Protea Hotel Livingstone (Livingstone, Zambia)

Protea Hotel Livingstone

Plot 2110, Mosi-O-Tunya Road

Livingstone

PO Box 60286

Phone: +260 213 324 630

Website

The hotel is located in a quiet safe area, in the outskirts of the city, at about 20 minutes walking distance from the Museum. Nobody will annoy you while waking around, actually people will be very friendly to you if you just smile.

The common areas are just beautiful with a colonial style and plenty of water ponds and fountains, great furniture and paintings, which contrasts with the dryness of the hotel surroundings. The pool is small but lovely, next to the restaurant, which also operates as a bar.


My room had classic colonial style, and it was lovely, comfortable, very spacious with a huge bathroom and wall mirror, and a basic selection of good quality toiletries (citronella repellent moisturiser included). Both the room and the toilet were super-clean and there was an electric anti-repellent in the room. The room had a flat screen TV with a varied selection of channels, 3 movies channels, BBC, Aljazeera and National Geographic, among others.

The restaurant was open long hours and offer a varied selection of Zambian and international dishes. The restaurant is a bit pricey for Zambia standards, but it is very pleasant, stylish, and offers small buffet dinners and lunches at 150 Kwatcha (about 24$ Au). I had the breakfast included in the price of my room, and it was also buffet style with plenty of sweet and savoury, hot and cold options, and also Zambian and International dishes. Request your breakfast pack if you have to leave the room before the restaurant opens (7am) and collect it from reception; this pack includes just cold stuff.

This was my first visit to Zambia and the staff made my visit really enjoyable and unforgettable, and most of them were very polite, friendly and attentive. Some of them were extremely helpful and went out of their way to help me in anything I requested.

POINT MAKERS
+ The hotel has one of the best complimentary high speed wifi I have found in my African trips!
+ Most tour operators drop buy and pick up from the hotel, so it is very convenient to visit Victoria Falls. 
+ Wakeup call available and they called on the clock.
+ There is a small gift and tour shop at the lobby.
+ Huge selection of food and drinks at the restaurant and bar. 

SO SO
== The towels racks in the toilet were too high for me!
== The storage room for storage was limited despite the room being quite large.
== There was no bathrobe or sleepers, no pen or pencil in my room.
== The hotel has no room service.
== All the power points in my room were used, so one needs to unplug things (fridge, TV, or lamp) to plug anything else.
==  I was told twice that I could not get an international adaptor valid for my Australian plug. The excuse, "we have it for African plugs" is a bit lame, Livingstone is a place massively visited by non-African tourists. It was my persistence in asking for a solution and the kindness of one of the guys at the hotel that provided me with an international switchboard to recharge my laptop. I have been in very remote countries in the world, way more remote than Zambia, and they had International adaptors and no excuses.
== The lunch and dinner buffet were pricey (about 24$ Au) and the beef used in the dishes was really poor quality, with plenty of bones and tendons, not much meat in it.
== The only fitness centre I saw on my floor was a lonely cross-trainer/bicycle placed in a corridor..  
== The Breakfast pack I got one of the days was poor, not even a hard boiled egg in it.
==  In general, I found the hotel pricey for the services you get.

IF THIS WERE MY HOTEL I WOULD...
-- I would try to enlarge the number of power points in the rooms. We all travel with gadgets, and recharging three gadgets having just a power point is never convenient.

-- There is a NEED to have universal electricity adaptors available at reception for International visitors.

-- I would provide customers with pen/pencil, disposable sleepers and a bathrobe, after all this is supposed to be a posh-ish hotel and you charge customers as such.
-- I would place an extra towel rack in the bathroom for "shorties" like me. Otherwise, a small stool in the bathroom would do the job.
-- I would open the restaurant for breakfast at 6am instead of 7am, and  I would include a boiled egg or some sort of protein in the breakfast takeaway packs.
-- I would change the beef provider and get some good quality beef.  
-- I would provide a complimentary shuttle to the city centre.

MIND
> Insects will visit you in your room. Plug your electric anti-repellent (blue flat repellent bar is provided by the hotel, so you just introduce it in the little plug and switch on the power).

TIPS

+ If you want to bring down your food costs, you have several food joints at a walking distance. Otherwise, you can walk about 12 minutes and go to the Mosi-ao-Tunya Gateway Shopping Mall, on the way to the Museum, where there are several cafes and fast food places.

+ The same shopping mall has two banks, one of which accepts international Visa cards. Mind the timing, because it seems that the ATM is not functional until the bank offices close (that was my case, anyway). There is another small shopping mall and a petrol station on the left hand side of the hotel, at about 4 minutes walking distance, with a few shops and a Barkley's Bank ATM there, but, like in other cases, it was not working when I visited.

+ Get some Kachwa (Zambia's currency) on arrival and you will save money. Otherwise, you will be (over)paying in USA Dollars, especially if the American Dollar is not your currency. 

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Batoka Sky (Livingstone, Zambia)

Batoka Sky
Livingstone, Zambia
+ (260) (3) 320 058
Website
I had a 15 minutes micro-light flight early in the morning with these guys and I had a ball - truly, an unforgettable experience.

The company is very well organised. They pick you up and drop off from your hotel and take you to the aerodrome. You can pay at their office there if you haven't booked online, and cue for your turn to ride the micro-light. There is an outside seating area, really lovely, facing the take off area. Before getting on the flight, you are provided with a padded overall to protect you from the cold up there, and a helmet once you board the machine. You have to remove any scarf and should not wear loose shoes. 

The young hot sweet pilot who took me to the sky was great. The take off and landing were extremely smooth, nothing compared to any other flying adventure activity I have done. No bumps, no noise. Just posing the machine lightly on the ground as a bird would do. 

The flight itself was amazing. Seeing Victoria Falls is a experience difficult to forget, but doing so from a medium distance and above them, up in the air, is just awesome. One enjoys the splendour of the Zambezi River and the Falls themselves, and the canyons that the Zambezi created after the Falls, which are equally spectacular. Not only that, you can easily spot hippos, elephants and other big animals on the river shore or just inside it. The pilot will give you a tour around and across the falls, an point to you anything noticeable. 

I love this sort of flights. If you have height freight, this might make your guts churn a bit, but it is really worth the churning!

Bad news - you cannot take your camera with you. Good news - your flight is photographically recorded, and you can purchase the photos after the flight, for about 20$. You are provided with a set of photos in two folders. One contains photos of the Low and High Falls, and the other photos of you, awesome traveller, being photographed up there. To be honest, not taking your camera allows you to enjoy the flight to the fullest, so it is a great idea. The photos in this entry provide all from the CD I got.

I think the 15-minute flight is enough to see Victoria Falls in winter. Things change in summer and the Zimbabwean side of the Falls has more water, so you might like extending your flight 15 minutes more and crossing to the other side, or just going to Zimbabwe and do the flight there. Still, there is a huge difference in price.

The offices are also a shop, and they sell cool souvenirs and postcards. The buildings at the aerodrome are beautiful, made in traditional architecture style.

All the staff were lovely and very helpful.

TIPS
> Book this activity as part of a pack including other activities (like the sunset Zambezi cruise and the tour of the Falls) and you will save tons of money.
> If you are doing the activity in the Zambian winter in the morning, take warm clothes with you, as the wait can be long and it is freezing cold there. Amazingly enough, the weather was warmer in the air than in the ground, where we were all freezing.

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Mail Boxes Etc. (Granada, Spain)

Calle Veronica de la Virgen, 1
18005 GranadaSpain
+34 958 536 811
Website

I had a terrible experience with these guys. To be fair, the guys at the office were lovely, but the service and information was not.

Due to my long trip, I had to post a big box with clothes from Perth to my parents, as I was travelling with little luggage due do the requirements of the trips before and after.

As I was not heading home directly, I thought that it would be better using a courier. I saw the UPS sign at the door of this franchised office, and a few days after my arrival I went in to ask for info.

I talked to the manager directly, and I told him about sending the parcel back to Australia, the contents being mostly clothes and personal items that I could not fit in my luggage, and I asked for a quote, timing, packing requirements, if they were working with Australia, etc. The guy told me that no problem, yes, they work with Australia, yes, they could pick up the parcel from my parents in case of need, yes I could delay the delivery until I was  back in Perth and so forth. I left with his card and a quote at the back.

That very day, I checked the company's website. There, it is clearly stated that you can send your suitcase, if you want or need, around the world. The website looks serious and professional.

To make sure that I was right re the packaging, I visited this office for a second time. I spoke to another guy, who made the same questions as the manager did, and with whom I discussed the packaging of my parcel/s.

The day before my departure, I took a taxi to carry the two parcels myself, as one of them was +10 Kgs. I arrived there, and as soon as I said Australia, the manager told me that unless the contents were new with the shop sale's target attached, I could not send the parcel to Australia due to the Australian Customs requirements and limitations. I told him that I do live in Australia, that I have sent things back and forth many times and that there is no problem unless you pack some illegal items or products in the no list. I told him about their website. He said that this for the rest of the world, not for Australia. He told me that I should have asked him in advance. I told him that yes, I DID CHECK WITH HIM SPECIFICALLY, IN ADVANCE and that he had said yes to everything, he was arrogant enough to say that he did not remember the conversation. Unfortunately, I do. I had to take another taxi to my parents' and leave the parcel with one of my brothers so he could post it to my place.

I cannot forget the trouble and money of taking my parcel back and forth to my parents, mostly because this was my third visit to the office, and I had clearly mentioned everything during my first visit, The apology the manager gave me was so lame and unapologetic that I have decided to post this review.

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Best Western Premier Amaranth (Bangkok, Thailand)

Best Western Premier Amaranth
Suvarnabhumi Airport
68 Moo 2 Kingkaew Road,
Bang Phli, Samut Prakan,
10540 Thailand
Phone: 66 (23) 159393
Website

I stayed a couple of days at the Best Western Amaranth to have a rest between my busy flying schedule, and I am was happy with its convenient location, great facilities, good price and great service. The hotel is located in a quiet area, with not much happening around beyond the traffic, a fact that turns it into an oasis of peace in the middle of the always busy Bangkok.

The hotel is located at about 10-15 minutes drive from the airport. It is very spacious, with a shiny uber-clean lobby and common toilets, a restaurant, a spa, and a pool with bar included. There are separate premises for conferences and business meetings, as well. The common gardened areas are beautiful, with lovely ponds full of water lilies and the Amaranth dragon sculptures. The hotel is by a big road, and there isn't much to see around. However, this is a transit hotel and if you are coming on holidays, you would probably want to go elsewhere. However, the concierge and tour desk have a nice selection of day and half day tours around Bangkok.

My room was huge, with a wonderfully firm King Size bed, work and rest areas, plenty of storage room and natural light, a decently sized flat screen with plenty of local and international channels, coffee/tea making facilities, and an alarm clock. The toilet was rather average regarding size and facilities, but spotless clean, and with a complete set of toiletries, as it used to be before hotels decided that the less is more. For most travellers, the more toiletries the better, and the Amaranth understands that, so you can fin anything you might need, from a toothbrush to a mini-sewing kit.

All the staff at the hotel are just wonderful. My special thanks to the people at the reception desk, shuttle transfer van and to the Spa ladies, who are the quintessence of what Thai people are: serviceable, chilled out, kind, competent and smiley.

THE RESTAURANT
The restaurant has a huge selection of classic favourites of the European, Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines, the last being my favourite while in Thailand (and good in this hotel). Buffet breakfast, included in my room price, was varied and satisfying with plenty of cold and hot, sweet and savoury options, but a bit bland in taste. They have also a huge selection of International wines, mocktails (I loved the ginger one) and smoothies. Prices are high according to Thai standards or high for what you pay in the city eateries and posh restaurants for better food, but it comes handy if you are staying just for a few days or in transit.  

THE POOL
The pool area is located at the back of the hotel, behind the gym area, and it is wonderfully relaxing, very clean and good looking, with plenty of lying seats, and a small bar-cafe attached to it.

THE SPA
The in-hotel spa Amaspa is just awesome. Despite its small size, the place is wonderfully stylish and relaxing, with Thai classy style decor and a very attentive staff. You are welcomed in the place with a bell flower cold tea (a stunning herbal tea that I would have bought if it had been for sale) and farewelled with a hot tea; their tea pottery is gorgeous. The pots they use, the flowers, the mini-pond, the lighting, everything is soothing and beautiful. But it not just the looks. Amaspa delivers. Thai massage therapists are among my favourite in the world because of their technique and ability to read your body and fulminate your pains and aches with their tiny hands and broad smile. The masseuses here apply a medium-strong pressure, which I found extremely hard, as they are stronger than any of my physiotherapist or remedial masseuses in Australia! You better tell them in advance which sort of pressure you want. I had the Ama Sampler package done, and it is just fabulous regarding the quality of the products they use, the mastery of the therapists, and the state of your skin when you leave Amaspa's premises. The foot massage was also amazing. Prices are not cheap, but nothing comparable to what we would pay in Australia for such a quality package.

POINT MAKERS

•  Free shuttle to the airport running every half an hour and, in the wee hours of the night, every hour. If you have breakfast prepaid and are departing before the restaurant opens, you will be provided with a breakfast pack, one of the best I have had to take away in my last travels! 
• 24/7 Room Service.
• Two bottles of complimentary drinking water per day.
• Free Wi-Fi. User name and password are provided when you check in.
• Complimentary non-alcoholic drink at the bar. 
• There is a 7eleven supermarket at five minutes walking distance. They sell a bit of everything (from packed meals to batteries, snacks, toiletries, etc.), it is extremely clean, well organised and has wonderful staff. If you bother to say anything in Thai, they will display their best smile.
• Several street eateries are located at a few minutes from the hotel, too, the nicest one by the 7eleven.  

DOWNSIDES
> The room was a bit run down, with one of the power boards a bit detached from the wall and with not enough power to feed my computer, but OK for my tablet.

> There were just two power points in the whole room, and one of them wasn't in good condition, with those sparks that you get when you plug something to a defective socket.

> Tap water in the room is NOT drinkable. You won't notice or know unless you ask the staff or read the hotel booklet in the room. It might be too late by then.
> The body wash smelled of laundry soap!

>  The air-conditioning was very noisy.
> The walls aren't that thick, so you can listen to your next-door neighbour's conversation easily. 

IF THIS WERE MY HOTEL I WOULD ...

# I would revamp a bit the rooms furniture.

# I would include channels in French, Italian and Spanish and Thailand receives plenty of tourists from these three countries. 
# I would provide a few more sachets of coffee and creamer. The cleaning ladies gave me a few spare ones when I requested  them, but it is just natural to expect a person staying more than six hours to have more than two coffees, no?
# I would add a box of tissues in the main room area.
# A must. If the tap water is not drinkable, a sign should be placed in the toilet saying so.

# I would show the pricing of the spa treatments in net prices, taxes included.

# I would revamp the restaurant, making the breakfast area and the night dinning areas clearly distinct in decoration and settings. At the moment, everything is one space, too dark until the artificial lighting is on.

 MIND
-- There are plenty of mosquitoes around, especially around the pool in the late hours of the day, but also in most outside areas and some of the common areas as well. These mosquitoes like you, guaranteed.  The staff work hard to get rid of them in the indoor areas with some super-duper electric racquets, but they are still around everywhere outside the air-conditioned indoor areas, especially around the pond and pool. 
-- Prices showed in the spa brochure do not include taxes, and 500 bath were added to my final bill.

Good hotel, close to the airport, with lots of features or guests, and with great staff. This not a flashy posh place, but very welcoming and comfortable, decently priced and with great service. 

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Mega Bangna Shopping Mall (Bangkok, Thailand)

Head photo courtesy of Bankok.com 

39 Moo 6 Bangna-Trad Rd. Km.8
Bangkaew, Bangplee,
Samutprakarn,
Bangkok 10540, 
Thailand 
Phone: 2-105-1000
Facebook (mostly in Thai)
Website

I spent one of my transit days in Bangkok at this shopping mall after a lady at reception in my hotel told me that, "if you like shopping, you have to go there".

The shopping mall is massive, and you will need a big amount of time to visit all the shops you are interested in advance, and those that will captivate your attention. Despite the size, the mall does not feel overwhelmingly big or unmanageable.The place is very spacious, trendy, luminous, with ample corridors, fancy toilets, shiny and squeaky clean. It has harmony and style, and mix of fashion, home and, electronics, electric and health shops, stunning jewellers and jewel stands, gym, cinema, Ikea and what is not. 

That day, I had a simple plan, that turned out better than expected:
1/ Finding a Thai place to eat. To my surprise there is a Food Walk, like a outdoors food hall around the building, with a considerable number of restaurants with different world cuisines. I did choose an authentic Thai restaurant, though, very cheap and yummy, and I was enchanted by the conversation of the lady owner, the yummy dishes that the chef cooked for me, and the pop arty cool decoration on the walls. 

2/ Visiting some of my medium priced favourite brands to check my fav  products, like Yves Rocher, Body Shop, Zara, New, Mango, and places of that sort. These and many more were all there.
3/ Checking out the shops in general. I was gladly surprised at finding a mix of medium brands and very posh ones, designer shops included, elegantly blended together without a sense of mismatch.
3/ Looking for a beauty salon and a massage salon. I was gladly surprised at finding an humongous number (I mean, many...) of beauty salons, some of them very exclusive, offering treatments that were affordable for foreigners but very posh, as they use the latest technologies and the poshest of the poshest of products. The parlours of some of them were fabulous. There were also several hair and nail salons, and several Thai massage places. I had a great experience at the place I visited for manicure-pedicure, and at the massage place where I had my foot massage done.

Everyone I found in the shopping mall and I asked for help (directions, prices, or whatever) was mega-lovely! Really, they treated me  like a queen (despite me wearing unflattering backpacker clothing), with the kindness and class that Thai people are known for.

There is a taxi stop (metered taxis, thank Gosh!) at one of the exits of the building, which comes handy to return to your hotel or to the airport. Most of them do not speak English or just several words, so have your hotel card at hand - in Thai!

The Free Shuttle Bus from the BTS Sky train Udomsuk station stops at one of the sides of the mall, and you can get from/to the airport from here, easily at a fraction of the price you will pay if you take a taxi. The shuttle passes by many hotels in the area, so check at your hotel if you can benefit from it.

The day flew by fast and I had to leave in a hurry because I was late for my airport transfer. My only regret at leaving the shopping mall was not having gone there earlier in the day, and not having an extra day to continue my bangnaning! I take note. Next time I visit Bangkok, I will expend a bit of time at this shopping mall, this is a promise I make to myself, as I have visited the city and Thailand several times and I'm done with sightseeing. 

Most recommended, especially if you are lady.

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Table Mountain Aerial Cableway (Cape Town, South Africa)

Tafelberg Road

 Lower Cable Station, 

Cape Town Central 8001, South Africa
Phone: +27 021-424-8181
Website

There are cable cars and then there is "the" Table Mountain cable car - one of the most spectacular cable cars I have ever seen. Just the engineering of the cable car is amazing due to the roughness and remoteness of the area. The cars are perched in the sky, and seeing the cable car from afar is an spectacle of its own.

The return ticket is about 20 Au/USA Dollars (if purchased at the window), but well worth it the price. Why?
>> Because you get to Table Mountain, one of the natural wonders of the world (tick)
>> The cable car revolves around itself, so all passengers have a view of the spectacular surroundings (tick).
>> One of the window panels has no glass, so passengers can take a picture or enjoy the scenery without barriers (tick).
>> The guys driving the car are very welcoming, lovely and informative (tick).
>> There are cars going up and down every five minutes (tick).
>> You can buy the tickets online so you don't have to cue (tick)

If you go to Cape Town you MUST a) take the car. b) see the car from afar and take the very sought photo with the the two cards crossing in space. Just saying.

The main downside is that the cable car is subject to weather conditions, which are quite unpredictable in Cape Town, and change from day to day and from hour to hour at the top. There is an electronic board before entering the lower part of the ticketing area informing whether the cablecar is open or not. To avoid any disappointment, check their website on your smartphone before heading that way.

MIND

Prices are reduced for children, South African senior citizens, students and for SANPARKS pass holders.

WARNING

The cable car closes annually for maintenance works. This year 2014, it will be closed from the 28th July to the 10th August.

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Gautrain (Johannesburg, South Africa)

Phone: 0800 428 87 246
Website
Facebook
 
I have used the Gautrain train a lot during my stay in Johannesburg and I love it. 

The Gautrain (pronounced Hah-ooh-train) is a fantastic first-class train service that takes you to major destinations in Johannesburg.

The stations are well organised and signalled, with plenty of ticket machines and info booths, and electronic boards informing of time and platform of the departures. The trains run every 10-15 minutes and they are fast, reliable, uber-clean, pleasant to the eye, and comfortable. They have a very efficient information system on the train: voice information is given throughout the trip regarding stops, connections and destinations, while the electronic boards provide the same info in English, Afrikaans and Zulu (?) languages. There is lot of space to park your baggage while travelling, but they get filled up quickly and a landscape of suitcases is part of the Gautrain experience.  

At the moment, the Gautrain has two train lines. The first one goes from Park to Hartfied (Park, Rosebank, Sandton -change line here if you go to the airport- Malrboro, Midrand, Centurion, Pretoria, and Hartfied) and the second one from Sandton to the Airport (Sandton, Malrboro, Rhodesfield, and O. R. Tambo International Airport). 

If you are the distracted type of person or your brain is off during the trip, no worries,  you don't have to remember anything about these lines. Once you get your train gold card (the one you use to top up and use as a ticket pass), turn it over, look at the back, and voila, the route of both lines is shown there. How mindful is that?!!!

Prices are OK for foreigners, but a bit high for most working class locals; however, discounts are available by purchasing weekly and monthly passes. The ticket to the airport is around 135-155 Rands, depending on which station you jump on the train; nothing compared to the rip-off prices that taxis charge foreigners from/to the airport.

I hope the train adds some more stations or lines in the future.

More ticket windows, or at least two vendors per window, are needed at certain stations and times when cues are normal and you can easily spend more than 10 minutes waiting. No kidding. 

MIND
The Gautrain station and the sightseeing Red Bus are directly connected and easy to combine.  

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