Archive for the ‘Podcasts’ Category
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007
This is the second part of my interview with Ramesh and I decided to talk about one of my favourite topics: Food and drink!
Now, I’m a great lover of Indian food in the UK. As are most Britons, considering Chicken Tikka Masal was voted the nation’s favourite dish! India though, is a bit different, so this is intended as a an introduction, particularly to Rajasthan. Now, by no means is this comprehensive, so there is one thing I would add, try a little of everything, most food in restaturants is very good, especially those frequented by the locals!
The interview, as before, was recorded in the gardens of the City Palace in Udaipur, so apologies for the background noise, but you can tell it was recorded in India!
Any additional advice on Indian cuisine, let us know. I’m off to make some Masala Chai for the team.
Interview with Ramesh Koul about Food and Drink of Rajasthan [6:01m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Posted in Explore, Friends, Podcasts | No Comments »
Monday, March 12th, 2007
I’ve recently returned from Rajasthan after being on a training trip on one of Explore’s “In Style” trips: Rajasthan – Land of the Maharajahs. To say it was an amazing experience is not to do it justice at all, and I am still coming to terms with how different my universe seems having been to the World’s largest democracy. It was timely too, given the celebrations this year marking India’s 60th year in 2007.
Whilst there, my tour leader was Ramesh Koul, who looked after us very well. He kindly agreed to be interviewed in the gardens of Udaipur’s City Palace, whilst drinking some Masala Chai (that’s spicy ginger tea). I’m afraid there’s a bit of background noise but then as Ramesh commented several times, “if it isn’t noisy, it isn’t the real India.”
I’ll have some more posts and podcasts on India this week, so if you have anything to tell us about India just leave a comment!
Interview with Ramesh Koul, Tour leader, India [5:20m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Posted in Explore, Explorers, Podcasts | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 2nd, 2007
Romilly is another one of our heroes in the office, who work very hard to help you, when you are making a booking. She sits in our Reservations department, and could be one of the people you talk to if you ring up (it depends where you want to book for though, as our Reservations department are organised into area teams). Although, usually she works on getting people who book quite late, onto our tours. Have a listen, and post a comment if you like!
Interview with Romilly Turl [2:30m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Tags: interview, podcast, small groups
Posted in Explore, Explorers, Podcasts | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
Apparently Kilimanjaro comes from “Kilima Njaro” in Swahili, meaning “shining mountain”. Uhuru (the peak) is the Swahili word for freedom. It’s these kind of fascinating things you find out when writing about the amazing travel destinations we go to. It’s also stunning just looking at the pictures, but hearing from someone who has been, is inspiring.
Ingrid Waterfield, in another podcast from Destinations, talks about her experience on the mountain that is Kili. Ingrid is probably a bit biased about Explore as she is Sandy Beatty’s partner – our African Ops manager. (You can listen to Sandy’s take on Africa here). Nevertheless take a listen and imagine trekking up the shining mountain.
Elephants in the Shadow of Kilimanjaro
Interview with Ingrid Waterfield on Kili [3:05m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Tags: Africa, interview, Kilimanjaro, podcast, Sandy Beatty, small groups, Tanzania, trekking, walking
Posted in Explore, Explorers, Podcasts | No Comments »
Saturday, February 24th, 2007
Kate Plummer, one of our wonderful tour leaders, who has also been presenting at our Evenings of Adventure, talks about leading tours in Africa, particularly to Uganda. The trips Kate has been leading have also been to see the Mountain Gorillas and she talks about what an amazing experience meeting the apes actually is, and how emotional it can be.
You can catch Kate at any of our remaining Evenings of Adventure (see our website). Well worth a look, as the presentations are really rather good.
Interview with Kate PLummer - Explore Tour leader [3:08m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Tags: adventure, Africa, Gorilla Safari, Gorillas, interview, Mountain Gorillas, podcast, tour leaders, tours, Uganda
Posted in Explore, Explorers, Podcasts | 2 Comments »
Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
Bryan Tomalin is certainly one of Explore’s best customers. He’s travelled no less than 38 times and has more trips booked for 2007 (and yes that’s trips!). He even talks about being on a tour led by Derek Moore, one of the founders of Explore, who is now an Associate Director of the company (not the Managing Director, Alastair!) and the current Chairman of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO).
Bryan talks about his love of Explore and the type of trips offered and about some of his future plans. And also sings the praises of our website at www.explore.co.uk
All I can say is, Bryan is defintely an Explore enthusiast! Thanks for your support, Bryan!
Interview with Bryan Tomalin [4:05m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Tags: adventure travel, Bryan Tomalin, customer, interview, podcast, trekking, walking
Posted in Customers, Explore, Podcasts | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
We believe in looking after people who talk to us, book our tours and keep coming back. And I believe we do it rather than merely talking about it.
One of many key people in the company that do the hard work is Charlotte Laughlin, who works as a Customer Support consultant, looking after you after you have booked. In this podcast she talks about how the department works and some of the benefits of working for Explore!
Interview with Charlotte Laughlin, Explore Customer Support Consultant [2:34m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Tags: behind the scenes, Brazil, customer service, customer support, Egypt, India, interview, Kerala, Lebanon, Perks, podcast, Syria, Thailand, worldwide
Posted in Explore, Explorers, Podcasts | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
A lot of people who popped by at Destinations, and who talk to us throughout the year, are people (of all ages) who are thinking about travelling to somewhere new, and wondering whether to opt for independent travel or head off with a tour operator.
Alastair interviews a couple, Rachel and Paul Stevens, who have previously travelled independently, and now want someone to do the hard work for them, because they have limited time to organise it themselves. A good reason to opt for an adventure tour operator that only runs tours with small groups but can do all (or most) of the organising for you.
Personally I would also like to head to Peru and Machu Picchu, or even Choquequirao…
Interview with Rachel and Paul Stevens [1:54m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Tags: cash rich time poor, independent travel, interview, Machu Picchu, podcast, small groups, value for money, walking
Posted in Customers, Explore, Podcasts | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Continuing our Destinations podcasts, our Operations Manager for Africa, Sandy Beattie, talks passionately about the wonders of Africa, as well as giving some advice to first time travellers and those more experienced. Also covered in his interview is aspects of eco-and responsible tourism and he also offers some views on emerging destinations and by emerging we mean places where very few outsiders have been (that’s our Beyond tours by the way).
Personally I think Sandy would rather be on an expedition than in the office! If you don’t want to go to Africa after listening to this I’ll be very surprised. I know I do.
Now, this Livingstone bloke, what did he do?
Interview with Sandy Beatty - Operations Manager, Africa [5:49m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Posted in Explore, Explorers, Podcasts | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 12th, 2007
Explore exhibited at the Destinations travel show at Earl’s Court recently, and on the 3rd February Alastair recorded some interviews with customers, some people just visiting the stand and some Explore staff. We’ll try and get a few of these up over the next few weeks. And you can also see us at the Destinations show in Birmingham between 2 and 4 March, apparently we’ll be at stand AA18.
Anyway, to kick off this series of interviews, I decided it would be good to hear from some of our most experienced customers. Much more experienced than I at Explore trips!
Stuart and Annette Attfield have travelled 18 times (no that’s not a typo!) with Explore. They give you their views on what its like, what the Explore style is like and out tour leaders (phew!)
Enjoy.
Interview with Stuart and Annette Attfield [3:06m]:
Play Now |
Play in Popup |
Download
Tags: holiday style, interview, small groups, tour leaders
Posted in Customers, Explore, Podcasts | No Comments »
