As if Amalfi and its stunning coastal area couldn’t bring together mother nature’s finest and luxury once more, it has once again. Opening this spring is Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa, a jewel on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. Nearing completion, it will open in May.

The integrity of the original 17^th century monastery of Conca dei Marini that housed a cloistered order of nuns is being maintained as the buildings are transformed into a five-star, 20-room hotel and extraordinary full-service spa. Amenities include a heated infinity swimming pool, beautiful gardens, and an historical herb garden, situated on five terraced levels. All rooms and suites offer spectacular views of the Bay of Salerno and all are fully equipped with high-speed access and the luxuries of modern living. www.monasterosantarosa.com

MFUWE, Zambia (01/2012) Robin Pope Safaris (RPS) offers an exceptional Mobile Walking Safari experience along the Mupamadzi, a river in the mid-Luangwa Valley of eastern Zambia. The Mupamadzi, a tributary of the Luangwa, is a singularly beautiful river, shallow and clear, and is bordered by the Muchinga Escarpment, which can be seen rising to a 1000-foot high elevation.

The Mupamadzi Mobile Safari is valid from July to early October, a season of cool, dry weather. The 10-nights safari will take a maximum of six guests for five nights of mobile tented accommodations, combined with two nights at RPS’ Nkwali and three nights at either their Tena Tena or Nsefu camps. (The latter portion of the itinerary may be extended for seven nights.) Rates start at US$6690 per person per night; there is no supplemental rate for singles.

A mobile walking safari is the best possible way to discover the secrets of the bush, especially in the hands of an RPS expert guide and particularly when walking in the game-rich South Luangwa National Park. The Luangwa is a 3500-square mile, pristine wilderness area rife with big game and elegant with oxbow lagoons and cathedral mopane forests. Chances are in this neck of the bush safari-goers will spot a leopard in a tree munching on a carcass. And chances are a hyena or two will be skulking below, waiting for the “shoe” to drop.  Soon loud crunching noises are heard, as the scavengers sup away (hyena spoor is white from the surfeit of calcium consumed). The area is inhabited by roan, reedbuck and hartebeest.  And speaking of neck of the bush, it’s also where the endemic Thornicroft giraffe, whose beautiful patterning stops at its knees, ruminates. High adventure!

Stays are at intimate, comfortable and highly-personalized camps of Nkwali, Tena Tena or Nsefu, while the mobile tented camps that are set up just for the night maintain all the details and standards of a fixed camp, but with a flexible location. Safari-goers can take game drives during stays at the permanent camps and will be in the hands of excellent Robin Pope guides. (In 2010, RPS won the Good Safari Guide Award for the best guiding team.)

For reservations (advance booking is essential): info@robinpopesafaris.net or visit:  www.robinpopesafaris.net

Skype: Robinpopesafaris

New rules will make airlines more transparent with the public on fees related to everything from baggage to taxes. Isn’t it about time? <audience applause>

As reported by the AP below, industry changes are to take effect next week.

DALLAS (AP) — It comes as no surprise for experienced travelers, but novices are sometimes shocked to find that the final cost of airline trip can be much higher than the price touted on the airline’s website or advertising.

Recently, Southwest’s website quoted prices starting at $99 to fly from Dallas to Los Angeles. Come Jan. 26, Southwest could have to show a fare of $120.60.

New rules from the U.S. Transportation Department will require that advertised prices include taxes and mandatory fees. Currently, airlines just have to note that other charges apply, and provide a link or footnote to the details.

The new rules will make fares easier to understand. Government and airport charges can add 20 percent or more to the price of an airline ticket.

“It’s truth in advertising, right?” said Angie Toriggino of Austin, who travels frequently in her job training salespeople for a pharmaceutical company. “Some people probably budget a certain amount for their trip and then spend more than they expected.”

Airlines protest that other industries don’t have to include taxes in advertised prices. And they worry about the effect on ticket sales.

“We’re not raising our fares, but it will look to the consumer like we’ve had a big price increase,” said Robert Kneisley, Southwest’s associate general counsel.

David Berg, the general counsel of Airlines for America, a trade group of the biggest carriers, said the change will depress travel.

“It’s basic economics,” he said. “History tells us (that consumers) will see higher prices and buy less.”

Southwest, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air are fighting the government in court, hoping to roll back the rule, but a decision in that case isn’t expected until after the rule takes effect.

Transportation Department officials have been cracking down on airlines that, in their view, failed to make it clear enough that extra taxes and fees would be added to the advertised price.

In 2011, airlines and travel agencies admitted violating price-advertising rules in more than 20 cases and agreed to fines totaling more than $1 million. In the biggest case, Continental, which has since been acquired by United, agreed to a $120,000 fine after it was found to have touted some international flights at $240 less than the final cost by failing to include fuel surcharges in the advertised fare.

Penalties, however, are routinely cut in half if the airline avoids violating the rules for a year. And they pale in comparison to airline profits — about $850 million in just the first nine months of 2011 — and could be seen as a minor cost of doing business. That’s one reason that some consumer advocates wanted the Transportation Department to go even farther than it did in regulating how airlines describe prices.

The new rules will only require disclosure of government levies for things such as security and airport improvements. They won’t include the proliferating airline fees for checking bags, getting an assigned seat and other items. Those must be listed somewhere on an airline’s website, but the Transportation Department this week delayed whether to require more prominent disclosure.

Still, the inclusion of taxes in advertised fares “eliminates a lot of the skulduggery from airline pricing,” said Charlie Leocha of the Consumer Travel Alliance. “We’re moving forward.”

The advertising change is the latest of many passenger-service regulations imposed by the Transportation Department since 2010. The most notable was a limit on how long airlines can hold planes on the ground before giving passengers a chance to return to the terminal.

Just two days before the advertising changes kick in, several other new rules delayed from last year will also take effect, including a ban on airlines raising fares for tickets already sold. Allegiant Air raised the possibility of selling discounted seats that could go higher — even after the customers paid — if oil prices rose.

Another new rule will give customers 24 hours to cancel a reservation without penalty if it’s at least a week before their flight. Some airlines already allow that.

Leslie Araiza of San Antonio, who works for a nursing-home company, thinks free cancelations are a good idea.

“I travel every week for business,” she said, “and there are times when something comes up and I’ll have to change where I’m going.”

Source: AP

PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy (AP) — Divers have been searching the submerged part of a luxury cruise liner that went aground off the Italian coast in case any of 70 people unaccounted for might be trapped inside, a coast guard official said Saturday, as passengers described a delayed and terrifying evacuation.

Three bodies were recovered from the sea after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the tiny island of Giglio near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, tearing a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in its hull and sending in a rush of water. The ANSA new agency identified them as two French passengers and a Peruvian crew member but did not cite a source.

Passengers described a scene reminiscent of “Titanic”, saying they escaped the ship by crawling along upended hallways, desperately trying to reach safety as the lights went out and plates and glasses crashed.

Authorities say there are 70 people of the 4,234 on board who are still unaccounted for amid the confusion. Capt. Cosimo Nicastro cautioned there is no firm indication anyone is inside the ship, but he said since sea searches yielded neither bodies nor survivors, there is a possibility those unaccounted for are in “the belly of the ship” some 18 hours after the it apparently hit a reef near Giglio island — then lurched over on its side.

Passsengers complained the crew failed to give instructions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for many of them to be released.

Authorities have been checking names against the passenger list, but have had a hard time accounting for everyone. Helicopters whisked some to safety, some survivors were rescued by private boats in the area, and witnesses said some people jumped from the ship into the dark, cold sea.

By morning Saturday, the ship was lying virtually flat off Gigio’s coast, its starboard side submerged in the water and the huge gash showing clearly on its upturned hull.

Authorities still hadn’t counted all the survivors by the time they reached mainland 12 hours later.

The evacuation drill was only scheduled for Saturday afternoon, even though some passengers had already been on board for several days.

“It was so unorganized, our evacuation drill was scheduled for 5 p.m.,” said Melissa Goduti, 28, of Wallingford, Connecticut, who had set out on the cruise of the Mediterranean hours earlier. “We had joked ‘What if something had happened today?’”

“Have you seen ‘Titanic?’ That’s exactly what it was,” said Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles who was traveling with her sister and parents on the first of two cruises around the Mediterranean. They all bore dark red bruises on their knees from the desperate crawl they endured along nearly vertical hallways and stairwells, trying to reach rescue boats.

“We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing,” her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61 said. “We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls.”

She choked up as she recounted the moment when an Argentine couple handed her their 3-year-old daughter, unable to keep their balance as the ship lurched to the side and the family found themselves standing on a wall. “He said ‘take my baby,’” Mrs. Ananias said, covering her mouth with her hand as she teared up. “I grabbed the baby. But then I was being pushed down. I didn’t want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn’t hold her.

“I thought that was the end and I thought they should be with their baby,” she said.

“I wonder where they are,” daughter Valerie whispered.

The family said they were some of the last off the ship, forced to shimmy along a rope down the exposed side of the ship to a waiting rescue vessel below.

Survivor Christine Hammer, from Bonn, Germany, shivered near the harbor of Porto Santo Stefano, on the mainland, after stepping off a ferry from Giglio. She was wearing elegant dinner clothes — a gray cashmere sweater, a silk scarf — along with a large pair of hiking boots, which a kind islander gave her after she lost her shoes in the scramble to escape. Left behind in her cabin were her passport, credit cards and phone.

Hammer, 65, told The Associated Press she was eating her first course, an appetizer of cuttlefish, sauteed mushrooms and salad, on her first night aboard her first-ever cruise, which was a gift to her and her husband, Gert, from her local church where she volunteers.

Suddenly, “we heard a crash. Glasses and plates fell down and we went out of the dining room and we were told it wasn’t anything dangerous,” she said.

Several passengers concurred, saying crew members for a good 45 minutes told passengers there was a simple “technical problem” that had caused the lights to go off. Seasoned cruisers, however, knew better and went to get their life jackets from their cabins and report to their “muster stations,” the emergency stations each passenger is assigned to, they said.

Once there, though, crew members delayed lowering the lifeboats even thought the ship was listing badly, they said.

“We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the side,” said Mike van Dijk, a 54-year-old from Pretoria, South Africa. “We were standing in the corridors and they weren’t allowing us to get onto the boats. It was a scramble, an absolute scramble.”

Passengers Alan and Laurie Willits from Wingham, Ontario, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, said they were watching the magic show in the ship’s main theater when they felt an inital lurch, as if from a severe steering maneuver, followed a few seconds later by a “shudder” that tipped trash cans over. The subsequent listing of the ship made the theater curtains seem like they were standing on their side.

“And then the magician disappeared,” Laurie Willits said, saying the magician left the stage and panicked audience members fled for their cabins as well.

Once at their life boat station, crew members directed passengers to go upstairs from the fourth floor deck; Alan Willits said he refused.

“I said ‘no this isn’t right.’ And I came out and I argued ‘When you get this boat stabilized, I’ll go up to the fifth floor then,” he said. Eventually, his lifeboat was lowered down.

But things didn’t improve for passengers once aboard the lifeboats or on land.

“No one counted us, neither in the life boats nor on land,” said Ophelie Gondelle, 28, a French military officer from Marseille. She said there had been no evacuation drill since she boarded in Marseille, France on Jan. 8.

A top Costa executive, Gianni Onorato, said Saturday the Concordia’s captain had the liner on its regular, weekly route when it struck a reef.

“The ship was doing what it does 52 times a year, going along the route between Civitavecchia and Savona,” a shaken-looking Onorato, who is Costa’s director general, told reporters on Giglio, a popular vacation isle about 18 miles (25 kilometers) off Italy’s central west coast. The captain is an 11-year Costa veteran, he said.

He said Costa was cooperating with Italian investigators to find out what went wrong.

Costa Cruises said about 1,000 Italian passengers were onboard, as well as more than 500 Germans, about 160 French and about 1,000 crew members.

Some 30 people were reported injured, most of them suffering only bruises, but at least two people were reported in grave condition. Several passengers came off the ferries on stretchers, but it appeared more out of exhaustion and shock than serious injury.

Some passengers, apparently in panic, had jumped off the boat into the sea, witnesses said.

The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on the tiny island of Giglio. Those evacuated the port of Porto Santo Stefano on the nearby mainland.

Passengers sat dazed in a middle school opened for them, wrapped in wool or aluminum blankets, with some wearing their life preservers and their shoeless feet covered with aluminum foil. Civil protection crews served them warm tea and bread, but confusion reigned supreme as passengers tried desperately to find the right bus to begin their journey home.

Tanja Berto, from Ebenfurth, Austria, was shuttled from one line to another with her mother and 2-year-old son Bruno, trying to figure out how to get back to Savona, where they began their cruise a week ago.

“It’s his birthday today,” she said of her son, rolling her eyes as she held Bruno and tended to her mother, who had grown faint and was lying on the ground. “Happy birthday, Bruno.”

Survivors far outnumbered Giglio’s 1,500 residents, and island Mayor Sergio Ortelli issued an appeal for islanders — “anyone with a roof” — to open their homes to shelter the evacuees.

Paolillo said the exact circumstances of the accident were still unclear, but that the first alarm went off about 10:30 p.m., about three hours after the Concordia had begun its voyage from the port of Civitavecchia, en route to its first port of call, Savona, in northwestern Italy.

The coast guard official, speaking from the port captain’s office in the Tuscan port of Livorno, said the vessel “hit an obstacle” — it wasn’t clear if it might have hit a rocky reef in the waters off Giglio — “ripping a gash 50 meters (160 feet) across” in the side of the ship, and started taking on water.

The cruise liner’s captain, Paolillo said, then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio’s small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier. But after the ship started listing badly, lifeboat evacuation was no longer feasible, Paolillo said.

Five helicopters, from the coast guard, navy and air force, were taking turns airlifting survivors still aboard and ferrying them to safely. A coast guard member was airlifted aboard the vessel to help people get aboard a small basket so they could be hoisted up to the helicopter, said Capt. Cosimo Nicastro, another Coast Guard official.

Costa Cruises said the Costa Concordia was sailing on a cruise across the Mediterranean Sea, starting from Civitavecchia with scheduled calls to Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo.

The Concordia had a previous accident in Italian waters, ANSA reported. In 2008, when strong winds buffeted Palermo, the cruise ship banged against the Sicilian port’s dock, and suffered damage but no one was injured, ANSA said.

Source: AP

LEAPIN’ LIZARDS, LADIES! IT’S POP-THE-QUESTION YEAR

LONDON, England (01/2012)  If your significant other has been dragging his feet, making excuses or changing the subject, take charge and pop the question on February 29^th, a date that comes only once every four years. (According to the time-honored tradition, both here and in Great Britain, this is the day when it’s legit for the woman to propose.)

Chris McIntyre of Expert Africa, one of the leading destination management companies in Southern Africa, offers these suggestions for the most romantic, original, personal and private places to go down on bended knee:

FIVE SUPER ROMANTIC PLACES TO PROPOSE

1. Since no little blue box has been proffered, get your own quality sparkler in Botswana. Then head with your honey to Okavango Delta and stay at Jao Camp, which McIntyre describes as “one of the lushest, greenest, most tropical and watery areas of the Delta.”  Each of its nine rooms has its own outdoor ‘sala’ (an open-air bed under a roof ), a great spot to spend a lazy afternoon and weasel an “I do” out of him.

2. Even in the middle of the wild, you’re seldom alone at safari camps.  However, on “bush night” you two sweethearts can be the only guests at Beho Beho, a tiny, super-luxurious fly-camp set up in the heart of Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve. After a private safari with your top-notch guide, a hot shower, sundowners and a first-class dinner, the good folks at Beho Beho will arrange for you to be totally alone together for betrothing.

3. Expert Africa can arrange for lovebirds to enjoy a private dinner on a dune of the Namib Desert.  One couple recently did so, and the proposal was made — once the geckos stopped barking. Stay at the charming and intimate Wolwedans Dune Camp, located on the edge of a 750-foot-high dune. Sleep out under the stars after your heavenly agreement to tie the knot.

4. Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the natural world, is famous as a classically romantic spot. Nearby, is one of the dreamiest ever places to stay, Tongabezi Lodge, where you can savor a sumptuous candlelit dinner on a private sampan floating in the beautiful Zambezi River. Your waiter will ferry the courses to you via canoe. On the shimmery water, under a moonlit sky, after a satisfying spread, it’ll be a cinch to get your hold-out to take the plunge (not into the river).

5. A low-key place is the Pole Pole on Tanzania’s Mafia Island, where on “Sandbank Days,” you can sail in a traditional dhow to one of the sandbanks uncovered by the tide. A turquoise-blue Indian Ocean is wrapped 360° around you. After the boatman barbeques freshly-caught fish for lunch, snorkel to the coral reef or just wade into the shallows, kneel down and ask for his hand in marriage!

For more information:  info@expertafrica.com

Every country has an independence day, aka the day each country was born onto the map of the world. Thanks to About.com, there list is notated below.

Fast Facts:

*A majority of the countries became independent after 1800.

*20 were independent before the start of the 19th century- 10%. By 1900,  49 or 25% of the world’s countries of today were independent.

*Many countries became independent following World War II when European powers granted independence to their vast colonial holdings, especially Africa.

Here are the independence days for every country, from the oldest to the youngest…

660 BCE – Japan
221 BCE – China
301 CE – San Marino
843 CE – France
976 CE – Austria
10th Century CE – Denmark
1001 – Hungary
1143 – Portugal
1206 – Mongolia
1238 – Thailand
1278 – Andorra
August 1, 1291 – Switzerland
1419 – Monaco
15th Century – Spain
1502 – Iran
June 6, 1523 – Sweden
January 23, 1579 – Netherlands
1650 – Oman
May 1, 1707 – United Kingdom
January 23, 1719 – Liechtenstein
1768 – Nepal
July 4, 1776 – United States of America
January 1, 1804 – Haiti
July 20, 1810 – Colombia
Sept. 16, 1810 – Mexico
Sept. 18, 1810 – Chile
May 14, 1811 – Paraguay
July 5, 1811 – Venezuela
July 9, 1816 – Argentina
July 28, 1821 – Peru
Sept. 15, 1821 – Costa Rica
Sept. 15, 1821 – El Salvador
Sept. 15, 1821 – Guatemala
Sept. 15, 1821 – Honduras
Sept. 15, 1821 – Nicaragua
May 24, 1822 – Ecuador
Sept. 7, 1822 – Brazil
August 6, 1825 – Bolivia
August 25, 1825 – Uruguay
1829 – Greece
October 4, 1830 – Belgium
1839 – Luxembourg
February 27, 1844 – Dominican Republic
July 26, 1847 – Liberia
March 17, 1861 – Italy
July 1, 1867 – Canada
January 18, 1871 – Germany
May 9, 1877 – Romania
March 3, 1878 – Bulgaria
1896 – Ethiopia
June 12, 1898 – Philippines
January 1, 1901 – Australia
May 20, 1902 – Cuba
November 3, 1903 – Panama
June 7, 1905 – Norway
Sept. 26, 1907 – New Zealand
May 31, 1910 – South Africa
November 28, 1912 – Albania
December 6, 1917 – Finland
November 11, 1918 – Poland
December 1, 1918 – Iceland
August 19, 1919 – Afghanistan
December 6, 1921 – Ireland
February 28, 1922 – Egypt
October 29, 1923 – Turkey
February 11, 1929 – Vatican City
Sept. 23, 1932 – Saudi Arabia
October 3, 1932 – Iraq
November 22, 1943 – Lebanon
August 15, 1945 – Korea, North
August 15, 1945 – Korea, South
August 17, 1945 – Indonesia
Sept. 2, 1945 – Vietnam
April 17, 1946 – Syria
May 25, 1946 – Jordan
August 14, 1947 – Pakistan
August 15, 1947 – India
January 4, 1948 – Burma
February 4, 1948 – Sri Lanka
May 14, 1948 – Israel
July 19, 1949 – Laos
August 8, 1949 – Bhutan
December 24, 1951 – Libya
November 9, 1953 – Cambodia
January 1, 1956 – Sudan
March 2, 1956 – Morocco
March 20, 1956 – Tunisia
March 6, 1957 – Ghana
August 31, 1957 – Malaysia
October 2, 1958 – Guinea
January 1, 1960 – Cameroon
April 4, 1960 – Senegal
May 27, 1960 – Togo
June 30, 1960 – Congo, Republic of the
July 1, 1960 – Somalia
July 26, 1960 – Madagascar
August 1, 1960 – Benin
August 3, 1960 – Niger
August 5, 1960 – Burkina Faso
August 7, 1960 – Cote d’Ivorie
August 11, 1960 – Chad
August 13, 1960 – Central African Republic
August 15, 1960 – Congo, Dem. Rep. of the
August 16, 1960 – Cyprus
August 17, 1960 – Gabon
Sept. 22, 1960 – Mali
October 1, 1960 – Nigeria
November 28, 1960 – Mauritania
April 27, 1961 – Sierra Leone
June 19, 1961 – Kuwait
January 1, 1962 – Samoa
July 1, 1962 – Burundi
July 1, 1962 – Rwanda
July 5, 1962 – Algeria
August 6, 1962 – Jamaica
August 31, 1962 – Trinidad and Tobago
October 9, 1962 – Uganda
December 12, 1963 – Kenya
April 26, 1964 – Tanzania
July 6, 1964 – Malawi
Sept. 21, 1964 – Malta
October 24, 1964 – Zambia
February 18, 1965 – Gambia, The
July 26, 1965 – Maldives
August 9, 1965 – Singapore
May 26, 1966 – Guyana
September 30, 1966 – Botswana
October 4, 1966 – Lesotho
November 30, 1966 – Barbados
January 31, 1968 – Nauru
March 12, 1968 – Mauritius
Sept. 6, 1968 – Swaziland
October 12, 1968 – Equatorial
June 4, 1970 – Tonga
October 10, 1970 – Fiji
March 26, 1971 – Bangladesh
August 15, 1971 – Bahrain
Sept. 3, 1971 – Qatar
November 2, 1971 – United Arab Emirates
July 10, 1973 – Bahamas
Sept. 24, 1973 – Guinea-Bissau
February 7, 1974 – Grenada
June 25, 1975 – Mozambique
July 5, 1975 – Cape Verde
July 6, 1975 – Comoros
July 12, 1975 – Sao Tome and Principe
Sept. 16, 1975 – Papua New Guinea
November 11, 1975 – Angola
November 25, 1975 – Suriname
June 29, 1976 – Seychelles
June 27, 1977 – Djibouti
July 7, 1978 – Solomon Islands
October 1, 1978 – Tuvalu
November 3, 1978 – Dominica
February 22, 1979 – Saint Lucia
July 12, 1979 – Kiribati
October 27, 1979 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
April 18, 1980 – Zimbabwe
July 30, 1980 – Vanuatu
January 11, 1981 – Antigua and Barbuda
Sept. 21, 1981 – Belize
Sept. 19, 1983 – Saint Kitts and Nevis
January 1, 1984 – Brunei
October 21, 1986 – Marshall Islands
November 3, 1986 – Micronesia, Federated States of
March 11, 1990 – Lithuania
March 21, 1990 – Namibia
May 22, 1990 – Yemen
April 9, 1991 – Georgia
June 25, 1991 – Croatia
June 25, 1991 – Slovenia
August 20, 1991 – Estonia
August 21, 1991 – Kyrgyzstan
August 24, 1991 – Russia
August 25, 1991 – Belarus
August 27, 1991 – Moldova
August 30, 1991 – Azerbaijan
Sept. 1, 1991 – Uzbekistan
Sept. 6, 1991 – Latvia
Sept. 8, 1991 – Macedonia
Sept. 9, 1991 – Tajikistan
Sept. 21, 1991 – Armenia
October 27, 1991 – Turkmenistan
November 24, 1991 – Ukraine
December 16, 1991 – Kazakhstan
March 3, 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 1, 1993 – Czech Republic
January 1, 1993 – Slovakia
May 24, 1993 – Eritrea
October 1, 1994 – Palau
May 20, 2002 – East Timor
June 3, 2006 – Montenegro
June 5, 2006 – Serbia
February 17, 2008 – Kosovo

Recent Updates not listed on the About.com list:

October 10, 2010 – The Netherlands Antilles, an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was dissolved on 10 October 2010.It was created originally of communities from various islands in the Caribbean that formed a single autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

After dissolution, the islands of Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius became special municipalities of the Netherlands proper, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along the lines of Aruba, which had separated from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986. (wikipedia)

July 9, 2011 – South Sudan

Be Curious.

And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at.

It matters that you don’t just give up.”

~ Stephen Hawking

British Physicist

Age 70

Ring in The New Year at The Mirage With

Specialty Cocktail PACKAGE

WHAT:   The Mirage invites revelers to raise a glass to the New Year with the NYE Cocktail Package, a pass redeemable for five specialty drinks at Onda Ristorante, kokomo’s lounge, The Sports Bar or a combination of the three venues. The pass will allow guests to try one or all of the new libations available over the holiday weekend.

NYE Cocktail Package passes are $45 all inclusive and may be purchased at The Mirage Concierge, Onda Ristorante, kokomo’s or The Sports Bar. Passes are redeemable from Dec. 30- Jan. 1 only.

The specialty cocktails, created by The Mirage Beverage team, are:

Resolution Mojito Bacardi Limon Rum, fresh mint, cranberry juice and lime juice

Midnight Kiss Grey Goose La Poire, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, sparkling wine and fresh lime juice

The Countdown Bombay Sapphire East, Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, fresh lemon juice, agave nectar and angostura bitters

Orange Drop Grey Goose L’Orange Vodka, triple sec, fresh lemon sour, agave nectar

2012 Dewar’s 12 Year Old Special Reserve Scotch, fresh squeezed lemon juice and simple syrup

WHEN:   Friday, Dec. 30, 2011 – Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012

TICKETS:  Purchase NYE Cocktail Package passes at The Mirage Concierge, Onda Ristorante, kokomo’s or The Sports Bar.

Passes available and redeemable during regular venue hours:

The Mirage Concierge – 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Kokomo’s – 5 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Onda Ristorante – 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
The Sports Bar – Open 24 hours

WHERE: The Mirage Hotel & Casino

3400 Las Vegas Blvd. S.

Las Vegas, NV  89109

Got a Resolution? Well, now you do with this recipe provided by the MGM! Thanks MGM!

Resolution Mojito

2 oz Bacardi Limon Rum,

¼ oz lime juice

10 fresh mint leaves,

Place the mint leaves into a long mojito glass and squeeze the juice from a cut lime over it.

Gently smash the mint into the lime juice with a muddler. Add ice (preferably crushed) then add the rum and stir, and top off with the Cranberry Juice Garnish with a mint sprig.

Top off with cranberry juice

VIRGIN AMERICA TOUCHES DOWN IN PALM SPRINGS

Award-Winning Airline Launches New Flight Service to Palm Springs from San Francisco and New York

Sir Richard Branson and Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet Roll out the Red Carpet for First Flight Guests

San Francisco – December 15, 2011 – Virgin America, the California-based airline that is reinventing travel, today celebrates the launch of its upscale, low-fare service to Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) – the sixteenth market in the carrier’s expanding network.  The new destination arrives just in time for winter getaways, with seasonal daily nonstop flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to PSP and seasonal daily “same plane” through flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to PSP, as of today.  This afternoon, the airline touches down for the first time in Palm Springs and celebrates its inaugural flight with a red carpet welcome on the arrival tarmac for its first PSP commercial guests.  Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson, Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet and Virgin America President and CEO David Cush will also join the SFO-PSP flight today.  The airline’s SFO-PSP fares start from $79* and JFK-SFO-PSP through flight fares start from $169.*

“We’re pleased to be growing and bringing new competition into markets like Palm Springs and the surrounding desert resort cities.  When we enter markets with less competition, we see fares drop and service improve.  This area is a world-class travel destination – and visitors and residents alike deserve more air travel options,” said David Cush, President and Chief Executive Officer of Virgin America.  “We hope our service will be a breath of fresh air for residents and for travelers to the desert oasis.”

Known for outstanding service, beautifully designed cabins and unrivalled in-flight entertainment, Virgin America has swept the travel awards since its 2007 launch, including being named “Best Domestic Airline” in both Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards and Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards for the past four years.  Before the airline’s launch, there was little low-fare competition on the SFO-PSP routes and no “same plane” through flight service from JFK-PSP.

“The Virgin brand is known all over the globe for its high-end, award-winning service.  This new flight service will not only offer travelers to our world class destination a new choice, but it will help stimulate tourism – our Valley’s top industry.  We are so pleased to welcome Virgin America to the Palm Springs International Airport,” said Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet.

PSP is the latest expansion for the growing carrier.  Virgin America is the only airline headquartered in California. In just four years flying, the airline has expanded to 16 destinations (including PSP) and has created 2,200 new jobs.  As one of the few growing U.S. carriers, the airline has launched service to Cancun, Chicago, Puerto Vallarta and Palm Springs this year alone.  Virgin America plans to add 500 additional jobs annually over the next several years.

“The Virgin brand is a perfect fit with our destination,” said Scott White, President and CEO of Palm Springs Desert Resorts CVA.  “From our stylish hotels and resorts to our international festivals and 360 days of sunshine, the Virgin America guest will be able to find and experience their personal oasis!  Virgin America’s new nonstop and through flights from SFO and JFK will also lower fares and improve service in our market, allowing more travelers to enjoy all that our unique region has to offer.”

Upon touchdown of Virgin America’s first flight at PSP, the new Airbus A320 aircraft will receive a traditional water cannon salute.  The inaugural flight guests (including commercial travelers and the airline’s special guests) will be welcomed by local officials at a red carpet reception right on the PSP tarmac.  Flight guests will receive a Palm Springs welcome with a Virgin twist: enjoying date milk shakes, food and cocktails upon arrival – and a DJ spinning live music as they de-plane.

Virgin America’s all-new fuel-efficient fleet offers custom-designed mood-lit cabins and amenities like fleetwide WiFi, power outlets and personal entertainment at every seat.  The Red™ platform offers guests their own seatback touch-screen TV, with 35 films, live TV, Google Maps, videogames, seat-to-seat chat, music videos, a 3000 song library and an on-demand menu – so flyers can order a cocktail or snack from their seatback any time during a flight.  In addition to a Main Cabin that offers custom-designed leather seating with a deeper, more comfortable pitch, the airline’s First Class offers plush white leather seating with 55 inches of pitch, 165 degrees of recline and lumbar massagers.  The carrier’s Main Cabin Select option offers 38-inches of pitch, free food and cocktails, an all-access pass to media content, dedicated overhead bins and priority check-in/boarding.

To toast its new flights to Hollywood’s playground, the airline is asking its social media followers to help get its next new plane “ready for its close-up.”  The growing airline’s Facebook friends are being invited to submit a glamorous new name for the next Virgin America aircraft.  The winner** gets a chance to see their name cruising at 35,000 feet as a permanent addition to Virgin America’s fleet – along with a trip for two to Palm Springs, with flights on Virgin America and a two-night stay at the luxurious Riviera Palm Springs. Situated at the base of the majestic San Jacinto Mountains, the Riviera Palm Springs is an iconic playground of the past, and today characterizes the best in Old Hollywood glamour with a fresh, playful twist.

Palm Springs and the other cities that make up the Desert Resorts destination, is the ultimate playground for outdoor adventure, arts and culture, gaming and entertainment.  Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Coachella, Cathedral City and Palm Desert offer streets lined with palm trees, the best in shopping, art galleries and museums and renowned outdoor dining – all amidst breathtaking scenery.  In addition to luxury resorts and world-class golfing, the region has welcomed an influx of hip boutique hotels and landmark events like the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.  Palm Springs has a history as the holiday home of many Hollywood stars from the 1940s on – and is known as the center of “Desert Modernism” mid-century modern architecture.

With seasonal service from December 15, 2011-April 30, 2012, Virgin America’s daily PSP schedule is as follows:

Connecting flights are also available from PSP to Virgin America’s Fort Lauderdale and Washington D.C. destinations.  The inaugural day reflects a slightly altered schedule.

Virgin America flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Cabos, Cancun, Chicago, Puerto Vallarta and as of today – Palm Springs.

Looking to travel for holiday to locations over Christmas and New Year’s?  Stef reports for Fox Business Channel on special holiday deals. Watch as she takes viewers around the world– from over water bungalows in Bora Bora to boutique villa in St. Barts, a half price cruise with air to the Caribbean and a Christmas wonderland at Ashford Castle in Ireland!

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