Alaskan sunset This past year has seen many of our valued travelers enjoying exciting adventures on our escorted tours, as well as a number who we have sent privately to varied destinations across the globe, including Poland, Peru & Machu Picchu, Chile & Argentina wine tour, Thailand Family Adventure, river cruises in Europe, Vietnam & Cambodia, luxury train journeys on the Belmond Eastern & Oriental Express in Malaysia, Rovos Rail and Shongololo Express train journeys around South Africa and to the west coast of Namibia. (Angkor Wat drawing courtesy of our client, Rodney Grosskopff, who sketched his way around South East Asia in October with his wife, Eileen.) We will be making an important announcement at the end of this newsletter, but first we want to give you a report-back on our two escorted tours in 2017. Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands June 2017 In June this year our travellers from South Africa and the UK enjoyed an amazing 16 days escorted tour in Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands with Judy Vos. The elegant Patio Andaluz boutique hotel welcomed us in Quito where we experienced a day in the life of the locals: visit to the San Francisco market with an incredible array of fruit and vegetables, medicinal herbs and drinks. The artisan workshops introduced us to a ceramics restorer, a hat maker, a herbal healer and a chocolatier. Plus two churches and a pre-inca museum. Our next adventure took us to Ecuadorian Amazon where we spent 3 nights at Napo Wildlife Centre Eco Lodge, always a very worthwhile experience. The gentle navigation among the creeks in dugout canoes, the visit to a local community in the jungle, climbing the canopy tower to above the treetops, the abundant birdlife, the monkeys, the caiman and even a sloth, plus the excellent accommodation and delicious cuisine at the lodge made for an unforgettable adventure which was a memorable highlight for everyone.
Page 2 The Andean Highlands brought cooler weather and some rain, but this did not dampen our enthusiasm. For 3 nights, Hacienda Cusin was our home base, from where we explored the artisinal villages of the weavers, musical instrument makers, woodworkers and leather producers. At Cuicocha Lake we enjoyed the wealth of flowers and plants along the way and later the cool forest and spectacular Peguche Waterfalls. At La Compañia Rose Farm we enjoyed a tour of the rose tunnels, packing rooms and showrooms, rounded off with a delicious lunch in the owner s beautiful home. On to the world famous Otavalo Market where we could easily have purchased enough beautiful items to warrant an extra suitcase. A highlight in the Andes was a trip on the Liberty Train from Ibarra to Salinas, crossing deep ravines and dropping down towards the coast where the scenery changed from agriculture to miles of sugar cane fields. Our land tour may have ended but Galapagos Islands lay ahead and our 6 nights aboard luxury yacht La Pinta in the Western Islands was indeed an experience of a lifetime. Our excursions took us to North Seymour Island, Isabela, Fernandina, Rabida, Floreana and Santa Cruz. It was thrilling to walk so close to blue footed boobies with their fluffy white chicks, see the frigate birds with their red balloons inflated to try and attract the females, watch Sally Lightfoot crabs scuttling away over the rocks, almost touch the sealions lazing on the beach with their babies and walk among hundreds of marina iguanas as they sprawled over each other on the sand. When the wildlife was less abundant, the volcanic rocks, variety of vegetation and beautiful beaches were equally interesting. A visit to the quaint town of Puerto Ayora and the Charles Darwin Research Centre, to learn about the rehabilitation of tortoises to their original islands, was a real treat. Even more so a trip to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island where we were privileged to walk among giant tortoises in the wild. Our group at Cuicocha Lake in the Andean Highlands. La Pinta lying off Rabida (Red) Beach Could there be any other place on earth where so much diversity of nature can be packed into so short a time! Ecuador will certainly be on offer again in the near future. Tour report by Judy Vos
Best of Croatia - September 2017 Our oversubscribed tour introduced 22 participants from Canada, the USA, Turkey and South Africa to this splendid destination. The tour started in Croatia s capital, Zagreb, distinguished by it s 18 th century Austro-Hungarian architecture. Our welcome dinner at the Vinodol Restaurant was a reunion of old friends, as almost all had travelled with me before. On a walking tour of the old city, our excellent guide introduced us to the splendours of the Upper Town with the Gothic twin-spired Zagreb Cathedral and 13 th century St Mark s Church with its colourful tiled roof, the pedestrianfriendly Tkalčićeva Street, lined with outdoor cafes, Lower Town with its shops, markets, museums, parks and Ban Jelačić the main square, where our hotel was conveniently located. A drive into the countryside took us to the 13 th century Trakošćan Castle, in a picture perfect setting, home of the former noble Draskovič family. Page 3 Travelling through the tall pine forests of the Gorski Kotar mountain region, we reached the green hills of the Istrian peninsula, with a stop at the charming artists village of Grožnjan and an olive oil tasting to learn about the attributes of the finest olive oils. Highlights of the area were Poreč, where we spent two nights at a sea front hotel, Rovinj with its maze of ancient cobbled streets and Pula where we visited the well preserved 2,000 year old Roman Colosseum. The UNESCO protected Plitvice Lakes is a highlight of any visit to Croatia. We explored the 16 turquoise lakes connected by magnificent waterfalls, on wooden walkways and on a short boat ride cross the lake. At the nearby picturesque Rastoke village with its small waterfalls and watermills we were shown how flour is ground using a simple mechanism of paddle wheels used to power the rotating millstone.
Page 4 En route to the city of Split our first stop was the famous cathedral of Sibenik, an architectural masterpiece. In Split we enjoyed a city tour, as well as one of the hidden secrets of this city, the outstanding Meštrović Gallery, former home of the renowned 19th century Croatian sculptor and architect, Ivan Meštrović, whose art has been compared to that of Michelangelo and Rodin. This gallery houses many of his masterpieces, carved in marble, in bronze and wood. Our group at the Meštrović Gallery in Split Practising to be an artist s model This brought us to the start of a new adventure, our 7 night cruise aboard the deluxe cruiser, the MV Infinity. Our Captain made a few changes to our itinerary, due to unfavourable sailing conditions, to steer us along calm waters and to find sheltered harbours. Life aboard our luxurious vessel was relaxing, leisurely and undemanding. We sailed from island to island, with stops for refreshing dips in the blue Adriatic and shore excursions each day. Our on-board chef presented us with delicious, sophisticated and well presented meals. Our first stop was at Trpanje on the Istrian Peninsula, where we disembarked to take a drive into the countryside through olive groves and vineyards. At the home of a local farming family, we enjoyed the famous local wines and platters of Dalmatian cheese and ham. This was just one of the opportunities during our cruise for tasting Croatian wines and sampling the local cuisine. The island of Korcula is best known as the birth place of Marco Polo, although the Italians don t agree and say he was from Venice. We explored the island of Mljet in the Mljet National Park, along pleasant shady paths, including a boat ride across the lake to St Mary s Island with its 12 th century former Benedictine monastery. Hvar, known as the lavender island, was where we could purchase high quality lavender oil, lavender sachets and beautiful small gifts to take back home. The island of Brač still has an active quarry for the island s famous white limestone, used to construct Washington s White House. It is also home to Zlatni Rat, regularly listed as one of the top beaches in Europe.
Page 5 The city of Dubrovnik with its ancient city walls was another special highlight of our tour. Climbing to the top and walking the city walls is a fairly taxing exercise and not everyone attempted this. Our younger travellers visited the sites where Game of Thrones was filmed and even had photos taken on the Throne. Our cruise and our tour finished back in Split with our special Captain s farewell dinner on board. Due to the popularity of this destination and as we were unable to accommodate everyone on this tour, it will be repeated in 2018. Tour report by Louise Pannell And now for some IMPORTANT news! As yet another year draws to a close, the winds of change are coming to Pannell s Tours. After over 30 years in travel and having made many friends around the world, Louise Pannell has decided it is time to take up a very well earned retirement. On 01 March 2018 Louise will hand over the reins to Judy Vos, her partner in Pannell's Tours since 2013. Under Judy's leadership, Pannell s will continue to offer exciting tours to exotic destinations across the globe. If you who have traveled with Pannell's in recent years, you may have met Judy on a tour or become acquainted via e-mail as a tour comes together. Judy will be joined by her daughter, Lorienne, who will introduce a refreshing younger view to the company and take the lead in coaxing Pannell s Tours more fully into the digital age. Having traveled extensively, Lorienne brings with her a love of travel plus expertise in finance, administration and social media. Louise will be sorely missed, but she will still be available to lead occasional escorted tours, which will be the case for Alaska Great Adventure in August and Classic Croatia in September 2018. She has a special message below for all our fellow travellers. Judy will be leading the tour to Vietnam & Angkor Wat in April and there are other exciting options in the pipeline for later in the year. Our travelers are indeed spoiled for choice next year - please take a moment to have a look at our upcoming escorted tours here www.pannellstours.com/escorted-tours.php Message from Louise: It is with mixed feelings that I am writing this. For 32 years travel has been my passion, my business, my life. 27 of these wonderful years were shared with my late husband, business partner and soul mate James. During this time I have been privileged and blessed to travel to all corners of our beautiful world and to meet and make lasting friendships with many wonderful people from many different countries. It is now time for me to retire from the business, but not from the many wonderful friendships and I will stay in touch. I wish to thank and pay tribute to the numerous loyal travellers who have supported Pannell s Tours over the years. Some of our clients have been travelling with me since the 1980s and still join our tours, which means we must be doing it right. Judy has acquired all the necessary skills and expertise and more importantly, she also has the same passion for service beyond the norm and I am confident that with her at the helm, Pannell s Tours can only go from strength to strength. I will still be available as a tour leader when Judy needs me. My last official tour as a partner in Pannell s Tours will be Bhutan, Land of Happiness in February 2018. We still have a couple of seats available if anyone would like to join me on my farewell tour. www.pannellstours.com/escorted-tour-to-bhutan.php We wish you and your families a bright and cheerful festive season and a New Year marking the start of brighter and more exciting journeys. Enjoy the ride!