Every House Has A Beach - Dubai‏

A friend of my mom sent me an email of the Palm Spring properties in Dubai. This is truly a beautiful place to visit . My sister currently lives in Dubai (she's a flight attendant) I will post some pictures of her later this week.

The Palm Hotel opens in Dubai

A huge man-made island shaped like a date palm tree opened Thursday off the coast of Dubai with a celebrity-studded gala and a three-day party. The Palm Jumeirah increased Dubai's shoreline by 100 percent after work started on it in 2001.

It features resort hotels, homes, luxury shopping and entertainment.
Though the entire island officially opened Thursday, parts of it already opened weeks ago including the Atlantis, The Palm, a sister to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.
The Atlantis played host to the opening celebration Thursday night.

Stars including Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Robert De Niro, Janet Jackson and the Duchess of York were in attendance. Pop star Kylie Minogue performed at the party.

Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra started what was billed as the world's largest-ever fireworks display, with more than 100,000 pyrotechnic devices.

When work on the island began, a team of Dutch engineers were employed to create the Palm by using a technique called rainbowing -- a vessel dredging sand from the seabed and spraying and piling it onto the desired area and into the requested shape. Source

Celebrate Carnival 2009 in Trinidad & Tobago

You and a guest will travel to land of steel pan courtesy of Scotiabank to celebrate Trinidad & Tobago’s 2009 carnival. The trip includes round-trip airfare, 3 nights accommodation, transportation and $500 in spending money! Sign up now for your chance to win.

click here to enter the contest!

Sights: Marrakech, Morocco

I found this beautiful luxury hotel in Marrakech, Morocco. The Kasbah Agafay Hotel and Spa,
here are some photos from the hotel and information about the city. Enjoy!!

Marrakech or Marrakesh (مراكش Marrakesh), known as the "Red City" or "Al Hamra," is a city with a population of 1,036,500 (as of 2006) in southwestern Morocco, near the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. The possible origin of its name could be from the Tamazight (Berber) words mur (n) akuch, which means "Land of God". (The root "mur" is now in the Berber languages used only in the feminine form "tamurt"). The same word "mur/mawr" appears in the country Mauritania, but this interpretation is still unproven to this day. There are other possibilities that are often invoked. more info/source

Sights: Havana, Cuba

Grand Theater of Havana and Capitol Building

What to do in Havana, during the Day:
- Explore Old Havana, discover unique colonial architecture and walk around the squares and narrow streets.
- Discover Camera Obscura located in Old Havana at the corner of Plaza Vieja on the roof.
- Visit Museum of Fine Arts in Old Havana, Trocadero street corner of Zulueta and Monserrate.
- Enjoy Havana’s fine beach "Playa de Este", located 15 km east of Old Havana.
At Night:
- Experience spectacular Cuban show and dance "Havana Cafe" - Vedado, in Melia Cohiba hotel.
- Visit Havana’s fashion house "La Maison" 10pm Fashion Show - Miramar, Str 16 #701 Ave 7.
- Annual Havana Jazz Festival - Havana Jazz Cuban Salsa music and Salsa clubs - Cuban Salsa
Day trip:
- Take a trip to Caribbean favorite spot, Varadero 140 km from Havana, spend a day on the beach.
- Consider trip to Tobacco Plantations, 160 km west of Havana, natural blessing & Indian Caves. - La Terrazas 70 km west of Havana, unique adventure distinctive journey in to the natural world. source

Sights: Salvador, Bahia

Market (Mercado Modelo) by the bay.

African-Brazilians make up the majority of the population in Salvador.

The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and its metropolitan area is the wealthiest in the northeastern region of the country. Over 80% of the population of metropolitan region of Salvador is of Black African origin, and African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. The historical center of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is rich in historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. source

Bon Voyage on a Budget

Fly Someplace Fabulous
For travel to another country or continent, search online for packages that combine airfare and hotel to save cash (see the sidebar “Take It to the Web,” page 180, for some smart sites that will help you scrimp painlessly). “We’ve seen savings as high as 40 percent over booking a flight and hotel independently,” says Arabella Bowen, editorial vice-president of ShermansTravel Media (shermans travel.com). Got the beach on the brain? “For the best value, U.S. travelers should look for islands whose currency is pegged to the dollar, like the Bahamas, or countries like Mexico whose peso is very stable with the dollar,” says Jim Hobbs, founder of Cheap Caribbean.com, a site for discounted island vacations. Yearning to visit the Motherland? Consider the winter “secret season” in South Africa, which starts in May (go to southafrica.net/usdeals for a list of tour operators). Read more & source

Sights of Africa

Ethiopia's coffee ceremony is an integral part of their social and cultural life. An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality. Performing the ceremony is almost obligatory in the presence of a visitor, whatever the time of day. Don't be in a hurry though - this special ceremony can take a few hours. So sit back and enjoy because it is most definitely not instant. Continue reading

Sights of Africa They Never Show on Tv

Fasilides was proclaimed Emperor in 1630 during a revolt led by Sersa Krestos, but did not actually reach the throne until his father abdicated in 1632. Fasilides immediately acted to restore the power of the traditional Ethiopian Orthodox Church.He sent for a new abuna from the Patriarch of Alexandria, restoring the ancient relationship that had been allowed to lapse. He confiscated the lands of the Jesuits at Dankaz and elsewhere in the empire, and relegated them to Fremona. When he heard that the Portuguese bombarded Mombasa, Fasilides assumed that Alfonso Mendez, the Roman Catholic prelate, was behind the act, and banished the remaining Jesuits from his lands. Mendez and most of his followers made their way back to Goa, being robbed or imprisoned several times on the way. In 1665, he ordered the "Books of the Franks" -- the remaining religious writings of the Catholics -- burnt. continue reading

Sights of Africa They Never Show on Tv

Kintampo Falls, Ghana

The Kintampo archeological site in Ghana dates back to 2500-1400 BCE and is one of the earliest known sites for the cultivation of the cowpea. Evidence of polished stone axes, stone beads, buildings of stone, domestic pots, ceramic sculptures of humans and animals indicate that Kintampo was established by practitioners of both pastoralism and horticulture.

The Kintampo people lived in villages composed of rectangular wattle and daub structures (the historical shape and material of Akan buildings) at Netereso, overlooking the White Volta, 50 km west of Tamale, in a settlement covering about 750 square metres.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintampo

Sights of Africa They Never Show on Tv

Canal Walk is a 125 000 m² shopping centre in Cape Town, South Africa, built around a series of canals. The centre forms the heart of a mixed-use development known as Century City, which includes office blocks, residential areas and the Ratanga Junction theme park.

Canal Walk is the largest shopping centre in Africa in lettable area (Gateway Centre in Durban is larger in total area) and the Sandton City complex in Johannesburg is larger if you include the Nelson Mandela Square annex. Built in what the developers call "Cape Venetian architecture", the shopping centre hosts over 400 stores, numerous restaurants, 20 cinemas plus a game arcade, skate-park and the MTN Sciencentre, an interactive science centre which in 2007 applied to the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's largest cellphone.

The centre opened in 2000 and appeals to the mass of tourists that visits Cape Town regularly from all over the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_Walk

Sights of Africa They Never Show on Tv

CAIRO, EGYPT.