Archive for January, 2009
Travel tips for a holiday at Sal Island, Cape Verde Islands
When we had our holiday at Sal Island in Cape Verde Islands we stayed at the southernmost coast south of the town Santa Maria. This is a fine place for vacation if you enjoy blue clean sea water for swimming and water sports. In this area there are quite a number of developers building new [...]
When we had our holiday at Sal Island in Cape Verde Islands we stayed at the southernmost coast south of the town Santa Maria. This is a fine place for vacation if you enjoy blue clean sea water for swimming and water sports. In this area there are quite a number of developers building new hotels, tourist facilities and infrastructure. But still the coast with a huge sandy beach is very attractive. The beach is 8 kilometres long and quite broad.
We stayed at the ClubHotel Riu Funana with an all-inclusive arrangement that worked very well This hotel has probably the best location for beach life and water sports.
Sal is famous for its windsurfing – and windsurfers come here from all over the world as Sal is regarded as one of the five best locations for windsurfing. I will post a full review of the all-inclusive package and the resort ClubHotel Riu Funana later.
Sal Island is in general a very flat island with only a few smaller mountains of weathered down old volcanoes, the highest point being just 1332 feet.
Sal is like a dessert, barely any rain, but very, very dry, and therefore attractive for many visitors who are searching for sunny days during winter time.
When we stayed there one week in November we had sunshine more or less all days.
Sal Island is convenient for tourists from abroad because Sal is just one of two islands of Cape Verde that host an international airport.
Sal has a limited number of tourist attractions aside from the marvellous sandy beach at Santa Maria in the south of Sal. I will give you a few more tips of these attractions.
The first name given to Sal was Llana but because the discovery of salt by the Portuguese it was changed to Sal. Sal as well as other islands may have been known to salt seeking ‘Moors’ before the Portuguese discovery. The first settlement was by slaves from the other Cape Verde island Boa Vista but population remained insignificant until the late 17th century when the demand for salt and livestock grew. The island was a common stop for ships to get salt for ballast and for trade at little or no cost. Now an old salt mine in a volcano crater is one of the main landscape attractions at Sal.
More about windsurfing, diving, snorkeling, sailing, deep sea fishing and birding at Cape Verde to come.
Enjoy Iceland Tourism in bad Iceland Economy
Iceland, the volcanic big island in the North Atlantic Ocean, has been a famous tourist destination for decades. Tourists have been flocking to enjoy the hot geysers, the warm wells, the fantastic landscape and the fresh air.
In a number of years the Icelandic economy has been booming, too, known in financial circles as the Icelandic [...]
Iceland, the volcanic big island in the North Atlantic Ocean, has been a famous tourist destination for decades. Tourists have been flocking to enjoy the hot geysers, the warm wells, the fantastic landscape and the fresh air.
In a number of years the Icelandic economy has been booming, too, known in financial circles as the Icelandic geyser economy. The geyser economy has been clearly visible for tourists as well as the inhabitants of Iceland: Lots of new big cars and housing development in the luxury class out of proportions to the limited population of around 250.000 Icelanders.
The Icelandic geyser economy has been built on huge investments in other countries, like Great Britain and Denmark funded by enormous loans from Icelandic banks and others.
The Icelandic krona has dropped dramatically in value and the country Iceland has been near to be bankrupt, see ‘Iceland is all but officially bankrupt’ and
What an Economic Collapse Looks Like: The Icelandic Crash Visualized
These economic difficulties for the people of Iceland are at the same time an opportunity for foreigners to sign up for a cheap summer vacation in Iceland. I guess you will never forget an island vacation in Iceland.
In fact Iceland is much nearer to North America than most people imagine and Iceland can be reached in a few hours from many big cities, see the Official travel guide to Iceland
You will find an interactive map of Iceland here
And a few facts about Iceland from Lonely Planet here.
Please add your comments and experience from visiting Iceland by going here.
