I was in New York last week, unfortunately for a funeral, and met a very outgoing and enthusiastic gentleman, Mark, who was catering the post-funeral event for his company, Mark of Excellence. Mark mentioned he wanted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and when I told him I had just been, asked my advice.

Just a few days ago, we purchased the Inca Trail Pass for Liz Miller, one of our long-time US-based guides. Liz will be guiding our Peru Trek in October.

How do these three events relate? They all have to do with you, if you are planning to book an active tour.

Eloise, who booked her trip to Mt. Blanc in France with a US-based company on a private trip with just the three of them, had a terrible guide and thus a terrible time. In their words, the guide “never asked us any questions about our fitness or hiking ability, in fact he did not ask me what I do for a living till the 5th day of the trip. He never seemed to really want to engage with us. At dinner he was always very quiet, rarely adding anything to the conversation, and never providing information on the next days hike, unless we asked. For that matter, never asking what we thought of the current days hike, what we liked, didn’t like, challenges, was it what we expected.”

The guide was local and was an excellent trail guide, he just wasn’t an excellent trip leader. In New York, I told Mark he could travel to Tanzania and I would put him in touch with a couple of local guides he could use to climb the mountain safely and cheaply. I also told him we would be running a trip up Kilimanjaro in late January and he jumped at that idea.

And in Peru (or soon to be there), our October group that will hike on a practically unused alternative Inca Trail is a small group of only seven travelers. Our local guide, Santiago, is incredible and we discussed having him lead the group alone but ultimately decided to send Liz along.

The moral of these three stories? Know what you are getting when you book a foreign trip. Eloise’s guide in France is probably a nice guy with his friends and a solid trail guide. The problem is, he did not get along with or know how to take care of his American customers. And he clearly wasn’t trained to be a trip leader. Many American companies simply subcontract their work to local companies, without even sending a US guide along.

Mark, from New York, could spend less money and hire a local Tanzanian guide but might run into the same problem. He quickly made the judgment to go with a company like Zephyr Adventures to ensure his vacation is excellent. And our seven travelers in Peru will have the benefit of both Santiago, our local expert, and Liz, our American guide who is trained to make sure their needs are met, their questions are answered, and they have someone from our company to communicate with.

Make sure you make your vacation an excellent one.

American Women of Berkshire & Surrey

Earlier this month I ran two private group tours in Europe. The first was a Provence biking tour for the American Women of Berkshire and Surrey, a social group of American women living in the London area. This group has traveled with us for three years in a row and while the group members change each year, the trip is always fun. The Provence tour followed on the heals of an Umbria, Italy tour in 2008 and a Rioja, Spain tour in 2009.

Our group of 16 plus Zephyr’s Italian guide Giovanni and me had a super time. This was a special group, with a couple of women (thanks Amie and Janell) who were infectiously fun and most of the rest of whom willingly joined in the frivolity. Four of the group (Dee, Cynthia, Linda, and Amy) had traveled with us for all three tours and so were the veterans who kept the group together.

St. John's Wood Women's Club in Umbria

The second group tour was for the St. John’s Wood Women’s Club, an organization in a different area of London that is similar to and heard about Zephyr via the American Women of Berkshire and Surrey. This group traveled with us for the first time this year and 20 women plus Giovanni and I did a five-day biking tour in Umbria.

This group was also unique, in that everyone was strong on the bike. We rarely had to use the van for shuttling at all and most of the women completed the Medium route each day. This despite threatening rain on a few occasions. I spent two enjoyable days biking long route loops with a handful of riders, once to the wine town Montefalco and a second time on a hill loop near Spoleto. This common ability level is unusual on our tours and is a product of the private group.

Biking to Montefalco on the Long Route

Of course, it is no surprise why these trips tend to be extremely fun. The participants all know each other and have a common thread. In this case, both groups were women in their 40s and 50s. They arrived ready for a good time.

What many in the groups don’t know is I spent months working with a key organizer from each group to set up the trip, pick a date, and create a page for the tour on our website. The organizer, Dee for the first group and Kelly for the second, then had to spend many more months promoting the trip to the club members via email, newsletters, and personal conversations.

In short, it is a lot of work organizing a private tour. And this was for two groups that succeeded in lifting off. Most group organizers never get past the stage of emailing a few friends to gauge their interest. The simple fact is it is difficult to get people on the same page as far as timing, destination, and cost for such a tour. It takes an organizer is who is committed and, well, organized to make a private tour succeed.

So what is the lesson for you, a potential organizer of a private tour for your friends, for your upcoming milestone birthday, for your business customers, or for your next family reunion? First, we at Zephyr would love to have you join us on a Private Adventure. Second, be prepared to spend time and effort getting people to join you!

I am in my hotel room in Ponte San Giovanni, Italy, on my final night of a one-month European trip before I fly home tomorrow. It has been an excellent trip, in which I ran three fun biking tours (two in Provence and one in Umbria) but it is time to go home. I miss sleeping in my own bed, having a beer with my friends, and watching a movie while snuggling with my girlfriend Devon. But missing home doesn’t detract from the joy I have had in spending another month in Europe.

Let me explain to you why I love Europe by describing my final evening here in Italy. I walked across the street from my hotel into a residential neighborhood, full of high-rise apartment and condo buildings that seemed, at first glance, to have zero appeal. However, at 8:00 in the evening on a Sunday night the place was alive with people. Young boys were playing basketball in a school courtyard, teenagers were flirting with each other in the park, and families were sitting down to gelato or a pizza. There was a distinct sense of community.

I was aiming for dinner and sat at an outdoor table at the local Regina Margherita pizzeria, whose owners proudly proclaimed they were from Naples. Using my pidgeon Italian, I found out that the menu was pizza and only pizza. However, when I asked about the pasta I was craving, the owner suggested “pasta arrabiata”, which has a spicy tomato sauce with garlic, red chile flakes, and Italian spices. When I asked about a salad, the very nice man had to ask the cook, his wife, what she could create – it was not normally on the menu.

Ultimately, I had one of the best pastas I have ever eaten. The pasta itself was soft, delicate, almost luxurious. The sauce was delicious, full of garlic and spices. I made the error of asking for Parmesan cheese before even trying the pasta but the Signora explained to me pasta with arrabiata sauce didn’t need cheese. She was right.

Coupled with a basic salad and the house red wine, this was one of the best meals I had in my month in Europe. It is exactly why European, and especially Italian, life appeals to me: it is simple and yet meets all one’s needs, plain vanilla and yet as delectable as one can get. I’ll be back.

Provence is wonderful and we are on our last night of a six-day bicycling tour. The days have been filled with fantastic riding; visits to wineries, a specialty cheese shop, and an olive oil mill; and wandering through fantastic small towns including Chateauneuf du Pape, Gordes, and Saint Rémy-de-Provence. At night we enjoy long, three-course French meals accompanied by Provencal wine of the local area.

The only disappointment, for our three tour participants, my co-guide Giovanni, and me, was that out of our group of 11 planned participants, eight had to cancel at the last moment. One injured himself playing volleyball a week before the trip and the other seven were all stranded in the US, unable to find a flight to Europe because of the Iceland volcano that erupted and closed almost the entire European airspace.

Six of the eight were alumni and I had been looking forward to enjoying Provence with good friends who are also Zephyr travelers. Of course, the greater disappointment was theirs and I was sad the eight were not able to join us on what is an excellent tour.

Giovanni and I are staying another week in Provence and have a private group of 17 American women who live in England joining us for a bike tour. This is their third trip with us and I know they will be impressed with the area.

We will plan another trip to Provence next spring and I hope our eight travelers will be able to join us then. If you are interested in moderate biking (with some nice optional long routes), excellent food and wine, and historic sites, consider joining us. My only suggestion – book travel insurance! You never know what might get in the way of your travel plans.

Market photo courtesy of Giovanni Ramaccioni.

In a spin-laden press release, the airline says “In order to continue reducing fares even further and offering customers the option of paying only for the services they want and use rather than subsidizing the choices of others, the low fare industry innovator is also progressing to the next phase of unbundling with the introduction of a charge to carry on a bag.”

I don’t know anything about Spirit Airlines but I do know they likely aren’t using this to lower fares and that this has a decent chance of being adopted by other airlines soon. It has nothing to do with pleasing customers and has everything to do with increasing revenues. It is an excellent example of what I call “Company Focused Service”, which is what many companies prefer to Customer-Focused Service.

The travel world seems particularly beset by such companies. We all know airlines are trying to survive by charging to check bags, board the plane earlier, or even using on-board toilets. Upscale hotels have practiced Company Focused Service by charging “resort fees” for use of swimming pools or fitness facilities.

The worst, however, are car rental companies. This started with their insistence on customers paying extra for car insurance, even though many renters have such insurance through their own auto insurance policy or via their credit card. It progressed to gasoline charges, in which they deviously offer to let you return the car on empty for a “lower price”, even though we all know it is almost impossible to return a car completely empty and more times than not you will leave too much gas in the tank to justify this option. And the newest unscrupulous practice is when a car rental agency hands you the keys to a car that is half filled with gas. That means 1) they didn’t bother to fill up the tank, even though the previous customer probably got reamed for returning the car less than full and 2) you, the customer, now have to worry about trying to fill the tank to the exact right amount, or worse, driving enough miles to use up the gas you already put in!

All these examples are just ways for the company to make money at the expense of the consumer. And the only way they work is because the consumer basically has no options. Car rental companies, airlines, and even hotels are essentially oligopolies – industries dominated by a few players. We measly consumers have few choices when deciding whom to fly from Minneapolis to Baltimore, which car rental company to use in an airport, or which cell phone company to pledge two years of our lives to.

We have been a member of this group for at least five years and each year we simply write a check that goes to the alliance’s coffers. That’s all we do. The cool thing about the group, though, is that 100% of the donated funds goes to support local conservation efforts in the form of grants to non-profit groups. Recent grants have gone to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Colorado Mountain Club, and the National Parks Conservation Association. 34 grants in total were given out last year.

Even cooler, our little annual contribution is multiplied tremendously because the Conservation Alliance has a total of 170 members ranging from magazines (Men’s Journal) to retailers (Eastern Mountain Sports) to manufacturers (Mountain Hardware). In total, the group has donated over $7 million to conservation causes.

Little old Zephyr Adventures is not last on the list – we are second to last, alphabetically. Regardless, we feel proud to be part of this group so we can do our own small part.

The gist of the article is we humans tend to receive greater happiness from engaging in experiences, be they a trip around the world or a dinner with friends, than we do buying material items. Now to me, that seems obvious. It was interesting, however, that the difference stems in part from our tendency to second-guess our purchases of “stuff” (Did I buy the right HD Television?) and our lack of second-guessing when we purchase “experiences”.

The conclusion from an adventure tour operator? Don’t wait! Book your next vacation now and you’ll love it forever after!

The second came from Eddie Lee, another well-traveled Zephyrite, who sent me a message via Facebook in Facebook-style lingo: “nxt mon tony bourdain no rez en provence. 2200. travel channel!”

Apparently Tony Bourdain, host of the show No Reservations on the Travel Channel, will next be producing a show on his travels to Provence where he “becomes enamored of Provence’s culture and cuisine”. The show airs this coming Monday at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.

Eddie sent this message to me and several other Zephyr alumni because we will all be in Provence together next month on Zephyr’s Biking Adventure. The only thing I fear about watching Tony’s show: he probably didn’t get on a bicycle!

In Africa, we run a “hike, wine, and safari” tour that is absolutely incredible.  And just last month in Tanzania we added a five-day safari to the back end of our Mount Kilimanjaro trek.

Now, safaris themselves are amazing. I am a pretty jaded traveler, having seen many places and sights around the world, but I can truly say a safari is a top-five experience of a lifetime. The thrill of seeing animals in action, the beauty of being in the great African outdoors, and the joy of discussing each day’s sightings with your fellow safari participants is something everyone should experience once.

Plus, we do two things to enhance the experience for active travelers. First, we schedule the safari as part of a tour, specifically by adding in hiking (South Africa) and the Kili climb (Tanzania). Second, we get out of the vehicle to do short walking safaris twice on each trip, which both gets us a little exercise and gives us a distinctly unique viewpoint.

My experiences in Tanzania and South Africa have been entirely different. In Tanzania we visited the southern Serengeti region during the Great Migration and so saw tens of thousands of wildebeests and zebras plus half a dozen separate prides of lions who were feasting on them. We also visited Ngorongoro Crater, a picturesque setting with almost theme park-like perfection – and yet entirely natural. In Tanzania, the vistas were vast and it was easy to feel you were on the set of the Lion King.

In South Africa, our safari experience is very different, in part because it takes place in a private reserve. While the area seems huge, the expanses are nowhere near as large as in Tanzania. On the plus side, the guides and trackers pretty much know which animals are in the area and it is simply a matter of finding them. Even better, because we were allowed to drive at night (unlike in the Tanzanian national parks), we were able to be out when the animals, especially the predators, were most active. The whole experience was like a search for National Geographic-style action sequences, keeping us all on the edge of our seats for the drives.

Both safari experiences have a few things in common. The local staff are exceptional. The lodges and tented safari camps are luxurious. The food is excellent and the service impeccable. You really feel as if you are an English baron or baroness out on an Africa safari in the late 1800s!

We are just now setting our schedule for 2011 and our two African trips are planned for February (Tanzania) and October (South Africa). Leave a comment on this blog post if you are interested to join us!

The flooding in Peru was in the news mostly because almost 1000 travelers were stranded at Machu Picchu due to washing out of the train line. The travelers were rescued, the train is under repair, and the Inca Trail was untouched. The real tragedy, however, was the devastation to villages and fields in the Sacred Valley, which is low-lying land along the Urubamba River.

In Chile, a massive 8.8 earthquake hit off the coast of southern Chile. This was followed by a tsunami that wiped out several villages along the coast. The death toll as of this writing has reached 799 people and the economic cost of reconstruction will be staggering. Luckily, none of our Chilean tour areas were affected much and our local guide and other partners are all safe.

Including Haiti’s 7.0 earthquake, that makes three big disasters this year. We all want to help and those of us at Zephyr received a personal plea from our Peruvian partners to help the small native village of Cachiccata, located in the Sacred Valley and the home of most of our porters and cooks on the Inca Trail. It turns out their water system was destroyed and their crops are now in peril. For $1500, we can purchase a new electric water system that will be a vast improvement on the old, destroyed one. Want to help? We will match your donations up to $750. For full details, see our new blog at www.IncaTrailHiking.com/blog.

Ten hardy Zephyr alumni joined our first-ever trip to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. We all met in Moshi, Tanzania after a very long flight via Amsterdam on KLM. Tanzania was hot but the Kilimanjaro-brand beers were cold and the view of the mountain from our hotel windows was outstanding.

Our route was the seven-day Lemosho Route, which to me is the best route of six up the mountain. Most people take either the five-day Marangu Route or the six-day Machame route but the Lemosho Route provides days of fantastic trekking with few others around and a more gradual ascent of the mountain.

In fact, I was shocked at how nice the trekking actually was. My most recent mountain climbing experience was on Aconcagua, where I spent 13 days on the mountain with two friends and found most of it a chore. This was different. For one thing, the scenery was very pretty and we all enjoyed our climb through a tropical forest, rugged open moorlands, and finally an alpine desert environment.

It also made a difference that we were pampered on this trip. The Tanzanian government has smartly instituted restrictions on climbers, requiring everyone to get a guide and most to use porters. Our group of 11 had – are you ready for this? – one lead guide, four assistant guides, two cooks, two servers, two camp staff, and 28 porters for a total of 39 Tanzanian support staff!

This might seem excessive but pretty much everyone on the mountain is traveling in a similar style. Our group had a cooking tent and eating tent, tables and chairs, and food for 50 people for a week. Our guides were excellent and the porters, who are heroic, carried 20-kilo (44 pound) packs, often times on their heads!

Our seven days on the mountain can really be broken into three phases: five days of pleasant trekking, one horrendously-long summit day, and the final morning exit. (I believe other, shorter routes up the mountain are harder and less pleasant on the initial days.)

The crux of the whole week was the summit day. Because our group was moving at different speeds, we broke into two groups. We had been going to sleep earlier and earlier all week and the evening before the summit climb most of us dropped off to sleep by 7:00 PM. Group A then woke up at 11:00 PM, grabbed a light breakfast/snack, and started for the mountain at midnight. It was cold but not excessively cold. Worst was the wind, absent all week, but which now decided to make an appearance with continuous blasts.

Group B, which I joined, woke at midnight and started at 1:00 AM. To get an idea of how fast we hiked up the mountain, walk across the room at home or at work. Now, do it again at half pace. One more time, cutting your speed in half again. Because of the high altitude and lack of oxygen reaching our systems, that is the pace we moved. Even then, the summit hike was difficult. The strong wind made things miserable, some in the group felt nauseous, and all of us just wanted to get to the top. Still, there were no technical parts at all and so willpower was really the name of the game.

The plan worked well and our two groups merged together just before the crater rim. The sun rose on our right, a beacon of light convincing us the night was not actually without end, as we had feared. We eventually topped out on the crater rim and none of us considered turning around at that point, with only 45 minutes remaining to reach the high point of the mountain along a gradual ascent on top of the crater rim.

Finally: success at 19,340 feet above sea level! Of course, like most mountains it was freezing on top and most of the group suffered through a quick group photo before heading down. I did stay on top for 15-20 minutes, taking photos of others and making sure our group was okay. In all, 10 of 11 of our group made it to the top, with only one person having to turn around early on the summit climb. (I am convinced this was due to a bout of traveler’s disease earlier in the week, which can sap one’s energy.)

My conclusions? First, the mountain is worth climbing. In addition to some excellent trekking, the opportunity to summit the Roof of Africa is something you should not pass up. Second, this is achievable by many people. Our group of experienced Zephyr alumni aged 17 to 61 was strong but many others can succeed as well. In fact, if we have enough interest, we might change the 2011 itinerary to include eight days on the mountain, which would make the summit day that much easier. Third, you should travel with Zephyr Adventures! I was very impressed how the service provided by Zephyr and our local staff was equivalent to that of other, more expensive operators. In fact, on the plane ride home one of our climb participants favorably compared her experience against that of someone who joined one of the more famous Kili outfitters – this outfitter costs 50% more and doesn’t even provide an American guide on the trip!

We will set our 2011 trip date soon, so let me know by commenting here if you wish to join us next year. Coming soon – a post on part two of the trip, the safari!