Welcome to Paradise. A place where you can lay by the infinity pool while looking out over a calm bay. Where you can kayaking along limestone peaks and have islands to yourself. Where you can binge watch HBO because you've contracted traveler's sickness, wait...what? We'll get to that later.
We said goodbye to our beaches in Phuket and traveled to a private pier. I had my first ever, really first ever in my life, iced coffee as we waited for our boat from Paradise Lodge. We boarded an open air boat and took a forty minute transfer to Koh Yao Noi, a popular islands for local Thai visitors. Upon arrival to Paradise, we were greeted with a cool towel and even cooler welcome drink.
Our room was the gorgeous Plunge Pool Deluxe Studio which boasted incredible views of the ocean and limestone mountains. Paradise rests on the beach adjacent to a bay, which means the turquoise water you see in iconic Thailand photos is not what you're going to witness here. The water is very calm and because of the tide, the seafloor is exposed at certain times of the day. This makes it the ideal location for kayaking as you're not competing with tide and waves as you explore the surrounding islands.
Time at Paradise is ideal for sunset cocktails, lounging by the pool, reading a book in one of the many hammocks or taking in the view from the plunge pool.
And finally, the best food ever....mango sticky rice! Some will say that I ended up getting sick due to the copious amounts that I was eating; but I say...it was soo worth it :)
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.