The 2009 village visits are divided into separate pages - click on any of them to see the plan for that day

Pages: Crimea, Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four

Please also remember to make your choices for Crimea

On the day we visit Dnepropetrovsk (formerly Ekaterinoslav) - Oct. 11 - we will have an extensive morning tour of former Mennonite urban sites. There will be time
in the afternoon for private visits to former village sites nearby such as Wiesenfeld, Andreasfeld, etc.
The Poetker/Redekopp family trio will make an all day private trip to Ignatievo (Romanovka) & possibly Borissovo (VP).

Principle:
There will be two or three (this year) no-extra-cost bus routes each day on three days when we are docked in Zaporiozhia, along with private trips to outlying areas. You will make the choices for the trips you take. On the fourth day based in Zaporizhia we all take a generic bus and walking visit, in rotation to the famous sites of historic Khortitsa-Rosenthal.
Private trip costs will be paid to the trip providers on the ship in Ukraine. All bus and private trips are co-ordinated by Larissa Goryacheva, Manager of the privatized Intourist Travel Company in Zaporiozhia. Larissa and her senior guide, Olga Shmakina will be with us on the ship from the start in Odessa.

Principle:
We can get you to any no-extra-cost cruise bus to any village in Molochna, Khortitsa or Yazykovo settlements. For a list see the page at:
There is an extensive library on online Mennonite maps by William Schroeder for you to see and download.
We can book a private trip to other places or for extended stays in one village - the costs will be $45 to $60 USD per hour or more (fuel prices have soared) and are often shared by other passengers interested in the same village. You will be paying the Intourist travel manager, Larissa Goryacheva in cash, on the ship after each trip, in US dollars or local currency. Larissa will be with us from the start of the cruise in Odessa. There will be packed lunches provided by the ship for bus and private tours.

Please also have a look at a supporting page dealing with village bus and private trips

The popular theme bus route MENNONITE RETURN AND OUTREACH - New in 2007 will be continued  in 2009

As Mennonites returned to Ukraine in greater numbers in the last ten to fifteen years, they have been inspired to help their former neighbours. This tour visits some of these places and interacts with local residents. Rudy Friesen, board member of the Mennonite Centre in Ukraine, will be the resource leader, along with Ukrainian manager, Dema Bratchenko.
The tour will visit:
- Kutuzovka (Petershagen) Church and Aussiedler pastor Jakob Tiessen
- Molochansk (Halbstadt) Mennonite Centre in Ukraine for complimentary lunch, situated in the former Maedchenschule building. We will visit the centre and some of the institutions it serves.
- Molochansk Internat (Orphanage) caring for 280 orphans
- Balkovo (Fuerstenwerder) A farm or two in the area serving as pilot projects in micro finance
- Svyetlodolinskoye (Lichtenau) meet mayor Peotr, and visit the famous railway site where many Mennonites parted to go west in the 1920s, and from which thousands were deported to the east from 1930 to 1941. We will also visit a Kindergarten.
- The tour will include a mini-concert by the award-winning Rhapsody Singers of Tokmak, founded with the help of the Mennonite Centre. This event will likely be held in the Petershagen Mennonite Church.
- Dolina village school (Schoenau) Meet school director Marina Romanova

In addition to the above named stops, the bus route will take us for photo stops through a number former Mennonite villages on the western edge of Molochna.

Return to main 2009 cruise page