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Posts tagged Holiday
Rebuilding Angola For Tourism
018 hours
by admin
in Culture and History
Angola, more than three times the size of California, extends for more than 1,000 mi (1,609 km) along the South Atlantic in southwest Africa. Angola has three main ethnic groups, each speaking a Bantu language: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, and Bakongo 13%.
Angola is the third-largest trading partner of the United States in sub-Saharan Africa, largely because of its petroleum exports. Angolan military forces have been posted along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, in anticipation of possible unrest related to post DRC election tensions in August and September 2006.
Angola’s narrow coastal plain, where most of the people live, rises to a high interior plateau with rain forests in the north and dry savanna in the south. Angola has substantial mineral resources and hydroelectric power. Angola’s new investment law provides equal access to incentives to both foreign and domestic investors, with foreign investors benefiting from incentives for high priority sectors including energy, manufacturing, water and agriculture.
Angola, like all other countries and territories eligible for Canadian development assistance, can benefit from various programs. Angola, which remains one of the poorest countries in the world, has seen its next elections delayed until 2008. The original inhabitants of Angola are thought to have been Khoisan speakers. A supplier of crude oil to the US and China, Angola denies allegations that revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement.
Modern Angola derives its name from the king of Ndongo. Oil production remains largely offshore and has few linkages with other sectors of the economy, though a local content initiative promulgated by the Angolan Government is pressuring oil companies to source from local businesses. The Angolan commercial code, financial sector law, and telecommunications law all require substantial revision. Although the war has ended, ground travel throughout Angola can be problematic due to land mines, which were used extensively during the war.
Embassy in Luanda has prohibited its employees from using TAAG, Angolas national airline, for domestic or international flights due to concerns regarding safety and maintenance. Persons violating Angolan laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. The insignia of the Republic of Angola shall be formed by a segmentof a cogwheel and sheaves of maize, coffee and cotton, representing respectivelythe workers and industrial production, the peasants and agricultural production.
Many Angolans assume that government officials are the greatest beneficiaries of the country’s wealth. The modern development of Angola began only after World War II.
Your Luggage And Your Insurance Policy
03 days
There are very few people who go on holiday these days who decide to leave home without any kind of holiday insurance policy in place. It would be foolish today, indeed, to attempt to do such a thing. Holiday insurance is often included automatically as part of the package price if booking the holiday through an agent. If doing it yourself then it is certainly worth including since the price of such insurance is usually only a very small fraction of the overall price of the holiday.
One of the things to bear in mind as far as a holiday insurance policy is concerned is how it relates to your luggage, if indeed it relates to your luggage at all. There are a few things worth considering. Obviously if you are handing over your luggage to an airline it is possible that the airline will cover you for any loss or damage that can be proven to be their responsibility. Although it is easy to assume that this is a common situation, in truth there is a significant amount of small print hidden in the policy documents provided by the airline to waive their responsibility for your luggage.
This might seem unfair, but when you think about it, it would be quite impossible for the airline to ascertain the condition of the case or bag, the state in which it has been packed and the method used to seal it. Whilst some cases will be of good quality, packed soundly and sealed effectively, there will of course be many others which are tired, old and past their best, bursting full of heavy and ill-packed items, and zipped up to within a fraction of its life. It would be unfair for the airline to take equal responsibility for these bags, or indeed to spend the time it would take to assess the survival rate of each bag that it is responsible for transporting.
But at the same time, your own holiday insurance policy will face similar restrictions, and may also prove worthless in certain cases of damage or loss, either of items within the luggage or the luggage itself. It is certainly possible to obtain policies that do cover you fully for your luggage and their contents. This will increase the cost of the policy itself, but can help to provide peace of mind, especially if you are travelling with items that are necessary but expensive, such as for example, photographic equipment.
Having said that, if you are taking items of value on holiday, such as video or camera equipment, it may well be that your home insurance policy will cover you for any loss or damage to these items whilst on holiday. This is not usually the case by default, but nearly always an option on standard home insurance policies, and is well worth considering as it may well be worth insuring your items this way as it may be cheaper than it would be on a holiday insurance policy. Whichever way you do insure your items, always make sure, of course, that you take care to read the small print.
Irish give Spring Break Trade A Bounce
03 days
by admin
in Uncategorized
Directors of European travel agents, airlines and holiday resorts are facing an anxious 2008, as property rises fall and the economy faces a downturn and some of their customers decide that now is the time to save rather than take one or more holidays.
The travel industry has seen a rise in the number of tourists in recent years, and many companies have programmes based on 2007 customer bases, and any drop will result in a corresponding drop in profits and perhaps even job losses, as well as a drop in their share values.
So it was welcome news that the Irish took a record number of holidays over Easter.
Initial reports suggest that some 280,000 tourists travelled through Dublin Airport over the Easter weekend – an impressive seven per cent rise over 2007, and one that the hotels and holidays industry would love to see sustained throughout 2008, and mirrored in the UK too.
And it was at the crossroads of the ski holiday season turning to the early sun holidays that attracted the tourists – the big favourite for the skiers was Innsbruck in Austria.
Innsbruck is one of the best known European ski resorts, with first class facilities for both experienced and novice skiiers alike. Innsbruck is located in the federal state of Tyrol, located in the Inn Valley between high mountains, it is ideally suited to winter activities and skiing in particular. The name Innsbruck means “the bridge over the Inn”.
Tenerife is a perennial favourite for both the Irish and British, and with temperatures in the 70′s farenheit the island was a top Easter destination for the Irish taking sunshine holidays.
Tenerife is known for its beautiful climate, which attracts nearly three and a half millions tourists a year to its scenic 2,034 square kilometers.
Tenerife’s Costa Adeje, the area that includes Las Americas and Los Cristianos, offers visitors opportunities for recreation and sightseeing. Outstanding shopping, 9 beautiful golf courses, fine dining, water parks, zoos, and a magnificent theater that often features great musicals and of course the natural beauty of sun and sand on Tenerife’s gorgeous beaches are all attractions tourists love.
Tenerife’s northern section contains the tourist hub of Puerto de la Cruz. The town maintains its old harbour roots, while offering a distinct flavour of modernity. It is charming as well as cosmopolitan. Large and beautiful hotels dot its skyline.
The island is abundant with breathtaking natural beauty and opportunities for hiking and sightseeing. In fact, Tenerife boasts the tallest mountain in Spain, Mt. Teide, which is home to an extraordinary 48 km. crater left behind by an inactive volcano. Tourists who want to make a day of it can hike the crater – those with less time or desire to hike can catch a cable car to the summit where a magnificent view of this sublime paradise awaits.
Another of Tenerife’s natural tourist attractions are the Cliffs of the Giants. These astounding rock walls drop from heights of 500-800 feet almost straight down into the sea. Tourists can soak in the sights from one of the restaurants and other viewpoints located across the small bay in the resort town of Los Gigantes. They may opt for an up-close and personal look at the massive rock faces by taking a tour boat across the bay.
With Innsbruck for winter sports holidays and Tenerife for the sunshine, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Irish travelled in high numbers over the Easter holidays!
View from the Right Seat of an Otter
04 days
by admin
in Beach Vacation
Each time I travel on business or pleasure, I seem to always try and find something to do for fun that involves airplanes. A trip to Seattle recently was no exception.
As I stood on the Marriott Residence Inn’s balcony overlooking scenic Lake Union, a unmistakable sound began reverberating across the marinas below. What made me grin widely was the wonderful sound of a large radial engine pulling a beautiful yellow and white De Havilland Beaver seaplane off the lake. To me, it was like going to the symphony.
The seaplane airline – Kenmore Air – offers one of the finest views of Seattle, Victoria and the San Juans you can find. Their sightseeing flights fill up, so when I called, I told them I was a pilot/writer and was eager to take my first seaplane ride and then write about the experience here. Kenmore’s Lake Union Supervisor found a way to accommodate me by slipping me into the right cockpit seat of their afternoon multi-stop run from their busy Lake Union Terminal to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and then on to Deer Harbor and West Sound on Orcas Island. It was one of the most awesome trips I have made by air ever…a “media ridealong” I will never, ever forget.
I had my pre-conceived notions about flight in a seaplane, and all were proven incorrect. Pre-conceived notion #1 was obliterated when I assumed the pilot, Chuck Perry would prefer to be called “Captain”, but determined quickly that “captains” drove tugboats, and Alaskans that fly off the water in planes equipped with floats are really just like the rest of us aviators. (more…)
The Advantages Of Staying On A Self Catering Holiday
05 days
Self catering holidays have become very popular with holiday makers going on a family holiday. By choosing the self catering option helps to keep down the cost of the holiday and allows holiday makers to choose exactly what sort of meals that they want to eat. This is important when going on a holiday with children because younger children may want to eat at different times to adults. In self catering accommodation you can eat at what ever time is most convenient for you.
By staying in self catering accommodation gives you the option to eat out at local restaurants or to cook back at your self catering accommodation. Some nights you may choose to sample the local cuisine and wine at a local restaurant and other nights you may want to have a cheaper meal. You can also try out local recipes by buying locally grown produce at a local market and then take the food home to prepare it for your own meal. By staying in self catering accommodation gives you the opportunity to sample food that they may well not have tried before.
Another great thing about going on a self catering holiday is the terrific choice of properties available to choose from. You may choose to go self catering on holiday and stay in a relatively small and modest property. However if there is a large group of you going on a self catering holiday you are able to select a self catering property which is much larger. This can be great fun as everybody can have a go at cooking and if you do not want to eat in you can try some local restaurants.
If however your budget is much larger there are some luxurious self catering holidays. You can take your pick from many stunning self catering properties and have a holiday of a lifetime. Some of these more expensive self catering holidays have some superb kitchens full of all of the latest mod cons and gadgets. It is not uncommon for the more expensive self catering holidays to have kitchens full of granite and marble with big American fridge freezers and coffee making machines.
With the growth of the self catering holiday it is now possible to stay self catering in most countries in the world. By staying self catering you are able to experience a holiday that truly allows you to connect to the local culture. You can also get a real flavour of local food and ingredients and the more adventurous cooks will flourish on a self catering holiday.
Self catering holidays also give you a degree of freedom and independence that cannot be experienced on other types of vacation. You can eat meals at whatever time that you like when you choose to go self catering. Not only that, but you can eat as cheaply or as extravagantly as you want on a self catering holiday. It is no wonder that so many families are now choosing to go on self catering holidays to so many different countries around the world.