An amazing Amazon tour

SAYIT Travel and Kumuka Worldwide have launched a 49-day overland tour through South America, with the adventure departing from Rio the day after Rio Carnival. The bespoke tour has one departure only – February 17, 2010.

The company says the tour’s length and the destinations it reaches will provide travellers with an authentic and comprehensive experience of a continent that is rapidly growing in popularity with adventurous travellers. The tour includes a free Rio Carnival accommodation package, valued at €620 (if booked by October 31, 2009), a six-day Roraima trek which will navigate through the mountain region of the Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil borders, a three-day Angel Falls tour (including flights), a five-day Amazon river ferry cruise where travellers will sleep aboard the boat in hammocks and a two-day Amazon jungle excursion which will reach the meeting of the waters.

The overland tour will also include leisure time on the beaches of Brazil, time to experience village culture in Brazilian native villages, do the samba at a Salvador street-party, race dune buggies at the Lencois Maranhenses dunes, shop at the Belem Markets and cross over the equator. This tour is priced at €4,800 and includes return flights and all taxes ex. For further details contact SAYIT Travel on 021 4279188 or visit www.sayit.ie

- LONG-ESTABLISHED Cork travel agent Travel Focus is on the move from the city centre – but only a few hundred metres to facilitate its traditional client base and new customers. The company has moved to new larger offices at number 7 Anglesea Terrace where customers can park without fear of being clamped or picking up parking fines. Travel Focus has also set up a new call centre at 021 4320898 for those unable to visit in person and details of all available current and future offers are also available by emailing [e-mail] or by visiting the company website www.travelfocus.ie

- A WALKING festival with a difference takes place over the October bank holiday weekend (October 23-26). As well as a selection of strenuous, moderate and easy walks over the four days, the Footfalls Wicklow Walking Festival is staging three night walks and a variety of further themed walks. For information on the full programme log on to www.walkinghikingireland.com

- PARENTS looking for something to entertain the kids over Hallowe’en can combine a short break with a visit to the annual Scarefest which runs at Alton Towers from this week up to the start of next month. Scarefest is, as the name suggests, a white-knuckle experience with live rides and attractions graded to suit every age category. Irish Ferries Holidays is currently offering a two-night stay at the nearby Express Holiday Inn Hotel for €480 for a family of two adults and two kids under 12. Full details are available by calling 0800 300400.