I have been looking for a location I once saw on a travel programme. It's one of the most extraordinary places in the world. I'm not sure what country it's in but, in an attempt to describe what I saw, I would say it's a desert location maybe - the ground reflected the sky so although you are walking on a solid surface it appears as though you are in a state of limbo. 
Adyam Markos

The near-unanimous verdict of colleagues who I consulted about this was that the place is Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni. This is the world's largest salt flat, covering an area of just over 4,000 square miles and sitting at an altitude of 12,000ft (3,657 metres), and when covered with water becomes one giant mirror. This is when many of the other-worldly photos you may have seen will have been taken.

Gap Adventures (08444 10 10 30; gapadventures.com) offer a 25-day Andes to the Atlantic Experience from 16 September-10 October 2010 for £1,589. Highlights include La Paz, Salar de Uyuni, Potosí, Sucre, Santa Cruz, the Pantanal wetlands, Iguazú Falls and Rio de Janeiro. The price includes a three-day 4WD excursion to the Salar de Uyuni and a two-day wildlife excursion to the Pantanal, transport, accommodation, some meals and local guides.

There are other places where you might get a similar visual effect – the Bonneville salt flats in Utah, where world land-speed records are usually attempted and the Etosha salt pan in Namibia.

I am flying with Continental Airlines from London to Cartagena (Colombia) via Newark and Bogota. The return flight departs from Cartagena and goes via Panama City and Newark. Since booking the flights, I have decided that I would like to sail from Cartagena to Panama and, therefore, approached the airline to cancel the first leg of the return journey and requested that I depart from Panama City instead.

The airline have confirmed that it will cost £75 plus the difference in ticket price (currently £100) to change the flight. Are they able to charge this even though I will be flying fewer air miles? What happens if I don't change anything but just try to check in in Panama?
Alexa Whitehead

Continental's terms and conditions say that they will "reroute a passenger at the passenger's request and upon presentation of the ticket or portion thereof then held by the passenger plus payment of any applicable fees, charges, and fare differentials." What this means is that there are charges for any changes to an issued ticket, provided the change was made after 24 hours from the time of your booking. These will usually reflect any change in fare and taxes, plus an administration charge from the airline. In this case, the latter fee is £75.

Since the cost of a fare is determined by more than how far the plane has to fly, and varies according to the date of travel and how busy it is when you book, it is possible that you are trying to fly on a shorter but more expensive flight. Therefore while this fee seems illogical the airline can charge more. As many readers will know, you could be in a worse position as many airlines would under these circumstances only be able to cancel your ticket and issue you with a new one.

Don't risk turning up at Panama City and trying to board the plane there. Chances are you'll be marked as a no-show in Cartagena and not be able to get on the plane, or have to buy a new ticket to do so.

My boyfriend and I are planning a three-week trip away, either at Christmas and New Year or the first three weeks of January 2011. We were planning to go to New Zealand but the flight prices look too steep.  Do you have suggestions for somewhere equally as stunning, with good weather but flight prices at around £700 mark rather than the £1k prices we've been seeing for NZ? 
Mollie Lewis

Early and mid January is not a cheap month to travel, as it coincides with the summer holidays in the southern hemisphere. If you can postpone your trip until the start of February, you will find airfares drop dramatically. A £1,000 return fare to Auckland in January isn't a bad price. I took a sample of fares across January on Expedia going from London to Auckland. While I was quoted upwards of £1,250 for early January departures, as soon as I searched for February dates the price was as low as £850 with Royal Brunei Airlines, going via Dubai and Bandar Seri Begawan.

Alternatives will have similarly inflated airfares in January, and nowhere has quite the same combination of attractions that New Zealand has. I found some £831 fares to Melbourne, Australia with well-regarded Qatar Airways, from where you could pick up a cheap flight with the likes of Jetstar (jetstar.com) to Hobart or Launceston in Tasmania. The island is green and very scenic and there are some superb hikes including the South Coast Track. Tasmania (discovertasmania.co.uk) is also home to some wonderful beaches and wineries and has a fascinating colonial history. I was lucky enough to visit a few years ago for the Guardian and there are some suggestions in my article. There's not three weeks' worth of things to do here so consider spending a little time exploring Victoria (visitvictoria.com), possibly following the Great Ocean Road. If the flight has to come in at under £700 you could get an open-jaw flight into one Central American city and out of another. One option is to fly into Guatemala City and out of Tegucigalpa in Honduras, visiting Mayan temples, Belize's beaches and Honduras' Bay Islands.

Note that parts of Christchurch's central business district are currently off limits following the earthquake, but that the rest of the city and the South Island is operating as normal, including Christchurch airport. See newzealand.com for daily updates.

Since it is generally advised that pregnant women shouldn't take anti-malaria pills, where can a pregnant woman go for one last exotic beach/snorkelling/exploration holiday? Central America would have been great, but for the mosquitos.
Joel

Assuming that you don't want to risk visiting areas with even a limited risk of malaria transmission, this rules out a huge swathe of the world, mostly between the tropics and neatly counting out most of the places that fit the bill, based on what you're after. Most, but not all. Much of Brazil, except for Amazonian areas, is malaria-free, and there are huge swathes of coast that would be suitable for you including the beautiful archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, areas of which made Gavin McOwan's top 10 beaches last year. Cuba also has no risk of malaria. Voyager Cuba offers tailor-made trips (voyagercuba.co.uk). Lastly, one of the most fashionable destinations of the past few years is Oman, whose mix of upmarket resorts, historic cities and some excellent snorkelling and diving fit the bill.  Destination Oman (destinationoman.com) can give you some more ideas.