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Minimalist Chic... La Amada Hotel

Welcome to a new hotel... La Amada... located on Playa Mujeres... just north of Cancun.. I love new hotels... everything is all shiny and fresh and without the ever present weather beaten patina that all seaside hotels eventually wear.... not that the patina bothers me, it actually has the opposite effect.... it makes me feel like coming home. But a new hotel, lacking any signs of the salt and humidity... ohhhh... that is a rarity and so to be enjoyed.

This could be your room... a neutral palate with plenty of space for you to daydream...

This could be your shady terrace... a romantic nook for two...

And this your private plunge pool... a refreshing respite from the heat of the day...

Follow me now to the spa... the highlight of this little hotel...
We'll lounge and eat fruit...

This spa is focused on water therapies... ahhhhhh....

Then we'll take in the sunset... sleep peacefully... awaken... repeat.

Venezuelan Travel Plans

The picture above I found on Elaine Buntings blog on the Yachting World site and shows the relative danger levels in various waters of Venezuela, where of course I am now.

It suggests the most dangerous areas are around the port of Cumana, which matches what Liza Copeland (author of Just Cruising and Still Cruising) said when I asked her about it at the London Boat Show, namely its the small inner islands that are the most risky.

Alas I am rather landlocked at the moment. One plan was to find a way to get to that old pirate haunt of the Isla Tortuga. Charting a yacht to sail through the Caribbean night to an island of legend had a certain thrill to it. However it all proved too difficult as was planning to go to Isla Margarita but the yacht charter business is based in Los Roques.

The second plan was to find some resort here where could sail Lasers or Hobies, but all my googling and emailing failed to locate one, though I can't believe there isn't a single one on the island.

But why come to the Isla Margarita anyhow, you might ask? Well this turned out to be the launching place for trips into the interior, trips to the Orinoco Delta and to Angel Falls. And those two looked unmissable.

So here I am in an internet cafe (or Cyber Cafe as I've learnt to ask for), in a so called Caribbean paradise where it actually is poring with rain and monster waves are crashing on the beaches.

According to the figure the places which am planning to visit are yellow or green, though where I am now it is a rather less reasuring purple.

But I keep telling myself that the statistics are that most travellers have no problems, and actually you, dear reader, are probably in as much a danger from traffic accidents.

Though of course I hope that neither of us has any reason to be concerned!

Caracas: Work, work, work

After Sunday's exploration of Caracas it was time to get down to work. The client's office was six stops of the metro to the East and that was how I got there and back.

The metro was packed - I mean really packed, more a crush than anything else. While the guide books and my client were united in advising to hide even a watch or a ring that didn't seem to be something that the Caraquenos worried much about, as most people were glued to phones texting away, listening to iPods, or even playing on the DS2.

The view above is from my hotel room and gives a feel for the city. The central areas seem relatively prosperous and my client's offices were brand new with all mod cons. So there I was, receiving and sending email from my iPhone in the middle of Caracas - not the usual image of this city.

Attached to the hotel was a huge shopping mall, with a lot of the same shops as I've seen in malls in the UK or the US, a food court and videos of Kylie live in concert somewhere. Though I don't think there's a mall in the UK with a gun shop!

Again and again I've been staggered by the cost of things here. The problem is rampant inflation and a fixed exchange rate. The difference between official rate and black market is about 3, and I'd say the black market rates are right, as everything feels like it costs three times what it should do.

But the work is done, three days of 8am to 6pm meetings, and so am now packing for the next part of the trip.

The real adventure is yet to come.....

Caracas: Classical Concert

The other reason for visiting the Museo de Arte Colonial (or Quinta de Anauco) was that they hold chamber music concerts there on a Sunday afternoon. Venezuela has a strong classical music scene and the youth orchestra played in the Proms last year in London to great acclaim.

So shortly after my tour was sitting in a lovely little concert hall listening to finalists from the Conservatorio de Musica Simon Bolivar play Saint Saines, Haydn and Wagner.

It was an all brass concert, indeed an all horn concert, with some of the pieces transcriptions and with piano accompany. I really enjoyed it, and the brass playing was mostly excellent. It did have a slight college music concert feel about it, with fellow students cheering the players on, and at one point the horn player missed timed his entrance, and the piano accompanist stopped and they back tracked a few bars.

I was surprised to discover I could understand what the people in the row in front were saying - as they were English! They were four teachers from the British and I got talking to them after.

They were quick to invite me to give a talk to their students, but pleaded lack of time. I was introduced to the Director of the Conservatorio and asked him who pays for the instruments, a subject that my father had been curious about.

Apparently while some come from the government, the majority are the results of donations from the Inter American Development Bank.

Having had a rather busy couple of hours, missing Sunday lunch all together, decided at this point had done enough for one day and headed back to the hotel.

Caracas: Museo de Arte Colonial

I very nearly didn't make it to the Museo de Arte Colonial, the elegant country mansion known locally as the Quinta de Anauco. The map given me by my hotel put it in a different place from the Lonely Planet, and my first attempt to get there would have meant walking up one of those roads where that voice at the back of one's head goes "hmm... not sure about this".

However there was a really good reason for visiting (which will come to shortly) so resolved to try again, this time with the Lonely Planet as a guide. And this time was successful - and was really pleased as it is just lovely (above).

You're not allowed just wander around as there are some pretty expensive items on display. Instead you must wait for a guide to take you round in a tour. Alas my guide (below) knew no English and I know only a few words of Spanish so surely missed much.

But even without the commentry could enjoy the feel of the place, with its elegant polished tables and sumptuous four poster beds, such as the one below.

The need for them became clear as the "bedrooms" were as much corridors as rooms, and there could have been people coming and going and the drapes would have lessened the distraction and also given some privacy.

There was even a baby four poster for the child of the house:

It was clearly an upmarket mansion, with all mod cons including large kitchen, bath, and this rather elegant device they would use to wash their hands after a meal:

I learnt this fact from one of the other in my tour group who had basic English and struggled to find the right words.

In the second half of the tour we had a different guide who spoke English as well as Spanish, and my friend the translater kept complimenting her on her accent, saying it was just perfect. "What we would call the Queen's English" I suggested, and he seemed keen to agree with that.

I think there might have been some subtexts here as later spotted them have a whispered conversation and then exchanging phone numbers!

Caracas: Teleferico up El Avila

After seeing the colonial sights around Plaza Bolivar I took the metro back a few stops and then walked up to the base of the hills to catch the Teleferico to the top of El Avila.

It was clearly the thing for families to do for Sunday lunch and there was a long but patient queue that snaked forward slowly.

In my bubble were an extended family of five with a young boy that was more open about his curiosity as to this stranger from a far distant land than his elders. His dad helped break the ice by prompting his son to put forward his clenched hand so that I bump knuckles and say Hola!

El Avila is 2,175m high, and while I've been here mostly hidden by clouds, occaisionally visible to give a great feeling of nature looming high over the city. The day I went the cabins seemed to vanish into the void as we travelled ever higher, ears popping as we climbed.

It did of course remind me of skiing but it was far to warm for that. But at the top there was a series of entertainments including a full ice rink, with much laughing fun as the inexperienced clung onto the hand rails and watched the few who were zooming round and round.

The clouds alas meant was unable to see the view to the north which is meant to be a "stunning panorama of the coastline and the Caribbean sea" according to the Lonely Planet. All I could see was the occaisionially glimpse of other mountains sticking out of the layer of white:

If I had had more time would have walked down on one of the many inviting trails through the forests back down to Caracas. Instead I took the cable car back down, this time with no queue and the cabin all to myself.

Caracus: Panteon Nacional

From Simon Bolivar's birth place it is but a few blocks to his resting place in this, the Panteon Nacional.

His bronze sarcophagus has the place of honour at the chancel with four guards on sentry, and around the aisles are tombs of 140 of other notable Venezuelans (below)

Behind the mountains rise high until lost in the clouds.

Caracas: Casa Natal de Bolivar

This is Simon Bolivar's birthplace that visited on Sunday, which seems long ago now. From the front (above) it doesn't look that big, with two windows either side of a wooden door, though its clearly an impressive doorway.

But it stretches back and back, with long corridors like this:

And this not one courtyard but a whole series of them, like this:

I didn't have to read the guide book to realise that his family was reasonably well off. A lovely house to visit - and free too!

GeeJam = Style

About 3.5 hours drive from Kingston, Jamaica... is a little known paradise...

...called Port Antonio. It hasn't always been such a secret. Why this is where many famous novels were penned and celestials of the Hollywood set used to come and play... back when the banana boats first let passengers stow away... in style, of course... (this is where we spend every Easter...)
In this lovely little place you will find GeeJam... a boutique hotel to rival any other...
The accommodations are the type that fill pages of magazines... And the backdrops of fashion shoots...
With bathrooms that leave guests aiming to recreate once they arrive home...The food... island style sushi... of course...
If all this style is too much for you... a quick drive down the hill and you will find all the funky beach vibes Jamaica is famous for...

mmmm.... paradise....

If you are of the musical sort... there is a first class studio... with ocean views... and used by some of the a-listers of the tune world.... I've been sworn to secrecy...
But this I can tell... see the painting on the villa wall? It's a Banksy. He's real cool. And well, he visited and left his mark - in the form of little rats painted in a few non-conspicuous places. And then, the maids, being thorough beyond expectation, painted over a few of these little rats. *sigh* Priceless.

Sound like your kind of place? Let me hear...

Caracas: Starting Exploring

Caracas doesn't have a good reputation as a safe city. The UK Foreign Office web site was full of dire warnings, as was my travel guide, as was indeed my client today.

So I was fortunate to be able to have my first experiences of this city on a Sunday morning, when the streets were quiet and the only busy buildings were the Churches.

And the best place to start exploring Caracas is the Bolivar Plaza (above), accessible from the Capitolio metro station. Around the square and the streets around can be found many an old colonial building as well as the Cathedral.


Bolivar is ever present in Caracas's old town, with his family house and the square named in his honour close together, while on a slight hill a short walk away is the Panteon Nacional where El Liberator lies to this day with his guard of honour.

Its strange to remember that he died abandoned, penniless and rejected at the age of just 47.

Caracas in time and space

The first thing to do in a new place is work out where you are and find out how to navigate.

Caracas is in principle very simple, as the city spreads out east to west pinned in by mountains on either side. The picture above is from Google Earth (not having a helicopter to hand) and is looking east, so the sea is to the north of the city, separated by a mountain range (the one with the cable car to the top).

Trying to use my natural navigation skills I looked at the sun and at this latitude and time of year it goes pretty much overhead from east to west, so in theory could work out one's orientation by knowing if its morning or afternoon. But alas it was often too cloudy to spot the sun.

Hence the white bits in the Google image are clouds not snow as the mountains are high, but at 2,175m not that high. To the west of Venezuela there are the end of the Andes, where there are really high mountains that have snow all the year round.

As a Londoner feel that the best cities are those that can be explorered by train and walking, and luckily Caracas is no exception. It has a rather good Metro that mostly runs east-west along the valley, connecting up the main places. In rush hour this morning it was very crowded!

If you've ever been to Washington DC, well Caracas has exactly the same trains and layout as there. I almost expected to hear "Red line to Shady Grove: doors open on the left" but of course didn't and not sure exactly what they did say (language problems again).

The other thing about Caracas is that it is in a half hour time zone: this is the first time I've ever been in between the hours and it feels slightly wrong some how. No doubt will get used to it!

Today I wish I was...

HERE

JP goes Caracas!

Hola de Caracas!

Si .... no, can't keep this up any more: my Spanish is most certainly not up to it. Yes, JP is off on his travels, forsaking London in the Spring for business in Venezuela.

So here I am in the bustling capital city that was home for the legendary Simon Bolivar and now the dramatic Hugo Chavez.

Just spent the day exploring and above is the first pic, which is taken from the Teleferico, the cable car that climbs to the peak of El Avila at 2,175m above sea level, which today meant just above the cloud level.

More to come (hopefully).....

London in the Spring

Ah, London in the Spring! Something special about this time of year, as the dafs come out, the trees begin the first shoots of life, and some are even in blossom. The skies are blue, the weather mild, and the coat can be left at home.

The river begins to tempt, and its time for the annual Oxford (boo!) vs Cambridge (hurrah!) Boat Race.

Its a great time of year, and you'd have to be crackers to leave this great city and miss the wonder that is London in Spring!

Check it out! NEW Testimonials!

A big reason I started this blog is to drum up business for my little Caribbean Travel Company. And it has worked. I get many clients who wander on over to my "real" site from this place. If some of you still aren't sure you could use the help of a Caribbean Travel Specialist, check out these testimonials from current clients...

Just Back - Riu Palace Aruba

Our trip was wonderful! The upgraded room was unbelievable! I think it was the best room in the place. We were on the 10th floor of Building A(the main building) -right in the middle facing the pool and the ocean! The view was spectacular! I don't know how you got us the upgrade but thank you! The only problem is now that we've experienced it, we wouldn't want to go back without getting the same room! The bed was hard but we knew that before going due to reading reviews of the place. On the first day we requested and received a mattress topper which helped soften it up a little. The food was excellent at the buffets. Our only complaint was that the pool bar closes at 6:00pm and there is not enough entertainment at the pool bar. This was a common complaint made by many to the management who took surveys.... Christina & Ken

This testimony is from a client that hasn't even travelled! But his words about my service made me so proud:

Let me say again how pleased I am to have done business with you. You are the kind of business that should be in existence, not the “others”, who seem to be out to get as much money from you as possible. There is an old proverb that says: “If you want to own a shop, learn how to smile”. I could see your smile in your voice. I wish you and your business all the success in the world, and whenever I go to the Caribbean, I will contact you for arrangements. I have already, and will continue to, recommend you to everyone that I know who is heading to the Caribbean. You’re worth it.... Peter & Lilian headed to Coyaba Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

READ MORE HERE!

...and don't be a herring either!

Oh joy, more bait balls on the BBC!

This time its the herring, swarms and swarms of them off the coast of Alaska feeding on the algae blooms. And there's a lot to feed on - according to David Attenborough (and who would doubt him) there is more mass of living things there than in the Amazon rain forest.

All those algae is great news if you are a hungry sea bird, seal, dolphin or hump back. But alas they do make the water a bit murkier than the previous sardine run (shame), and there are no armadas of gannets diving for their dinner (double shame).

But there was this great bit during the birds-eat-bait-ball-frenzy scene (above) when, as the camera man explained, "it all went quiet" as the gulls made their escape until.... WHAM!!!! as a monstrously big hump back stormed through the scene swallowing thousands of herrings in one go:

I'm guessing the camera man's heart rate is only now beginning to get back to normal!

In the "making of" program the Beeb uses to pad out a 50 min program to an hour we watched the divers, including the man behind the camera in the scene above, seriously debating what would happen if the whale ate them.

Ok, maybe they were semi serious, but it clearly was a bit of an issue, but apparently the whale does spit out things it doesn't like, clever thing.

And they really are particularly clever hump backs. About a hundred of them have worked out this real neat way to go fishing, whereby they round up their prey by circling round blowing bubbles (below, from above). The herrings get confused and fearful of the bubbles, so the loop acts like a net.

Then half a dozen whale rise up through the centre to eat some of the tonne of fish they consume every day.

And if that seems like a lot, well they were very very hungry. They head off to Hawaii which is a good place to hang out and have children (some lovely shots of a mum and her son below) but alas not much to eat if you're a whale, so actually the mother whale is near starvation after 6 months without food and a young mouth to feed.

The daddy whales mean while are out there impressing the ladies with their stunts:

Remember that's a fully grown hump back whale leaping out of the water!

Pretty good stuff and worth looking out for. The BBC site can be found here with video clips and stuff.

An amazing series - the sardine run in particular was stunning.