He told MPs she had travelled more widely than any other head of state in history, meeting some four million people in person and inviting two million guests to tea at Buckingham Palace.

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Obama finished his whirlwind of meetings with tea at Buckingham Palace with the British monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, where, according to media reports, the president gave the queen a fully loaded, engraved iPod and a rare, signed songbook from American composer Richard Rodgers.

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Well fortified, detour back toward the airport for the fascinating tour (1400 local time, Sunday to Thursday) of the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital where birds of prey are nursed lovingly back to health and whose tour ends with an opportunity to hold a rehabilitated falcon, then head back into town to take high tea at the opulent Emirates Palace Hotel.

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From there, it is possible to visit both Ndawara Highland Tea, the largest tea plantation in West Africa, and the Foumban Royal Palace, the residence of a neighbouring king whose dynasty was founded in 1394.

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Ask for the honey tea package, where all the treats have been infused with honey made by The Brown Palace's rooftop bee colony.

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