Serves 4; Makes 1 ¼ Cups

1 tablespoon stemmed & finely chopped Habanero pepper (about 1 pepper)
2 tablespoons stemmed fresh thyme

1 tablespoon freshly ground allspice (not too fine)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
¾ cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 ½ cups finely chopped scallions (using the white and the green parts)
¾ cup soy sauce
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Place all ingredients in food processor except soy sauce and oil.
2. After finely minced or pureed, place in mixing bowl and add soy sauce.
3. Store in glass jar or clay pot.

For Meats (chicken, beef, pork)

1. Place the meat in the marinade and let sit overnight.
2. Remove meat from the marinade and grill at a high temperature until cooked through.

For Seafood (fish, lobster, shrimp)

1. Place the fish or seafood in the marinade for one hour only.  Do not overmarinate or it will break down the fibers in the fish and seafood, resulting in a mushy consistency when cooked.
   
2. Remove from the marinade and grill at a high temperature until cooked through.

Credit: Sandals Lifestyle

From the Nyam Jamaican Cookbook here is a recipe for Simple Mango Salad.
3 mangoes - peeled and sliced
4 cups of torn Romaine lettuce leaves or Arugula or mixed greens
Feta cheese

Arrange the washed lettuce or greens in a bowl. Distribute the mango slices over the top. Drizzle with a light vinaigrette. Add crumbled feta cheese and fresh pepper. Serves 6.

How to eat a mango the Caribbean way:

Choose a flat piece of concrete and dust it off. Po'ng (beat) the mango on the concrete turning it slowly to get an even pulpiness. Bite the tip of the mango skin off. Suck all the juice out of the mango. Wipe mouth on shoulder of T-shirt and continue sucking til "it dry".
 

Credit: Sandals Style Magazine Winter 2011

Brrr! The weather outside is dipping into some cold temperatures but here are a few of our best suggestions to keep warm in these winter months. And since we vacation, what better is there to warm up than by giving you our favorite warm weathered cocktails! No one said it needs to be summer to enjoy an icy margarita! So crank up the fire place, and put on your favorite bikini while you warm up with these concoctions!

Tamarind Margarita - Fairmont Mayakoba, Mexico
1 ½ ounce of Patron Silver or Reposado tequila
½    ounce Cointreau or triple sec
½    ounce of simple syrup
½    ounce fresh lime juice
1     ounce tamarind syrup

Rim glass with lime and coat with salt or Tajin fruit seasoning (optional).
Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice and blend until frothy.
Pour this mixture into rimmed glass.
Enjoy!

Dirty Banana - famous in Ocho Rios, Jamaica
1½ oz Appleton Estate V/X rum
1 oz Jamaican coffee liqueur
1 oz crème de banane
½ peeled chopped banana
1 oz single cream
1 oz milk
Blend all ingredients with crushed ice, garnish with banana slice and go bananas!

Demerara Swizzle - created in Trinidad, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago
50 ml El Dorado 5 year
25 ml fresh lime juice
30 ml pineapple juice
10 ml sugar syrup
bitters
Fill up glass with crushed ice, ingredients and swizzle.
Add more ice and pineapple juice if necessary and garnish with a lime wedge.
Mmmm enjoy!

Watermelon Delight - Jalousie Plantation, St. Lucia
2 oz. Chairman's Reserve rum
2 oz. Perrier or club soda
1 tsp. brown sugar
Cubed watermelon
1/2 lime juice
Mint leaves

Muddle the mint leaves and lime juice in a glass, add brown sugar, then ice. Next, add watermelon cubes, then pour rum and soda and serve with a garnish of mint or lime. Light and refreshing!

By now you should be toasty warm and hearing tropical music in your ears! Hope you all stay bundled up in this winter weather and should you feel chilly again, we suggest: remix and repeat!

Here's a new article published on Jan. 18, 2012 from HelloWestTravel.com an online travel industry magazine.

_Sandals Resorts International announced a new incentive program on Jan. 17 for its top-selling agents.  The Chairman’s Royal Club rewards agents who have produced consistent results and have demonstrated loyalty to the brand.  Club members can reap rewards for successfully selling Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts and Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts.
 
Gordon “Butch” Stewart, Chairman of Sandals Resorts International, said that he recognizes the power of travel agents, and that there is no partnership Sandals considers more important.  Stewart said Sandals is delighted to recognize exemplary travel agents through membership in the Chairman’s Royal Club.
 
New western members are Ryan Bullock from Kamloops Travel World (BC), and Susan Vincent from Jetaways Travel, TPI, Saskatoon, (SK)

Published by HelloTravelWest.com

Take a look through these inspirations quotes related to travel.

It's been a very busy December for us at Kamloops Travel World!
If you haven't heard, we attended the STAR Awards in Ocho Rios, Jamaica where we won 3 National Awards:
2011 Best of the Best
2011 Top Concierge Agency
2011 Top Travel Agency
As well, Ryan Bullock was inducted into the newly created "Chairman's Royal Club". A world wide club for elite agents who have achieved high growth and sales during the year.
At the STAR Awards we learned about the newest and latest developments in the Sandals brand.

Following the Awards we had arranged for our agency to celebrate the holiday season with their families in Jamaica. So we all came down to Jamrock to celebrate Christmas! It was a great way for us to get together and enjoy each others company.
We ate a lot of wonderful food, tried some fun water sports and snorkeling, checked out the local craft fairs and shops and even had our photo taken with Santa! Christmas on the beach is something everyone should try!

We love to arrange group vacation! Some of the ways we made our group vacation unique were:
Private Family BBQ
Poolside Breakfast with our butlers
Private Family Shopping trip
Afternoon Poolside Snacks
Private Chartered snorkeling trip and glass bottom boat ride
Christmas Photo Shoot with Santa

Groups are a fantastic way to catch up with one another and enjoy a vacation at the same time. Arranging private or group day trips and excursions can enhance your vacation to suit the needs and dreams of each vacationer!

Check out our photos!

_We've brought back the trophies! Kamloops Travel World has yet again won some very prestigious awards at the annual STAR awards held this year in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Ryan and Deborah attended the 5 day events taking part in workshops, conferences, wedding exhibits and learning the newest and most up-to-date details and information about the Caribbean company of Sandals Resorts International.

This year we were awarded:
2011 Best Of The Best
2011 Top Concierge Agency
2011 Top Travel Agency

In addition to these awards, Ryan Bullock was inducted into the "Chairman's Royal Club". A brand new club created to honor those agents who are the best in their field and recognize top sales achievements. There are only 5 Chairman's Royal Club members across Canada and our Ryan is one of them!

We're thrilled to be acknowledged again this year for our achievements with Sandals and Beaches Resorts.  We are determined to continue to provide quality products and services to our clients and along with Sandals and Beaches Resorts we can achieve our goals of providing "more quality inclusions!"

To learn more about our Awards see here.

It's almost that time again for us to head to the annual STAR Awards.

In previous years we've been recognized at the Sandals Travel Agent Recognition Awards gala held in the Caribbean. You can read more about those awards here

Here's a snapshot of Deborah getting ready to head to Ocho Rios, Jamaica (where the awards are held this December).

This year we are up for "Best of the Best" and other National Awards. Wish us luck!

Picture the gorgeous beach you spent you last vacation on.
Now picture that same beach, destroyed. Perhaps it eroded so much that there's barely room to spread out a towel. Maybe a colossal concrete hotel is being built where the sand dunes used to be. Maybe it has been coated with a slick of spilled oil. Hopefully, your slice of paradise will remain well preserved. But at many beaches around the world, nightmares like these are coming true.
We've selected some beach destinations around the world in danger of disappearing forever due to forces such as erosion, pollution, rising sea levels, reckless overdevelopment, and sand mining. But there are hundreds more. If we don't curb global warming, insist on sustainable development, and protect the world's beaches against pollution and mismanagement, the idyllic shorelines we cherish will be preserved only in memory.

The Maldives - post card ready beaches, unblemished coral and some of the world's most luxurious resorts, the Maldives are a once-in-a-lifteime destination for many. But the islands' own lifetime may be cut short by rising sea levels dooming this string of low lying atolls in the Indian Ocean, unless the world acts quickly to curb out global warming.

Morocco - You would think a desert country would have enough sand for everyone, but not when everyone's stealing it! Yes, stealing it - literally bulldozing dunes and trucking the sand away to make cement. And leaving behind an ugly lunar landscape, definitely not sunbathe worthy. A U.S based environmental organization who advocates for the world's beaches from Cambodia to Jamaica and Australia has found that sand mining has been distructive to over 30 countries. Morocco is felt to have the worst where 100s of miles have been mined for decades

Mullins Bay, Barbados - Most Caribbean islands suffer some erosion to a degree, much from natural causes. Barbados, a country dependant on tourism, knows the importances in protecting their beaches, but some attempts to do so only makes matters worse. Local environmental activists claim that serveral places along the west shores ("Platinum Coast" where many luxury hotels, condos and homes are developed) - erosion has been exacerbated by construction. Sunbathers used to be able to walk from the popular beach bar on Mullins Beach north for serveral miles up the sandy shore. However, now there are only impassable boulders, sea walls, and crashing surf. Rising sea levels and storms certainly do play a role in the erosion of Barbados beaches, but there also needs to be a balance of the development in order to retain the preservation.

Be sure to check out the spots you have on your bucket list before its too late! But please make sure you are doing your part to protect the spots you love. Remember we only have one earth!
For more on this article check out Concierge "Last Chance Beaches"

Now's the time to think of your winter vacations. Even though summer feels like it was just a heartbeat away, soon that white stuff will be falling from the sky! Don't get left out in the cold this winter, go south and warm up!
We want people to be aware that "last minute" vacation packages are a thing of the past - booking earlier is how to secure a great vacation and to save money!
When booking in advance you still have plenty of options of destinations, resorts and hotels, and even space on tours and excursions. But last minute vacations may only leave you with what's left, rather then letting you pick and choose your dream vacation plans!