Do do Vilamendhoo!
If the notion of white-sand barefoot luxury with unparalleled crystal-clear snorkelling turns you on – then Vilamendhoo in the South Ari Atoll of the Maldives is the place for you. Gently lapping water around the stilts of our Jacuzzi Water Villa is the only sound we can hear as we lounge on our deck overlooking the crystal-clear waters of the coral lagoon – a soporific sound broken only by the occasional buzz of a seaplane carrying...
Reach out in all directions with an Octopus
Travelling around in Hong Kong can be complex for the uninitiated – and is becoming ever more crowded. The Octopus card simplifies your travel immensely – and if you stick to the dedicated routes of the MTR, Tram, Bus, Peak Tram and Star Ferry then you’ll also dodge much of the congestion that otherwise clogs the roads. If you’re familiar with Oyster cards in London then Octopus in Hong Kong will be second nature. If...
Zanzibar – A local catch-up
If, like us, you quickly tire of simply lazing, roasting on a beach for the complete duration of your holiday, then fishing and familiarising yourself with the local people can provide a welcome distraction in Zanzibar. Once you’ve visited Stone Town (which we’ll cover in a later review) then Zanzibar is largely an exotic beach resort with miles of white sand coral shoreline for the majority of visitors. Not that there’s anything...
The true Zest of Zanzibar
This ancient spice route island now holds a much more fragrant appeal to travellers with its exceptional accommodation for sun seekers. We take a look at the Zanzibar Collection. Getting to Zanzibar had been fraught. Precision Air, our airline, had failed at every turn – we’d seen more precision in a game of ‘Pin the tail on the donkey’. Shambolic check-in, numerous unannounced hours of delays, offloaded in Dar es Salaam, routed...
Maldives mash-up
We must visit the Maldives more gently. The last time we were in the Maldives was on a BA transit stop from London to Colombo and other than the rather rapid descent and short stop the only thing of note was the glorious breath of warm air and the sight of blue skies through the open cabin doors that pervaded the air-conditioned aluminium we were sitting in. The only other time was another drop off at Male from a cruise ship on which...
