Category Archives: Iceland

No Single Supplement – Voyages Jules Verne

Posted on by By Vivienne DuBourdieu
Shopping in Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia

Shopping in Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia - Wikipedia

Those of you who – like me – are fed up with heavily padded costs for travelling as a single could do worse than consider Voyages Jules Verne.

This specialist tour operator has just published the latest edition of its sought-after No Single Supplement brochure.

Covering departures until December 2012, solo travellers can choose from short break and longer-haul destinations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Far East.

They all have one thing in common…there are no extra charges for having a single room.

Far from being a ‘singles club’, these arrangements ensure that clients wishing to join a tour independently may do so without the all-too-familiar financial penalties imposed by many travel companies.

Equally appealing to first-time solos and regular clients of Voyages Jules Verne, the new No Single Supplement brochure includes three new itineraries:

Ice & Lights: A seven-night Icelandic adventure that takes in the south west corner of this intriguing island. Highlights include Reykjavik, the Golden Circle and world-famous Blue Lagoon as well as the lesser-visited spots of Hveragerði, Skaftafell and the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, where Northern Lights sightings are likely (conditions permitting). Departing November to March, the price is from £1,095 pp*.

Kenya – Wildlife & Coast: Travel from Nairobi to Mombasa on this 14-night African safari that features Amboseli and Tsavo West National Parks, the Taita Hills and Kenya’s original tea estate in the Limuru Highlands. Accommodation is four-star throughout and, in addition to several game drives, there’s also an opportunity to look around the former home of ‘Out of Africa’s’ Karen Blixen. Departing 19 April & 17 May 2012, the price is from £1,995 pp*.

 

Petra, on the Voyages Jules Verne itinerary for singles

Petra, on the Voyages Jules Verne itinerary for singles

Jordan’s Red Sea & Petra: Expanding its popular programme of holidays in Jordan this year Voyages Jules Verne now offers scheduled flights from Heathrow to Amman, enabling visitors to enjoy Saturday departures at a more convenient time, an extended season in which to travel and an additional day to spend in their chosen resort. This new eight-night option combines Amman, the Dead Sea and a third-centre choice of either Aqaba or Tala Bay. Departing October to May, the price is from £945 pp*.

The 2011/2012 No Single Supplement programme also includes familiar favourites such as Turkish Delights (four nights in Istanbul from £595 pp*), In the Company of Angels (four nights in Rome from £435 pp*), A Royal Steamer Restored (seven nights cruising the Nile in style from £1,495 pp*) and India’s Golden Triangle (nine nights from £1,175 pp*).

For those seeking to see in the Advent season with aplomb, Christmas Markets & Music on the Danube promises an unforgettable four-night cruise to Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava with private on-board concerts and plenty of festive shopping opportunities.

*According to the itinerary selected, prices include air travel and taxes, transportation, accommodation, some meals and the services of guides and local representatives. A programme of sightseeing excursions is available on most tours (additional charge may apply).

Some itineraries also include special events – exclusive to clients of Voyages Jules Verne – ranging from a late afternoon cruise on Lake Como and typical Ottoman Dinner in Turkey to a lecture on Tunisian history in Sousse, a private evening reception at Luxor Temple and a ride in a bullock cart in India.

Availability is limited on no single supplement rooms and early booking is highly recommended. And, if the risk of missing out altogether isn’t sufficient an incentive in itself, there are great discounts to be enjoyed by reserving a place now:

Gullfoss, Iceland - with Jules Verne Voyages

No single supplements in Gullfoss, Iceland, with Voyages Jules Verne

TUNISIA – Book by 31 October (2012 departures) for a £50 pp saving on Hannibal & Carthage – a seven-night tour of Tunisia’s classical sites, or Tunisian Mosaic – a week’s stay at the four-star El Hana Palace Hotel near Port El Kantaoui that includes visits to Carthage, El Djem, Kairouan and Sousse.

JORDAN - Book by 31 August (2011 departures) or 30 November (2012 departures) for a £50 pp saving on Discover Jordan (eight nights), Jordan’s Red Sea & Petra (eight nights) and Grand Tour of Jordan (15 nights).

For a copy of the new No Single Supplement brochure, contact Voyages Jules Verne on 0845 166 7035, or visit the award-winning website at www.vjv.com.

Here, prospective travellers can also visit VJV Lounge – a Review and Members’ Area where clients rate and review their experiences, upload photos and videos, and create groups whilst working their way through membership levels.

Click here for more information:

                                                                                                                                                      

 

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Eyjafjallajökull – What’s It All About

Posted on by By Vivienne DuBourdieu
Towards Newhaven, East Sussex. VDuBourdieu©2010

Towards Newhaven, East Sussex. VDuBourdieu©2010

The recent eruptions in Iceland could upset both weather and flying patterns around the world.

As I look out my living room window over the sea, which is completely shrouded in something that looks like sea mist, I can’t help but wonder at the lack of people on the beach on a pleasantly warm, fine April night.

Is it something to do with volcanic fallout?

The first eruptive stage of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, in Iceland, occurred just before midnight, local time, on 20 March, 2010, according to Iceland’s Institute of Earth Sciences.

Then, at around 0700 on 22 March, an explosion launched eruption columns almost 2.5 miles (4km) up in the air. Lava flowed down the volcano’s flanks until 12 April, when there was a short pause.

A new explosive, eruptive stage followed on 14 April. Reports say that Tuesday’s eruption came from a different vent in Eyjafjallajökull, beneath a 650-ft (200m) thick block of ice, unleashing a torrent of glacial meltwater.

Times Online reports there are fears that Eyjafjallajökull could set off the nearby Katla volcano, a far more violent beast capable of inflicting immense damage.

The precedents are not good. In the past 1,000 years, Eyjafjallajökull has erupted three times, in AD920, 1612 and 1821, and each time the Katla volcano blew up soon afterwards.

And because Katla lies under a glacier, it sets off colossal floods as the ice rapidly melts.

Worse still, Katla can shoot up enormous plumes of ash, gas and acid high into the atmosphere, blocking out the Sun’s energy and creating a deep chill.

Historical Eruptions

There have been 21 eruptions in Iceland since 1963. Three major eruptions of Eyjafjallajökullare, however, are known to have occurred in 920, 1612 and 1821-1823.

East Sussex dusk, 18 April. VDuBourdieu©2010

East Sussex dusk, 18 April. VDuBourdieu©2010

Referring to the latter in the Daily Telegraph on 15 April, Professor Bill McGuire, of the Aon Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London, said “the previous eruption, in December 1821, lasted until January 1823.”

He added that air travel could be curtailed repeatedly if the current eruption lasted the same amount of time.

The most notable previous example of Icelandic volcanic activity causing problems for Britain was in 1783, when an eruption at Laki sent a huge toxic cloud of sulphur across Western Europe, killing an estimated 23,000 Britons.

In Great Britain, the summer of 1783 was known as the “sand-summer” due to ash fallout. The gases were carried by the convective eruption column to altitudes of about 10 miles (15km).

Gilbert White of Selborne noted that “from June 23 to July 20 inclusive” that a “rust- coloured ferruginous light on the ground, and floors of rooms; but was particularly lurid and blood-coloured at rising and setting.”

The effects were long-reaching, and may have contributed to the French revolution; precipitous weather conditions may also have caused famine as far away as Egypt and Japan.

If there is anything good coming out of this, it is the way that individuals – and travel organisations – are working together to help those people who are stranded.

There are exceptions, though. One would be a Swiss hotel which turned one journalist colleague out unless she was prepared to pay four times the cost of her room before the volcanic activity became serious.