Mother’s Day Tree AND Diana Duncan Day

As our regular readers know we are doing three Special Holiday Trees this year.  They are Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and Father's Day. We would like to have everyone send us a picture of the person they would like to honor along with the name of that person. 

Make sure that the picture you send is a copy because the pictures cannot be returned. Stop by or mail your picture (indicate the correct Holiday and the name of the person you are honoring) to the address at the bottom of this blog.

We are just about a month away from the Mother’s Day Tree so be sure to honor your special people and of course Mothers by getting a spot on our tree.

Diana Duncan Day

When we say that experience matters when it comes to a Travel Agent Diana Duncan is a prime example of what a knowledgeable person brings to the table. Today April 10th is Diana’s 26th anniversary with Rawhide Travel and Tours.

If you are looking for recommendations of places to go and things to do Diana is your go-to person. Not to mention knowing how to save you money and get the best bang-for-your-buck no one is better.

She attended Mundus School of Travel in Phoenix to make her dream come true. Needless to say, she graduated and joined the Rawhide team in 1989. She immensely enjoys planning travel for her clients be it personal, corporate, incentive or group travel. Diana is constantly on top of all travel related issues and what's happening worldwide in the travel industry to get her customers the best possible price and the latest information. 

She is known for "finding the best answer to any travel related situation" and has been known to solve next to impossible challenges. Diana holds the position of Vice President at Rawhide Travel and Tours.

If you have last minute emergency travel needs Diana should be your first call. 

Let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you get there and if you want to stay in comfort rather than camping out we can help. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc.
6008 West Bell Road # F105
Glendale, Arizona 85308-3793
602-843-5100
rawhidetravel.com

In The News: Cozy Up To The Northern Lights

Want to see the northern lights from the comfort of a nice warm glass igloo. Then you must visit Kakslauttanen. They have two and four person igloos available throughout the northern lights season, end of August through end of April.

You can gaze upon the northern lights and the brilliant twinkling night sky from the comfort of a room temperature glass igloo. 

Within the two person igloo you will find your own toilet, beds for two. Showers and saunas are in separate buildings, with separate facilities for men and women. Four person igloos include all the creature comforts of the two person lodgings with the addition of a shower inside your accommodations. 

Other accommodations include log cabins, kelo-glass igloos (a hybrid between glass igloos and log cabins) and snow igloos for the adventurous outdoors type. 

Kakslauttanen is a family hotel in Finnish Lapland, roughly 155 miles north of the arctic-circle. It might be a get away from it all destination, but it easy to reach, with an international airport located in Ivalo, which is a 30 minute drive away. 

Finair and Norwegian fly regularly between Helsiniki and Ivalo, and they are not far from northern Norway or Murmansk, Russia. Located right at the edge of the wilderness, along the road to the arctic sea, It sits right up against Finland's largest national park, Urho Kekkonen National Park. The perfect destination, with fresh air to fill your lungs and water so clean you can drink from the stream. 

Kakslauttanen might be situated in the wilderness, but you don't have to rough it, the international staff is ready to serve in many different languages. The facility provides transport To Ivalo airport for all customers when booked in advance. Transport price is 25 Euros per person one way. 

You can also book transport to Norway. Interested in local Lappish cuisine, eat at the dining facility in the beautiful log building. Rent an assortment of equipment such as skis, snowshoes, sleds and bicycles. 

While you are there book a two or four hour safari, Husky and reindeer safaris are available at the hotel along with other options such as horseback riding and horse drawn sleighs. 

Even if you don't stay, Kakslauttanen is unique enough to just pay a day visit. See the glass igloos, the snow igloos, the world's largest smoke sauna and the souvenir shop. Scheduled in advance and you can also visit Santa, for an hour and a half, at his home located near the hotel.

Let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you get there and if you want to stay in comfort rather than camping out we can help. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc.
6008 West Bell Road # F105
Glendale, Arizona 85308-3793
602-843-5100
rawhidetravel.com

Off The Beaten Path: Dominican Republic

If you’re tired of the beach life while you’re visiting the Dominican Republic and you’re looking to add some more variety to your outdoor adventures, head over to Parque Nacional del Este (Eastern national park). Located just minutes south west of Punta Cana. 

"Sunrise over Punta Cana (8725196053)" by Joe deSousa

Parque Nacional del Este
This national park is situated on the southeastern tip of the Dominican Republic. The park’s intact coastal ecosystem provides prime habitat for hundreds of species of plants, birds, fish and other marine animals. More than simply Isla Saona, which is all that most people see on a group tour, the Parque Nacional del Este includes eight emerged reef terraces, roughly 400 caverns, some with pictographs and ceramic remains, and Islas Catalinita and Catalina, in addition to Saona. Designated a national park in 1975, it stretches over 119 square miles , the majority of which is semihumid forest.

There’s a park office in the parking lot in Bayahibe, where you must pay your entrance fee and obtain a mandatory wristband. One entrance is at Guaraguao, a ranger post 5km past Dominicus Americanus. The other entrance is in the town of Boca de Yuma, on the eastern side of the park. There is a ranger station there but no formal services. A road leads along the coast for several kilometers and has a number of nice vista points.

Wildlife
As one of the Caribbean's largest marine parks, there is a good variety of fauna. The park is a nursery for 112 of the Dominican Republic's 303 bird species. Eight species of birds are found only on Hispaniola, including the ashy-faced owl and the Hispaniolan lizard-cuckoo.  Four species of sea turtles that use the park's shores as nesting sites. Manatees, bottlenose dolphins, and 120 species of fish and an immense coral reef system live in the park's offshore waters. There are occasional sightings of the rare Haitian solenodon, a small bony animal with a long snout and tiny eyes. The park is also home to 539 species of flora, 55 of which are endemic.

Taino Indian Sites
The Taíno were an indigenous people of the Caribbean. Caves played an important role in the lives of the Taino Indians. In fact, their creation myth is centered around a cave located on the island. Stories of the Taino interaction with various plants, animals, spirits and each other can be seen in the elaborate pictographs and stone carvings within the structures. Other Taino artifacts are housed at museums and even an excavated burial ground at a local beach.

Jose Maria Cave
The Jose Maria Cave is Located far into the park near La Romana. From a small outer opening, the cave widens to elaborate interior chambers. Over 1200 individual pictographs have been carefully documented over the past several years. This limestone cavern holds Taino paintings depicting mythological events and a peace offering for the Spaniards in 1503.

Penon Gordo
Located near Bayahibe, Penon Gordo displays a chiseled guardian figure at the entrance of the cave and several Taino paintings.

Insider’s tip: To get a full tour of the Taino sites in Parque Nacional del Este, including some areas that are unknown to tour operators, hire a park ranger as a guide.

Tours
There are many group tour opportunities in and around the national park.  Some of the tours include taking a speed boat out to the islands, hiking through various parts of the forest, and cave tours that include snorkeling in the caverns. Be sure to research all tour groups before hiring.

Let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you get there and if you want to stay in comfort rather than camping out we can help. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc.
6008 West Bell Road # F105
Glendale, Arizona 85308-3793
602-843-5100
rawhidetravel.com

Culinary Travel: La Bandera Dominicana

Dominicans call their country’s staple dish La Bandera Dominicana which literary translates to the Dominican Flag. This is served almost daily in every Dominican household. There are many traditional dishes but this is the national dish that is prepared the most.

Rice
The rice used is normally a long grain. It is cooked until tender on the inside but dry, loose and not sticky. The ratio that never fails is 1 cup rice to 1 1/2 cup of water. To cook it, all you add to the water is salt and oil.  

Beans
The beans most commonly used are red beans, but you can see variations using black and white beans as well, or pigeon peas. They are stewed in water, and other elements are included to add flavor and make the consistency thicker. Some of the other items added can be onions, cubanela peppers, celery, tomatoes, plantains and squash. The seasonings of choice of Dominicans are salt, garlic and oregano.

Meat
The most popular meat is chicken, which is probably because it is the most inexpensive option. They also use other meats like beef, pork and goat, but the meat must be stewed. The base of the stewed meat is tomatoes and onions. The juices released by the fresh tomatoes will create a delicious sauce which the meat will be stewed in. A trick used by Dominicans to give the stew meat a rich brown color is to burn some sugar in the bottom of the pan first until it is caramelized and golden then the meat is added to sear and take the brown color of the caramelized sugar.  Below is the Pollo Guisado (Stewed Chicken) recipe.

Pollo Guisado (Stewed Chicken) – yields 6

Ingredients

1 small whole chicken about 2 1/2 pounds cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of oil
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 tablespoon of water
2 large steak tomatoes crushed
1 large vidalia onion sliced
1 handful chopped cilantro

Directions

Rinse chicken in warm water. Add lime juice and rub chicken so all pieces are covered with the lime juice. Season with salt, oregano and garlic. Let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes. In a large pot heat oil over medium high heat add sugar and wait until sugar is caramelized.

Add chicken and stir so it gets covered all over with the golden brown color of the caramelized sugar.

Add the water and onions, stir and let the onions cook with the chicken on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add tomatoes and cilantro, stir and cover. Keep it covered over medium heat for 15 more minutes. Uncover to check the sauce, stir and keep cooking until tomatoes have released all its juices and formed a sauce. Taste the sauce and add salt to taste. 

Enjoy!

Let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you get there and if you want to stay in comfort rather than camping out we can help. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc.
6008 West Bell Road # F105
Glendale, Arizona 85308-3793
602-843-5100
rawhidetravel.com

Spring to the Beach – Dominican Republic

Are you thinking of a springtime get-a-way? The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region.

 It is the second-largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), with 18,705 square miles and nearly 10 million people, one million of which live in the capital city, Santo Domingo. The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The fine sand beaches and year-round golf courses are among the top attractions on the island. As the Caribbean's most geographically diverse nation, The island has an average temperature of 79° F and has great climatic and biological diversity.

Punta Cana - Bávaro Beaches
These beaches are heralded as one of the world's greatest beach strips, it is centered at Punta Cana and Bávaro on the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic. This stretch of beachfront goes on for about 20 miles and is renowned for its all-inclusive resorts, the largest resort community in the Caribbean. 

The beaches here are wide, filled with golden sand, gorgeous, and safe for swimming all year with sea water temperatures averaging in the low to mid 80s in the spring time. Punta Cana has 10 different beaches, many of them wide and all boasting clean white or golden yellow sands. Several beaches are ranked as among the world's best by the European Blue Flag organization, notorious for its stringent environmental and water-quality standards. Overall The Dominican Republic has more Blue Flag beaches than any other Caribbean island.

Macao Beach
This Punta Cana beach has the distinction of being singled out by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as one of the best in the Caribbean. Known for its fine sand and beautiful palm trees, Macao is the beach people often write home about. Macao has good surf that is ideal for beginners. There is an onsite Macao Surf Camp that offers lessons and rents boards; check locally for the days it is open. The middle of Macao Beach typically is best for swimming. Eat lunch at one of the small seaside eateries or dine at a restaurant atop the cliff at the southern end of the beach. Macao is a popular area for Dominicans on weekends.

Cabeza de Toro
Like all the beaches in this area, the sand is white and the water is crystal clear. This popular beach offers decent beach snorkeling in shallows at the Catalonia Bavaro Resort and the Catalonia Royal Bavaro resort.  Although many beaches are private, Cabeza de Toro is public.

Bavaro Beach 
One of the most developed beach sections and often crowded, this beach has an offshore reef that helps protect the beach. Bavaro remains a striking palm-lined stretch despite the hotels, restaurants and gift shops occupying it. Walk the beach to book activities from parasailing to speed boats. The adjoining Barcelo Bavaro Beach and Palace Deluxe Resorts share a Blue Flag status section.

Let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you get there and if you want to stay in comfort rather than camping out we can help. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

 Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc.
6008 West Bell Road # F105
Glendale, Arizona 85308-3793
602-843-5100
rawhidetravel.com

Celebrate Good Friday

Good Friday is a holiday mostly celebrated in many Christian Churches. It is a religious holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover.

Plan Your Next Vacation With Rawhide Travel and Tours

Rawhide Travel and Tours with combined total of “75 years of travel experience" provides amazing deals for your dream vacation with experienced, friendly travel experts.

Services offered include booking domestic and international air travel, hotel and resort reservations, car rental and cruises for individuals, corporate, group and incentive travel. Also tour packages of every type from a weekend getaway, to San Diego or Disneyland to involved and detailed vacations worldwide.

Plan your next great vacation with Rawhide Travel and Tours. Call today (602) 843-5100 or email us at flythis@rawhidetravel.com.

Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc
6008 West Bell Rd # F105
Glendale, Arizona  85308-3793
(602) 843-5100

rawhidetravel.com

In The News: The U.S. Dollar Is Up

Yeah, the U.S. Dollar Is Up. While that is good news overall what it means for travel to Europe is huge. Not only does that mean your dollar goes farther against the Euro it means competition for that dollar is higher than in recent times and that competition means lower prices up front.

You will find that savings can range from 20 to 35 percent.  For the best savings on airfare you may want to consider a airline that isn’t a US based carrier. Just about everything from hotels to luxury handbags to McDonald's hamburgers is cheaper abroad than in the United States right now. When you take dollars to the foreign exchange booth, you get a lot more of another country's currency back than you used to.

If you have always dreamed of a vacation in Paris, it's a steal right now. Recent roundtrip flights to Paris are running $100 a seat less than last year. Travelers are enjoying the savings. 

Travel to the euro area -- Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Austria, among other nations -- is almost 20% cheaper now from a year ago. The European economy is struggling, causing more bargains and discounts.

Is a South African Safari on your bucket list? The famous ocean views in Capetown look even better now: It's nearly 15% cheaper for folks with dollars to vacation in South Africa. Similar to other south of the border vacations, South Africa's currency is losing value against the dollar as commodity prices slump.

Flights from New York to Capetown are down around 25% from a year ago. To put it another way: South Africa is more than double distance to New York than Paris, yet flights there cost a mere $130 more. If you don't mind really long flights, South Africa offers a lot of bang for your buck.

Brazil is also a bargain. Now is the right time to go to Rio de Janiero -- or anywhere else in Brazil.

Brazil's currency, the Real, has lost almost 30% of its value against the dollar from a year ago. That means places like Rio and Sao Paulo are much cheaper to visit now.

A typical flight from New York to Rio was $1,170 last March. Now it can be under $900, which points out that flights have gone down since the World Cup last summer.

Hotels in Brazil are 12% cheaper compared to a year ago. By the way, you want to go now before prices soar again for the Summer Olympics in 2016.

How long will these deals last? At the moment, experts predict the U.S. dollar is likely to stay strong through the end of the year, but it's unclear whether travel will pick up enough to lift flight and hotel prices even sooner. The word is getting out.

Let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you get there and if you want to stay in comfort rather than camping out we can help. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

Presented By:
Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc.
6008 West Bell Road # F105
Glendale, Arizona 85308-3793
602-843-5100
rawhidetravel.com