The Purple Passport

Seasoned advice for British Travellers

travel

6 Reasons to Explore Africa This Summer

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Choosing a destination for your summer holiday is never easy, especially when everyone wants to experience something different from the trip. Usually, this results in you booking a hotel in a resort that offers something for everyone, from the beach and pools to entertainment, and of course, the option to explore the destination a bit more. However, if you are becoming bored with the same old routine when it comes to holidays, and want to experience something new, then here are 6 reasons to explore Africa this summer.

1. It’s family-friendly

No matter the age of your children, Africa makes for the perfect destination for a family holiday. The accommodation available is perfectly suited for children, and the attractions and sights will be able to captivate their young minds. The kind-natured locals will be more than happy to recommend places to go and things to see and help your little ones make the most of their time in Africa.

2. It offers different experiences

The great thing about Africa is that it offers so much, from bustling capital cities to luxurious safaris and stunning landscapes. With a wide variety of travel tours offered by Boss Travel, you can explore Africa the way you want to. If you are after something perfect for the entire family, then check out the Family Tour of Kenya, but if you are keen to experience Africa with luxury in mind, then the Micato Grand Safari is ideal.

3. Wildlife

Africa is home to many well-known species of animal that can all be seen up close, surrounded by stunning scenery on a safari. However, the best thing about Africa is that you are never too far from wildlife, even in the city. Spot the brave zebras at the edge of the busy cities, and keep an eye out for the whales that can be seen while exploring Africa via a coastal walk.

4. It offers perfect weather

Most destinations can offer great weather, but it is never a guarantee. However, Africa has, on average, 300 days of sunshine each and every year. This kind of reassurance of good weather is what attracts many people.

5. The unspoiled sights and attractions you can behold

If you’re after unspoiled sights that leave you a little breathless, then Africa is the place to go. Check out Victoria Falls in Zambia, and even take a dip in the pools at the side of the falls to cool down, or explore the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, which is the world’s largest unspoiled dry volcanic caldera. Better yet, experience the thrill of watching thousands of wildebeest and zebra embark on the journey to find new living quarters – a natural event that occurs every year before the changing seasons. You will be amazed at the sight before you.

6. The beaches

Unlike beaches in popular holiday resorts, the beaches in Africa offer a totally different experience of peace and quiet. With warm crystal-clear waters crashing gently against the white sand, you can relax on the beach as the kids swim with dolphins. Not only this, but the calm waters on the coastal beaches make it the perfect destination for snorkeling.

Africa truly is a place of wonder that will stay with you forever. It will provide you with a once in a lifetime experience that will leave you wanting more.

4 Must-Visit Islands While Touring Mexico

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Are you planning a vacation for the much-needed get away from your busy to reconnect with your family, friends, and inner self? Well, among the top considerations while thinking of a vacation is the destination.  Choosing a destination can break or make your vacation quests, stressing the need to evaluate what it offers before making the final decision. From the goose bumps of spotting incredible scenery, a day with nature, the adrenaline rush from thrilling activities, to relaxed experience as you take in a spectacular sunset/rise, not to mention lazy strolls on sandy beaches, you need to ensure that a destination can cater to your needs. The good news, however, is that with insights from a resourceful travel blog, you find inspirational materials to pick an ideal destination, plan the itinerary, and get the most out of your vacation.

While choosing a vacation destination, Mexico can hardly skip your eye. With breathtaking sceneries, rich culture, and mouth-watering cuisine, your vacation endeavors in Mexico will be nothing short of memorable. With over 5000 mi coastline averaging close to a 100 Islands, your tour in Mexico can’t be complete without touring some of the idyllic islands. While planning your Mexico tour itinerary, here is a look at the top Islands you need to include for a memorable experience.

Isla Holbox

Have you been dying to explore virgin beaches? Well, your dreams are about to come true; Isla Holbox has yet to be fully explored, and with most of its land in Yum Balam Natural Reserve being undeveloped, your exploration will be more than exciting. Don’t, however, wait too long as the word is out and spreading fast, and before long, this haven will be flooding with tourists across the globe. With pleasant weather, soft beaches, and gentle breezes, your two hours drive followed a ferry ride will be more than satisfactory as you sample local cuisine from small boutique hotels, relax in wooden beach bars, or follow the popular hammocks trend stretched over the waters.

Isla Mujeres

Located off Cancun’s coast, the small and quiet island is a low-key destination whose popularity has rapidly grown. Isla Mujeres is a fantastic destination ideal for snorkeling and relaxed beach experience. While the island is home to a small fishing community, its history is inspiring, having been an ancient Maya religious site. While touring the island during summer, your visit will be kicked a notch higher by interacting with whale sharks, the large and tender giants that swim in the warm waters. The unspoiled haven is an excellent destination as you can also taste local cuisines from the local hotels and seaside restaurants as you take in the stunning beaches’ experience.

Isla Marietas

Located off the coast of the state of Nayarit, and known for its “hidden” keyhole crater opening to a majestic white-sand beach with turquoise waters when the tides are low, the uninhabited Islas Marietas is among the must-visit islands while touring Mexico. With active conservation efforts, the islands, ones used as a test site for the Mexican military, prides of rich biodiversity, marine life, and bird population that will quench your tour goals. Among the exciting things, apart from relaxing on the beach, is spotting incredible animals, including dolphins, blue-footed boobies, sea turtles, and whales (mostly during winter months), among others.

Cozumel

The Caribbean island is a haven for divers. With its warm, crystal clear waters, marine life, and stunning white sand beach, Cozumel is surrounded by the world’s second-largest coral reef system, Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, providing an excellent diving experience. The island is quite developed, with a range of large resorts to quench your tour needs, including a taste of the local cuisine.

Islands have a unique appeal. While touring Mexico, on a romantic getaway, a family tour, or an all-out thrilling adventure, you can easily find an island packed with amazing features to satisfy your quests. If you need more inspiring travel stories and photographs to plan your next tours, explore apenoni.com for an extensive reach.

Should You Take Out a Loan to Travel?

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There is no doubt that travelling has countless benefits. In addition to having some fun, it gives you the chance to explore different places, relax, and learn and try out new things among many other benefits. However, travelling requires money. You need money for your ticket, accommodation, food, activities and souvenirs. So, what happens when you want to travel but don’t have enough money to pay for it? Should you wait until you have enough, or should you take out a loan and travel right away? This article highlights some of the key reasons why taking a loan out to travel can be a good idea as well as instances when you shouldn’t take a loan.

Cost is Spread Over a Couple of Months

When you take a loan to travel, you will make the repayments over a couple of months. This spreads the burden, especially when you are taking an expensive trip. For instance, when taking a trip in January, instead of covering the whole amount in January, travellers can consider short term loans from sites like LoanPig that can be repaid in three to twelve months.

No Need to Postpone Travel

Loans can also be helpful when you want to travel at a certain time but don’t have enough money for it at the moment. Maybe you wanted a summer trip but by the time you save up enough, it will be snowing. In such a case, you can weigh the benefits and cost of the loan and apply for the financing you need to make your trip a success.

Travel When You Have Free Time

Loans can also make it easy to travel when you get some free time but hadn’t planned financially for a trip. Maybe you just got some days off work or you are taking a business break and you just get the urge to take a short vacation. Since it may be a while before you get some more days off, you can consider taking a loan and travelling while you have the time.

However, as stated above, there are times when you shouldn’t take a loan to travel. And when you decide to take one, you should think about your decision carefully. Consider these three points:

  • Before you apply for the loan, check the interest rates and see if it’s worth it. Also, compare loans from a couple of lenders to ensure you get one with the lowest cost.
  • Don’t take a loan to travel if you won’t be able to pay it back on time. Late payments attract interest and penalties. Also, don’t do it if it will cause you to strain financially when making the payments. It’s not worth taking a trip if it will cause you to struggle with basic needs over the next couple of months.
  • Finally, find ways to lower your travel costs so that even if you need a loan, it won’t be a big one. Some steps you can take to achieve this include taking advantage of shopping cash backs and credit card rewards, booking your trip when airfares are low, and house sittinginstead of staying in a hotel.

Hopefully this guide has helped make it clearer on whether or not taking out a loan is right for you.

Tips on Bagging Some Travel Savings by Booking Last Minute

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If you have the travel bug but your aren’t feeling flush enough to spend money on an expensive trip, then this is an article which is right up your street. Last minute travel has had its naysayers over the years and whilst there are many aspects of travel which you could once save on when you booked last minute that you no longer can, there are still plenty of ways you can bag a discount if you wait it out.

Whether you are looking for long haul savings or cheap last minute deals for a cruise, here are some top tips on how to secure them.

Flexible With Your Location

If you have you heart truly set on somewhere then you are unlikely to be able to get a great last minute discount, simply because your window of opportunity is so small. If however you simply want to get away from it all and explore somewhere new, then you are going to put yourself in a great position to be able to get a worthwhile discount. Most flight aggregators now have an ‘anywhere’ option that you can put in for destination, keep checking in and see where you may end up.

Flexible Dates

In recent years we have seen that some of the biggest flight and hotel savings are found by those who are prepared to travel and return on weekdays rather than the traditional weekend to weekend vacation. Stay flexible with your dates and you’ll be far better placed to go out and get those big savings.

Signing Up

There are few things more frustrating than an email inbox which is bursting at the seams with spam and unwanted junk mail, which is why many of us will ‘opt out’ of receiving newsletters from companies. If however you are looking to save some serious cash on your travels then it is highly recommended that you sign up to the newsletters and communications of airlines, tour operators and holiday providers. Often you’ll find some killer deals in these emails which you may very well be missing out on right now.

Following Social Media Accounts

There is an abundance of social media accounts which track airlines, cruise companies and hotels, looking to spot great last minute deals or pricing errors which you could take advantage of. Usually the deals that they share online are gone in a heartbeat which is why you should be looking to keep your finger on the pulse of the content that they are sharing.

Traveling Light

Most of the best offers that you will find on flights will not include any more than carry-on luggage, something which puts many off. If however you are able to be smart with your packing then you can take advantage of these deals. In reality you can still take a pretty sizable suitcase with you that fits into the restrictions around carry-on luggage, think smart, pack smart and save a huge amount of money on those last minute flight deals.

Wait for it… wait for it… go get that deal.

 

5 Overlooked Destinations That Are Great for Biking

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Buying a hybrid bike for men or women is a great way to increase your traveling distance while riding. The electric boost from the motor means that you can travel outside of your comfort area and spice up the day’s journey by finding new destinations. However, how many beaches can your tour on your beach cruiser bike before they all start looking the same? Instead of just increasing your riding radius by a few extra miles, why don’t you expand your horizons and travel to one of these five overlooked biking destinations?

1. San Francisco

For those who own a men’s or women’s beach cruiser bike, you cannot go wrong by taking a trip to California, especially to the City by the Bay. Over the years, the city has invested over $100 million to establish more than 200 miles of bike lanes and cycling infrastructure. Also, the bike path known as The Wiggle provides views of the Golden Gate Park and the row houses of Alamo Square.

2. Montreal

Canada is known for its vastness and natural beauty, and Montreal, its second-largest city, is known for being mostly flat and bike-friendly. In fact, this municipality has over 1,000 miles of bike paths for the curious explorer. Meaning that you can spend every day of your vacation riding somewhere new. However, if you want the most exceptional view of the skyline, there is no better route than along the Lachine Canal.

3. Berlin

While many European cities offer bike paths, Berlin, Germany’s capital, prioritizes cyclists. With over 500 miles of bike paths and accommodating pedestrians and motorists, you will feel welcomed and entranced by the history and architecture of this lovely city. You can ride along the remnants of the Berlin Wall or explore one of the most extensive open-air galleries in the world, the East Side Gallery.

4. Ljubljana

If you are looking for an exclusive and rare view of city life, then take a trip to the capital of Slovenia. Ljubljana has over 150 miles of bike lanes, and there are several areas where motorists are not allowed, only pedestrians, cyclists and some electric taxis. Also, if you do not own or want to travel with your bike, there are more than 20 bike rental stations in the city.

5. Tokyo

Not only is Tokyo the world’s largest metropolis, but it is also surprisingly inviting to bikers. Sidewalks are typically divided to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists, which is unique to this location. Also, the vibrant nightlife, neon streets and tranquil gardens, make Tokyo one of the best cyclist destinations on the planet. Last, the 2020 Summer Olympics are being held at the New National Stadium, allowing for a sneak peek to any early travelers.

While riding is usually fun, using the same route day-in-and-day-out can lead to boredom and a lack of motivation. If you need to spice up your riding life, then consider taking a trip to one of the five locations above. Also, to get the most out of your adventure, consider buying a hybrid bike from your favorite shop.