The Dominican Republic

My room at Casa de Campo

View to the right

View to the left across golf course

Had a real early start to my day - 4.00am. Left the hotel at 4.35am drove myself to the airport, parked in daily parking at 6.00 a day walked thru security with my carry on and was at the gate just 25 minutes later. Spoke to no one and no one asked to see my passport - offered my driving license as ID and had printed my boarding pass at home prior to leaving. Flying over The DR two things hit me - how large it is and how green. Theres a $10.00 arrival charge at the airport for which one is given a coupon and surrender at the next guichet.

American Airlines - What are you thinking? - Where's your customer care ?

American Airlines is charging 25.00 per person for a seat assignment if requested over the phone?
I booked two cabins with Oceania Cruise lines using the free air package promotion. ...Of course nothing is free - the 'free air' also carries $800.00 per person in taxes, security fees and fuel surcharge.... and of course if you want to confirm a non-stop direct flight there is a deviation fee of 100.00 per person to secure an acceptabe flight. This, sadly is the way the world works these days ....But, as I want my clients to sit together on the flight and I don't have the PNR # seeing it was booked through a cruise line, I call American to discover there is a 25.00 fee per seat assignment when requested over the phone. Let's get some customer service and good PR here . I'm usually a pretty level-headed agent but this has made my blood boil. I did achieve my goal by going on line and avoiding the fee and I could say that's a good reason to use a consultant but it's the waste of time that gets to me .
On the other hand - my clients are returning on Delta Airlines, who assigned their seats and cross-referenced the reservations with no fee. Thank you Delta, your customer service is appreciated.

Turkish Wildflowers

I sent my sister to Turkey and just look at what she saw .. beautiful

Mt Etna

This incredible photo was taken from the hotel room of one of our clients who also sledded down Mt Etna on the same day .

Light on a Dark Canvas

My sister, Wendy Brown, has written a book about her life in Zimbabwe - I'm so very proud of her - check it out on her new blog
http://lightonadarkcanvas.blogspot.com/
and then order the book!

Bhutan. Inside the Hidden Himalayan Kingdom. A Hosted Journey. 12 Days.

Bhutan. Inside the Hidden Himalayan Kingdom. A Hosted Journey. 12 Days.

It's Yachting, not Sailing!

Tired of winter?
SeaDream Yacht Club has given me the best prices to share with my clients on three Caribbean sailings. At $2199.00 per person (Rack rate is $6900.00) all inclusive including tips , it includes an overnight in St Barts and several British Virgin Island isles.
Dates are March 12th, 20th and 27th - call me 888 836 9829.