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There’s an extensive, excellent and well-signposted network of (mainly) wide and relatively quiet roads.
That’s the carrot; the stick is that public transport in much of America ranges from poor to non-existent. Although many big cities in the US and Canada have excellent public transport networks, most of the citizens of this continent are wholly dependent on their automobiles. So you’ll need your own vehicle to best see the continent’s multitude of non-urban sights, numerous natural splendours, man-made attractions and fantastic scenery.I WANT SOME PARTICULAR PLACES TO GOAim high Not even the sky is the limit in North America. Application forms can be downloaded from the website or obtained from the High Commission.. To reduce the impact on the environment, you can buy an “offset” from Climate Care (01865 207 000; www.climatecare ). The environmental cost of a return flight from London to Maputo, in economy class, is £20.

The money is used to fund sustainable energy and reforestation projects.STAYING THEREVamizi Island Lodge, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique (00 258 272 21299; www.vamizi ).RED TAPEBritish passport-holders require a visa, obtainable from the Mozambique High Commission, 21 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 6EL (020-7383 3800; www.mozambiquehc .uk) and cost £40. Alternatively, fly to the capital, Maputo via Johannesburg with South African Airways (0870 747 1111; www.flysaa ) or via Nairobi with Kenya Airways (01784 888222; www.kenya-airways ). From there, Linhas Aereas de Mo?bique (00 351 217 803 910; www.lam.co.mz) flies to Pemba, from where transfers are available to Vamizi Island. This costs from £2,962 for seven nights for six people sharing and includes return British Airways flights to Dar Es Salaam.There are no direct flights between the UK and Mozambique.

The area is most easily accessed from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, which is served by British Airways (0870 850 9850; www.ba ) from Heathrow. For more of an adventure, the same company can arrange for you to sail down to Vamizi from Dar es Salaam on Midsummer, a 1910 schooner. TRAVELLER’S GUIDE: MOZAMBIQUEGETTING THEREThe writer travelled with Cazenove and Loyd (020-7384 2332; www.cazloyd ), which offers five-night packages to Vamizi Island from £2,768 per person. This includes return flights from Heathrow to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania with British Airways, a charter flight to Mozambique, boat transfers, all-inclusive accommodation and most activities (diving and deep sea fishing are extra). Vamizi operates a catch-and-release policy for threatened species, but others aren’t so lucky; the mallow-soft tuna sashimi served as a canap?ne evening was so fresh you could virtually taste the surf.As I polished off more sashimi, I flicked through a second guest book and saw that Nancy had scribbled another message: “Unico”, she had written, and it’s hard to disagree.

Paulo reached out and cupped it, upside down, in his palm before passing it to me. Jellyfish stroking not being a regular hobby, I was unsure whether I should follow suit but went with instinct and let its body rest for a slimy moment in my fingers, before casting it gently off and watching it pulse, spectre-like, into the light overhead.If you’d rather catch fish than swim among them, you can also opt for deep-sea fishing with Graham, the island’s resident action man. I spotted a translucent, saucer-sized jellyfish heading towards us and pointed it out. Or just flop on one of the lodge’s chic sun loungers and nod off in the shade, with the breeze tugging at the casuarinas.My own magic Vamizi moment, however, came when I was out diving with Paulo, one of the island’s divemasters. Hike out to the island’s old Portuguese lighthouse, past curious Samango monkeys, yellow-bellied sunbirds and huge Friar butterflies Kayak along the beach. Take a dhow cruise and watch flying fish skim, pebble-like, across the water from your perch of squishy indigo cushions. Veronique, from London, had chosen to visit specifically because of the combination of excellent diving and luxurious accommodation.

“I need my luxury at night, but the diving has to be good too, and it is here,” she explained. “It’s not so much that you see angelfish, for instance, but that you see Old Woman angelfish, Emperor angelfish and Tiger angelfish.” Even better, she returned from a dive late one night having spotted a rare Spanish dancer and described in breathless detail watching it flamenco its translucent red frills through the gloom.Apart from the diving, you can cool off by snorkelling out to the reef. It’s hard to knock a project with such laudable ambitions but surely it’s worth looking into solar power, a greywater-irrigated kitchen-garden and, maybe, filtered rather than plastic-bottled water?Still, the other guests didn’t seem too bothered. Villas also come with solid marble showers and huge, sleek four-posters, each draped in muslin mosquito nets as chic as the shipwreck-style shell chandeliers that hang in the bar.My one reservation is that they could have taken the “eco” concept further. Other resorts have already proven that you don’t have to sacrifice comfort – or glamour – to operate along ecologically sound lines. There are 12 luxury beach villas here, each with its own private sun deck, and each built in keeping with the ethos of the project.