We had a fast car this time, so the ride to from Galle to Colombo was a breeze. We arrived in the early afternoon, at the Mandarina Colombo Hotel. Mandarina Colombo Hotel This centrally located,…
Galle (Sri Lanka Part 4)
A 3-day culinary journey in Galle The journey from Kandy to Galle started late, and took the better part of the day. Most of the time was spent on the congested, winding road between Kandy…
Kandy (Sri Lanka Part 3)
The beautiful town of Kandy is famous for its lake, and for the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic – a holy site where one of the Buddha’s teeth is kept. Kandy is also the…
Sigiriya (Sri Lanka Part 2)
Sigiriya, eponymous to the rock which has become the hallmark of Sri Lanka, is also known for its elephants, and for the nearby Dambulla Cave Temple. Aliya Resort and Spa Aliya Resort and Spa features…
Sri Lanka Vacation Part 1 – Nairobi-Colombo in 11 hours
Sri Lanka means the Resplendent Island. A fitting name for this paradise on Earth. This vibrant cultural melting pot is as friendly and welcoming as it is lush and beautiful. The cultural and historic wealth…
Nairobi, a city of endless roadworks
Kenya is bustling with roadworks at the moment. Nairobi is leading from the front. With the promise of great highways in the the near future, however, comes utter chaos now. Every other major road seems…
Restaurants in Diani
How to make your days in South Coast a culinary delight After some lovely days of relaxing and culinary exploration in Malindi, we were heading southwards, to Diani. Until the upcoming Southern and Northern bypasses…
St. Thomas Royal Palm – not there yet!
I like describing places as hidden gems. Probably because that is what we look for. St. Thomas Royal Palm might soon be one. For now, in gem analogies, it is an uncut one. Well, hidden…
Two hidden restaurant gems on the beach
Day 4 and 5 of our Christmas road trip: taking it easy, but stil on a mission to explore. Mayungu, between Malindi and Watamu, features two beach restaurants. Such places can be real hidden gems,…
Tsavo East and Aruba Lodge
When our 2019 Christmas plans suddenly changed for reasons beyond our control, we had the option of spending the festive season in Nairobi, or improvise something. Spontaneity it was! The Kenya Coast is generally fully…
HotelOnline: How we scaled across Africa
The first-ever African Innovation Week took place in Addis Ababa at the African Union Headquarters, Oct. 28 – Nov. 2. AIW is an international conference, showcasing entrepreneurship in Africa. I was honoured to be among…
Monsoons – one of the best beach restaurants in Africa!
Sublime beach restaurant off the beaten track Getting to Monsoons is quite a journey, through the busy town of Mtwapa, and some good 20 minutes down a rough and bumpy dirt road. It is worth…
Road trip to Mombasa
The 490 kms of road between Nairobi and Mombasa can take 6-7 hours with good driving conditions. While there are no major stopover attractions along the road, it is a scenic drive. About 100 kms…
HotelOnline – the story
The CEO of Africa Innovation Network, Flemming Sørensen, reached out recently, asking if I could do a video appearance at a seminar, telling the story of HotelOnline. Sure, I love telling about how Endre and…
Nyege Nyege Festival: Jinja on fire!
The quiet town of Jinja, commonly known as the source of the Nile, has has become home to new attraction which keeps increasing in popularity. Launched in 2015, the Nyege Nyege festival has become a…
Tiwi Beach – off the beaten track in Kenya
If you are a seasoned traveler in Kenya, you may feel that Mombasa, Malindi and Lamu are “been there done that“, and that Diani has become too touristic too. In that case, Tiwi Beach is…
[Ventureburn] Norwegian Håvar Bauck’s Kenyan startup HotelOnline announces it’s raised $320k
Håvar Bauck, the Norwegian entrepreneur who hit the news earlier this year over his dealings with controversial Polish tech entrepreneur Marek Zmyslowski announced yesterday that his Kenyan travel tech startup HotelOnline had raised $320 000. The company provides solutions…
[BW Hotelier] Shravan Shroff Joins HotelOnline Board of Directors
http://bwhotelier.businessworld.in/article/Shravan-Shroff-Joins-HotelOnline-Board-of-Directors/10-07-2019-173144/ HotelOnline is a travel tech scale-up, started by Norwegian entrepreneurs Håvar Bauck and Endre Opdal, both living in Kenya. HotelOnline, with an aim to strengthen its position in current core markets, delivering outstanding quality…
