Mandy Nickerson - MD Update

Weather around the world is ever changing. Whilst British weather has through a lot of my lifetime been inconsistent – I don’t think this always applied to other countries, you knew when it would be hot; you knew when there would be a monsoon. Climate change is talked about so often and whilst we are all aware of it, still when we go overseas and have different conditions to the ones we were anticipating it comes as surprise.

Egypt would be a good example whereby in January they had a day of continuous rain. Whilst we know it is cooler in January – I have never witnessed a whole day of rain. Then in early February there were some high winds which meant on one day everyone cruising had to stay inside rather than be out on deck, which of course is where the majority of people want to be when actually cruising.

What do Bales do about this? Well we obviously cannot control the weather, but we do recognise that the experience will be different and it is our flexible and proactive approach to change things around where possible, for instance, maybe have a talk on modern day in Egypt, something a lot of passengers are interested to know about whilst people were onboard the boat.

Again this is where our emergency number comes in so useful, as if a client is genuinely unhappy we can talk to them and see what a difference we can make.

The Kenya situation sadly does not appear to be improving and it is devastating to see a country in such turmoil. Also of course it affects lives and livelihoods - tourism is a very important part of their economy and overnight it disappears. They have had a rocky ride over the last few years and it had seemed finally over the last couple of years that tourism was on a real high.

I feel very upset as well for my colleagues that rely so much on a single country.

We changed our strategy in 1991 after the first Iraq war, when we saw the vulnerability of having too much business in one country. Whilst we have been operating to many of the countries around the globe that we feature for over 40 years we still felt we needed to redress the balance. I am thankful in this event that as a business we offer such a range of countries in Africa and whilst a safari experience is bound to be different in other parts of Africa – still the concept of many – even if more remote and wild is seeing the wildlife and the big five.  

We are seeing a huge change in that whilst a lot of you still book as individuals, many are now deciding to go as a complete party with their family and friends – perhaps to celebrate a birthday or anniversary – maybe just simply that some parties wish to travel together.   Andy Trussler who looks after our ad hoc group side is being kept busy and indeed there is a growth of booking our dahabiyyas in Egypt for a private charter - which makes sense as each boat can only accommodate 12, which I personally feel is a good number to build up a party of intimate friends or family. I am certainly doing it later this year as I would prefer to do this than have a big party to celebrate a significant birthday.   Great thing is you can ‘tamper and change’ the itinerary if you charter it. For me, because there is never enough time, I am doing a four night trip on it but still cruising between Luxor and Aswan.

Whilst I know that for some of you, you have not finalised your 2008 travel plans yet and this may be because of your own shortage of time, I would urge you to think about it especially if you want something specific as there are still a lot of you that book early to be ensured you get exactly what you require. We will naturally always always try, but often a little more time helps with the availability of the specific hotels and flights you may require.

Now for those regular readers that are aware I am due to do half a marathon in under two weeks and my training was put back because of a knee injury and no it wasn’t an excuse! I genuinely want to do the run, mostly because of raising the money for such a great cause, Family Holiday Association – which provides holidays for underprivileged families or families that have had to contend with a lot of hardship. I am not talking about Bales holidays – it may be a weekend in a caravan by the sea but for the majority of people that take them, the family have never before had a respite or time together in a relaxed environment.

Anyway, the thing is I am so determined. I asked my husband if I could run towards work and he could pick me up on the way as we work in the same town.   Before anyone suggests that we only live 10 yards from work the distance is actually about 13 miles so same as half a marathon.  All good intentions, I left at 6.30 and he picked me up at 7.40 and I did work hard (for me). I cannot say I ran the whole way as that would be a blatant lie but I ran and walked and did nearly 7 miles. A way to go, but I will do it even if I have to crawl. 

Thank you for taking the time to read it – I enjoy this blog most when it provokes feedback from you so anything you want to know please ask or give your own comments, which I can respond to privately or in my blog.

Speak soon

Mandy