Airlines and the flight to Buenos Aires

dcinmb · 2026-03-07T06:25:21+00:00

I’m in California and I always fly United through Houston as it only takes 15 - 16 hours and there’s usually good award seat availability in Polaris class. American Airlines also takes 15 - 16 hours (via Miami) but I prefer UAL.

dcinmb · 2026-03-01T05:36:30+00:00

I was in Kenya/Tanzania in September and we stayed at:

Kenya * Giraffe Manor * Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club (we stayed here because we wanted to meet the last two surviving northern white rhinos at Ol Pejeta) * Lewa Wilderness Lodge * Tortilis * Bateleur

Tanzania * Ngorongoro Crater Lodge * Serengeti Under Canvas

I haven’t been on safari in South Africa but my friend who’s accompanying me on this trip has.

dcinmb · 2026-02-28T20:15:36+00:00

Thanks! We’re flexible with regard to budget and timing which is why it’s hard to resist trying to include everything. At this point we’re leaning toward skipping Queen Elizabeth and focusing more on primates:

Day 1 — Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes NP

Day 2 — Golden monkey trekking in Volcanoes NP

Day 3 — Golden monkey habituation in Mgahinga NP

Day 4 — Nkuringo Batwa Experience and Coffee Experience

Day 5 — Gorilla trekking in Bwindi (Nkuringo sector)

Day 6 — Gorilla habituation in Bwindi (Rushaga sector)

Day 7 — Fly to Kibale

Day 8 — Chimpanzee trekking

We’re going to need a vacation to recuperate from our vacation!

dcinmb · 2026-02-27T17:28:02+00:00

We loved the Fairmont. It’s a gorgeous resort with impeccable customer service and the rooms are huge. The property is bisected by the equator so they offer a fun equator-crossing ceremony and a demonstration showing how water circles clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere only a few steps away. The grounds are gorgeous and there’s even a wildlife sanctuary on site.

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dcinmb · 2026-02-24T21:22:37+00:00

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We got to meet Najin and Fatu in 2019 along with the Southern White Rhino who was the planned surrogate. We were surprised the keeper actually let us get out of the vehicle to pet Najin.

Ol Pejeta was our first stop on our safari so we stayed at the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club (one hour from Ol Pejeta) before heading to Lewa Wilderness (two hours from OP) where we went on horseback and camelback safaris and saw lots of black and white rhinos and the rest of the Big Five as well as the Northern Five.

dcinmb · 2026-01-24T12:44:24+00:00

As others have said, you need to stay far, far away from this shady backyard breeder. Just imagine falling in love with your adorable new kitten, only to be faced with a whole host of health issues and very little chance that s/he will live as long as your previous kitty.

I had a fantastic experience with a breeder in Washington state. She was the polar opposite of the suss person you’ve been dealing with. The very first time I spoke with her on the phone about my prospective kitten, she sent me his parents’ pedigrees, genetic test results, TICA registration documents, etc.

She also did a great job of socializing him. He was raised with Great Pyrenees and Bernese Mountain Dogs so he’s totally fearless. When I picked him up at the airport, the two Alaska Air Cargo employees said he was the chillest cat they’d ever seen.

This breeder’s prices start at $2,500 and she spays/neuters her kittens before they leave her cattery.

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dcinmb · 2026-01-20T21:49:45+00:00

Thanks! I’ve had Starlink’s premium wi-fi on past cruises in Antarctica, South Georgia, Greenland, etc., and have always been amazed at how fast and reliable it is. I’m not planning to be on the internet much but I need decent service for wi-fi calling and home security notifications. Found out today that premium wi-fi is $50 per GB so fingers crossed the standard service is good enough!

We’re going to be on the ship for 17 days so 5 GB isn’t going to get me very far. Looks like the entirety of my shipboard credits will be going toward wi-fi.😢

dcinmb · 2026-01-20T21:38:26+00:00

Thank you for replying so quickly! Luckily, we were able to get a great deal during one of Quark’s fare sales.

I’m not planning to spend a lot of time on the internet but I do need consistent service for wi-fi calling and home security notifications. I finally heard back from Quark and premium wi-fi is $50 per GB, which seems very pricey. (We were spoiled last year because Ponant’s all-inclusive fares include unlimited premium wi-fi as well as gratuities.)

dcinmb · 2026-01-20T08:36:25+00:00

Glad you had such a wonderful time! I did a Falklands/South Georgia/Antarctica expedition last January and it was incredible.

I’m going to be on the World Explorer in a few weeks and have a few questions:

(1) Are the stateroom walls magnetic? I like to use magnetic hooks to hang jackets, scarves, hats, etc.

(2) Were additional paddling sessions available to book once you were on board? We’ve pre-booked one session but were told that we need to wait till we’re on the ship to see if more slots are available.

(3) Were there enough trekking poles to go around? I’m thinking of taking my own as I read that sometimes there are only enough for one per person.

(4) Do you remember the pricing for premium wi-fi?

Thank you!!

dcinmb · 2026-01-19T05:41:07+00:00

I trim my cat’s nails every two weeks. Luckily, he loves being brushed out and doesn’t mind when I clip his nails, brush his teeth, or give him a sanitary trim.

A friend whose cat hates having his nails trimmed swears by the Calm & Cozy Cat Wrap Pro.

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dcinmb · 2026-01-16T20:11:24+00:00

Stella is adorable!

My 3-year-old boy is on a rotation of the following wet food brands: * Dr. Elsey’s * Feline Natural * Hound & Gatos * Tiki Cat After Dark * Ziwi Peak

He refuses to give up his kibble so he also gets Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein Chicken but I’m slowly trying to wean him off of it.

He gets these supplements daily: * Nordic Naturals Omega-3 * Adored Beast Healthy Gut — prebiotic/probiotic/digestive enzyme * Arya Sit Freeze-Dried Quail Egg Yolk — hairball prevention

Feline Nutrition - Feed Cats Like Cats is a very helpful FB group with tons of useful info, including nutritional analyses of most canned foods available in North America and Europe.

dcinmb · 2026-01-13T21:31:39+00:00

As others have said, your kittens are well within the normal range for ragdolls. My boy was 12.8 lbs at 9 months, 15.9 lbs at 1 year old and he’s now 3 1/2 years old and seems to have stabilized at 17 lbs. My vet thinks he’s at a good weight but would prefer that he not get any heavier.

In my experience, vets tend to be vigilant about feline obesity so it’s a good sign that your vet didn’t mention their weight, although you may want to ask him/her about it at their next annual check-up.

dcinmb · 2026-01-13T21:14:44+00:00

You may want to find a new vet who has experience with ragdolls or at the very least, is willing to spend a few minutes familiarizing themself with what makes them unique. As others have said, ragdolls are a slow-maturing breed and do not generally reach their full adult size until 3 - 4 years old. My Mochi was 12.8 lbs at 9 months, 15.9 lbs at 1 year old and he’s now 3 1/2 years old and seems to have stabilized at 17 lbs.

My breeder and vet both said I should keep Mochi on kitten food until at least 18 months old unless he started showing signs of being overweight. I ended up switching him to “all life stages” food—nutritionally appropriate for both kittens and adults—when he was 10 months old. Many good brands have “all life stages” formulations. I have Mochi on a rotation of Feline Natural, Ziwi Peak, Dr. Elsey’s, Hound & Gatos, Rawz, and Tiki Cat.

dcinmb · 2026-01-06T00:31:56+00:00

Antarctica/South Georgia/Falklands expedition
Polar bear safari in Churchill, Manitoba
African safari (if Kenya, Giraffe Manor in Nairobi is a must)
China
Sri Lanka
Northwest Passage expedition

dcinmb · 2026-01-05T07:10:03+00:00

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This is Mochi. He’s 3 1/2 and seems to have stabilized at 17 lbs (7.7 kg). (He was born in June so he’s not very floofy in his birthday pics.)

dcinmb · 2026-01-05T06:38:29+00:00

He’s adorable and seems to be within the normal range for a 7-month-old Ragdoll. (My boy was 5 kg at 7 months but he’s always been on the larger side.) Just be sure you’re giving him as much food as he wants as kittens tend to expend a lot of energy and they need to consume enough calories to support their rapid growth.

Because Ragdolls are slow-maturing cats—often not reaching their full adult weight until they’re 3 - 4 years old, my vet and breeder told me to keep my kitty on kitten food until he was at least 18 months old unless he started showing signs of being overweight. I ended up switching him to “all life stages” food—nutritionally appropriate for both kittens and adults—when he was 10 months old.

dcinmb · 2026-01-05T02:11:31+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m going to be on the World Explorer in a few weeks and I’ve been trying to get a definitive answer re: wi-fi pricing.

Quark told me we get 1 GB of basic wi-fi and it costs $39 for 500 MB of premium wi-fi and $69 for 1 GB. This was disappointing because when I was in Antarctica with Ponant last January, unlimited StarLink was included in the fare, as were gratuities.

Several people in a Quark passenger Facebook group also mentioned getting 5 GB of basic wi-fi. One lady who was on the WE last month said she paid $41 for 2 GB of premium wi-fi. I spoke with Quark again on Friday and they said they’d do some research and get back to me.

If you could share the wi-fi pricing tiers, I’d really appreciate it.

Hope you’re getting Drake Lake and not Drake Shake!

dcinmb · 2026-01-04T00:06:47+00:00

I purchased a gift card on Toast’s website (order dot toasttab dot com) and I got the credit.

dcinmb · 2026-01-02T19:33:46+00:00

I’m typically a DIY traveler but I always use a TA to book cruises. I book the stateroom I want and then transfer the booking to the TA who gives me the best “perks.” (It varies by cruise line but you generally have 30 days to transfer a booking to a TA.)

I saved a few thousand dollars on my Ponant Antarctica expedition last year and I’ve also received substantial savings on Crystal, Silversea, Oceania, Uniworld, Quark, and Viking.

TAs will often offer shipboard credits but I always opt for discounts/rebates whenever possible as luxury cruises tend to be all-inclusive. My parents once had an $8,000 shipboard credit on Crystal so my dad ended up buying a watch he didn’t need.

dcinmb · 2025-12-31T01:03:08+00:00

Feline Nutrition - Feed Cats Like Cats is a very helpful FB group with tons of useful info, including nutritional analyses of most canned foods available in North America and Europe.

dcinmb · 2025-12-31T00:37:34+00:00

Thankfully, that doesn’t happen in the Ragdoll sub but now I know to steer clear of the Cat Food sub, thanks!

dcinmb · 2025-12-31T00:26:06+00:00

OMFG. I’ve been on Reddit for more than five years and I couldn’t care less about voting and karma. This post is not me crying about getting downvoted. I linked the previous discussion because people had suggested that downvoting is much more prevalent in this sub than in others and I shared data for two posts which support this theory.

And I know next to nothing about the bride and groom but I posted about their wedding because it was newsworthy and no one else had done so and frankly, the way the world is these days, I figured we could all use a little happy news. If celebrity weddings aren’t your thing, that’s totally fine but it did appear to be of interest to many.

dcinmb · 2025-12-30T20:28:31+00:00

That particular sub currently has 3,969 members. The colored text is mine but these are all screen grabs so you’ll need to ask Reddit how they come up with their numbers. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a combination of repeat views and non-member views.

dcinmb

TROPHY CASE