Category Archives: Travel Tips

Indonesia Travel Tips

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Over the past few weeks, I have been blogging about our big West Papua adventure and the relaxing stay in Bali afterwards.  Here are some general tips to make your trip in Indonesia more rewarding and some tips especially for eco-tourists.

BEFORE YOU GO

1.  Get in touch with all the birding guides by email or text message and make sure they are available at the time of your visit.  You may be able to wing it in low season but in high season (May-Aug)  the best guides will be booked up by birding tour operators.

2.  If you don’t like carrying a lot of cash, prebook as many hotels as possible online and pay by credit card, preferably one that earns miles.  In our trip, we were able to prebook Aerotel in Biak, Aston Niu Manokwari, Cendana Resort and Holiday Inn Baruna Bali (points).  It is not possible at time of writing to prebook the hotels in Sentani and Sorong, though this could change at any time as more hotels get savvy to online booking.  We booked HamuEco Resort by Facebook and paid cash when we got there.

3.  Very few places take credit cards in West Papua but some hotels and large stores do.  Notify your issuers that you will be using your cards in Indonesia and especially West Papua so they don’t cut you off.  Credit cards are widely accepted in Bali.  Use a credit card with no forex fee.

4.  Scan your documents such as passport, driver’s license, travel insurance, etc and email it to yourself.

5.  Join Trip It and send your flight and hotel bookings.  You can use it from a smart phone even if you aren’t online at the time to track your confirmation and PNR numbers.

6.  Make a few photocopies of your passport and bring some extra passport photos.  You will need them for your Surat Jalan.

7.  Start collecting old clothes that you can wear for birding and then discard later.  Trust me, they will be tattered even more while birding and you don’t want to be doing laundry.  Plan on treating yourself to new clothes in Bali, local t-shirts are also available in the alrger cities of Papua.

8.  Order a copy of the Photographic Guide to Birds of Indonesia, I really wish I had done this before leaving although to be fair it was only published a few weeks before we left.  It’s an excellent book!

9.  Use an Indonesian travel agent such as Mau Ke Mana to book the flights you can’t book since you are a foreigner.  Don’t risk being stranded with full flights.

10.  Don’t forget to buy travel insurance.  If my usually hardy husband can get malaria and dengue; anyone can, don’t think it won’t happen to you.  We were lucky that it didn’t hit him until we were back in Australia, it would have been a disaster if it had hit him in West Papua.

11. Visit your doctor to get malaria pills and any other vaccinations you need.  If you have a long flight, ask your doctor if you are a suitable candidate for mild sleeping pills such as Ambien/Zolpidem.

12.  The day before you go, make sure all your batteries are charged-cameras, laptops, phones, tablets.

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

1.  Most people reading this blog will be able to get a visa on arrival at Bali or Jakarta.  Check the list of countries which qualify.  Make sure you have $25 cash for each person ready.  It is OK to give a $50 bill for 2 people.  If your passport expires in less than 6 months, get a new one before you travel.

2.  You will need a lot of cash as the birding guides I have been blogging about don’t take credit cards.  Once you land in your gateway airport, go to one of the international bank ATMs such as Citibank or HBSC as they will let you withdraw more money at one go.  I’m not sure but I think $500 or $600 is the max.  Once you are in West Papua, the local bank ATMs will only give you a max of $200 in rupiahs.  You can do more than one transaction at a time up to your home bank’s limits but you will pay your usual ATM fee each time.  This was a major annoyance to me.

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3.  If you use Bali as a gateway, there are money changers everywhere but be careful.  Many of them are scammers and will quote you a very good rate, then try to stick you with a wad of small bills.  They will short change you a few hundred thousand rupiah on purpose.  Then when you complain, they will take the wad back from you, hold it near the edge of their desk/kiosk and while they top it up with bills, they will slide a few bills out the bottom so you end up short changed even worse.  I knew about this scam so I insisted on pinching the corner of the wad of bills at a few money changers and once they realized I was holding it too tight for them to slide bills out the bottom, they refused to do business with me.  I finally found a travel agent who was giving a good rate and let me count the money on a table in front of him and didn’t try to sneak any of it back.

4.  Most hotels in Bali will pick you up free at the airport, if yours does, take advantage of it.  If you are going direct to Ubud or your hotel doesn’t provide transfers, use the prepaid taxi service at the airport.  These drivers are honest and will take you where you want to go with no mucking around.

5.  In Bali, use metered taxis such as Bluebird.  Elsewhere, you will have to negotiate with taxis, bemos or ojeks (motorcycle taxis).  Ask your hotel what the going rate is, then confirm it with the driver.

6.  If Bali is your gateway, this is a great chance to have clothes tailor-made.  Order them the day you arrive, then take off on your trip to West Papua or elsewhere in Indonesia.  They will be ready when you return (and you will probably be a bit slimmer as well)!

7.  Schedule a few days R&R in Bali after your birding trip and plan to do your shopping then so you aren’t lugging stuff all over Papua.

8.  If you have special birds you want to see, tell your guide so he knows which places to take you to.

9. If you travel in high season, be prepared to share the hides for Birds of Paradise and even take turns.  If you go in low season and there aren’t any other tourists, you can take your time and stay in the hide as long as you want.

10.  Your shoes will probably get all muddy and yucky and you won’t want to take them home.  Consider leaving them behind for your guide, if he doesn’t want them someone in the village will.

11.  In some remote places, you will be expected to bring enough food from town for both yourselves and your guides.  Make sure you know of any religious restrictions (Muslims don’t eat pork) and shop accordingly.

12.  Don’t bargain with birding guides.  Their rates are very reasonable and they will earn them.  If you deal direct with the guide, just pay what he asks.  If you are on a tour, ask the tour leader if you are expected to tip, most of them will have already built this into the price they charge you.  Remember, you are supporting them so they don’t have to earn a living trapping birds.

Avoiding Mosquitoes And The Diseases They Transmit

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Don’t be their next meal!

Mosquitoes are not only annoying, they can be dangerous to your health!  When we got back from Indonesia, my husband got really sick and had to be hospitialized with malaria for 5 days.  I was even more surprised to find out he also had dengue fever on top!  Thankfully he is fine now, the malaria was cured with proper treatment and the dengue went away in due course.  Oddly enough, I managed to get off practically scot-free with only a cold and a cough that lingered a few weeks and went away eventually.  Yesterday, another blogger, Stacy of Very Good Points reported getting dengue after a trip to Thailand.  For those who can see Australian TV, there was a segment on Today Tonight yesterday about mosquito-borne diseases in Australia.  In many cases, the victims tend to mistake these mosquito-borne diseases for the flu and only find out it’s something worse when they get tested by the doctor/hospital.  Dengue is also present in northern Queensland.

AVOIDING MOSQUITOES

The best thing to do is to avoid being bitten.  Here are some suggestions on how to do that.

  • Cover up with long, loose fitting clothing of sufficient thickness to prevent mosquitoes biting through the fabric. (This is what my husband did wrong, he insisted on wearing shorts and a singlet because West Papua is hot.  I covered up.)
  • Avoid exposure outdoors when mosquitoes are most active. (This one is hard to do if you are a birder as you pretty much have to be outdoors at dusk and dawn.)
  • Use an insect repellent containing DEET or Picaridin (the most effective repellents contain 5-20% di-ethyl-N-toluamide or DEET) on exposed skin. Apply in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Avoid using on babies and toddlers.
  • Use flyscreens and mosquito nets in accommodation where there are no flyscreens, especially for babies. (This is particularly important when camping out, as repellents are only effective for around four hours.)

EXTRA PRECAUTIONS TO PREVENT MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASES

Dengue – there are no vaccinations or pills you can take to prevent this.  The best thing to do is avoid being bitten.  For more information, see the CDC page on Dengue.

Malaria – Malaria in humans is caused by 1 of 4 protozoan species of the genus Plasmodium: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, or P. malariae.  My husband had the P.vivax one.  For more information, see the CDC page on Malaria.

There are several different pills you can take, and also follow the advice to avoid being bitten.  You will need different pills for different geographical regions depending on which strains of malaria are present so check on the CDC page to see which ones you will need.

Drug Reasons that might make you consider using this drug Reasons that might make you avoid using this drug
Atovaquone/Proguanil (Malarone)
  • Good for last-minute travelers because the drug is started 1-2 days before traveling to an area where malaria transmission occurs
  • Some people prefer to take a daily medicine
  • Good choice for shorter trips because you only have to take the medicine for 7 days after traveling rather than 4 weeks
  • Very well tolerated medicine – side effects uncommon
  • Pediatric tablets are available and may be more convenient
  • Cannot be used by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding a child less than 5 kg
  • Cannot be taken by people with severe renal impairment
  • Tends to be more expensive than some of the other options (especially for trips of long duration)
  • Some people (including children) would rather not take a medicine every day
Chloroquine
  • Some people would rather take medicine weekly
  • Good choice for long trips because it is taken only weekly
  • Some people are already taking hydroxychloroquine chronically for rheumatologic conditions. In those instances, they may not have to take an additional medicine
  • Can be used in all trimesters of pregnancy
  • Cannot be used in areas with chloroquine or mefloquine resistance
  • May exacerbate psoriasis
  • Some people would rather not take a weekly medication
  • For trips of short duration, some people would rather not take medication for 4 weeks after travel
  • Not a good choice for last-minute travelers because drug needs to be started 1-2 weeks prior to travel
Doxycycline
  • Some people prefer to take a daily medicine
  • Good for last-minute travelers because the drug is started 1-2 days before traveling to an area where malaria transmission occurs
  • Tends to be the least expensive antimalarial
  • Some people are already taking doxycycline chronically for prevention of acne. In those instances, they do not have to take an additional medicine
  • Doxycycline also can prevent some additional infections (e.g., Rickettsiae and leptospirosis) and so it may be preferred by people planning to do lots of hiking, camping, and wading and swimming in fresh water
  • Cannot be used by pregnant women and children <8 years old
  • Some people would rather not take a medicine every day
  • For trips of short duration, some people would rather not take medication for 4 weeks after travel
  • Women prone to getting vaginal yeast infections when taking antibiotics may prefer taking a different medicine
  • Persons planning on considerable sun exposure may want to avoid the increased risk of sun sensitivity
  • Some people are concerned about the potential of getting an upset stomach from doxycycline
Mefloquine
(Lariam)
  • Some people would rather take medicine weekly
  • Good choice for long trips because it is taken only weekly
  • Can be used during pregnancy
  • Cannot be used in areas with mefloquine resistance
  • Cannot be used in patients with certain psychiatric conditions
  • Cannot be used in patients with a seizure disorder
  • Not recommended for persons with cardiac conduction abnormalities
  • Not a good choice for last-minute travelers because drug needs to be started at least 2 weeks prior to travel
  • Some people would rather not take a weekly medication
  • For trips of short duration, some people would rather not take medication for 4 weeks after travel
Primaquine
  • It is the most effective medicine for preventing P. vivax and so it is a good choice for travel to places with > 90% P. vivax
  • Good choice for shorter trips because you only have to take the medicine for 7 days after traveling rather than 4 weeks
  • Good for last-minute travelers because the drug is started 1-2 days before traveling to an area where malaria transmission occurs
  • Some people prefer to take a daily medicine
  • Cannot be used in patients with glucose-6-phosphatase dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency
  • Cannot be used in patients who have not been tested for G6PD deficiency
  • There are costs and delays associated with getting a G6PD test done; however, it only has to be done once. Once a normal G6PD level is verified and documented, the test does not have to be repeated the next time primaquine is considered
  • Cannot be used by pregnant women
  • Cannot be used by women who are breastfeeding unless the infant has also been tested for G6PD deficiency
  • Some people (including children) would rather not take a medicine every day
  • Some people are concerned about the potential of getting an upset stomach from primaquine

 

Australian Government’s Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) Changes For The Better

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I always time the purchase of any cameras, lenses or small electronics to happen within 30 days of a trip so I can get the refund.  This can take the sting out of the higher prices Aussies pay as opposed to the USA or Hong Kong.  The good news is that now you can have a longer time to get to know your new camera or lens before your trip!  The text below is taken from the Australia Customs website.

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As of 17 April 2013 changes to the requirements for making a claim under the Australian Government’s Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) will come into effect.

The key changes are:

  1. Travellers can claim through the tourist refund scheme on purchases made up to 60 days before leaving Australia (under old regulations they had 30 days). This will apply to sales made on or after 17 April 2013.
  2. Travellers can submit more than one tax invoice to make their claim, as long as each is a valid tax invoice from the one Australian Business Number retailer and the total value of goods purchased is $300 or more (including GST).

About the Tourist Refund Scheme

The TRS enables you to claim a refund, subject to certain conditions, of the goods and services tax (GST) and wine equalisation tax (WET) that you pay on goods you buy in Australia.

To claim a refund you must:

  • Spend $300 (GST inclusive) or more in the one store and retain your invoices.
  • Have purchased the goods no more than 60 days before your departure from Australia.
  • Wear or carry the goods on board the aircraft or ship and present them along with your original tax invoice, passport and international boarding pass to a Customs and Border Protection Officer at a TRS facility.

The refund only applies to goods you take with you as hand luggage or wear (unless aviation security measures, in regard to liquids, aerosols and gels prevent you from doing so) onto the aircraft or ship when you leave Australia. It does not apply to services or goods consumed or partly consumed in Australia, such as wine, chocolate or perfume. However, unlike other tourist shopping schemes, most of the goods, such as clothing and cameras, can be used in Australia before departure.

The TRS is open to all overseas visitors and Australian residents, except operating air and sea crew.

The GST refund is calculated by dividing the total amount of the purchase by 11. The WET refund is 14.5 percent of the price paid for wine. For example, if you buy goods for a GST-inclusive price of $660 you will receive a refund of $60. If the $660 is made up of a camera ($460) and wine ($200), you will receive a total refund of $89 (total GST refund of $60 plus $29 WET refund on the wine).

The aviation security measures, introduced on 31 March 2007, affect the amount of liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) that can be taken as hand luggage on flights into and out of Australia. Further information in regard to the new measures is available from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.

In case of air departures, goods that cannot be taken on board as hand luggage due to liquid, aerosol and gel restrictions, should be packed in your hold luggage. However, if those goods are oversized, for example a case of wine, they must be sighted prior to check-in at the Customs and Border Protection Client Services counter.

Changing The Frequent Flyer Number On A BA Avios Award

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This is a nifty little trick I learned on FlyerTalk in this thread.   Hat-tip goes to turkeyRIOO for showing me how to change the frequent flier number in my Avios booked award ticket from LAX to OGG on AA.  When I booked it a few months ago, I didn’t really care which frequent flier number showed up as I don’t have elite status on any airlines.  I was able to book seats on AA.com and that was enough.

Just a couple weeks ago, I got a Citi AAdvantage Amex which comes with nice little benefits like priority boarding and one free bag for me and also for my husband who is booked on the same PNR but to access the benefits, you must have your AAdvantage number in the booking.  I was able to pull it up on AA using  “Find A Reservation” but the frequent flier field had my BA number in it and it was greyed out so I couldn’t change it.

I could have called AA to change it but with no elite status, I usually end up on hold for 30-40 minutes, but the Finnair trick worked like a charm.  The details are in the FlyerTalk thread referenced by turkeyRIOO. 

It’s quite simple, just go to Finnair.com, enter your name and BA record locator.  You will see a link to update your details.  Click on this, enter your AAdvantage number and done!  Then go back to AA.com and you should see you Advantage number in your profile under the reservation.

Lonely Planet’s List Of 10 Common Travel Scams

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Eco-tourists travel to the far corners of the earth in search of rare and beautiful birds, many of which are found in developing countries where western tourists can be seen as walking wallets.  Let’s examine Lonely Planet’s list and see which scams could be used on typical eco-travelers.

1.  Fake police scams are riskier in cities where they target independent tourists but eco-tourists driving in their own cars in places like Brazil could be vulnerable.

2.  Gems and carpets I see as more of a risk in the Middle East and North Africa, also in Bangkok.

3.  To avoid airport taxi scams, I use the official prepaid airport taxis whenever they are available.  I also check up on public transport options and just buy the same ticket the locals are buying.

4.  Timeshare scams – not common in typical birding destinations.

5.  Closed places scams are more of a problem in cities.

6. & 7.  Motorbike scams – if you’re on a motorbike, you would be scaring the crap out of the birds so don’t bother with them!

8.  Bird shit – LOL, goes with the territory for birders!

9.  Bar/tea shop scam – involves different kinds of birds (non feathered variety) so eco-travelers shouldn’t be worried.

10.  Hotel scams – again more of a problem in cities, the eco-lodges are too remote for that.

So in summary, you will have to beware more in cities before heading out to the lodges.  All the eco-lodges I have stayed at are very reliable and honest and they care about the environment.  They don’t want to rip you off, they want you to send your friends to them!

Beware Of Feathered Thieves In New Zealand!

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Naughty Kea

I’m sure everyone has read hundreds of “how to stay safe from thieves” articles on travel blogs and  websites.  But who could have anticipated in highway robbery out in the New Zealand bush?  I know it wasn’t funny to the tourist who had his bag snatched by a Kea, but it is funny to think of birds  lining their nests with £50 notes!  Full story.

Weather Or Not You Should Go

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This maybe stating the obvious, but as I sit here looking out the window at a torrential downpour in Brisbane, Australia I was missing the Rainbow Lorikeets that come to the Schefflera tree every day.  They won’t go out in this weather and chances are NO tourists are either, eco-travelers or otherwise!  Wouldn’t it be a shame if you had flown all the way out here from Europe or the USA to this kind of weather?

X Marks the spot of several of my favourite birding locations.

I wouldn’t recommend people come to Australia for birding anyways this time of year because of the school holidays but some people don’t have any choice and have to travel at this time.   Should you expect this kind of weather at this time of year?  Let’s consult my favourite weather site.

Yes, unfortunately, this is the rainiest time of year.

Rainy Season

If Brisbane and Southeast Queensland are your only destinations in Australia, the best time to come would be from mid Oct-end of November.  I am not only considering the weather but school holidays as well which I like to avoid at all costs.

Let’s consider somewhere else.  The south of India has fantastic birding and a wonderful culture as well.  So when should you go?  Type “Kerala ” into the search box, then when it comes up, click on “when best” as shown by the red arrow.

Kerala

Rainy season in Kerala

 

Now we have a full-on monsoon season.  I did travel to Kerala in September 2011 and at least the mornings were nice with rain developing in the afternoon so I wasn’t rained out completely and still got to see lots of birds including Malabar Parakeets!  But next time, I would go sometime in March or April.  The “best time to travel” takes into account heat as well as rain.  I don’t mind the heat so much but no eco-travelers wants to spend thousands of miles on airfare and money on eco-lodges and end up sitting inside all day!

Once again, here are the resources to check when planning your trip.

Weather 2 Travel

 

School Holidays and Public Holidays – You’ll have to Google both “school holidays countryname” and “public holidays countryname” as each country tends to have their own websites.  Then put it all together so your trip avoids bad weather, high season and peak season in your own country when award travel might be scarce.

 

Planning Your Trips In Advance

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WHY YOU SHOULD PLAN

Successful ecotourism trips are a bit more complicated than the usual trip to Hawaii or Europe so it is best to plan them well in advance.  In most cases, you will be going to a much more remote area and way off the beaten track.  Eco-lodges are small and can only take a certain number of guests so it can be very risky to just grab a last-minute fare to Brazil, Australia or Bolivia if you can’t also book your lodge.  The best lodges book up well in advance.  And if you are relying on frequent flyer miles to get there, it can be hard to get availability so you are better off booking as soon as possible after flights open up their award seats.  In most cases, this will be at 330-335 days depending on your airline’s program and when the partner airlines make their flights available.

Before you can even book the flights, you need to know you will have enough miles on hand.  Long-haul trips such as USA to/from Australia, Australia to/from Central and South America and North America to/from Asia can be costly even in miles and it may take you several years to save up enough depending on how you source your miles.  If you want truly free trips, you need to source your miles from re-directing your everyday spending through credit cards and shops that give you miles but take care not to buy things you don’t need or overspend on your credit cards to the point where you can’t pay the bill in full each month.

WAYS TO SOURCE FREQUENT FLYER MILES

  1.  Credit card sign-up bonuses can be very lucrative but mind the annual fees and minimum spending requirements.
  2. Spending on credit cards, even better if you can use a category bonus (office supply stores, restaurants, etc) for increased bonuses.  An example of this is buying a gift card at an office supply store that gives you 5 x bonus miles and using the gift card to buy your groceries.
  3. Manufactured spending such as using a miles earning credit card to buy reload cards (Vanilla, Green Dot, etc) that can be loaded on a card where you can access the funds via an ATM or withdrawal to a bank account.  These methods do have their risks so I would study them carefully in FlyerTalk.
  4. Surveys such as E-Miles and E-rewards, also some are available on MyPoints.  They can be slow going, but if you are saving for a major trip, they do all add up.   In the past, E-Rewards required an emailed invitation but now you can get a link to join in the “Earn Miles” section of your frequent flyer program.
  5. Use the click-through link from your frequent flyer program to buy flowers.  They often give 30 miles per $ on special occasions like Mother’s Day, Christmas and Valentines Day.
  6. Transfer extra hotel points to your frequent flyer program.
  7. Take advantage of promos.  In the past, US Airways Grand Slam and Club Carlson’s Free Night Giveaway gave huge bonuses.  Follow this blog by rss feed or email subscription as I will blog about any good promos that come up.
  8. BIS (butt in seat) miles.  If you are lucky enough to fly for work and have it paid by your employer, that’s free miles that also earn status!
  9. Half-price buy miles promos.  US Airways and Avianca Lifemiles are pretty good about offering promos where you double the miles you get when you buy them through their portal.

MAKE A WISH LIST AND TRACK HOW MANY MILES YOU NEED

I use an Excel spreadsheet to track my personal wish list.  It contains too much personal data to post it here but basically it is something like:

  1. Indonesia – Using Virgin Australia miles sourced from credit card spend.  Need 110,000 miles for 2 people. Economy.  Booked
  2. Central America – Using US Airways miles sourced from past Grand Slam.  Need 240,000 miles for 2 people business class.  Booked
  3. Western Australia – Using AA miles sourced from credit card signup.  Need 40,000 miles for 2 people economy class.  Acheived.
  4. Spain – Using US Airways miles sourced from past Grand Slam.  Need 240,000 miles for 2 people business.  Achieved.
  5. India/Sri Lanka – Using US Airways miles from past Grand Slam and US Mastercard.  Need 180,000 miles.  Have 165,000 so  15,000 miles outstanding.  I know I will get another 10,000 from the anniversary bonus on the credit card so I need around 5000 more miles.  Easily achieved with a couple flower purchases and E-Rewards.
  6. Caribbean Islands – Could do one way on United (90,000 economy)  and one way on American (125,000 business for the return).  Need to work on this one so now I know which credit cards I need to concentrate on next.  Citibank AA cards, Chase United Explorer and SPG will serve my purpose.

Once that goal is achieved, I can start saving miles for other goals.   I have my eye on French Polynesia and Fiji, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritius, Bolivia and Peru for future trips.

DON’T HOARD MILES, ENJOY THEM!

I have seen a lot of people get caught up in the excitement of the “chase” or pursuit of status so they go overboard on gift card schemes, buy miles they don’t have a plan for or just keep collecting miles without spending them.  We never know what life has in store for us.  We may be fit and healthy (and alive) now but who knows what will happen in the future.  Airlines could go out of business like Ansett, SpanAir and Mexicana.  Don’t be the person who ends up with a million miles in their account they can’t use because their health worsened, they lost their job or whatever.  And you don’t get brownies points in heaven if you have left over miles.  Earn ’em burn ’em and most of all enjoy ’em!

 

Top 8 Apps For Eco-Travelers And Birders

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Grab your iPhone and make sure you have these apps before heading off on your adventure!  Just key in the name of the app in iTunes.  Some of them work offline, others you will need WIFI.  Actually the 1st 6 are recommended for all travellers, the last 2 for birders only.

1.  TRIP IT – You need to set up an account first on their main website, then forward all your e-tickets and hotel confirmations.  You can add other things like birding tours and eco-lodges manually.  The nice thing about this app is that it works offline if you need your flight times or confirmation numbers.

2.  FLYER TALK – I like to check at least MilesBuzz for promos and the forums for the airline I am flying on for potential issues (strike, delays).

3.  TRIP ADVISOR – Go online with wifi to see if there is anything new happening at your destination or check their maps for nearby attractions.

4.  SKYPE – If there are any problems with your tickets, you will be glad you have a means to call their toll-free number in the USA for free.  If you anticipate needing to call another country, stock up on credit.

5.  XE CURRENCY EXCHANGE – drag the currency of the country you are in to the top and have your home currency underneath to see how much an item will cost in your money.  Also good for communicating with vendors who may quote you in local currency or USD.

6.  GOOGLE TRANSLATE – “Berapa banyak taksi untuk Arfak”?  If you want to go somewhere off the beaten track, you will need transport that doesn’t necessarily cater to tourists or have English speakers on hand.

7.  BIRDLOG (BIRDSEYE) – Easy way to log those bird sightings.  This one normally costs $20 but was on sale recently for half price.  They have one international version and several regional ones.

8.  LOCAL BIRD FIELD GUIDE – It’s always worth a try to search your destination then “birding” or “bird field guide”.  For example key in “birding australia” and you will see 4 apps, one of which is a free “lite” version, the others are paid.  YMMV depending on country.

Do you have a favourite app?  Please comment!