|
Rundown
for the Week of May 23, 2003
Listen
to the Whole Show
Opening
Of Show
|
South African Township Tour by Amy Costello 
Listen
in RealAudio
It may not be everyone's idea of a way to spend a vacation, but around the world, people are making room on their travel itineraries to visit places of suffering. In South Africa, an increasing number of visitors are signing up to go on "township tours." Amy Costello went on a tour of a township in Langa, outside of Cape Town -- but this was no normal tour where visitors bring fond memories of a new place back home. No, this tour presents the injustice of apartheid and the suffering of blacks because of an imposed system. What Amy did bring home was understanding of, and compassion for, a people who overcame and are trying to move on.
|
|
|
|
A Sherpa's Journey Interview with Jambling Tenzing Norgay
Listen
in RealAudio
It's the 50th anniversary of the first summit climb of Mt. Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary. Since that moment in 1953, thousands have tried to reach the highest peak in the world. More than 1,700 have succeeded, and more than 175 have died. Nearly 56 of those who died were Sherpas. Sherpas are still the backbone of every Himalayan climbing expedition. They cart equipment up the icy slopes, and they climb ahead and set the ropes for the rest of the team -- they're the heroes of the expedition. Savvy Traveler host Diana Nyad interviewed Jamling Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, Sir Edmund Hillary's climbing partner, 2 years ago. He had just written a book about Sherpa life called "Touching My Father's Soul."
|
|
|
|
Travel Behind the Scenes Adolphus Onyiante, ground operations coordinator, Jet Blue Airlines, JFK
Listen
in RealAudio
In "Travel Behind the Scenes," we feature people who aren't necessarily travelers themselves, but work in places where they observe travelers or the travel industry. This week, we meet a man who works the tarmac operation at Kennedy Airport. His name is Adolphus Onyiante. Adolphus immigrated to the States and now, after all these years in NY, he is still proud of his work in keeping things running smoothly at one of the biggest airports in the world.
|
|
|
|
Sound Travels Cicadas, dogs and frogs, Southeast Asia
Listen
in RealAudio
"Sound travels," the part of our show when we travel with just our ears as our guide, takes us to Southeast Asia this week. The sounds of summer are everywhere: the bullfrogs, the crickets, the cicadas. We listen to the sound of summer in Southeast Asia. The crickets are actually chirping in Laotian, the bullfrogs croaking in Thai, and the dogs barking in Burmese. It is summer and it is night and the animals sing to us.
|
|
|
|
Fix My Trip The Case of the Swampy Hotel Room
When you're on the road, running around all day in an unfamiliar city, your hotel room often becomes a refuge, a safe haven where you relax -- well, usually. But sometimes, things go awry at the hotel. You could return to your room after sightseeing and find yourself standing in the middle of a swamp. It happened to Mike Brutz from Barnesville, Ga. He was staying at the DaVinci Hotel in New York and a leak in the room above turned his room into a wading pool.
Did they charge him for the room? Well, they knocked $50 off the bill, but they shrunk a pair of his wool slacks that they were supposed to dry -- and now, he's out $147.
Listen
in RealAudio (Let's hear about Mike's experience)
So, how should Mike have handled this situation? Good thing it's time for Fix My Trip, where we help people fix travel snafus. We asked our Travel Troubleshooter, Chris Elliott, to see if he could even the score for Mike.
Listen
in RealAudio (Let's hear about the solution)
|
Online resources:
 www.davincihotel.com: The DaVinci Hotel
www.elliott.org: Christopher Elliott's Web site
Got a trip that needs fixing? Have you exhausted every possible remedy and don't know where to turn? Send us an e-mail at fixmytrip@savvytraveler.org and tell us what happened to you. Be sure to include your daytime phone number.
|
|
|
Deal of the Week Europe on the Cheap
Listen
in RealAudio
Our Travel-Expert-in-Residence, Rudy Maxa, has one sweet hotel-airfare deal for us: Get major bonus hotel nights at Westin Hotels if you plan your getaway vacation by the end of the year at United Vacations, the package-tour arm of United Airlines.
Click here for details and link information
|
Deal information:
For bmi's "Wale of a Deal," call Undiscovered Britain and Ireland at 866-508-8804. For more info on the promotion, visit the Wales Tourist Board Web site at www.travelwales.us/bmi.
Check out other packages at www.trafalgar.com, or obtain a brochure by calling 800-648-1638.
|
|
|
