Welcome to Venus Adventures Travel News
Here you will find details about travel specials, upcoming women-only tours, and new, exciting destinations to look out for . . . not to mention anything else we think might be important or interesting for you to know!
If you would like to add anything to this page, please feel free to email us with your story or feedback.
E-newsletter and Travel Deals for Women!
Would you like to receive an e-newsletter every few weeks with travel news, specials, last-minute offers and upcoming trips? Just send us an email and we will add you to our mailing list.
BIRTHDAY SPECIAL!
Got a big birthday coming up that ends with a "0" (40, 50, 60...)? We'll make it fun and memorable for you..!
Why not celebrate your birthday with an exotic holiday? Whether it be sipping gins on the deck of a cruise ship gliding down the Nile in Egypt, or eating birthday cake under an African sky in the Saharan desert in Morocco, we can help you make it memorable! Start saving now, and bring your friends along too - we'll give you a discount for every friend you bring...just get in touch and we can discuss your birthday destination of choice. As you know, our motto is "Life is uncertain - eat cake!", so treat yourself to a fabulous birthday with us!
Returning Clients Deal
If you have been on a holiday especially for women with us before, and want to come back for some more travel, fun and adventures (and who can blame you), Venus Adventures would like to reward you for your loyalty. As a returning client you will get a discount on your next trip!
Last Minute Specials on Women's Tours
Very occasionally, special last-minute deals will be offered in the Venus newsletter to fill a trip or to meet the minimum number required for the trip to go. Full payment will be required within 2 weeks, (subject to you getting flights), but your spontaneity will be well-rewarded.
Bring a group of women on tour!
Get a group of 10 ladies from your club, your work, or just all your friends and you get a great discount for your efforts! "Hen" trips: Maybe you want to getaway with your girlfriends for a few days before you get married....
Custom Women's Trips - you tell us where and for how long
Would you like to go to a Venus destination with a group of female friends/workmates, but the dates or trip length does not suit? Talk to us about a tailor-made Venus Adventure!
Gift Vouchers
Would you like to give a friend a gift voucher to convince her to come on a trip with you? Or maybe you know someone who really wants to travel, but can't seem to take the big step? A gift voucher might be just the ticket to get them going...you just let us know the amount, and we will send it to you!
We asked our clients in a travel survey Why choose a women-only trip over a mixed one?
The following answers sum up why women-only trips are so awesome!
-Usually you can relax more - not intimidated by the way you look or dress and usually have a hell of a lot more fun and laughs
-Safer, more relaxed environment, no competition with the men (or for the men!)
-It is more relaxing to visit/shop/look at something/take ones time/etc and not wonder if ones partner is - or isn't- enjoying himself.
-Mixed trips change the dynamics of the group. Always!
-Women only rules!!!!!
-we talk the same language
-Women travelling together are for the most part easy going, not competitive, more open to trying new things, more comfortable in our own skin, and more willing to let a country and its people under our skin. Also, we can forget about our roles in life (wife, mother etc) and focus all our energy on just being us!
-...men are a pain and whine to get their own way.
...and last but not least, and this answer sums it all up:
-Because men are from Mars and women are from Venus! (simple really...)
FACEBOOK & YOUTUBE
Want to post your trip photos for the other Venuses on your trip, or future Venuses to see? Just search for Venus Adventures next time you are on Facebook...
Venus Adventures is putting video clips on YouTube of the exotic places
we go to, and of the girls having fun! Subscribe to our channel on
youtube and check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/venusadventures
Venus Adventures Water Bottle Packs
These handy travel packs for 2L water bottles mean your hands are free to shop and you don't have to hold onto your bottle or remember to keep it with you. Wear it as a pack or sling it over your shoulder.
- Water Bottle Packs - these great little packs are made of handwoven Ethiopian cotton, as well as being sewn in Ethiopia. On our Venus trips most women carry some kind of small bag with their money, camera etc in them, but then have nowhere to put their bottle of water which they carry around with them in their hand for the day...a bit annoying. The water pack solves this problem...and the best thing is ALL profits go towards the education of 2 Ethiopian children, Liya and Ermais, who are sponsored by Venus Adventures and our generous clients. The packs are made in Ethiopia, thus also supporting the local weaving and sewing communities.
- We sell them for US$15 (plus postage) - this is a gift or a travel item you can feel good about buying!
Venus Adventures Sponsorship - would you like to help?
Liya (14) and Ermais (13) are two young Ethiopian students who need financial help to complete their education - would you like to make a donation?
Last year I returned from Ethiopia just before Xmas and found myself almost resenting having to go Xmas shopping...buying presents for people who already had more than enough, giving them things that were not necessary, just for the sake of giving a gift. Who wants more undies and socks anyway? This year in Ethiopia I sought out two young Ethiopians who need help, Liya and Ermais - both students who are achieving at school, but their mothers can barely afford to send them, let alone live on what they earn. I visited them in their homes. Both homes consisted of just one room, around 3m x 3m, where all the cooking, eating, sleeping - everything - is done. Both mothers were abandoned by their husbands and receive no support. They earn very little (500 Birr a month, which is around US$50) as cleaners/tea ladies in a small office block, out of this they pay their rent (Birr200), food, clothing, schooling costs etc. Venus Adventures has set up an account to raise money for these children to make a difference in their lives, and will visit them every year when on a Venus trip. Would you like to make a contribution? If so, email info@venusadventures.travel and we will tell you where to send your cheque - any amount is appreciated at any time, and this will of course be an ongoing thing.
A BAZAAR EXPERIENCE or the Golden Rules on how to avoid getting completely ripped off and buying more rugs than you can poke a stick at when in an Arab souq (market)
OK, so have found yourself in a fabulous Arab bazaar in some hot, sandy and exotic country. It is a maze of twisting alleyways crammed with people and intriguing shoplets selling bright and alluring handicrafts: colourfully decorated carpets, lamps, clothes, leather and metalware. Trapped in shopping heaven, you almost pass out with excitement. Sweet, musky incense wafts through the air, and as you saunter along in the heat, handsome swarthy men try to entice you into their shops with cheesey one-liners "Madame, can I ask you something?"
Shopping in an Arab souq is something you have to be in the mood for. Patience and a sense of humour are a necessity or you won't last 5 minutes. And if you don't have your wits about you, you may find yourself limping back to your hotel under the strain of five carpets and no money to finance the rest of your trip and wondering how that all happened when all you wanted to buy was a scarf. You had only asked out of interest how much that lovely rug was...and before you knew it - you had five!
Golden Rule No. 1: don't ask how much something is unless you want to buy it. If you do ask, you are entering into a "negotiation" - commonly known as "haggling". Your lovely salesman will enquire how long you have been in his country to see how green (stupid) you are, suss out how many gold rings you have on, and then name an extortionate price. Your jaw will drop and you will gasp in horror.
Golden Rule No. 2: ask yourself how much you might pay for this item back home, look at the quality, and then remember you are buying it at the source. It has not been imported and you are cutting out several middlemen. Think what you would be prepared to pay, and then name a lower price. Now it is your salesman's turn to gasp in horror and act insulted. Game on!
Haggling is theatrics, and can be a lot of fun if you are patient. Have a mint tea and get comfortable! You will now negotiate with your man, he will try to force your price up with all sorts of sob stories about how business has been bad, how many kids he has to feed etc. You have to invent some of your own sob stories about how little money you have and you saved all your life to get here...remember, keep it fun and encourage humour!
Golden Rule No. 3: Stick to your guns! The Arab salesman always wants to win this game, even if only by a small amount, but if possible, by a huge amount! If the price gets beyond what you are willing to pay - walk away. Better to walk away than to regret it later. If your price was not fair, he will let you go. If your price was reasonable after all, your charming salesman will most likely come after you (he hates to miss a sale), drag you back to the shop, wrap your exotic treasure into a neat package, and relieve you of your cash.
And this brings me to the most important rule, Golden Rule No. 4: both parties should be happy at the end of the transaction - you should be happy with what you paid and the treasure that you bought, and the salesman should be happy with his sale. And thus you will get the lovely scarf you wanted and not five rugs.
[Smoked and Buttered - Ethiopian Beauty Treatment]
A year ago I visited the Afar tribe in Ethiopia. My local guide, Firew, took me into a small, dim reed hut, where inside I could make out a baby lying on a stick and goatskin bed, and in the corner of the hut was a hole in the ground, with smoke rising out of it from a smouldering fire. The baby's mother wrapped herself in a blanket and then went and sat over the smokey hole. I thought this a bit odd. "What's she doing?" I asked Firew. "She's smoking herself" he answered, as though it wasn't obvious. "Well, yes, but why?!" I assume his brown face went slightly red, when he answered "It's to purify herself after the birth of her baby...and tighten her private parts..."
Now we travel to see differences, and I am always up for a cultural experience that is going to push me out of my comfort zone a little. Hence a year later I found myself in an Ethiopian beauty parlour (pink walls, 70s style pull-down hair-driers, satin cushions) with my Venus Adventures all-women tour group, waiting for a traditional "butter massage". My Ethiopian friend Felekech had called me up whilst we were on the road and recommended it to me - she goes once a week - so I asked her to book us in. Sounded different - and interesting!
In threes we were taken upstairs, stripped naked (get those knickers off you shy Westerners!) and lay on plastic-covered massage beds. We then enjoyed a lovely 45-minute massage by beautiful Ethiopian attendants, albeit with butter (smelt and felt a bit odd!), from head to toe, not forgetting a huge blob for our hair. There was lots of giggling and comments about how we felt like basted Turkeys. Once the massage was over we stood up, naked (except for a coating of butter, of course - a bit strange I know, but you get used to it). The attendant put plastic bags on my feet and hands...and then she put a dollop of butter onto my hand and pointed at my nether regions. (Er....you want me to do what?) OK, I got the picture and obeyed (yes, I was truly having a cultural experience, giggle giggle), now all nooks and crannies were nicely buttered, it was time for the basting....
A large cloak was draped around me and I was led into a room that had what looked like 3 long-drop toilets with small smouldering fires in front of them. I was seated over the hole in the "long drop", my cloak draped over the box and the smokey fire, and three thick blankets wrapped around me to stop the smoke escaping, and to ensure I get a good sweat up. My knees were pushed apart as far as possible, smoke rose up all around my body, butter ran down my back, and my thoughts flashed back to the Afar tribe a year ago...Holy smoke, I was being smoked!
Laughing to myself I recalled the Afar story to the other 2 girls getting smoked with me, and what Firew had said the outcome was. We could not stop laughing and joking during our half hour smoking session - what were we to do with our "reconditioned" nether regions?! All smoked-up and nowhere to go...!
It took massive amounts of soap and shampoo to get all that butter off, but our skin did feel softer - and smelt buttery and smokey for at least 4 days. That evening we met Firew for dinner and told him we had been smoked - he thought it was hillarious "How do you feel?", he asked. "Like an 18 year-old again" I said.
SHAMANS AND JUNGLE JUICE IN PERU
When I was in Cusco, Peru, a guy called Angel crossed my path and told me about his work at a Shamanic healing centre. Shamans (medicine men) perform ancient healing ceremonies, praying to Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) and dwelling in the spiritual world. What intrigued me most was the "Ayahuasca ceremony". Ayahuasca is a Quechua word meaning "vine of the soul," and is a powerful, vile-tasting drink made from a jungle vine. The shamans use it as way of unraveling the self, and it is supposed to be able to cure anything, from physical illness (like cancer) to psychological pain (depression) - or put simply, it is a good way to clean up any baggage, big or small, in your life... I felt like fate had thrown an unusual opportunity onto my path.
You have to be brave to take Ayahuasca because of what you may face. Visions, hallucinations and vomiting are all part of it - it cleans you from the inside out. But whether your experience after drinking Ayahuasca is scarey or not, depends on how many demons you have to purge out of your mind, body and soul. You may face all sorts of past trauma, self-destructive beliefs, or emotions. One thing is for sure though: the end result is always positive. Now I am not a kook, or a recreational drug-taker, but what convinced me to do it was a positive National Geographic article about Ayahuasca on the internet. It turned out to be the most mind-blowing, fascinating and beautiful experience of my life.
I had fasted all day to prepare myself for the ceremony that night. Myself, 3 shamans, and Angel my translator were seated on cushions, with vomit buckets in front of us. The shamans puffed away on jungle pipes, preparing themselves for the long night ahead. I was given a cup of Ayahuasca - disgusting, brown, fermenting sludge, which I gulped down very reluctantly. Lights were turned out and the shamans started to sing icaros (ancient spirit songs) to me. Their voices vibrated and reached high or low notes effortlessly, and each voice sounded like at least two people - truly beautiful to listen to, they sounded like angels. I could feel myself float off to another realm, their voices carrying me like a drifting feather to another world.
After about 20 minutes I vomited up the Ayahuasca, which is part of the bodily cleansing. In some strange way it felt good to get it out of me, all sorts of toxins seemed to come out. I started to have trouble breathing. I am not asthmatic, but have suffered odd stress-related breathing difficulty in the past couple of years. The shamans told me not worry, it would pass. It did. Twenty minutes later my lungs felt 10 times bigger and I was gulping deep breaths. Amazing.
Eventually I began to hallucinate, seeing fluorescent colours and cartoon-like insects swirling around me. I watched them, as they closed in on me, trying to suppress me, constricting my body. I wasn't sure what to do, so I asked. I got the message back that it was negative energy attached to me, and to flick it off. I did, and it all disappeared. The shamans believe negative energies are actually spirits who attach themselves to you to create trouble.
Then the visions started. People and events came into my mind, things that had happened in my past that I needed to make peace with. In my mind I would ask questions - why this or that happened, why this person had been in my life. For every question I asked, I got a very clear, precise message back. It was like having a direct phoneline to God. Anything I asked about my past, present or future, I was advised on.
The whole ceremony lasted around 8 hours, with the shamans taking turns to sing to me as I worked though my past. I was visited my deceased friends, I found answers to many questions, and I felt an intense bliss. Now, several weeks later I still feel the positiveness and relief of old baggage gone. I feel privileged to have been part of an ancient ceremony and to have listened to the amazing, beautiful icaros, and I know I will go back to do another ceremony to open my mind to bigger things.
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