Category Archives: Travel

Spring break challenge: to book a last-minute trip

Posted on March 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

My husband and I are usually big trip planners. Sadly, we have missed the boat, plane and probably train when it comes to spring break, which begins in 18 days. We looked into Ixtapa in January, but then that Calgary woman got beat up in Mazatlan, so we decided on Jamaica. You have to fly through Toronto though, so we looked stateside instead, to Arkansas. The airfares jumped on that one, however, so we set our sights on Tucson. Who knew it’s impossible to fly there from Calgary for less than $700 and with fewer than one or two stopovers? Now, less than three weeks out, we are once again eyeing Ixtapa.

“We should just go to Ixtapa,” my husband said one night last week. “I bet we could get a deal.” “I agree,” I said. “I think this whole ‘getting gunned down by a drug gang’ thing is overblown. It won’t happen to us.” So, with thoughts on margaritas instead of machine gun-wielding muchachos, we pulled out the laptop, and searched iTravel2000 for some deals. Immediately, this beauty popped up:

Now, I’ve never heard of the Sunscape Dorado, but the gorgeous photos, description of the amazing Kids Club and $60 upgrade (per person) to a “Family Oceanview Suite” for a week nearly won us over. Then, we read this glowing reviews on TripAdvisor:

“I was so impressed on every level (other than the slow check-in) when it came to Sunscape Dorado Pacifico in Ixtapa. I’ve stayed at a few different Sandals Resorts, as well as travelling to different 5-star resorts in the Caribbean and the Mayan Riviera. I have enjoyed first-class travel and enjoyed the finest of everything … But let me assure you, this was a 5-star resort!!”

To get 5-star for $1,000 per person — all in, plus airfare — sign me up! Immediately after reading this review we clicked on the “verify” button, and were shocked when the total on our dream vacation for four suddenly jumped by $1,500.

We’d done the math and were prepared to pay just over $4,000, not $5,500. Incensed, I called iTravel 2000 to have an agent explain the price difference. Were we missing something?

Agent: “Well, what happens is airlines block off seats in certain price brackets and when those seats get filled up, the price goes up.”

Me: “Then why doesn’t it automatically get corrected on the site?”

Agent: “Sometimes it takes awhile for the system to get caught up.”

Sure. Right. Whatever they coached you to say at scam school, buddy. We then checked Sell Off Vacations and also the WestJet site, and each one showed the mysterious price “jump” when we clicked on “Book.” Um, can you say price collusion (or, false advertising)?

So now, 18 days away from spring break and still with no plans, we have a new strategy. (No, we will not look at 3-star properties! Nothing but the Sunscape Dorado will do, baby.) I’m going to check the sites daily for a two-weeks-out price drop that a Flight Centre agent assured us will happen. Wish us luck!

How about you? Have you ever experienced this kind of price discrepancy on a travel website?

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Back in the saddle: Horseback riding in Arizona

Posted on February 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

It had been nine years since I last sat astride a horse when I pulled myself onto Copper — my trusty steed for 90 minutes — at the Koli Equestrian Centre, part of the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Chandler, Ariz. last weekend. It had been three years since Avery “rode” a horse, and Cannonball Bob would be the first horse she attempted to rein herself.

We were in Chandler, Mesa and Tempe (all part of greater Phoenix) as part of a Sunny Arizona media trip. We’d bounced around at Jump Street (a giant indoor tampoline park), held sea stars at the Sea Life Aquarium and fed stingrays at the Phoenix Zoo. But Avery was most excited to ride a horse in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. All by herself!

Copper is ready to roll out.

Guide Emmett Miguel led us out of the corral and it quickly became apparent this would not be like most trail rides. You know, the kind where your horse’s head is smooshed up against the tail of the horse in front of you. Instead, we rode side by side; or, more truthfully, Miguel, myself and two other riders flanked out in front, with Avery trailing far behind on Cannonball Bob.

Possibly the biggest misnomer in Arizona's horse history, Cannonball Bob was, in reality, about as fast as a hand-thrown paper airplane.

At 17, Bob was the oldest horse in the stable and thus deemed safest for a six-year-old greenhorn like Avery. He plodded along, following us at great distance. The reins sat limp in Avery’s hands — though she’d been given instructions on how to use them, she just let her mount do his thing. Which he did. Verrrry. Sloooowly. Every now and then Miguel would ride back and encourage Bob to pick up his pace.

Given Bob’s glacial walk, we probably didn’t cover quite as much ground as a typical 90 minute ride, but it was still enough to see three coyotes, two jack rabbits, four wild horses (it isn’t called Wild Horse Pass for nothing), a circling hawk and some Saguaro cactuses (yes, it’s cactuses, unless you’re Latin) in the distance. As we rode along dusty trails and across parched desert flecked with sage bushes, Miguel recounted bits of native folklore, including the tale of how coyote convinced roadrunner to ride across the river on his back (and guess who ended up in coyote’s belly?): “That coyote, he’s a trickster. He’ll pretend he’s your friend, but he’s not.” “A roadrunner is a messenger. If you see one, turn your hat around backwards so it will be a good message.” And finally, “If a hawk crosses your path, it’s a warning.”

This part of the Sonoran Desert is pretty bleak. I expected Copper to stumble across skeletal remains at any moment (maybe that's why the hawk was circling?).

Right on cue, a hawk crossed our path. I’m pretty sure his warning was this: Beware sore legs and a sore bum after horseback riding. And: beware a very thirsty six-year-old after a 90-minute inaugural ride. And also: beware a sunburn. Noted. And so worth it.

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Going to the (howling) dogs

Posted on February 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s official: we’ve gone to the dogs. The Howling Dog Tours of Canmore, anyway; the ones that pull you in a sled along trails at breakneck speed, which for an Alaskan husky tops out at about 25 km/hr downhill. The kids giggled down every bumpy hill, I laughed with them snug under several blankets and Blake helped our musher, Brock, drive the sled along a snow-packed service road in Spray Valley Provincial Park.

Musher Brock snaps our picture on the trail. Don't we look cozy?

I had my doubts about how the afternoon would turn out, especially when Bennett started saying, “No dog sled, Mommy,” in the van on the way to the staging area. Once there he sat down in the snow and, to my horror, started eating it. “Don’t eat that snow!” one of the guides yelled at him. (Bennett’s bit wasn’t yellow, I don’t think). I also worried when Brock introduced our first two sled dogs as “Cadaver” and “Screamer” — fortunately I misheard him on the first dog’s name (it was actually “Cadabra,” as in “Abra”).

At this point Bennett warmed up to the seven friendly dogs that pulled our sled, and he didn’t even mind when they began barking ballistically right before we screamed out onto the trail.

Cadabra and Screamer get some pets from the kids.

We loved the two-hour tour and highly recommend. Here are five reasons you should go to the dogs too:

  1. The sight of happy dogs playfully nipping at one another as they pull a heavy sled will lift your spirit. They love to run!
  2. The smiles on your kids’ faces as the sled tears down hills and around bends … And subsequent smiles when they pet the dogs and feed them treats afterwards. We were amazed by how friendly the dogs are — and how good they are with little kids.
  3. You’ll feel slightly patriotic whizzing through a forest in the Frozen North while sitting in a sled pulled by huskies. All you need is a bear skin to exchange for a Hudson’s Bay blanket at the trading post. 
  4. The scenery is pretty awesome. Look up and you’ll see the jagged peaks of the Canadian Rockies scratching the sky above the treetops. Our guide said he’s seen wildlife along the trail, too — moose, deer and elk. 
  5. It’s a fun way to embrace winter. You don’t notice the cold or count the minutes you’re outside because you’re having so much fun.

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