Mauritius: Paradise, but not as you know it July 24, 2019 This tropical island offers the cliched white sands and blue seas, but there’s more to discover at this most unusual of holiday destinations Pop quiz: What is the only tropical island to host its own classic car rally? This November, Mauritius will be the unlikely home to some of the rarest and most expensive classic [...]
Trisara hotel review: Foraging needn’t be at the expense of luxury July 24, 2019 Foraging is all the rage but, despite its fashionable foodie status, it does rather bring to mind getting grubby at the bottom of the garden, thrashing around with a set of secateurs, or simply pretending to be a badger. Surely there’s a more glamorous way to liven up lunch? So, off to Trisara in Thailand [...]
Could magic mushrooms fix your brain? We try Europe’s first legal psychedelic therapy retreat July 24, 2019 Ten of us sit in a semicircle around a makeshift altar. In front of us lies a small statue of Buddha, various rocks and crystals, some pine cones, a carved mushroom, a small chemists’ weighing scale, and a wooden bowl filled with psychedelic ‘truffles’. We’re in a lodge on the outskirts of Amsterdam overlooking woodland [...]
Phantom islands thought to exist for hundreds of years are being “undiscovered” July 24, 2019 On a voyage from Manila to Mexico in 1528, the Spanish captain Alavaro de Saaverda reported stopping off at a pair of islands a few thousand kilometres north of Papua New Guinea in the Philippine Sea. He named the islands Los Buenos Jardines, and wrote in his diary about the friendly natives he’d met there. [...]
How one man defied Stalin and risked death by firing squad to conceal outlawed art from the Soviets July 24, 2019 If you had to hide a work of art, where would you put it? And what if there were 80,000 of them, you needed to keep them safe for an indeterminate but undoubtedly lengthy period, and the penalty for discovery was imprisonment in a Soviet gulag, or even death? The man who accomplished this feat, [...]
Trek across the ice fields of Finland on a Northern Lights tour June 24, 2019 The fire fox runs at such great speed across the sky that sparks fly from his tail, streaking bright colours across the heavens. If you check out the Mozilla search engine logo, you will note how he wraps himself around the globe; but to see the fire fox’s resplendent light show in all its glory [...]
London City Airport video offers sneak peek of £500m upgrade June 19, 2019 London City Airport (LCA) has offered the public a glimpse into the future look of its £500m revamp. Read more: Tulip tower may interfere with radar systems The airport has shown passengers a sneak peak into what the airport will look like from 2022. It will boast a new check-in and security area, departures lounge, [...]
Saga shares plunge on warning of fresh travel struggles June 19, 2019 Shares in Saga have fallen more than ten per cent this morning after the insurance and travel group warned its tour operations were set to take a hit. Ahead of its annual meeting later today, Saga warned of fresh travel struggles due to a competitive market and political uncertainties. Read more: End of the Saga [...]
Safari in Style: We take a tour of South Africa’s finest luxury nature reserves June 18, 2019 There’s nothing particularly unusual for those used to a life of luxury about a five-star pool villa, except when said pool has a warthog drinking from it. My villa fronts straight onto the wild South African bush. We’re instructed not to step outside after dark, not even for a second, in case we get eaten. [...]
Nightmare at 30,000 feet: can hypnotherapy cure a fear of flying? June 17, 2019 I haven’t always been an anxious person. In fact, I was an utterly fearless child, with a predilection for dumb and dangerous stunts, like doing somersaults off the roof of our garden shed. I can’t identify exactly when my outlook shifted, but somewhere in the crucible of puberty and secondary school a profoundly neurotic fear [...]