Travelore News: Rules Vary About Travel To Countries Hit By Ebola

By The Associated Press

FILE- In this Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014, file photo released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard Health Technician Nathan Wallenmeyer, left, and CBP supervisor Sam Ko, right, conduct prescreening measures on a passenger who has arrived from Sierra Leone at O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 5 in Chicago. Demands are rising in Washington for the U.S. to ban travelers from countries in West Africa, but the Obama administration is resisting and says the screening measures already in place for travelers are more effective. (AP Photo/U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Melissa Maraj, File)

Demands are rising in Washington for the U.S. to ban travelers from countries in West Africa, but the Obama administration is resisting and says the screening measures already in place for travelers are more effective.

There are no direct flights from Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone to the U.S. Officials say that about 150 passengers a day arrive in the U.S. from those countries after making a connecting flight, usually in Europe. Most arrive at one of five airports, where screening for fever - a symptom of the disease - began this week.

Here's what different countries are doing about travel to and from the Ebola hot spots:

EUROPE:

United Kingdom: No formal ban. No direct flights from the three affected countries to London's Heathrow Airport since British Airways suspended service there in August due to the outbreak. There is passenger screening at Heathrow and soon at two other airports.

Germany: No ban and no plans for one. There is no formal monitoring or screening of arriving passengers. Like the U.S., Germany doesn't have any direct flights from those three African countries.

France: The government advises against non-essential travel to Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone. Air France suspended flights to Sierra Leone but has maintained once-a-day flights from Guinea, a former colony. Beginning Saturday, temperature checks for passengers arriving in Paris from the Guinean capital of Conakry.

Netherlands: The government advises against travel to the same three nations and urges Dutch citizens in those countries to leave. No direct flights. Currently no extra screening at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, although passengers on flights to and from Nigeria receive flyers with information about Ebola.

Ireland: No ban planned. No Ebola monitoring at airports. Ryanair flies to Morocco but not to any of the countries in the Ebola epidemic. The U.S. has customs stations at Dublin and Shannon airports for U.S.-bound travelers.

Czech Republic: Starting Tuesday, medical checks at Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport for passengers who visited Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone in the previous 42 days.

Albania: No ban.

Turkey: Passengers from Liberia and Nigeria are undergoing more intensive screening. Those with high fever or other symptoms are being quarantined. Six travelers suspected of having Ebola turned out to have malaria instead.

MIDDLE EAST:

Israel: No direct flights. The government plans to ask passengers on connecting flights from West Africa, mostly through France or Ethiopia, to declare if they have been to one of the Ebola countries recently and if they feel ill.

Egypt: Airport officials say there is no travel ban.

Saudi Arabia: People from Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone could not get visas for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, a move that affected more than 7,000 travelers. Stopped issuing work visas to nationals of those countries.

United Arab Emirates: Dubai-based Emirates halted flights to Guinea in August. Dubai International Airport, a major hub for global air traffic, has no specific Ebola screening.

Qatar: Qatar Airways advises against non-essential travel to Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone and does not fly there.

LATIN AMERICA and CARIBBEAN:

Colombia: Bars entry by any travelers requiring visas who have been in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria or Senegal.

Haiti: The prime minister tweeted that the UN stopped sending peacekeepers from Africa to Haiti as a preventive measure.

Jamaica: Bans entry by anyone who has been in Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone within four weeks.

Guyana: Diplomatic missions have been told not to issue visas to people from the affected West African countries.

Trinidad and Tobago: Denies entry to residents of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo. Others who have visited those countries within six weeks will be quarantined for 21 days.

Saint Lucia: Visitors from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone can't enter until the Ebola outbreak is under control. Travelers from Nigeria need to present a recent medical certificate declaring them free of the virus.

Antigua: No entry to anyone who has been in affected countries within the past 21 days and suspended granting of visas.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Bans nationals from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Belize: Issued a ban Friday on visas to persons from West African countries.

Lesser-Known Luxury Island Escapes You Should Know About

Ask people to draw up a bucket list of islands they would most like to visit and Zanzibar, Barbados,, Tahiti and Sri Lanka are the likeliest candidates to top the polls. Here, we look at a quartet of smaller, lesser know islands that offer an intriguing alternative to the A list and might well be the answer to those in search of something a little different.

For beauty: Vamizi, Mozambique

Often referred to as the ‘new Maldives’, the Quirimbas is an archipelago of sparkling islands in the Indian Ocean off the coast of northern Mozambique. Aside from some of the most jaw-dropping beaches on the planet, the islands are home to a huge amount of protected wildlife, including turtles, whale sharks, dolphins and Manta rays.

Vamizi Island, slender and crescent-shaped, was home to the first lodge in the Quirimbas. The island now boasts a collection of luxurious private villas, each with a chef, housekeeping and hospitality manager; there are also ten smaller, beachfront villas.  Daily life revolved around beach barbeques, remote picnics, diving, big game fishing, pampering and sunset dhow cruises.

For topography: Lord Howe, Australia

Few Australians have ever been, but Lord Howe is a true gem. A two-hour flight from Sydney or Brisbane, this World Heritage Listed island is Australia’s very own South Sea island. Dominated by volcanic highlands and fringed by a lagoon that is protected by the most southerly reef on the planet. . There are many endemic species of wildlife, including a flightless woodhen, so it is no wonder Sir David Attenborough described the island as “so extraordinary it is almost unbelievable”.

For the real Caribbean: Bequia

Other than to yachties island-hopping the string of Grenadines, Bequia (only seven square miles) is one of the least known of the Caribbean islands, but has all the usual assets of warm seas and sunshine.

Those wanting to get involved in local life and hang out with local fishermen and boat builders – the Frangipani on the harbour is its heartbeat – will fall in love with Bequia. The island has excellent beaches, Princess Margaret and Lower Bay, are both walkable or a short water taxi from Port Elizabeth, the village-size capital.

For history: Nantucket, USA

Nantucket, the so-called ‘Faraway Island’, lies as far from US mainland as France does from Folkestone. Fourteen miles long and four miles wide, the island has become one of the most affluent vacation spots in the USA. As well as fantastic beaches, Nantucket also boats an incredible history. In the 1800s it was the whaling capital of the world until, with the demise of whaling, the population shrank. Today, however, the whole island is classified as a National Historic Monument, an America without shopping malls, traffic lights and McDonald’s.

The lack of development lies at the root of its charm. Nantucket is about old money, its ‘cottages’ owned by people whose names mean less than the corporations they skipper.

Contributed by Nick Van Gruisen, Managing Director of The Ultimate Travel Company. www.aluxurytravelblog.com

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