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| Comments
from Happy Safari participants |
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Kristina
Trowbridge, who has a love for and a first
hand knowledge of Kenya and its indigenous
people, the incredible Maasai, escorted our
group on a journey of a life time. Her
thoroughness made connections smooth and
timely while giving every care and
consideration to us as individuals.
She knows the accommodation operators on a
personal basis who then gave us 110% service
and at different times lunch, dinner or
cocktails with appetizers at safari
locations as surprises. Through
Kristina we witnessed the heart and spirit
of Kenya--its wildlife and people.
I'll never forget witnessing the three
Cheetah brother's taking a zebra--wow!!
Your thoroughness in handling the
accommodations and safari guides -- the
Maasai people were essential to finding
the game, in my view. It was a big plus
that you knew these people and there was a
bond of trust. You knew the territory well
enough to send us by small plane--kudos.
You enjoyed the experience with the
enthusiasm of a first timer. You seemed to
appreciate the trip as much as we did--in
other words you were not a burned out tour
guide. Linda T
Kristina you
look after every detail of an adventure.
You know what you want your travelers to
have and they get it. I have traveled,
a lot, but I never had every "T"
crossed and "I" dotted. All
of the goodies you sent to us to get us
acquainted and the trouble you went through
for every, and I do mean every thing we did
was very appreciated by me. Norma
Kristina had
everything under control. No real
glitches. The trip was very well
planned and the activities were varied
enough to make the trip very interesting.
Jan
Kristina is so thorough in her planning that
everything goes smoothly. She has vast
knowledge of the resorts and
personnel and the birds and other
animals. She is a walking book of
information and it is a joy to be traveling
with her. Kristina is so knowledgeable
and she is willing to do more research to
look into other alternatives. I really
appreciate that, Linda P
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Kristina
is the Featured Travel Agent in the July
newsletter for Ker & Downey , a
USA based luxury custom Tour Operator to
Africa, India and South America
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Meet
Kristina Trowbridge -
Not Your Average
Travel Agent
As a board
member for the Pacific Northwest Chapter of
APTA, Kristina Trowbridge is more than just
your average safari specialist. Her
long list of titles should tell
you of her passion for Africa. She is
an Africa Destination Specialist from the
Travel Institute, a Botswana Travel
Specialist from the Botswana Tourist Board,
an Egypt Specialist from the Egyptian
Tourism Board, not to mention a KATS diploma
holder, FUNDI expert, a Cape Town Specialist
and a Tanzania Tourism Specialist! With
such a long list of education, there is little
doubt about the expertise of this energetic
woman and even less doubt about her love for
this contintent - Africa.
Kristina hails from Seattle, Washington
where she runs her own agency WinWin
Vacations. Having been to Africa over
20 times, she can certainly call herself an
expert, but she also specializes in
destination travel to South America, Europe,
the South Pacific, India and Alaska.
Perhaps it is her Swedish heritage that
sparked her passion for discovery.
Having grown up in Sweden and immigrating to
the USA at age 20, travel was in her blood.
Knowing 7 languages and flying as a 'stew'
for TWA only fueled the passion and the fire
for adventure.
Click
on this link to read the entire article
about me:
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Dear
Safari Enthusiast,
A
Huge and Happy Thanksgiving
Thank you
for your trust in me
to help you
with your travel arrangements
for the past
many years.
I hope you
will continue
to use me.
Kristina
Trowbridge
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In October I made an educational trip to
Fiji
I love Fiji and its people, considered the
friendliest people on earth. I cannot
disagree with this.  Everywhere
you come or go, the Fijians will sing for
you; either a Welcome to our country song or
a sad goodbye song, we shall meet again: Isa
Lei.
I visited 22 hotels and 2 cruise ships in
only 8 days. We hit the ground running from
the very beginning. Air Pacific arrives in
Nadi early in the morning 2 days after you
leave home, which includes crossing the
International Dateline.
Our schedule was hectic. We immediately
boarded our waiting bus from Rosie's and set
out on the Queens Road to Pacific
Harbour, stopping at The Hideaway Resort and
at Taunovo Bay Resort for lunch. Then
we boarded a boat for the 1 hour trip out to
Royal Davui for a site inspection of this
lovely island resort in the Beqa Lagoon.
After returning by boat to Pacific Harbour,
we boarded the bus again for the 3 hour ride
to the Outrigger on the Lagoon Resort for
dinner and overnight. And so it went.
Finally, we boarded the MV Mystique
Princess in Lautoka and got a nice break for
3 days. She is one of the Blue Lagoon ships
that sail in the Yasawa Islands.
A typical stop on the Blue Lagoon Cruise;
here we climbed to the top of the hill at
Liku for this incredible view. These are
deserted white sand beaches. It's
breathtakingly beautiful.
During this 3 nights/4 days cruise, I completed
the Blue Lagoon Specialist course for
agents. My passing score was 100%. Yes!!!
Sunset at Castaway Island:
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Updates from the (un)Friendly
Skies
The national average
price for a gallon of gas has fallen
every day for the past 60 days. Gas
reached its peak of $4.114 on July 17.
Now, it's at $2.105, according to a
recently released survey from the AAA.
According to AAA data, its been almost
two years since the price of gas was
this low.
With oil prices coming down almost
every day, you may think that the
airlines would reduce or even
eliminate their fuel surcharges.
!!!FAT CHANCE!!!
I just purchased a
ticket to London roundtrip from Seattle
for December travel. The base price
of the actual airfare is a whopping low
$204.00 roundtrip. Now everyone knows
that the airlines can't survive on that.
However, my total price that I paid was
$788.88 when all the taxes and
surcharges were added in. The fuel
surcharge was lowered by $18.00 recently
and BA was proud to announce this fact.
BUT, I still paid $380.00 in fuel
surcharges. Does this make any sense?
Other news:
Now that DL owns
Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines has
raised its change fee for domestic
tickets to $150 this week. The others
are sure to follow.
United is
increasing the service fee to check a
second bag on a domestic flight from $25
to $50 one way. These changes apply to
customers who purchase a ticket on or
after September 16, 2008 for travel
within the US and to/from Canada, Puerto
Rico and the US Virgin Islands on or
after November 10, 2008.
American Airlines
is rolling out the option of electronic
boarding passes - via cell phones or
PDAs - starting Monday at the airports
in Los Angeles (LAX) and Orange County (SNA)
in California. These mobile boarding
passes are already in use by American at
Chicago/O'Hare. Check the details at the
www.AA.com
Bush
Announces More Thanksgiving Air
"Express Lanes"
President Bush yesterday announced the
expansion of the "Thanksgiving
Express Lanes" used last year when
the military opened its East Coast
airspace to civilian flights during the
Thanksgiving holiday season. The effort to
deal with holiday air traffic worked so
well last year, Bush said, that the
government will expand it to areas of the
Midwest, the Southwest and the West Coast,
including the skies over Phoenix and Los
Angeles. He said the government is working
with the FAA, the TSA, and the airlines to
make more staff available to speed
check-in and boarding, and to help
passengers affected by cancellations and
delays. Bush added that regulations
providing increased protection for airline
passengers have been completed, including
measures that will require airlines to
provide greater compensation for lost
bags, as well as tougher penalties when
airlines fail to notify travelers of
hidden fees. The regulations should take
effect in December, in time for Christmas
and New Year's travel, the president said.
For more information, visit www.whitehouse.gov
What happened to the friendly skies? You
tell me!
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Sincerely,
Kristina
Trowbridge
WinWin Vacations 
call
206-297-7179
or 877-297-7179
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