Out of Africa

Lynn journeys to Livingstone and gets up close and personal with Namibia’s desert elephants

Top 10 Valentine’s breaks

Boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith have sifted through the schmaltz to find Valentine’s packages that will really set hearts aflutter (and won’t involve soggy petals clogging the plughole). Here are 10 hot properties that offer something a little bit different…

ABTA

From the website:

“Formed in 1950 by 22 leading travel companies, ABTA – The Travel Association – now represents over 5,000 travel agencies and more than 900 tour operations, throughout the British Isles. Our Members range from small, specialist tour operators and independent travel agencies through to publicly-listed companies and household names; from call centres to internet booking services to high street shops. All of them carry the ABTA logo, which means choice, value, and high levels of service. ”

The Best Nightlife in the World

According to TripAdvisor, New Orleans provides the best nightlife anywhere in the world. We’ve all heard of the Mardi Gras but there are lots of other events that take place in New Orleans most of them free. The rest of the world must think the same because there are more restaurants than they were before Hurricane Katrina hit. The number of beds booked per night is high with nearly 75% of them taken all the time.
One of the best events takes place nearly every night of the year. Along Bourbon Street and the side streets, amateur musicians, some better than professionals, will entertain you. As the evening wears on the music gets better. Or maybe that’s related to the amount of alcohol and the adrenalin that the music gives you.

Long Haul By Budget Airline

(Here is the latest posting by Clive Culley. Travelling long haul by a budget airline is rare for us in Europe so here is his view of one of the few opportunities around. He is having connection problems in Indonesia so we suspect we’ll get a glut of stories for you and then some gaps till he arrives at some bigger places. In a couple of weeks time, we’ll give you the complete opposite, – a long haul flight in first class)

Airports, Twits and Crazy Crunchie Friday

A quick question. What would you expect an airport’s Twitter account to be used for? To keep passengers informed you might think. You live in a sheltered world and believe all the techie hype if that’s your answer.

Sydney on the Cheap

Like every city in the world, Sydney can be as expensive as you like or be seen on a budget. Assuming you are already in Sydney, all the things I am going to suggest will cost you nothing.

Let’s start with two iconic sites; the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. If you want to climb to the top and be led across the bridge it will set you back over $A180 (say £90) but you can walk across it for nothing.