Where in the world can you find deltas, dunes and falls?
Sossusvlei Dunes, Namibia
In a past blog post, I listed travel destinations from Slovakia to Scandinavia – places that rolled off the lips of some of today’s top consumer travel editors in a recent Travel Weekly roundtable discussion. One of the destinations mentioned is currently being developed into a new Collette tour. Did you guess which destination that was?
Nancy Davids, Collette senior product manager, tells me that she spent 6 days driving 2,400 kilometers on unpaved roads through unbelievably diverse scenery in this large, sparsely populated country located on Africa’s southwest coast.
And she’d “do it again in a heartbeat.”
“I had dreamed for years of seeing the dunes of Sossusvlei and when I climbed to the top of dune 45, I could not believe the beauty, serenity and the feeling of being in a far away land. Watching the sand dance – the constant motion which creates the ever changing shapes of the dunes – is an experience that is hard to describe. As the sun set, I thought to myself this is one of the most amazing places in the world I have ever had the good fortune to visit.”
Namibia, cited by Keith Bellows of National Geographic Traveler as a destination on his wish list is also the featured country on a Collette tour in development. Slated for release in summer 2010, the tour is tentatively titled Namibia & Botswana featuring Dunes, Deltas and Falls.
“An apt name,” says Nancy. “It describes the client experience of seeing Sossusvlei – referred to as the highest dunes in the world and surely one of the most spectacular sights in Namibia; the deltas of the Kavango and Okavango Rivers, Chobe National Park in Botswana and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.”
According to Nancy, other “wow” moments include Swakopmund, the seaside town of palm-lined streets and seaside promenades, and nearby Walvis Bay where Collette clients will take a boat to view marine life, like dolphins, hump back whales, and leather back turtles! On land, a visit to Etosha National Park in Namibia and Chobe National Park is where the search for the Big 5 happens.
For those not familiar with the big 5 it is the heart-thumping sighting of lions, elephants, buffalo, leopards and rhinos.
During a recent development trip, Nancy had the good fortune of meeting some Collette clients on tour in Botswana.
One client told Nancy, “I am going home and thanking God for making Africa; there is no other place on earth like this.”
And Nancy could not agree with her more.
“Everyone is familiar with Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa but Namibia is a country so rich with diversity from its petrified dunes, the dunes of Soussusvlei, the rich coast line, fertile river deltas and, of course, the Big 5!” explains Nancy. “No other country in Africa offers such diversity, and when you add to this the local people with their traditions and cultures, I assure you that you will not be disappointed in this journey!”
posted by Melissa McKee
Collette Vacations
Tags: Africa, Botswana, Destination Spotlight, Dream Destination, Escorted Tours, Namibia
One Comment to “Where in the world can you find deltas, dunes and falls?”
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Some of those national parks you mentioned are truly amazing to visit. Specially the Etosha national park in Namibia is Africa’s most famous and important game reserves as it receives a number of tourists from around the world.