One of the testimonials posted on Trip Advisor about Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa says “It’s not the smartest sweater in your wardrobe, but the one you love to wear”. This describes the resort to a T. Your first contact with the resort is when you are greeted by a friendly representative as soon as you exit customs at Hewanorra Airport. They introduce you to your taxi driver who whisks you to the resort in 5 minutes. A smiling group of bell hops unload your luggage while you check-in with a cold glass of champagne in hand. We were escorted [View Full Entry]

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Dover - Day 1 and Day 2 We arrived at London-Heathrow after a non-eventful flight from JFK and breezed through immigration and customs. We found our private driver waiting for us in the arrivals area and set off for the drive to Dover. We made the trip in 75 minutes because there was little to no traffic on a Saturday morning. This same trip can take 2 to 3 hours on a weekday morning with rush hour traffic. We arrived at the Best Western Churchill hotel located on the waterfront in Dover. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so we didn’t [View Full Entry]

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I was invited to participate on a travel agent Mountain Madness Fam with Anderson Vacations. The following is a review of the whirlwind tour we took to see and do as much as possible in 5 days. This trip would normally be conducted over 7 to 10 days, in order to fully appreciate each location. I flew Northwest Airlines from JFK via Minneapolis into Calgary. The trip including layover was about 7 ½ hours. Calgary is a moderate size airport with good eating, shopping and free wi-fi. Immigration and customs were quick (less than 10 minutes), but I heard from other [View Full Entry]

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It was a family trip to watch my nephew play in a regional baseball tournament. We drove from Denver and made a stop in Santa Fe for a delicious lunch in the old town center at the Anasazi Restaurant at the Anasazi Inn. I had a delious sesame crusted salmon entree served perfectly rare. The rest of the family ordered other items such as the Buffalo Burger, Beef Fajitas, Ahi Tuna Tostada and the chicken enchilada. All of the entrees scored an A+ for presentation and food quality. The service was also great. While lunch was a bit on the pricey [View Full Entry]

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We departed the Fairmont Acapulco Princess after a 3 day stay and took a taxi up the Costera Alleman to Las Brisas. It was unbelieveable to see all of the new construction that has taken place on this road since our last trip here in 2000. We turned right at the familiar white and pink wall entrance to Las Brisas and drove up the hill to reception. We were welcomed with their signature pink margarita and registered while sitting in the comfy wicker chairs that looked out over Acapulco Bay. We had to wait about 20 minutes for our room to [View Full Entry]

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We flew in on Aeromexico. I am still impressed by the seat comfort and service they provide on board. The cockpit staff and flight attendants are always friendly and cheerful. We breezed through immigration at the brand new terminal in Mexico City; a big improvement over the old one. There were plenty of shopping, eating and drinking diversions to keep us occupied for our 3-hr. layover. We made the 1-hr scheduled flight from Mexico City to Acapulco in 30 minutes time and whisked through baggage claim and customs. We were greeted by only one timeshare salesman from the Mayan Resorts. A [View Full Entry]

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The time has finally arrived for my group trip to Rome. I am escorting another Adventures with Toni Tours group for a 3 1/2 week trip. We will spend 2 days in Rome, before embarking on the Grand Princess cruise ship for a 21-day voyage to visit cities in four continents: Livorno, Cannes, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Casablanca, Dakar, Fortaleza, Devil's Island and Dominica, before we arrive in Fort Lauderdale on December 13th. I hope to post trip details and photos as I go, so check back for daily updates. Ciao for now. Wednesday, November 19, 2008: JFK to FCO Enjoyable 8 hour [View Full Entry]

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This is a continuation of my previous South Africa and Zambia blog entries. This is an Adventure with Toni Tours trip. www.tonitours.net June 20, 2008 Kookie picked us up at 8:30 AM from Sandton City Garden Court Hotel and we headed to OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. It was an easy check-in for our flight to Hoedspruit in Limpopo Province. We flew a prop jet which took a little over an hour. The Hoedspruit (Hat Creek) landscape reminded us of Arizona with the red clay mesas. These are the Klein Drakensberg (Dragon Mountains). Hoedspruit serves as the main hub for [View Full Entry]

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This is a continuation of our trip from Zambia on June 16, 2008. June 18, 2008 It was a smooth quiet flight to Johannesburg. We cleared customs and immigration and were picked up by Kookie in a very comfortable mini bus, for our trip to the hotel Sandton Garden Court Hotel. It is a typical business hotel, but quite comfortable. At 7:00 PM we headed off to Moya Restaurant in the Melrose Arch suburb. It is a brand new residential, shopping restaurant neighborhood. The restaurant was really neat with Bedouin type décor and Pan-African foods served family style. We had an [View Full Entry]

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This is a continuation of the trip that began on June 10th, 2008 in Capetown South Africa June 16, 2008 The entire group was ready to go, before the crack of dawn, at 04:15 AM. It was a quick ride to the airport and check-in was reasonably quick. We had an uneventful flight to Johannesburg, with a scrambled egg breakfast served enroute. In Johannesburg, it was a long walk to the International Terminal, where we had about 2 hours to browse through the numerous duty free shops. I went to checkout the Wi-Fi Hotspot, but needed to purchase a subscription to [View Full Entry]

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