Luxury Travel Wisdom

After bidding our dreamy desert location (Merced del Alto) in Cachi goodbye, we set out early morning to explore what can only be described as a deserted wonder world. An uncanny rendition of Yellowstone, the Mojave desert and Prince Albert in the Karoo. And then some.

Breathtaking scenery, temperate climes and eventually – valleys opening up to verdant vineyards, such as El Esteco Winery in Cafayate, where we had a glorious luncheon on the patio before a well-timed  siesta on the loungers poolside.

And in complete contrast, our day ended back in Salta, where the sleek inner-city haven of the Design Suites hotel provided ultra-modern comfort and a welcome respite after almost 1 000 km of gravel road in two days. Set close to the heart of the city’s main square – surrounded by delightful French-style cafes and eateries – the hotel’s enviable location allowed us to hit the town for more empanadas and Salta lager… By now, our trademark order, with Diaan being the undisputed connoisseur who insists on sampling the traditional bite-sized savoury treats in just about every town and cafe we pass.  Riekie Human

Image by Diaan de Beer

Riekie writes: After more than a day of travelling, Nikki, Diaan and I arrived last night – exhausted but excited. Mendoza – the picturesque wine mecca of Argentina – has already stolen our hearts. Not least for the bustling tree-lined inner city streets filled with cafes and character. When we stopped in front of the imposing façade of the Park Hyatt Mendoza, we positively gasped. Set right on the vast and bustling town square (so typical of rural Argentina’s urban landscapes), the historical charm of hotel’s exterior reminds you of the mansions and villas described in Isabel Allende’s novels, while the interiors are a testimony to modern design sensibilities and utter luxury. From dimmed night lights in the lavish bedroom-sized bathroom to the freshly-baked pastries and fluffy white robes and towels, we were thoroughly spoilt. Not to mention the much-needed loofahs to wash away our travelling tiredness and a magnum-sized vase of fresh lilies in each bathroom to make us feel at home.

The cherry on top? The welcoming glass of local Malbec we received upon arrival – perfectly and ever so slightly chilled to the correct temperature to enjoy this chocolatey cultivar. It was a fitting taste of things to come as we are setting out today to explore some of the top wineries – and eateries – in the Mendoza wine region…Argentina’s answer to the Cape’s winelands of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, and one of the most coveted wine regions in South America.

Well, the constant puffing of Puyehue volcano in Chile since early June nearly scuppered this trip, but they’ve arrived… long-time fans of JUST THE PLANET – travel writers Nikki Benatar and Riekie Human – as well as photographer Diaan de Beer are now in Argentina on a 11-day journey to sip wines in Mendoza, take the terrifyingly high railroad from Salta on the Train to the Clouds and explore the hip and happening Buenos Aires – with some serious shopping, a tango lesson and menu-hopping in some of country’s best restaurants inbetween. The first blog has just pinged into our inbox – more on it’s way…

I’m sitting at The Beach House restaurant in St Kitts staring over a turquoise sea and out to the island of Nevis. As in all my Caribbean dreaming, the cool condensation from an icy rum cocktail runs down my arm as the waitress sashays off to the kitchen with my lobster lunch order. A palm frond overhead is buffeted softly by a silken sea breeze which also carries over a swinging calypso tune. I sigh contentedly and for once I do not wake up. No siree… today I am living the dream and savouring every last drop of the cocktail !

This classy restaurant is one of the first bits of Christophe Harbour to be built and services four stunning villas overlooking the tranquillity of Turtle Beach. What I love so very muchly about the place is that it doesn’t interfere with the environment. It’s beautifully understated both inside and out. Hooooray for having such sensitivity (the Marriott could take a leaf or two out of your book). I’ll get down to the the nitty gritty in a proper hotel / villa review on Just The Planet this week (or early next) – so keep an eye out – but for now let’s get back to eating lunch…

I had three lobster tails… THREE, and there’s the photo to prove it. There were also some sensational conch fritters and calamari to start – lightly battered and perfectly crispy with a Caesar side salad. After lunch it made perfect sense to retire to my villa for a little lie-down on my comfy deckchair. Each property faces a beach so quiet it could almost be your own. Doors are flung open wide onto private patios… and each has its own gazebo with an outdoor lounge and infinity plunge pool. And if you lie in your big king-size bed and peek over the top of the duvet… aaaah yes, there we go… the sea.

A short walk along the beach and you’re back at the restaurant, ready for a sundowner. There’s usually a member of the Christophe Harbour team around looking impossibly healthy and relaxed. Yes, this must be island living. Before you know it you’ll be asking for a quick squizz at their gorgeous brochure… and then designing your own Caribbean dream house on the back of a paper napkin. G’won… you know you want to.

I flew out to St Kitts last Saturday with a group of PRs, journalists and publishers for a press tour of Christophe Harbour… a proposed luxury real estate opportunity set on a pristine 2,500 acres of beautiful Caribbean island.

As a South African, and one used to big landscapes and wide open spaces, my initial reaction was to balk in horror that almost a third of this little jewel was to be dug up and built upon. Is no place on this planet sacred ? And as I did some more research of Basseterre (the capital) and surrounds, flipping through tourism brochures and looking at the various travel websites of the island, the likes of the enormous Marriott hotel jumped out and my heart sank further. “TELL ME I didn’t see TWO casinos,” I pleaded with the critic on my shoulder, who had already passed out cold and slid down my arm.

Well I can say now it’s a very good thing I went out there to see it all first hand. Sometimes we all need a little saving from ourselves. And I think St Kitts is no different. The island could so easily go the way of others in the Caribbean. For who hasn’t seen massive resort hotels dominating what used to be paradise beaches, whilst hulking great cruise ships block ports and seascapes, offloading thousands of insatiable shoppers who swarm through these small harbours like ravenous Pacmen.

But not this future for St Kitts if the guys at Christophe Harbour have anything to say about it. All of the south-eastern point of the island will be taken up by the development and it’s all 100% class. Instead of tacky hotels and ugly housing estates, Fazio Golf Course Designers Inc will shortly get stuck into building one of the most picturesque championship courses in the world. And a planned mega-yacht harbour and marina will also aim to steal the limelight and possibly a lot of the attention away from Antigua too. I want to tell all about the sensational villas, five-star hotels, spas, shopping and the Beach Club next…. but it’ll have to wait till my next blog.

Whitstable is a great little town to unleash your inner glutton. We tried Jojo’s (Tapas, Meat and Meze)  for lunch and ate so much we expected forklifts and a jeering Jerry Springer show to laugh us out of the restaurant. Our expanding waistbands and creaking chairs could’ve had something to do with massively over-ordering  (ehm… cough… we did leave ONE half of a deep fried pea and mint risotto ball on the plate). I maaay’ve used the excuse “I’m blogging about this so must therefore order everything on the menu”. Whose nose ?

Did I mention that before this we tried to blag our way into Wheeler’s Oyster Bar ? This magnificent, polished little periwinkle of a place just won a spot in Britain’s Top 100 Restaurants, published by The Sunday Times Food List. It only seats 14 people so it really wasn’t going to happen. Instead, we queued as everyone else did, and we ate our oysters al fresco out of a plastic bucket, standing in the street. But they did supply the black pepper, tabasco and lemon so we weren’t complaining !

Apparently that wasn’t enough for our insatiable appetites. We HAD booked into The Crab & Winkle, just above the fish market over-looking the harbour but we actually couldn’t haul our lardy selves off the couch. Well, you’ve seen The Oyster Shack below. Would you have wanted to leave ? Instead we patted our bellies, surveyed our sensational sea view and vowed we’d be back again and again and again…

If you love seafood you owe it to yourself to visit Whitstable. And if you don’t, there’s always Fiocco di Spalla, Serrano Bodega Ham, Cecina Smoked Cured Beef and the Monkshill Mutton & Feta Koftas at Jojo’s… and then hotfoot down the beachfront before Biggest Loser UK harpoons you from behind and drags you off to boot camp.

Wow, summer has been madness ! Europe has so much of the fun and the frolicks, I can’t believe how lucky I have been. Hmmmm… looking outside at grey London and how cold it’s suddenly become I guess I’m going to be paying for it for the next few months. Yeah, yeah…. so you in the Southern Hemisphere apparently get the last laugh.

HOWEVER…

I leave for Portugal tomorrow morning… I am flinging myself all too briefly around the Algarve off-season and promise to have some photos and one or two good stories when I get back. I also need to write about my amazing trip to Ibiza – it’s not THAAAAT place you’re thinking it is. Promise.

Then, when I have a moment I’ll also need to tell you about Poland, driving through the Krakow Old Town by mistake and my near incarceration (police have no sense of humour there, seriously)… and about the beautiful part I visited on the border of Slovakia.

That’s enough for now. Speak to you next week.

Toodlepip !

The weather is cold and gloomy in Cape Town today, so I thought it was the perfect time to initiate a little something I like to call Fantasy Friday – armchair travelling to somewhere far more beautiful and exotic than a desk and a computer!

Today, ladies and gentlemen, we’re off to a little place called Solar Da Ponte Verde, in a small town called Petropolis a few hours outside Rio de Janeiro in Brazil…

The views are breathtaking, the rooms are comfortable and cozy, and the food will leave you feeling energized and delighted. Really – you might think that’s a lot of adjectives, but wait until you’ve stepped into this place. Pure heaven!

Read the full account of a magical experience here.

And for more Fantasy Friday wanderings, read up on some of the Just the Planet Hidden Gems. *sigh!*

I’m thinking about the film ‘Sliding Doors’ and how one’s life can be lived in duality. The ‘what if I chose that path instead of this one’… if I’d just married the footballer when the opportunity arose (it didn’t but this is my story)… I too could’ve lived a life of  handbags, shoes and spa holidays. Instead, I am very much living the life of a normal person who doesn’t get to step from a private jet into a waiting Hummer only to be whisked off to the latest spa-du-jour. So when the opportunity arises, instead of being smugly in-the-know, I’m like a small child at Christmas: too excited to be cool… and hell bent on making the most out of it.

So herewith Part Deux of the Karkloof Spa story.

After being so graciously received by the staff at the lodge, I was pointed in the direction of the spa and handed my keys to the kingdom of leisure. In reality it was only a locker key and, for one that isn’t prone to exaggeration (ha!), in it was a robe I can swear was hand-woven by Aphrodite. The staff at the spa are hand-picked from all over the world for their talents and I noticed a fair number of Thai therapists – globally renowned for their magical sensory powers.

As a first-timer at Karkloof, I was taken on a walk around the spa and shown the spacious treatment rooms (17 in total – two of which are for couples). The rooms, like the villas, have extensive views over the gardens and sweeping vistas of the bush. I particularly loved that the design of the place is so in touch with the surrounding landscape and that because it has been built with natural materials (thatch and living grass roofs), animals graze in blissful ignorance overhead whilst you sip on organic green tea.

Spa views (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

I had a look into the luxurious Manicure/Pedicure and Rassoul rooms… gasped at the sheer size of the Flotation Pool (guaranteed to send any stressed recipient into orbits of relaxation) and then tried for myself the Kneip Pools (those hot and cold ones), Jacuzzi, Sauna and Steam rooms. At this point, I believe I felt my first twang of smugness.

Floatation Room (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

Spa pools (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

Kneip pools (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

At my allotted time I was fetched to the treatment room by my therapist and given a ceremonial foot cleanse with salt scrub. I had to look incredibly serious even though having my feet kneaded with salt made me want to burst out laughing and run around in circles. So not how a footballer’s wife would behave.

I was then shown to the massage table. I don’t know about you but I mostly approach these beds with caution… knowing that lying face down on some of them there’ll be a bit of tissue sticking into my eyeball or suffocating towelling covering a necessary airway… or worse, a bit of metal digging into my temple. And I dare not move lest I disturb the mood of my spa journey. But I am pleased to say that this one was wonderfully comfortable – and I arose after my hour-long massage feeling delightfully sleepy, relaxed and at peace with the universe.

Massage heaven (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

These therapists really do know what they are doing. At no point did mine make a sound (in fact I remember filling in a form at reception asking me whether I wanted a chat to which I firmly ticked the ‘no’ option) – and it was as if a lone pair of hands was in the room with me softly but firmly soothing away my every stress and strain. It was so good that I almost burst in to tears when she had finished. To me that’s always the mark of a successful massage.

I was interested to see that the spa uses Pevonia, an internationally acclaimed member of the American Organic association – and wondered why they didn’t go for a more local African product… but they must have their reasons.

I was horrified to have to give back my robe… and changing back into my clothes did bring me back down to earth a little (they should possibly think about transporting you back to your room in a wheelchair). The entire experience was perfect. From reception to the point I was delivered into the darkness for the walk back to my villa where, I believe, I ‘floated lonely as a cloud’ – albeit a happy, pampered one.

Tatler has just awarded Karkloof Spa ‘Most Exciting Discovery 2009’ and it’s one of Condé Nast Traveller’s ‘Hot List Spas’ of the year. International applause for this fabulous South African destination spa… and definitely a reason to visit and see for myself.

I went in autumn when the late afternoon light lay golden over the winding rivers, pale orange over the lush landscapes and warm yellow on the road that wound up to the lodge. A white rhino gazed at us lazily over his grassy munchings and a few warthogs, tails on high alert, sprinted into the bushes.

Autumn light and warthogs (image: Robyn Hodson)

Lunching white rhino (image: Robyn Hodson)

The best part of the drive up to the lodge is that the whole place is barely visible… and the spa is set into the hillside with thatched and flat grass rooftops camouflaging any human activity from the wild animals that wander around the property (all vegetarians you’ll be pleased to know).

Hidden spa (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

The main lodge is huge, stylish and comfortable – cozy with generous fireplaces and heated floors for winter and then bright and cool in hot weather with large doors flung wide open to let in light summery breezes. The spacious outside balcony and comfortable setting is brilliant for sunset watching, champagne or G’nT drinking and romantic comfy couch snuggling!

Main lodge deck (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

Pool at main lodge (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

I loved my private villa – the best of the sixteen I thought! A lot of planning, intuition and skillful designing went into it. Perched on a hillside looking out at the best of the views it also had wrap around doors that could be fully retracted to make the most of the stunning scenery. I slept with the doors open all night and watched the sun rise from my bed, camera in hand.

Villa - lounge and view (image: Courtesy of Karkloof Spa)

I’l get back to you on the animals, walks, spa and food but suffice to say… I can’t think of anything negative. Start saving! And if you’re considering a private, relaxed, gourmet honeymoon… look no further!