(This is part of a trip report, using United miles to fly business class for five flights, costing $86 and 160,000 miles, and the value of this trip was $11,758. I flew from the USA to Istanbul to Africa to Seychelles to Greece!)
Maldives are a dream destination, even though it’s not always easy to get to. We flew there from Seychelles and landed by 7:30 pm, but waited until 11:15 pm for a flight and then a thirty minute boat ride to the resort, so we got in after 1:00 am, but it was SO worth it!
What can I say about the award winning Conrad Maldives Rangali Island?! This Hilton property is simply beautiful! The resort employs about 600 people, 74% are Maldivian, and they excel at customer service. There are two islands, connected with a footbridge, or you can ride a boat from one to the other. You can even order a buggy to take you from place to place. All of our time there was booked with points, and because we are Hilton Gold, we got free breakfast and afternoon tea.
Here is our beach villa room, our first two nights…
What do you do on an island? Walk the perimeter of the island, paddle boat, ride the dhoni to the other island for sunset views, shop, snorkel, watch seaplanes take off, watch watersports – we were not bored!
Due to the kindness of Ahmed Nashid, the front office manager, we got upgraded to the retreat water villa, an over the water villa! This room was fantastic and had its’ OWN massage room and deck with a whirlpool! A M A Z I N G! Take a look…
It was hard to choose where to eat because they have twelve restaurants! One day we had a mid morning snack at the undersea restaurant, Ithaa, which means “mother of pearl” in Maldivian.
All good things must come to an end, but we are already planning a return trip! We left via seaplane and since I’m a pilot, Ahmed made sure I got a front row seat to watch these barefoot pilots! We were escorted to the Conrad lounge, then to our plane later.
Next up, Santorini…
(This is part of a trip report, using United miles to fly business class for five flights, costing $86 and 160,000 miles, and the value of this trip was $11,758. I flew from the USA to Istanbul to Africa to Seychelles to Greece!)
One day we went to Vallee de Mai Nature Reserve, where we saw the coco de mer, the largest seed in the plant kingdom, and it only grows in the Seychelles. Our guided hike through the palm forest took us to the top with fantastic views!
We spent one afternoon on the beach, just lounging…and later, enjoying those beautiful sunsets! 
In Mahe we stayed at the Hilton Northolme, the smallest Hilton in the world, with just 56 villas, but one of the MOST picturesque! This was Ian Fleming’s haunt and the inspiration for his James Bond books. We used points for this stay and got upgraded to a king oceanfront villa, value of $692 per night!
We spent most of our time in Mahe with friends and enjoyed touring the island…
Island paradise in the Maldives is next…
What can I say about my summer trip?! It was over the top and absolutely fantastic! We went to Rwanda for gorilla trekking, Seychelles, Maldives, and Greece! I flew United and their partner, Turkish airlines, business class for five flights, costing $86 and 160,000 miles, and the value of this trip was $11,758 (priced right after it’s booked)! I flew from the USA to Istanbul to Africa to Seychelles to Greece! I transferred Ultimate Rewards from the Chase Ink card for this redemption. I was also able to use the “Excursionist” loophole and got one segment free, using no miles. This is a great bonus and something to research if you use United miles. And another thing to note is these trips with miles are booked one year in advance (fortunately I’m a good planner)!
Turkish airlines business class was fun and after our stop in Istanbul (and the lounge there, which is HUGE), we were on our way to Rwanda!
Our first night was in Kigali at the Marriott, which was booked with points. This was a beautiful property with amazing baskets! Before we left Kigali, we went shopping for baskets – I just love African baskets! And I absolutely loved the country of Rwanda – I always felt safe and the people are industrious, friendly, and ALWAYS busy!
The gorilla trek included a driver and the gorilla trekking permit. Since we’ve been, the permits have actually doubled in price. We used Africa Tours Adventure and Nicholas was our contact person via email. Although our driver didn’t pick us up at the airport as promised, everything else went smoothly throughout the trip, and I would recommend them. Our accommodations were basic, nothing fancy.
Central Africa is the only place where mountain gorillas exist, in three parks and three countries. Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park has ten gorilla groups, and only eight people allowed to view for one hour. Each of the “families” has distinct and unique characteristics and we visited two different families each of our two days. The park is very concerned with conservation and I was impressed with their love and care for the gorillas. Rangers go out early in the morning to locate the families and keep in contact with the guides via walkie talkie. When the gorillas have a stomach ache, they go closer to the villages to eat the eucalyptus leaves! The villagers don’t bother them, even though sometimes they are destructive to their crops. They’ve come to understand their value to tourism. 
The second day was much less difficult, with a three hour hike and not too much climbing. We visited the Agashya family, with one silverback of the same name. This group went five months without a male and gorillas came from other places. The silverback came, stayed two weeks, and returned with his family. While we were watching them, they moved a lot, so we climbed and slid down mountains, while the rangers cleared paths with a machete! This family had a ONE DAY OLD BABY, born the previous day!
These last photos were not taken by me, but a man from Brazil who was in our group shared them, and you can see the new baby very clearly!
Long time, no see! Sorry I’ve been gone so long, I had a super busy summer after NYC, and Fall is always busy for us (gone or had plans every weekend in September and most of October).
