Top 4 Unique Holiday Destinations Around the World

Dream Holidays:

A) Safari: The Masai Mara, Kenya: The Masai Mara must be the most spectacular wildlife pageant on earth. Each year, when the rainy season ends in May, hundreds of thousands of wildebeests mass together. They move in search of greener pastures from the Serengeti in Tanzania north of the wide open grasslands of Kenya´s Masai Mara. Along with migrating herds of zebra, antelope and gazelle, there are sometimes more than a million animals on the move at one time. You can follow their journey on a horseback safari. Riding through the unspoiled Lolita Hills and the great Rolling plains of the Mara, you´ll pass through the manyattas (villages) of the nomadic Masai people who protect the animals they believe to be god's cattle. Some ascents will reach 2500 metres, providing spectacular views and open vistas. And while you marvel at the views, the staff go on ahead to set up camp in a lovely setting and have dinner and a hot shower ready for your arrival.

B) The Iditarod: Anchorage, Alaska: The Iditarod is a grueling sled-dog race across the Alaskan wilderness, from Anchorage all the way to Nome on the coast of the Bering Sea. Dogsledding had almost disappeared until 1973 when the first Iditarod was organized to revive the tradition and commemorate historical dogsledding events. One such historical event had taken place during the 1925 diphtheria epidemic in Nome when 20 riders (called mushers) and a sled team crossed the frozen landscape to fetch essential medicine for the town. Today an average of 65 mushers and their teams come from as far away as Japan and Russia to compete for a share of $600,000 prize money, traversing 1,149 miles – a journey which usually takes between eight and fifteen days. The Iditarod has become the largest spectator event in Alaska. Along the way entire towns turn out to cheer on the mushers and their teams.

C) Las Tanguerias de Buenos Aires: The Tango is Argentina´s celebration of machismo, domination, and tormented love. This intricate and exquisite dance is the most authentic of Argentine creations. The tango´s popularity has waxed and waned since the 1920´s when the darkly handsome Singer, Carlos Gardel, drove the country wild before dying tragically in 1935 plane crash. A recent revival of tangomania confirms that this indigenous popular music has survived the era of rock and roll, and some of the large dance halls, such as El Viejo Almacén and Casa Blanca, still put on an emotion-packed nightly show with the country´s finest tango dancers, singers and musicians. To see tango in its natural habitat- the classic small, smoky, dimly-lit tango bar where things don´t start happening until the other side of midnight – the casual Bar Sur is the place to go.

D) Santa´s Village: Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland: Rovaniemi, in Finland´s Arctic Circle, is considered the gateway to Lapland. It is known for its indigenous, formerly nomadic, Sami people (once commonly known as Lapp). Santa´s village is how every child always imagines it to be – a snowy Winter wonderland with a jovial Santa in attendance every day! His busy workshops show how he keeps up with his toy – making, and the post office displays some of the 600,000 letters received every year from all over the world. About a third of these letters get answered. An irresistible gift shop provides a myriad of Yuletide presents that can be shipped back home with Santa´s village postmark, or, for a nominal fee, you can add your child´s name to a list to receive a postcard from Santa.