Nicaragua part 5 - Granada

For the last 3 nights of our July trip to Nicaragua, we decided to visit the colonial city of Granada. After a lot of research, we settled on Hotel Spa Granada, which was originally the largest private colonial home in the city, but had recently been renovated and reopened as a hotel. A few days ago, it was actually featured on the Today Show as one of their top hotel bargains for travel this holiday season - you can watch a clip of the show here (HSG portion of the clip starts about 1 minute and 40 seconds in)! We actually spent our last 2 nights (more on that below) in the room they show with the pink bed.

Fiji Me!

Bula Vinaka! 

 Enjoying some kava at Outrigger on the Lagoon on Fiji's Coral Coast

Well, once again I've fallen way behind in my blogging duties. And once again, I enter a defense of "not guilty by reason of travel insanity". I just returned home from a whirlwind trip to Fiji , where I spent time at 17 different resorts over the course of a week! A huge vinaka vakalevu (thank you in Fijian) to Tourism Fiji for putting together this amazing trip for me and the 30 other Matai (Fiji specialist) travel agents who attended!

And an even larger vinaka vakalevu to the extraordinarily warm, friendly, and welcoming Fijian people who so graciously hosted us in their beautiful country!

 Matangi staff (and a couple of the resort's furry mascots!) singing a traditional farewell song

The agents were split up into 4 different groups, each visiting different areas of Fiji for all but the first and last nights of the trip. My group was called "Talei", which in Fijian means "the best", and I would have a hard time disagreeing with that! Our itinerary had us spending time in the Nadi area and Coral Coast on Viti Levu (Fiji's largest island), as well as heading to the Northeast part of the islands to visit Savusavu on Vanua Levu (Fiji's 2nd largest island) and Taveuni (you guessed it - the 3rd largest), as well as the small islands of  Matangi and Qamea which lay right off Taveuni's coast. As I'd not visited the north of Fiji before, I was thrilled to get to see an entirely new part of this gorgeous island nation!

Part of Matangi Private Island Resort's beautiful beach at high tide

It may take me a little while to complete my reviews, but in the meantime, I'll leave you with a list of each of the unique properties I was able to visit on this trip and an invitation to contact me anytime you'd like assistance with planning your own fabulous Fiji vacation!
Hotel Novotel Nadi
Sonaisali Island Resort*
Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa
Shangri-La's Fijian Resort & Spa*
Outrigger on the Lagoon Fiji
Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort*
Koro Sun Resort
Namale*
Taveuni Island Resort
Garden Island Resort*
Paradise Taveuni
Matangi Private Island Resort*
Qamea Resort & Spa
Sheraton Fiji Resort*
Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa**
Sheraton Denarau Villas
Radisson Resort Fiji Denarau Island
*Spent a night at this property on this trip
**Spent a night at this property on my trip to Fiji last year, did a site inspection this year

Manava Suite Resort, Tahiti

Manava Suite Resort Tahiti
Janelle and I chose to spend the final night of our March 2010 French Polynesia trip at Papeete's newest resort, and were very pleased with our stay! We were in a Lagoon Suite with an incredible view over the infinity pool and out to Moorea off the large balcony (equipped with 2 chairs and a table).

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.

Why I've been AWOL...

Sorry for the couple of weeks lag time in between posts! I've really been trying to get better about posting more often lately, but at least I have a great excuse...I was in South Africa!

The back-story: a couple of months ago, I entered a contest through one of my travel suppliers, Goway. Their AfricaExperts "Ultimate FAM* Trip" was open to all agents who had recently booked client trips to South Africa. I entered my bookings for a chance to win, and then, to be honest, forgot all about it. Until I arrived at my hotel in Zurich, Switzerland on the last night of my Labor Day European vacation (to be blogged soon) and was handed a phone message telling me I had won and needed to get in touch with Goway ASAP since we were set to leave in exactly 4 weeks!
*FAM is short for "familization", and refers to a trip that travel agents take to get first-hand experience with an area, hotel, etc.

Here is the press release about the trip - if only they'd spelled my last name right (it's actually Caroline Bracewell)!
http://travelworldnews.com/2010/09/goway-announces-winners-for-the-%E2%80%9Cultimate-fam-trip%E2%80%9D/ There's an old PR axiom that "all publicity is good publicity, as long as they spell your name right". Since this release can in no way be considered bad publicity, I guess it would fall into the arena of neutral publicity? ;)

But not too worried about that...I'm just thrilled I got to go! It was an amazing trip, and I can't wait to share pictures, reviews, and stories of my adventures on the dark continent. In the meantime, a sneak peak of one of the most amazing things I saw (warning: not for the squeamish!)...