Can you remember a time when your days were spent marveling at the world around you? When afternoon naps were a daily occurrence and evenings were passed beside the flickering amber flames of a camp fire? When playtime was so all consuming that time seemed to disappear?
How long ago was it? Days? Months? Decades? Since childhood? Never?
For me, it was less than a month ago on safari in Botswana.
At Inkaterra, they’d never leave us stranded on a muddy riverbank for more than an hour waiting for a wayward boat.
At Inkaterra, they provide complimentary flashlights and organic bug repellant.
At Inkaterra, the kerosene lanterns were clean and gleaming, not coated with black soot so thick they barely illuminate the room…
The comparisons kept surfacing. I couldn’t seem to help myself. That’s the problem with great service; you’re forever doomed to compare everything else to that standard. Once spoiled by five-star treatment, every inefficiency and oversight in the competition becomes glaringly obvious.
Such was the case for me recently after two separate stays with Peruvian luxury hotelier, Inkaterra.
From breathtaking voyages through the icy waters of Antarctica and an incredible wildlife cruise through the Galapagos islands, to sailing through the beautiful remote islands of the Indonesian archipelago and touring the African bush aboard your own floating hotel, traveling by boat is a great way to take the stress out of a vacation and to explore some of our planet’s last frontiers.
Looking for ideas for your next vacation? Here’s an A-list of luxury cruises handpicked by the travel specialists at Exsus Luxury Holidays.
“How long are you staying?”
It’s a common question among hotel guests in foreign lands.
“Three months,” however, is not a common response.
We fielded this question often during our recent three-month stay at Hotel la Bocona, the intimate six guest room boutique hotel in Granada, Nicaragua, we called home this winter.
Hotel living wasn’t the original plan, but when finding a vacation rental got complicated, we decided to get creative. Even for gypsy travelers like us, though, committing to an extended hotel stay, sight unseen, was a bit of a leap.
We liked the fact that the hotel was set in a private beautifully restored colonial mansion and that half our room rate would go towards the support of a local educational and charitable organization. We liked that it was situated two blocks off Granada’s bustling Central Park in one of the city’s most historic and fashionable residential neighborhoods, putting the city at our doorstep. And, we liked that the room was a palatial 1,400 square-feet with soaring ceilings, hand-painted tile floors and two king sized beds.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
