Cactus Habitat Trips

[Chris43]

I agree, Bob, someone has to speak spanish adequately. Difficult otherwise.

[Trevor]

I have very tentative thoughts of doing a trip to the Southwest of the USA around April-May next year - Essentially driving my way from LA to Texas via AZ and NM, stopping at all the big C & S nurseries and good habitat areas along the way, ending up with a few days spent exploring the Big Bend NP. (I can thank Chris43 for the getting me hooked on the idea of going to Big Bend !!;))
If anyone's having thoughts along the same lines, it'd be great to travel with fellow cactophiles and share costs along the way. Just keep in mind it is only an idea for me at the moment as I have my Chile trip in November and it'll depend how the finances recover as to whether the US trip is in 2008 or 2009. Sharing costs like car rental and occasionally accomodation would definitely make it more likely though....

[saxocactus]

And the big question - roughly how much per person?

[Chris43]

Hi Serena,
Based on my trip this year to Texas and New Mexico - let's assume April trip, and 5 people per vehicle.

Flights - from ?350 to ?500 from LHR or LGW depending on airline and number of stops en route. Only AA and BA fly direct, and these are at the top end of the range.

Car Hire - 2 weeks is ?420 for 5 seater 4x4 (Jeep Cherokee - but I was given a Dodge Durango this time). Can be a lot cheaper if use normal car, but roads could be uncertain.

Miles - 4000 at 20mpg at $2.5 per gallon = ?333 (petrol / gas prices variable obviously).

Hotels - I tend to use cheap motels (Travelodge, Motel 6 etc) at approx $45 per room (1 or 2 people).

Meals - I buy a cheap breakfast if not provided in hotel, and buy food and drink for lunch at supermarkets, then decent meal in evening. Allow $30 a day.

Other spending - National Park entry fees etc. - not huge, allow $40 per person.

This comes to between ?1080 and ?1230 for a person travelling without partner, mostly depending on flights.

For different length of stay just pro-rata up all but the flights.


I hope this gives you an idea, at least.

[phil]

Hi Chris, Very usefulinformation- thanks for that.
Maybe a trip to the south west USA is a posibility but I'm sure more is to be gained from travelling with a group.

[Chris43]

Oh I agree, Phil, much better with a group, so long as its not too large. If you start to have to build in the overheads of organising people then you don't get as much done. I think that between the various members of the Forum, and their contacts, you could build quite a decent itinerary with most places known or at least GPS co-ordinates of them, which together with Google Earth helps a lot in the preparation.

[Vic]

If you're planning on visiting quite a few NPs then it's always worth while purchasing a National Parks Pass at the first NP you visit, this costs $50 and is valid for one year. It will cover one car plus occupants. NPs such as Grand Canyon and Zion cost $25 to enter so you really can make a saving.

[phil]

Thanks Vic, I did several National parks last year brilliant they were too!!

[Vic]

I know you did Zion Phil. I drove through there last trip and the scenery, mountains etc. were breathtaking, few plants knocking about too! Presume you went through that long tunnel, I got stuck behind a dirty great bus with thick black smoke bellowing out of the back, not so pleasant.

What other NPs did you do?

[phil]

Hi Vic, yes we went through the long tunnel & on into Zion where we stayed overnight. We had a beautiful walk along the river.Fantastic flowers & wildlife.