August 2013

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A program called EatWith offers travelers to Spain, Israel and Brazil the chance to book meals with local hosts.

On the website, visitors can browse available hosts (at press time, 117 in Spain, 70 in Israel and four in Brazil) and see verified photos of meals hosts have prepared in the past.

Meals range in size, price, capacity and duration. In Spain, events have varied from vermouth and tapas on a terrace for $13 per person to a cooking class that included a trip to Barcelona’s Boqueria market for $117 per guest.

The Devil’s Pool, a natural rock pool at the top of the Zambian side of Victoria Falls, is shallow enough during dry season (September-January), under the right weather conditions, for visitors to swim to the very edge of the falls above the 300-foot drop without getting swept over. The current is diverted around both sides of the pool by a rock wall below the water’s surface.

Northwest of Sint Joris Bay on Curaçao is the Curaçao Ostrich Farm (phone +[5999] 747 2777), with 600-plus birds.

Farm tours 9-5 daily at $15 per person. Ostrich ride (reserve ahead), $35. On-site restaurant.

The Isle of Wight, about five miles off England’s southern coast, in May ’12 was voted by Lonely Planet as one of the top 10 cycling destinations worldwide. 

Wight Wanders (22 Broadfields Ave., Cowes, Isle of Wight, P031 7UD, U.K.; phone 01983 281662) has 3-, 4- and 5-night self-guided cycling tours, costing from £269 (near $410) to £444 ($677) per person (single supplement, £20 per night). The price includes accommodation, bike hire, luggage transfer, maps and route notes. 

Horse riding holidays are offered in seven European countries plus Peru and Tanzania by Equestrian Escapes, Ltd. (Rose Cottage, Common Lane, Duddon, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 0HG, U.K.; phone +44 [0] 1829 781 123 or 7946 754 814). Horses, gear and instruction are included, with lodging from B&Bs to self-catering cottages. 

UrgentRX® powders are single-dose remedies sold in waterproof, credit-card-sized envelopes. While containing the same medications as found in over-the-counter pills (Headache Relief contains aspirin, Upset Stomach Relief contains calcium carbonate, Allergy Relief’s active ingredient is diphenyldramine HCL, the same medication found in Benedryl), the fruit-flavored, fast-acting powders require no water to use, dissolving immediately on the tongue.

At $1.49 per dose, they’re sold in pharmacies and grocery stores or online from Amazon, Walgreens, Pharmaca and Drugstore.com. 

Look for bowhead whales from a vintage, refurbished tall ship, the 168-foot, 34-passenger S/V Rembrandt van Rijn, while sailing around Greenland’s Disko Island, exploring fjords and landing at sites to observe wildlife. The 7-night, Arctic “Disko Bay Whale Safari” cruise begins at the town of Aasiaat, reached by charter flight from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.

(Part 1 of 2 on the Netherlands)

Let me tell you how it is I came to be in Amsterdam and why I decided to visit some of the special “hidden” places that are called hofjes.