Honeymoon cliches become reality in French Polynesia where detecting new shades of blue is an activity on itselve. Although there are enough cheaper and closer destinations where the sea is also a blueish and the lagoons are also undefinable transparent, Tahiti and its sister islands stay an ultimate honeymooners paradise. Avoid dissapointment and shattered dream by making the right decisions and staying in the right hotels and places. Read more »
The time is now to discover Kenya. The parks and the beaches are more empty, the rates are lower and the animals are still in millions and millions there. Kenya is by far the safari expert in Africa. This expertise is reflected in how people run the lodges and hotels and how friendly and welcoming the Kenians are. Despite the political issues, new lodges are still popping up around the country. Read more »
Although The Faroe Islands (belonging to Denmark but located between Norway and Iceland) are trying hard to be the new Reykjavik, it seems like time passed this archipelo, floating in the Atlantic, by. Eighteen green islands with only 50.000 inhabitants and the double amount of sheep. Read more »
Northwest Argentina is South-America in a glass. Lush, green valleys, arid plains, snowcapped vulcano’s, saltlakes,… When visiting this area there are two must-stays in the Salta Province: Bodega Colome near the town of Molinos and the House of Jasmines near Salta city. Colome is a wine estate owned by the excentric Swiss businessman Donald Hess who bought this estancia a couple of years ago and turned it very fast into a drinkable example of how ambitious new world wines can be. Here, at an altitude of 3002 meters, Hess experiments with high altitudes wines with lots of attitude and flavour. Bodega Colome is a dreamy estancia away from everything where gaucho’s en Indo’s rule the land. Perfect for the Latin America lover.
The ultimate way to discover Greece is to cruise from one small island to another. Sailing Cruises in Comfort sails to Greek, hidden drops in the Med with names like Kalymnos, Arki and Fourni… Extreme slow traveling with only the wind deciding which way to go and what to do (or not to do). Sailing Cruises in Comfort is the only “Gulet” organisation who actually sails during a trip. Every day, sometimes the whole day long the sails are up and the only sound is the wind pushing the boat forward. This is by far the best way to relax, unwind and of course see and experience Greece (and Turkey) from a very unique and non-touristy side.
Without a doubt the best way to experience Egypte is to cruise along the Nile. Even just being docked along the quay in Aswan gives a special oasis sensation, hectic noise of the bustle of the city included. The new style to cruise the Nile is boarding the ultra-luxurious Nilecruiser the Oberoi Zahra. Sleek, minimal, stylish (only too bad about the fake woods on the floor). Every room has floor-to-ceiling windows, even the bathrooms. She has dedicated private mooring places to avoid the hectic piers where all the other cruisers board. Of course the Zahra comes with a price but for those who can stand the sizzling heat of the Egyptian summermonths the Zahra offers a reasonable price. After all, Egypt is all about the desertheat and that special steamy atmosphere.
Today my article about Nomads of the Seas got published in De Tijd, the financial newspaper in Belgium. A good reason to look back at this unique sailingtrip we did a good month ago. We cruised around the area of Puerto Montt in northern Patagonia on what is by any doubt one of the most high-tech ships in the world. Owner Andres Ergas made sure the hardware for this flyfishing expedition is top-end: 25 million dollar boat, US Army zodiac of one milion, state-of-the-art helicopter,… Definately the ultimate way to discover this end of the world and most of all, to (learn how to) flyfish. Mister Ergas is quite ambitious and is planning more ultimate experience places all over Chile. From ultra-skiing in the Andes to going deep into the Atacama desert. Will be interesting to follow that. On the other hand, tourism and hospitality in South-America is growing so fast, that even a high-end project like Nomads is suffering from growing pains. My feeling is they have to make sure that the software, or the people running these operations, is as good as their hardware. I guess they still have some fine-tuning to do. Let’s keep an eye on that!
What we sometimes miss in Antwerp is that special harbour-city feel. You know that the harbour is there, but it’s far away from the citycenter and the hussle and bussle of the coming and going of the ships is missing. Here in Valparaiso, you look out of the window and you see the city below and a bit further the sea and it’s busy harbour. You hear and even smell the port. In the hills of Valparaiso, especially in Cerro Alegre and Cerro Conception, life goes a lot slower than down in the city center. Narrow street, colorful houses, more and more restaurants and bars…Good addresses to sleep are the newly opened Zero Hotel and a bit further down the road Casa Higueras. The last one offers a bit more classe with a nicely designed swimmingpool and a good restaurant with fantastic terrace and view on the city and port. A good up-to-date guidebook to discover the city is the blog Corrugated City. Matt moved from England to South-Amerika and made it’s way from Quito to Buenos Aires and finally ended here in Valparaiso.
One of the most attractive things about Chile is it’s diversity in landscapes, climate, atmosphere and overall feeling. We went from chilly and wet Patagonia to dry and hot Atacama and now it’s the Colchagua Valley near Santiago de Chile that is getting under our skin. Why? Surely the place, the Clos Apalta vineyard and it’s guesthouse or rather villa style hotel, which is the main reason why we like this area so much. The views over the vineyards with all the autumn colors are specaculair. The wine and the food here are great. The services comes with a big S. The owners are the Grand Marnier family and they brought European expertise to the rich and fertile vineyards of Chile. A great place for tasting and experiencing how Chile made it’s way from a winecountry which was not that specaculair to a deserved spot on the A-list of good wine. When you visit Clos Apalta, make sure to have a chat with the Chilean winemaker Andrea Leon. She will explain about the fact that the vineyards are bio-dynamic and organic and how this contributes to the very good Clos Apalta wines.
Just wrote an article about Slow Travel for De Morgen newspaper. I got inspired by the new book from Alastair Sawday about the same subject. What a great concept..Slowwwww. This is the way to travel. Not always easy as a travel journalist. Running from one place to another, sometimes not able to enjoy a place. Taking time to do nothing, enjoying the small things of life. Slowwww is the way to go.
Sizzling hot during the day, freezing cold at night. Not to forget one of the dryest places on earth. Handy for people like me who are used to the rain for almost 8 months a year. A new wave of hotels opened their doors here near or in San Pedro de Atacama. Read more »
