Travel Photo of the Week: Praia de Salinas, Boa Vista, Cape Verde

A fellow Twitter connection from the Netherlands who is also interested in #dream #travel destinations had a recent family vacation to Boa Vista. He kindly shared his favourite photo of nearby beach ‘Praia de Salinas’ to where they were staying at Riu hotel Karamboa. It was his favourite because of the empty beach. Warm sea. Nice clouds. Sun. Peak of Estância (little molar on the left of horizon) in the background.

Photo courtesy of @JeanD99 and you can read more about his trip to Cape Verde – Harvesting Clouds. No kidding

Where is Port Vila?

Port Vila is the capital of Vanautu. A cluster of 83 islands located in the South Pacific. Port Vila is situated on the west coast of the island of Efate within the sheltered Vila Bay. There has been a lull in blog posts here and that’s due to a recent 10 day family holiday to Vanuatu. I was determined to take a digital-detox and so no blogging was done whilst away! Only lots of time in the 3D world – sightseeing, swimming, snorkelling and relaxing with the sun on my face!

In and around Port Vila there’s plenty to see and do. We stayed at the mid-range priced boutique resort ‘Poppys on the Lagoon‘ which is an easy and pleasant walk to the town centre. This allows for walking the streets and passing the locals which you are greeted with cheesy grins and a great big “hello”. The people of Vanuatu are known for their happy, friendly ways and we had that confirmed!

Places of significance to visit include the Port Vila markets (I had a ball here), Erakor Island, Iriki Island, Hideaway Island, Mele Cascade Waterfalls, Tanna Coffee Factory and the many eating places offering fresh seafood and French cuisine. I don’t doubt I will be visiting Vanuatu again in the future especially considering it has 83 islands to explore! We were very impressed and highly recommend it as it’s certainly an easy trip from the east coast of Australia.

Lonely Planet Vanuatu & New Caledonia

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TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Port Vila

One Great Reason to Visit Port Vila

One great reason to visit this travel destination is for the laid back lifestyle and perfect climate. You can’t but relax here!

Vanuatu: Central Markets

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Where are the top 10 Ski Resorts in France?

Like there are horses for courses, the perfect ski resort does rather depend on the activities you’re planning, but here are some pointers:

Best for snowboarders

For minimum crowds and maximum white stuff La Grave is my choice. But this is a resort where no amount of bravado is a substitute for experience. It takes 30 minutes for the cable car to take you up over 3,000 metres. Once you’re there you have 20 kilometres of snowy free-boarding stretching out in front of you, but you can quickly find yourself alone on the glacier and the weather is unpredictable. If you want a serious challenge with a bit more support then consider Chamonix.

Best for beginners

For beginners, skiers or boarders, head somewhere where there’s plenty of short, graded runs closer to the resort. Le Arcs is a bit of a mega-resort but the ski tuition for beginners is great. The Ecole du Ski Français teaches parallel turns right from the start, so no more unwieldy snow-ploughs!

Best for off-piste skiing

Really, there are no challengers to La Grave and Chamonix, although they are both very different types of resort. If you are in a mixed group then choose Chamonix to give the others options. But otherwise, La Grave cannot be beaten for off-piste excitement.

Best to stay a season

Val d’Isere is my choice for après ski. Sure, there are smaller, resorts with more picturesque charm, but Val d’Isere, has all the infrastructure and diversity to please anyone from 5* poseurs to grungy kids.


Best of the rest

• Courchevel for families.
• Serre Chevalier for Gallic character.
• Tignes for all-round appeal and a long season.
• St Martin-de-Belleville for the quiet life, and
• Méribel if you insist on your English breakfasts and pubs.

All popular French ski resorts are cosmopolitan places where it is possible to find people who speak English as a lingua franca. But you will definitely get more out of your time in France if you can speak some of the language. If you learnt a bit of French at school, then consider taking a French language course to brush up before you leave. But if there’s no time for that then of all the countries offering international students high standards in language courses France is one of the best, so you can always take a short course once you’ve arrived, maybe scheduling your lessons for a rest day away from the slopes.

Where is Patagonia?

Patagonia is most well-known for its wilderness taking up parts of Chile and Argentina and stretching from the most southern part of the Andes to the Pacific Ocean and across to the Atlantic Ocean.

One of the most popular travel destinations for its dramatic scenery and a good representation of Patagonia is Alerces National Park found in Argentina. It covers an area of 263,000ha and here you can see prairies, mountains, lakes and spry creeks. However, its biggest drawcard is the Alerce tree, a species that has survived for more than 4,000 years.

Patagonia was originally a remote backpacking destination, however it is now attracting increased numbers of cashed-up visitors, cruise passengers sailing by Cape Horn or visiting Antarctica, and activity holiday-makers. Patagonia offers terrific hiking opportunities, kayaking, horseback riding and vast photographic opportunities.

Lonely Planet Trekking in the Patagonian Andes

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TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Patagonia

One Great Reason to Visit Patogonia

One great reason to visit this travel destination is to appreciate the wilderness landscapes.

Patagonia – Argentina

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