The Travel-Lady-Mitchell

Always wanted to explore South Africa but have always been put off by taking malaria medication? Well look no further as I am about to give you an example itinerary where malaria medication is not compulsory.   Driving route: Cape Town - Winelands - Hermanus - Garden Route - Eastern Cape game reserves.   Total distance: 1,200km; 14 days  Cape Town: Days 1-4 After renting a car from Cape Town International Airport it is just a 20 minute drive into Cape Town.  Here are some recommendations for you to do while in Cape Town;  Table Mountain - A must visit, it's two disabled-friendly cable cars each take 65 people and run all day. Journeys to the summit take just three minutes and the cars rotate for 360-degree views.  TOP TIP: Head up Table Mountain at the first possible opportunity. Strong winds and low clouds can prevent the cable car from operating.  Afternoons are quieter.  Other must do activities are: Robben Island; Dis...

NEW YORK BABY!! Well....for the second time! Mile 17 and he still managed to make me smile!  This trip was for a very different reason altogether; my amazing husband, Tom, ran the New York Marathon and I was so very proud of him (& all that that took part).  The atmosphere, organisation, people, runners, professional athletes, supporters and well wishers were all, to quote a word used a lot that day "AWSOME".  He finished with an AMAZING time of 3:02:02 A visa is required for **British Passport holders.  ESTA (Visa Waiver programme) approx. US$14.00 per person, including Children .  Validity is 2 years**.  Should passport expire sooner than 2 years, a new authorisation is required. We stayed at a pretty fab hotel called Shelburne NYC - an Affinia Hotel.  This place was a couple of blocks from Grand Central Station and was within easy reach of pretty much everywhere! It had f...

The best Christmas present surprise ever!! So Christmas 2010 had arrived & I had been laying down the ground work on where our holiday for 2011 would be.  New York was on my hit list & I was making it very clear that the choices were New York, New York or New York, but he just wasn't committing & I didn't know why.  The Christmas list (yes I still write a list to tell him exactly what I would like, so there is no room for error), lay in the same spot upside down as I left it, so knew he was being his usual unorganised self once again. However, Christmas morning, when I started to open presents, one being a gift voucher for a hypnotherapy session to help with my fear of flying (see a separate blog on this), I was starting to fear he had lost the plot.  Still nothing clicked!  My final present was hidden at the back of the tree and I was instructed to go digging! Unwrapping to find a guide book on New York, I still thought he was trying to be f...

Varkala, Kerala Soul and Surf offers surfing, yoga and wellness holidays with a distinctly easy-going ethos – the emphasis here is on relaxation with like-minded people as much as improving your surfing or yoga techniques. Set among lush gardens in a cliff-top location overlooking a quiet beach, the retreat offers simple yet stylish accommodation in a modern garden block or in the main building, a 150-year old traditional Keralan house. Breakfasts are communal, and evening activities include BBQ and pizza nights as well as surf movie screenings and impromptu music gigs. Sunset free-flow vinyasa yoga sessions take place every evening and morning sessions are offered three times a week, surf lessons take place every morning. The retreat is open from May to October, but Soul and Surf run a year-round programme in Ahangama, Sri Lanka, that’s also worth checking out. Algarve, Portugal Set in a secluded valley on the Atlantic Coast, the off-the-grid Tipi Valley Al...