I want to sleep tonight, too."Richard Quest is a business anchor and the presenter of 'CNN Business Traveller' on CNN International, which airs on Sundays at 8.30pm. The column that gives the global picture Destination of the week: Hong Kong (well, the airport, en route to Australasia)Cathay Pacific, the airline of Hong Kong, is having a miserable time because of travellers' anxieties about Sars. To try to entice people on board, it has slashed prices dramatically to all its destinations in Australia and New Zealand for outbound travel between now and the end of June. The airline has priced return flights to Australia, sold through the travel trade, for a flat £400. By the time taxes and the agents' margins are added, the fares are closer to £500, but still represent remarkable value for a quality airline. To Auckland, the fare through a discount agent like Quest Travel (0870 444 5552, ) is £465 return.

Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne and Perth are all available for £485, with Adelaide £4 more expensive. You must book by next Friday, 25 April.The latest Foreign Office travel advice warns against travel to Hong Kong – but says that transiting the airport should be safe.Warning of the week: what to do when confronted by a large, unfriendly animal"The last thing to do," says the new Virgin Travel Health Handbook (Virgin Books, £14.99), "is run. Predators expect their prey to run away, and they're much faster and better runners than you. In most cases your best chance is to stand your ground, facing your adversary, and back slowly away while waving your arms slowly above your head to make yourself look big. If the animal shows interest in attacking, stand still until (you hope) it veers away. If it makes contact, play dead by curling up face-down with your hands linked behind your head and your arms protecting your neck."If it persists in attacking you, the best bet is to change tack and fight back – wave your arms or a big stick at it, or throw stones if they're available. Aerosol pepper sprays are said to be effective against bears up to about 6m away.

If you do take one into the bush, be sure you know how to use it safely; if let off upwind or in a confined space, it could disable you yourself."Bargain of the week: cut in the middle man to make the most of BA's clearance saleBritish Airways (0845 77 333 77, ) has cut its fares this weekend to try to get people travelling again – but to get the best bargains to many destinations, book through an agency rather than direct.The lowest fares are, predictably, for travel on off-peak dates; typically, between next Tuesday and the end of May, and then again in November and early December. On the flagship route between London and New York, British Airways' lowest fare if you buy direct is £199 return. But through Trailfinders (020-7937 5400, ) you will pay just £179. The same £20 saving can be made on flights to the West Coast; Los Angeles and San Francisco are on sale at £219. Dubai is a real bargain at £199 return, with a wide range of departure dates: 21 April to 14 September and 1 November to 10 December.If your destination is Mexico City, buying direct from BA saves a pound; the lowest fare is £429 for travel in May.

But you'd be better off getting a cheapie to LA and a separate ticket from there to the Mexican capital.Other deals that stand out are those for routes where BA faces no direct competition. To Africa, £389 is a good fare to Lusaka for travel from 21 April until the end of June, and from 25 August-10 December.. We had left the Chilean coastline five hours earlier. Having flown across a seemingly endless expanse of ocean, we were now making our final descent towards the most isolated inhabited place on the planet: Easter Island.