Newsletter Issue 17 - October 2003

Hello and welcome to another update from Karibuni…

As the weather starts to get cooler and the leaves begin to change colour we are still looking forward to getting into the great British countryside for our autumn Adventure Weekends...

Despite the changing seasons, our exciting activities keep going and they are all just as much fun, with groups still loving the fun and scenery of our special locations. Instead of enjoying lazy summer evenings, we now come back to cosy pubs with open fires and hearty warming food.

Looking further ahead to Christmas we have a great deal for any Christmas Orphans out there! Our fun Christmas trip will be spent enjoying Snowdonia's impressive countryside and hospitality. See below for more information and book by 28th November to save £15.

Please read on for more details of our trips, and for exciting news and features for the independent traveller.

Coming up in this exciting issue: -

Karibuni News
- Autumn Adventure Weekends
- Christmas Orphans Tour - book early and save £15!
- Catered Chalet - the only way to go…
Travel News
- New Xscape Snowdome
- More cheap flights
Destination Feature
- Croatia - re-discovering the beauty of Dubrovnik
Global Quickies
-Humorous news from around the world

Karibuni News

Autumn Adventure Weekends- more great trips
As well as our full programme of regular Adventure Weekends we are offering 2 specialised activity trips. Our Autumn schedule is found at www.karibuni.co.uk/weekends.htm

The first is the Snowdonia Mountain Bike weekend on the 24-26th October. In addition to our regular forest tracks, we will also be taking in the trails of Coed y Brenin. Test your skills on some of the best routes in Britain in this bike-focused forest. The Red Bull, Karrimor and MBR route are all waiting for you!

Find more details at www.karibuni.co.uk/snowdonweekend_mtb.htm

Next up is the Lake District Walking Weekend on the 31st Oct - 2nd Nov. This trip will feature some of the classic walks in the English Lakes, including stunning views, impressive hills and upland scenery and relaxed comfortable accommodation. Full details can be found at www.karibuni.co.uk/lakesweekend_walking.htm

Christmas Orphans Tour - 22nd - 26th December
Don't be stuck home alone in your flat this Christmas. Come and join our sociable and fun trip to North Wales, with great activities during the days and relaxing evenings, complete with your full traditional Christmas dinner and festive celebrations.

The trip includes mountain biking, horse trekking, visit Llanberis (at the foot of Mt Snowdon), share a mince pie with Santa in a slate mine and a fantastic mountain walk on the big day, plus all transport, accommodation, cooked breakfasts and dinners as you would expect from any Karibuni trip. www.karibuni.co.uk/snowdonxmas.htm

Luxury Catered Chalet - ski in style!
With winter approaching ensure you get to ski or board in style this year and stay with us at our luxury chalet in the French Alps.

We are occasionally asked, "What's so special about staying in a chalet?"

It could be the plentiful food, the top facilities, the stunning chalet - but we think it's more to do with the people and the atmosphere that they create. The ambience and buzz from a chalet full of skiers and boarders is special and complements the whole mountain experience.

And as we find - once you've been skiing and stayed chalet style it's the only way to go!
We have many people staying with us who come individually - but they rarely spend time on their own once they arrive! The atmosphere of the chalet is about people getting on, enjoying the days spent skiing and the great company in the evenings.

Our luxury chalet trips start in December, and run through to mid March. Full details including a virtual tour of the chalet can be found on the website at www.karibuni.co.uk/Snow/snowchalet.htm

And don't forget that if you are looking for hotels or self-catering trips we can also help you and offer a wide range of options suitable for groups, families or couples. Full details at www.karibuni.co.uk/Snow/snowhome.htm or contact us at info@karibuni.co.uk

Travel News

Snow is falling at the new Xscape
For anyone unable to wait until the winter snow has fallen, the new £60million Xscape Snowdome in Castleford, near Leeds opened this week. This provides a third venue alongside Milton Keynes and Tamworth for the real-snow skiing experience in England.

The new 175 metre (550 feet) long slope needed 1,500 tonnes of snow to provide sufficient coverage and now offers the UK's biggest indoor artificial snow slope. This will ensure year-round fun for skiers, boarders and bladers! The vast leisure complex also includes a 14 screen cinema, 20 lane computerised bowling alley, two artificial rock climbing walls, the UK's biggest ice climbing wall, skate and air parks, bars, clubs, restaurants and shops. This should succeed in providing something for everyone and a fantastic family day out!

The official opening ceremony is on 9th October 2003. The party continues with a spectacular two-week extravaganza of celebrations, giveaways and entertainment for everyone. The new Snowdome is located between A1 and M62 and close to the M1.
www.xscape.co.uk

Even cheaper no-frills flights
There could be some good news for anyone booking a cheap flight to Europe. It looks likely that there will be a bonanza of special offers as airlines struggle to fill empty seats in an increasingly competitive environment. The competition between the low-cost operators to run an even greater choice of routes has led to some problems enticing enough passengers to meet their targets.
Ryanair have introduced 54 new routes this year, and has seen the proportion of full seats fall to as little as 77% in May. The average price of a ticket with Ryanair has fallen by four pounds to just £28 (excl taxes). And it could go even lower - with Ryanair not discounting the fact that all flights in the future could be free (with customers just paying the taxes), as they make sufficient revenue from all the ancillary services!

To search for the best offers - keep a regular eye on Easyjet (0870 600 000, www.easyjet.com) or Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).

Cheap flights to Dubai
From February next year a no-frills charter company plans to offer two flights a week from Manchester to Dubai. Return prices with Loco Flights will range from £249 - £269 and will put the airline in direct competition with British Airways and Emirates whose prices start from £366. Check out their website for more details www.locoflights.com

New Flights to Budapest
Sky Europe are now offering direct flights to Budapest from Stanstead - with prices starting from £58 return inc taxes. See www.skyeurope.com for the flights which start in mid-November

Croatia - the re-discovery continues…

Croatia is amongst the group of holiday destinations expected to hit the big time in 2004! Over a decade ago Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia) had over 10 million tourists annually visiting the Adriatic shores in search of sun, good value and medieval charm. The war of independence in 1991 soon caused a dramatic drop off in these visitor figures, and Croatia has struggled to return to its former glory. But it looks as if the tide is turning - and people are re-discovering the attractions of this beautiful country.

In an earlier Karibuni newsletter www.karibuni.co.uk/newslet1.htm we looked at Split, but this time the focus is more and more on the historic town of Dubrovnik…

A lot of money has been invested in the restoration of Dubrovnik, and the damage of heavy shelling of 1991 is not visible today.

The city is built on a peninsula jutting out into the Adriatic Sea, with the historical centre based on the old town of Stari Grad with its marble-paved squares, steep cobbled streets, as well as an impressive collection of convents, churches, palaces, fountains and museums.

The city walls date from between the 13th and 16th centuries and still manage to keep the cars out of the historic heart of the city. They are over 2km (1.2miles) long and 25m (82ft) high, with 16 towers and it's easy to see why they are regarded by many as the world's finest medieval walls.

Other key sights include the Franciscan Monastery which is just inside the Pile Gate and houses a pharmacy which has been operating since 1391. From a similar era, the Gothic Rector's Palace, built in 1441 is found at the other end of the Placa (the main pedestrian way). The palace is now a museum with furnished rooms, baroque paintings and historical exhibits.

The southern Adriatic coastal location gives Dubrovnik a very pleasant climate, and for summer visitors the beaches are close to the city centre, or it's just a short ferry across the water to Lokrum Island.

The coastline of Croatia has many islands, and 2 in particular are easily accessible from Dubrovnik and provide some unique locations and settings worthy of exploration.

A ferry ride takes you to Mljet Island which is 15km (9miles) off the Adriatic coast. A third of the island is protected as a national park with two saltwater lakes surrounded by pine-clad slopes. The island is a great spot for swimming and sunbathing, or you can rent a bike and ride around the park.

Most visitors only come for the day and so by staying overnight you will get the place to yourself and enjoy some sanctuary and fine views from a 12th century Benedictine monastery which is now the park's hotel!

Another island a little further north is Korcula which is roughly halfway between Dubrovnik and Split, some 20km off the mainland.

This was home to Marco Polo, the famous explorer whose home still exists in the main town on the island - also know as Korcula. The town has a strong Venetian influence with an impressive cathedral in St Marks Square. The rest of the island is very pleasant touring countryside, with lots of vineyards producing a fine dry white wine.

On the south of the island you can find beaches and secluded coves - perfect for losing an afternoon on!

For more information on Croatia check out the Lonely Planet Website at www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/europe/croatia

For information on the islands please visit www.korcula.info or www.korcula.net

Dubrovnik city guide and links can be found at www.ini.hr/dubrovnik

Accommodation can be difficult to find in the heart of Dubrovnik with very few hotels to choose from - but now, more and more private houses are opening their doors to guests, and some whole properties are available for self catering. The tourist office manages bookings which can be very reasonable at £22 per double room per night. Call 00 385 20323 350

Croatian airlines have direct flights to Dubrovnik from Manchester and Gatwick from £265. Details at www.croatiaairlines.hr 0208 563 0022

As with any travelling - please check out the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website for up to date travel advice before you go - www.fco.gov.uk

Global Quickies

Smelly deterrent for Indian antelope
At an Indian air force base in Lucknow, northern India, officers are hoping that the placement of tiger dung will scare away large Indian antelopes, known as nilgais, and prevent them from straying on to their runway and into residential areas.

Killing the antelopes was not an option because they are considered endangered in India, and because villagers in the area believe the nilgai is related to the cow, which is worshiped by the majority Hindu community. The only drawback is the foul odour meaning the dung can only be used on tracks in uninhabited areas!

It's raining frogs again!
Primo D'Agata was startled by what he thought was hail smacking on his porch on September 19th as the remnants of Hurricane Isabel moved through the state of Connecticut. But when he went outside to investigate, D'Agata discovered tiny, gelatinous eggs with dark spots in the middle. It had apparently been raining frogs!

Since no frogs in Connecticut lay eggs this late in the year, scientists and naturalists speculate they may have come up from North Carolina or another warm location on the winds of Isabel.
Nicolas Diaz, a naturalist and teacher at New Britain Youth Museum at Hungerford Park, took a look at D'Agata's bowl and told him it looked like amphibian eggs. D'Agata is keeping two small, water-filled glass jars of the eggs to see if any of them will hatch. He said a few seem to have sprouted what look like a tail!

Well, that's all again for this time - and we hope you enjoyed it. The next edition will be out in November with more snippets of news from around the world and updates from Karibuni on the adventure and fun to be had!

Many thanks, and happy travels

Paul