Traveller letters: Don't make this costly mistake with your visa

Michele Hart, Balgowlah, NSW

LETTER OF THE WEEK

SCONE WITH THE WIND

I had a wonderful but anxious experience while watching a pride of lions resting on a recent safari in South Africa. One female suddenly got up and started approaching our vehicle, eyes steadfastly fixed on us which forced our driver to quickly reverse the Jeep to scare her away.

She was not deterred, instead quickly grabbing our cooler bag off the back of the vehicle which contained our morning tea, as my photo shows, scattering the contents as she returned with it to the pride,

We watched as she then investigated the insides of it head first, finally taking her head out of it with the cooler bag attached. After much shaking of the head, she managed to throw it off, much to the curiosity of the other lions and the amusement of us. We immediately laughed which caused the whole pride to turn their attention on us.

We realised that they most likely had never heard laughter before, accustomed only to the noise of vehicles and the clicking of cameras and mobile phones. She subsequently did the same again before shaking it off. Fortunately for us our tracker managed to retrieve the bag once they had moved on.

Maureen Wood, Pennant Hills, NSW

SAVE THE CHILDREN

I applaud the Australian Government on the overdue campaign to prevent Australian travellers from inadvertently contributing to child exploitation through the practice of orphanage tourism, including by participating in misleading volunteer programs.

Many Australians are not informed about child safety overseas and are naive to the devastating impact to vulnerable children and communities.

Thank you, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (dfat.gov.au) for providing accessible information and a checklist for selecting child-safe volunteer activities. Everyone has a responsibility to travel ethically.

Tanya Bonte, East Melbourne, VIC

COPY THAT

I enjoyed the cover story on Russia (Traveller, March 3) having travelled there some years ago on the Trans-Siberian railway. Yes, Russia's government is appalling but I would still recommend people visit this fascinating country. I would also suggest beautiful Suzdal, near Vladimir, another "golden ring" town, not to be missed.

Nevertheless, I was interested that the writer recommended that tourists not leave passports at the hotel but take them everywhere in case they were stopped by the police. Interestingly we were given exactly the opposite advice by our guide: leave passports at the hotel and take a photocopy as it is apparently a common practice for police to demand the passport and then require a payment to get it back.

If only a copy is taken and police ask to see the actual passport you provide the copy but offer that they accompany you back to the hotel for the original. Apparently the police then don't press you for it.

Peta Heffernan, Flemington, VIC

CLOSED FOR LUNCH

My wife has been a member of Qantas Club for many years. Domestically and internationally we fly Qantas so long as it suits. On March 2, 2018, at 12.30pm we fronted the Qantas lounge at Singapore airport (one of the world's busiest) to be told that the lounge did not open until 2.30pm.

Our flight was a code share with Emirates and we were denied entry there also, even though it was open. It's not good enough, Qantas, especially as club membership is not cheap.

Also, it took them from May last year until August to process my wife's membership renewal. In addition, Qantas flight service to Singapore was not as good as Emirates from Singapore to Brisbane.

Mike Watson, Kenmore, QLD

BLIND FAITH

In regard to the letters questioning the recent practice of airlines closing window blinds on daytime flights out of Australia the simple fact is if you want the blind open, then keep it open – it is not against the law.

Airlines want the blinds shut in an attempt to get the passengers to doze off, so they can keep the flight attendant numbers as low as possible. My take is I paid for a window seat so I am looking out of the window.

Qantas staff will get uppity with you, but in the end there is nothing they can do. However, staff from the Asian and Middle East airlines are fine with you keeping the window blind open; at least that has been my experience.

Wayne Robinson, Mona Vale, NSW

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