Mon Ark Journeys

Mon Ark Journeys Travel Company

Take With You What Matters Most

The Chobe River basin has one of the highest concentrations of elephants on Earth. Watching that from the water is an ex...
05/29/2026

The Chobe River basin has one of the highest concentrations of elephants on Earth. Watching that from the water is an experience of its own.

The Zambezi Queen is a luxury houseboat that cruises the Chobe River on the border of Botswana and Zimbabwe. Fourteen suites, a small group, and days built around the river.

Elephants crossing right in front of the boat is a regular occurrence. So are hippos, crocs, and some of the best birding on the continent. Game drives go alongside the river experience, so guests cover both water and land during the journey.

Mon Ark's insight: This experience pairs naturally with a private game reserve stay in Botswana or Zimbabwe to complete an itinerary that covers the full range of a southern Africa trip.

If Africa is on your list, this is one of the most unique ways to experience it.

It keeps showing up at the top of Caribbean rankings. Most people have never heard of it.Hermitage Bay has landed on the...
05/27/2026

It keeps showing up at the top of Caribbean rankings. Most people have never heard of it.

Hermitage Bay has landed on the Condé Nast Traveler Gold List and Travel + Leisure's World's Best Hotels list more than once, and it's not hard to understand why. Thirty suites maximum, adults only (16+), and every single one faces the ocean.

Private plunge pools, daily changing menus built around produce from the resort's own garden, a Tree Bar literally constructed around the trunk of a tree, and a clear-bottomed kayak you can take out any time are included in the rate.

The day trip to Barbuda for lunch at Nobu on Princess Diana Beach is one of the best advisor recommendations we make anywhere in the Caribbean.

Antigua also delivers well beyond the resort. English Harbour, 365 beaches, and some of the best sailing culture in the Eastern Caribbean are all worth building time around.

If the Caribbean is on your list this year, message us to start planning!

The Ritz-Carlton Langkawi consistently ranks among the most remarkable hotel settings in Southeast Asia, set within a 10...
05/25/2026

The Ritz-Carlton Langkawi consistently ranks among the most remarkable hotel settings in Southeast Asia, set within a 10-million-year-old rainforest on the island's southwest coast and just 10 minutes from the airport.

Here's what makes it worth the flight: A personal butler from check-in. The only overwater spa in Langkawi, built to resemble traditional Malay fishing traps floating above the Andaman Sea. An overwater Chinese restaurant on stilts, where dinner starts with picking your own seafood. And a rainforest that delivers hornbills, dusky leaf monkeys, and fireflies without you having to go looking for any of them.

This is a destination worth knowing. Reach out to start planning!

Horses on a Mykonos hillside, a cave pool, and views across the Aegean. Not exactly what comes to mind when someone says...
05/22/2026

Horses on a Mykonos hillside, a cave pool, and views across the Aegean. Not exactly what comes to mind when someone says Mykonos.

Kalesma is 22 suites above Mykonos Town, most with private pools. You're close enough to walk into everything the island offers, but nothing about this property feels like the Mykonos most people picture.

The cave pool and golden hour views are the two things clients mention most. We'd add the horses, but those tend to speak for themselves.

Mon Ark's Tip: We also love pairing Mykonos with Paros for a Greek island trip with real variety.

Ready for Greece? Let's start planning.

There are two versions of Phuket. The one most people book, and the one we actually recommend.Anantara Mai Khao is on Ph...
05/20/2026

There are two versions of Phuket. The one most people book, and the one we actually recommend.

Anantara Mai Khao is on Phuket's longest beach, 15 minutes from the airport, bordered by a national park, and a completely different experience from what most people associate with the island.

And if it looks familiar, that's because White Lotus Season 3 was filmed here. The 92 pool villas are set around lotus-filled lagoons in a traditional Thai-village style. The Spice Spoons cooking class is one of our favourite things to recommend: it starts with a market visit before moving into a traditional Thai kitchen, which is exactly the kind of thing that makes a trip feel different from just a beach holiday.

Ready for a Thailand getaway? Let’s start planning!

Here's something most people don't realize when booking Los Cabos: the majority of beaches in the area aren't actually s...
05/18/2026

Here's something most people don't realize when booking Los Cabos: the majority of beaches in the area aren't actually swimmable. The currents along the Corridor are too strong.

Hacienda del Mar sits on the Sea of Cortez side, which means calm, clear, genuinely swimmable water right in front of the property. That one detail changes the whole trip for a lot of clients.

The rest of the property continues to deliver from there. Five pools, 11 restaurants and bars, a spa offering volcanic stone massages and traditional temazcal rituals, and a bar stocked with over 100 tequilas. The original restaurant, Pitahayas, opened in 1995 and became such a destination that they built the hotel around it five years later. There's also an underground wine cellar that seats eight for private dinners, which is one of our favourite things to book for clients.

If Mexico is on your calendar, reach out to start planning.

Eight rooms. One biodynamic farm. Zero reason to leave.Finca la Donaira is about 30 minutes outside Ronda in the hills o...
05/15/2026

Eight rooms. One biodynamic farm. Zero reason to leave.

Finca la Donaira is about 30 minutes outside Ronda in the hills of Andalusia, Spain, and it operates completely differently from most luxury hotels. The estate is fully certified biodynamic. They raise Lusitano horses, produce their own wine and cheese, and grow a significant portion of what you eat during your stay.

The experiences here are genuinely unlike anything else. Yoga on horseback. Guided stargazing. Forest bathing with donkeys. A seed-to-plate culinary program and natural wine tastings from their own bodega. A spa built from stones collected on the estate. And truffle hunting that ends with lunch.

Andalusia and Ronda tend to get skipped on Spain itineraries. This is one of the most interesting places to base that trip.

Reach out to learn more!

Truffle hunting with trained dogs in the morning. Twenty-seven holes through Tuscan vineyards in the afternoon. Tablesid...
05/13/2026

Truffle hunting with trained dogs in the morning. Twenty-seven holes through Tuscan vineyards in the afternoon. Tableside tiramisù at dinner inside a medieval castle. That's a Tuesday at Castelfalfi.

It covers everything Tuscany does well in one place. Five restaurants, including La Rocca inside the original castle. A RAKxa spa with both indoor and outdoor pools. Falconry experiences, a cooking class with the executive chef, and a beekeeping session with the resident beekeeper that ends with a honey tasting.

The estate produces its own wine, olive oil, and wildflower honey, all available to taste and take home. San Gimignano is 30 minutes away, and Volterra is 35, so it works well as a base for the wider region too.

If Italy has been on your travel wish list, this is one of the most interesting places to build the trip around. Get in touch to learn more.

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