by Editor | Sep 1, 2005 | Europe, Italy, Rome, Simon and Baker Travel Review
Although my hotel had recommended other more trendy restaurants and nearby trattorias I hoped to find a spot in a popular restaurant I had visited years earlier. A pleasant young man, Claudio, answered the phone when I called to make last minute reservations for dinner at La Rosetta, one of Rome’s better known seafood restaurant. It was in a historic Roman neighborhood, a 20-minute cab ride from my centrally located hotel. When I arrived at the restaurant later that night, it was nearly empty. I thought Claudio had pulled my leg but as the night aged the dining room and terrace filled up to capacity.
by Editor | Sep 1, 2005 | Europe, Italy, Rome, Simon and Baker Travel Review
Established by famed hotelier Cesar Ritz at the request of the Italian president in 1894, this Roman jewel is said to have its foundation over the Baths of Diocletian. The hotel, built on land belonging to Pope Sistus V, recently underwent a $35 million renovation requiring 450 workmen, including 151 skilled craftsmen and one million man hours of work.
by Editor | Aug 1, 2005 | Amazon, Latin America, Simon and Baker Travel Review
The Reserva Comual Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo is a remote eight hundred thousand acre nature preserve tucked away deep in the jungle of Loreto, Peru’s largest state. Loreto is an area the size of Montana that lies almost entirely in the Western Amazonian rain forest. The Reserve is bordered to the West by the upper Tahuayo River and its tributary the Blanco River. This is a place where seasonally flooded verzea forests and non-flooding terra firme forests meet, making it one of the most biologically diverse environments in the world. It has been the site of several decades of scientific studies that have yielded some of the Amazon’s richest varieties of plans, birds and mammals as well as amphibians and reptiles. Additionally, the villages in the permanent settlement zone adjacent to the Reserve have been at the forefront of community-based management of the natural resources of the Reserve and surrounding areas for over a quarter of a century. This commitment has enabled them to succeed in preserving their traditional way of life as well as their environment. All of these considerations made the upper Tahuayo River a compelling choice of destination for our Amazon rainforest discovery adventure.
by Editor | Aug 1, 2005 | Amazon, Latin America, Simon and Baker Travel Review
One of the most extraordinary things about the Tahuayo Lodge was that this welcoming enclave of comfort should exist at all in the midst of the untamed wilderness of the Western Amazon. Perched high on a bank of the Tahuayo River, the lodge was a sprawling, thatched-roofed complex of large huts linked together by covered bridge-like walkways. Entirely built on stilts, it was distinguishable only by its size and layout from the tidy indigenous villages down river.
by Editor | Jun 1, 2005 | Books, Simon and Baker Travel Review, Travel Books
In addition to page after page of fabulous maps there are three square feet of information including 75 political and physical maps, satellite photos, and a 134-page index in the latest edition of the famous National Geographic world atlas. Last updated five years ago, the eighth edition emphasizes North American maps. It is divided geographically starting on page 25 as follows: North America (22 pages, p25-47), South America (five pages, p48-53), Europe (14 pages, p54-68), Asia (13 pages, p69-82), Africa (five pages, p83-88), and Australia and Oceania (five pages, p89-94). With as many as 8,000 labels per map plate, the Atlas is one of the most detailed in the world. National Geographic editorial staff made use of the geographic information system and data sources such as the United Nations, U.S. State Department, Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
by Editor | Jun 1, 2005 | Jamaica, Simon and Baker Travel Review
Our spacious villa at Round Hill, a 110-acre haven constructed for wealthy foreigners in the 1950s on the grounds of a former pineapple and allspice plantation, felt like a home away from home. Built on an encircling hill overlooking a small cove and beach, Round Hill is home to a small two-story hotel, Pineapple House Hotel, and 27 privately owned rental villas. The practical and appealing architectural design ensured maximum exposure to the view of the bay and the hill while providing privacy from passersby and neighbors.
