Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
I was surprised that we made a stop in the DRC en route from Nairobi to Ndola. I would want to avoid that on a future trip but it wasn’t a problem on this occasion. Loved the App for doing check in and being able to see all flights in one place. Many thanks for all of your help. Will definitely use DialAFlight again.
Everything went well. With your company I always travel with peace of mind that if things do not go well I have you to help - as has happened before. Thank you, you will always be my travel partner.
BA's holding area for passengers needing assistance must be upgraded and must be made rodent free. it was quite disturbing seeing rodents running around on the floor and under the furnishing. No bottled water was provided while passengers waited in the holding area, when the flight was delayed.
Huge thanks to Zoe Lane who went above and beyond yet again. I’m so pleased I deal with DialAFlight as her service is of the highest quality.
Wonderful trouble-free holiday arranged by Sarah. We have used your company many times and will continue to use you.
Thank you Glen - everything ran smoothly
All went well. We were kept informed and there were no problems
Only suggestion is to have a WhatsApp or chat to communicate with DialAFlight especially during out of office hours in case client has no roaming access.
Not sure we would opt to fly with Qatar again - not what it used to be. It just didn’t have that professional / customer service edge over other airlines that it used to. DialAFlight 10/10 as always!
Really good communication from arranging the trip to completion
Great service from Donovan as per usual
Theo was a star. It was really reassuring that he was in the background on what was anything but a straightforward trip.
Thank you for a great service - always on the end of the phone when we had a query and able to help.
Lucy McNab was excellent!
Staff in the lounge and onboard were friendly and helpful
Helpful and efficient as always! Many thanks.
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Stacey Rayner is a Rock Star !
We trust DialAFlight always - and staff so friendly polite and efficient - well done
Amazing holiday to South Africa and the service from DialAFlight was first class. Flights and hotel were perfect.
It would have been very helpful to have had the literature given at the "meet & greet" on arrival in Windhoek a month before departure to familiarise with routes between accommodation.
Thank you for your help with this booking
Excellent service as always
Always select a great hotel and good flight options. Fantastic service!
Always use DAF - have done for 20 years - that says how pleased we are.
Alfie was an amazing holiday organiser. Very helpful and found me the best venues. I really enjoyed my holiday.
I was very happy with the service provided by DialAFlight and would recommend them to family and friends
Kieran and team are amazing
Everything went smoothly and to plan. Another excellent trip thanks to DialAFlight
Good to include baggage allowance in the DialAFlight app rather than a link to the airline site…particularly for smaller airlines where this info isn’t easy to access nor correlate with the flight booked
They look like wind-up toys. Marching one after another, with clockwork regularity, a stream of baby turtles, miniature flippers whirring into life, emerge from their sandy nest.
Nothing draws the crowds quite like these hatchlings. Word spreads quickly among the dinner guests at Sandals Barbados resort, and soon a sizeable gathering is crouched on the beach.
Sadly, it doesn’t quite play out like Planet Earth. As more and more turtles try to escape into the moonless night many lose their bearings and veer towards the hotel lights. There is a lot of cooing among the frocks and the golf shoes, as we all trip over ourselves in the dark trying not to tread on them.
Sandals staff wisely usher the crowds from the beach as the survivors are packed into boxes, ready to be released when the sea is quieter. Ninety-two, someone counted. 'We always know when the babies have hatched,' I was told. 'It’s the only time the buffet is ever empty.'
Escaping to Barbados for a week or two is the stuff of dreams, so excitement levels are understandably high. The attentive all-inclusive service, fabulous food and comprehensive luxury is enough to keep many within the hotel grounds for their entire stay.
The soft sand of the adjoining Dover Beach is a wonderful place to relax and there are innumerable activities to burn off the calories, from yoga at sunrise to lessons with tennis pros.
COASTAL CRUISE
For those looking to explore the island's platinum west coast, a catamaran is a must.
The boat is crewed by larger-than-life characters such as Brian ‘deAction Man’ Talma, who serve up a sumptuous spread of jerk chicken, flying fish and exquisite rum cake, while doubling up as ocean guides. We stop for a spot of snorkelling with hawksbills and green leatherbacks – fully-grown relatives of the babies I saw hatching at the hotel, and dive down to submerged wrecks moored to the sea bed.
The shoreline is fanned by palms guarding the palatial villas of the rich and famous.
There is little rising beyond the tree line: the island is effectively a large slab of coral dangling from the south-eastern tip of the Antiles. The flat topography makes it ideal for agriculture, sugar production in particular, which was especially appealing to the British who colonised Barbados in 1627 and didn’t let it go until independence more than 300 years later.
Getting around is relatively straightforward – even strapped into the back of a jeep on one of the island’s eccentric safari tours. The mood is certainly buoyant – there’s something about bouncing around uncontrollably that makes people inexplicably happy.
The tour highlight is Bathsheba on the east coast. Atlantic-facing, the turbulent waters favoured by local surfers have churned up huge coral boulders, which sit shrouded in sea mist like guardians to an ancient kingdom. It is a world away from the raked sands of the west coast villas and offers the luxury of isolation and a landscape of breathtaking beauty.
FRIDAY FISH FRY
Friday night and nearby Oistin’s fish market is heaving. The resort runs a free shuttle bus to this island institution, where row upon row of food outlets serve everything from ‘dolphin’ (not the porpoise but a fish called mahi-mahi) to lobster, all grilled or fried in delicious spices.
Hundreds turn out to eat and dance to the carnivalesque soca music, performed live in the centre of the market.
Barbados is fertile ground for musicians: they crop up here like sugar cane, moving with effortless rhythm, emanating sounds as sweet as molasses. After a rum punch or two I’m soon swaying along awkwardly to the upbeat vocals of raw Rhianna hopefuls.
Next morning, with a sore head, I find myself in the capital Bridgetown, listening to a stout, elderly gentleman and gazing longingly at the shade afforded by his wide-brimmed fedora.
You are standing, says Maurice Greenidge – eminent local historian and my guide to the city – on sacred ground; 1652 is the year, and on this spot rum was born. Barbados loves rum.
I scan the colourful facades of the old harbour market. Carlisle bay sweeps away to the former British garrison. Bright colours blur with the sound of car horns; music is beating underneath it all, and the heat settling down from above.
It is easy to while away the time here at a luxury all-inclusive resort. But venture beyond and you will quickly realise that life in Barbados offers so much more, paradise included.
First published in the Mail Online - May 2017
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