velvet | nature holidays
cape-point-rainbow-photo

Can’t wait to #MeetSouthAfrica

This week sees me heading to South Africa! Woohoo! I’m really excited about this trip as I’ll be joining 15 other international travel bloggers on what is touted as the biggest travel blogger trip in African history! The bloggers will be split into four groups, each exploring a different part of the country, and we’ll [...]

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Babylonstoren – a heavenly Cape Dutch wine farm

A special guest post by Lezaan Roos. Don’t ask me to compare Babylonstoren with other Cape Dutch farms. That would be tricky. For starters, it produces wine – a feature typical of estates. It offers a variety of unique food experiences, which could put it firmly in the restaurant category. It has a hotel, it’s [...]

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multi-colored-tulips-holland-photo

Velvet Moments: travel photo – a sea of tulips

Last week, I posted a plea to the Weather Gods to usher in the spring a.s.a.p.! That didn’t quite work, unfortunately. So, here’s some inspiration to get everyone into the mood for a colourful spring and a lovely warm summer! A walk around the tulips fields in Holland is one of my favourite things to [...]

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civitella-del-tronto-photo

The fortress town of Civitella del Tronto

Civitella del Tronto is a historic fortress town in the northeastern corner of Abruzzo, the Italian region that stretches from the slopes of the Appenine mountains (east of Rome) to the Adriatic Sea. The last fortress The 500 meter long fortress, the second largest of its kind in Europe after the fortress in Salzburg, is [...]

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victoria-falls-edge-photo

The smoke that thunders

Locals call it Mosi-oa-Tunya – the ‘smoke that thunders’. No other name describes the Victoria Falls better. Straddling the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Victoria Falls are one of the most impressive falls in the world, spanning more than a mile. I saw a photo of the falls in a geographic encyclopedia as a [...]

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keith-jenkins-cathay-pacific-business-class-photo

What’s your travel style?

When I left my career in corporate and investment banking in 2008, my primary goal was to spend some time on ‘me’. I was tired and I felt somewhat out of touch with myself. I decided to embark on a five-month (predominantly) solo round-the-world trip. In a sense, I used that trip to grow; I [...]

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castell-d-emporda-gardens-tower-photo

The castle of dreams

As a child, Albert Diks spent many summers camping with his family in Catalonia. Each time they went on a drive around the Catalan countryside, Albert would stare out the window, his eyes glued to every castle they passed. “At night, in my little tent on the camping, I dreamed of having my own castle.” [...]

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Luxury on the slopes

The ski season is now upon us, as resorts in Europe and North America open up their hotel doors, and get the chair lifts running for another busy few months on the slopes. There are some resorts which are so glamorous, you’d want to arrive in a private jet; something that isn’t out of the [...]

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iguassu-falls-cataratas-photo

Goofing around at the Iguazu Falls

A special guest post by Alex Lopoukhine. Bloggers captivate their audiences through their photos, words, and video – and sometimes, bloggers get you to laugh. A lot. In June of this year, an international group of bloggers was flown down to Foz Do Iguaçu, Brazil for the very first EIBTUR Conference. Towards the end of the [...]

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Safaris in South Africa

A guest post by Jeffrey Cammack. South Africa is a wonderful destination for a Big Five safari as there are numerous game reserves offering amazing game viewing. The problem is often deciding where to go on safari as there are so many options. If you are travelling to South Africa and only spending a couple [...]

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