| Earthquake in Chile: In line with UK Foreign Office Advice which advises against all but essential travel to Santiago & the surrounding areas until further notice, the Santiago to La Paz sector of the Local Transport Small Group Tour which is due to start in Santiago on 15 March has been canceled.
The following tours as a result are canceled:
SA015 - 15 Mar - Santiago to La Paz; SA014 - 15 Mar - Santiago to Lima; SA010 - 15 Mar Santiago to Quito
The following tours will run as normal
SA011 - 29 Mar - La Paz to Lima;
SA013 - 29 Mar - La Paz to Quito
All clients affected by these tour cancelations are being contacted and will be offered alternative tours
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| Earhquake in Chile: An earthquake has hit central Chile on Saturday 27 February.
The 8.8 magnitude quake struck at 06:34 GMT about 115km (70 miles) north-east of the city of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital, Santiago.
Kumuka had a Local Transport tour arriving into Santiago yesterday, the tour leader has emailed to say that everything is a little chaotic, however everyone is fine and they arrived into Santiago safely. The airport has been forced to close, so we are awaiting news of when it will re-open. Apparently the passenger terminal has suffered major damage.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will post updates on our websites as and when more information becomes available.
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| Machu Picchu Update: Access to Machu Picchu: Due to extremely heavy rainfalls in Peru there have been numerous landslides in the Cusco / Machu Picchu region. The landslides have covered areas of the train tracks between Cusco and Aguas Calientes / Machu Picchu and there has been structural damage to the lines. This is the only form of transport to Machu Picchu and therefore access to Machu Picchu have been suspended at this time. Peru Rail has advised that train services will be suspended for approximately 2 months, the re-commencement of train services is dependent upon favourable weather conditions during this time.
As a result all Classic Train tours have been cancelled until the end of March. The Lares trek has also been affected for February and March, meaning that during these months is cannot include Machu Picchu or Aguas Calientes. Alternative routes to return from Machu Picchu on completion of Inca Trail during March are being looked into and we hope to have further updates on this shortly.
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| Namibia- new entry rules: It is now compulsory for all visitors to Namibia to have at least two blank pages in their passport for entry/departure endorsements by the Namibian Immigration Service. Travellers who are arriving overland from South Africa will also require two blank pages for their South African entry and exit. Please check your passport before travel to ensure that you can meet these requirements.
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| New Brochures: Kumuka Worldwide are pleased to announce the release of all of their new 2010-11 brochures. Brochures can be viewed on line or copies ordered via the following link:
http://www.kumuka.com/Travel-Brochures.aspx
We are very pleased to introduce a new Lodge Based Safari brochure. These tours can be viewed via the following link:
http://www.kumuka.com/Lodge-Based-Safaris-Tours-in-Africa.aspx |
| Inca Trail permits and deposits: Effective from Monday 22.06.09, all clients making a new booking for an Overland or Small Group tour will be required to pay an Inca trek deposit and fill out a booking form in order to secure their place. Full details are available on our website. Please see the following link for full details: http://www.kumuka.com/Inca-Trail-News.aspx. |
| Changes to Kumuka tour pricing: Kumuka Worldwide have recently made some changes to their tour pricing to comply with ACCC legislation in Australia which came into effect on the 25th of May 2009. The changes mean that Kumuka will no longer have separate tour funds and local payments, and in effect they have now been merged into one single tour price. Due to currency considerations the total price in some cases may be higher than the tour price and local payment added together. For more information scroll down to the link below. |
| Inca Trail and passport updates: Kumuka apply for your Inca Trail permit with the passport details that you supply us with. New Inca Trail regulations mean that if you subsequently re-new your passport, you must either carry your oiginal passport on the trail with you OR provide Kumuka with scans of both your old AND new passport at least 2 weeks prior to your trail departure date for which a fee of USD10 will be payable locally. |