Morocco - Taroundant

• best month: April
• stay
• La Gazelle d'or (30 rooms, stables) www.gazelledor.com 480gbp 1/2 board
• Kasabat Annour (right beside kasbah walls) latest opening in town, spa, old colonial house once home to colonel of French garrison www.kasabatannour 120euro B&B
• Dar Zitoune: a few km out of the center, twin towered facade of a kasbah but inside is series of well-tended garden of fruit trees & exotic flowers 120 euros B&B
• eat
• la gazelle d'or
• chez nada (roof terrace) avenue moulay rachid (no al)
• restaurant vala (avenue hassan II) (no al)
• Jnane Soussia (garden just outside walls, tented dining areas, roast lamb, order day ahead, no al)
• fly to Agadir (80km from Taroudant) hire a car (royal air maroc flies from heathrow via casablanca)

lodge hopping - new zealand

you can drive from one to the other or just take a domestic flight

Farm at Cape Kidnappers
~ in Hawke's Bay (goo dlocal wine) short flight from Auckland to Napier & 45 minutes drive to the Farm

Huka Lodge
~ 3 hours to drive from cape kidnappers to huka lodge
~ above huka falls

South Island's whare kea lodge
(drive back to Auckland first or get direct flight to queenstown (90 min drive to the lodge) or get on flight from Auckland to Christchurch & connect flight to "Remarkables range"
otahuna lodge
-- drive from christchurch

Bolivia

• Travesia between Potosi (the world's highest town in Bolivia) & San Pedro de atacama in Chile (8 days of walking past volcanoes, llmas, salt flats, flamingos ...300 miles) end up at hotel de larache in the middle of Atacama desert $5964 all incl
• see colonial Santiago de chile
• Atacama desert's moon valley
• white washed town of Sucre
• canoe at Rurrenabaque in the Amazon

North Africa

• getting there
• Air France (flies from Paris to Algiers, Casablanca, Rabat & Tripoli
• Alitalia to Algiers, Cairo, Tripoli Casablanca
• BA from Heathrow to Cairo Algiers & Tripoli
• Iberia from Heathrow to Algiers,Agadir, Cairo, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakech & Tangier (via Madrid or Barcelona)
• Lufthansa via frankfurt to algiers, Alexandria, Cairo, Casablanca
• Royal air maroc: heathrow to casablanca, via casablanca to tripoli, cairo & algiers
• atlas blue from gatwick to fez & marrakech, from heathrow to tangier
• easyjet from gatwick to casablanca & tangier, & marrakech
• getting around
• regional carriers connect tripoli,algiers, casablanca & cairo, air algeria, egypt air, tunis air, royal air maroc
• when to go
• algeria
• april to august (coast) nov to april (desert)
• egypt: march april Oct Nov
• morocco: mid march to may & sept to nov

Zambia

• stay at Chongwe River camp or
• Robin's house at Nkwli camp, South Luangwa
• BA flies Heathrow to Lusaka
• S african air fly via johannesburg
• zambian air flies to Mfuwe (handy for S Luangwa national park)
• june to Oct best

Daypass zimbabwe
Stay. Chundukwa river lodge, royal livingstone or royal zambezi (travel agents: expert africa, bailey robinson)
Award-winning photographer David Rogers has spent the last 15 years of his life capturing stunning scenes of the South and East African landscape at hundreds of different locations. Now, he has teamed up with the renowned and extremely exclusive Robin Pope Safaris to offer his expertise on wildlife photography in the world's biggest classroom: the South Luangwa Valley of Zambia.

other places to stay
Livingstone hotels - Zambia
South Luangwa National Park hotels - Zambia
Lusaka hotels - Zambia
Victoria Falls hotels - Zambia
Siavonga hotels - Zambia

tahiti - Bora-bora

• stay
• 4 seasons bora bora $964
• novotel bora bora http://www.accorhotels.com/ $147
• eat
• villa mahana $140 dinner/2 (5 tables only)

Argentina - Buenos Aires

**jardin escondido**
This townhouse is the buzz talk of the city. Built to order for Francis Ford Coppola while he filmed his autobiographical flick, Tetro, it’s cosy, with aged brick floors, Peruvian tapestries and willow floor lamps. Actors like Vincent Gallo and Willem Dafoe stayed before Coppola decided to open it to an in-the-know crowd. Guests can book a two-bedroom wing topped with a pergola and herb garden, take over a five-bedroom upper floor or splurge on the whole house. The director’s foldaway writing desk still sits in a tiny studio and the garden is alive with the whistle of mockingbirds. Staff are discreet; breakfast, from a local pâtissier, is delivered each morning; at night, eat locally or do as Coppola does: grill up a sizzling barbecue.

• up & coming San Telmo bohemian neighborhood known for Sunday antiques market
• stay:
• Cocker (458 Juan de garay) www.thecocker.com $100
• Moreno Buenos Aires (376 Moreno) wwwmorenobuenosaires.com $160
• eat
• La Vineria de gualterio bolivar (865 bolivar) - tapas
• Desnivel (858 defensa)
• tango & drinks
• bar sur (299 estados unidos)
• el federal (599 carlos calvo)

2009 block leave? Legado Mitico B.A. then Legado Mitico Salta
Legado Mítico, Salta, Argentina

Great Value This handsome provincial capital, known for its meat empanadas and some of the world’s best-preserved mummies, has lately been burnishing its claim as Argentina’s third city for tourism, after Buenos Aires and Mendoza. Still, we were surprised to come across a hotel so refined, especially on a noisy commercial street near the main square. Each of the 11 guest rooms in this former private residence is named for a notable person (a poet; a gaucho; a sculptor) and dressed accordingly with art from the region. Guests can linger in the courtyard for hours under swaying alamo trees while sampling the region’s tangy, refreshing Torrontes wines. Doubles from $170.

from NG
eat @
Casa SaltShaker
el federal 599 Carlos Calvo
El Trapiche 5099 paraguay
Heladeria Cadore 1695 Av. Corrientes
La Cupertina 5300 Cabrera
Mercado del Progreso 5430 Av. Rivadavia
Meridiano 58 - 1689 Jorge Luis Borges
Urondo Bar 1204 Beauchef

stay at
1555 malabia house
Algodon Mansion
Gurda Tango boutique hotel
home buenos aires
mansion dandi royal
Miravida soho
palacio duhau park hyatt
sofitel BA
Telmotango hostel suites

togo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/jan/18/burkina-faso-benin-togo-voodoo
cradle of voodoo tour- check out Burkina Faso, Benin & Togo

Sagada burial caves, Philippines

• Sumaging Cave (narrow crevices, deep ravines etc)
• Lumiang Burial cave (collection of centuries old wooden coffins)

Sierra Leone

• sept 07 brought about peaceful change of government via ballot box
• superb wildlife watching
• charming resorts in Freetown
• track elephants at Outamba-Kilimi National Park, primates at Tiwai Island wildlife sanctuary

Kyrgyzstan

• horsebound culture, trek out to see petroglyphs
• see kok boru (rugby on horseback, with a dead goat)
• "At Chabysh" horse racing festival held in Barskoon early November
• see Khan Tengri peak
• oral epic poem "Manas"
• alpine meadows of Tian Shan

algeria

• Fly 6/30 23:45 06:35+1 HKG to CDG
• 7/1 in Paris
• 7/2 07:30-08:45 CDG to ALG (2 hr 15 min)
• 7/2, 3, 4 in Algiers
• 7/4 18:55 arrive CDG 22:20
• Return 7/5 CDG to HKG 14:00 07:30+1
• desert oasis town to Timimoun (well set up for travellers, comfortable desert experience without tourist hordes of Morocco or Tunisia)
• Assekrem sunrise atop Tolkienesque atakor plateau
• March/April Fete du Tapis (in Ghardaia – carpet festival)
• go to Tamanraset's le tafsit (end April) celebration of Tuareg culture, camel races in Algeria's deep south
• Oran's festival national de la chanson du rai d'oran in August (world music)
• explore Hoggar mountains by 4wd in the Sahara
• millennia-old Saharan rock art rock art in Tassili N'ajjer (also see La vache qui pleure- the cow that cries, a carved masterpiece @ Tagharghart)
• dune skiing in grand erg oriental
• Roman city of Djemila
• casbah of Algiers (closer to Paris vs. Tamanrasset)
• stay
• Algiers: Hilton, or Sofitel

Kuala Lumpur KL treehouse

sekeping Serendah 45 min north of KL
www.serendah.com

hangzhou China

• Liangzhu Culture Museum 45 min drive from downtown Hangzhou, closed on Mon (a new museum in Hangzhou--showcase for ancient Liangzhu culture)

Longjing
DINNER FOR TWO $98
10 WAI JI LONG SHAN, LONGJING RD.;
86-571/8796-9230

Zhiweiguan
DINNER FOR TWO $100
83 REN HE RD.;
86-571/8701-8638

next trip go to Wuzhen clubhouse, other hotels in area to try: regalia resort suzhou, 4 seasons hangzhou, not in area but to try samatha resort zhangjiajie, Brilliant Resort Kunming, Crowne Plaza Lijiang

uluwatu - Bali's southern Bukit peninsula

• Alila Villas Uluwatu- cliff side property
• www.alilavillas.com $725

or try Alila Villas Soori
CX785 HKG 10:05 DPS 14:50 0 04:45
CX784 DPS 16:00 HKG 20:45 0 04:45

Brazil

Pantanal
http://www.fazendabarrancoalto.com.br/

• the Atlantic forest ( 1 of the richest, tallest & most impressive forests on earth) a haven for blue-chested parakeets, golden-headed lion tamarins & other endemic species
• stay at Ponta dos Ganchos (710 miles south of Rio de Janeiro)
• trekking, whitewater rafting, kayak, sail, snorkel
• www.pontadosganchos.com.br $620

another choice for 09 block leave
Uxua casa
http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-new-hotels-2009/8

UXUA Casa HotelHOTEL ABOUT UXUA

YOUR STAY

CASAS

SPA

QUARTZ POOL

GALLERY

HISTORY

DESIGN

WILBERT DAS

PRESS
BEACH BOOKING TRANCOSO TRANCOSO HISTORY

QUADRADO

BEACHES

THINGS TO DO

BARS & RESTAURANTS

GETTING THERE

WEATHER
Getting There
To reach Trancoso, fly to Porto Seguro (multiple connections leave from cities such as Salvador and Sao Paulo daily). From November through February, many charter flights fly directly to Porto Seguro from Europe.

Trancoso is approximately 24 kilometres from Porto Seguro airport, which translates as an hour’s drive due to the scenic, two-lane roads and a short river ferry crossing.