Jetsettersblog

EILAT SERVES THE FED CUP TENNIS COMPETITION, FEBRUARY 1-4
For the second consecutive year, female athletes from Israel and around the world, including Russia, Spain, Belgium and Italy, will arrive in Eilat for an international tennis competition. www.fedcup.com

EILAT INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL, MARCH 14-17
The 7th annual Eilat International

Chamber Music Festival will feature renowned musicians from Israel and around the world performing in various indoor and outdoor concerts. http://eilat-festival.co.il/index-en.html

INTERNATIONAL SALSA CONGRESS SPICES UP EILAT, MARCH 22-24

Travelers and music fans will arrive in Eilat for the 10th International Salsa Congress featuring performance by dancers from around the world, as well as salsa workshops and lessons.
www.medsalsacongress.com

NATURE LOVERS FLOCK TO ISRAEL FOR EILAT BIRDWATCHING FESTIVAL

Hundred of birdwatchers from around the world will flock to Israel’s southernmost city for the 6th Eilat Birdwatching Festival, March 25-April 6. The week-long festival will include day and night birding tours, workshops and a festive opening banquet. www.eilatbirdsfestival.com

EUROPEAN TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS COME TO EILAT, APRIL 19-22

Thousands of athletes are expected to arrive in Eilat for the European Triathlon Championships, featuring challenging swimming, running and cycling courses along Eilat’s Red Sea shoreline. www.triathlon-championships-2012.com

EILAT PRIDE FESTIVAL, MAY 15-17

Eilat’s annual LGBT festival will feature vibrant parties, activities and dance and music performances taking place in various hotels and outdoor venues around the Red Sea resort town.

RED SEA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, AUGUST 2012

The 26th annual Red Sea International Jazz Festival will include performances by world-renowned jazz musicians, as well as open jam sessions and workshops in various venues around Eilat. www.redseajazzeilat.com

EPSON WORLD OF UNDERWATER IMAGES COMPETITION, NOVEMBER 14-19

This leading photography competition attracts photographers from around the world to capture the Red Sea’s plethora of tropical fish and coral reefs. www.eilatredsea.com

Abercrombie & Kent is offering an expedition aboard MV Le Boreal to the High Arctic and Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. The Arctic Cruise Adventure: Polar Bear Country will take place July 6 to 21, 2013. Participants will see a diversity of colorful flora under the midnight sun in a region where polar bears roam the ice edge, less than 600 miles from the geographic North Pole. The program explores Greenland’s Bronze Age villages, Eskimo settlements and fishing enclaves, while searching for local wildlife. The trip finishes in Iceland with a visit to the extinct volcano of Snaefellsjokull, setting of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Guest quarters aboard MV Le Boreal are spacious and comfortable, with a choice of bedding configurations, including two-room, two-bath suites to accommodate families. Private balconies are on every cabin. Common areas invite casual conversation with fellow passengers and expedition staff members. There are also private spaces. A stabilizing system minimizes the effect of rough seas. Le Boreal’s ice rating exceeds that required.

Abercrombie & Kent’s Arctic Cruise Adventure: Polar Bear Country (July 6-21, 2013) includes pre-cruise lodging in Oslo, a charter flight to Longyearbyen, on-board lectures, twice-daily shore and zodiac excursions, most drinks and crew and staff gratuities. The 16-day trip is priced from $11,995 per person double occupancy. Bookings made by March 31 save 5 percent. For information, call 800-554-7094 or visit www.abercrombiekent.com

TourCrafters is offering a spring break package to Rome and Florence for two adults and one child up to 16 in a triple room for $1,049 per adult and $720 per child. For two adults and two children — in adjoining doubles in Rome and a large suite with queen and two singles in Florence — the price is $1,209 per adult and $830 per child.

The prices include air fare from New York, four nights’ accommodation at the four-star Hotel Michelangelo in Rome, four nights at the four-star Hotel Rivoli in Florence, eight buffet breakfasts, arrival transfer, hop-on/hop-off tour of Rome, Eurostar train ticket, free ice cream for the children in each city, a Florence guidebook and restaurant discount for kids. Prices are valid March 1 to 31. For more information, call 800-482-5995.

MLT Vacations expanded its Asia package offerings as well as its escorted tour offerings for both the Delta Vacations and United Vacations brands. Delta Vacations and United Vacations are offering a variety of escorted Asia tours and independent excursions in China, Japan and Thailand. Clients can opt for a three-day excursion to Xian, home to the terra-cotta warriors; packages for the cities of Beijing or Shanghai, China; or a tour of Japan, including Tokyo and Kyoto, with a visit en route to spectacular Mt. Fuji.

MLT Vacations manages multiple vacation brands, including Delta Vacations, in partnership with Air France Holidays and Alitalia Vacations, United Vacations, and Worry-Free Vacations. For more information, call 800-727-1111.

ANTARCTICA – When British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his team reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, they were only halfway through their journey. The group, who were narrowly beat out as the first visitors to the pole by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, froze and starved to death on the ice while attempting their return to the coast.

For the six members of the Polar Explorers team currently skiing toward the pole, that return journey won’t be a concern; the team will leave the pole by plane. Led by the premiere polar exploration guide service, they expect to reach the pole within the next two weeks, almost exactly 100 years after Scott did, after 60 days on the ice. They are able to make this journey without fear of losing their fingers, toes, or lives to polar conditions. Thanks to advances in equipment and navigational technology, a dedicated staff and cautious approach, Polar Explorers has maintained an impeccable safely record over almost 20 years of polar guiding.
The modern team is also able to make use of advances in communications technology. While early explorers simply wrote notes in their journals to share upon their (hopeful) return to civilization, the Polar Explorers team is able to blog daily about its adventures and exploits. This allows friends, family, and fans to keep tabs on the crew through text, photos, and a daily audio report.
A variety of trips
While they may benefit from some of the luxuries modern life has to offer, the team must still endure the tests of polar weather and two months of hard ski travel. This places them on the top tier of Polar Explorers clients, but they are far from the only ones. Travelers with polar ambitions who are less eager to slog it out on the ice for two months have a variety of options for crossing at South Pole visit off their bucket list.
In addition to the full trip, travelers can ski the final one or two degrees of latitude to the pole, trips that last 13 or 19 days, respectively. In one week, they can ski the final 20 kilometers. Those with even less time to spare can fly directly to the pole itself, and from there can fly home, spend a few nights in a heated base camp, or even sleep out overnight in a tent at the pole itself.
About Polar Explorers
Polar Explorers is the polar arm of The Northwest Passage, which guides adventure trips on land and at sea all across the planet. Polar Explorers has been leading people of all abilities to the very ends of the earth for almost 20 years. The company has guided trips to the North Pole since 1993, and leads clients there by ski, dogsled, and direct flight. They have guided similar trips to the South Pole since 2002, and also lead guided ski trips across the ice fields of Greenland and cruises of both polar regions.

G Adventures introduced a new brand, G-Plus, which the operator characterizes as a “comfort program.” The product line will include more than 150 tours, presented in a new brochure.

“Adventure and comfort are not mutually exclusive,” said John Warner, G Adventures’ vice president of global sales. “More and more, we are experiencing a surge in travelers looking for adventure but with a softer landing. The G-Plus line will feature a higher degree of comfort and convenience than the company’s previously offered tour products. It’s the same genuine, unforgettable experience with a few more frills mixed in along the way.”

Like the company’s traditional tours, G-Plus tours will be led by G Adventures tour directors, which go by the title Chief Experience Officer (CEO). The new G-Plus tours feature more inclusions like transfers, meals and on-trip activities; hand-picked accommodations with extra amenities and services; and upgraded transportation including planes, trains and private vehicles.

To promote the launch of G-Plus, G Adventures is having a 72-hour sale. Clients who book select Comfort tours between Jan. 24 and 26 for travel by Dec. 31 can bring a friend at 50 percent off.

In February, Binna Burra Mountain Lodge will open its new Sky Lodges, which are self-contained apartments that sleep from one to 10 people in studio, one, two or three bedrooms for singles, couples, families and groups. Each has its own fireplace and spa bath, and the views from every Sky Lodge are breathtaking.

Though the Sky Lodges appeal to those who prefer a more contemporary alternative to traditional Binna Burra, guests can still access the historic Lodge and the Clifftop Dining Room. Binna Burra Mountain Lodge combines a mountain getaway with the opportunity to explore a rainforest environment. Binna Burra is located outside of Brisbane.

The Lodge provides accommodation for a limited number of guests in heritage-listed lodges with the original buildings built from hand-cut tallow wood slabs. Some of the cabins date back to when the Lodge was first established in the early 1930s. All rooms offer tea- and coffee-making facilities, heaters, fans, are non-smoking, and are serviced daily. Televisions and telephones, clocks and radios are available in the Lodge, but not in guest rooms. Two styles of accommodation are available at The Lodge. Acacia rooms offer panoramic mountain views or rainforest views and each has its own balcony. Acacia’s have private shower and toilet facilities and have either queen, double, twin beds or can sleep larger families.

Casuarina rooms are heritage guesthouse style rooms nestled amidst native gardens. These original rooms were designed just to be slept in, as the rest of the time was spent socializing in the guest lounges and enjoying the facilities of the Lodge. Casuarina rooms offer comfortable beds plus a wash basin vanity unit. Separate bathroom facilities close to rooms on the same level are shared by just a small number of other guests. Guests participate in free daily activities program of guided walks, experience the adventure activities or explore the National Park at their leisure. For more information, call 011 1300 246 622.

Golf Week, a leading U.S. golf publication, named the Torrance and Kit tocks Courses at The Fairmont St. Andrews, a five-star cliff-top resort in St. Andrews, Scotland, the Home of Golf, among the Best Modern Courses in Great Britain and Ireland for 2012. The Torrance Course ranked No. 25 and the Kit tocks Course ranked No. 37 among all Great Britain and Ireland courses build since 1960.

The courses were evaluated by Golf Week’s panel of course raters (selected from golf industry professionals and accomplished amateur players). Modern courses are considered those built after 1960. Criteria for selection to the list included a course’s design, memorability of its individual holes, conditioning and the overall quality of the golf experience. Other modern courses making the list included Kingsbarns, The Castle Course and Castle Stuart.

The Fairmont St. Andrews, ranked No. 18 in Conde Nast’s Top 100 Golf Resorts in the World and awarded the European Golf Resort of the Year in 2011 by IAGTO, sits on 520 acres of open coastline overlooking the North Sea and the town of St. Andrews. In addition to golf and a world-class spa, Fairmont St. Andrews includes award-winning dining, luxurious accommodations and access to St. Andrews itself. For more information, call 800-257-7544.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Steele Luxury Travel recently announced that it will be the exclusive USA-based tour operator for the Life Ball for the fourth year in a row. This glittering event is Europe’s biggest HIV/AIDS benefit gala, one of the largest in the world, and by far the most fantastical.

Held in the ancient imperial capital of Vienna, the Life Ball is a dazzling, once-in-lifetime experience where some of the world’s greatest fighters and luminaries come together in the battle against HIV/AIDS. Bill Clinton, Janet Jackson, Sharon Stone and Brooke Shields are rich supporters in the cause and past attendees. In 2011, the Life Ball raised €1.9 million in one single night.

Founded in 1993, every Life Ball carries a theme and motto; starting in 2009, a cycle of the four alchemic elements began: Water (“Let Love Flow”), Earth (“Sow the Seeds of Solidarity”), Air (“Spread the Wings of Tolerance!”), and now, on May 19th, 2012, the primordial power of divine Fire takes the stage with “Fight the Flames of Ignorance!”

The Life Ball transforms the historic Viennese city hall into a phantasmagoria of light and sound, music and dance. Steele Luxury Travel guests will witness up close and personal the 2-hour-opening extravaganza on City Hall Square, before moving the celebration inside the gracefully gothic city hall. The grand chambers and yards of this historical building open up for guests in full costume or black tie dress, indulging them with an iridescent show comprising of live concerts by international stars exciting performances and culinary surprises until sunrise.

The audience can expect glitter and opulence on a mind-boggling scale, culminating in the grand finale fashion show – Donatella Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Roberto Cavalli, Gianfranco Ferré, Missoni, Moschino, Agent Provocateur, DSQUARED2, Kenneth Cole, Diane von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein, the Blonds for Patricia Field among others have presented their creations at the Life Ball.

Having assisted you in securing your Business or Economy Class seats to Vienna, Steele Luxury Travel will welcome to you Austria before you before whisking you off to the casual luxury of Vienna’s Ring Hotel, your home base for the festivities. Those festivities, however, will for you continue long after the Life Ball itself: An exclusive tour of the Demel confectionary house and a grand post-Life Ball Sunday brunch await you.

And then there is Prague. Immediately following your Life Ball 2012 Experience, it is on to the capital of the Czech Republic, the gorgeous “City of a Hundred Spires” (today’s count is 500).

Spending two nights at the luxurious 5-star Roccoforte Augustine Prague, Steele Travelers will be treated to three unforgettable days in this fairy tale of a city, taking in historic sites such as the majestic Prague Castle, the Wallenstein Garden, and the famous Charles Bridge, before sitting down to the fine Czech culinary traditions unique to Central Europe. Following Prague, Steele Luxury Travel can assist in arranging further travel extensions, or guests can return home.

Please contact Steele Luxury Travel for more details on your flight arrangements and a full schedule of Life Ball 2012 events.

Roundtrip airport transfers are also provided for Steele Travelers on the Austrian Airlines group flight.
• Land Only: $2,950 Double Occupancy
• Single Supplement: $1300
• Prices do not include international or domestic airfare.
http://www.steeletravel.com/lifeball

Live Your Indulgence, with 20 years at the Life Ball.

Khiri Travel’s private jet tour of the cultural and natural attractions of central Myanmar is for high-end clients. The four-day, three-night trip from Bangkok uses a six-seat Cessna Citation CJ3 private jet. For a six-person group, the whole trip is $8,500 per person, including visa on arrival, transfers, deluxe accommodation and most meals.

The flight lands in Bagan where guests take guided bicycle rides among the remote temples of Bagan, many of which are nearly 1,000 years old. The Bagan experience includes a boat ride on the Irrawaddy River for sundowners on a sandbank. Guests then fly in the private jet to Heho near Inle Lake in central Myanmar’s Shan hill country. Visitors enter a mature hardwood forest which is now an elephant and wildlife sanctuary with villagers taking ownership of the conservation process. Guests ride (and wash) elephants with local mahouts and villagers.

The trip then visits Inle Lake where guests ride a boat to see the floating gardens and the “pagoda forest” of Indein. On the water, guests see colorful markets frequented by traditional Shan and Pa-O tribes in costume. This is followed by lunch in a local house. Throughout the boat trip there are chances to see the leg rowers of Inle Lake. The trip includes a bicycle ride on the east bank of Inle Lake through Shan and Intha villages. Visitors stop and chat with villagers and monks in a local monastery. Lunch is served on a tranquil rice barge in the middle of Inle Lake. Guests then fly back to Bangkok on the private jet.

Khiri Travel is offering the trip to central Myanmar between May 1 and Sept. 30. If four passengers travel, the fee is $11,350 per person. If two passengers go, the fee is $22,000 per person. For more information, email Myanmar@khiri.com