My Dream Holiday - Personal Essay

MY DREAM HOLIDAY – AN ESSAY

The mere mention of the word ‘holiday’ evoke different sentiments in different persons. To some, this emotion can be that of excitement and celebration, while to others, it’s simply a time of reflection, reorganisation and reinvigoration. The type of emotion induced by the thought of a holiday determines the type of dream that the mind lend itself to and to a large extent, determine the choice of the holiday location. For me, a dream holiday will be that holiday that will provide me a place of solitude for utmost reflection, a place away from the hustling and bustling of great cities and a place devoid of chaos and confusion.  A place where nature reign supreme.

In putting this paper together, I will like to dream of the natural environment – including weather, sea wave, aquatic and land animals, birds etc. that will best suit my mind-set. I will also explore the physical environment which will cover basic infrastructure and other man made features. I shall take a close look at the inhabitants, their culture, and their general economic and social activities. I will conclude by making comparison with some other holiday location and the fulfilment of holiday expectations.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

The natural environment of my dream holiday location is a local beach front on an island in a rain forest along the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Here, it rains eight months of the year and has a temperature range of 20 to 34 degrees Celsius. The sky is clear and blueish, the sun is soft and gentle on the skin during the dry season.  It’s about 120 kilometres away from any major city. It can be accessed either by road or by river. The last four kilometres to the ocean front is through a thick mangrove forest wherein wild elephants roam about. Common in this forest are baboons, monkeys, grass cutters, antelope and other wild animals. Lions, tigers, bears and crocodile have not been sighted in this forest. The primary forest is evergreen with trees dating back to several centuries on the both sides of the paved road.  Going through this last four kilometres to the ocean front, I feel nothing other than serenity in my heart as I hear the unique sounds of the ancient forest. The sound of baboons and sometimes elephants. The sound of singing birds such as the canary and the common nightingales. The sound of broken tree branches, indicating that the monkeys are up to their tricks and smartness as they move from branch to branch. My heart yield and melt as I see fresh elephant dung indicating that an elephant has just passed by. As I emerge from this road, my heart skips. I am now confronted with a twenty nine kilometre stretch of white sandy beach on my sides, rolling and tumbling ocean waves in my front. The sound of the ocean foisted a sudden peace of mind on me. I am now attune to nature. The ocean water is saline. This ocean is known to be very rich in aquatic life. Fishes such as barracuda, shark, stingray, octopus, jelly fish, bonga fish (ethmalosa fimbriata), etc are often caught by the fishermen. Whales are sighted sometimes while large crabs, shrimps and sea turtle are also common with the fishermen. The most exciting aspect of this beach front is the appearance of hippopotamus from the ocean in the mornings. These hippopotamus comes from the ocean in large number to play and lounge around on the beach for several hours before returning to the ocean again. It is not uncommon to see children and adults stand around in groups watching the hippopotamus. Welcome to IKURU ATLANTIC BEACH.

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The extreme beauty and physical planning of the environment is such that pleases the eyes and brings harmony to the heart. A conglomeration of five, four and three stars hotels all in predetermined configuration and coloration with different nomenclatures line the beach. These hotels are all well-spaced out and are at least two hundred meters from the ocean water mark.  In front of each hotel is a vast play ground with various sizes of both local and foreign canopies, umbrellas, and thatch sheds with assorted types of lounging beds, chairs and some native mats. Behind the hotels in what looks like the general development area can be found a golf course with eighteen holes, a helicopter landing base with accompanying facilities, public utilities such as tertiary institution, fifty bed hospital, water works and a seventy five meter high wind turbine gracefully rotating as it produces over three megawatt of electricity that powers the entire area.

My choice of hotel is the five star Atlantic Beach Hotel which is a ten storey building covered partly with artificial sand stone tiles and partly with golden glasses that reflects in the early morning sun and gives off its golden radiance in the late evening when the sun goes down over the horizon. The dazzling and exquisite hotel lobby, the elegant porters, and the beautiful receptionists all snowball into one congruous charming delight, working in mechanical synergy to deliver prompt and professional services to their guest. The rooms and there adjoining baths are spacious and finished to kingly taste. The bed is best described as “luxury incorporated” as it tend to suck you into itself and instantly combine with the harmonious and symphonic sound of the ocean wave to foist peace and tranquillity on you and ultimately send you to a deep restful sleep. The cuisines and winery are excellent, classy and befitting for royalties.