A few years ago I had the wonderful experience of going on a Safari in Kenya; staying at excellent lodges throughout the trip. One of them being an the shores of Lake Naivasha, but wow, if I’d come across the privately owned Hippo Point Wildlife Sanctuary this would have been the icing on the cake!
Hippo Point Tower
Hippo Point House is an Elizabethan style house belonged to a magistrate and was built in the 1933. The house has recently been restored to the higest standards with just seven double bedrooms, a swimming pool, open gazebo and lush gardens where you can indulge in yoga courses and body treatments. However the nearby Hippo Point Tower is really where its at! This nine storey Tower is rated as one of the top retreats in the world, and one of Kenya’s less known, but most luxurious hideaways. It is for exclusive use only and had a lounge and deck on the first floor and three double bedrooms - one on each floor above.
With magnificent views over Oloidien Bay it’s designed for romantics (by Dodo Cunningham-Reid) and guests are able to watch the hippo’s grazing at the foot of the Tower.
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Fed up with paying singles supplements and dining alone? Don’t want to sign up for tacky singles hol
idays or advertise for a travelling companion? Do want un-limited choices regarding where and when to go and discover where locals go and avoid tourist traps? Oh, and possibly travelling on a budget?
The concept of couchsurfing could be the solution for you. It’s a non profit-making organisation / project funded by those who join up and make a donation for doing so. The amount donated is up to the individual, especially because of the disparities between different countries economies. Once you are signed up you can offer your couch (or spare room / camping bed / even floor) as somewhere for others to stay, and of course surf to find other peoples couches for you to stay on. Of course this isn’t for everyone, but there is a definite group of people to whom it appeals. So far they have over a million members in 232 countries and more signing up every day. It has to be said that the majority of members / hosts are young (85% are between ages 18 and 34).
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Fancy holidaying in Dubai this summer but worried about the cost of taking the kids?
Then you might want to take up this Emirates airlines offer if you can travel before 20th September 2009:
• Free flight to Dubai for one child under 16 (when traveling with both parents)
• Free accommodation and meals for two children (again when traveling with both parents)
• Free entry to 9 of Dubai’s top children’s attractions:
o Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo (Dubai Mall) with over 33,000 aquatic animals
o Dubai (Olympic sized) Ice Rink
o Magic Planet – with rides, bumper cars, soft play area and video games
o SEGA Republic Indoor Theme Park – the middle east’s largest Sega park
o Ski Dubai – complete with chair lifts, button lifts and toboggan run (the largest indoor snow park in the world)
o The Lost Chambers (Atlantis Hotel – the Palm) – explores the story of how the citizens of Atlantis might have lived with a maze of underwater halls and tunnels
o The Montgomerie Dubai – golfing destination
o Wild Wadi Water Park – with 30 rides and slides
• Discounts for some shops in the Dubai Mall
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Yeah – OK, it’s a cheap trick to cash in on someone’s lyrics, but this is something worth bringing to your attention.
The ‘big apple’ is busily converting a disused, elevated railway line that runs down the Manhattan Island’s West Side (meatpacking district) into a public park between 18 and 30 foot above street level. When complete the park will be a mile and a half long and no more than 60ft wide at its broadest. With a hefty $170m price tag the park will combine meandering concrete pathways, naturalistic planting, fixed and movable seating, lighting, water features, children’s play areas and viewing platforms to give the public space broad appeal. There will be three access points from street level (every two or three blocks) and most will have elevators in addition to stairways.
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When most of us think of the Maldives we conjure up visions of empty white sandy beaches, palm trees and luxury. Well, Havafen Fushi takes such visions to new heights, or should I say new depths with its claims to be the world’s first underwater spa.
The resort has found itself on the Conde Nast Traveler gold list in 2007, and named best beach resort by Harper’s Bazaar in 2008. So, what is all the fuss about?
Underwater spa
Firstly, the setting helps – its set in a lagoon on a pristine island (a 30 minute speed boat ride from the international airport). The ‘Lime Spa’ includes an under-water treatment room – seriously relaxing while you are having treatments, flotation pool, yoga pavilion, and six over-water glass-floored treatment rooms. There are a range of differently styled bungalows and pavilions to choose from – some over-water (with infinity pools and Jacuzzi), some on the beach, but are well equipped with Bose technology, plasma screens, Culti luxuries in the bathroom and a guide to dreams by your bed!
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