New Luxury Mekong Cruiser Launched

By StanleySobari

Aqua Expeditions will be introducing its first Asia-based luxury cruise ship, Aqua Mekong, in September 2014. The company’s third vessel, the Aqua Mekong will take guests through the water of the Mekong, between Cambodia and Vietnam. Cruise bookings are now open and can be made via an online reservation system which is slated to be operational in early 2014.

The company has also pulled the covers off a newly designed fully integrated website which showcase the brands luxury Amazon and Mekong cruises, and provides information on its vessels and itineraries.

Wild Coast, Best for seclusion

By Stanley Sobari

#Evening lights bathes the hills above Lubanzi beach, Coffee Bay is a nine-hour drive from Drakensberg

“I couldn’t live in a South Africa that didn’t have this,” says Dayne Topkin, shouldering his surfboard across an arc of sand shared with some offbeat beach bums: a donkey, several goats and two cows, browsing through a dune stacked with milkwood trees. The Indian Ocean is gathering itself into some impressive aquatic walls as it rushes shore-wards between Coffee Bay’s grass-topped cliffs, but Dayne-a gap-year student from Port Elizabeth-hasn’t just come to the Wild Coast for the surfing.

“This place isn’t about the beach, it’s about the walk to the beach.” The cows in the sand, the dog that follows him everywhere, the farmer he just helped to re-thatch a rondavel: “It’s like an escape to my nation’s past-not the recent history, with all its ugliness, but a deeper past that kind of defines us all. It’s weird: this feels totally alien to me but at the same time totally familiar.”

Blustery and rollingly green, the Wild Coast seems like a tropical Donegal. In a land dominated by the scrubby Karoo, it is a place of bracing singularities: just as the rains are coming to Cape Town, here in the Eastern Cape they’re into the dry season. The track south out of Coffee Bay bumps through scenes of rural timelessness. Xhosa women in kaledeidoscopic dresses carry butts of water on their head: hunched men plan maize in the rich, red earth. Grids of shiny new mud bricks are laid out to dry, and children greet the rare passing of a vehicle with awed excitement.

“When my friend come over from Jo’burg they usually freak out,” says Aidan Lawrence, stamping a bare foot on the accelerator of his ancient jeep. “They live behind razor wire and electric fences. I don’t even have a front door.” The vehicle bucks wildly onwards down the coast. “In south Africa, you drive on the left of the road. Here we drive on what’s left of the road.”

 A few miles on Aidan, owner of the off-grid Wild Lubanzi Backpackers guesthouse, points out the Hole in the Wall a perfectly hemispherical tunnel that the restless Indian Ocean has bored through base of an offshore island. “We have a lot of ionist Christiants here, and they do their baptisms in the hole. And we have a lot of hosa shamans, sangomas, who climb to the top the island and sacrifice goats.”

Beyond fishing an ceremony, the interface between sea and land has no appeal to the locals. “When I built this place on top of a cliff, the villagers thought  I was crazy,” says Aidan. “They told me the roof could blow off and the waves would never let met sleep.” One of his geese honks suriously at a neighbour’s cow inveigling us snout through the banana palms and riffid-like wild aloes. “They were right, of course, but then so was I.”

The late sun has turned the sea below glorious, come-hither turquoise; half a mile but, its gently billowing surface is punctured they spout of a humpback whale. Aidan tolds his arms and surveys that vindicating view, with the whimsical smile of a man who still can’t believe his luck.

Wild Lubanzi is accessible only by four-wheel drive, has no mains water and runs on solar power. There are double rooms as well as a dormitory. Hearty casseroles and risottos use herbs and vegetables grown on the property, for more detail about this wild lubanzi backpackers see the web site : wildlubanzi.co.za.

Love Photography?

Love Photography?

By Stanley Sobari

#Register now for National Geographic Traveler’s one-day photography seminars, taught by our awar-winning expert photographers. Held in dozens of cities around the country, each seminar will teach you techniques for photographing every type of subject-from landscapes and nature to portraits and people. All skill levels are welcome. Sign up today for a seminar near you at nationalgeographic.com/ngtseminars.

River Safari

By StanleySobari

Featuring the Adventure Cove Waterpark with Southeast Asia’s first hydro-magnetic coaster and the SEA aquarium, which is the world’s largest, the Marine Life Park offers a plethora of sights and experiences. Boasting over 100,000 animals and over 800 species, this nature park is also home to Dolphin Island, which offers six different interaction programmes, including Asia’s first underwater Dophin Trek. Visitors to Adventure Cove Warerpark, SEA and Universal Studios Singapore can enjoy a one-day pass discounted rate for one adult of these parks.

Come the weekend, the three beaches of this tiny island just off Singapore’s shores are packed with sun worshippers. Tourists and locals alike also flock to this playground for adventurous experiences such as zipping, luge-ing dn the flying trapeze, as well as simulated sky-diving and surfing. Resorts World Sentosa, encompassing Universal Studios and various world-class themed hotels, can also be found here.

Singapore’s fourth and latest zoological innovation, this river safari offers a unique perspective from a boat, with the opportunity to observe over 5,000 animals, out of which 42 species are endangered. One of the highlights is the Amazon River, which allows visitors to catch a glimpse of the jaguar, Brazilian tapir and giant anteater. Various ecosystems and themed rivers such as America’s Mississippi, India’s Ganges, China’s Yangtze, Egypt’s River nile, Africa’s congo and Australia’s Murray await visitors. Singapore’s two resident giant pandas, on a 10-year loan from China, can be found in the Giant Panda forest as well.

The Paragon is one of the original high-end shopping centres in Singapore, this shopping centre was one of the first to offer a posh retail and dining experience. The jewels in its string of world-class brands include Gucci, ermenegildo zegna and burberry. Anchor tenants include British lifestyle powerhouse, Marks & Spencer and Metro department store. Food lovers will enjoy the feast of choices and the range of price points, including popular Taiwanese Din Tai Fung and local eatery Thai Express.

Wisma Atria Shopping Centre located right beside Orchad MRT station offers a wide variety of mid-end brands. Japanese department store isetan has a presence here, as do Lacoste, Dorothy Perkinds, and Victoria’s Secret. The dining options make this shopping centre a top draw, including Korean Bakery, Paris Baguette and the country’s first food republic food court, done up in a retro interior recalling the good old days of Singapore.

Tourists come here to check out suntec city’s fountain of wealth, purported at one time to be the largest fountain in the world. After a major facelifts. Suntec now encompasses an interconnected mall, an international convention and exhibition centre and five office towers, making this sprawling seven million square feet building a city within a city. Shoppers will find it a retail haven at Suntec, with fashion brands such as H&M and Uniqio taking on anchor tenant status.

Flight Centre’s expansion in Singapore has continued with the opening of its store in the newly built wing of Plaza Singapura. This is Flight Centre’s fourth retail shop in the country. The expansion also signifies the company’s intention to establish a strong foothold in Asia. The introduction of the Flight Centre brand in Singapore has been well-received because it filled a niche in the local market for specialist leisure travel services and products a globally competitive rates. The retailer’s experienced and well-traveled consultants – both native English speaking and bilingual – offer a full range of airfares, accommodation, car hire, tours, insurance, cruises and other travel products.

Singaporean & Malaysian Travellers influenced by food. According to the results of a poll initiated by travel metasearch site Wego, almost 60 percent of Singaporean and Malaysian travelers choose their destination based on local food experiences. A closer look at the poll revealed even more interesting responses. Between the gardens, all male respondents said they would select holiday destination based on culinary offering, while 74 percent of women denied that food was a factor when choosing a destination. In addition, almost all the respondents over the age of 35 claimed dining was an important factor in their choice. When asked to identity their favourite culinary destinations, respondents named Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Europe.

Madame Tussauds to Open in Sentosa. Singapore is set to have its own version of Madame Tussauds, the well known wax attraction, in 2014. The product of a partnership between Sentosa development Corporation and Merlin Entertainments, Madame Tussauds Singapore will be situated at Imbiah Lookout on Sentosa Island. The wax museum will showcase lifelike wax figures of famous individuals and groups in an interactive set, allowing visitors to pose with them and scrutinize them up close. The figures will be carefully chosen and will feature a combination of historical and contemporary figures from the region and the world. The museum will also be the first outside of London to incorporated a ride.

Tigerair Flies to Ningbao. Tigerair has launched three flights every fortnight to the seaport city of Ningbo, making it the airline’s eight destination in Greater China after Guangzhou, Haikou, Hong Kong, Lijiang, Macau, Shenzhen and Taipei. Besides being endowed with variety of tourist attractions, Ningbo has a well-developed transport infrastructure and offers easy access to other major Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wenzhou and Nanjing.

Bansko, Bulgaria

Snow business

By Stanley Sobari

#the Pirin Mountains

MUCH noise has been made about Bulgarians heading to the UK this year. Far less has been said about Brits heading to Bulgaria – in particular those bound for the Horizon Festival at the edge of the Pirin Mountains. The latest in a growing number of snow-music festivals across Europe, this week-long event involves stellar performers from the dance and electronic scene playing at a variety of venues – from stages in snowy forests to cellar-like nightclubs. Daylight hours see festival goers skiing and snowboarding along the 45 miles of runs that make up the Bansko ski resort, with thermal pools on hand to revitalize weary limbs.

Horizon Festival runs from 8-14 March. A six-night package including a festival ticket, a five-day ski pass for the BAnsko Ski Resort and accommodation in a local four-star hotel stars (horizonfestival.net). 

Wizz Air flies to the Bulgarian capital Sofia from Luton, while easyjet flies from London Stansted, London Gatwick and Manchester. Horizon is able to arrange transfers direct to the festival from Sofia and from the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv-visit the website for more details.