Air Journey: Destinations to Consider

by Thierry Pouille

After an exciting 2018 covering many destinations around the world, we are gearing up for an even better 2019. As our friend Cyrus Sigari says, “life is short – fly a jet.” That’s what it is all about here at CJP, and in this first column, I would like to share with you some exciting new destinations to put on your flying horizon.

Close to our shores, I have been able to sample some great new areas. A mere 500 miles off the coast of south Florida, head towards Providenciales. There’s a place that has been open for the past 20 years called Parrot Cay. If your travels take you to that part of the world, this is a place you need to visit. It offers old British charm located on the beautiful turquoise water that surrounds Turks & Caicos and Providenciales. It’s an easy place to fly to with fantastic service and one of the best restaurant experiences around the island. Check it out here: https://www.comohotels.com/en/parrotcay

As we fly further south, we’re still keeping an eye on the area of the Virgin Islands damaged by the hurricane in the fall of 2017. Some properties are coming back up, but there is still a lot of them that are in the rebuilding process. But as we start east, an island to visit is Anguilla. It’s a mere 1,000 nautical miles southeast of Florida, and a number of properties are open with new management and refurbishments. We like Zemi Beach House with its unique oriental spa right on the water facing the north side of the island. Here is the website: https://www.zemibeach.com/

Then on the south side, Belmond hotel company (who runs the beautiful Cipriani in Italy as well as many properties in South America) has taken over a place that has been around for a number of years called Cap Juluca. Facing the island of St. Martin, it has totally been refurbished. Again, a place we highly recommend you visit. The website is: https://www.belmond.com/hotels/caribbean/anguilla/belmond-cap-juluca/

Anguilla has a number of high-end properties to offer. And a beautiful airport – not too busy, and not too crowded with a 6,000-foot runway. Put that on your agenda.

For the next destination, don’t forget the magnificent Four Seasons hotel down in Nevis. Another easy access from south Florida, also around 1,000 nautical miles distance. It offers the Four Seasons flare, service, as well as a unique golf course right on the island of Nevis. Website: https://www.fourseasons.com/nevis/

Recently, during our Exclusive Caribbean Journey in January, we stayed at the brand new Silversands hotel on the island of Grenada. Grenada boasts a runway of 10,000 feet. It’s about 1,400 nautical miles southeast of Florida. Silversands opened in December 2018. A must-visit place offering unique, modern rooms and a lot of amenities like a restaurant, a wine bar and also a cigar and rum experience. The website for this one is: http://www.silversandsgrenada.com/en

Last but not least, also in the southern part of the Caribbean, there is a new property on the island of Canouan called the Mandarin Oriental Canouan. There are 27 rooms (of pink color) facing the barrier reef with a white sand beach – a place for full bliss and relaxation. Website: https://www.mandarinoriental.com/canouan/pink-sand-beach/luxury-hotel

In my next column, I will share with you the adventure that we encountered on our circumnavigation of the continent of Africa. We entered Africa in the country of Jordan then flew all the way down to Cape Town on the east coast before coming back up towards Europe on the west coast. I already shared part of this program with you (the crossing of the Atlantic via the Azores), but there are more stories to come like an ASR landing in Gibraltar, down to a minimum as well as some exciting experiences in such places as Namibia, Sao Tome, Djibouti, etc. Stay tuned.