collecting countries

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

[+terratin]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

[+hzoi]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

I say screw 'em. How many chances does one get to go A.P.E. in Brazil?

 

In other news, though our plans have changed multiple times, we now have tickets to St. Thomas, USVI, for late summer, with plans to duck into BVI once or twice. Was glad I checked the Skymiles price -- I was about to pay $570 each for a flight from Atlanta when I realized I had enough airline miles to get two round trip tickets for $30. Yes please!

Edited April 26, 2017 by hzoi

[+terratin]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

I say screw 'em. How many chances does one get to go A.P.E. in Brazil?

 

In other news, though our plans have changed multiple times, we now have tickets to St. Thomas, USVI, for late summer, with plans to duck into BVI once or twice. Was glad I checked the Skymiles price -- I was about to pay $570 each for a flight from Atlanta when I realized I had enough airline miles to get two round trip tickets for $30. Yes please!

 

Well, honestly having an Ape cache and no job, or a job and no Ape cache is also something to be considered.

[+hzoi]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

I say screw 'em. How many chances does one get to go A.P.E. in Brazil?

 

In other news, though our plans have changed multiple times, we now have tickets to St. Thomas, USVI, for late summer, with plans to duck into BVI once or twice. Was glad I checked the Skymiles price -- I was about to pay $570 each for a flight from Atlanta when I realized I had enough airline miles to get two round trip tickets for $30. Yes please!

 

Well, honestly having an Ape cache and no job, or a job and no Ape cache is also something to be considered.

Only the meek get pinched. The bold survive.

[+terratin]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

I say screw 'em. How many chances does one get to go A.P.E. in Brazil?

 

In other news, though our plans have changed multiple times, we now have tickets to St. Thomas, USVI, for late summer, with plans to duck into BVI once or twice. Was glad I checked the Skymiles price -- I was about to pay $570 each for a flight from Atlanta when I realized I had enough airline miles to get two round trip tickets for $30. Yes please!

 

Well, honestly having an Ape cache and no job, or a job and no Ape cache is also something to be considered.

Only the meek get pinched. The bold survive.

 

Right. Business meeting on Monday. No ape. But I might be back in October, depending on how serious my business contact is with inviting me over again If this happenes then I can certainly plan ahead and go to the Ape, and maybe even add a bit of extra time for for example Ilha Grande or something similar. No problem. I'll be roaming Rio tomorrow and the day after, and collecting more ECs there.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

I say screw 'em. How many chances does one get to go A.P.E. in Brazil?

 

In other news, though our plans have changed multiple times, we now have tickets to St. Thomas, USVI, for late summer, with plans to duck into BVI once or twice. Was glad I checked the Skymiles price -- I was about to pay $570 each for a flight from Atlanta when I realized I had enough airline miles to get two round trip tickets for $30. Yes please!

 

Well, honestly having an Ape cache and no job, or a job and no Ape cache is also something to be considered.

 

Having a job and no ape cache leaves the possibility open that the job will provide a way to have the ape cache some time in the future.

I complete sympathize with work getting in the way of finding a geocache while traveling on a business trip. On my first trip to Ethiopia I was within 1000' of one of the six caches in the entire country a couple of times but was never able to go look for it. Fortunately, work brought me back a couple more times and I was able to find a cache on each of the subsequent trips. My work is going to take me back to Cuba in November but to a town where there is only one cache and it's frequently gone missing.

[+terratin]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

I say screw 'em. How many chances does one get to go A.P.E. in Brazil?

 

In other news, though our plans have changed multiple times, we now have tickets to St. Thomas, USVI, for late summer, with plans to duck into BVI once or twice. Was glad I checked the Skymiles price -- I was about to pay $570 each for a flight from Atlanta when I realized I had enough airline miles to get two round trip tickets for $30. Yes please!

 

Well, honestly having an Ape cache and no job, or a job and no Ape cache is also something to be considered.

 

Having a job and no ape cache leaves the possibility open that the job will provide a way to have the ape cache some time in the future.

I complete sympathize with work getting in the way of finding a geocache while traveling on a business trip. On my first trip to Ethiopia I was within 1000' of one of the six caches in the entire country a couple of times but was never able to go look for it. Fortunately, work brought me back a couple more times and I was able to find a cache on each of the subsequent trips. My work is going to take me back to Cuba in November but to a town where there is only one cache and it's frequently gone missing.

 

Exactly. Hey, I got a new caching country on my stats! That's worth something for me. And it's a huge one as well, and my first in south America. No complaining here.

[+funkymunkyzone]

Bummer terratin... Oh well, it will surely be there for next time. And it's worth it!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

I say screw 'em. How many chances does one get to go A.P.E. in Brazil?

 

In other news, though our plans have changed multiple times, we now have tickets to St. Thomas, USVI, for late summer, with plans to duck into BVI once or twice. Was glad I checked the Skymiles price -- I was about to pay $570 each for a flight from Atlanta when I realized I had enough airline miles to get two round trip tickets for $30. Yes please!

 

Well, honestly having an Ape cache and no job, or a job and no Ape cache is also something to be considered.

 

Having a job and no ape cache leaves the possibility open that the job will provide a way to have the ape cache some time in the future.

 

I complete sympathize with work getting in the way of finding a geocache while traveling on a business trip. On my first trip to Ethiopia I was within 1000' of one of the six caches in the entire country a couple of times but was never able to go look for it. Fortunately, work brought me back a couple more times and I was able to find a cache on each of the subsequent trips. My work is going to take me back to Cuba in November but to a town where there is only one cache and it's frequently gone missing.

 

Exactly. Hey, I got a new caching country on my stats! That's worth something for me. And it's a huge one as well, and my first in south America. No complaining here.

 

I wouldn't complain either. You've got five continents now. Any plans to visit Australia? I haven't hit South America yet either. I thought I might get Australia this year but management has become a little tougher about providing funding for international travel.

[+Justin Of Terrytown]

I went on a five days cruise last week (Carnival Triumph: Carnival Cruise Line) out of New Orleans. I found four Geocaches in Mexico (three in Cozumel and one in Progresso).

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I went on a five days cruise last week (Carnival Triumph: Carnival Cruise Line) out of New Orleans. I found four Geocaches in Mexico (three in Cozumel and one in Progresso).

 

I have never been on a cruise but have considering doing a 4-5 day cruise that would go to several different places rather than just one country (in which I've already found a cache).

[+terratin]

Yeah, finally number 38, Brazil. Greetings from Rio.

 

Congrats. Good luck on the ape cache.

 

Thanks. Plans for business meetings change several times per day. I still don't know if Monday is off for me or not. Two days is not enough to go Ape.

I say screw 'em. How many chances does one get to go A.P.E. in Brazil?

 

In other news, though our plans have changed multiple times, we now have tickets to St. Thomas, USVI, for late summer, with plans to duck into BVI once or twice. Was glad I checked the Skymiles price -- I was about to pay $570 each for a flight from Atlanta when I realized I had enough airline miles to get two round trip tickets for $30. Yes please!

 

Well, honestly having an Ape cache and no job, or a job and no Ape cache is also something to be considered.

 

Having a job and no ape cache leaves the possibility open that the job will provide a way to have the ape cache some time in the future.

 

I complete sympathize with work getting in the way of finding a geocache while traveling on a business trip. On my first trip to Ethiopia I was within 1000' of one of the six caches in the entire country a couple of times but was never able to go look for it. Fortunately, work brought me back a couple more times and I was able to find a cache on each of the subsequent trips. My work is going to take me back to Cuba in November but to a town where there is only one cache and it's frequently gone missing.

 

Exactly. Hey, I got a new caching country on my stats! That's worth something for me. And it's a huge one as well, and my first in south America. No complaining here.

 

I wouldn't complain either. You've got five continents now. Any plans to visit Australia? I haven't hit South America yet either. I thought I might get Australia this year but management has become a little tougher about providing funding for international travel.

 

I'm not sure. It's such a long flight. I was kicking myself while being on Bali though: Northern Australia is so close, and it would have been easy to hop over for a few days.

[+terratin]

I went on a five days cruise last week (Carnival Triumph: Carnival Cruise Line) out of New Orleans. I found four Geocaches in Mexico (three in Cozumel and one in Progresso).

 

Nice! A Baltic Sea cruise would be something for me. Lots of nice towns, and some new countries.

[Glory Hunters]

Added three new countries thanks to our honeymoon: Sri Lanka (4 caches), Maldives (1 cache) and Qatar (1 cache). Not bad. Now I'm up to 31 and looking forward to the 32nd in september (Japan). Before that it is unlikely, though I have some countries not far away which I'm missing (namely Malta, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Morocco; and then the Balkans). (Also Gibraltar, but I think it's not counted separately, is it?).

[+Michaelcycle]

Added three new countries thanks to our honeymoon: Sri Lanka (4 caches), Maldives (1 cache) and Qatar (1 cache). Not bad. Now I'm up to 31 and looking forward to the 32nd in september (Japan). Before that it is unlikely, though I have some countries not far away which I'm missing (namely Malta, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Morocco; and then the Balkans). (Also Gibraltar, but I think it's not counted separately, is it?).

1. Congratulations on the nuptials!

2. The Balkans are amazing

[+hzoi]

Added three new countries thanks to our honeymoon: Sri Lanka (4 caches), Maldives (1 cache) and Qatar (1 cache). Not bad. Now I'm up to 31 and looking forward to the 32nd in september (Japan). Before that it is unlikely, though I have some countries not far away which I'm missing (namely Malta, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Morocco; and then the Balkans). (Also Gibraltar, but I think it's not counted separately, is it?).

1. Congratulations on the nuptials!

2. The Balkans are amazing

1. Ditto!!

2. Ditto.

3. Yes, Gibraltar is its own country per GC "country" standards. So are Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Aland...

Edited May 18, 2017 by hzoi

[+funkymunkyzone]

Still trying to decide whether to go for a Svalbard, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland expedition in June/July - would bring me up to 73 countries, still a little bit short of my aim of getting to and maintaining double my age. It's a very strange time for me at the moment not having a next trip already planned!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Still trying to decide whether to go for a Svalbard, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland expedition in June/July - would bring me up to 73 countries, still a little bit short of my aim of getting to and maintaining double my age. It's a very strange time for me at the moment not having a next trip already planned!

 

For a couple of those locations a layover in Iceland might be the only or best way to get to them and IcelandAir has a layover program that allows one to spend up to a week there as a layover between two other places without an additional cost in airfare. I went to Iceland for a conference last year and only found a few caches but the more I've read about it, the better it looks as a place to go if you want to focus a visit around geocaching. There seems to be a lot of really good cache there.

 

Recently I saw a list of the remote cities in the world and the capital of Svalbard (LongYearByen) was on the list. I've been interested in visiting Greenland since some of the modern day sea kayaking is based the boat, paddles, and techniques are based upon Greenlanders going back ages. I've taken a day long training class from someone that competed in the Greenland kayak olympics where I learned how to do a bunch of different types of rolls. For quite awhile I primarily used a Greenland style boat and have wanted to build a traditional greenland style kayak (but with modern materials).

 

 

[+terratin]

Added three new countries thanks to our honeymoon: Sri Lanka (4 caches), Maldives (1 cache) and Qatar (1 cache). Not bad. Now I'm up to 31 and looking forward to the 32nd in september (Japan). Before that it is unlikely, though I have some countries not far away which I'm missing (namely Malta, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Morocco; and then the Balkans). (Also Gibraltar, but I think it's not counted separately, is it?).

 

Congratulations!

 

Gibraltar is a separate country. Go for it!

 

I'm planning on colouring in my UK map a bit more. Got the chance to a free trip into the Northern Highlands, including all paid for car, gasoline, food and accommodation. Oh, and I get paid for it as well. Only need to drop off two students that are late for a fieldtrip there. Anyway, this will allow me to colour in a substantial part of Northern Scotland's counties. Yay!

[+terratin]

Still trying to decide whether to go for a Svalbard, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland expedition in June/July - would bring me up to 73 countries, still a little bit short of my aim of getting to and maintaining double my age. It's a very strange time for me at the moment not having a next trip already planned!

 

You do need to go, and take me along as a research assistant or whatever you're doing there!

[+funkymunkyzone]

Still trying to decide whether to go for a Svalbard, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland expedition in June/July - would bring me up to 73 countries, still a little bit short of my aim of getting to and maintaining double my age. It's a very strange time for me at the moment not having a next trip already planned!

 

You do need to go, and take me along as a research assistant or whatever you're doing there!

 

A research assistant you say... haha

 

Actually since I posted that, I've bought a Going APE swag pack that needs to be picked up at the event, so I guess that means I'll be aiming for Seattle in August. I guess there is still a chance to squeeze in a quick trip before then, maybe just the Midnight Sun Mega in Finland and a couple of days in Svalbard... I have to decide soon or I'll have work commitments get in the way. I know I'll be going to Canada next year for a wedding so Iceland and Faroe could wait until then I guess.

[+terratin]

Still trying to decide whether to go for a Svalbard, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland expedition in June/July - would bring me up to 73 countries, still a little bit short of my aim of getting to and maintaining double my age. It's a very strange time for me at the moment not having a next trip already planned!

 

You do need to go, and take me along as a research assistant or whatever you're doing there!

 

A research assistant you say... haha

 

Actually since I posted that, I've bought a Going APE swag pack that needs to be picked up at the event, so I guess that means I'll be aiming for Seattle in August. I guess there is still a chance to squeeze in a quick trip before then, maybe just the Midnight Sun Mega in Finland and a couple of days in Svalbard... I have to decide soon or I'll have work commitments get in the way. I know I'll be going to Canada next year for a wedding so Iceland and Faroe could wait until then I guess.

 

Cachology assistent then? Guess that's a no then

[+funkymunkyzone]

Still trying to decide whether to go for a Svalbard, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland expedition in June/July - would bring me up to 73 countries, still a little bit short of my aim of getting to and maintaining double my age. It's a very strange time for me at the moment not having a next trip already planned!

 

You do need to go, and take me along as a research assistant or whatever you're doing there!

 

A research assistant you say... haha

 

Actually since I posted that, I've bought a Going APE swag pack that needs to be picked up at the event, so I guess that means I'll be aiming for Seattle in August. I guess there is still a chance to squeeze in a quick trip before then, maybe just the Midnight Sun Mega in Finland and a couple of days in Svalbard... I have to decide soon or I'll have work commitments get in the way. I know I'll be going to Canada next year for a wedding so Iceland and Faroe could wait until then I guess.

 

Cachology assistent then? Guess that's a no then

 

I can always do with an assistant to find caches for me. Nine and a half thousand caches and I still haven't got the hang of it, or maybe I'm just losing the capacity for patience faster than I am gaining searching skills.

[+colleda]

Added three new countries thanks to our honeymoon: Sri Lanka (4 caches), Maldives (1 cache) and Qatar (1 cache). Not bad. Now I'm up to 31 and looking forward to the 32nd in september (Japan). Before that it is unlikely, though I have some countries not far away which I'm missing (namely Malta, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Morocco; and then the Balkans). (Also Gibraltar, but I think it's not counted separately, is it?).

 

Congratulations!

 

Gibraltar is a separate country. Go for it!

 

I'm planning on colouring in my UK map a bit more.

Anyway, this will allow me to colour in a substantial part of Northern Scotland's counties. Yay!

How do you do that? I had a look at my profile UK map and it doesn't show any counties.

We'll be going back there in September and would like to see if we could add more (counties).

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Still trying to decide whether to go for a Svalbard, Faroe, Iceland, Greenland expedition in June/July - would bring me up to 73 countries, still a little bit short of my aim of getting to and maintaining double my age. It's a very strange time for me at the moment not having a next trip already planned!

 

You do need to go, and take me along as a research assistant or whatever you're doing there!

 

A research assistant you say... haha

 

Actually since I posted that, I've bought a Going APE swag pack that needs to be picked up at the event, so I guess that means I'll be aiming for Seattle in August. I guess there is still a chance to squeeze in a quick trip before then, maybe just the Midnight Sun Mega in Finland and a couple of days in Svalbard... I have to decide soon or I'll have work commitments get in the way. I know I'll be going to Canada next year for a wedding so Iceland and Faroe could wait until then I guess.

 

Cachology assistent then? Guess that's a no then

 

One of my Facebook friends (actually, someone I went to high school with) has offered her services to me as a .....valet.

[+terratin]

Added three new countries thanks to our honeymoon: Sri Lanka (4 caches), Maldives (1 cache) and Qatar (1 cache). Not bad. Now I'm up to 31 and looking forward to the 32nd in september (Japan). Before that it is unlikely, though I have some countries not far away which I'm missing (namely Malta, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Morocco; and then the Balkans). (Also Gibraltar, but I think it's not counted separately, is it?).

 

Congratulations!

 

Gibraltar is a separate country. Go for it!

 

I'm planning on colouring in my UK map a bit more.

Anyway, this will allow me to colour in a substantial part of Northern Scotland's counties. Yay!

How do you do that? I had a look at my profile UK map and it doesn't show any counties.

We'll be going back there in September and would like to see if we could add more (counties).

 

Project GC, though I think the county maps are only a premium feature.

[+funkymunkyzone]

Looks like my plan has changed and I'll probably head to the Going APE mega... no new countries. Maybe a couple of new states, if I can convince my potential travel companions.

[+terratin]

right 14 ECs are in my gps for the ride back to Edinburgh from Northern Scotland. Wonder how many I'm able to do. I should be able to collect four new counties anyway.

[+funkymunkyzone]

On the plus side, since our plan is to fly into Vancouver and drive down, I will finally be able to increase my Canadian find count, currently standing at 1 (which I found in the middle of a blizzard on a layover between flights, and was lucky to get back to the terminal - we got the last bus before they stopped due to the snow)

[+NYPaddleCacher]

On the plus side, since our plan is to fly into Vancouver and drive down, I will finally be able to increase my Canadian find count, currently standing at 1 (which I found in the middle of a blizzard on a layover between flights, and was lucky to get back to the terminal - we got the last bus before they stopped due to the snow)

 

I'll probably be going to Montreal in September for a few days and can hopefully find my first cache in Canada, which is kind of ironic as I live about a 2.5 drive from the border. I had a layover in Montreal on the way back from Iceland in November but my flight was delayed and didn't get there until around 9:00PM and couldn't find the cache in the dark. I've been to Vancouver a couple of times, spent a few days on Vancouver Island, to Ontario a couple of times, and spent a few days in Newfoundland. Unfortunately, that was all before I started geocaching.

 

 

[+Gill & Tony]

In another thread, this came up...

 

I'm 69 and hope to add a few new countries when I tour Africa next year to celebrate my 70th.

 

I plan to do this for a few more years yet.

 

Which countries are you going to? I've been to Africa six times so may be able to offer some advise.

 

Things are very much in the early planning stage. We will probably do an 18-24 day tour with Scenic Tours, starting in Cape Town and ending in Nairobi, having visited a few game reserves plus Victoria Falls, on the way. This one is out of their 2017 brochure, but there are several other tours available. I would then like to fly to Cairo and do a Nile River cruise before flying home. Hopefully I can fit Petra into that somehow. Scenic's 2018 brochure will be out in June or July and their 2018 tours start in May - so I expect to be doing the trip in in The Southern Hemisphere winter next year. Trying to fit the end of the first tour into the start of the Nile Cruise will be a significant factor in finalizing the dates.

 

I haven't even started looking at TripAdvisor yet, so it is all up in the air until the brochure appears in my mailbox.

 

Any and all advice will be appreciated.

[+terratin]

Yea, 18 caches attempted yesterday, of which I found 17, of which 8 were Earthcaches. Near the last cache I suddenly saw these two guys right in front of my: My link Those things always happen if you don't have your proper camera with you but just a phone.

 

Today I'm driving home again and have 14 ECs lined up for that ride. Not sure though how many I'll manage. It's a 5hrs drive without any breaks, lunch or caching detours. Thus could be a long day.

 

Logging all those caches will take a while. I hope I don't lose my EC answers.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

In another thread, this came up...

 

I'm 69 and hope to add a few new countries when I tour Africa next year to celebrate my 70th.

 

I plan to do this for a few more years yet.

 

Which countries are you going to? I've been to Africa six times so may be able to offer some advise.

 

Things are very much in the early planning stage. We will probably do an 18-24 day tour with Scenic Tours, starting in Cape Town and ending in Nairobi, having visited a few game reserves plus Victoria Falls, on the way. This one is out of their 2017 brochure, but there are several other tours available. I would then like to fly to Cairo and do a Nile River cruise before flying home. Hopefully I can fit Petra into that somehow. Scenic's 2018 brochure will be out in June or July and their 2018 tours start in May - so I expect to be doing the trip in in The Southern Hemisphere winter next year. Trying to fit the end of the first tour into the start of the Nile Cruise will be a significant factor in finalizing the dates.

 

I haven't even started looking at TripAdvisor yet, so it is all up in the air until the brochure appears in my mailbox.

 

Any and all advice will be appreciated.

 

With an arranged tour you might have fewer options but I'd consider Ethiopia rather than Egypt and save Egypt/Petra for another trip. When I last went to Ethiopia I spent a few days in Bahir Dar, where the source of the white Nile is located. I've heard that Lalibela is a must see. I'd definitely include Victoria Falls and nearby Livingstone. A good friend of mine recently got back from a 2 week trip in Uganda where she went on a wild gorilla tour. That's something you won't see in those other game parks on the list.

[+terratin]

Yiha, three new northern Scottish counties for me. Plus 21 new EC finds, a new oldest rock in my collecting and a fantastic weekend.

[+funkymunkyzone]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

 

 

[+terratin]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

Not me. The US doesn't want me in since having added Iran to my caching country list.

[+funkymunkyzone]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

Not me. The US doesn't want me in since having added Iran to my caching country list.

 

I've never worried about that sort of thing... should I start?

 

The only time that I have strategically timed country visits was going to Serbia before Kosovo, having heard stories of Serbian immigration defacing passports/visa stamps and otherwise getting shirty about "illegal border crossing" since they still consider Kosovo to be Serbian territory.

 

I was questioned about visa stamps for Zimbabwe and Cuba, amongst others, when a friend of mine and I were detained in the middle of the night by Romanian border patrol, but that's a long story, and we deserved it, considering where we were...

[+Gill & Tony]

In another thread, this came up...

 

I'm 69 and hope to add a few new countries when I tour Africa next year to celebrate my 70th.

 

I plan to do this for a few more years yet.

 

Which countries are you going to? I've been to Africa six times so may be able to offer some advise.

 

Things are very much in the early planning stage. We will probably do an 18-24 day tour with Scenic Tours, starting in Cape Town and ending in Nairobi, having visited a few game reserves plus Victoria Falls, on the way. This one is out of their 2017 brochure, but there are several other tours available. I would then like to fly to Cairo and do a Nile River cruise before flying home. Hopefully I can fit Petra into that somehow. Scenic's 2018 brochure will be out in June or July and their 2018 tours start in May - so I expect to be doing the trip in in The Southern Hemisphere winter next year. Trying to fit the end of the first tour into the start of the Nile Cruise will be a significant factor in finalizing the dates.

 

I haven't even started looking at TripAdvisor yet, so it is all up in the air until the brochure appears in my mailbox.

 

Any and all advice will be appreciated.

 

With an arranged tour you might have fewer options but I'd consider Ethiopia rather than Egypt and save Egypt/Petra for another trip. When I last went to Ethiopia I spent a few days in Bahir Dar, where the source of the white Nile is located. I've heard that Lalibela is a must see. I'd definitely include Victoria Falls and nearby Livingstone. A good friend of mine recently got back from a 2 week trip in Uganda where she went on a wild gorilla tour. That's something you won't see in those other game parks on the list.

I don't think that there will be a later trip. We are getting to the stage where long haul flights are more trouble than they are worth. I want to see Africa - the last continent for me - but beyond 2018 we will be travelling nearer home.

[+terratin]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

Not me. The US doesn't want me in since having added Iran to my caching country list.

 

I've never worried about that sort of thing... should I start?

 

The only time that I have strategically timed country visits was going to Serbia before Kosovo, having heard stories of Serbian immigration defacing passports/visa stamps and otherwise getting shirty about "illegal border crossing" since they still consider Kosovo to be Serbian territory.

 

I was questioned about visa stamps for Zimbabwe and Cuba, amongst others, when a friend of mine and I were detained in the middle of the night by Romanian border patrol, but that's a long story, and we deserved it, considering where we were...

 

Might be true, but in my case I'd need to fly to London or Belfast and interview at a US Embassy to just get a visa. Visa is $180. The whole process of getting a vista with flight, transport and possibly hotel would cost about $300-500, depending in the time of the day I get an interview at the embassy, with a risk of not being allowed to enter the US once my plane has landed. No thanks.

Edited May 31, 2017 by terratin

[+Ambrosia]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

If I'm not out of town, I'm sure I'll head up to the Ape event. I'm only about 1.5 hours away.

[+colleda]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

Not me. The US doesn't want me in since having added Iran to my caching country list.

 

I've never worried about that sort of thing... should I start?

 

The only time that I have strategically timed country visits was going to Serbia before Kosovo, having heard stories of Serbian immigration defacing passports/visa stamps and otherwise getting shirty about "illegal border crossing" since they still consider Kosovo to be Serbian territory.

 

I was questioned about visa stamps for Zimbabwe and Cuba, amongst others, when a friend of mine and I were detained in the middle of the night by Romanian border patrol, but that's a long story, and we deserved it, considering where we were...

 

Might be true, but in my case I'd need to fly to London or Belfast and interview at a US Embassy to just get a visa. Visa is $180. The whole process of getting a vista with flight, transport and possibly hotel would cost about $300-500, depending in the time of the day I get an interview at the embassy, with a risk of not being allowed to enter the US once my plane has landed. No thanks.

Is there something that precludes you from applying online for ESTA visa for US?

[+terratin]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

Not me. The US doesn't want me in since having added Iran to my caching country list.

 

I've never worried about that sort of thing... should I start?

 

The only time that I have strategically timed country visits was going to Serbia before Kosovo, having heard stories of Serbian immigration defacing passports/visa stamps and otherwise getting shirty about "illegal border crossing" since they still consider Kosovo to be Serbian territory.

 

I was questioned about visa stamps for Zimbabwe and Cuba, amongst others, when a friend of mine and I were detained in the middle of the night by Romanian border patrol, but that's a long story, and we deserved it, considering where we were...

 

Might be true, but in my case I'd need to fly to London or Belfast and interview at a US Embassy to just get a visa. Visa is $180. The whole process of getting a vista with flight, transport and possibly hotel would cost about $300-500, depending in the time of the day I get an interview at the embassy, with a risk of not being allowed to enter the US once my plane has landed. No thanks.

Is there something that precludes you from applying online for ESTA visa for US?

 

Yes, having been to Iran. The same would be true for I thikn four other 'evil countries', including Iraq and Syria. if you've been to any of those within the last 5 years you cannot apply for an ESTA but need to go the complicated and expensive 'interview at embassy' route, with no guaranteed positive outcome. Five years after this trip I might be able to get the ESTA route again, provided Trump doesn't change the rules until then.

Edited June 1, 2017 by terratin

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

Not me. The US doesn't want me in since having added Iran to my caching country list.

 

I've never worried about that sort of thing... should I start?

 

The only time that I have strategically timed country visits was going to Serbia before Kosovo, having heard stories of Serbian immigration defacing passports/visa stamps and otherwise getting shirty about "illegal border crossing" since they still consider Kosovo to be Serbian territory.

 

I was questioned about visa stamps for Zimbabwe and Cuba, amongst others, when a friend of mine and I were detained in the middle of the night by Romanian border patrol, but that's a long story, and we deserved it, considering where we were...

 

For some reason my passport wasn't stamped when I went to Cuba but I've got a Zimbabwe visa in my older, expired passport. It's not just a stamp, but a full age sticker that is definitely the coolest visa I've seen. The only ones I've got in my current passport that might raise an eyebrow might be the ones for Turkey, UAE, and two for China.

[+colleda]

Any other traveling types heading to Going Ape 2017 this year?

 

Not me. The US doesn't want me in since having added Iran to my caching country list.

 

I've never worried about that sort of thing... should I start?

 

The only time that I have strategically timed country visits was going to Serbia before Kosovo, having heard stories of Serbian immigration defacing passports/visa stamps and otherwise getting shirty about "illegal border crossing" since they still consider Kosovo to be Serbian territory.

 

I was questioned about visa stamps for Zimbabwe and Cuba, amongst others, when a friend of mine and I were detained in the middle of the night by Romanian border patrol, but that's a long story, and we deserved it, considering where we were...

 

For some reason my passport wasn't stamped when I went to Cuba but I've got a Zimbabwe visa in my older, expired passport. It's not just a stamp, but a full age sticker that is definitely the coolest visa I've seen. The only ones I've got in my current passport that might raise an eyebrow might be the ones for Turkey, UAE, and two for China.

We're off to the US in a week with almost blank passports.

Our previous passports had visas and stamps for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Russia, Mongolia, China and Hong Kong, all communist countries.

[+funkymunkyzone]

For some reason my passport wasn't stamped when I went to Cuba but I've got a Zimbabwe visa in my older, expired passport. It's not just a stamp, but a full age sticker that is definitely the coolest visa I've seen. The only ones I've got in my current passport that might raise an eyebrow might be the ones for Turkey, UAE, and two for China.

 

I've got a few of those full page ones... cool

 

And I specifically asked to be stamped in Cuba - and they thought I was crazy wanting the stamp (because they thought I was american)

[+terratin]

Right, I have an otherwise completely unplanned trip to Dublin coming up. Saw flight offers with Ryanair and just booked for a weekend two weeks from now. that's a new country, and the oldest caches in Europe for me then, at least 7 earthcaches, 3 virtuals and hopefully a webcam.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Right, I have an otherwise completely unplanned trip to Dublin coming up. Saw flight offers with Ryanair and just booked for a weekend two weeks from now. that's a new country, and the oldest caches in Europe for me then, at least 7 earthcaches, 3 virtuals and hopefully a webcam.

 

I wanted to do Europes First when I went to Dublin last year. I was planning on doing it the day I got there but unfortunately I couldn't check into the place I was staying at early so had to keep my luggage and laptop with me and it was raining most of the day. There's a train from Dublin that goes to Bray and Europes First is not too far from the train station. There are also a couple of Earthcaches and letterboxes nearby.

 

[+terratin]

Right, I have an otherwise completely unplanned trip to Dublin coming up. Saw flight offers with Ryanair and just booked for a weekend two weeks from now. that's a new country, and the oldest caches in Europe for me then, at least 7 earthcaches, 3 virtuals and hopefully a webcam.

 

I wanted to do Europes First when I went to Dublin last year. I was planning on doing it the day I got there but unfortunately I couldn't check into the place I was staying at early so had to keep my luggage and laptop with me and it was raining most of the day. There's a train from Dublin that goes to Bray and Europes First is not too far from the train station. There are also a couple of Earthcaches and letterboxes nearby.

 

Yep, my hostel isn't far from the train station. I'm currently preparing this trip. I wonder if it's possible to do 9 cache types on one day. The biggest issue will probably be a Wherigo at Europe's First. I'm not feeling so well at the moment, and climbing around on those cliffs might be just a bit too much. Will see. I'll be traveling without hold luggage, but will leave most stuff in the room during that day, but will have to carry the few things in my backpack the coming day. Doesn't seem much of a problem though - and even if it rains I have a rainhood for the backpack, and I could still go to the archaeological museum instead of finding caches in town.

 

Other than that I found caches in two new counties in Northern Scotland yesterday My map is slowly filling up.

[+terratin]

Right, I was hoping to go to Orkney, but it seems like I cannot get a rental car for all of the summer But I have an alternative idea, and it will be my 40th country when it works out. I only hint: one of the funniest flags out there.