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I have been a single parent for many years and I have always had the yen to travel. It was never a case of when to travel, but who to travel with. One day I picked up the Link Up magazine and found my solution. Joanna Castle was organising a tour to India. Although my intention was to go to Egypt, India was close enough. The tour was set for the April 2006.
Joanna has an amazing talent for creating memorable trips to exotic destinations filled with history, magical fun filled moments, breathtaking architecture, and a kaleidoscope of smells, sounds and impressions that will transform your life forever.
Since India I have travelled to Morocco and finally did get to Egypt with her.
Travelling is wonderful but tiring. Joanna has the ability to put together a tour that offers the opportunity to recharge your energy levels after hectic spells of travelling, site seeing, and yes even shopping. We go to a little village for a few days to ride bicycles or donkeys, a dawn balloon ride, or tea at the Winter Palace.
This year I am doing two trips with her. Can hardly wait till Bali in July. Oh yes, I almost forgot the most important part, her trips are sooooooo affordable.
Helen Williams, Businesswoman, Cape Town, South Africa
I have been on 3 trips organized by Joanna and all of them have been good value for money, fun and very memorable.
The countries visited were Egypt, Morocco and India. All of these countries can be challenging to a foreigner and require an understanding of the different cultures and customs. Travelling in them requires a sensitivity to finding a balance between the home comforts we are all used to and the exotic locations which we wish to enjoy.
I can recommend Joanna as being very capable as a tour guide, planning her trips well and a person who expresses herself assertively when necessary but is relaxed and handles events and travel traumas with a positive attitude and creates a win-win solution to all experiences.
Clare Burgess, Landscape Architect, Cape Town
Joanna opens doors for people and changes lives. If your reason for travelling is to have an adventure you would not have been quite adventurous enough to have on your own, then she is the person to travel with. If your reason for travelling is to go to slightly unusual places and have slightly unusual experiences with someone who is going to change your perspective on things, and be a breath of fresh air, then Joanna is the person to travel with. She is not your average tour guide leader, she is far too generous, enthusiastic and caring and does a great deal of homework to find special and somtimes out of the way places and encounters that leave you feeling you have had an authentic experience rather than being herded through a sausage machine tour.
I have been on three of Joannas trips, India, Morrocco and Egypt and have always come home feeling I have had incredibly good value and the right combination of organization and freedom to do my own thing.
Joanna is one of my best kept secrets because if too many people know about her there might be no room left on her tours for me!
Tessa Graaff, Director of Montebello
I have traveled with Joanna Castle to four of her “exotic destinations”……Bali, Morocco, India and Egypt. And I have traveled as a “traveler” and not as a “tourist”…..and there’s a BIG difference. Joanna chooses those out of the way unique places, adds a bit of adventure and makes a vacation a lasting memory. I can’t wait to travel again with her!
Kathryn Jones, USA
What can I say... I am still harping on to my friends about my trip to India, and its a year on!!!
I had always had a deep wish to begin exploring exotic destinations, but the question was who with? Would any friends like to join me?The response was immediate when I saw the ad in Link up magazine. There was no doubt, so I phoned to join the group. Ironically two friends joined me which made the trip extra delicious. We left with eyes wide and empty suitcases, we returned hugely satisfied. Our senses and imaginations so stimulated and re-vitalized and our cases bulging at every possible weak-spot!!
Joanna's trip was absolutely wonderful. What I found really special was the way in which she varied the itenary between moments of activity and sightseeing and then a day or two of rest where one could gather oneself again. We did it all! Visited the major sights like the Red Fort, Taj Mahal, Ganges at dawn, to the magic personal moments of visiting our guides home in Jaiselmer and having a meal with the carpet dealers family in Srinagar.
Joanna is very organised and you never feel as if you're wandering around unheld. She knows what to do, how to go about it, and most importantly how to stand her ground in a foreign country. One wonders how on earth she manages to co-ordinate so many magical experiences into one, yet she does so with such ease! What I have realised is that this sort of holiday gives such a broad perspective of that country that one feels as though one could return again in ones own time.
I do realise that this is just the begining of my adventures, as I will most certainly be joining Joanna on other excursions into magical lands!
Bronwyn de Klerk, Aromatherapist
For years I had promised myself a special trip. I have always been fascinated with INDIA. However I was determined not to do just the normal bus tour or package deal and was delighted when I followed up on an advertisement in a local magazine suggesting a trip with a difference - and it was. Joanna Castle put together a splendid itinerary covering the 'must do' sights such as Delhi, Taj Mahal, dawn at the Ganges (a must). She also incorporated unforgettable sights and moments that will remain with me indelibly. How many people have been fortunate enough to be in the ancient walled city of Jaiselmer eating dinner on a rooftop and be involved in a local Indian wedding - we did just that. Riding camels at dawn in the desert, travelling on trains overnight (not for the faint hearted) but all very exciting and 'an experience'. She varies her trips, our visits to Kashmir and the Buddhist monks in McLeodganj gave us another perspective of this magical continent.
Joanna's tour give you a much deeper insight into the peoples and their customs, from eating at a Palace Hotel to visiting locals in their own homes.
A trip that takes me off the beaten track (without a rucksack), and I still get to see the tourist places is just the ticket for me. I certainly will be joining her on one of her next adventures.
Penny Lazarus, Stable owner