Amsterdam has desperately been trying to shake off its ‘party capital’ image - with limited success.
03.04.2024 - 09:53 / nytimes.com
There’s just something about a lager at sunset.
As we headed toward Pate Island by dhow, the traditional sailboat that is ubiquitous up and down the East African coast, the captain popped open my Tusker, a Kenyan beer, and passed around beef and vegetarian samosas. I settled back on large overstuffed white cushions, munched on the savory treats and reflected that life was always better with a sundowner.
Just about a half hour earlier at Manda Bay, the posh rustic resort on Manda Island where we were staying, I had donned the colorful plaid kikoy wrap I had bought the day before and my partner put on his swim trunks so we could wade out into the Indian Ocean and climb aboard the dhow, which comfortably carried the captain, his mate and the two of us.
Dhows have sailed the Indian Ocean for thousands of years, their triangular sails creating distinctive silhouettes. Made of woods such as teak and mahogany, the vessels vary in size from small fishing boats to spacious versions more than 100 feet long.
As for Manda Bay, the Italian musician Bruno Brighetti originally opened it in the 1960s as the Blue Safari Club. It was sold to Kenyans more than two decades ago. Now its thatched roof bungalows, with wooden bed swings on the porches, line a vast, private sandy beach (beachside rooms are $540 a night for single occupancy).
It takes about an hour to fly from Nairobi to the tiny Manda Island airport, then porters carry your bags out to the dock for a 30-minute boat ride to the resort on the island’s northern shore. Everyone from wealthy South African tech executives to members of the British aristocracy have stayed here over the years. (Lady Viola Grosvenor, a sister of the Duke of Westminster — who owns a good portion of London’s Mayfair neighborhood — married the son of the Kenyan owners in 2022, and part of their wedding celebrations were held at Manda Bay).
Amsterdam has desperately been trying to shake off its ‘party capital’ image - with limited success.
If you fancy seeing some of Britain’s top sights on the cheap, this is the month to book some leave.
With additional reporting by Sarah Allard
As World Heritage Day on 18th April approaches, the spotlight turns on renowned landmarks across the globe. UNESCO sites like Stonehenge in the UK, Pompei in Italy and the Acropolis in Greece get no shortage of visitors. But there are plenty of designated destinations in Europe that still fly under the radar. Here are some of the best in Europe from remote archaeological wonders to untamed natural landscapes.
A 420-mete white steel tube running alongside a railway line in the windswept northern Netherlands could usher in a new era in the transportation of people and freight.
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