Overwater Bungalows in Africa!

 

Having trouble deciding between that South African safari or a beach vacation in a bungalow over the sea, but don't have the time or money to visit SA and Tahiti or the Maldives on the same trip?  No need to weigh the options for one more moment, thanks to Flamingo Bay Water Lodge in Mozambique! So go ahead, start narrowing down those safari lodges, and plan a relaxing pre- or post-animal-viewing stop in this amazing country!

 Only about an hour's flight from Johannesburg, South Africa to the town of Inhambane and a half-hour car ride will bring you to this eco-paradise.

 Flamingo Bay's barefoot elegance, laid-back style and atmosphere, excellent food and service, simple but lovely water chalets, and exotic setting would definitely be worth a splurge! However, the rates here could actually be more accurately described as a steal - $350-$400USD total for 2 per night, including daily breakfast and dinner!

Here, you can be as relaxed or as active as your heart desires...
Just want to laze? Spend time soaking up the sun on the deck of your chalet, jumping off now and then to cool off and snorkel in the clear waters below. After you've worked up an appetite, jump in one of the complimentary golf carts for the short ride from your chalet to the resort's restaurant and bar. A treatment at Flamingo Bay's spa is a fabulous way to spend the afternoon, and later, a sunset cruise is the perfect activity to cap off the day!

 

Want more adventure and excitement? Paddle around in a kayak, go for a horseback ride down the beach, take a guided city tour of Inhambane or a walk through one of the nearby small villages, try your hand at deep sea fishing, explore the local waters and islands by catamaran or traditional dhow, or take out a bike or ATV to visit one of the gorgeous nearby beaches!

No matter how you choose to spend your stay at Flamingo Bay, it's sure to be an unforgettable experience!

Photos courtesy of Flamingo Bay, Barra Resorts, and Mozambique Tourism

Deal of the day! Huge savings PLUS a free night PLUS air credit at luxe Caribbean resorts!

Elite Island's resorts are some of my all-time favorite all-inclusive properties, so I'm very excited about the new specials they've just announced! Book a trip to one of their resorts before January 10th for travel anytime before December 20th, 2013 and receive up to 45% off rack rates, plus your 7th night absolutely free!

But as legendary informercial host Billy Mays would say, BUT WAIT!! THERE'S MORE!! If you book your trip with me during the same time period as this promotion, I will also throw in a $50 per person airfare credit as a holiday bonus. Since most of Elite Island's resorts are all-inclusive, you likely won't need to use the savings for extra umbrella drinks, but it could be very well-spent on a massage at one of the lovely spas!

My top picks:
 *Palm Island - the Grenadines (full review coming soon)
A gorgeous private island resort, perfect for honeymooners, small groups, and anyone who loves the beach! Accommodations range from garden view rooms to beachfront bungalows to a 3-bedroom villa (which comes complete with it's own golf cart!). Food and service are excellent, and the beach and water are beyond stunning. The view of the mountain on neighboring Union Island is reminiscent of what you'd see from one of Bora Bora's motu resorts, and Palm Island's location is perfect for island-hopping to other Grenadine islands and the spectacular Tobago Cays (where parts of "Pirates of the Caribbean" were filmed). PI is adult-only (16 years and over) between January 3 and April 18. Under-16s are allowed other times of year, but I generally do not recommend this property for families with young children.

 

 

*Galley Bay- Antigua (full review here!)
One of Antigua's premier properties, Galley Bay is another fabulous option for romantics of all ages (as long as that age is older than 16!). Offering a variety of beach-front accommodations, private cottages with plunge pools, a gorgeous beach, and easy access to all of Antigua's attractions, it's hard to find a better tropical vacation spot!

Elite Island also offers properties on Barbados, Tortola (British Virgin Islands), Anguilla, and St. Lucia, as well as 2 additional properties on Antigua. You can't really go wrong with any of them, so stop just dreaming of that beach vacation, and contact me at Caroline@easyescapestravel.com to make it a reality!

Fabulous deal! Up to $2500 resort credit at Palace Resorts!

Love beach vacations, but don't want to spend the whole trip lazing in the sand? Then Palace Resorts have the deal for you! Book before March 23rd for stays through December 23, 2013, and receive $500-$2500 in resort credits (depending on length of stay; minimum stay 3 nights), to be used for spa treatments, off-property excursions/tours, golf (even lessons at the Jack Nicklaus Academy!), romantic beach dinners, room upgrades, and more!

To book your fabulous all-inclusive stay with resorts credits at one of Palace's 7 luxurious resorts, please contact me at Caroline@easyescapestravel.com!

Friday Hideaway #1 - Las Cascadas Lodge in La Ceiba, Honduras

I'm starting another new weekly series, this one called Friday Hideaway! Just in time for the weekend, I'll introduce you to very special properties with the following features:

*A secluded and peaceful location
*Under 60 rooms (and generally far fewer than that)
*A gorgeous and relaxing setting
*Luxurious accommodations
*Delectable food and beverages
*Excellent service

For the first edition of this series, I present to you a fabulous little jungle lodge - Las Cascadas in La Ceiba, Honduras!

With just 4 luxury cabins, there are never more than about 8 total guests on property at any given time, so it's the perfect hidden getaway for couples or small groups looking for personalized attention. The managers, Ryan and Maggie, are fantastic - knowledgeable, kind, efficient, and fun, and their obvious happiness and excellent service carry over to the rest of the staff as well.

Steal - romantic Hawaiian dream vacation!

For the second installment of Splurge vs Steal: Hawaii, I present to you the "steal" itinerary!
While this trip is a bit shorter and does not have quite as many high-end room categories and extra amenities as the splurge trip, it still offers 4- and 5-star resorts, ocean views from all of your rooms, and plenty of romantic extras - all for about than 25% the price of the splurge itinerary!

Steal: 9 nights/10 days on 3 incredible islands!
Please don't hesitate to contact me at Caroline@easyescapestravel.com if you'd like to book this trip or have me fully customize your own dream vacation! 


Day 1:
Upon arriving at the airport in Honolulu, you'll be met at baggage claim, lei'd, and whisked off by private car to begin your 2-night stay at the beautiful Outrigger Reef on the Beach.

Splurge vs Steal #1 - romantic Hawaiian dream vacation!

I'm starting a new blog feature called "Splurge vs Steal"! Each week, I will showcase 2 amazing trips or properties; one will be very high-end, the other more moderate (but still with the same general feel, plenty of little luxuries and special experiences). For my first edition, I'll be showing you Hawaii 2 ways. Today's post will be the splurge trip, tomorrow's, the steal!

Splurge - 14 nights/15 days on 4 incredible islands!
Please don't hesitate to contact me at Caroline@easyescapestravel.com if you'd like to book this trip or have me fully customize your own dream vacation! 

Day 1:
Upon arriving at the airport in Honolulu (after a relaxing flight in business class, of course), you'll be met at baggage claim, lei'd, and whisked off by private car to begin your 3-night stay at the incomparable Halekulani Hotel.

Champagne and and other treats will await you in your Diamondhead Oceanfront Room (or Ocean Junior Suite, if you'd like a bit more space to spread out). Toast with a glass of bubbly on your lanai, while taking in the incredible view, before heading down to the pool or beach to soak up the late-afternoon rays and watch the sun sink slowly into the sea.

Later that night, enjoy dinner at Halekulani's celebrated Le Mer, a perennial AAA 5-Diamond awardee.

Now on Twitter!

I finally broke down and started a Twitter account! For lots of travel tidbits, follow me here: http://twitter.com/#!/Blonderlust!  In the meantime, here's a photo of a monkey at Gumbalimba Park (Roatan, Honduras) marveling over the smoothness of my skin after the chocolate-coconut body scrub and massage I had at Serenity Day Spa.

2011 Dream trip # 2: Costa Rica honeymoon!

Since last Monday's episode of "The Bachelor", filmed at Costa Rica's Springs Resort & Spa near the Arenal volcano, I've noticed a huge uptick in the number of requests for information on vacations in this beautiful Central American country. So today I'm showcasing a fabulous itinerary - the perfect Costa Rican dream honeymoon!

Day 1:
Fly into Daniel Oduber International airport in Liberia (LIR), and then take a short flight from there to La Fortuna.  After checking into your Honeymoon Vista Suite at The Springs Resort & Spa mid-afternoon, put on your bathing suits (or go au natural!) and sip champagne in your private infinity-edge jacuzzi, which is fed by hot mineral springs. Enjoy a romantic dinner at the resort's Las Ventanas restaurant, where the delicious fusion cuisine is outshone only by the incredible views of the Arenal volcano. After dinner, grab a bottle of wine to go, and head back to your private jacuzzi for some "star-gazing". ;)

 

 

Nicaragua part 4 - Ometepe

After flying from Big Corn Island back into Managua, we were met by a rather surly driver from Adelante Express. After a long wait for another couple who were being dropped off in San Juan del Sur, we finally were on our way to San Jorge, where most of the boats and ferries leave to Ometepe. Two hours and a dash through a rainstorm later, we just barely managed to jump on the boat over to Moyogalpa, Ometepe's main port. There was only a bit of covered space on the boat, and it was already overcrowded so the first part of the ride was a bit damp.

Nicaragua part 2 - Little Corn Island

We arrived at the La Costena Airlines check in area (a small, smelly, and very crowded room in a building separate from the main part of the airport) and spent the next 45 minutes hoping the long line was not going to make us miss our flight. This fear was unfounded, though, as the flight did not actually take off until 7:30 (in talking to a pilot, this "delay" seems to be pretty typical for this airline/route, as he laughed when we told him the original departure time we'd been given). Note: you do need to pay a small fee (I believe it was $2-$3USD/$40-$60 Nicaraguan Cordobas per person) before going through security, so it's good to have some small bills on hand. Once you get through security, there's a small waiting area with 2 stands selling drinks and food (prepackaged snacks and some "fresh"--I use this word loosely--pastries/rolls).

We finally boarded the plane for the hour or so flight (including a short stop in Bluefields on the Caribbean coast) to Big Corn Island.

Thanksgiving in Paradise Part 3: Navutu Stars Resort Fiji

For the third leg of our Fiji trip, we chose to stay at Navutu Stars, a boutique resort in the Yasawa island group. The Yasawas are the driest region of Fiji, so we figured they would be a good choice in late November, the beginning of the country's rainy season. And we were right - the weather was perfect there for our entire stay!

Sonoma and Napa, California

I've recently noticed an upswing in the number of requests for information on California wine country trips, so thought it was about time I posted this review that has been languishing in the "unpublished" section of my blog for over a year! I've also added a bit of information about a day spent in Napa in December '09.

Third trip to Belize - December '08

Close to a year behind on this, but my husband and I made our third visit down to Ambergris Caye for my birthday in December '08!

Note: please excuse the poor quality of many of the pictures--they were taken with my old camera!



This time, Victoria House was all booked up (we booked last minute), so we stayed at Xanadu Island Resort.

Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita, Riviera Maya, Mexico

To celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary, my husband and I spent 4 nights in April at the new Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita resort near Puerto Morelos (Riviera Maya), Mexico. http://www.zoetry-la-bonita.com








The property itself has been open for several years, but was taken over and rebranded as Zoetry last fall. Though we are generally not big all-inclusive resort fans, we had a wonderful time here. As most of our trips seem to involve long and/or multiple flights and a lot of moving around/activity, it was a new and fabulous experience to get on a plane in Atlanta, fly for under 3 hours, take a 20 minute car ride, and then spend 4 days doing absolutely nothing but relaxing! We were even upgraded (thank you, hard-earned Delta medallion status!) on both flights, which is very rare coming from Atlanta and really started the trip off right.

Back from Tahiti Tiare Agent Conference in French Polynesia!

I recently returned from the 2009 Tahiti Tiare Agent Conference, presented by Tahiti Tourisme North America for travel agents and tour operators who specialize in travel to the islands of French Polynesia. What a fantastic experience--I feel very lucky to have been able to go on such an amazing business trip! While I would have loved to have been able to spend a longer period of time on each island, I do feel like I really got to experience a lot of what each destination had to offer, even in just a couple of days. And there's always next year...

Panama reviews and photos

Bob and I always take a trip over Labor Day week, to take advantage of the "free" day off (anything to use less vacation time!) This year, Panama was the chosen destination for two reasons. First, we (Bob especially) had been talking about going there for awhile. We're big fans of Central America, but had already been to Belize and Costa Rica, and wanted something a bit "beachier" than Guatemala or El Salvador. Honduras and Nicaragua were the other options we considered for this trip, but the fact that we were able to get business class seats with Skymiles to Panama sealed the deal!

Itinerary:
1 night Panama City at the Albrook Inn(our flight landed at 9PM and our flight to the San Blas left the next morning at 6AM, so this was a very short stay) http://albrookinn.com/index.php/en/

3 nights San Blas Islands (aka Comarca Kuna Yala)at Yandup http://www.yandupisland.com/yeng/plans.htm

1 night Panama City at the Veneto
http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/PTYWV/main.wnt

4 nights Bocas Del Toro at Popa Paradise
http://www.popaparadisebeachresort.com/

Photos: http://tinyurl.com/ag99ez

See what the fish do when they think no one is watching...

I have always thought one of the coolest things ever would be to ride in a tiny submarine, exploring undersea reefs and wildlife. Yes, I could scubadive instead (if I ever get around to getting certified!), but I prefer the idea of being surrounded by metal and glass. The reason for this likely has something to do with too many viewings of Jaws, not to mention the fact that scuba just doesn't seem as glamorous now that they've done away with the glass head globes of yesteryear. :)

Now that you know this, imagine my delight after coming across articles recently about the 2 tour companies below. While each offers a different experience, I think either would be amazing.

In Honduras, a 30-something American man named Karl Stanley has built a small submarine, just large enough to hold a captain (himself) and 2 passengers. Expeditions range from 1 1/2 hours to 8 hours, going down as deep as 2000 feet. Both day and night trips are available. It's not super-inexpensive (prices start at $600 for 2), but would absolutely be worth the money for such an amazing and unusual experience. Karl and his Roatan Institute of Deepsea Exploration are currently one of only 2 operators in the world offering trips like this. The other can be found here: http://www.underseahunter.com/uh.htm (click on DeepSee). My husband and I are considering a trip to Honduras later this year, and we will definitely be booking a trip with Karl the moment we have our plane tickets!

For more information:
http://www.stanleysubmarines.com/

In the Bahamas, a company has come up with an idea that also lets you explore undersea without the hassle of getting PADI certified or dealing with a snorkel and foggy mask. Like those celebrity "What would their child look like?" mashups on Conan O'Brien, these so-called underwater motocycles are how I would picture the spawn of a jetski, scuba diver, and submarine. At just $110 per person per trip, this excursion is more wallet friendly than many other undersea options, and looks as though it would be a good bet for those who want to look for Nemo but are not quite ready to commit to a true sub ride.

For more information:
http://www.sub-bahamas.com/

 Would you ride in these?

• 
  
  Yes, I would do either/both


• 
  
  I would only ride in the Stanley Submarine


• 
  
  I would only ride in the Bahamas Sub


• 
  
  Maybe, but the idea makes me a bit nervous


• 
  
  Absolutely not

view results
Free vote poll

My favorites list...

People always ask what our favorite place has been...and it's a difficult question to answer! We have been lucky enough to have visited many wonderful places, each with unique benefits. But here are a few places that have really stood out...

*Favorite destination for gorgeous scenery: Tikehau, French Polynesia

*Favorite resort: Los Altos de Eros - Tamarindo, Costa Rica

*Favorite hotel room: Frangipani villa at Stonefield Estate - Soufriere, St. Lucia

*Favorite trip overall: Brazil

*Favorite for snorkeling: Tikehau, French Polynesia

*Favorite for a long weekend: Ambergris Caye, Belize

*Favorite domestic destinations/hotels:
Lanai, HI--Four Seasons Manele Bay
Scottsdale, AZ--The Phoenician
Captiva Island, FL--South Seas
San Francisco, CA--Westin St. Francis
Charleston, SC--Francis Marion, Charleston Place

*Favorite airlines:
Domestic--Continental
International: Air Tahiti Nui

*Favorite non-beach destination: Tuscany