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I hope you’ll excuse me for getting just a little out of control on Instagram last week while I was in Cape Verde.

Sunshine has a way of making me slightly giddy.

I also took my big camera along to Cape Verde, and these were my favorite seven shots.

I stayed in a gorgeous resort with First Choice Holidays called Melia Dunas. The resort has eight swimming pools and they all have bars conveniently located right next to the pools. A sun lounger and a cocktail is about all I need to be happy on holiday.

Follow the volcanic cobblestones to the beach at Melia Dunas. It became a kind of game for me to spot all the ways this stone is used on the island. Locals break it down into these stones and then load them up in trucks to sell to the new resorts being constructed around the island.

I watched three sunsets from this beach. Each one was beautiful in its own way. I don’t ever get tired of watching the sunset and I always stay way after it has gone down, enjoying all the pink remants streaked underneath the clouds.

Hop in a Land Rover for a tour of the island of Sal. Touring a salt mine (and floating in the lake), seeing a mirage in the desert and visiting the small towns were some of the highlights of this excursion. But I really just enjoyed riding around and talking to our guides.

I always ended up back down here for a little more beach time. Can’t. Get. Enough.

This corridor of palm trees ran straight down the middle of the resort and was lined with restaurants and shops on both sides. There was even a gelato shop, which of course, I had to sample. (Pistachio please!)

More to come from my short break to Cape Verde!

I went to Cape Verde as part of being chosen to be a First Choice Out of Office Blogger, which has been a fab way to see some new parts of the world. I’ll be going to Malta with First Choice in March!

The post Snapshots from Cape Verde appeared first on Alison Chino.

For a couple of weeks my Instagram feed was filled with palm trees and beaches instead of mist and mountains.

So for Instagram Travel Thursday, I’m sharing my IG images from Mauritius!

Sigh. So beautiful!

We stayed at Long Beach Hotel with First Choice Holidays, and maybe my favourite thing about the resort, besides the location, was the creatively designed beach loungers tucked all around the pool and the beach.

We made good use of the happily situated sun beds.

Blue skies dominated our horizons most days!

We broke away from our resort to tour the beautiful island of Mauritius.

And we also spent a day out on the Indian Ocean in a catamaran.

Our resort had a sea spa and these loungers overlooking a lake served as the relaxation zone for the spa.

Our kids never tired of the main swimming pool and on our last day the pool was all decorated for a pre-wedding pool party.

The most magical times at the beach are always the sunset and sunrise hours. We tried to be down on the beach every night to see the sky painted pink.

Three nights a week at Long Beach, there is a sunset yoga class for guests. LOVE!

Happy Sunrise from Mauritius!

Simon and I were sent to Mauritius, along with Sally and Flea, as part of our role this year as First Choice Out of Office Bloggers. First Choice has chosen five bloggers to visit their resorts in 2014 and blog about them. I’m feeling super thankful for the privilege and already looking forward to my next trip Out of Office!

Stay tuned for more photos and stories from our time in Mauritius!

Do you travel + Instagram? Join in IG Travel Thursday!

More of my IG Travel Thursday posts.

PS I love participating in Instagram Travel Thursday with Skimbaco Lifestyle! Simon was even featured in this month’s eMagazine on family traveling!

The post Snapshots of Mauritius appeared first on Alison Chino.