PLACES WE LIKE

This selection of  places that we like is not a scientific selection or even a graded one – it’s a serendipitous list of travel ideas; some of them can be added together or mixed one with another where geography, or an aircraft allows.  If you just want to book something yourself that’s fine, but if you want us to design something into a wider itinerary just let us know.

"It’s no wonder they don’t take on many clients each year; the time they take and the attention to detail they invest are amazing.”

Andrew Toms

Antarctica

Antarctica is a remote and different world, normally reached by taking a cruise from Ushuaia. But another way to see the white continent is by private jet, flying into a small private camp set out on the Antarctic wilderness, and spending a week exploring the area around camp. There are trips to an Emperor penguin colony on offer and you can visit the Geographical South Pole. The trips start from South Africa, there are only a few each year – the season is short, just November and December – so advance booking is essential. But this is a private jet trip with a difference.

Bahamas

Over Yonder Cay.

This private island, reached by seaplane, has four stylish villas to choose from, each with their own beach, individual jacuzzi and infinity pool. Designed for from 2 to 28 guests, the facilities include sailing on the island’s sloop, diving or playing the island’s own golf course. There’s the Beach Club for cocktails and dinner, and a marina to park your yacht if you choose not to arrive by seaplane.

Harbour Island.

Only three miles long and a half mile wide, tiny Harbour island is reached from Nassau via a 15-minute inter-island plane hop to North Eleuthera island then a water-taxi ride to Harbour Island itself. Days here are laid-back; pastel-coloured cottages line the water-front, there’s a small Marina, an open-air restaurant, and a few hotels. you can laze on Pink Sands beach, visit the few shops on the two main streets of Dunmore Town, and spend long lazy lunches in a selection of charming restaurants. Whist days slip lazily by, at night the island comes alive as open-air bars warm up, and reggae and rum fuel the evening. But Harbour Island is really all about meeting people and doing nothing too much in an idyllic island setting.

Botswana

Tsodilo Hills

Botswana has a wealth of rock art which is often overshadowed by the country’s more famous wildlife. But amidst the remote Tsodilo Hills, in the North-west of the country, is an area sometimes referred to as the Louvre of the Desert. Here are over 4,500 rock art paintings, the work of the local San people and situated amidst quartzite rocks in the depths of the Kalahari Desert. The rocks are covered with animals, geometric patterns and figures, some of which are thought to date back more than 20,000 years. The site is reachable only by 4WD vehicle, a long and dusty ride of over 4 hours, originating in Maun.

Cambodia

Sambor Prei Kuk

A recent addition to the UNESCO list, as recently as 2017, Sambor Prei Kuk is a temple complex of over 100 temples, lying on the Eastern banks of the Tonle Sap Lake. Of an earlier age than the much more famous Angkor, the site was once, during the sixth and seventh centuries, the capital of the Chenla Empire and is said to have inspired the Khmer style architecture at Anghor. Temples, carvings and ruins are being slowly absorbed by the forests which cloak the site but there is still much to see. When Anghor is being over-run by too many tourists, Sambor Prei Kuk offers a window into a different era, and is all the more interesting as it is so little visited that the visitor has the place to themselves. Hire a guide to make sense of the place.

Botum Sakar National Park.

In South-western Cambodia, on the route from Thailand to Sihanoukville, amidst the Cardamom Mountains, lies the Bohum Sakar National Park. The Government has set aside some 180 square kilometers of land for tourism, vying with logging and rubber development in the same area. And in the heart of the Park lies the Cardamom Tented Camp. This is an eco-project which opened in November 2017. The journey to the camp from Phnom Penh takes some four hours, ending with a 40- minute fast boat ride to the camp, with its 9 safari-style canvas tents. Visitors to the park travel around by kayak, penetrating narrow channels amidst the forest, including a visit to the Preak Tachan Ranger Station. The wildlife here is varied, with Macaques, snakes, monitor lizards, pangolins, gibbons and sambar deer as well as a variety of birdlife. A visit here helps to support the protection of wildlife in the Cardomom Mountains and the eco credentials of the Cardamom Tented Camp.

Chile

Ahlarkapin Observatory, in the Atacama Desert. With minimal light pollution crystal clear skies and high altitude, the Atacama is perfect for looking at the night sky. With a solar eclipse due on 02 July 2019 this is a location for star-gazers. For more information www.alarkapin.cl

Chiloe Churches

Head south from Santiago to the Lake District. Then head further south to the archipelago of Chiloe. Here are reminders of the days when the Jesuits and Franciscans, intent on converting the Chono and Huilliche peoples, built some 70 mission churches across the archipelago. Sixteen of these are recognised by UNESCO for their fusion of local and European styles. Chiloe is reachable from Puerto Montt, which itself is a stopping of point if taking a ferry even further south to Punta Arenas as a slow way of heading for an Antarctic cruise.

Ethiopia

Lalibela.

When UNESCO began designating sites as sites of historical or other importance, back in 1987, one of the first locations they so honoured were the churches hewn out of the living rock in the small and remote village of Lalibela, deep in the Ethiopia Highlands. The churches are carved from the living rock, with doors, windows and decoration were then added. The biggest Church is Bet Medhane Alem is some 12 metres high. The most impressive time to visit Lalibela is at the time of Timkat, when pilgrims flock to the site adding colour and excitement to the otherwise quiet village. Accommodation is at a premium her, even at the best of times so Timkat can be a problem. One way round this is to fly in on a charter flight; it’s a 90-minute flight north of Addis Ababa.

Greenland

Siorapaluk.

This small community numbers no more than about 50 inhabitants. A few cruises head in this direction but the easiest way to visit this traditional community is by helicopter, from Qaanaaq, which in turn is reachable by an internal flight. The truly adventurous, however, can eschew the helicopter transfer and, in the spring, cover the 200 kilometers from Qaanaaq to Siorapalik on a dog-sled journey under the endless light of the midnight sun.

Haiti

La Citadelle.

La Citadelle was one of the largest Fortresses in the Americas. A massive structure, a dramatic and brooding monument to one man’s folly and a UNESCO World Heritage site It lies in the north of Haiti, 17 miles from the city of Cap Haitian, the largest city in Northern Haiti, and easily reachable direct from the USA via a daily American Airlines service from Miami. 

Built between 1805 and 1820, it is located on top of Bonnet A L’Eveque hill, 3000 feet above sea level, and was constructed, with unimaginable difficulty by some 20,000 workers, to protect against the return of the French. The solid walls of the citadel were built using a mixture of quicklime, molasses and cow or goat blood, with cooked cow hooves mixed in to strengthen the mortar – a useful recipe.

Pyramids of cannonballs lie at the foot of the walls, ready for use in the 365 cannons atop the battlements, many still bearing the crests of 18th century monarchs. In the interior are cisterns and storehouses with space for supplies for 500 men for one year, in case of a siege. In the event the cannon, the cisterns and the store-houses were never used as no French attack ever came.

La Citadelle is imposing due to its hilltop location, the scale of the engineering needed to build it, the intactness of the place today, and its association with the now forgotten King Henri Christophe. With its amazing views – Cuba can be seen across the sea some 90 miles away on a clear day – it’s fascinating history and the long-lost story behind it, the site would be as world-famous as the Treasury in Jordan or Machu Picchu in Peru if it were better-known and more easily accessible.

A gigantic monument to one man’s ego, it waits to be discovered when Haiti perhaps takes it’s place in the world of tourism.

Jordan

Petra.

The site, built by the Nabateans in the third century BC, is so iconic that there seems little more to say about the place. But Petra is a much larger site than most visitors realise. The Treasury is one of the marvels of the Middle East and easily walked to, via the narrow Siq, from the modern town of Wadi Musa nearby. But time is needed to get to the Monastery and the High Place, or to trek in from the rear of the site; a couple of days is needed to do justice to the place, rather than the half day taken by most visitors. The site is a 3-hour drive south from Amman. Or with a light aircraft a round trip to Petra and Wadi Rum can be finished off with time at the beaches of Aqaba.

Lapland

Head for Alta, in Norway; Kittila in Finland; or Abisko in Sweden. Most of Lapland lies within the Arctic Circle, and much of it is in Finland. In many areas of Lapland there are snow hikes, dog-sledding, reindeer treks, northern lights viewing possibilities and stays in Ice Hotels.

Here too are the Sami, the indigenous people of Lapland, still making their living from herding reindeer. Stays in Sami communities, or following their herder families on their spring migration. Stays in bush camps, dog-sledding with the Sami or driving reindeer-pulled sleighs – its an active landscape here.

Maldives

Velaa Island. Lying within Noonu Atoll, this private island offers 47 houses and villas, each with a personal butler. Activities during the day can include looking for the sea turtles that nest along the shores, seeking wildlife underwater in the island’s own submarine, or using hoverboards and other toys. In the evening, after perhaps a sunset cruise on the island’s yacht, the dining venue boasts what is claimed to be the most extensive wine collection in the Maldives, whilst after dinner a beach fireworks display can be arranged.

Morocco

Erg Chigaga. Most of Southern Morocco is encroached upon by the Sahara Desert and a night amongst the dunes of the desert is one of the most impressive and moving experiences the country can offer. Erg Chebbi is arguably the most famous place to visit, but Erg Chigaga is less visited, and wilder. There’s a Desert Camp here and a two-night stay here will allow time for dune-walks, camel treks, sand-boarding, and evenings spent around a campfire, with the desert dunes fading away into the night. Erg Chigaga is several hours rough drive from anywhere but offers one of the most atmospheric experiences in Morocco.

Peru

Caral-Supe

The UNESCO site of Machu Picchu is by far the most famous site in Peru, but as so often happens in so many countries, there is another, less well-known but equally fascinating location just up the road, that few people visit. It’s a little more than just up the road, being some 200 kilometres north of Lima, but its worth the trip. Situated on a terrace in the desert, adjacent to the Supe Valley, the site is some 5,000 years old and so thought to be the oldest centre of civilisation in the entire Americas. The capital of the Norte Chico civilisation it boasts pyramids that were built some 500 years before those at Giza worth exploring are the circular sunken plazas, an amphitheatre, and six pyramids. Visit the place after, or instead of, Machu Picchu.

Tanzania

Thanda Island. Lying just off the east coast of Tanzania, this private island, reached by helicopter, can accommodate up to 9 guests in the one five-suite villa and the two bandas on the island. The villa offers luxury and elegance, including an indoor aquarium and a Steinway piano, whilst the bandas feature a more East African feel with locally carved furniture. The island lies in its own Marine Reserve, with specialist guides on hand and whale sharks and sea turtles often seen in the waters around the island. Meanwhile on shore the staff includes a chef, a cocktail barman, butlers and a spa therapist, all on hand until guests board the helicopter to return to the mainland.

Uganda

Budongo Forest Reserve. A stay at Budongo Eco Lodge, with the Kaniyo Pabidi sector of the Budongo Forest encircling the Lodge, offers the chance to observe the wild chimpanzee population. Kaniyo Pabidi is in the north-east area of the Budongo Reserve, on the route to Murchison Falls, and is blessed with plenty of chimp-friendly trees and flat terrain that makes hiking easy. Most visitors settle for a half-day chimp experience, but during the low season – Jan-Jun and Oct-Dec a full-day, dawn to dusk, Habituation Experience is available.

Venezuala

Angel Falls.

Lying deep in the Canaima National Park is the world’s highest waterfall, with a 979-metre drop. But getting there is not simple. A motorised canoe trip will take several days journeying up the Churun River, passing through thick jungle, with the occasional porterage necessary, before the roar of the Falls makes it worthwhile. Canaima National Park is not accessible by road, but single-prop planes can be chartered at Cuidad Bolivar or from Caracas for an enthralling flight, including close passes of the falls.