Adventure Holiday Specials

Head to Ghana with Intrepid!

Greater love hath no man than for his football in Ghana. World Cup Fever is sweeping the country and this week’s top trip scores a goal every time!

Ghana has become the first African country to qualify for the 2010 Football World Cup, joining England and Australia in qualification. Ghanaian Captain Michael Essien summed up the country’s passion for the beautiful game, “The people of Ghana wanted us to win and we did not let them down. What a fantastic feeling to be the first African country to qualify for the first World Cup to be staged in Africa.”

Intrepid’s Best of Ghana and Mali is a unique overland trip and the highlight for many is a game of football. It was a close match this month against the locals of Mole Nation Park. It was 5-5 at the end of normal time, but Mole Park FC won the penalty in the shoot-out with Dragoman trip leader Michael missing the decisive penalty – allowing Ghana the bragging rights to have won two important football matches in the last week!

Explore has a number of price reductions and special offers available currently. Passing on price reductions from local operations through to their customers means there are some great savings available now -

Save £200 off jungle tribe expedition! With only one departure left this year, this 16 day journey into the heart of Venezuela allows you to to spend time with the Shirian tribe and explore this magnificent country.
The Shirian Tribal Lands trip is now £1,959 – departs 21 November 2009.

Big Galapagos savings! Visiting the Galapagos is notoriously expensive, so this is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of savings up to £420 on tours sailing to the islands on the Monserrat Yacht. These savings are available on departures from the UK on Tuesdays, compared with equivalent Wednesday departures.

There are also savings on trips to Abu Simbel, along with Peru, and the Explore Greek Caique Cruise. For more information, visit the website here.

Now is a fantastic time to take in some of what Southern Africa has to offer, as you can take advantage of Intrepid’s great travel offers on trips through South Africa -

Kruger Short Stays – 30% off!

Book one of three 4 day trips around world-renowned Kruger National Park before Oct 31 for 2009 departures and receive 30 per cent off brochured prices.
Quote promo code: 3224

Southern Explorer/Southern Magic -20% off!

Explore the magic of Southern Africa by taking in Kruger National Park, Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta and Khama Rhino Sanctuary! Book your place on one of these 13/14 day trips before Oct 31 for 2009 departures and get 20 per cent off the standard trip price.
and quote promo code: 3223

Overlanding, an excellent way to travel across, literally – land, can be an ideal way to see a lot of countries without the travel hassles of doing it yourself, whilst having an incredible time with your new-found friends. Riding a famous route – Cairo to Cape – Andes and Amazon – is an adventure in itself  and there is a real sense of camaraderie as everyone gets stuck in cooking together or digging the truck out of sand.

Classic routes run across Africa and South America, ranging from anything from 5 days, to a 36-week circumnavigation of each continent! However, the range of routes is constantly expanding, with newer routes travelling through the Middle East, or Central Asia, along the Silk Route. Specialist companies, such as UK to Oz Overlanding and Odyssey Overland, even offer London to Australia overland trips, crossing Europe, Central and South-East Asia.

A few of the big players are offering some incredible deals on trips at the moment . Now might be the time to take that trip of a lifetime – if you can pick between these great offers, that is!

Absolute Africa is offering 20% off safaris booked by 31 Aug 09 for select trips departing October to December. (Including, ‘The Absolute Safari’, ‘Wildlife Journey’, ‘Rivers of Africa’, ‘Gorillas and Gameparks’ and ‘African Drums’.) Quote ASP20 when booking.
They also have a 2 for 1 offer on ‘The Big Six’, ‘Tusker Trails’ and the ‘Gorilla Trek’ trips for departures October to November. Book now quoting A241.

Dragoman has a range of late deals and specials for trips to South America and Asia departing soon, including:
25% off Andes and Argentinian gauchos – ZZS79
10% off Machu Picchu, Inca Trails and Lake Titicaca – SCZ139
20% off India Adventure – FIN19

Oasis has some great deals on some of their shorter trips to Egypt and the Middle East:
Egypt Encompassed (10 Days) Cairo to Cairo, taking in Luxor and Aswan, has been slashed from £345 to just £295.
You could save yourself £100 on the 18 day Ottoman Odyssey from Damascus to Istanbul -  was £375 now £275.

Whilst Tucan similarly has late deals going, they also run a number of year-round special discounts.
Any of the following conditions will get you 5% off a trip: early booking, booking 2+ trips, repeat clients, booking with 2 mates, students/under 26s, over 55s.
And you can combine up to 3 of these discounts together to get 15% off your trip!

Intrepid has some great offers on some of the Indochina adventure travel trips, allowing you to explore Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia for bargain prices!

With their ‘Mates Rates’ offers, going traveling with your friends can cut your travel costs by up to a quarter -

Book one person get 10% OFF
Book two people get 15% OFF
Book three people get 20% OFF
Book four people get 25% OFF
(off each trip)

The promotion is valid for travel between 01/08/2009 and 31/12/2009, and trips must be booked before 32 August, quoting promo code 3171.

Western Sun

7 days, ex Los Angeles
from £470 plus trip kitty

Hike around the rim of the Grand Canyon, Witness a dramatic sunset over the Colorado River, Road trip along iconic Route 66, Ride a cable car through the steep streets of San Fran

California Dreamin’

14 days, ex. Los Angeles
from £780 plus trip kitty

Hit the road on meandering Hwy 1, Discover a slice of the Mediterranean in Santa Barbara, Dance with Lady Luck in glitzy Las Vegas, Be awestruck by the wild beauty of Yosemite

Norway Arctic Whale Safari

• Long weekend of whale watching inside the Arctic Circle
• Enjoy the great variety of sea & bird life on the Lofoten Islands
• Experience summer in the ‘land of the midnight sun’

4 days, from £895 inc flights (£495 without flight

In Sri Lanka you can see the old Bo Tree, which is believed to be a cutting from the tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment. But this is not the country’s most important Buddhist site. Our top trip this week follows the drumming and chanting rituals of pilgrims to reach Dalada Maligawa.

In the cultural town of Kandy you will find Dalada Maligawa, or Temple of the Sacred Tooth, which famously houses one of Buddha’s teeth. Every morning an elaborate ritual is performed to awaken the tooth and streams of pilgrims dressed in white enter the temple to pay their respects to Buddha. On festival days the streets are a fervent display of local culture and colours, as the tooth is placed in a gold box and paraded through town on the back of Sri Lanka’s most majestic elephant.

Sri Lankan culture spans over 2,000 years and remains vibrant and alive, so book your Circle Sri Lanka trip this month and you can take a friend with you for 30% off

It’s easy to put a foot wrong when we travel, but thanks to our intrepid team, here are some responsible travel tips to help you get it right…

In Moscow it won’t cost you a ruble to visit the Sakharov Museum, which tells the history of repression and human rights in Russia from the revolution onwards. Another great option is the newly-designed ‘Eco Walk’ to Vorobyovy Gory. The walk to the city’s highest point marks Moscow’s first attempt at recycling bins, bird feeders for the local wildlife and information about the nature of the area.

In St Petersburg, Intrepid supports Nochlezhka, a wonderful organisation that gives food, clothing and shelter to homeless people and helps them integrate back into society. So any clothes, shampoo and food you have to donate will be gratefully received. A great sightseeing option is visiting one of the Siege of Leningrad museums so you can learn more about this city’s fascinating history. A portion of museum profits goes towards funds for Siege survivors. These museums are not expensive and very interesting, especially if you hire a guide.”

If you are eager to explore right now, check out this week’s specials for 20% off Russia and Beyond and A Taste of Russia – but you will have to act fast, as availability can change at any time!

The people of Uzbekistan are so welcoming, that even when something goes wrong you might not know it. Thanks to this top travel blooper tale, Trans-Asia Express is this week’s top trip…

Two Trans-Asia Express travellers were keen art lovers, so they asked the owner of our Samarkand hotel if there was an art gallery nearby, or maybe an artist who works from home?

The owner happily called a friend and let her know that the guests would be there in twenty minutes. With instructions on how to walk there, our Intrepid travellers set off.

They thought they found the house and were greeted by the family. They looked around the house, admired the artwork and were offered a cup of tea. They couldn’t find anything they wanted to buy, so thanked the ‘owner’ of the gallery and walked back to the hotel.

Upon their return the surprised hotelier asked where they had been? Her gallery friend had phoned, because she’d been waiting for them for two hours! Ah, the hospitality of the Uzbek people!