The Best International Honeymoon Locations
9.8.07


A honeymoon is a great idea for couples that have recently been married. Celebrate your marriage together and relax, enjoying the sucess of your wedding. When you are selecting your honeymoon destination for you and your new spouse you will want it to be as perfect as your wedding so some planning is required.

1. Hawaii

Hawaii is the best and origional stop for honeymooners. If you want, you can lounge along the beach or enjoy the tropical scenery. You can take a tour to help you explore the island, its waterfalls, and other beautful natural resources. The ultimate experience is simply to watch the sunset, although in the morning you can experience one of the finest golf courses in the world, play tennis, or participate in a luau.

2. Italy

Italy offers both plenty of sandy beaches as well as snow covered mountains for skiing and snowboarding. There are a number of major cities worth visiting in Italy that is why it might be of interest to spend a day or two in a number of cities, rather than limiting your trip to only one. Rome offers a number of bus tours and walking tours that allow you to take in some ancient historical landmarks. Enjoy the Roman ruins, Baroque fountains and even visit the Vatican if you have the time. The Vatican, in addition to its religious importance, houses countless works of art.

3. Tahiti

The Polynesian island of Tahiti is as good if not better than Hawaii. It boasts endless beaches and palm trees as far as the eye can see. Nearby, there are cafes and shops where you can find the perfect memento of your island vacation. Take an island cruise through the islands of French Polynesia or go scuba diving through the coral reef for the ultimate experience.

4. Virgin Islands

As a lower cost version of Hawaii or Tahiti, the island of Anguilla offers flawless carribean beaches and twice the privacy of the mobbed beaches found elsewhere. A number of delectable restaurants are available where anyone will find exquisite dishes like alaskan king crab, and local delicacies as well.

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posted by admin @ 4:50 PM, ,


The Bahamas: Discover An Island Paradise
3.8.07

With more than 500 miles of the world’s clearest, turquoise water, this 100,000 mile stretch of 700 petite islands in the Atlantic Ocean is one of the most scenic and secluded vacation spots around. It’s uninhabited, pristine beaches are ideal grounds for scuba and deep-sea diving, world-class sport fishing, kayaking and snorkeling by day and extravagant island dining and dancing by night. Its warm tropical climate ranges from 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

Fly or sail in; the Bahama Islands are just a few miles south of the Florida coast, making it a short and comfortable voyage. Each island is unique, offering its own history and culture. When visiting the Bahamas, be sure to set aside time to visit some of its most renowned attractions – from Cartwright’s Cave to the Barrier Reef and Tongue of the Ocean, the world’s largest underwater coral reef located just off Andros Island. Other attractions include:

* The Hope Town Lighthouse
* The Lost City of Atlantis
* Eleuthera/Harbor Island’s Haunted House
* Exuma Clays Land and Sea Park
* Cat Island’s The Hermitage, Mount Alvernia
* Lucayan National Park’s Kayak Nature and Cave Tour

Golfing fans love the Bahamas, where you’ll find championship greens and fairways amidst pleasant breezes and idyllic weather conditions. Tee up for a scenic day on palm tree-lined courses on The Abacos, The Exumas, Grand Bahama and Nassau/Paradise Islands.

While on the Islands, it’s easy to not only tour the local sights, but also hop Island-to-Island. Guided tours, Jitneys or buses, scooter and bicycle rentals, mailboats, ferries, private boats and charter air accommodations are all within reach.

Birthplace to Sidney Poitier and Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach, the Bahamas are home to a small group of English-speaking, Christian natives with a tight-knit population just under 300,000. Natives are largely of West African heritage and dominantly reside on the New Providence and Grand Bahama Islands.

Everyone should experience the tranquility of island life, if only for a few days. Discover the Bahamas. To learn more about cruise packages, liners, destinations and seasonal travel deals such as a Bahamas vacation package, visit http://www.vasrue.com/ see “Travel” today.

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posted by admin @ 5:34 PM, ,


Taking A Bird Watching Vacation


popular hobbies in the World. What at one time was just a backyard interest has now grown into extensive bird watching vacations. When looking for a bird watching vacation, you can choose from one as simple as a weekend getaway or you can elect to go on one as long as a 14-day extravaganza full of rare and interesting birds to watch.

There are more than 1000 different species of birds in the United States alone, all of which are unique in their own way. Each species of bird has their own call pattern, sound, shape, and even a different beak. As a bird watcher, you may only have about a half a second to identify a bird by seeing how it moves through the trees, or by the shape of its wings. For the amateur bird watcher, it can be frustrating out there alone, not knowing what to look for, or what type of bird you have found. That is why a bird watching vacation can be quite an adventure for you, as well as a time for you to learn a hobby that you may soon fall in love with. Usually bird watching vacations are guided tours with a large group of people who enjoy helping others discover the love of bird watching.

Where to Go On a Bird Watching Vacation

The possibilities are endless when deciding where to go on a bird watching vacation. Here are just a few choices that have been rated some of the best bird watching vacation spots in the World. Costa Rica has often been considered the Mecca of bird watching. With such exquisite locations as the reserve of Bosque de Paz and the La Ensenada refuge, Costa Rica is one of the most popular bird watching vacation spots to be found.

South Africa frequently offers bird watching vacations to Kruger Park, Pretoria, Hluhuwe Game Reserve, and everywhere in between. Birders can experience a great variety of local birds, migrants, and endemic birds that make up the almost 850 species that can be found in this stunning location.

During a winter bird watching vacation, you may want to find yourself on the sandy beaches of The Grand Bahama Island. Grand Bahama Island has the distinction of being the 2nd most bird-populated island in the Bahamas. The Rand Nature Centre is home to West Indian Flamingos, Red-legged Thrushes, the endangered Bahama parrot, as well as numerous other species of birds. While kayaking in the crystal clear water you will have the chance to see rare birds that live in the Mangrove swamps, and the Caribbean Pine Forest.

Opportunities are plenty on any of these bird watching vacations. It is up to you to choose the one that takes you both to a beautiful location and one that will thrill the bird enthusiast within you.

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posted by admin @ 4:57 PM, ,


Caribbean Stopover At St. Thomas Of The U.S. Virgin Islands
2.8.07


One of the most popular ports of call for Caribbean cruise ships is St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. On the three Caribbean cruises that I took so far, two of them included a stopover in St. Thomas. On both occasions, there was a consensus among other passengers we met that St. Thomas was one of the nicer islands visited. Although the driving in St. Thomas is on the left hand side, it is still U.S. territory so this Caribbean island features many other conveniences of being American soil. These included easy telephone connections for calls back to the mainland, the use of U.S. currency and English as the main language. St. Thomas is also one of the cleanest of Caribbean islands and the locals do not aggressively hustle the tourists like they do on other islands. Many passengers stated that St. Thomas is a place they would like to come back to in the future.

During my first visit to St. Thomas, I took the Atlantis submarine excursion which took tourists down to see an actual ocean reef. It was a bit pricey but that was expected. Seeing an ocean reef with the marine life up close for the first time during this submarine ride actually influenced me to take up scuba diving. During my second trip to the island, we decided that we would spend some time snorkeling in the local waters since at that time, my partner wasn't a certified scuba diver yet. My advance research suggested that Coki Bay on the northeast side of St. Thomas was a nice place to snorkel. When our cruise ship docked at Charlotte Amalie, the capital city of the U.S. Virgin Islands, we hailed one of the many taxi cabs at the port. It was a $15 US fare to Coki Beach where Coki Bay is located. It took only about 15 minutes to get there. The scenery along the way was magnificent as we went up a hill and saw our cruise ship in the distant harbor below. The island itself is very lush with greenery everywhere.

At Coki Beach, my partner rented her snorkeling gear for $20 US (I brought my own). To my surprise, the rental attendant gave us each a hard biscuit to feed the fish while we were in the water. Once we got into the water, dozens of tropical fish immediately crowded around us. I guess they knew the drill quite well. We ripped off small pieces of the biscuits and the fish went for it, even if the food was just inches away from our face masks. The yellowtail snappers, sergeant majors and occasional parrotfish displayed no fear of us at all. At one point, my partner held out a larger piece of her biscuit and some of the fish darted in to nibble at it. After about an hour in the warm water, it was time to say goodbye to our new aquatic friends. This experience at Coki Bay with the fish was one of the factors which eventually influenced my partner to become a certified scuba diver herself.

Another $15 US cab ride took us back to the cruise ship port where we spend the rest of the day browsing the many duty free shops located there. A similar snorkeling trip arranged through the cruiseship would have cost us double the amount we paid. St. Thomas is definitely not an inexpensive island for either cruise ship passengers or resort tourists staying there but extra comfort and quality of the island are quite noticeable compared to many other Caribbean destinations. From my readings, the other main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands which are St. John and St. Croix, are more laid back and less commercialized than St. Thomas. I would like to visit them in addition to another return trip to St. Thomas in the future for a multi day scuba diving trip. For those thinking of going on a Caribbean cruise, I would definitely recommend one that has St. Thomas as one of its ports of call. It is one of the better islands on any Caribbean cruise itinerary.

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posted by admin @ 2:59 AM, ,