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Hello, friends! I'm writing to you from the Atacama Desert in Chile, the driest place on the planet! Did you know that NASA actually tests their Mars rover technology up here because it most closely resembles the conditions of Mars? Wild!
Two weeks ago saw us in a very different atmosphere, though–Easter Island, surrounded for thousands of miles by the Pacific Ocean in all directions. More on that in a bit though—let's get to it!
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In this issue:
- The C-word
- Easter Island review in photos
- Brand New trip alert: Total Solar Eclipse & Easter Island, December 2020!
- Helping the Animals of Australia
- Goodbye to Tim
- EOA: Eating On Arrival
- Galapagos wrap-up and new sea lion video!
- A quick reminder about plastics
- Choosing restaurants on the fly
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The C-word
Yup. The Coronavirus. We've been following the WHO, CDC, State Dept, and every bit of reputable news since the virus hit the media. Because the health and well-being, both physical and mental, of our guests has been and will always be our first priority, we have canceled three of our major tours this year due to the virus—two journeys in Mongolia (including our pilgrimage with Tricycle: The Buddhist Review), as well as our beloved Around the World "World Wonder" itinerary (that one really hurt our hearts!)
Mongolia, despite having no cases of the virus at the moment, has wisely stopped incoming flights from almost all of its usual ports (Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, to say nothing of Beijing). What made our Around the World trip so special was its many expertly-planned moving parts and seamless connections; what made it special also made it fragile, vulnerable to unexpected quarantines, flight cancellations, and more. We'd rather postpone this itinerary than jeopardize the health, comfort, and enjoyment of our guests. So, silver lining, you'll have a chance to join our Mongolia and Around the World trips in the future if you missed out this time!
Our hearts go out to our travel partners all over the world, taking a huge hit as they are seeing cancellations in droves. As a small "mom and pop" boutique travel provider, this development is severely impacting us, as you can imagine. Our whole world changed overnight! However, we can switch into "hibernation" mode more easily than most, without huge overhead expenses or employees like traditional brick-and-mortar operators. My sincere enthusiasm for eating black beans and rice for every meal also comes in handy in these tight times, haha, and luckily, we're staying put in an inexpensive Airbnb in Mendoza, Argentina with a kitchen for 6 weeks! And heck, wine is often cheaper than water in Argentina (seriously!) so I won't feel bad for indulging now and again.
No one can predict the future, but we can all keep our wits about us. We do ask that when you feel comfortable traveling again, please consider your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man travel providers, like us; we, in turn, make sure that those resources stay in the local communities with locally-owned hotels and businesses that need it the most!
Here are a few articles that came across our desks this week that we think provide a respite from the panic in the mainstream media:
And if I may... since you're all washing your hands many, many times a day for 20+ seconds... don't forget to turn the faucet off while you scrub up!
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Easter Island, a review in photos
What a joy it was to see the iconic moai statues of Easter Island firsthand! We rented a car for the week and thoroughly explored the island from sun up to sun down, with some midnight astrophotography experiments tossed in for good measure.
I put a few of our favorite photos up on the website along with some basic info about Easter Island; you can find them here or by clicking the button below. We've worked out some great add-on itineraries for our future South America tours!
Beyond the natural beauty and fascinating cultural elements (and great, affordable sushi!), we absolutely fell head over heels for the dogs of Easter Island. Many of them had families, but all of them were looked after by the community and were tremendously friendly and healthy–not to mention their posing game was A++!
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Speaking of Easter Island...
Total Solar Eclipse journey to South America in December 2020
While no one can see the future and what the travel landscape will look like later this year, we have a trip proposition for you! We were going to head to the Argentinian Lake District this December to see the total eclipse. We figured since all the planning was done, why not open up the opportunity to some friends. Then we thought...what a perfect time to add on Easter Island!
Just so you know, this is NOT the major Patagonia trip of January 2022 that we are planning. However, the December 14, 2020 total eclipse of the sun is ONLY visible in northern Patagonia. We'd be viewing it from the Argentinian Lake District, close to Bariloche, because this is where the skies have the best chance of being clear. You can see some of BJ's photos from the 2017 total eclipse here. We planned our whole year around the 2017 eclipse; we returned to the U.S., rented a car in South Florida, and ended up camping in a kind family's front yard in Kentucky (which you'll see in this album)! Needless to say, you won't have to camp on a stranger's yard on this trip ;)
This journey would be from December 8th to 21st of this year, starting in Chile. We'd take a gorgeous boat ride from the Chilean Lake District to the Argentinean border, then continue on the Bariloche, Argentina. Bariloche itself has some stunning opportunities for walks and hikes in the wilderness of national parks. After the eclipse, we'll return to Chile to fly to Easter Island for a 4-night stay and our handcrafted "best of" itinerary.
We're only opening this up for 3 to 6 guests maximum, so if this sounds interesting to you, please reply to this email and let me know. We'll have pricing and more specifics in two weeks, but it can't hurt to express your interest now!
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 Help for the Animals of Australia!
The amazing Jill Ayres just wrapped up a phenomenal yoga RetreaTour in Sri Lanka; we're so grateful to our Sri Lankan partners and Jill for facilitating such a wonderful experience! As a way of saying thank you to Jill and all of our truly amazing, hilarious, enthusiastic Australian guests, we've donated $1200 AUD to the local charity of their choice, the Mallacoota Wildlife Shelter. Mallacoota is in the heart of the devastating bushfire region of the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, and we thank them so much for their ongoing service to animals like Frankie here (pictured on their Facebook page).
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Goodbye to Tim
 If you've seen our September 2020 Kenya Safari website, you've surely read about Tim, an old tusker elephant who survived all odds to become one of the, if not the, largest land mammals on the planet.
Sadly, Tim passed away last month at the age of 50, thankfully due to natural causes and not the relentless efforts of poachers. We're so lucky we got to spend time in Tim's presence last year. Tim had some great tusker buddies in Amboseli Park, and we'd love to introduce you to them, including his pal Craig.
There are still 4 spots available for our amazing wildlife safari in September. Perhaps one of those spaces is yours?
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EOA: Eating on Arrival
When you arrive at your destination's airport, it's usually a mad dash through baggage claim, customs, and then figuring out transport to your hotel: taxi, train, bus, or even hotel shuttle. It's all usually a little frenetic, isn't it? Not the best way to start your vacation!
Something we've been doing more and more is finding a place to sit and having a snack or small meal upon arrival before immersing ourselves in a new place. Most airports have some sort of cafe in the arrivals area, and sitting for a minute and nourishing yourself (or caffeinating yourself, as it may be!) before jumping into the fray can shift the mood of your arrival entirely. That way you don't have to hunt for food as soon as you get settled in the hotel, and you can start your exploration in a more relaxed manner with fewer "hangry"-induced frustrations.
It might feel strange at first, to stop the momentum and just sit in the arrival airport, but give it a shot next time and it see if it sets a different tone!
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Galapagos 2020 wrap up + 2021 registration!
We wrapped up our Galapagos 2020 journey since the last time we reached out, and what a fantastic trip it was! We all reveled in the company of blue-footed boobies, Galapagos penguins, seahorses, sea lions, sea turtles, giant tortoises, marine iguanas...even hammerheads! The water was exceptionally clear and the sea lions particularly sassy–check out this video from our Isla Lobos excursion!
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The surveys are rolling in from our awesome Galapagos 2020 guests, and here are a few choice words:
"With great good humor, they shepherded our group around to all the most interesting destinations, maximizing our valuable time and making sure everyone was having a blast in the process."
"I've never been with a group that was led so competently, so spiritedly, and with such affection."
"I would not do Galápagos any other way or with anyone else. You guys anticipated everything we needed and organized it beyond my expectations."
"Their enthusiasm and gratitude matched our own, never a hint of 'been there, done that.' The time and energy that they put into planning is phenomenal. You can rest easy knowing they are handling the details. Be forewarned—their smiles and up attitudes are infectious."
I know, maybe infectious isn't the best word to use in this climate (yikes, too soon?), but...we sure do deeply appreciate all these sentiments!
There are only 4 spots available on our January 10-20, 2021 Galapagos journey, and we're opening up another trip from January 23-February 2, as well. You can see all the details at RetreaTours.com/Galapagos2021. Be on the lookout for the second trip's registration area soon, but you can always reply to me directly if those second dates interest you.
In the meantime, here's another short video of some highlights from this year's journey!
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Your friendly reminder about
Plastic
OK, I know there are enough bummers in the news now as it is, but I need to share a practical reminder with you all. On Easter Island, BJ and I left early one morning to see the sunrise and check out a semi-secluded beach before the crowds arrived. Well, there were no people there–only gobs and gobs of plastics and microplastics. You've probably heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vortex of swirling trash in the ocean. Well, guess what–there's a Southern Pacific Garbage Patch, as well, and this is the one that affects Easter Island. This is what we saw all along the shore...
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Let's all strive to be more mindful with plastic, ok? Last year when we stayed at an Airbnb in Cambodia, I kicked myself for buying a plastic pump bottle of hand soap rather than a bar of soap in a cardboard box–I was just on automatic. It takes time to get out of these habits! I'm getting better, though. Last month in the Galapagos I was really craving a cold coffee, but every single shop only offered it in a plastic "to go" cup (no "for here" cups to be had!) After making my rounds in the shops, I made peace with no iced coffee for the afternoon. Remember, it's not always about what you feel you 'deserve' (e.g., 'I deserve an iced coffee after a long day!'); you have to ask–does the marine life of the world deserve this?
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Finding food!
We talked about Eating on Arrival, but how do you find the best places to eat in a new destination? Perhaps you've already planned some very special meals in your destination (or even planned your trip AROUND some special meals!) with the help of guidebooks, blogs, and personal recommendations—but what about more casual meals on the fly?
Since we eat almost 100% of our meals in restaurants (with the rare exceptions of Airbnbs throughout the year where I immediately make a pot of, you guessed it, black beans and rice!), choosing a restaurant on the go has become second nature. (Of course the restaurants we choose to include on our tours are chosen more carefully and are thoroughly vetted–sometimes we have to try a restaurant's chocolate mousse two or even three times to make sure it's good enough for our guests ;)
My method mostly involves a combination of Google Maps and TripAdvisor, because the distance to a restaurant is usually pretty crucial. You can use the free TripAdvisor app to search for restaurants near you, and you can then choose to filter them by cuisine type, dietary restrictions, price, and other helpful parameters. You can also choose to see the results on a map which is a lovely option. TripAdvisor was my only go-to when we first moved abroad in 2013, but Google Maps has come a long way in regards to showing reviews, opening times, and even photos of the menu items!
When you open Google Maps to your location (or your intended location), you can search as broadly ("restaurants") or as narrowly ("vegan Thai restaurant") as you want, although I'd probably err on the side of more general. What I really like about the Google option is that, for most restaurants, it shows what time the restaurant is typically the busiest (like in the graph below).
Who knows, maybe you can even find some hidden gems in your own neighborhood this way instead of sticking to the few restaurants in your rotation. And don't forget to pay it forward by leaving a review or photo on TripAdvisor or Google yourself!
All I can say for sure is this: God bless the people that take photos of the menu and post them on these sites. My favorite genre of literature, by far, is "The Menu."
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We certainly thank you for spending your time with us today! While we've taken a huge hit with this virus scare, we're optimistic that this downtime will allow us to reinvigorate RetreaTours with some new ideas. Perhaps it will even give me time to work on the Street Dogs of the World coffee table book y'all keep telling me to create!
Please keep in mind our offerings for the future that haven't made it to the website just yet: Patagonia January 2022; Treat, Spay, Love (dog volunteer trip) in Nepal November 2021; a cultural Sri Lanka journey and an Egypt journey with BJ and I, dates TBD; and of course our rescheduled Mongolia and Around the World trips!
Tomorrow at 5 AM we hop on a 10-hour bus ride to the salt flats of Bolivia. I look forward to the night sky there, as the features of the Southern Hemisphere's sky are just breathtaking and so different from the North. (Be sure to check out the photo below our signature!) The wonders of South America are endless, and we look forward to creating more itineraries in the coming years to share them with you.
After the salt flats we hop on another long-haul bus to Mendoza, Argentina, a famous winemaking region, to stay put in an Airbnb for about 6 weeks. The idea of having a kitchen and a couch for 6 weeks sounds divine! #TheLittleThings, right?
Please take good care of yourself and keep washing those hands, ok? (PS, this photo is from a short flight in the Galapagos last month!)
 Safe travels &
happy trails,
Lauren and BJ
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In this photo we took on our last night on Easter Island, you can see the Southern Cross constellation (right in front of the maoi's nose), as well as the Carina Nebula (the pinkish bit just above that). In addition, that "cloud" you see near the upper right corner? While it is, in fact, called the Large Magellanic Cloud, it is a GALAXY! The night skies of the Southern Hemisphere are gorgeous!
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