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Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!
These 20 islands are an adventurer’s dream!
- Thread starter James Lemon
- Start date
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
How much is the tour?
I would imagine to be worthwhile, one needs a guide!
Asher
I would imagine to be worthwhile, one needs a guide!
Asher
fahim mohammed
Well-known member
Been to quite a few of these!
But typical National Geographic omissions here...
Indonesia has over 17000 islands!! And they didn't find anyone of those worth an adventure?
They should hire Ayesha and me to tell them where adventure lies...
Asher, NatGeo tours are outrageously costly..just coz some photog will teach me how to use a camera!!
But typical National Geographic omissions here...
Indonesia has over 17000 islands!! And they didn't find anyone of those worth an adventure?
They should hire Ayesha and me to tell them where adventure lies...
Asher, NatGeo tours are outrageously costly..just coz some photog will teach me how to use a camera!!
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Are there tour companies you do recommend. When my family went to Costa Rica, we found local guide with great references and it worked out well.
In ex Soviet era Muslim countries with little English speaking presence, I haven’t a clue where one would start!
Would it be best to go through a Saudi, Emirates or Egyptian agency?
Asher
In ex Soviet era Muslim countries with little English speaking presence, I haven’t a clue where one would start!
Would it be best to go through a Saudi, Emirates or Egyptian agency?
Asher
Jerome Marot
Well-known member
I see that the suggested Island include the Canaries. I would recommend those because:
A bit of Spanish will help, of course.
- they are quite cheap, both flight and accommodation
- they have all facilities a tourist can need
- they have stunning landscapes, surprisingly different between islands.
A bit of Spanish will help, of course.
fahim mohammed
Well-known member
Asher, there are tour companies. We found them via internet search.
However, we generally do not book complete tours thru any one operator.
A city tour to get our bearings, the hotel concierge to see if he/she has friends that can drive and guide.
Spend a day or two in tourist hotel coffee shops, lobbies and one gets to know the general charges for car hire with driver, guide etc.
But one thing we always do..read up as much as possible re: the country, the places one wants to visit, ways to get there..and for me, the nearest medical facilities!!
Has worked well so far, if one is not operating on a strictly fixed schedule.
The other way, of course, is to contact a tour operator in your home country to arrange everything for you.
We have never done that, so cannot offer any pointers.
Remember, it is an adventure. Not a precise surgical procedure. A little uncertainty adds to the fun, and experience!!
However, we generally do not book complete tours thru any one operator.
A city tour to get our bearings, the hotel concierge to see if he/she has friends that can drive and guide.
Spend a day or two in tourist hotel coffee shops, lobbies and one gets to know the general charges for car hire with driver, guide etc.
But one thing we always do..read up as much as possible re: the country, the places one wants to visit, ways to get there..and for me, the nearest medical facilities!!
Has worked well so far, if one is not operating on a strictly fixed schedule.
The other way, of course, is to contact a tour operator in your home country to arrange everything for you.
We have never done that, so cannot offer any pointers.
Remember, it is an adventure. Not a precise surgical procedure. A little uncertainty adds to the fun, and experience!!
nicolas claris
OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Sailed around 4 of them!
But how crazy it is to try to limit to 20, there are so many beautiful islands around the globe!
This list look like a tourist guide…
But how crazy it is to try to limit to 20, there are so many beautiful islands around the globe!
This list look like a tourist guide…
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Nicolas,
The key is to find Islands that have adequate facilities to look after tourists. We take for granted a quick visit to the Emergency Room at a hospital for a scorpion or snake bite or an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Perhaps just a cracked toe. We also depend on fresh water and reliable sewage systems. Many islands lack these essentials!
Then there are swindlers and villains!
My friends son chatted with wonderful Indonesian fellows at their upscale Bali hotel bar. They got advice on their tour itinerary.
It turned out they were spotters for a gang that preyed on tourists and the ambushed them many miles away in an isolated gas station. They were beaten and robbed of everything they had!
A lot of Islands in the Caribbean that cruise boats stop in, actually dump their rich passengers on to the island where there is a white picket fences sort of “colonial outpost”, set up as if on a wealthy mans estate, except its packed with “wholesale” jewelry and expensive watch stores and restaurants and the local folk, just a bicycle-ride away into the nearest town, get none of the business and have open sewers and school girls are barefoot!
So yes, islands seem wonderful but it must be
Asher
The key is to find Islands that have adequate facilities to look after tourists. We take for granted a quick visit to the Emergency Room at a hospital for a scorpion or snake bite or an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Perhaps just a cracked toe. We also depend on fresh water and reliable sewage systems. Many islands lack these essentials!
Then there are swindlers and villains!
My friends son chatted with wonderful Indonesian fellows at their upscale Bali hotel bar. They got advice on their tour itinerary.
It turned out they were spotters for a gang that preyed on tourists and the ambushed them many miles away in an isolated gas station. They were beaten and robbed of everything they had!
A lot of Islands in the Caribbean that cruise boats stop in, actually dump their rich passengers on to the island where there is a white picket fences sort of “colonial outpost”, set up as if on a wealthy mans estate, except its packed with “wholesale” jewelry and expensive watch stores and restaurants and the local folk, just a bicycle-ride away into the nearest town, get none of the business and have open sewers and school girls are barefoot!
So yes, islands seem wonderful but it must be
- Developed
- Have a hospital
- Adequate facilities
- Safe
Asher
Peter Dexter
Well-known member
Good points Asher. Of the many places I might like to live in Colombia for a time such as the Chocó coast location of Bahía Solano the problem at my age is that the only good hospitals for serious issues are a plane ride away in Medellin.
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Well younger folk are at risk too!
They also fall and scrape arms and legs climbing trees, strain themselves carrying their overloaded backpack or get bitten wrestling with dragons!
Asher