DC/NYC/MA/Chapada Diamantina/Rio 2012 - itinerary

This is the itinerary for the 2012 vacation:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bwls09NQFoR_R001eDFzQnRlZ2M/edit

Chapada on the Web

As I have promised, here is a list of the websites I used to plan our trip to beautiful Chapada Diamantina, Bahia.
- http://www.guialencois.com.br/default.asp?config_idioma=2 - information about the main city of Chapada, Lençois. There are pictures, information about places to visit, lodging and food.
- http://www.biosferabrasil.com/meu_destino.php?cod_destino=4&idioma=i - leanr a little bit about Chapada Diamantina.
- http://www.pousadadasarvores.com/index.php/en/much-leisure/itineraries - website of a B&B that brings suggestions of itineraries.
- http://pousadamucuge.com.br/passeio.html - website of a B&B in the town of Mucugê. Mucugê is about an hour south of Lençois. This website has suggestions of trips in the area of Mucugê.
- http://alpinamucuge.com.br/atracoes.html - another B&B in Mucugê with trip suggestions.
- http://www.triboaventura.com/2005chapada/mapa.htm - map of the whole Chapada area., with attractions. Suggestions of itineraries as well.
- http://www.mirantedelencois.com.br/english/ - The first motel that we considered. It was too expensive for our budget, but it is beautiful!!!!! Worth  checking it out! It also has suggestions fo places to visit.
- http://www.vilaserrano.com.br/xpt/pousada.html - One of the first motels we considered. Also too expensive, but also beautiful! Yummy breakfast tables! Good suggestions of trips.
- http://www.overmundo.com.br/guia/ribeirao-do-meio-rala-bunda-1 - this is a description of one specific trip. But if you read Portuguese  you can find other descriptions of places you might want to check it out.
- http://www.chapada.org/english/ - suggestions of trips all over the area of Chapada.
- http://www.lentur.com.br/htm/r1.htm - website of a tourist agency with several itinerary suggestions.
- http://www.pedrasdeigatu.blogspot.com/ - a B&B in the town of Igatu, in the south area of Chapada.
- http://www.guiachapadadiamantina.com.br/ -  a guide magazine of Chapada Diamantina.
- http://www.pousadadafonte.com/servico.html - another website with suggestions
- http://www.cirtur.com.br/zoup.fit-texto.php?ZoupFitPagina=2&ZoupFitPaginaPai=0&ZoupFitPaginaPagrafo=2&ZoupFitPaginaConteudo=30 - more suggestions from a tourist agency.
- http://ecoviagem.uol.com.br/brasil/bahia/lencois/hotel-pousada/ - great place to find B&B and motels!
- https://sites.google.com/site/igatur/pousadaecamping - website of my favorite place to stay in the south part, but my aunt was scared of the forest... spiders...
- http://www.terrachapada.com.br/mapa.php - map and guide of the area.

Well, that's it. Some of these websites do require a little bit of a knowledge of Portuguese, but Google Translator helps a lot too!

Traveling with family members

Traveling with family is always a challenge.
My aunt and her boyfriend are coming with us and finding lodging that fit both our groups standards was hard, but we did without having to compromise much.
I hope she feels the same way.

As I have metioned before, Hubby and I don't believe in fancy 5-star lodging, but just something cheap, clean, and with a local feeling. Since this is Chapada Diamantina, a rich local breakfast table was also an important item.

Hammocks were also something I looked for, but not a deal breaker. Hammocks are just it! There's nothing above hammocks to a legitimate Baiana, like me. But I do sleep in beds on a regular basis and I have learned that life isn't made of hammocks. I could do without them, but I was lucky enough to find a place that has them.

My aunt and her boyfriend seemed to me to have a bit more of an upscale taste. Well, it turns out that we found a place that seems to have satisfied both our groups. It doesn't look too cheap, but it was not expensive either. It looks very local and it is home-run.

We are paying R$ 72 reais a day at the Corona de Pedra , in Lençois, and R$ 115 a day at the Sincorá  in Andaraí.

Now the issue is, to hire or not to hire a professional guide. Apparently the husband of the Crona's owner is a guide, so she has been pushing for us to pay a guide. The people from the Sincorá have already told me they can help me get around the area without a guide.

Why are we staying in two towns? Because the Chapada covers a large area with not awesome roads and more to do than we have the time for.

To get to Chapada, from Salvador you can either fly or drive. It's a 6 hour drive vs a 25-minute flight. However flights don't leave everyday.
Since our family is from Salvador we opted for driving in our own car.

If you have your own car, your guide will agree to ride in the car with you for a daily fee. The Corona guide will do a daily rate for R$80 reais.

If you don't have your own car, and either take a bus or fly there, the guide you hire will drive you in his own agency's car. I can't help with that, bc I did not do any research on that.

Planning 2012 part 1 - Chapada Diamantina, Bahia

The planning of our trip began by the planning of the Brazilian leg of it.
We were going to spend a week in the Amazon forest, in the state of Amazonas, and a week in the country side of Bahia, the beautiful Chapada Diamantina, a trip that has been cancelled twice already due to situations out of our control - my unexpected new job in 08 and my father's illness in 10. This year I did not want to cancel it. Nothing could be in our way. And so far, so good. We are finally going to Chapada.

Chapada is portuguese for Plateau. Chapada Diamantina is a place in the country side of Bahia that is famous for its hills, caves and natural pools, some of them inside caves. I have been there once. It had been my dream to go back again for many years now. Check out this website: http://www.biosferabrasil.com/meu_destino.php?cod_destino=4&idioma=i

Planning the Amazon part of the trip was easy. There are plenty of websites out there promoting Amazon tours. However the Chapada trip was hard to plan because there are not many websites about the places to go in Chapada. Not many people there are connected and websites don't get updated regularly. The streets of the cities of the chapada aren't on Google Maps either. I didn't find a website for each attraction with distances, directions, COST (very important!) - these, you will notice, are virtually non existent in my search.

I had to get help from friends and family members who have been there a few times to get ideas of places and costs.

I did, however, find a few websites that were helpful. Websites with lists of B&Bs. Some are innactive. But some are very active and many of them even have suggestions of  places to go and daily itineraries. These websites helped figure out our itinerary. Two of those websites also ended up being the ones I chose for our B&B:

1- Corona de Pedra in the town of Lençois.

2- Sincorá in the town of Andaraí

I made a special deal with each of them (one of the reasons why I ended choosing them): we paid for the place in advance to hold the 2011 rates for 2012. I even got a 10% discount with the Corona de Pedra for paying in full.

What to look for in a B&B in Chapada Diamantina?
Well, Chapada is a place in the country side of Bahia, so the typical food is a unique experience. But it's also a place where you go to enjoy nature - a lot of hiking and diving, so fancy places to stay are a waste of time!
A good description of breakfast and rooms that looked clean but not fancy is what you want.
Also try a place that has a local look.
The last thing you need is an expensive hotel that looks just like any other place in the planet. For example, stay away from places like Portal de Lençois, with its international (expensive) standards. You want a place that looks like the place you're visiting.
And if you are going for a place to spend time outside, paying for fancy lodging is a waste of your hard earned money.

Go to the posting Chapada on the Web to find a complete list of  websites I used for the planning of this leg of the trip with a description of what each of them are.
Also posted is the suggested itinerary. Why Suggested? Well I have learned from previous trips that itineraries must always remain flexible. To prepare this itinerary I talked to local guides and researched the websites I have mentioned earlier. But when we are there, things might change. The important thing is to remain flexible and enjoy each second of the trip. Enjoy each second because you won't get a second chance to live those seconds.

Great Britain's final arrangements

LODGING
I used my Wyndham rewards to get points on motel deals. But hubby and I wanted to try small B&B's so we mixed and matched. Days Inns and family-ran B&B's. The deciding factor to choose one or the other? LOCATION and ... PRICE!!!!! of course! Don't forget we ARE on a budget.
Here's a place where I found reasonable B&B's: 4hotels.co.uk   but a lot of times it is also reasonable to just type "Bed & Breakfast NAME OF TOWN" in your search. Sometimes the places we were going to visit were so far off the map that they had no hotels posted on 4hotels. Neither on lastminutedeals.com nor on travelsupermarket.com

TRANSPORTATION IN LONDON
I regret not having asked for the oyster card as an add-on to my London Pass. It'd've been cheaper (forgive me my exxxxtra apostrophes, but really, isn't that how we really talk?)
I bought 2 Oyster cards for 50 POUNDS each. the max you can spend a day is ... I want to say 7 pounds if you stay within London center. Or


ITINERARY INCREMENTS
Hubby watched a bunch of Rick Steve videos about Great Britain while I was away and I came back to a bunch of ideas of his about where to go. Now guess who has to fit everything in the itinerary!!!  Now our trip includes not only England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, but also Wales!!!! Please, Hubby, don't watch any Cornwall videos!!!!

GOOGLE MAPS F***ING SUCK!!!
Yesterday Google Maps was mean to me and deleted all the 5-day itinerary I'd been  building for the past 2 days. Have you ever seen a woman screaming in despair? That was me. Suddenly the Brazilian phrase "killing dogs with screams" had a whole new meaning to me. Hubby thought I'd lose all the hairs in my head. As usual, he came to my rescue and tried to fix my problem. Every time I cry in despair he comes to help. He then realized he should greatly appreciate all my trip planning and never complain that any part of the trip is not the way it should be, for he spent the next hour trying to reconstruct what I had lost and by minute number 5 he was already writing Google a nasty email.

TEA TIME
I had booked a tea time at the Kensington Hotel for 25 POUNDS. Then we figured, why pay more for the tourist place when we can pay less than 10 pounds to Afternoon tea at a small hole-in-the-wall normal people's place. So we canceled the Kensington. Our choices came from http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/restaurants/restaurants-for-afternoon-tea-in-london-recommended-london-106.html

A PLAY IN LONDON
I am still trying to convince Hubby that a play in London is a must-do. Even Rick Steves thinks so. And Rick Steves forgot to mention the Bagpipes at 9;30 am at the Edingburgh Castle, mind you!!!!

CASH
I just learned that it is smarter to get money at an ATM machine there, using your bank's debit card.  They say you pay no fees to your bank. That I must check. Let me call Bank Of America now.


Now that every lodging and transportation is done. I will proceed to update my travel guide - a file I have been keeping with info about every city or town, including attractions we must not miss there, and their addresses.

Once that is ready, I will trace a point by point itinerary using my google docs spreadsheet.

Orlando, 2010

For some reason I do have charts saved from our trip to Orlando. I did do some extensive research on car rentals, travel directions (avoid toll roads), cheap deals to Disney and Universal, and finding a motel that was cheap, close enough to the parks and close enough to Dean's favorite place to go eat on vacation - Waffle House. We actually ended up next door to Waffle House. The name of the place was Master's Inn.

I got the motel from the Master's Inn website because that would give us points with our frequent flyer card from AA. But I also investigated Expedia. both places offered me awesome deals.

As for the rental, it was also through some frequent flyer deal. Besides, by using American Express we paid even less. The car was an awesome deal! And we got to drive a Versa. In Cali we drove a Yaris. Actually, renting cars is an awesome way to test drive a car while having fun on vacation. The Yaris and the Versa were both on our realm of possible next cars and we had a very upclose and personal experience with both of them.

For Disney tickets I found this awesome deal - buy 5 for the price of 3 days at The Official Ticket Center, a local vendor that sells on line. We paid $464 total for the two of us. Just make sure you bring the card you used to redeem the tickets. They won't give the tickets to you unless you have the same credit card in hand.

For Universal I just went on their website and bough two two-day tickets.

As for to the minute planning, oh, dear, I was freaking out. I was scared that there would be so much to do that I would not be able to do it all and be frustrated.  I ordered brochures from both parks and listed all the must-not-miss rides. Then traced our route inside the park using the little maps from the brochures and trying to maximize the amount of rides hit per hour.

Did we stick to the route? You must be joking right? Of course not! But it turned out that we did everything we wanted and a bit more, with time for repeats. As long as you try to maximize your time in a somewhat organized fashion you'll do fine.

Since our Orlando trip was the latest one, things went much smoother than all the others. Why? Well, let's just say I am getting the hang of it. I am a great planner, but I have to work on the follow-through part. And Orlando showed a great improvement from Cali and U.S.  I hope I follow the pattern with England. My fear with England is that it is so overwhelmingly huge. It's two weeks and it's a different country.

If you want to see more of Florida, check out my regular blog - www.simplyv.blogspot.com. I did a post trip journal there. I was hoping to to journal during the trip but we got to the motel room waaay too tired for any thing. As you can tell, that would not have been much of a honeymoon either, since the highlight of a honeymoon should happen inside the motel room.

Well, as you can see, the DVW (Dean and Vika Winters) trips are not very much on the romantic side. We understand that we skimp a lot during the year in order to take these once-in-a-life-time trips. That means we are there to enjoy the trip, not each other. And that's just about it.

Souza Family Trip to the U.S.A.

Right after our trip to California, my aunt and grandma came to spend a month with us. If you know anything about me, and my family, you'll know that a month was enough to see the whole East Coast of the United States. Plus a visit to an aunt in Ohio and a quick trip to Chicago.
And when I tell you that my grandma is a little bit over 70 years old, and took on the challenge, walking a few miles a day, going to bed late and waking up early, as you're about to see on the charts below, you'll begin to love her.  Who is this woman, you ask, who can walk that much and at that rhythm at such an advanced  age?
If I tell you she does not look a day past 50, you'll begin to think she's attractive and athletic,  a true go-getter (she took after her grand-daughter). And if you are an old rich man, no children, no one to leave your money to after you pass on, you're allowed to fall in love with her and marry her. Just make sure you talk to me first. I need to make sure your intentions are good.

Anyway, the trip. Well, the actual trip fell short of my expectations. I was told to include a number of attractions - a large number of attractions. And I did. And I planned everything, as I usually do, to the minute. But things did not work out to the minute. We skipped places such as the Groton Submarine and the Gillette Castle. We failed to travel to Main for a lobster dinner and failed to make it to Salem, the Halloween town, and to Gloucester, the town of the Perfect Storm. Why? Either because we were too late, too worn-out or because we got rained in.

Also we rushed through a few things, because we were late to get out of the motel in the morning. Three ladies and a guy trying to use one bathroom in the morning is not as simple a task as you'd think.

My Aunt Léa really wanted to see the scenes from Night at The Museum, and she wasn't able to.  I had no idea where to find them either. Just bear in mind that the Met is huge.