The tropical paradise of the Maldives has always seemed like it was reserved for honeymooners and the rich and famous. This is no longer the case as Encounters Travel is opening up this world to adventure travellers with the first ever group tour of this magical archipelago.

With the first tour set to run in September this unique opportunity should now make your short list of must see destinations.

This tour offers all the same features as other Encounters Travel tours, with a maximum group size of 18, local guides and guaranteed adventure!

This trip will give you a true insight into the beauty and culture of the Maldives. You spend one night in the capital city of Male before boarding your luxury yacht for a 3 night sea safari with ample opportunity for snorkelling, diving and exploring deserted islands.

You then get to experience true Maldivian culture by spending two nights in  a Guesthouse on a local island. Here you will see how people from these tiny islands live day to day. One afternoon will be spent on an uninhabited island, swimming and snorkelling in the crystal warm waters, in the evening enjoy a beach barbecue with local cultural show including singing, drumming and dancing.

Now the only thing that is missing so far from this tropical experience is what most people think of when you picture the Maldives, this incredible tour is finished off with 3 nights in a 5 star luxury beach resort! The Royal Island Resort and Spa is a series of beachfront bungalows with all of the mod cons. There is a reef in front of the hotel for you to enjoy and your snorkelling equipment is included for spontaneous dips in the ocean.

This tour gives you a real taste of the real Maldives, it is for people who want a bit more than just lying on the same beach for a week. It gives you the culture,  relaxation and luxury of the Maldives with a spirit of adventure.

This is the first group tour of the Maldives and will become popular quickly, the first 4 departures are discounted to an unbelievable £699 per person, but be fast, we won’t keep it that cheap for long!

If the thought of discovering the mysteries of Egypt’s ancient kings and queens sounds more appealing than eating cucumber sandwiches in front of the TV this Jubilee bank holiday, then Encounters Travel (www.encounterstravel.com / 0800 088 6002) has just the ticket, offering an escorted, six-day group tour of Egypt with a 15 per cent discount, for just £288 per person (saving £51). Available for departure on 5 June, the price includes airport transfers from/to Cairo, varied accommodation in four-star hotels and on board a sleeper train on a mixed board basis, and the services of a fully qualified Egyptologist throughout. Flights excluded. The perfect introduction to Egypt, the Pharaonic Encounters tour visits all the main sites including the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Luxor Temple, Karnak, the ancient city of Thebes and the Valley of the Kings.

Last weekend Encounters Travel was at the Destinations travel show in London. It was a fantastic weekend with a huge turn out of international travellers. It was great to meet people who have travelled with us in the past and many more who are looking to join one of our groups in the future. We always enjoy these shows, as its not that often that our UK team get to speak in person to so many past and future travellers. We also had a lot of interest in our competition for flights for two to Marrakech, this competition is still open on our Facebook page and we welcome you to join.

Hands out of your pockets Dan, its about to open!

The highlight of the show for us was a talk in the Meet the Experts theatre on Saturday. Sam, one of our Egyptologist guides, came to do a talk on tourism in Egypt before during and after the revolution. He shared with us his passion for his amazing country and gave us a unique insight into the current situation in Egypt as well as his own experiences in Tahrir Square during the revolution. He was very enthusiastic in his hope that his audience and travellers in general will take advantage of the amazing opportunity we all have to visit Egypt at the moment while it is not swarming with tourists.

One of our directors, Ralph Foulds, also spoke, and explained how tour operators like ourselves have taken account of the protests, demonstrations and strikes that have happened over the last year, and worked around them. Safety is of course always our first priority, but we have actually been able to continue running our Egyptian tours with only occasional minor changes to people’s itineraries. He explained that as long as you allow for a little flexibility, people can be very confident about visiting Egypt now and come home with some amazing memories about a country we remain passionate about. We would like to thank Sam for coming over from Cairo and sharing his enthusiasm and love of Egypt with the people at the talk, as well as the many more that came to visit the Encounters stand.

Tahrir Square in Cairo during the revolution

Success!

To follow on from the talk, we’re pushing Egypt further with some great deals that you can find on our Special Offers page on the website. We’ll also have some exclusive offers at the TNT Travel Show in London on the 3rd March, so do come and visit us there.