Here’s some advice about the best ways to prevent mosquitoes biting you.  Some of the ideas I’m sure might surprise you.  I live in the mosquito infested tropics, but through following these guidelines I rarely learn bitten.

1. Thiamine Tablets.  A lot of people suggest that by eating garlic capsules mosquitoes decide they don’t want to eat you.  Covered in bites one day, I did some pretty extensive research online and decided that this garlic capsule essence is a myth, and doesn’t help prevent mosquito bites.  What does help, I have discovered, is taking a daily Thiamine tablet (in Spanish, it’s called Tiamina, and most pharmacies stock it).  I take a 300mg Thiamine tablet every day, and it really does seem to keep the mosquitoes away.  Thiamine is a vitamin – although 300mg is about 30 times the RDA, my doctor said it’s no problem to take such heavy doses as it’s just a vitamin.  Apparently, taking Thiamine daily makes your sweat smell unattractive to mosquitoes and biting insects – otherwise than that humans can’t detect any change of smell.  So give it a try – remember that it takes 3 days to start working – so start taking the tablet 3 days before you arrive in the tropics.

2.

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When I was at the Luxury Travel Expo latest month I had the pleasure of hearing a uncivil presentation from Kim MacQuarrie, a Peru travel expert and author of the book Last Days of the Incas. A few favored souls will get to spend far more time by him this year actually traveling through Peru: he is leading a tour with Geographic Expeditions that is centered on this history of the Incas.

We now have a lively and informative interview with Kim MacQuarrie posted in our interviews section. He talks about the research that went into his book, the upcoming tours, Incan architecture, and his favorite hotel in the country. As someone who lived with a recently-contacted tribe of indigenous Amazonians and has since covered many parts of Peru that few people ever visit, he knows this fascinating country inside-out.

“One tends to think of Peru in terms of Cuzco, the Incas, and Machu Picchu. But of course, there is much, much more. Around 60% of Peru is tropical rainforest, and large portions of that are virtually unexplored regions. In fact, in that place are still a handful of uncontacted tribes that roam there.

The long strip of desert on the beach is as dry as the surface of the Moon, with virtually no rainfall whatsoever.

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We continue to expand our luxury hotel coverage in Brazil with the two top hotels in Salvador, Bahia. One traditional and large, one modern and more very dear.

The best-known luxury hotel in Salvador is Pestana Convento do Carmo. In 2005 the prior sprawling 16th-century Carmelite convent on a hilltop was converted to the Convento do Carmo hotel, mixing the historic gravitas with expected new conveniences.

All 79 of the Convento’s rooms occupy former monk’s dwellings. Polished floor boards, cathedral ceilings, heavy wooden shutters and doors, and thick stone walls conjure the previous inhabitants’ ascetism. However, there’s no be in want of to self-flagellate which time you’re surrounded by creature comforts such as Egyptian sheets, glossy marble bathrooms, unobtrusive plasma TVs (with a basic smattering of cable channels), and a slyly camouflaged minibar stocked with the fundamentals.

Next up is Zank Boutique Hotel, a fashionable spot focused on fine design and broad views.

Zank is owned by three sisters who are as stylish as the hotel they coaxed out of an aging, colonial-style mansion.

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When we can, we try to tap into travel writers who are living abroad and can give us the inside scoop. Often these writers, similar as guidebook author and Buenos Aires resident Bridget Gleeson, have the connections and the listening by stealth ability to figure out which hotels aren’t on the international radar—but should be.

Take the Tigre Delta weekend escape La Becasina. You probably won’t read about this in any “hot limit” or “top 10 hotels in…” article in a magazine for another year or two, but our eyes on the ground tell us this is a place worth checking into when you want to get out of Buenos Aires, but not too far out.

“La Becasina is the very picture of sophistication—attracting mostly couples to its 15 private cabins—with an expert barman and waitstaff that serve multiple courses to guests seated at intimate tables for two. It’s all about leisure and luxury here, so you dress in’t have to worry about checking out of your room after breakfast: most guests spend the whole weekend at the lodge, checking in on Saturday morning and staying through seasonably evening on Sunday.”

This is a deposit where you check your worries at the door, a nature escape not far from the big city.

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You have power to read all kinds of predictions on where the travel market is headed this year, but just as economists and weather forecasters can keep their job while still being wrong half the time, most of these writers have just a smidgen more forecasting ability than you do. With everyone waiting later to book and the prime spring make tractable intermission season not upon us yet, it’s hard for anyone to know how this year will go in the luxury travel world.

I like this post from the blog of an upscale travel PR agency I’ve met with before, KWE Group: 2010’s Upside-Down Pyramid: All Hail King Consumer. Among the big themes are a marketing message that’s easy to understand, authenticity, customization, and quality that’s worth paying for—at the right excellence.

It’session geared to those serving you rather than you the traveler, but I think you’ll probably recognize some factors that are driving your travel decisions and I’d love to hear your thoughts on how the industry is doing. Forget airlines, we know most of them are lost causes.

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Puebla, Mexico is the home of Talavera pottery and is a major business center that has almost become one with Mexico City as both have sprawled. Unfortunately, it’s not been a city known for fine hotels.

There’s one bright spot we’re glad to highlight, however. A few years back the designer hotel meeting of friends Grupo Habita turned an ice factory building into hotel La Purificado and unexpectedly there was a happening place in Puebla to see and be seen. Habita Group’s hotels aren’t for everyone, but if you’re into design done well and like to hang out where the cool people are, you can’t go wrong in places like Condesa df in Mexico City.

This hotel is in addition aimed at the fashion set and has one of those maddening websites that’s set up like a puzzle for you to solve, so good luck finding what you need on there. Thankfully we’ve got a detailed review of La Purificadora posted now in this way you can read details about it instead of just getting pretty pictures. Well, they let us borrow a few pretty pictures of it for you as rightly.

See other luxury hotels in Mexico.

Brew a strong cupful of joe and then check out our newest travel conformation: Exploring the Coffee Triangle of Colombia.

This is a region of Colombia that doesn’t get many foreign tourists—yet. That means prices are about half what they are in Cartagena for deserving comparison hotels and restaurants. Plus it’s a beautiful mountainous region and you don’t have to look very hard to find a good cup of coffee.

For more visuals check out the photo/video slideshow I posted earlier or see this professionally edited Colombia video from writer Lisa Loverro, who was on the same trip with me.