Hi Everyone – Andrea here!

Thought I would fill you all in on what I’ve been up to the past few weeks.  I really enjoyed hosting our singles holidays over Christmas and New Year in Egypt, and then spent January in the Friendship Travel office, which was hectic but really rewarding.

January is – as you’d expect – a very busy time because you’re calling us, not only about summer holidays in the Med, but about last-minute winter breaks too!  The rest of the office team were glad to have the extra help and, if I do say so myself, some useful knowledge about all the different resorts where I have hosted our single traveller groups.

After that, I spent a large chunk of February on Lanzarote (I love my job!) hosting a couple of Friendship Travel singles weeks on the Costa Teguise (note for future reference – the regular market in Teguise is brilliant), and then over February half term, a week of family fun for our holidays for single parents.

I had about two days to do my laundry and catch-up on ‘real life’ before Colum sent me off to Egypt again, to host at our five-star hotel there, the Baron Palms Resort in Sharm El Sheikh.  You know how some five-star hotels can be a bit impersonal?  Not in Egypt, at least not at the Baron Palms, where the staff are lovely and greeted me like a long-lost relation.

The beach at the Baron Palms Resort

The weather has been fantastic and we’ve all been loving the sunshine and the cocktails (all-inclusive is such a great idea).  A few of us went snorkelling out at Ras Mohammed, one of the most popular spots on the Red Sea and it was a great day out on the boat, with wonderful corals and colourful fish to see – and we were lucky enough to spot some dolphins too!  But I suffered afterwards – I realised just how red I was when I got back to the hotel: it’s so easy to burn when you’re on the water and especially when you’re snorkelling.

The evenings out here are noticeably warmer than they were at Christmas, but I’m still glad I packed a cardi against the night-time breeze.  On our last night, we dined at the Egyptian Restaurant for a really authentic meal featuring traditional dishes.  Now I’ve waved goodbye to my first week’s guests and said hello already to my newly-arrived single travellers, packed my case and transferred with them to the Viking Club in Naama Bay for a second week of fun in the sun!

What’s next?  Tenerife for Easter (whoopee) and then I’m looking forward to doing a bit less packing and unpacking, as I’ll be in Rhodes for the whole summer.   Hope to see some of you there!