Africa’s newest star
Spent last week in Kenya, visiting Ngerende Island Lodge, a luxurious new lodge in the remote wilderness of the Masai Mara national park. With just seven spacious tented cabins, the staff are able to give guests truly personalised service. There is also a delightful small spa, complete with plunge pool and two treatment beds overlooking the fast flowing Mara...
Read MoreNamibia
Currently in beautiful Namibia, where the weather is hot and sunny. This enchanting and sparsely populated country offers coastal, desert and mountain landscapes and vast wilderness areas, including the Etosha National Park. one of the largest and best game viewing parks in the whole of Africa. While the luxurious game lodges we are staying in all have refreshing outdoor pools, none has a spa. Given the beauty of the environment, the warm climate and starry skies, a relaxing treatment would be the perfect end to a day spent exploring the bush or after an exciting game drive. On our second evening, we travel to the new Mushara Outpost, close to the Etosha National Park where we stay in individual luxuriously appointed cabins made of wood and canvas. Each cabin has its own verandah looking out onto the arid bush...
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Kurumba
We were sorry to leave Velassaru after our short but memorable stay blessed with perfect weather. We said our farewells to the resort’s lovely staff and left the island after breakfast – travelling 30 minutes by speedboat to Kurumba to spend a day and a night on the Maldives’ first ever resort. Kurumba is named after the coconuts that grow on island and are still used in cocktails and desserts served in the bars and restaurants. Kurumba’s a much bigger resort than Velassaru with more rooms and larger public areas including shops, lounges, a business centre and a library. We have a fantastic villa that comes with a sumptuous four poster bed and its own walled private garden with a waterfall, hot tub and swimming pool! Our front door looks out onto a powder white beach and turquoise sea....
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Maldivian Magic
Catherine and Alec Beattie enjoy visiting the tropical island of Velassaru in the Maldives
Read MoreSingapore and more…..
I couldn’t write my blog in Singapore due to my laptop crashing whenever I tried publishing a post. So just took lots of notes for future features about the trip for publication shortly in Spa Wellbeing. Despite the technical problems, we could not have had a more magical introduction to Singapore! We stayed at the fantastic Grand Hyatt, which is situated on the heart of the main shopping district, just off Orchard Road, and being Hyatt, the service, accommodation, dining and spa were all absolutely top notch. I’ll also be covering the fantastic spa on board Arcadia – which I had the pleasure of using on several occasions, as we cruised from Singapore to Sydney. Again, I intended writing the blog from the ship, but what with my laptop crashing and the ship’s satellite system often being down,...
Read MoreSpa travels – Singapore
Early February 2009 and the heaviest snowfalls in years have hit the UK! Despite the snow, we depart Heathrow just an hour behind schedule. Instead of the bitter cold, we’ll be experiencing the humid heat of the Far East and our first visit to the dynamic island republic of Singapore. We’re in Singapore for two nights before joining the superliner Arcadia, on the third sector of her inaugural world voyage. Arcadia’s Oasis Spa is the most expansive of the entire P&O fleet and I’m reviewing onboard spa treatments as we cruise the southern Indian Ocean to Oz, calling at Freemantle/ Perth, Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne and finally Sydney. Tropical heat envelops us like a warm blanket as we leave Changi Airport for the short drive into Singapore city. First impressions are good; blue ocean and skies, wide tree lined streets,...
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