During our descent into Oslo, I couldn't help but notice the similarities to Oregon's Willamette Valley. I joked with Haley that we could have hopped on a two hour plane ride, rather than the sixteen hours of combined flight time, and ended up in practically the same place. But I quickly learned the travel time, airplane food and movie binge session was well worth it. Oslo is truly lovely. Even as jet lagged and zombiesque as we felt, we managed to enjoy every moment of our brief stay. It was easy to navigate and incredibly clean. The airport has a self-explanatory train that takes you right into the heart of the city. For some reason I had deemed myself navigator, so the pressure was on! After a few wrong turns upon leaving the train station, we found that orienting ourselves in the unfamiliar city was easy and we made our way to our hotel. We had done a small amount of research on what there was to do in Oslo, and as we only had 24 hours we didn't skip a beat.
Haley makes a beeline to the Royal Palace. (Molly Stanko)
After dropping off our luggage, my royal-obsessed travel partner beelined it toward the Royal Palace, and I tried to keep up. We spent the afternoon wandering the lush grounds of The Jubilee Park, which was full of sculptures (we quickly discovered the Norwegians are fond of unique and weird statues) and other activities since they were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the crowning for the current King and Queen. Haley was even able to write them a congratulatory note.
Haley writes the Queen a message. (Molly Stanko)
Although we didn't have any set plans, we found our way to the harbor which was packed with people and our time was well spent wandering around the streets and simply taking in the scenery. We stumbled upon a festival with lots of music and food venues. We didn’t get around to asking anyone what exactly was happening, but we did enjoy the sights and the food.
Enjoying the busy streets of Oslo. (Molly Stanko)
As someone who considers eating a favorite activity, I was looking forward to trying some authentic Norwegian fare. For dinner I ended up eating Poke, a Hawaiian dish of raw fish and rice, from a food truck. Not exactly Norwegian, but I was teetering on a line of hangry and I didn’t want Haley to experience that ugly side of me. I figured we were on the water so the fish must be fresh, and I was not disappointed! Regrettably, I can’t say l was able to eat my weight in Norwegian waffles and brown cheese. I guess I will just have to return to Norway for the hiking and the food!
We ended our evening atop the famous, Olso Opera house and enjoyed the 360 view of the harbor sunset. The next day, mid-morning we returned to the airport for our next stop, Longyearbyen!
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
2 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
3 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.
