Beaches and Islands

Travelers are being advised to avoid traveling to any coastal area of Kenya within 100 miles of the Somali border. The British Foreign Office stated, “Beachfront accommodation in that area and boats off the coast are vulnerable.”

Less than an hour’s drive west of the Auckland airport on New Zealand’s North Island is Bush Sand & Sea B&B (26 Te Aute Ridge, Bethells Beach, Waitakere City, Auckland, N.Z.; phone 0064 9 810 9584). Nestled in thick rainforest near Bethells Beach (Te Henga), this charming cottage sleeps two to four.

REPORT ON SWITZERLAND…

New Zealand’s normally warm and “winterless” North Island was hit by a freak snowstorm in mid August that brought almost a week of freezing winds, ice and snow. Roads and highways in the central areas were briefly closed due to snow, which some areas hadn’t seen in over 70 years. Also, more than 700 homes in Wellington were without power, and train, bus and cable car services were shut down.

An Alps-backed setting, fairy-tale villages and a benign climate have long contributed to Lake Constance’s reputation as a compelling southern Germany travel destination. To that list, I had another reason to make my way to Europe’s third-largest body of water: gardens, including an entire island turned spectacular garden, Mainau.

As part of the 2011 International Roots Festival in The Gambia, James Island, the site of a fort once used by British slave traders, was renamed Kunte Kinteh Island after the main character in Alex Haley’s novel “Roots.” Haley traced his ancestry back to The Gambia.

by Linda & Peter Beuret, Santa Barbara, CA

For our 44th anniversary, my husband, Peter, and I decided we would like to snorkel in some clear, warm waters. A beautiful view with lots of time to read wouldn’t be bad either!

A low-pressure zone that stalled in the western Caribbean during June brought torrential rains to Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.