Posted by Peter Brady on Thu 17th August 2006 at 07:00 AM, Filed in Travel Tips
In light of all the recent turmoil at UK airports I thought it might be useful to impart some tips on the best way to pack a suitcase. In particular, now that it looks like carrying any form of liquid or gel in hand luggage is to become a permanent no no. Here are some quick and easy tips that just might save you a lot of hassle - and yes most of the tips are common sense!
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Going somewhere truly unusual is becoming increasingly difficult as more and more destinations are opening their doors for business. But I think it’s safe to say that the Antarctic will probably never emerge as a mainstream holiday spot!
However, according to igougo the French Antarctic islands allow a small dribble of tourists each year and might be your best opportunity of getting a flavour of Antarctic life.
Officially owned by several countries the islands have no airports and are arrived at by voyage on a scientific ship, which departs from Reunion Island four times a year. The ship only accepts 14 visitors on each trip with the rest of the ships passengers made up of scientists, support personnel and relatives of those who have family members living on the islands. It’s safe to say that you’re not going to get a luxury cruise but what you do get is the opportunity to see locations rarely visited by human beings and which harbour a rich diversity of wildlife that includes various species of penguin, seals, whales, orca, albatross and breathtaking scenery to boot.
From beginning to end the round trip totals 29 days and is broken up by hops from Reunion to Crozet onto Kerguelen, Saint Paul (which is uninhabited), Amsterdam and then back to Reunion.
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Posted by Peter Brady on Tue 15th August 2006 at 07:00 AM, Filed in Travel Gadgets
If you’re not a great linguist then you might want to consider this little gadget. It’s called an Electronic Travel Translator and cross-translates 11 international languages, which include: English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch Russian, Swedish, Italian, Chinese Mandarin , Portuguese and Japanese.
There are 705 commonly used travel related sentences per language. Insert voice card to enable Voice Mate to speak required language. There are 8 major categories to help locate the required sentence, for example: general speech, emergency and medicine and sightseeing. There are also 16 data files to store important notes and this travel mate displays 15 cities world time.
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Posted by Peter Brady on Mon 14th August 2006 at 03:25 PM, Filed in Travel Gadgets
Fed up with dirty, uncomfortable sunloungers next to the hotel pool? Why not take your own collapsible garden hammock and avoid the scramble for towlels on sun loungers.
We spotted this excellent, collapsible hammock retailing for a very reasonable £39.99 ($73).
The hammock is collapsible and is easily setup in less than a minute. It is self supporting and so doesn’t need any other support such as a tree or fence - and it can quickly be collapsed and packed away for storage in no time at all.
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Posted by Peter Brady on Mon 14th August 2006 at 07:00 AM, Filed in Extreme Holidays
Kite surfing is one of the new ilk of extreme sports to hit the scene in recent years. It’s cool and it’s fun, but where can you do it?
If you’re willing to combine a holiday with some extreme action then you could visit Fuerteventura (the second largest island in the Canaries), located some 15 Kilometres south of Lanzarote.
According to Extreme Holidays:
“The island’s surprising natural qualities, untouched until a few years ago, are a recently discovered treasure. Fuerteventura is an oasis of beaches and sun. It is one of the driest of the Canarian Islands, which is one of the main reasons for the island’s limited economic growth. With air temperatures ranging from 21°C to 28°C, and average water temperatures ranging from 19’C to 22’C, it’s summer all year round!”
Sounds cool!
