Monthly Archives: October 2012

EXPERIENCE THE WORLD’S ONLY ORCA PRESERVE – NORTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND BC CANADA – FROM NEW ECO-CAMP!

Why this trip: The best chances of close views of orcas from the newly eco-improved “glamping” basecamp in the HEART of the first and only orca preserve in the world; the best single time and place in the world to paddle with salmon-eating orcas; sheltered waters and base camp perfect for novice paddlers/whale watching buffs; orcas guaranteed each August – or get a free orca watching day cruise!

TELEGRAPH COVE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — Sea Kayak Adventures invites outdoor-minded whale enthusiasts to experience their newly eco-improved fully catered/guided basecamp novice paddling trips July-Sept 2013 in the heart of orca territory in BC’s northern Inside Passage, near northern Vancouver Island. The location doesn’t get any better. Perched right on the heart of the sheltered “orca loop” in Johnstone Strait, the company’s exclusive basecamp site is graced with regular killer whale visits during the summer months, as they herd salmon into the cove. The unique smooth pebble beach even offers an ideal “massage” for the orcas who enjoy rubbing their bellies at this spot. This amazing orca immersion, coupled with newly constructed wall tents and sleeping cots, and the culinary and “glamping” flourishes of all SKA tours means eco-touring at its best.

The company’s “4-day Orca Kayak Eco-Basecamp” is a taste of luxury camping for novice paddlers. This rounds out the company’s offerings, as they also offer more hearty kayakers full six-day kayak classic “orca loop” itineraries as well in the Johnstone Strait area. Johnstone Strait is a narrow “orca freeway” – world renowned for its summer congregations of hundreds of “killer whales” following the salmon runs funneled from the Pacific into this specific area. In fact, Canada is the first and only country in the world to establish and maintain an orca preserve there. The Michael Biggs Robson Bight Orca Preserve is set aside specifically for this unique species called “northern resident orcas.”

Participants will paddle two-person sea kayaks along the shore of northern Vancouver Island, enjoying this glacier-carved waterway between Vancouver Island and the rugged mountains of mainland British Columbia. Along the way, they’ll get close to wild orcas, as well as seeing them from the eco-camp. Guides scan the calm waters for spouts and point out whale behavior. Salmon leap and bald eagles dot the towering trees along the shore, feasting as do the orcas on the prolific salmon runs here.

The group will also explore the area’s rainforest on foot, visit the ancient First Nations sites, visit orca researchers and hopefully glimpse a black bear from their kayaks. Each night, after a wonderful beachside happy hour, bountiful dinner and legends and nature talks given by our naturalist guides, happy guests can even watch orcas from their tents.

Normally trips depart from Port McNeill on Vancouver Island BC Canada – weekly July through mid Sept (four days paddling/three nights at eco-camp; USD $1195/person). The prices includes camping and kayaking equipment, meals, kayaking instruction and guide services. Youth get 10% of the above prices. HST tax and airfare not included.

 

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a
family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all thetravel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

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Help send a Vet to the National Welcome Home the Heroes Parade

All About Travel is working with Barbara Babcock (barbara58babcock@hotmail.com) of SAVE OUR VETERANS to send 100 of Oklahoma’s Iraq/Afghanistan Vets to the National Welcome Home the Heroes Parade which takes place in Chicago, December 15, 2012.  You can help send a Vet to the parade!!!

SAVE OUR VETERANS

A Taste of Africa …come join us!

Courtesy of African Travel

You’re Invited This event is FREE but space is limited!
Reservations are required
A Taste of Africa …Join us for a presentation with African Travel that explores the dazzling sights, sounds, scents and flavors of Africa. Discover travel options that provide intimate access to abundant wildlife that you’ll find no other place on earth, grand landscapes that can make even an elephant look small, and welcoming people proudly sharing their fascinating culture.

When: Tuesday October 30th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Where:  Queen of Sheba, 2308 N. MacArthur Boulevard
Oklahoma City, OK 73127

All About Travel, Ltd.
6104 Northwest 63, Oklahoma City, OK  73132

www.allabout-travel.com

Please RSVP to:  Anje Vela  anje @ allabout-travel.com

405-384-3880 voice / 405-384-3888 fax

African Travel Introductory Video

Hafffijy cutting a track in China

Chainsaw Kittens frontman, Tyson Todd Meade has raised funding via Kickstarter to record a new album. You see links below for more information. We are following this project since we sponsored the airfare to Hong Kong where some of the recording will be done. Here you will see Haffijy, one of the students cutting a track DIY style.

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a
family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all thetravel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

The metro in Amsterdam – current & planned (2017) situation.

Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

Penn State Ph.D. candidate Matt Branch recently embarked on a journey to better understand a potentially unique approach to environmental governance. In December, Branch traveled to Bhutan, a tiny Buddhist kingdom nestled in the eastern Himalayas, to research environmental governance in the country. Bhutan has gained important international attention for developing a concept called “Gross National Happiness,” or GNH, which is an alternative to mainstream development models oriented toward GDP, or Gross Domestic Product. The concept was born in the 1970s by the fourth king of Bhutan, in response to criticisms that Bhutan’s GDP wasn’t growing rapidly enough. The king stated that he was more concerned with the well-being of his citizens than simply increasing the country’s economy.

The concept has gained quite a bit of traction since then. Bhutan has transformed GNH from a broad guiding principle to a quantitative metric that involves intensive national surveys that aim to understand the population’s happiness levels and what the government can do to improve them. Originally understood to have four pillars, good governance, sustainable economy, a healthy natural environment, and cultural preservation, GNH has since evolved to have 72 empirical indicators. In 2008, Bhutan crowned a new king and completed its transformation to a parliamentary monarchy, holding its first democratic elections. Thus, the country is at an interesting crossroads, as GNH will undoubtedly change with the shift in government.

Read More: Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

 

I was here: Leaving a mark behind in this world

Thirdeyemom

Do you ever feel like you’ve got to leave your mark behind on this earth? That you can’t just live your life and leave without leaving something positive behind? By making some kind of difference in the world?

View original post 323 more words

In China warming up before recording session

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and a life to everything. ” ~ Plato
Bridging the cultural gap and starting to record for the new album, Chainsaw Kittens frontman, Tyson Todd Meade brings us a video of Haffijy. Haffijy is warming up for the recording session.

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a
family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

Student Choir Gone Bad – Song for Tyson Meade in China

Here we are with another update from Tyson in China.

Hello Everyone,
The students wanted to sing me a song. This is what they sang me. It is an old Chinese classic that they have made into their own. They are now ready for vaudeville. The student leading is the class monitor to whom they are merciless. Enjoy!
Tyson

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a
family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.

NEW Trip: Baja Blue & Gray Whale Extravaganza!

New Trip Announced – Baja Blue and Whale Combo 2013 – Whales Guaranteed!

Trip: Safari-style basecamp whale watching in Baja’s Magdalena Bay combined with lodge-based blue whale touring in Loreto Bay – whales guaranteed Feb-mid March!

Why this trip: Affordable soft adventure travel (this is not a kayak tour), guaranteed eyeball to eyeball gray whale sightings, chance to touch a gray whale, exclusive beach base camp in prime gray whale calving lagoon; combined with chance to snorkel and whale watch (blue and fin whales) in Sea of Cortez UNESCO World Heritage site, near Loreto, Baja California.

LORETO, BAJA CALIFORNIA — Being up close and personal with a gentle gray whale is something everyone should experience at least once in their life. Sea Kayak Adventures offers one of the best opportunities for this type of soul-rejuvenating and inspiring adventure. Magdalena Bay is federally protected by the Mexican government as a winter sanctuary for the California gray whale, where the whales give birth, nurture their calves and mate. The company has a novel offering – combining this special tour with a Loreto Bay snorkeling and whale tour in the Sea of Cortez. Both a national marine park and UNESCO World Heritage site, one can often see blue whales (the largest creature on the planet) and the slightly smaller fin whale.

Sea Kayak Adventures’ Isla Santo Domingo “safari-style” base camp is located right in the heart of the largest gray whale calving area in Magdalena Bay (Pacific side of the Baja peninsula), where we can see whales right from our camp. However, this adventure offers much more than simply seeing whales. On Sea Kayak Adventures’ whale watching tours, from six-man motorboats, participants have a chance to actually touch one of the 20,000 gray whales that winter in the waters of Baja California’s Pacific coast each February and March. It is hard to believe that in the 1950’s these gray whales were near extinction due to whaling.

“It’s the moment of a lifetime,” says SKA president Terry Prichard, “and gray whale sightings are guaranteed.” Each day motorized skiffs take participants out to the deeper waters of Boca de Soledad, where ‘friendlies’ have been known to swim up near the boat. In camp, as whales breach and spy-hop just offshore, guests can explore whalebone and shell-littered beaches and look for herons, egrets, shorebirds, dolphins, and spouting grays. (That sound after nightfall? Whales breathing.)

After the gray whale excursion, participants will go snorkeling and whale watching in Loreto Bay National Marine Park/UNESCO World Heritage site, based out of our downtown Loreto tour hotel. Here they will have a chance to travel alongside a massive blue whale – the largest creature on the planet, and/or it’s slightly smaller cousin, the fin whale, and even pods of curious dolphins.

Guides versed in whale natural history lead fun activities for participants, point out all wildlife, including leading birding excursions by demand, and prepare all meals in our huge camp kitchen. Whale guarantee – gray whales guaranteed Febrary 5 through March 10 – if none seen, the company will give participants a free day tour whale watching.

Tour participants will arrive on a Sunday and depart on a Sunday; with four nights’ hotel (with pool) accommodation in Loreto, daily whale watching by motorboat, all camping gear, naturalist guides, meals at camp, taxes, arrival airport transfer. This is not a kayak tour; novices are welcome. Airfare to Loreto in southern Baja California, Mexico, meals in town, national park fee are not included. Feb & March 2013 dates include air arrival and departure days. Cost: $1495 US for this eight-day tours (10% off for youth 17 and under). Alaska/Horizon airlines now fly into Loreto LTO from Los Angeles LAX five times a week.

 

To plan your trip today:

All About Travel
6104 Northwest 63
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
info [at] allabout-travel.com
405.384.3880

About All About Travel

Opened in 1978, All About Travel is located in the Oklahoma City area.  We are a
family owned and operated company that has strived to provide our clients with the highest quality of service for more than 30 years.  Our agents can arrange all your travel needs from the individual hotel and/or car reservation to an around the world cruise.  Nothing is out of reach.

We can help plan your honeymoon, your destination wedding or the much needed getaway for two.  Don’t forget about your business, we can handle all the travel needs for your company as well.  Anything from an airline flight and hotel for a meeting or all the planning needed for your next company-wide seminar.  We can arrange hotel space for all attendees and meeting rooms for all purposes.

Our agents travel to many destinations on FAM trips (Familiarization trips) these trips are designed by tour operators and cruise lines to make certain that travel agents are up-to-date on popular destinations and cruise ships.

So the next time you need to, or better yet, want to travel…Let us help, it’s what we do.