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Travel the World with us
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Dear Traveler,
Happy belated Valentine’s Day and hope that you spent some quality time with your loved ones.
As you may recall from the last newsletter, I was fortunately able to join one of our big groups to Africa in January, I accompanied them on half of their tour visiting both the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The group had already visited Gabon before my arrival and then Central African Republic (CAR) after my departure. My excessive apprehensions that preceded this adventure turned out to be totally groundless as the tour proceeded smoothly and was a great success, despite a few hurdles--- which we successfully navigated and resolved--- when a couple of guests panicked due to cancelled and delayed flights.
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I met my 18 intrepid travelers in Brazzaville and enjoyed with them a memorable week exploring the two Congos that are separated by the mighty Congo River. Our hotels turned out to be top notch; the accommodations were excellent and our meals were among the best we ever had on our tours. We sailed the river, visited authentic villages, attended multiple cultural celebrations and dances, and trekked in jungles, admired roaring waterfalls, and visited the endangered Bonobos (primates that are the closest relatives to humans and are the closest big apes to Chimpanzees – though a bit smaller in size). The tour was planned such that we followed the steps of 19th century explorers and colonizers and afforded us the opportunity to learn something of the history of the heart of Africa. The group visited the pygmies in the dense jungle of CAR and attended a Biwiti religious celebration in the forest of Gabon. As it always happens to me, I return from Africa rejuvenated and fulfilled and with a strong longing to offer more of it to our travelers and a determination to plan additional tours to that stunning continent! Half of my group had joined this trip after having previously visited Nigeria, the Niger, Burkina Faso and Sudan, so we may offer those same destinations in 2023 pre and post the Gabon combo tours.
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I must admit that the month of January turned out to be a tremendous success as we hosted close to 70 guests on a variety of African tours. We are working diligently on preparing our Jan-Feb 2023 African expeditions by repeating Nigeria, Niger, and also adding Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Also, plotting two other tours to Gabon, CAR, DRC and Congo, which we combined successfully in January, and once again, in February (as we had another tour that consisted of 12 travelers who just returned from CAR last week). The tour I accompanied was certainly a great success and one of the most influential ingredients for its success is that it was led by our most renowned scholar Michel Behar. He shared with us a wealth of knowledge, which made this trip come alive. Our plan is to have Michel lead another Gabon, Congo, DRC and CAR expedition in February 2023 for all those who did not have a chance to make it this year. We shall have the trip ready in a couple of weeks following the implementation of the improvements that we shall make. The trip will be scheduled for February 15 to 28, 2023 and will be limited to 14 participants only so if you are interested, call us to reserve your spot. We also plotted another similar departure of the same combo of the four countries January 21 to February 05, 2023, which will be led once again by Mohamed Halouani.
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Michel is also excited to lead for us our tour to Ghana, Togo and Benin (January 08 to January 22, 2023); three amazing West African countries that are filled with history and cultural encounters especially the Voodoo annual festival in Ouidah in Benin. I look forward to accompany him once again on at least a portion of that journey. In truth, it is a fantastically colorful journey.
January 10th is always a very special day in Benin, a day for celebrating ancestral cults. The ceremony is very picturesque, in particular, the part when all the Voodoo’s followers meet in Ouidah and then move in a long procession to the Door of No Return, some on foot while others by motorbike or “taxi-brousse”, all dressed up in traditional costumes. The Festival reaches its peak with the arrival of the Dagbo Houno, the chief “feticheur.” Dances, libations, masks and some official speeches are all part of the morning program. After this fantastic cultural odyssey, we head inland, through northern savannah to make contact with the Taneka tribe, which resides on a rocky mountain. Then the Tamberma people with their fairy-tale clay castles and finally we enter the Ashanti kingdom in Kumasi where we attend the Awukudae festival around a paramount chief and end our tour exploring the former Slave Coast, with its haunting European forts; thus concluding one of the most spectacular and comprehensive tours in West Africa.
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On the Africa front, we are also very thrilled to create a trip that has been in our minds for so long venturing along the Atlantic Coast of Africa starting in Ivory Coast and ending in Dakar. It is an epic journey, which will take you through Liberia, Sierra Leon, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau and The Gambia in between. Seven neighboring nations each filled with its’ own flavors and hidden gems and will be accompanied by our capable tour manager David William and is scheduled for January 13 to February 05, 2023. The trip will be organized with an option of choosing portions of it.
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Our excitement about Africa is quite heightened as you can see and one other exiting adventure we are launching soon is our Nigeria and Cameroon (January 22 to February 07, 2023). This trip will be different than our “classical Nigeria”, which we will be running January 13 to 21, 2023 that goes from Lagos to Abuja, but will be a pioneering itinerary heading Eastwards from Lagos to Benin City, one of the oldest cities in Nigeria, dating back to pre-colonial times and which boasted one of the most advanced and organized kingdoms before the arrival of the British. The city as long been famous for its “bronzes”, actually brass work, some of which is said to date from the 13th century—and for its ivory and woodcarvings. You will explore several ancient kingdoms and attend ceremonies and ethnically colorful events with dance and music and mask displays and processions and at the end you will discover Cross River National Park which borders Cameroon, home to the critically-endangered Cross River gorilla and other animals such as chimpanzees, drills, baboons, leopards and forest elephants, The Oban region is the only site where the red colobus monkey can be found in Nigeria. The park, which has been referred to as the ‘African Amazon’, has the densest rainforest in the country, with more than 350 bird species and is reputed to be the richest site in Africa for butterflies. Two waterfalls, Agbokim and Qua falls, form part of the park and are a must-see for nature lovers. After crossing the land border, you will venture into lush and fascinating Cameroon, home to some of Africa’s most interesting cultures and ethnic groups and home to some of the continent’s most fascinating rituals and you will have close up encounters with chimpanzees and meet the Kribi pygmies and the Sultan of Foumban, My tentative plan is to actually join the Cameroon part of this trip given that I want to slowly chip at more of Africa after I fell under its spell.
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Another great news is that we convinced Michel Behar to lead our North Africa journey of May 06 to May 31, 2022 to visit Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania. This tour is designed such that travelers can chose to either combine all three countries, or, alternatively, pick any combination of two of them. We always used to have our other capable leader Mohamed Halouani escort this trip, but this upcoming May he has a conflict of commitments so Michel jumped in to save the day, while Halouani will still lead the September 18 to October 13, 2022 tour as scheduled. This adventure is an amalgam of stunning Roman ruins and mesmerizing desert vistas, as well as lush oases and colonial Mediterranean cities.
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Another tour that is worth considering is the one to Central Turkey scheduled for May 02 to May 17, 2022. In this trip, we shall be exploring some of the least-visited parts of this ancient country, as well as, visiting a few of its most inspiring iconic regions such as Cappadocia with its lunar geological formations and medieval Konya with its spiritual Mevlevi (whirling dervishes) heritage, while stopping at some other sites that are awe-inspiring such as the Greco-Roman ruins of Sardis, Sagalassos and Laodicea. The tour is led by our energetic and knowledgeable local guide Erkan, whom many of you had joined before on previous other trips to Turkey. Therefore, if you are looking for an easy-paced trip to just one country, and want to indulge in exploring beautiful scenery and savoring some of the world’s most delectable cuisine while staying in some of the most romantic and quaint accommodations, this is the trip for you. Even if you have seen the marvels of western or eastern turkey, now the central part of this huge country will offer you something different.
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Another off-the-beaten track destination, which we shall finally offer for the most adventurous at heart and desert lovers, is the Western Sahara. We shall offer one exploratory tour there in November 03 to November 14, 2022 and another one with Mauritania Feb 26 to March 20, 2023. The tour shall start in Morocco and will venture south into the contested region of the Western Sahara, which claims to have its own culture and offers some of the wildest desert vistas on this planet with majestic sand dunes, stunning rock formations, and star--filled night skies. The 11-night tour to this rarely visited region includes four camping nights with all the required components for comfort provided. You shall indeed appreciate the unique nature and wildlife, the spontaneous hospitality of the local populations, the African magic and mystery, the ceremonies, and religious beliefs that people are willing to share with us. The former Spanish Sahara colony has been the site of a long war since the second half of the seventies. This region also called the Western Sahara has been off-limits for decades to travelers. We are proud to be “the first” to bring intrepid travelers to the vast, rocky and sandy regions of Saguia El Hamra, Tiris Zemmour and Rio de Oro, now Saharan provinces of Morocco. You shall experience genuine encounters with nomadic tribes such as the mythical Reguibat, and explore stone citadels, prehistoric rock art sites, and navigate emerald lagoons between ocean and dunes…It is a tour that offers a balanced mix of adventure and cultural discoveries---notable among the latter is the Hispano-Moresque architecture, one of the refrains of this Saharan expedition that starts and ends by the ocean.
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Additionally, we feel it is necessary to remind you again of two amazing destinations that deserve repeated mention: Pakistan and Iran. Two captivating countries that offer a unique mix of beauty in art and architecture and two of the world’s most hospitable people you can ever encounter. Our May 05 to May 22, 2022 trip to Iran has just two spots left to fill. Iran is a gem that deserves to be on the bucket list of anyone who has not discovered it yet. The country started granting tourist visas again from January 1st this year, which development has sparked hope that even our October 16 to November 05, 2022 trip will fill up as fast as our May 2022 did. The highlight of both Iran tours is that our leading scholar: Miklos Sarkozy, a world authority on ancient Persia and an enthusiastic lecturer who would be the best person to introduce you to the beauty and charm of ancient Persia. As for Pakistan, our upcoming trip to the Northwestern frontier and the colorful Kalash Festival in May 09 to May 21, 2022, which is led by Prof. Norman Jones, a prominent scholar of the region, will be a once in a lifetime experience. Few destinations capture the love of our clients, as Pakistan does, in a way that lures them to visit it again and again. Therefore, if you have not been to this country yet, I strongly recommend you consider doing so now. This trip is also ideal for you in case you have been to Pakistan before but restricted your visit to the magical north with its mountain peaks or the colorful south with its shrines, mosques, markets and palaces. The Northwestern frontier and the Kalash Festival stand an unrivaled experience. Moreover, this tour will be the crowning finale of your exploration of this country. We still have a few spots open and the visa is easily obtained electronically without sending your passport anywhere.
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The last few years Egypt has witnessed a stunning pace of development and the country is slowly being transformed as an economic powerhouse in the region under the leadership of President Abdel Fatah El Sissi. Those strides have included so much improvement in the field of Antiquities and the industry of Tourism. Neglected sites that for decades have been forgotten are now getting a face-lift and the infrastructure around them and leading to them is being totally revamped. Restoration work has been noticed on so many monuments: Coptic, Islamic and even Jewish to return them to their original glory. New museums have been mushrooming all over the nation and albeit not having a specific date yet for the monumental historical opening of the New Cairo GEM (Grand Egyptian Museum), which is tentatively slated to be opened in November 2022.
It has always been a joy to see our Egypt trips filling and materializing so wonderfully. Egypt is where I began my career 32 years ago and hence to promote it, I moved to Michigan in 1990 to run Spiekermann Travel as a marketing base for Egypt trips. This upcoming March we have two groups leaving to Egypt each led by a magnificent scholar. We also opened up finally our November 06 to November 20, 2022 tour, which will highlight a newly reintroduced sailing experience cruising along Lake Nasser and visiting the various Nubian temples culminating with the impressive Sound & Light show at the stunning temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel.
Our March 21 to April 07, 2023 tour with the Dahabiya (Luxury private small cruise) is already sold-out. Our intention is actually to launch one more of those programs for November 2023. Thus, for the time being I invite you to browse our tour of November 2022 and consider joining this uniquely crafted itinerary.
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I am sure many of you are as stunned as we are with the latest Russian aggression against Ukraine. Our hearts go to the people of this beautiful country and we pray for them to be safe and for this lunacy to end soon. After 2 years of agony and suffering from COVID, the last thing our world wants is another traumatic event shattering lives and destroying futures. I have checked on our wonderful Yulia (our local ground agent in Kyiv) and she and her family are safely bunkered in another town now far from the frontline. Needless to say that our tours to Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, as well as North Caucasus Russian Republics of April and May 2022 are both aborted. We pray that this insanity ends soon so that less victims suffer from the atrocities and hopefully we resume our tours of the fall to those beautiful places. We shall always keep you abreast of the plans. Here is a short video that depicts the beauty of Ukraine. We look forward to see this country in the light again, standing on its feet and welcoming its visitors.
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We have too many amazing adventures to offer you, which cannot all be listed here, in our newsletter and hence we invite you to revisit our 2022-2023 Catalogue and let us know where you would like to go next. The world is slowly but surely pulling out after the two hard years we survived with Covid and the havoc it created and many travelers are eager to be on the road again and hence we are here to serve you for more years to come.
Sincerely,
Ihab Zaki, Managing Director
and Spiekermann Travel Team
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Spiekermann Travel Service Inc.
18421 E. Nine Mile Rd.
Eastpointe, MI 48021
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