Explore: to traverse or range over (a region, area, etc.) for the purpose of discovery.* In a world that can be visited virtually from your living room, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the word 'explore' is obsolete in this e-savvy generation. Though a wonderful resource, the internet will never replace real time discovery. No matter who has travelled the road before us, simply hearing their tales will never give us an experience that can spark our senses and change our lives. Discovery is not only about knowledge but about gaining site of something previously unseen or unknown*, and there is nothing quite like being there”. While you are exploring, every sense will be stimulated to create a memorable experience that will remain with you for the rest of your life. Sight: You'd be surprised by how irregularly we actually see new things in our everyday lives. A generic snapshot of a typical week will see us go to work and back each day, spend time at home plus visit friends, we find our experiential circles are repetitive. Studies done have revealed that our eyes are cast on familiar sites for approximately 90% of our time. When exploring, we are seeing new things every hour, every day, every week, giving our eyes a real awakening. Smell: If you are blind-folded and led home you will know where you are simply by smelling, this sense is that powerful.  When we are exploring abroad we are constantly smelling and registering unfamiliar scents from food, culture and the environment. So evocative is smell that if you smell, for example, the same sunscreen that you wore on holiday 10 years ago, in an instant you will be recalling with uncanny precision the sites and activities that took place when you last wore that sunscreen. It is one of the most evocative memory joggers we have. So clear the sinuses before you go and for years to come your nose will transport you back to the greatest time of your life. Taste: Without a doubt one of the highlights of being abroad is tasting the local cuisine. Whether delicious, interesting or downright weird, it adds a fantastic dimension to your journey as it becomes a degustation exploration that is recalled for the rest of your life. Through dinner table chatter or indeed through dinner itself, you might be recreating these sensational dishes for your friends in your own home. Touch: Whether touching an elephants hide whilst riding one in the highlands of Northern Thailand, feeling the rush of white water as you raft the mighty Zambezi in Zimbabwe or making a snow man at Everest Base camp there is no doubt that touch is integral to your travel experience. Sound: The minute you step off the plane your ears will be subject to new sounds.  From the call to prayer in Syria, to the sound of Spanish spoken in Ecuador, to the roar of a lion at midnight from your tent in the Serengeti, the sounds on your exploration will resonate your soul.  Also, like smell, the simple sound of a song you heard on your travels can put your mind straight back in the action the minute you hear the first melody. Add to all of the above, anticipation and preparation for the journey, the life long memories, the knowledge gained and the friends made. You really can't go wrong if you explore outside the lounge room, the only mistake you can make is never getting out there. As the late Sir Edmund Hilary said: You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.” So if it has been your lifelong ambition to explore our world, get motivated as it is waiting for you. Visit www.kumuka.com to whet your appetite. Want to go on a real exploratory tour?  Join Kumuka on a spectacular inaugural 49 day overland tour through the breathtaking and cultural highlights of South America.  The adventure departs from Rio the day after Rio Carnivale, and traverses the countries of Brazil and Venezuela ending in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. This exploratory overland tour will sun it up on brilliant Brazilian beaches and experience village culture at Brazilian Native Villages, do the samba at a Salvador street party, race dune buggies at the Lencois Maranhenses dunes and shop up a storm at the Belem Markets. All up, the Rio de Janeiro to Caracas tour travels from above the Tropic of Capricorn to well above the Equator! Click here to learn more *Source dictionary.com back to top

Meet Kris Umlauft - Latin America Operations Manager

In her own words:

Tells us about your favorite bar? “The Lizard Lounge” on Caye Caulker in Belize, they play chilled out reggae music all day, you can sit at a table in the ocean and have a drink or you can dive from the spring diving board into the ocean!

What is your favorite Restuarant? “Million” in Buenos Aires, it's a flash restobar in a huge old gothic building it's like something out of a batman movie it has 3 levels one has a restaurant, the other a bar, and the other a club, you don't need to move for the whole night!

If you could take one famous person travelling, who would it be and why? Anyone funny would do, you need to be able to laugh when you travel!

If you could jump on a Kumuka trip tomorrow what would it be and why? Definitely the Rio to Caracas Exploration Overland tour. It's going to some of Brazil's most stunning beaches, taking in the street parties in Salvador, then it dives into the Amazon, takes on the Amazon river on a 5 day cruise with the locals, the 6 day Roraima trek (a must do before you die!) and then on to Angel falls, it would be fairly impossible to cover these remote parts by yourself, it will definitely be a big adventure!

Best travel tip? Dunlop volley's are the best travel shoes, really comfy, non slip, take up very minimal space in your backpack and now you can even get them in lots of colours!!

Quirkiest travel experience? I had a hitchhiking race across BC, Canada with a couple of mates? It was a bit like  the amazing race, a lot of fun but not really recommended.

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T.I.A. (This is Africa.)

Kylie Clancy joined Kumuka a few years back as our Sales Manager in SA/NT/TAS. She then traded it all in for a life on the road as a Kumuka overland tour leader in Africa and her time in Africa is coming to a close...

How do you summarise Africa? I have just finished 6 months on the road with Kumuka, back and forth through Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, which has been a good craic!  Plenty of great people, a huge amount of laughs and many adventures along the way.  One of my favourite places on tour is the Okavango Delta in Botswana.  We kick back in dugout canoes whilst the locals pole us through the waterways to our camp which is often within cooee of a pod of hippos. Nothing between us and the wildlife except a tent and a can of Whack Off”! Don't think the deet works on lions however, even to the mozzies it's like marinade!

We spend the time in the Delta doing game walks where you are out of the truck, vulnerable and face to face with the wildlife behind our local guides who nonchalantly explain how to react to all the wildlife should they charge you. If an elephant charges you, hide behind the tree; a buffalo, you go up the tree; a lion, you stare it dead in the face and don't run…or is it…stare at the elephant, up the tree for a lion and behind the tree for the buffalo… errr which is which again!

It's been such an experience living in Africa and trying to slow down to the pace.  I didn't think you could get much slower-paced than the Northern Territory but I quickly learnt to adapt. The most frequently heard excuse for anything is T.I.A. (this is Africa) which basically means slow down “Muzungu” (tourist), which I have heard on a number of occasions flying around the supermarket trying to buy enough food for 20 people for 3 days in half an hour.

I took a walk from Zimbabwe to Zambia one day (about 1 hour) and had the mandatory local chit-chat with a lady who joined me for the walk but after half an hour she suddenly drops to her knees and starts hyperventilating.  My first aid kicks into action to help the poor lady out but after I had calmed her down, given her some water and got her breathing again…she says…“AAAAAH SISTER …I am very sorry but,but, but…you just walk sooooooo fast!!!!!!! I replied… T.I.A… this is AUSTRALIA!!!!!”

I love that they all call you SISTER”!!! Every now and again (and a little too often for my liking) they will also refer to you as “MAMA” which means, as my Zimbabwean driver was happy to advise me, they think you are OLD!!!!!

This is one place where your money is sometimes no good, as the locals are more interested in trading.  If you are not careful, you can quite easily return from a visit to the local craft market dressed solely in hippo carvings and wooden bowls that you have willingly given up your T-shirt, shorts, shoes and underwear for.

Counting down the days to coming home!!!!  It's gonna be soooooo hard to leave Africa but I plan to pop the tent up in the back yard, find a cuppla domestic cats, pump them full of steroids to wander around the tent at night and find myself a hippo-impersonating snorer to sleep next to so I don't miss it too much.

See you soon
XXXXXXXXX Clance

Want to venture to Africa yourself? Click here

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Peru Adventure

I recently completed the 21 day Peru Adventure tour and wanted to let you know how much I really enjoyed the trip. It was an excellent tour led by an enthusiastic leader through an amazing landscape which really encompassed all the history and wonder that Peru and Bolivia have to offer. The itinerary was perfect and allowed us to really explore and enjoy every destination. Also, the tour guide Brendan was an exceptional leader who really made the trip memorable for many reasons with his vast knowledge and insight into all the destinations. His effortless leadership of the tour gave us the opportunity to sit back and really enjoy the tour without worrying about the hassles of travelling.

I look forward to joining Kumuka again soon on another adventure!

Timothy Nixon

Australia

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National Geographic chose Kumuka for Best Tour Of The Year!

The highly acclaimed National Geographic Adventure Magazine has chosen the 'Madagascar Explored' tour, formerly known as the "Madagascar Dhow Safari', as one of their Top 25 Best New Trips for this year.  Whilst some changes have been made to the original itinerary, making it longer to allow more time at the best locations and incorporating a wider age group so more people can join in the fun, this Kumuka tour is still an amazing island hopping adventure! 

Explore the warm waters off Madagascar in a traditional Dhow boat. Camp out on peaceful islands where you won't find a soul, snorkel over colourful coral and perhaps even swim with whale sharks. Enjoy some game fishing and relaxing on unspoilt beaches - this is the ultimate paradise. By day, cruise the blue-green waters of the sun-drenched Indian Ocean and at night sleep in the comfort of a fully equipped motorised Dhow. Highlights of the tour include Nosy Be, Nosy Iranja and Russian Bay. 

Following are the details of the updated itinerary:
Tour Length: 12 days
Maximum Group Size: 10 people
Age Range: 18-65 years

What's included: 
• 11 Breakfasts, 6 Lunches and 6 Dinners
• Fully Escorted Tour
• All Activities, Sightseeing and Entrance Fees as Per Itinerary
• National Park and Reserve Entrance Fees
• All Tolls and Taxes

Click here to view the tour www.kumuka.com/Madagascar-Explored.aspx

Kumuka also offers other tours to Madagascar.  Check them out on our website:

10 Day –  Leaping Lemurs, Tribes & Islands – Family Adventure – Click Here - www.kumuka.com/Leaping-Lemurs-Tribes-and-Islands.aspx

New Brochures
The following new brochures are now available

The prices are as competitive as ever, and the pages are filled with our favourite tours as well as exciting enhancements, new itineraries and destinations.

Click to order your copy or view online and save the planet.

Want to keep in touch, meet friends before you travel or post your travel story or photo, become a fan on our facebook page. (link)

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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Marcel Proust.

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