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Holland IPTs: Tulips & Windmills and Texel Birds
Holland Tulip/Windmill IPT: 8 nights/7 1/2 days of photography. $4,499. Limit: 8 photographers/Sold Out/Wait List Only
Included: Airport transfers. All ground transportation. All lodging double occupancy. Single supplement: $1168. If you wind up in a single room you will be billed for half of the single supplement. All meals from dinner on Day 1 through breakfast on Day 9.
Not included: sodas and other beverages, alcoholic drinks and wine, bottled water, snacks, desserts, personal items, phone calls, etc. See below for additional details.
BPN Out-of-the-Box Moderator Denise Ippolito (aka the Creative Flower Queen), BPN Photo Gear Moderator, Nikon shooter, and technical expert Peter Kes, and I have put together two great Holland trips in mid-April 2013. Day 1 of the tulip tour will be April 16, 2012 with airport pick-up that morning and an afternoon session at Keukenhof. Peter who is from Holland, will be our local guide/interpreter/driver. Happy campers only please.
The subjects: tulips at Keukenhof, the famed tulip gardens and the surrounding bulb fields (predominantly tulips); the windmills at Kinderdijk (near Alblasserdam); the windmills at at Zaanse Schans (near Zaanstad) and the surrounding bulb fields–hyacinths and daffodils, tulips; and the 16th century island-village of Marken.
If you are unfamiliar with Holland’s tulips click here to see some pretty nice images. You will come home with a lot better.
Here is the itinerary:
April 16: Day 1: Morning: Pickup from Schiphol.
Check: in at Avifauna motel, Lisse (asap).
Afternoon: tulips at Keukenhof.
April 17-18: Days 2 & 3: All Day: tulips at Keukenhof and/or the bulb fields surrounding Lisse. Choice of locations will be weather dependent.
April 19: Day 4: Morning: tulips at Keukenhof and/or the bulb fields surrounding Lisse
Checkout from Avifauna motel.
Check in at hotel TBD (asap).
Afternoon: photograph windmills at Kinderdijk
April 20: Day 5: Morning: photograph windmills at Kinderdijk in pre-dawn and early morning.
Checkout from hotel.
Check in at Hotel Akersloot (asap).
Afternoon: photograph windmills and bulb fields at Zaanse Schans.
April 21: Day 6: All Day: photograph the 16th century village at Marken.
April 22: Day 7: All Day: photograph windmills and bulb fields at Zaanse Schans.
April 23: Day 8: Morning: tulips at Keukenhof.
Afternoon: drive to historic Amsterdam for free time/walking tour.
Evening: meet for farewell dinner in Amsterdam.
April 24: Day 9: Morning: Check out of Hotel Akersloot and Transfer to Schiphol.
Holland Tulip/Windmill IPT: 8 nights/7 1/2 days of photography. $4,499. Limit: 8 photographers/Sold Out/Wait List Only.
Included: Airport transfers. All ground transportation. All lodging double occupancy. Single supplement: $1168. If you wind up in a single room you will be billed for half of the single supplement. All meals from dinner on Day 1 through breakfast on Day 9.
Not included: sodas and other beverages, alcoholic drinks and wine, bottled water, snacks, desserts, personal items, phone calls, etc.
Beware of seemingly longer tours that include travel days and days sitting in the hotel doing nothing as part of the tour.
Non-refundable deposit: $1,000 per person. Second payment of $2,000 due by NOV 30, 2012. Balance due: February 15, 2013.
For couples or friends signing up at the same time for the tulip trip, a $200 per person discount will be applied to the final payment.
If you are interested in filling one of the three remaining slots, let me know asap with an e-mail to samandmayasgrandpa@att.net and call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906. Leave a message to secure your place in line as I expect this to fill very soon now that it is being formally announced.
Holland Texel Bird Photography IPT: 6 full days: April 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30 (all day) $350 per person/day. Limit: 4 photographers/Sold Out: Wait List Only.
Ground transportation on April 24th is on us as are the airport transfers at both ends if needed. We will likely get to do some bird photography on the afternoon of April 24 (time permitting). No charge for that either. $350/person/day includes only ground transportation and instruction. Lodging and meals are not included–please e-mail to inquire as to our lodging and meal plans.
After the tulip IPT is over denise, Peter Kes, and I are continuing on to Texel, The Netherlands for about a week. It is 2 hours north of Amsterdam including a 30 minute ferry ride. We will be after some great birds: Black-tailed Godwit, Pied Avocet, Great-crested Grebe, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, European Spoonbill, Marsh and Hen Harriers, several species of terns including Arctic and Sandwich, Ringed Plover, Redshank and other waders, and Eurasian Oystercatcher. A long lens is required for the birds. The birds will be in smashing breeding plumage; Black-tailed Godwit will knock your socks off! Happy campers only please.
We will only be able to take four photographers on the Texel extension and two slots are filled already. If you would like to join us for either the birds or for the birds and the tulips please let me know asap with an e-mail to samandmayasgrandpa@att.net or call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906. Leave a message to secure your place in line as I expect this to fill very soon now that it is being formally announced.
