Mauna Lani Bay is a luxury resort located on the Big Island in Hawaii.

The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows are a mecca for golfers, a treat for the gourmets and wonderful hideaway to relax and a nature preserve for rare green sea turtles.  The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows is an oceanfront paradise on the Big Island’s sunny Kohala Coast that has a list of accolades as long as its white-sand shoreline. 

This AAA Five Diamond-rated property on the Big Island of Hawaii, is an award-winning combination of sophisticated luxury and Hawaiian style hospitality.  Guestrooms are spacious and tastefully furnished all feature private lanais.  Ninety percent of the rooms have magnificent ocean views, the other overlook lush tropical garden’s.  The resort’s five restaurants include the widely hailed Canoe House.  Its Pacific Rim fare has received recognition in such prestigious publications as Gourmet, GQ, Esquire, Bon Appetite and Departures. 

Seafood specialties include Nor9-Wrapped Tempura Ahi with tomato-Ginger Relish and Fresh Seared Mahi Mahi with Chinese Black Bean Sauce.  The resort is renowned for its cuisine.  The Mauna Lani tradition of fine food began centuries ago when Hawaiian Ali’i (royalty) first settled on the Kohala Coast, creating the fishponds that are now the heart of this luxury destination. 

If you’re seeking up to the minute, non-stop activity, you will find that the Mauna Lani features the award winning Tennis Garden and Racquet Club, a comprehensive sports center, a wide range of watersports and a picture-perfect 36 hole championship golf course.  In 1991, golf course architects Nelson and Haworth reconfigured the 18-hole Francis H. I’I Brown Golf Course, doubling the number of holes and creating Mauna Lani’s now-famous North and South.  The recipients of six “Golf Medal Awards” from Golf Magazine.

The North Course is built on an older and smoother pahoehoe lava bed.  It features rolling terrain and kiawe tree forests.  A 230-acre protected archaeological district lies on the northern boundary; consequently, herds of feral goats frequent the entire North Course, providing a unique neutral hazard.  James TravelPOINTS 1-800-538-7461, www.travelpoints.com has the expertise to help you plan your next vacation to the Hawaiian islands. Give us a call, we look forward to helping you create the custom vacation to fit your needs.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Rediscover the American West; Follow the route of Lewis and Clark on the Columbia and Snake River.

Experience the rich and colorful history of the American West on a fascinating weeklong voyage.  Sailing on one of four intimate cruise vessels, explore the entire navigable length of the Columbia and Snake rivers, from the crashing waves of the Columbia River Bar on the Pacific Ocean all the way to the jagged cliffs of Hells Canyon on the borders of Oregon and Idaho.  Along the way you’ll discover traces of earlier inhabitants; centuries-old petroglyphs carved on canyon walls and cavalry forts built in the frontier day of the 1800’s.

This 1,000-mile adventure begins and ends in Portland, Oregon.  On the first evening, you’ll cruise up the Willamette River toward Oregon City, the original end of the Oregon Trail.  You’ll also get your first taste of the outstanding cuisine, which takes full advantage of the Pacific Northwest’s best fresh specialties.

The next morning you’ll awake to the splendor of the Columbia River Gorge, a national scenic area that slices through the Cascade Mountains.  You’ll transit the locks of eight different dams, stopping to tour the Bonneville Dam.

After a leisurely day of river cruising under the bluffs of the Snake River and the rolling Palouse, you’ll board a large jet boat for an exhilarating excursion into Hells Canyon, the deepest gorge in North America.  This is the real Wild West— complete with spectacular whitewater rapids, Nez Perce Indian trails and historic ranch sites.

Other tour highlights include the historic Whitman Mission, site of an 1847 massacre on the Oregon Trail, a rail excursion through the lush apple and pear orchards below snowcapped Mt. Hood, a stop in cannon Beach, a winery tour and a visit to the maritime community of Astoria.

Give the experts at James TravelPOINTS a call 1-800-274-0436, www.travelpoints.com 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Morocco, Africa luxury adventure awaits, Marrakech the Sahara, Fes and Rabat are some of the magical cities to explore.  

On a winding road in the High Atlas Mountains between Ourzazate and Marrakech I realized I had to tell of my adventure in the Sahara.  These snowy mountains have watched over us since returning from the desert, and red colored foothills loom formidable, while delicate terraced fields glow green along the riverbanks.  The balance of life is more pronounced than anything I have ever seen.  Morocco is like a jewel lying between the sea and the Sahara.

Berber tradesmen once traveled along the routes between the Imperial cities of Fes, Rabat and Marrakech to Timbuktu. Now they are settled in towns that fringe the dunes and up into the mountains.  Herdsmen still roam with their goats, camels and black wool tents following the best grazing land. From atop the grand kasbah Ait Ben Haddou we watched a man and hundreds of goats scramble along the rocky terrain on their daily search for sustenance.

We met our drivers in the town of Erfoud, where we transferred to Range Rovers for an exhilarating hour long sunset ride.  Dust spewed out behind our wheels and the other vehicle’s lights glowed and danced around us like fireflies as we made our way to Merzouga.  The way is marked on the map as a “regional road track”, starting out roughly paved and turning into imperceptible sand covered tracks.  Our turbaned driver knew the way and laughed at our amazement.  Seeing that he had a tape deck, we asked if he would play some music.  He whipped out a worn cassette, whacked it a few times, blew out the dust and we were in business.  The exotic melodies of drums and horns were then interrupted by the ringing of our guide’s cell phone, keeping us in the present. 

A bonfire and drums greeted us at the camp.  The staff dressed in blue robes and turbans offered dates and goats milk from bronze trays.  Two rows of black tents for sleeping formed a courtyard where the fire burned before an area set with carpets, couches, poofs and low tables.  Everything sparkled as the full moon lit up the dunes as far as the eye could see.  Orion and his pals filled the sky as we dined and drank wine, danced and sang into the night.  Then we slept in our Berber tents, keeping warm under thick fleecy blankets, marveling at the shine of sequins reflected in the candlelight.

We awoke to the sound of a lone drum, then the mooing of camels and the calling of drivers.  The sun was not up yet, just a faint glow that made the sky a deep titian blue.  Warm clothes kept us warm in the chilly Saharan morning, as we sat atop our camels.  Mine was a sweet animal, with a beautifully thick curly brown coat, upon long light colored legs.  As we walked out into the sand my body found its balance in step with my majestic mode of ancient transportation.  The driver was a handsome brown weathery man in a grey chellabah. His pointed hood silhouetted by the sand, as he led us out to greet the sun.

We passed small dunes with sparse, course grasses growing in patches.  Deep valleys in the sand sheltered larger clumps of wonderful green desert plants that surprised me with their rare lushness.  In the distance a great dune stood over a hundred feet tall.  We road on and on enjoying the awe inspiring scenery, when at the foot of the great dune we stopped.  By now the movement of my camel seemed second nature, and I leaned back into a standing position as he sat upon the sand.  After settling on his great legs a moment I climbed off.

My unnamed guide held out his hand and led me on the steep climb up the gigantic dune.  It was a struggle straight up the side. At the point where I thought no way can I make it I looked up, we were so close I could not quit.  One more groaning effort, as the smiling desert man pulled my arm, losing his shoes in the shifting sand, and we were up.  He retrieved his shoes and we happily sat upon the crest to watch the sun rise.  I felt like we sat on the edge of the world, nothing but wind swept sand spread out to what could be infinity. The timelessness was accented as the sun peaked over a distant dune, its bright beams warming our faces and our hearts. 

Call the experts at James TravelPOINTS to plan your adventure 1-800-538-7461, www.travelpoints.com.  
  

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Grand Canyon rail, traveling to the Grand Canyon in Arizona offers this great package for a romantic weekend or honeymooners.

If you are soon to be a newlywed looking for an adventurous honeymoon we would like to suggest: Arizona’s Grand Canyon Railway two-night “Rails and Wedding Bells package.

The itinerary begins with an evening at the Fray Marcos Hotel in Williams, AZ where couples will enjoy champagne, a romantic dinner, and dessert at Max & Thelma’s restaurant, right next to the train station.
Couples will spend the next morning on a rail excursion in a luxury parlor car where they will enjoy a continental breakfast and strolling musicians.  Once at the Grand Canyon the honeymooners are whisked away on an exciting guided motorcoach tour of the most spectacular viewpoints along the south rim.  Couples can also chose from either a Sunset or Sunrise Tour of the canyon during their stay.  Guest then spend night in the canyon and return in the afternoon, enjoying appetizers and champagne in their luxury parlor car.  Call us for this or other Grand Canyon Rail adventures, James TravelPOINTS 1-800-538-7461, www.travelpoints.com.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!