The first Jardines del Rey International Fishing Tournament has been announced and will be held in the beautiful region of Cayo Guillermo and is open to both professional and amateur fishermen alike.

The fishing tournament will take place at Jardines del Rey International Marina of Cayo Guillermo from October 18th to October 22nd of 2010 and those taking part in this event may be capturing species such as blue marlin, sailfish, wahoo and dolphin fish.

The permitted fishing line will be 50 pounds and the notification of a tag and release or a capture will be informed to the marina control centre stating the time, the number of the team and the area where it occurred.  In case of discrepancy, each crew will carry a disposable camera that will be delivered to the jury at the end of the day.

How about combining a holiday with this Fishing Tournament?! Find out more and request a brochure on our Cuba pages.

 Madagascar is such a diverse and interesting country that tourism is really starting to take off. Famous for being the only country in the world where you can see lemurs in the wild, Madagascar also has many endemic reptiles and plants that also act as a huge draw.

To make visiting this stunning landscape more affordable, we have put together our first group tour that will take in 5 of the national parks including Perinet, Berenty and Ranomafana. During this trip you will see many different species of lemur but also take in the different cultures and landscapes that make up this land.

The group tour will start in the capital and Antanarivo from there a domestic flight to Fort Dauphin and a visit to the famous Berenty National Park. You’ll fly to Tulear and travel up through the middle of the country along the Route Nationale 7 visiting towns and national parks along the way. Including Isalo National Park, Andringita national park, Ranomafana national park with its stunning rivers and waterfalls – see the bamboo lemur here. The final national park is Antsirabe where you can see the Indri Indir lemur before returning to Antananarivo or you may like to take a three night extension to the island of Ile Sainte Marie, as it is whale watching season. The tour will have a maximum of 14 and be guided throughout so you’ll see it all!

Depature date: 24th September 2010

Interested in this? Find out more and download the full itinerary

A brand new offer from Worldwide Holidays……..Discover the incredible, versatile country of Madagascar from as little as £1350pp. This great offer includes spending some time at Andasibe National Park, home of the Indri Indri lemur before relaxing on the beautiful island of St Marie. For more details on this tour or about visiting Madagascar in general, call Sam on 01202 606160.

Air Madagascar have recently launched a brand new route to enable you to get to the beautiful beaches of Nosy Be even quicker. From May 2009, you can now fly direct from Paris into Nosy Be – omitting the need to have an overnight in the capital Antananarivo.


Of all Madagascar, Nosy Be was the original tourist resort. Whilst it can be more commercial and touristy than other parts of the country, for travellers looking to experience Madagascar with ‘softer edges’, Nosy Be offers a taste of everything that makes this country special; Wonderful beaches, lemurs, chameleons, and excellent food. There are also several islands surrounding Nosy Be which offer barefoot luxury.

Nosy Be was traditionally referred to as the ‘Isle de Parfum’ – the perfume island as it was, and still is, the source for many fragrances including Ylang-ylang, vanilla and pepper.

To entice visitors further the €56 entry visa has been waived until December this year.

Worldwide Holidays have recently become members of LATA – the Latin American Travel Association, which is a travel trade organisation that was founded to promote travel to Latin America. The association brings together over 200 companies, including tourist boards, tour operators, hotels, wholesalers, media, airlines and overseas members.

Managing Director Helen Baillie said, “We have recently added Argentina to the portfolio of Latin American countries we specialise in and joining LATA seemed a natural progression of our development in South America. Belonging to LATA means we are always informed of new ventures and opportunites within Latin America through training and promotion. We can then, in turn, pass this onto our clients. As specialists in various countries in South America, we try to visit these areas at least once a year. The information and knowledge that LATA provides will ensure we don’t miss anything inbetween visits. All this means that we are able to put together the perfect adventure for our clients”.

Argentina will appear on our website very soon!

Everybody’s image of Cuba is different, but one thing everyone does seem to agree on is to travel to this wonderful Caribbean island sooner rather than later before it changes beyond all recognition. This year, 2009, marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution and the images of Che Guevara, Castro and Jose Marti are in abundance as you travel throughout the country.

Partly due to Cuba’s isolation, its old towns remain remarkably unspoilt and intact. Havana is a World Heritage Site and great efforts are being made to restore the colonial centre to its former glory. On the Caribbean side of the Island, Trinidad is beautifully preserved and has great character.

Wherever you go in Cuba, you will be accompanied by music. Every town has a casa de la trova where you can enjoy the different styles of Cuban music for the price of a rum or two. The drinks are strong in a country where the Rum is more readily available than the mixer that goes with it!

Eden Lodge embodies a new concept for luxury accommodation in Madagascar. The real luxury of Eden Lodge is simply being there, residing in comfort whilst immersed in the diverse and untouched lush natural habitat of Madagascar.

Eden Lodge is equipped with solar power, which provides 90% of its energy needs. Only half an hour from the island of Nosy Be, in the North West of Madagascar, the view as you arrive by boat is breathtaking: a beach of pure white sands, bordered by lush virgin forest and dotted with majestic baobab trees, hundreds of years old.

With no roads, no cars and only a tiny Madagascan village in proximity, you’re immediately plunged into the middle of an Eden of relaxation.

Each Lodge offers spacious accommodation where you can relax in complete privacy. Local materials have been used in the construction of the lodges, and the innovative architecture of these beachfront lodges allows air to circulate freely, thanks to a ravinala roof and a tent canopy that with large openings protected by mosquito nets. A spectacular bathroom opens out onto a terrace where residents can enjoy massage and other beauty treatments (each lodge is equipped with a massage table in the privacy of the garden).

The bedroom also has its own private balcony, an ideal spot to relax and enjoy the ocean-view.

The bar and restaurant are housed in a magnificent and spacious lodge, situated on the beach and are designed to be the perfect place to relax – you can lie back on one of the sun-loungers, read, play a Madagascan board game or simply contemplate the ocean. You can even connect to the Wifi Internet, if you don’t mind that the connection isn’t broadband!

The elegant cuisine, made from fresh produce, is inspired by Madagascan and Oriental flavours and spices. Naturally there is a wide variety of seafood on offer, but the specialities for which Madagascar if famed have not been forgotten – foie gras, filet of zebu and a large selection of exotic fruits.

Sea kayaks, pedalo and snorkels and masks are free to hire, as well as windsurfing boards and a hobbycat. A visit to Eden Lodge allows the visitor to observe up close the extraordinary wildlife. You can watch species of lemurs, including the nocturnal lemur, crowding the lodges’ fruit trees, along with exotic birds native to Madagascar. That is when you’re not being regaled by the sight of dolphins, and even migrating whales, swimming just a stone’s throw from the shore.

As for the 23 spectacular baobabs dotted throughout the grounds, they alone are sufficient reason to come to Eden Lodge. Nowhere else in the Nosy Be islands is it possible to encounter these trees. Great care has been taken to ensure that Eden Lodge exists in harmony with this exceptional environment, and that any adverse effects are kept to the very minimum.

Whilst visiting Jordan recently I was surprised to learn that there are several areas that are very green and furtile! Not at all what I was expecting in this land of ancient civilisations and desert. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature look after six protected wilderness reserves and I visited Azraq in the eastern desert region of the country.

The word ‘Azraq’ translates into ‘Blue’ in the Arabic language and even during the last days of summer, when the water levels were at their lowest, we walked the boardwalk trail across the reserve through the reeds and saw native birds taking advantage of the pools. I have been reliably informed that a visit in Spring when water levels are at their peak, you may see over 2000 species of wild flowers – yet a further reason to re-visit Jordan!

For interest, other Reserves protected by RSCN in Jordan include Dana, Ajloun Forest Reserve and Mujib. Some of the Reserves have eco-lodges or small guesthouses where you can enjoy the tranquillity after everyone except the wildlife has left!

Our recent ‘blog’ reported the excellent news about the Galapagos Islands, Lonesome George – a tortoise thought of for decades of being the last member of a virtually extinct species, possibly becoming a father – further news has been released regarding the finding of yet more eggs!

Park Wardens at Galapagos National Park have now found a second patch of eight eggs. These eggs are undergoing their incubation period at the Charles Darwin Research Station where conservationists explained…… “most eggs are incubated at a slightly warmer temperature to produce a higher rate of female off-spring (tortoises lack the gender gene and temperature determines length of incubation, which determines gender). This is critical to ensure a faster recovery of the population, currently with a single member – George. The females that have shared George’s home for many years now, belong to the closest species to the Pinta Tortoise”.

We wait further news from the Galapagos!

Great news from the Galapagos Islands – their oldest living resident, George the Tortoise is about to become a father! We recently received this press release from the Galapagos National Park.

“The world’s most famous tortoise, and the living symbol of the Galapagos National Park, has taken an important step into saving it’s species from imminent extinction.

A last member of its kind, a male tortoise was found alone on his home island Pinta in the early seventies. Soon brought to the safety of the Charles Darwin Research Station, and named Jorge, or George in English, by the park wardens that took care of him. The word soon spread that Lonesome George was a living extinction unless a female was found for him to reproduce.

Scientists have searched the Island Pinta, as well as any zoo or private collection worldwide for a partner for George. Hopes have, over the futile years, focused on the last resource to save his species. George should breed with the most similar tortoise species in Galapagos. For this purpose, George has been sharing his pen with two attractive females from island Isabela’s northernmost volcano Wolf, a race similar to George, both physically and genetically. Strangely, George has shown so far little if any attraction to these females, and hopes to save the species have again dropped systematically.

Until this week: National Park Authorities proudly announced the finding of the first fertile eggs laid in George’s pen. A new hope is standing high to save the rarest tortoise in the world from extinction”.

Watch this space for further news!!