The Princess Bora Lodge and Spa in Madagascar has recently been reviewed by the Telegraphs’s Nigel Richardson. Calling the unique hotel:

“An Indian Ocean hideaway off the east coast of Madagascar, that combines the simplicity of the South Pacific with the barefoot chic of a boutique Caribbean hotel.”

One of the best features about the Princess Bora Lodge is watching the humpback whales in the Indian Ocean whilst relaxing on an authentic tropical island. “Informal, sun-soaked, discreet: the smallish infinity pool lies above the white-sand beach, parallel to the ocean. Wooden boardwalks thread between tropical gardens and neat bamboo hedging to link the guest villas to the spa and beachfront bar and restaurant.”

With an overall rating of 8/10 by the Telegraph and with an average rating of 4.5 / 5 on Trip Advisor, the Princess Bora Lodge is certainly a place to consider visiting on a trip to Madagascar. Why not take a look at our gallery of pictures before reading Nigel Richardson’s review in the travel section of the Telegraph website.

Tico Times, a Costa Rican online newspaper has recently reported that Costa Rica has been ranked the 5th greenest country against climate change. The study conducted by the universities of Yale and Columbia noted that Costa Rica is the only country in the top 10 which is outside of Europe that features in the rankings. In addition according to the United Nations Environment Programme, Costa Rica is on track to become fully Carbon Neutral by 2021 which is a fantastic goal.

Worldwide Holidays are pleased to offer many environmentally friendly options in Costa Rica including some of the best eco-hotels including the Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge,  a 165-acre private preserve located within the Golfo Dulce and Pacuare Lodge, one of Costa Rica’s premier eco-lodges and ideally located for river rafting, canopy tours and hikes in the rainforest.

As our existing clients will know- we do not sell anything that we have not experienced ourselves. So it fell on me to visit the bottom of the world – the frozen continent of Antarctica. I will be honest & admit that it was a trip that I was not at all sure about.. It is a big trip, to visit a place where there has never been any civilization, somewhere I perceived to be extremely cold & as it is so big- 58 times bigger than the UK, how much wildlife would I really see?

Well I should never have worried, my trip to Antarctica was absolutely amazing & I would go back like a shot – given the chance. Like many people I watched David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet series on TV & was bowled over by the programme. But I was a little cynical & thought it would not be like that in reality these guys were there filming for months. I was so wrong. The wildlife was phenomenal. I saw; Gentoo penguins, Chinstrap Penguins, Adelie penguins, Weddell Seals, Leopard Seals, Crabeater Seals, Antarctic Minke Whales, Humpback Whales, Orca Whales, Hourglass Dolphins & too many types of birds to mention – the highlight being the 2 types of Albatross we saw.

Apart from the amazing wildlife so easily seen on the trip, the facts about this continent fascinate me.

It is the least known of the earths land masses & fewer than 200,000 people have ever been there- that is as many people that visit the special Galapagos Islands in 1 year!! & now I am one of those lucky people!!

Antarctic is the 5^th largest continent based on size but the smallest in population with a population of zero!

From October to February the “summer” months there is 24 hour sunshine & the other 6 months is 24 hours darkness. How strange is that??

 Antarctica is technically the largest desert in the world- as dry as the Sahara Desert. I still cannot quite get my head around that one!!

 Only 2% of the land is not covered by ice & in the winter months Antarctica doubles in size as the ocean freezes in the 24 hours of darkness.

So lets start at the beginning of my trip.. I needed to be in Southern Chile & a small city called Punta Arenas – where the flights to Antarctica depart from. All passengers need to arrive by 3pm the day before so that we can have a briefing on safety, what to wear etc. then the very important boot fitting. Knee high thermal wellie type boots are included & I wore mine everyday for all the excursions, so getting a comfortable pair in the right size is important. Overnight @ the hotel is included as well as dinner in a local restaurant – which was a great way to meet my fellow passengers.

The flight to Antarctica does not always go as scheduled & the decision about take off is 100% the pilot / captains. Safety is paramount & the weather conditions in Antarctica can delay flights. We unfortunately were delayed by 1 day but once we were on board our ship- the Ocean Nova, the Captain & expedition team made sure we did not miss anything. When we arrived at the Chilean Frei Station on King George Island we had to be fully dressed with hats, scarf’s, water proof trousers etc to get off the plane.

We then walked across the “runway” & down through the middle of the Chilean station on our right & the Russian station to the left – or was it the other way around!? I was too excited to remember.

In the distance we could see our ship (you are not supposed to call it a boat as the Captain gets offended!!)  & on the beach the Zodiac boats & the expedition staff waiting to take us to the Ocean Nova- our home for 6 days 5 nights. So we get our life jackets on & we are off on the zodiacs- all very excited to be there. Our bags had been tagged with our cabin numbers back @ the hotel in Punta Arenas, so we make our way straight to the lounge / bar area for a welcome from the staff & crew. By the time this finished our bags were in our cabins so we could freshen up for lunch. The food on board was wonderful, lots of choice & the Chilean wine served with all meals (except Breakfast perhaps!) was very popular. I should say at this point that it is a free bar on board so although I am not a wine drinker I was kept happy!! No-one drank too much at lunch times as we were not too sure how difficult it would be getting on & off the zodiac boats!!

Our first landing was after lunch at Yankee Harbour. We were met by the cutest inhabitants- thousands of penguins, many with their chicks. They are so lovely & cute but let me tell you – those years of frozen penguin poo that has defrosted in summer makes for a horrible smell!! So a big tip to all clients, especially those like me that are very smell sensitive - have a nice perfume sprayed on your scarf & cover your nose with it!!!

As we had missed 1 day with the flight delay, & as it is 24 hours daylight, one day we had 4 excursions; 1 before breakfast, then the normal morning excursion, then we were off again in the afternoon, finishing the day with an evening trip on to the glacier & seeing heaps of Weddell seals. Generally there are 2 excursions a day & as the team told us this is not a holiday but an expedition they were so right. But I strangely never felt tired. We saw so much each day & even visited an Argentinean station as well as another Chilean station so we could see how the research staff live & learn about what they are researching. Everyone was in awe of the icebergs & how they look so blue in colour- an optical illusion. They are massive & they can just roll around as they are not fixed to the sea bed. One of my most favourite & memorable excursions was the zodiac trip around Spert Island– the icebergs were so beautiful.

As I needed to experience the infamous Drake Passage  I took the last cruise of the season & therefore experienced the flight to Antarctica & then came back with the ship to Ushuaia in Argentina via the Drake Passage – which is described as the roughest stretch of water in the world. I had to do it so I could advise clients correctly. As you can imagine I was definitely not looking forward to experiencing the Drake Passage. It takes 2 days & there is nothing to see apart from waves crashing over the boat. We were lucky -allegedly (my friend on board- Australian Lyn would definitely not agree with the term lucky!) as using the official Beaufort Scale – which measures wind speed at sea – we only experienced 4-5 & close to a 6 on the 2^nd night, out of a top scale of 12, which is a Hurricane force!! Out of the 50 or so passengers I think there were only 3 or 4 of us that were in the bar having a drink!! Several people (poor Lyn included) were not seen for 2 whole days as they could not leave their cabins. I did not feel ill but even I vomited a couple of times – trying to read or work on an iPad are not recommended as I found out!! So my conclusion was that even if you do not get sea sick it is a boring 2 days so to sail there & back would take 4 days!! A complete waste of valuable time. Plus I can imagine that if you were ill on the way to Antarctica the thought of coming back that way would spoil your enjoyment of the fun stuff..

The program for 2012/13 will be a fly – cruise – fly program, so our clients will not have to sail through the Drake Passage at all.

After the Drake Passage we made a stop @ the southern most southern town in the world- Port William. The ship had supplies to drop off so we had some time to walk to the yacht club- an old boat, for a drink or 2. We met 3 British guys in there that had just sailed through Drake Passage in a small sail boat – complete madness if you ask me!!

Back on board we set sail for Ushuaia. When we woke up in the morning we were in Ushuaia- no penguins to be seen but lots of other boats, roads, cars, people, noise etc- talk about a shock to the system.. But all good things have to come to an end & I was to visit Tierra del Fuego that morning- will blog about that separately!/

Now I have been on the “expedition” I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Antarctica to our clients. It is a paradise for anyone interested in wildlife. The feeling of being somewhere so unique & un-spoilt made it probably the most special place I have ever been. It certainly was the trip of a lifetime. I also met some incredible people on board, the staff & fellow passengers were there for all the right reasons & it was a joy to have met them.

So to summarize, my trip to Antarctica was more than I ever expected & I feel privileged to have been there.

This year finds me virtually ‘full-on Costa Rica’, after spending the last four years with Worldwide as a part-timer.

Wow! What a surprise therefore to find myself landing with Geoff, my husband, in San Jose in the run up to it in November – a great opportunity to see and experience all the wonderful places I’d heard so much about.

The trip got off to a great start when Douglas, our driver, buzzed around us and organised everything – so helpful, so friendly, so informative – he couldn’t do enough for us.

Costa Rica is renowned for its wildlife and no sooner had we arrived than we were in the depths of the ‘jungle’ in Tortuguero with the added bonus that we’d reached it by a fascinating river trip that gave us a taste of what we were going to see from the enchanting Mawamba Lodge, situated on a spit of land bordering the Caribbean. Certainly it offers the best of both worlds with the sea, sand and famous Turtle nesting grounds on one side and the deep forest on the other full of birds and reptiles. Definitely full of the colour of Costa Rica!

From here we were driven to Arenal, site of one of Costa Rica’s active volcanos. The Arenal Volcano practically filled our patio windows, which with us leaving them open most of the time at the fantastic Kioro Hotel allowed us to immerse ourselves in the birdlife that flitted around us and the neatly laid out gardens. I could hardly drag Geoff and his camera away from the scenery to sample the outstanding cuisine at Kioro – but it’s well worth it, especially as its always accompanied by a smile and courtesy from the friendly staff who spoilt us every step of the way – even down to the full back massage that initially felt like punishment but left us revitalised.

Feeling adventurous we opted to rent a car for our drive to Manuel Antonio, which with the aid of an exceptional GPS made the trip easy, and contrary to reports we didn’t find the journey at all hair-raising. Although I do have to admit that we lived in India for 7 years and travelled all over the country by ourselves but that was a few years ago.

Manuel Antonio is a beautiful area with a number of uniquely styled hotels with grounds running down to their own beaches.  The National Park, although one of the smallest in Costa Rica is an absolute must and the hotel-provided guide was great; we would have missed most of the birds and reptiles without him as their camouflage is so perfect. A picnic on the beach and a dip in the sea just capped a perfect visit into the park – as long as the Racoons don’t pinch your clothes!

Nature Air’s internal air service, from Manuel Antonio to Quepos, is so personal you feel as though you and a few friends have decided to travel the country in style in their De Havilland Twin Otters whilst your pilot points out local landmarks as you cruise by! All part of the adventure!

Our next mission, having boarded boats at Sierpe with the lodge guides, was to get to Casa Corcovado – a thrilling ride – slowly at first through the mangrove swamps and along the river banks, amazed by the number of Ibis, Kingfishers, Herons… and Crocodiles – fingers inside the boat please! Speeding up and tense with anticipation for what lay ahead we popped out into the Pacific.

Look! A pod of Dolphins circled a school of fish, rounding them up into a tight ball until they were ready to feed. The fish, thinking they could escape hugged our boat’s wake but the Dolphins weren’t fooled and circled our boat as we sped along – truly magical. Thrilled, our boat followed the coast for the next hour before surfing into land at Casa Corcovado’s private beach.

The fourteen thatched cabinas all have four-poster beds, huge showers and a view of the lush tropical rain forest outside. Trails lace the property which borders the National Park and you can see almost as much from these as you can from the jungle – isn’t that an Anaconda wrapped around that tree by the bar?

The sunset cocktail and gourmet cuisine are always welcome; especially if you’ve spent the day exploring the forest, swimming in spring-fed pools, wading rivers and straining your eyes so as not to miss a single thing, whether it be a Koati rooting around in the undergrowth or brilliantly coloured Macaws painting the sky with feathered rainbows.

Reluctantly we boarded another of our ‘private’ flights to head back to San Jose. Our disappointment at the prospect of leaving the rain forest swiftly overcome as we booked into one of Fiona’s favourite hotels – the Xandari Plantation y Spa – which with its avant garde architecture and outstandingly colourful artwork everywhere provides an outstanding complement to the surrounding greenery – the bottle of wine and superb dinner also did the trick and sparked off a stream of recent happy memories of our trip!

What an experience – I’d really recommend it to anyone with a love of nature, the great outdoors and sense of adventure – just ask me if you’d like to know more…and more, and more! You can see more pictures of my fantastic Costa Rica trip on our Facebook gallery.

Good News!!  The first count of the global vote to elect the New 7 Wonders of Nature has been announced. In alphabetical order, they are: The Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo, Puerto Princesa Underground River, Table Mountain.

The results will now be checked, validated and independently verified.  Once the voting validation process is completed, in early 2012, the New 7 Wonders of Nature will be officially announced.

The Amazon River has been an alluring dream for explorers and travelers alike.  Today you may discover Earth’s greatest wilderness on unique expedition voyages designed exclusively by Worldwide Holidays, since 1996.

Find out more about the Amazon River

Raul Castro, the president of Cuba has recently announced a change in policy which will now allow Cubans to buy and sell used cars from the end of the 1959 revolution. Previously Cubans were not allowed to buy and sell cars which resulted in many very old cars being used by locals to travel around in. These unique Cuban cars have long been an attraction when visiting Cuba. Visitors to the very unique destination could step back in time and experience some of the oldest cars still being used in the world from as far back as 1952 and beyond. Our Cuba specialist, Fiona visited earlier in the year and experienced some of these vintage classics in her April blog post. With these cars still being used today this demonstrates the amount of care and attentions Cubans have taken to keep these cars on the road, many of them are kept in pristine condition!

BBC News recently covered the story  - to view the article and video just follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15710861

This weeks news may signal the start of the end for these classic cars as Cubans will now be able to exchange cars for newer models. Travellers who would like to experience the delights of seeing this vintage cars in their prime may want to consider a trip to the unique and intoxicating Cuba before time for these cars runs out!

To find out more about Cuba, why not download our detailed brochure? Or contact our specialist, Fiona on 01202 606160

I have just returned from another wonderful trip to Argentina. As I had already visited Patagonia & Iguazu so this time was heading for Mendoza, Cordoba & Salta- well that was the plan!! I will explain more about that later!!!

So first I stand in Buenos Aires- yes I have been there before but it is such an amazing city & there are always more hotels for me to see. I was lucky enough to have lunch @ the amazing Faena Hotel. There was huge security for my VIP visit but it turned out the security was because Justin Bieber was staying @ the hotel. Faena is a stunning & unique hotel & ideal for clients wanting something extra special. The design of the hotel is really special & here is a photo of me sat in the middle of the long red carpeted hallway..

Now I know at least 20 Buenos Aires hotels so can recommend the best hotel to suit clients preferences & budget.

I went to another Tango Show, the Gala Tango. It was a smaller venue than I had been to before & it was fantastic, the dancers were really close & the food was wonderful – even for a vegetarian!  An evening tango show is a real must for visitors & there are different options to suit different budgets.

From Buenos Aires we also took the boat trip on the Delta de Tigre. It was a great trip & I would recommend it for clients that want some time out of the city & see an area where the local people have holiday homes.

So next I was due to fly to Mendoza, but as I got to the domestic airport it was in chaos- all flights had been cancelled due to volcanic ash coming over from the Chilean volcano.. What a nightmare for everyone. So I stayed on in Buenos Aires for another night & got a bit of shopping done..

As I am always on a tight schedule I was only having 2 nights in Mendoza & the flights were still cancelled the next day so I took the overnight coach to Cordoba, which was to be my next destination. The thought of an overnight bus did not exactly thrill me but it was an amazingly comfortable journey the seats recline into a bed with a foot rest so you can be practically lie flat – just like a business class flight. I am not sure I would recommend it to clients as the flight is much quicker, bit it is an option & got me out of Buenos Aires.

Mendoza will have to be next time!!

Cordoba is a really clean city, full of bars & nightclubs for the huge amount of university students in the city. The historical area of the city is stunning, with cobbled streets with imposing churches & cathedrals. I had dinner & inspected a lovely boutique hotel here called Azur Real – I will definitely use this for clients staying in the city.. from Cordoba clients can also stay in an authentic estancia..

Next I headed to Salta – by plane, as everything was all back to normal.. Salta is lovely & famous for it very fertile land which specializes in the production of a very dry white wine. The city is lovely to walk around & I would really recommend taking the aerial tram ride up to the mountain where you have amazing views of the city & the valley.  From Salta I took a day trip to Cafayate, which I would recommend clients to take as a 2 or 3 day tour. From Salta you go through Quebrada Rio de las Conchas, with some stunning scenery & great photo opportunities, to arrive in the valley of Calchaquies & Cafayate. This is a town for clients wanting to experience the famous wines of the regions. You can stay in some fabulous wineries outside of the town – Patios de Cafayate or Vinas de Cafayate are great options.  Or stay in the town- I really like the hotel Killa, which has heaps of character.

So then I head back to Buenos Aires for my final night of the trip & the next day taking the British Airways direct flight back to Heathrow. British Airways are the only airline with a direct service to Buenos Aires & is an overnight flight in both directions. It is a long flight but it was really comfortable & I managed to catch up on the films I never have the time to see in the cinema.

It was a fantastic trip & I enjoyed everything I saw. The Argentineans seemed amazed that a vegetarian that also does not like wine or coffee would come to their country! As I said in reply – they still sell gin!!

Julia’s House children’s hospice in Dorset is a dedicated team of volunteers that provide care to children who Dorset who have life-limiting conditions. The team consists of over 80 Nurses and Carers who are working to offer around the clock care for those children in need. After hearing about the hard work these volunteers do for our local children. I was excited to be able to offer on behalf of Worldwide Holidays my personal Antiguan villa, Villa North Shore as a perfect prize to offer at the recent Julia’s House ball. A whole weeks stay was offered as part of the winning prize which caused alot of excitement for the esteemed volunteers.

Villa North Shore is a luxury Villa in Antigua set within lush and well-tended tropical gardens. The lucky winner will enjoy the many varied amenities within Jolly Harbour which include a fantastic marina, golf and a beautiful Caribbean beaches.

Personally, and at Worldwide Holidays we are delighted to be involved with Julia’s house which have some fantastic aims for the year ahead and the charity indicates that it will cost nearly £2.8m to continue to provide their vital services. If you would like to donate to Julia’s House, the Dorset Children’s Hospice so that they can continue to provide this outstanding service to children in need. You can find the donation link at the bottom of this post.

Donate to Julia’s House

We are extremely happy to announce that Worldwide Holidays has recently won the TTA Member of the Year award 2011 at the recent Strength & Vision conference held by the TTA in Barcelona. The award recognises Worldwide Holidays as a TTA member that has demonstrated great strength and vision not only this year, but for many years. Since founding the company in 1996 we have taken pride in ensuring our clients receive the absolute best customer service and protection for their exciting holiday experience. The Travel Trust Association (TTA) offers us the ability to ensure the best consumer protection system the market has to offer. We maintain our excellent relationship with the TTA to offer with 100 percent financial protection.

Our award recognises our innovative ideas, quality of service, and first class customer service. Our passionate staff are always on hand to offer our clients the holiday experience of a lifetime. The award presented by TTA managing director Gary Lewis read:-

Since joining our network in 1996 their business has truly gone from strength to strength.

Through all their marketing they demonstrate an absolute passion for travel – from their use of publishing staff journals which provide reports on their own personal travel experiences, through to their inclusion of climate care into their business, highlighting their support of responsible travel.

The business was founded by their Managing Director, Helen Baillie, after visiting the vibrant, historical country of Cuba and realised it was deserving of a holiday company that understood what made it unique. Since then, Helen says: “Her business has built us a very loyal client base, who value our expertise and personal knowledge.”

Their innovative use of blogging, facebook and mobile apps also demonstrates their vision in harnessing new trends and technologies.

At Worldwide Holidays we look forward to sharing our strength and vision into 2012 where we plan to share our passion in our specialist destinations to provide our clients with the absolute best holiday experience. I would like to thank all our clients who have booked with us over the years and have helped us to achieve this fantastic award. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Stam Tzafos – Complete Travel  2010 winner / Helen Baillie Founder & Managing Director of Worldwide Holidays / Gary Lewis Managing Director TTA

Award winners – Fiona Urquhart and Helen Baillie of Worldwide Holidays

There has recently been a lot of very positive press about the stunning & unique Galapagos Islands. The UK National Geographic Traveller magazine had a full feature story on the island, in the July / August edition. Also the islands were voted as the top “Travel Experience of a lifetime” in the August edition of Wanderlust.

From January 2012 the rules & regulations for visitors to the islands will change quite radically. The National park Authority is not allowing any vessel to visit 1 particularly landing site on the islands more than once a fortnight, rather than the current once a week. This has meant that all the operators have had to change the itineraries with different itinerary options for week 1 & week 2.  Some have planned the 14 nights to consist of a 6 night cruise plus 2 different 4 night cruise options; or a 7 night cruise 1 week then the 2nd week they offer a 3 & a 4 night option. Cruises can also be combined to take back to back, creating a longer trip & visiting more of the islands.

Below is a link to a really interesting BBC documentary, discussing the changes being implemented to save this very special & important part of the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/fast_track/9554939.stm

Apart from the Galapagos Islands the mainland of Ecuador is also stunning & offers a huge amount of diversity. It is less touristic than its neighbouring Peru & you can visit really authentic markets, travel through the Avenue of Volcanoes, go to the Ecuadorian Amazon region, stay in beautiful haciendas, go to the wonderfully pretty city of Cuenca & so much more…

If you would like to discuss visiting Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands please do contact us & we can put together a wonderful trip for you.