Rundown for the week of September 5, 1998
Keiko
The Pacific Northwest is about to lose one of its biggest tourist
attractions. On September 9th, an Air Force jet will fly the movie
star killer whale, Keiko, to a bay pen in the waters of his native
Iceland. It'll mean more frequent flier miles for a whale that's
already traveled more than many of us. After the surprise success of
the first "Free Willy" movie, a Hollywood studio and schoolchildren
around the world combined their pennies to rescue Keiko from a
cramped, overheated amusement park tank in Mexico. The whale has
spent the last three years at an aquarium in Newport, Oregon being
nursed back to health and trained for a possible return to the wild.
The Savvy Traveler's Tom Banse went to Newport to find out how the
town will fare without Keiko and his legions of fans.
Q & A I -- Beat the Holiday Weekend Crowds
Rudy talks to listeners about their ideas for avoiding the craze of
travelers over Labor Day weekend.
Lama Interview
Lama Surya Das is the highest-ranking Westerner in Tibetan Buddhism.
What's that got to do with travel? Well, Surya, as his friends call
him, keeps a traveling schedule that puts mine to shame. He recently
racked up a slew of frequent flyer miles on a 12-day tour, promoting
his latest book called Awakening the Buddah Within. He visited
ten cities on that tour, making at least three appearances a day.
Since Surya's purpose in life is to enlighten others, he's the perfect
guy to tell us how to handle the stress of travel.
Morocco Wedding Festival
Every September, one of Morocco's Berber tribes holds a celebration
whose origins are linked to a story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet.
Lured by the legend and by North Africa's vibrant music, Jim Metzner
traveled to Morocco to bring us this portrait of a marriage festival:
from clothing sellers to tourists taking photographs ... from animals
on the hillside to throngs of people attending to the ins and outs of
courtship.
Deal of the Week:
- Thrifty Car Rental will award you twice the usual number of miles if
you pay for your rental with an American Express card through the end
of December. You have to pick up your car between Sunday and
Wednesday and keep it at least two days.
- Horizon Air has slashed
fares for travel to Sun Valley, Idaho between October 1 and
mid-December. Example? $69 each way from Seattle. It's no surprise
that Thanksgiving is blacked out.
- Le Meridian Hotels & Resorts is
offering two nights for the price of one during weekends if you pay
with a VISA `til the end of the year.
- Buy a full, coach-class fare,
and AirTran will upgrade you to business class if there's space
available. The offer is good until the end of the month.
Q & A II -- General Questions
Rudy takes listeners' general questions about travel and mentions:
Fishing in Newfoundland:
Northern Sport Fishing 709-898-2411
Upper Humber Tours 709-635-5351
Eagle Lodge
Unlimited will fly guests by helicopter from Goose Bay, Canada
709-896-3901
Ed Hamilton & Co. Yacht & Charter
Agents 800-621-7855
Bellagio, Italy on Lake Como is famous for its gardens. Near
Bellagio, visit the village of Varenna. In Switzerland, on Lake
Maggiore, see Lugano - the Swiss version of the Riviera - and Locarno,
where you can climb 20 minutes to a 15th century church.
Next Week on The Savvy Traveler
Be sure to come along with me again on next week's journey when we
spend some time with Ira Glass... you know Ira....host of the popular
public radio show, "This American Life." We'll talk about what travel
means to him...
"I don't feel drawn to the exotic. Things don't seem exotic to me.
Things either seem sort of compelling magnetic or not."
We'll visit an town in Nova Scotia that's ironically become a magnet
for tourists drawn by tragedy and the biggest box office attraction of
all time...
"There they are, 10 plain black granite headstones. Only two have
names. The rest are identified with numbers. The stones all read: died
April, 15, 1912."
Where to find the real history of the Titanic tragedy. And we're
swapping stories of our most embarrassing moments on the road... in
next week's edition of The Savvy Traveler.
For tapes of the show...
If you want your very own copy of The Savvy Traveler, order an audio
cassette. It's easy. Just call 303-823-8000. The price is $15. As Rudy
says, it's a steal.
