It makes no cents

 Travel musings  Comments Off
Dec 182012
 
nocents It makes no cents

Fabulous attention to detail on the pricing

The London Olympics were magnificently staged and delivered. Even without the barrage of medals, we should be proud of the ability to deliver such a massive project with such precision. However, I want to celebrate some of the incredible attention to detail shown by some airlines in Latin America.

This recent message from Ecuadorian airline Tame announces their new flight between Quito and Lima. In case you can’t see the image clearly, the price Quito-Lima return is $299.50. In contrast, the price Lima-Quito return is $299.54. Given that these prices are from (‘desde’) you would think that they would be able to let those pesky 4 cents just slide in order to massively simplify the message. But no, in the brave new world of precision pricing, accuracy is everything.

You look at a departure board pretty much anywhere in the world and flight departures and arrivals are at 5 minute intervals. No such vagueness in Brazil, leaders in precision timetabling. Flights there are scheduled to depart at times like 15:32 or 00:17.

Given the complexity of airline scheduling, tweaks to timetables are the rule rather than the exception. You’d be amazed at how many of these tweaks are contained within that 5-minute margin of error. We know because in Brazil if a flight time changes by 1 minute (and they do) we get a  ”schedule change notification”. It’s quite normal that between booking and clients flying we’ll get four or five of these notifications, each of which needs to be checked and signed off by us.

Rather than get annoyed at this time wastage, we’ve turned it into a game: how close to the original departure time you can get with the most changes. I think the record is six changes eventually settling back on precisely the original departure time, 08:46. What time the plane actually took off is anyone’s guess of course.

Finally, this brings me to the team who run our hikes in Brazil’s beautiful Chapada Diamantina. This year’s discussions on rates have included precision catering. As of 2013, the picnic lunches will contain “2 sandwiches, 1 fruit, 1 fruit juice, 1 egg, 1 tomato, 1 gum, dry fruit, 1 candy and a peanut.”

Coming soon to a 3D TV near you

 Adventure Holidays, Cruise holidays, Ecuador Holidays, Galapagos Cruises, Galapagos Islands, honeymoon, Small Group Holidays, Tailor Made Holidays, Travel musings, Wildlife Holidays  Comments Off
Jul 262012
 
boobies Coming soon to a 3D TV near you

You may find the blue footed booby's mating dance more interesting than this particular female did

 

We had a visit this week from a good friend, who represents a range of excellent products across Latin America, including some of our favourite hotels and lodges. He came by to tell us about a new client, the Galapagos Safari Camp, which is a pretty unique offering on the main island of Santa Cruz. Based on the African Safari model, think luxury tented camp with hot running water and an infinity pool.

While looking at his slides, it was a shot of the infinity pool which caught my eye, as there was a familiar figure standing next to it. The distinctive and distinguished silver hair, combined with the destination, proved me right: the great Sir David Attenborough was back in town! (Town, in this instance, being a 9 tented camp in the remote highlands of a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific).

We were delighted to hear that he was in the islands shooting a new Galapagos documentary, to air later this year. A little digging found that this will be a 3D series, proving Sir David is always one to keep at the cutting edge, even in his 80s. So, you heard it here first (unless you follow Sky press releases).

This was terribly exciting news, and I can’t wait to see the show. The only slight problem being I don’t have a 3D TV, or indeed a Sky package. Time to call in some favours…

If you’d like to see the Galapagos and their fearless inhabitants in the flesh, take a look at our handpicked selection of cruises and land-based holidays.

Read the book; then climb the mountain (buying the t-shirt optional).

 Adventure Holidays, Andalucia holidays, Argentina Holidays, Chile Holidays, Ecuador Holidays, Patagonia Holidays, Peru Holidays, Small Group Holidays, Spain Holidays, Tailor Made Holidays, Travel musings, Walking Holidays, Wildlife Holidays  Comments Off
Jul 052012
 
Read the book; then climb the mountain (buying the t shirt optional).

Rugged Andean mountains disappearing into cloud in northern Peru

Over the years I have built up a fairly good-sized library on Latin America (fiction, history, travel writing etc), and would thoroughly recommend one of my most recent acquisitions. OK, I got it for Christmas, but I always have such a stack waiting to be read…

Anyway, 6 months later I finally got around to ‘Andes,’ by Michael Jacobs. Very much a case of, “does what it says on the tin,” this is the result of Michael travelling from one end of the Andes (Venezuela) to the other (Chile / Argentina).

What I loved about the book, other than the fact that it covers many of our favourite and most popular destinations, is the unassuming and straightforward style. This is a guy who has nothing to prove, takes people and places as they come, and avoids hyperbole. I particularly enjoyed the section on northern Peru, such as Kuelap etc, as his observations chimed so neatly with my own when I visited the region recently.

The other wonderful aspect of the book is the interweaving of the history, and especially historical characters, into his meanderings. For anyone who is well-travelled in South America, names which are instantly recognisable (Humboldt, Bolivar, Pizarro etc) appear throughout the book and are clearly well-researched, with comment on the personalities that you often don’t hear. The insights into Humboldt and Bolivar are particularly intriguing.

Interestingly, Michael Jacobs usually resides in another of our favourite spots, the Alpujarra Mountains in Andalucia. And before you say, “Oh, is he the feller who drummed with Genesis and wrote that ‘Lemons’ book?” – no, he isn’t. However, they are good mates – and Chris Stewart somewhat randomly turns up halfway through the book to keep him company for a few weeks. This could turn a into a bit of a palimpsest, but in fact is largely characterised by Jacobs chuckling at Stewart getting asked for autographs due to his new found fame.

So if you’d like to read a great travel / history book focusing on the mighty and mysterious Andes, you could do a lot worse than grab a copy. If you’d like some inspiration on holidays exploring northern Peru, heading down into Patagonia, or travelling through volcanoes in Ecuador, do get in touch.

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