Most people who are interested in Sky Team join Delta Airlines but some people who get Ultimate Rewards via their Chase credit cards will join Korean to transfer their points to. I am not a member of any of the Sky Team partners because they don’t serve the places I want to go very well. Since I expect people from all over the world to be reading this blog, I would recommend you check out the program of the Sky Team member in your country or join Delta as they do have promos from time to time.
These links are also good if you want to check out an airline’s route map to see where they fly, join their frequent flyer program and see what you can do to earn miles by flying on partners, staying in hotel partners and patronizing their other partners such as credit cards, shopping malls, phone companies and survey companies.
This is a just a very brief overview of Sky Team and there is so much more to learn. The best source of information is on FlyerTalk where each airline has its own forum, most forums have wikis or “read this first” posts to get you started. I will be going into some programs more in depth as the subject relates to building your ecotourism dream trip
As you can see, Star Alliance is the largest of the 3 alliances and is very strong in the Americas, Europe and Asia but has no domestic service in Australia. Most people are members of several Star Alliance programs so they can take advantage of local credit cards and promos and also the more lucrative promos with United. Avianca/Taca has several 100% buy miles bonuses throughout the year and less frequently an even more lucrative share miles promo. I am a member of United, Singapore and Avianca/Taca. The main reason for joining Singapore Krisflyer is because my Aussie Amex MR points can transfer 1:1 and they are good for redemptions on NZ, but on most of their Asian and European partners will attract a very high fuel surcharge. Buying miles on Avianca/Taca is a great way to get cheap business class or economy awards when they have a double miles bonus promo. United is a partner for Chase’s Ultimate Rewards programs with several credit cards that can accrue miles for sign up bonuses.
These links are also good if you want to check out an airline’s route map to see where they fly, join their frequent flyer program and see what you can do to earn miles by flying on partners, staying in hotel partners and patronizing their other partners such as credit cards, shopping malls, phone companies and survey companies.
This is a just a very brief overview of Star Alliance and there is so much more to learn. The best source of information is on FlyerTalk where each airline has its own forum, most forums have wikis or “read this first” posts to get you started. I will be going into some programs more in depth as the subject relates to building your ecotourism dream trip
