I was lucky enough to attend the Travel Counsellors International Conference in Marbella, Spain. What an awesome experience! Marbella is located in the Spanish region of Andalucia on the Costa del Sol. It's a gem on the Spanish coastline providing both old world charm in terms of its architecture, but also providing a glitzy and vibrant nightlife.
There were about 42 people from South Africa travelling together. We flew from South Africa on Iberia Airlines. It was a ten hour flight from Johannesburg to Madrid and then another short flight from Madrid to Malaga. I checked my baggage all the way through from Johannesburg to Malaga so didn't have to worry about it until I arrived in Malaga and when I got off my flight it was waiting for me. I was really happy about that!
We then got a transfer from Malaga to Marbella which took about 45 minutes along the magnificent coast line of the Costa del Sol. The first thing that struck me was how much it looked & felt like Durban. It was winter when I was there and it reminded me of Durban winters. It was warm and sunny and very tropical and beautiful. The vegetation was exactly like home with all the same plants everywhere that I have in my own garden. There were hibiscus, bougainvilleas, geraniums and the like all over the place. Very pretty indeed.
The hotel I stayed in was on the beach front. There is a wide walkway between the hotel and the actual beach. The walkway runs all along the beachfront and past hotels and beautiful homes. This is where people walk, run, ride bikes etc. There is even exercise gym machines along the pathway so one can do a workout on the way along the path!
Our conference was at the Marbella Conference & Exhibition Centre which was a perfect venue for a conference with over 1200 delegates. I would definitely recommend it to other people. It is very central and close to all the hotels. Many within walking distance.
The first night in Marbella, we were treated to a lovely evening at the Costa del Sols hottest night club called Olivia Valere. From the outside it looks like a fortress and we crossed a little bridge and past huge bouncers to get inside. Once inside, it feels like scenes from Arabian Nights with its open air courtyards, fountains and lots of little nooks and cranny with different places to sit and socialise. There are also 2 discos with different genres of music to dance the night away.
I went on an excursion to Mijas with wine tasting included. Mijas is a very beautiful, mountainous, quaint, "white town". It is up on a mountain and has very pretty, narrow streets and all the buildings are painted white. The taxis are donkeys! Please look at my pictures to see that I am not kidding. The wine tasting was in a wine cellar up one of the little narrow streets. Quite an experience!
I visited Puerto Banus one night and was totally awe struck by the harbour lit up at night. There were rows and rows of HUGE yachts. Some bigger than most peoples houses! They were spectacular. There were loads or restaurants all around and very upmarket shops. I am told this is where the rich and famous hang out and I can see why. I enjoyed it so much I went back for a quick visit the next day just to make sure I had seen everything properly!
I also visited "Old Marbella". It was very beautiful with very narrow streets and very old, quaint buildings. There were very pretty doors and windows everywhere with flowers on the windowsills and creepers climbing the walls. Also lots of lovely shops to look inside.
It was a fantastic experience and I would definitely recommend it as a fun, beach holiday destination.