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The Barmy Army West Indies Tour The West Indies is always one of the biggest tours for the Barmy Army and 2004 will be no different. Many who have been in Australia recently have been constantly chatting about the West Indies being "THE NEXT BIG ONE" and how can they find out more about it. so we thought it was time to fill you in. Great sun, beaches, the Caribbean culture, some of the best grounds in the world to watch cricket such as Sabina Park and Bridgetown, and the calypso party music belting out of the Eposse stands, makes England's tour to the West Indies a must do. Touring As in the past, we do advise that if you want to do the West Indies independently, do it! You will certainly find many going alone, and it will not be long before you are singing along with the Barmy Army! We are hopeful of having more info on doing the independent thing once the schedule is finalised and 100% confirmed. For some, the West Indies is a daunting and expensive task, and with the vast majority of accommodation on the islands being hotels or apartments, this can become an expensive exercise if you are travelling alone and have to fork out for a room by yourself or a "Single supplement" as many of the tour companies now make you do. We are pleased to let you know that we have joined forces with Wanderers Australia and Wanderers Europe who will be putting together the official Barmy Army Tour to the West Indies. The idea behind this is to make co-ordination of everything easier, with the Wanderers taking the hassle out of the touring part international and inter island flights, accommodation, airport transfers, travel insurance, airport and government taxes, breakfast and match tickets at FACE VALUE. If you are single, they will match you up with someone of the same sex and roughly the same age to save you on single supplements and forking out for a hotel room or apartment on your own. Wanderers did this for Australia and it worked very well. You will still have the space and independence to do what you want, when you want, and not be herded around like sheep! The other important thing is that there will be emergency contacts and people on the ground in the Caribbean and in the UK for those on tour for advice and for emergencies in case you get into a bother! Of course the Barmy Army will still have various events and cricket days for charity and all are invited whether you are on the tour or not. For more information on how to get on to the tours, contact Mike or Brad at info@wandererseurope.com or visit their website which is www.wandererseurope.com The Barmy Army will be having 5 tours to the West Indies, which will allow you to see any two of the tests, all of the tests, as well as the One Dayers at the end of the tour. If we get big enough numbers there is also the possibility of chartering our own flights out to the Windies. Our advice is to go for the tests, particularly if you are on a budget. With the One Dayers and so many inter Island flights, it can become expensive to follow England from Island to Island. With the tests you have 5 days (fingers crossed) of cricket as well as not having to repack everything every two days and hop on a plane to the next match. Fixtures The provisional Itinerary for England1s Tour to the West Indies as released by the ECB in Late Feb 2003 is as follows: Test Matches
1st Test - March 11 to 15th - Jamaica One Day Matches
April 18th - Guyana Barmy Army Tours Tours are being put together as follows:
Tour 1 Jamaica and Trinidad
Tour 2 Trinidad and Barbados
Tour 3 Barbados and Antigua
Tour 4 All 4 tests
Tour 5 One Dayers Approximate costs The cost of doing two tests will be approx 2000 pounds, with all four tests being 3500 pounds, and the one day tour costing approx 2995 pounds. This will include your flights, accommodation and breakfast, return airport transfers, return ground transfers if not within a short walking distance, travel insurance, taxes, match tickets in the Barmy Army section of the ground and 24 hour emergency contacts both in the Caribbean and at home. Extension Flexibility There is also the possibility of extending your stay after the tour if you wanted to tour a few more of the islands, do some diving etc. Please let the Wanderers know. There will be a minimal cost in additional travel insurance but is something available to all on the Barmy Army tour. How to get on board!
All you need to do is contact the Wanderers at info@wandererseurope.com or visit their website at www.wandererseurope.com where you can view the tour itineraries in a day to day format. You can also contact them on 01451 851022, or for those still in OZ, you can contact Brad on 02 9824 0044. They are taking bookings and deposits for each of the tours now.
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