Sunvil Blog - Latest Comments

Re: How the Greek people spend their winters…

Krystal Christine — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:04:10 -0000

I think olive picking is such a good winter activity

Re: Dog sledding in Swedish Lapland

Veronica Nelson — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:46:16 -0000

Sounds fantastic! This is on my list of Thing To Do Before I Die!

Re: Exploring the wine villages of Cyprus

Wine Cyprus — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:30:04 -0000

Yes - it's amazing how travel still helps to broaden world views on the earliest world winemakers. Today, it's Georgia (the Country) that has now the privilege of being the oldest winemaking region according to archeological findings. Happy tastings.

Re: 10 surprising facts about the Faroe Islands

Lorraine — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:50:18 -0000

There are 5 sets of traffic lights in the Faroe Islands, not 3!

Re: Dancing in the streets: Buenos Aires and the Tango

Backpacker Boy — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:09:48 -0000

Great post Andy - loved the tango stuff when we were in BA, its such a big part of the culture (some of my own thoughts here: http://www.backpackingtravelde...

I even got roped into a Tango competition back home with the Mrs and ended up winning! Must&#39ve been the tips i picked up over there!

Re: The most westerly island of Europe: Flores, a hiker’s paradise

Sunvil — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:07:29 -0000

thank you Lynne - it does, doesn&#39t it? I must admit that when I was researching this article I showed the pictures to my wife and we both agreed that this is somewhere we&#39d love to visit :)
Andy

Re: The most westerly island of Europe: Flores, a hiker’s paradise

lynnerosie — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:19:12 -0000

Gosh, looks really lovely Andy :-) Such tranquillity and such beauties of nature.

Re: Greece and the Mamma Mia Trail

@kkoolook — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:46:08 -0000

sailing around those areas is divine! feel free to ask for advice…

Re: Exploring the Alentejo

Fotografia João Domingos — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 12:17:17 -0000

and pictures of Beja? don&#39t you have? See the links below

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4...

Re: Exploring the Alentejo

Joao — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:53:52 -0000

In Alentejo you have many options. One of them is Surfing in Vila Nova de Milfontes, an old picturesque village situated at the mouth of the River Mira, in Costa Vicentina Natural Park, near Algarve. It is a quiet village surrounded by amazing scenery with a quit atmosphere all year round. Amazing surf holidays in Portugal guaranteed!
The Surf Camp is located in the town within a few minutes from the village centre and beaches. It&#39s is run by surfers for surfers! No doubt it&#39s one of the best places to learn to surf in Portugal. Unmatched surf trip in several deserted beaches surrounded by stunning natural scenery. Surf&#39inn Milfontes is located in a peaceful town inside the Costa Vicentina Natural Park plenty of beautiful natural sceneries. Its quietness makes it one of the best places to learn surf and enjoy life. Unforgettable surf holidays guaranteed! For those who love surfing or want to have a different experience, I definitely recommend to have a look to Surf&#39inn Surf Camps is a surf camps network intended to develop and promote a set of surf and kite activities.. This coast attracts surfers from all over the word due to its amazing conditions.

Re: Brazil off the beaten track – 5 great places you shouldn’t miss

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:58:34 -0000

Kiri Te Kanawe, the New Zealander opera singer, once came to Brazil and during a TV interview showed interest in Brazilian jewelry she had come to know. The interviewer could not answer her properly. Now, Ouro Preto is the place. You will find both traditional and more contemporary jewelry there. Both large and also small crafstsmen shops with striking pieces of work. Minas Gerais has important production of gemstones. Some are more common: acquamarine, tourmaline. Others rarer: emerald and alexandrite. Others unique: the exotic imperial topaz.

Re: Brazil off the beaten track – 5 great places you shouldn’t miss

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:04:42 -0000

Brazil is the Best country ih the world!

Re: Peru beyond Machu Picchu

itinerantlondoner — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 08:28:56 -0000

Peru is such a staggeringly beautiful and diverse country, was the real highlight of my trip to South America, and it&#39s a shame so many people just see Cusco & Machu Picchu. This is a great list, and there are so many more highlights you could add:
Huaraz & the Cordillera Blanca - the world&#39s highest tropical mountain range has some stunning day hikes and multi-day treks past glaciers and gorgeous lakes; Huaraz itself is one of the world&#39s great hiking towns, with real charm and incredibly friendly locals.

Huacachina is the perfect desert oasis - a small resort town circling round a little lake, and surrounded by absolutely enormous sand dunes. It&#39s quite an incredible sight, and it&#39s great fun to travel over the dunes by buggy and sand board down them.

And of course Lima is often overlooked by travellers as big, dirty, and dangerous - but scracth the surface and it has some really beautiful colonial buildings, great nightlife and best of all some of the finest restaurants in South America - one of the big surprises for me was quite how amazing Peruvian food is.

Re: Food and Drink of the Alentejo

Cortes de Cima — Tue, 31 May 2011 14:57:13 -0000

Planning to fly into the new Beja airport from Heathrow? Don&#39t miss visiting the wineries in Alentejo! In little more than 30 mins after landing in Beja, you can be sitting at our winery tasting room terrace, sipping a glass of Cortes de Cima wine, and enjoying the great vistas over our vineyards and olive groves! Come and see for yourself!

Re: Food and Drink of the Alentejo

Nelson — Fri, 27 May 2011 08:03:49 -0000

Why you never speak in Beja city? This is one of the great towns of Alentejo, capital of Baixo Alentejo region, with roman traditions, we were one of the moast important towns of the Roman time... We have the highest castel tower from Portugal and Spain, lovely monuments, monastery deserts, great food, hospitality... why you never speak from us? Try to see Beja deeply and you will find a wonderfull town and lovely people!

Re: If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes

Faroe Islands Podcast — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:01:21 -0000

Perhaps the must frustrating thing about visiting the Faroes is to look at the scenery around you, then look in the viewfinder of your camera, and know there&#39s no way you&#39ll possibly be able to convey just how staggeringly beautiful the place is. It must be experienced in person. There is no substitute.

Re: Oaxaca: a taste of real Mexico

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:33:31 -0000

Side note: the treasures found in Tomb 7 at Monte Alban are second in value only to the treasures found in King Tut&#39s tomb. Much of it is displayed at the museum at Santa Domingo

Re: Oaxaca: a taste of real Mexico

Andy Jarosz — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:22:44 -0000

Alecia, yes, we worth adding to the list - it&#39s a beautiful city (and for my part, I still have to go to Guadalajara!)
Craig, I take it you&#39ve sampled Oaxacan cuisine too. It&#39s worth a whole post of its own. What did you enjoy most?

Re: Oaxaca: a taste of real Mexico

craig — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:56:44 -0000

Certainly a very good taste too.
stay adventurous, Craig

Re: Oaxaca: a taste of real Mexico

Alecia @ Hoobing Family Advent — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:31:43 -0000

Looks like a fabulous place to visit. I will definitely add it to our list. I cannot believe we missed it when we lived in Guadalajara!

Re: Ikaria, Eastern Aegean, Greece

ferrymansdaughter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:36:51 -0000

I&#39m really glad to receive this reply and to get so much information on the specifics of what you have been doing. Maybe I&#39ll keep Ikaria on my list after all!

Re: Ikaria, Eastern Aegean, Greece

Sunvil — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:24:44 -0000

Quite agree with you Ferryman&#39s Daughter, and Sunvil has always been active in trying to improve animal welfare in Greece. We have had a link to the Greek Animal Welfare Fund (http://www.gawf.org.uk/) for many years now (see links page under Charities). We take a &#39softly softly&#39 approach and believe that education produces better long-term results than waving a big stick. Sunvil has provided financial support to a number of Greek animal welfare organisations, notably in Chania, Crete, where we have matched our client contributions for about 14 years now (so thousands of euros), and Sunvil have paid for resulting in thousands of euros going towards projects such as:

2007/8/9 new cat house renovations
2006 air con units for quarantine unit
2003/4/5 collection renovations to quarantine unit
2001/2 money went towards buying a new van

previous to that we have bought: washing machine/dryer/deep freeze/ gas heaters/ medicines, to name a few.We have also given practical help to similar organisations in Kefalonia and Alonissos - see http://www.kefalonia-animal-tr....

It is a slow process but overall I think we are winning. The young Greeks are certainly much more aware of animal welfare issues - it seems to be a dwindling proportion of older Greeks who have such outdated views. On Ikaria, for example, the problem is being caused by as very small number of farmers, not representative of the average islander at all. Our agent on the island, Rania Mitikas, does have a local animal welfare collection box in her office.

My opinion is go and make your views known and ask how you can help - I don&#39t think boycotting an island helps really.

Re: Ikaria, Eastern Aegean, Greece

ferrymansdaughter — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:18:45 -0000

Ikaria is an island I had seriously thought about visiting this year until I read in the Greek Animal Welfare Fund newsletter about the so-called “barrel dogs” on this island. I think in many ways Greece is one of the best countries on earth and have visited many times, although the lack of concern for animal welfare has bothered me (and astounded me as the Greeks are such fabulous people in every other way). However, the treatment of these poor dogs, many of whom are only puppies, has put me off completely, even though I know that I would be unlikely to actually see any of them during any beach-based holiday. Is Sunvil planning to do anything to support the GAWF campaign? I know from my experiences in the past that your reps often direct holidaymakers to local animal welfare campaigns (usually run by people from Northern Europe and the UK) but it would be good to see Sunvil help spread the word about GAWF. Education with regard to animal welfare is essential and although Ikaria is only a small island, this campaign is extremely important.