Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
Once again Samuel has gone above and beyond my expectations and his attention to detail and consistent communication is outstanding which is why I always come back. Great job
In South Africa the electronic tags are not being used at toll plazas for the fee. Although it says that credit cards are accepted they will only accept those issued by South African banks and consequently the only option is to pay toll fees with cash
Excellent service from start to finish.
All I asked for was done
Thank you - good time had.
As usual Karl Patel got it spot on. Great trip and very well planned
A bit of a mix up with our room and due to it being a bank holiday the hotel was very busy and our late arrival didn’t help. But the hotel did get it sorted after 2 days
Kelly is awesome
Alway provide excellent service.
We have used Travis for many years and we have always had excellent service. He is friendly and knowledgeable and always does what he says he is going to do.
Booked our flights and accommodation to Marrakech through Daryll at DialAFlight. Amazing service as always - very helpful and all bookings were perfect.
Have dealt with you for some years now and never been let down.
Please take over Border Control at Manchester Airport!
Only one small thing that we didn’t foresee when booking was the rainy season. And the hotel Serena is not good for a 14 day stay - four or five days max.
Hotel and location was excellent as always
Delighted with the service and one to one communication with the agent - top class
Troy came up trumps as always
Everything went to plan. Will not hesitate to recommend to friends and family. Special thanks to Jim who organised the trip, kept us informed of any changes and was available all the time to answer any questions. Best holiday I have ever had.
Cameron Bleasdale is so, so helpful. He’s a real star
Both Sally and Annabelle were excellent and prompt when queries needed to be answered
Donovan was great as always.
Thank you for always answering my many questions and it is so reassuring to know that I can contact you easily with any concerns I might have
Eve was brilliant. We have booked many flights with DialAFlight and always asked for the same travel consultant. She knows what I want when looking for a holiday. Absolutely brilliant customer service and support 24/7
Another superb trip organised by Bradley
As always with DialAFlight. Brilliant service and follow up. Saf and his team are first class
Everything excellent as always. Will use you again
Excellent all round service - reassured me
Dexter, all perfect. Many thanks. We will be back!
DialAFlight take out all the stress that would be involved in booking complicated longhaul flights
Have recommended to my sons and friends - such amazing service
The morning’s topic of conversation has turned to the strangler fig. The parasite in question stands there tall, defiant, wrapping its sinuous energy around the ironwood tree which has found itself the choking focus of its attention.
Five yards away, Irshad Mobarak breathes deeply and prepares to play devil’s advocate. 'In the business world, this would be fully understood,' he muses, arm extended, tracing the long shape of the arboreal aggressor to his left. 'Just think of it as a hostile takeover.'
A powerfully built man, well over 6ft, he says these words with a composure that is impressive for two reasons. The first is that, directly behind him, a five-star resort swimming pool shines in the 10am daylight, the sun-worshippers around its fringes listening as they lie on loungers. The second is that one of Britain’s most fabled botanists is his main partner in this discourse. David Bellamy nods quietly as Mobarak speaks. He knows this stuff, of course – but he's happy to hear it from a fellow expert.
'The strangler fig has a terrible image problem,' Mobarak continues. 'It can take up to half a century to kill its host. Yet it has a positive effect. It only picks on trees which are past their best, which are going to die. The death brings nutrients and renewal which benefit the surrounding ecosystem.'
This might seem an odd topic for just after breakfast on a warm Friday in a luxury hotel. But then, the Datai is no ordinary hideaway. It is slotted into thick foliage on the north-west corner of Pulau Langkawi - the tropical island in the north-west corner of Malaysia.
This is Bellamy's second visit to the Datai, having stayed 13 years ago when he was a speaker on conservation at the 2002 Asia Pacific Ecotourism Conference (Apeco). The two men forged an immediate connection – and Mobarak was meeting his hero.
'I grew up watching David on television,' he grins. 'I was weaned on his shows. When I was nine, my father asked me what I wanted to be. I recall pointing at the TV and saying "I want to be like him". His enthusiasm was infectious.'
Now 82, Bellamy still looks at nature around him with a fascinated eye and the jungle still holds great allure for him.
He is staying at the Datai with Rosemary, his wife of 55 years. Mobarak has been The Datai’s resident nature expert since it opened in 1993. The resort revels in creature comforts – 125 rooms, villas and suites; a small spa near the beach of powdery white sand; four enticing restaurants, including The Dining Room, where miso-glazed black cod is served under the tutelage of executive chef Richard Millar; and the Naga Pelangi, a grand wooden schooner, anchored and ready to take guests on genteel cruises in search of orangeade sunsets.
Mobarak's nature walks are popular and informative. An evening amble with the Bellamys has barely started before Mobarak spots a local character. The colugo is an odd beast – a winged mammal which seems to be a close relation of the bat, but is nearer in genetics to the primate clan.
Camouflaged against a tree trunk, she suddenly - Mobarak can even tell the gender - switches from stillness to motion, racing up the bark before spreading her wings and gliding some 50ft down to the next cluster of branches. 'I’ve only ever seen these animals in books,' Bellamy admits, with a broad smile.
On verdant Langkawi there are options for exploration further afield.
Mobarak joins the Bellamys for a voyage along the Kilim River, chattering with his childhood hero about the cycads – fern-like plants so old that dinosaurs used to eat them – that hang on the rock walls here, and the crab-eating macaques which dart down to the water to grab crustaceans. Above, a pair of white-bellied sea eagles swoop and soar.
The day’s crowning episode is saved for last. Gunung Raya rears up at the heart of Langkawi – a 2,890ft granite bluff, 204 million years old. Its peak is a fine spot from which to watch the sun go down, when some of its bird population are at their most active.
And so it proves, midway up the mountain. Mobarak calls the car to a halt and beckons its passengers on to the roadside verge. A group of great hornbills – brightly exotic birds, with extravagantly curved bills, common and colourful inhabitants of the Malaysian heavens – has gathered in the canopy.
As the light starts to slip, they take off one by one from their perches, floating without any perceptible effort across to a meranti tree with ripe fruit. There they dine amid a whoosh of wings as the entire flock flutters in.
On the ground, the two naturalists stare at the scene in raptures.
First published in the Mail Online - January 2016
More articles below...
Not quite what you're looking for?
We can easily customise an offer to suit your exact requirements