Skype - no cost phone calls are here, free Internet telephony that just works.

Skype.com offers quality free computer to computer phone calls - strongly recommended - As featured on Carte Blanche - February 6, 2005

Phone calls - world-wide - no per second, or per minute or per call charge - completely free!

That is what your computer and a cheap microphone offer you when you sign-up with the free, high sound quality, Skype system.

As you will know, the Health Spas Guide newsletter content is usually restricted to news about health spas. But we got so excited about http://www.skype.com that we just had to share it with you.....MORE...http://healthspas.co.za/hsg-skype.php

Popular NEW SPAS

Currently attracting a lot of enquiries and bookings are three recently announced spas:

• BSXI (Be Sexy) Hydro Day Spa in Waterkloof, Pta http://www.healthspas.co.za/bsxi-index.php
  
• Cloud 9 Floatation & Massage Spa - Craighall Park - Jhb
  http://www.healthspas.co.za/cloud9-index.php
  
• The Spa on Fairway - Durban North
  http://www.healthspas.co.za/the-spa-index.php
  

International Spa News - And now for something completely different ...

Underwater massage
The world's first underwater spa treatment rooms are the star attraction at Huvafen Fushi in the Maldives. Sunk more than 25 feet below sea level, the rooms have glass walls so that you can watch the marine life while being treated.

Maharajah's tent
Indulge yourself with the Aman Raj massage - your body is gently oiled and massaged using local Indian techniques under reams of cream-coloured canvas in the spa at Aman-I-Khas in Rajasthan.

Mud volcano
Wallow in your private mud pool at New Zealand's Hell's Gate - 50 acres of bubbling, belching mud, steaming fumaroles and hot waters of Sulphur Lake. Used for its healing properties by the local Maori for centuries.

Up a tree
Pampering for Tarzan and Jane in a tree house set in the canopy of Australia's Daintree rainforest. Silky Oaks Lodge in Queensland sits amid the foliage on stilted buildings high above the Mossman River. Rooms are also perched high in the treetops.

Cave heaven
The Grotta Giusti at Monsummano Terme, between Florence and Pisa, has its own grotto complete with stalactites and stalagmites. You park your deckchair in Paradise, Purgatory or Hell, depending on your heat preference.

Polynesian lagoon
Lie in the shallows of the crystal clear lagoon waters in Polynesia and enjoy a sea-water massage at sunset. The Le Taha'a Private Island and Spa, 140 miles West of Tahiti nestles in the shade of a coconut grove between a small lake and lagoon.

Medieval abbey
In the 13th century the vaulted stone cellars of this Parisian abbey were used as kitchens and cellars. In 2003, they were converted into a spa beneath the Relais Christine Hotel on the Left Bank.

Geothermal activity
It's all hot geysers, lava caves and silica mudflats at the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa near Reykjavik in Iceland, surrounded by black sandy beaches. Enjoy an underwater massage, sweat it out in a steamy lava cave before letting the waterfall pummel your back.

Coral reef
Indulgence is a boat ride away at the Caribbean retreat of Raffles Resort Canouan Island, in the Grenadines. Two of the treatment rooms at the resort's Amrita Spa are set on stilts over the extensive coral reef.

http://travel.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2005/02/19/etspasten.xml 

Competition Reminder

Enter the 'Win Two Parties' at Mangwanani Competition - before it is too late. Each winner can invite 11 friends to her / his own 'all expenses paid' party at the Mangwanani Private African Day Spa in Gauteng.

The winning packages include limo bus to and from Mangwanani (from Monte Casino), dinner, massages and treatments, complimentary bar, and gown and slipper packs. Value of each private party R10500.

The competition is proving as popular as the spa. To enter:http://www.healthspas.co.za/comp-n-mang.php