thit_cho

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/tr...mp;oref=slogin

In last Sunday's Travel section, The New York Times annointed Zambia as its 2007 Luxury Destination of the Year.

Personally, I think they copied some of my 2006 travel destinations (St. Petersburg, Dubai, Albania and Cyprus, where I will be over Christmas) and added them to their 2007 list. If anyone is interested in what will be on their 2008 list, I can give you my 2007 destinations. ;-)

thit_cho

typo, appointed (not annointed)

atravelynn

Annointed is actually not that far off, neither will the increased rates be with this added exposure.

Thanks for the link and happy travels in 07. Or maybe you're even sneaking something in during the remainder of 06!

Off the subject—Would spending one night at Halali Camp in Etosha along with 2-3 at Okaukuejo be a good plan or would you omit Halali? Was the waterhole really that much more quiet, which is what I keep reading?

amolkarnik

There isnt much to do at Halali after dark so its pretty much a dead loss after dark. Okakuejo is simply magical after dark at the waterhole. I'd skip time at the other camps in favour of Okakeujo.

Be warned though that Okakuejo is a lot busier than the others.

thit_cho

One more trip in 2006 at end of December (Athens, Rhodes and Crete in Greece, and Cyprus and Northern Cyprus). I have been to Athens, but not the other destinations.

I spent one night at each of Okaukeujo, Halali and Namutoni (sp?), and if the Okakuejo waterhole was a 10, Halali was a 3 (several black rhino, but not much else) and Namutoni was a 1 (a few giraffe). But that's based on one night at each camp. But I wanted to visit different parts of the park without having to backtrack to Okaukeujo each night, and the gameviewing was good near Halali (saw my only cheetah in Etosha near the camp, plus several lion). It was also much less busy than Okaukuejo, which offered a quieter perspective, and I don't regret having stayed there.

Gritty

atravelynn,

Okaukuejo is definitely the best in terms of waterhole viewing--thit_cho's ratings are accurate. We saw a lion hunt, which turned into a kill just beyond the limits of the floodlights. Also lots of black rhino skirmishes.

I was told that a leopard had been making regular visits to the Halali waterhole, right after dark. It did manage to arrive, just after I left to get some dinner, so I missed it! All of the Halali garbage cans were raided by honey badgers when I was there, too. So, while there isn't much to do after dark there, you can always fend off the honey badgers!

The Namutoni waterhole was the slowest in terms of wildlife viewing. However, I noticed that there was more game in the general area than near Halali. I would recommend a day in the Namutoni area (if you had the time to get there) over a day in Halali.

atravelynn

Thanks for all of the Etosha info.