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Take
the family on a virtual tour with you - please!
Here
in the hot seat, our call centre answers all kinds of interesting
questions, as you can imagine when dealing with
adventure tours all over the world, eg: “Are there
pygmies in the Serengeti”? “What time will it
be when I wake up in Rio on day 1 of the tour”? “How
many penguins live in Antarctica”? “Is it cold
in Europe during the winter”?
Although
these questions may seem silly to you, for the
first time traveller the unknown can seem overwhelming.
we know this because we were once all virgin travellers
and have asked the same questions, so are well versed to
answer them.
One
of the recurring and more serious questions we receive is
from those left at home, “my son/daughter hasn’t
called, where is he/she? Is he/she OK?' The answer
almost always is ‘your beloved is having a good time,
is fine and has simply forgotten to call.” But for
poor Ma and Pa back at home it’s hard to visualise
having a good time when they think you are in the deep dark
Serengeti getting attacked by pygmies (for the record the
only pygmies in the Serengeti are on holiday and they are
not aggressive).
So
while you are packing your pith helmets, making arrangements
for the dog to go to Aunty Ethel’s and telling your
work mates 10 times a day that you are going on an adventure,
take a moment to think about how you will communicate
to those back at home, without eating into your adventure
time too much.
It
is certainly an interesting age technologically. The
options are many these days, you can blog, tweet, Facebook,
text, email, update your status, Skype, phone or even, just
like in the good old days, send a post card. Either way
you can tailor your communication to suit your relative/friend.
Here
are some examples:
Keeping
a blog. This acts as a great platform for your
diary as well as one stop for anyone who is interested enough
to keep detailed tabs on your movements.
If
you don’t want to spend 1,000 Icelandic Krona listening
to Aunt Ethel give you a detailed description of her game
of bridge with the ‘gals’, and Ethel
doesn’t have a computer, send her the occasional text
message. You can do this via your phone on international
roaming or, to completely avoid any possible way she can
call you at 3am telling you that your dog just went to the
toilet on her carpet, send the text via an online application
such as Skype which is also cheaper. If Ethel doesn't have
a mobile, why not send her a good old fashioned postcard?
Want
to keep all of your friends up to date with your actions but don’t want to spend hours in an internet
café sending individual emails? Make sure they are
all friends on your social networking platform of choice
and do a quick status update every now and then, include
the link to your blog for 'further information and blatant
bragging.'
You
can be really clever and set up a Twitter account that you
can update straight from your mobile phone (not available
in all countries), link it to simultaneously update your
Facebook status via RSS, and your friends can receive
these either online or on their phones in real-time. Then
if you really have the patience, set this up on Aunt Ethel’s
phone as well so you are updating everyone at the same time
at the push of a button.
As for Mum and Dad, please, from all the girls in
the Kumuka office to you, just give them a quick call from
time to time, you can even do this for free over
the internet with applications such as Skype. This will
actually save Dad having to call the Kumuka office, as invariably
Mum insists that Dad makes the call.
Parents
do love to hear their babies voices (even if you are 35).
Keep the call short and sweet and then encourage them to
log onto your social networking page, blog, or Twitter for
a more detailed update.
Though
the above technologies are great, they are not always available
everywhere you go, speak to your tour leader and ask what
may be available on the day you intend to communicate because,
believe it or not, there are some places in the world that
we travel to that even telephone technology doesn’t
exist!
To meet people before you travel, ask and have answered
any crazy question, hear from our tour leaders on the road
in real-time, look at location pix and much more Find
Kumuka on Facebook and Check out our tweets
on twitter
Do you have a communication suggestion for today’s
traveller? Email me
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Meet
Shelly Lewis - Travel Consultant, London
Originating
from South Africa, Shelly brings expert knowledge of travel and
tourism throughout Africa into her position of Travel Consultant
with Kumuka Worldwide, based in London. Born with a lust for adventure
and eclectic forms of transport, Shelly has travelled from game
park to game park in Africa on small Cessna planes, tried local
transport in Cambodia, cycled her way through Holland, ridden
elephants in Zimbabwe, a moped in Cyprus and rested on ferry floors
in Israel.
In
her own words:
Favorite
location? Cambodia
Why? I loved the Temples and Wats with the ancient trees uprooting
and growing over the stones, the craziness of the traffic where
four people, a pig and a massive bunch of any vegetable/fruit
on one scooter is the norm and the locals who appear to be the
epitome of happiness.
Favorite
foreign food? Sushi – which I don’t get to
eat as much of now that I am in London.
Favorite
foreign restaurant? “Batuke” which is a Salsa
restaurant in Illovo, Johannesburg. They have this fantastic soup
called ‘Can’t walk straight soup’ which consists
of prawn and crab bisque served with seed loaf…it is super
yummy!
Best
travel experience? Watching the sun rise over Angkor
Wat and a few days later lying on the beach in Sianoukville with
a beer in one hand and eating fresh prawns and lobster with the
other, I love hot climates!
If
you could go on a Kumuka tour tomorrow which one would it be and
why? East African Highlights to see the wonderful game
in the east of my home continent, the gorilla trek is on my “1001
things to do before I die” list, being so close to those
beautiful creatures would be a prodigious experience.
If
you were suddenly given 1 million pounds what would you do? Build eco-lodge/backpackers in Durban and travel to all those
countries I sit and daydream about, with my best friends. A million
pounds goes a long way in South Africa!
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Greetings
from South America
Dear
Kumuka
I have
come to the conclusion that my trip to South America has me...
refreshed, re-invigorated, and excited about future travel and
life in general - so all in all, a great result!
Thank you
Rav
Ravinder
Dhaliwal sent his post card in from the Kumuka Tucans and Tango
tour
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Margaret
travels to Egypt
Dear Kumuka
I
would have to say this is the best experience in a holiday I have
ever had. Our tour guide excelled in all aspects of the
trip. We had two birthdays that he arranged cakes and eating venues
for on both occasions, they were very memorable celebrations.
Nothing was a bother to him, not once did he ever lose his cool
if a problem arose, he would just fix it. He had the ability to
bring a group of people together so that close friendships have
been formed. I will always remember his happy personality, and
nice smile. I have come home with a great amount of knowledge
of Egypt thanks to Michael. He is definitely a great asset to
your company.
My experience
on my Egyptian holiday with Kumuka will be something that will
stay with me through life, as one of those wow! experiences. Something
that will be very hard to beat.
A very
big thank you to Kumuka, and to our very experienced tour guide,
Michael Gerges.
Margaret Barrow
Margaret
travelled on Kumuka Worldwide's Treasures in the Sand tour
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Check
out the stars and stripes in the USA on our new camping tours
Travelling
on a private vehicle, these fully escorted small group tours are
very competitively priced. They include all highlights, meals,
camping fees and national park entry fees.
The tours
include daily hikes as well as plenty of free time to enjoy optional
activities such as mountain biking, white water rafting and river
boarding.
For the nature
lover, there is no better way to take in the natural beauty of
the United States of America than under the stars themselves!
» This
way to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons
More tours
to the USA are coming your way – be the first to hear about
them, follow
us on twitter
Africa
is all the rage
Due to
increasing popularity on our Africa tours we have released a special
double departure on the Southern
Star departing Sunday the 11th of October from Victoria Falls.
As you will see, on many of our tours in Africa we have a number
of guaranteed departures, meaning bookings are very strong, our
advice is for you to not hesitate if you are thinking of travelling
with us to Africa as we can’t put double departures on every
trip, don’t miss out!
» This
way to book your African Safari
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| Changes
to Kumuka tour pricing |
Kumuka
Worldwide have recently made some changes to their overland tour
pricing.
These changes
mean that Kumuka no longer have the tour price separated from
the tour fund or local payment as previously displayed on some
tours. There is only one price now for each tour in our product
range. Due to currency considerations the total price in some
cases may be higher than the tour price and local payment added
together.
The Kumuka
website has been updated with the new prices and will now apply
to all new bookings.
The benefits for customers of this new single price are as follows:
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- Passengers can prepay for the entire tour, making it more
convenient
- Passengers can take advantage of current exchange rates
to USD
- Safety for clients not having to carry large amounts of
cash for local payments
- Discounts will be off the entire price (tour funds and
local payments were previously not discountable)
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 Happiness is when
what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Mahatma
Gandhi.
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