Journalist Abby Ellin worked with Cox & Kings' Africa Destination Manager, Megan Bryant, on a story for Seychelles, highlighting many of the points we make for this fabulous destination: it's outside of the cyclone belt, distinctly African, beautifully temperate and far more than a pretty beach... read the Global Traveler article here.
For more on Seychelles, see our website or contact Megan at megan.bryant@coxandkingsusa.com or 1-800-999-1758.
Anse Source d'Argent, La Digue Island, Seychelles
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YIPENG LOI KRATHONG &
THE NORTHERN LANTERN FESTIVAL
As the full moon of the twelfth lunar month (usually in mid-November) lights up the night sky, throughout the Thai kingdom, hundreds of thousands of ornately-decorated krathong or traditional banana leaf floats are set adrift in rivers and waterways in a spell-binding ritual called Loi Krathong - the 'festival of lights'. This is one of the Kingdom's oldest and best-preserved traditions.
The Loi Krathong tradition we know of today has evolved from the royal rituals of the early Rattanakosin period in which several types of lanterns were set afloat in the Chao Phraya River and its waterways. The practice was subsequently adopted and adapted by common folk.
Krathong floats are made from basic materials easily found around the village and reflect the simplicity of life beyond the palace walls. They typically take the shape of lotus in full bloom, swans, chedis (stupas), and Mount Meru from Buddhist mythology. However krathong floats in the shape of lotus blossoms are most popular.
Click here and read more about Thailand and our Southeast Asia Discovery.
2012 EXOTIC EUROPE JOURNEYS ARE HERE!
Europe is in the air at Cox & Kings, with the launch of our 2012 European journeys. Combining the best of this years most popular trips, along with newly planned journeys for the upcoming year, 2012 is the time to explore Europe!
With unique, imaginative programs to many exotic European destinations such as Iceland, Russia and Estonia - and luxury group tours to Croatia, Scandinavia and Turkey, the time is now to secure these incredible journeys. With the destination experts that have over 250 years experience, Cox & Kings allows you to reap the benefits of our in-depth local knowledge and exclusive opportunities.
Start planning your 2012 Exotic European journey today!
Contact your travel professional or Thor Forsberg at: thor.forsberg@coxandkingsusa.com.
Featuring both the oldest and largest private game reserves in South Africa, this journey truly encompasses the most intimate view into the big cat predators of this diverse country.
You will have a chance to see not only the big cats, but also the "Big Five" (lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, elephant) as well as a plethora of common plains game, such as giraffe and zebra, unique nocturnal species like the aardvark and aardwolf, and an habituated meerkat colony at Tswalu.
Click here to learn more about this exciting journey.
COX & KINGS MAILBAG
Thanks for letting us know how we're doing!
Hi Megan,
We made it to Cape Town and are staying at an amazing place about an hour outside of town, on the ocean in a little fishing village, Kommetje in an "intimate hotel" called The Long Beach. There are only 6 huge rooms, we are the only guests now.
Our rooms are awesome. Huge! One wall is all windows that looks out over the ocean and opens to a garden patio with a swimming pool. Our bathroom is to die for! Huge. The open shower will hold about 10 people and we have a soaking tub with the best assortment of bath products you can imagine - bath milks, salts, oils, bubbles. Crista and I are in heaven. There is a decanter of sherry in each room and the best candy! It is like my mom's homemade divinity! We are in love with this place. Thank you! You really know what we like!
Jenny
We love hearing from you! Please write us at: tours@coxandkingsusa.com.
NEW EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: NANCY CIPRA
Born in Denver, Nancy Cipra has a BA in Anthropology and a passion for travel. She took her first trip to China on a cruise in 1985. She loved it so much, that she returned the very next year for a month long land tour. Unable to shake the travel bug within herself, Nancy has traveled to over 90 countries worldwide. From working on cruise ships to developing private land tours, traveling has always allowed Nancy to reconnect with herself and make it her life-long career. Nancy is proud to be your Asia Specialist at Cox & Kings, The Americas.
Contact Nancy Cipra at: nancy.cipra@coxandkingsusa.com.
Places Lived: Denver, Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles and cruise ships
Favorite Travel Spot: Vietnam and Burma
Best Vacation: Two-weeks in Rome and Poisitano with my family
Favorite Drink/Food: Chicken curry (spicy!) with jasmine rice and a Tiger beer
Always wanted to try: Hang gliding
If I were stuck on an island, I would bring (3 things): Diet Dr. Pepper, lots of books, my camera
From the lavish hospitality of princely India, to the opulence of the Mughal empire, the colonial legacy of the British Raj, and the vibrant life of modern India, this journey takes you through Indian history.
Discover the splendors of north India as she reveals her wonders and secrets. Travel across a landscape fed by the sacred Ganges, laden with sumptuous palaces, dotted with ancient temples, guarded by massive forts, and graced with the unparalleled magnificence of the Taj Mahal.
Click here to learn more about this exciting journey.
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"You've done Paris, Rome, and London, but where next on your grand tour? We suggest it's time to venture off the beaten track to the crossroads of Europe and Asia. The folks at travel company Cox & Kings have launched a tour of Georgia as part of a new package of undiscovered destinations across the pond.
The eight-day trip goes from a fourth-century fortress in Tbilisi to the birthplace of Stalin to the underground monasteries of Davit Gareja and the famed vineyards of Kakheti, the oldest wine-producing region in the world. Medieval churches, Soviet-era history, and ancient booze? That's enough to get Georgia on anyone's mind."
Cox & Kings' Wonders of Georgia tour, from $1,735. Upcoming 2011 departures: September 4, October 2.
View the page on Concierge.com.
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The results of Travel + Leisure's annual World's Best Awards are in— Cox & Kings has been voted #6 in the Tour Operators & Safari Outfitters category. The survey results are based on readers’ ratings.
Notes the magazine: "For the 16th year, Travel + Leisure's definitive list of the top hotels, cruise lines, airlines, car-rental agencies, outfitters, cities and islands, as voted by readers, is an essential index of the places you want to go and the best companies to take you there. Navigate the globe like a skilled insider—starting now."
Find the complete "World's Best" list online, or in the August issue of Travel + Leisure magazine.
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Interview with Thomas Stanley, Chief Operating Officer at Cox & Kings, The Americas
Mark Murphy Interviews Thomas Stanley at the new Cox & Kings office in West Hollywood. Cox & Kings' has a long, storied history and will greet the future with a renewed commitment to the travel agent community.
Please watch Mark Murphy’s interview with Thomas Stanley in today’s featured video: click here
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The Helpful and Experienced Staff at Cox & Kings, The Americas
At Cox & Kings new West Hollywood office Mark Murphy interviews some of the expert product managers who work there. Cox & Kings expert staffers have lived or traveled extensively in the countries they advise on. Their experiences ensure that customers get exactly the trip they desire.
See what the product managers at Cox & Kings, The Americas are saying about what makes Cox & Kings unique in today’s featured video: click here
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Travel Pulse: Today's video features travel agents who are discovering Cox & Kings for the first time while the agents attend the grand opening party of Cox & Kings in West Hollywood. Mark talks to travel agents as they discover the Cox & Kings brand for the first time.
See what the agents are saying about Cox & Kings in today’s featured video – watch it here.
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A perspective from travel agents who sell Cox & Kings
At the opening of Cox & Kings’ West Hollywood office Mark asks travel agents why they love “the longest running travel company in the world.”
Today's video features a perspective from travel agents who sell Cox & Kings – watch it here.
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It's Cox & Kings Week on Travel Pulse!
Join Mark Murphy at the grand opening of Cox & Kings offices in West Hollywood. To celebrate the opening, Cox & Kings welcomed travelers of all types, including travel agents, influential personalities and media, to its new space in May, 2011 to toast the timeless art of travel in collaboration with Los Angeles Confidential magazine.
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Introducing Our New European Journeys
Cox & Kings is now offering custom-designed and escorted European journeys, primarily to its less visited, off-the-beaten-path destinations, including Turkey, Romania, Russia, Sicily, the Balkans, Scandinavia and Iceland. Luxury five-star Private Journeys as well as the more value-driven Discovery Group Journeys are available to the region. Overseeing the development of these offerings is our newly appointed Europe specialist and Destination Manager, Thor Forsberg.
European Private Journeys featured on our website range from the Marvels of Turkey to a Train Journey through Northern Spain, and far-flung Iceland and Western Greenland. Discovery Group Journeys include Treasures of the Ukraine: Kiev & Crimea, and Classic Sicily.
Contact Thor Forsberg to book your Private Journeys to Europe, and Janice Decker for Discovery Journeys – both at 1-800-999-1758.
Arabia: Why Go Now — a message from Thomas Stanley
Thomas Stanley, Centre Head & COO, Cox & Kings, The Americas reflects on the Arabic Spring (the complete text may be found on our website.):
"In the past few months we have seen an unleashing of the pent up desire for the peoples of the Arabic world to have what Americans take for granted, a desire for freedom and self-determination through the democratic process. I have traveled to most of these countries and have many friends throughout. The traveler has choices as to whether to travel to these regions or defer to a later time.
I am thoroughly convinced that the next twelve months are a golden period of travel for Egypt and those who do travel will be glad they did. Tunisia is a delight, the food, the exciting and historic cities and ruins: Tunis and Carthage in particular. Tunisians will welcome you with pride.
The media is full of naysayers but I am simply bullish on these two countries and their future. Now is a great time in history to be there as I feel the Arabic Spring will go down in the books as a great and very important event in world history." Read more.
View our specially designed summer tours to the region: Egypt & Jordan: Kingdoms Lost, Jordan Sojourn: Summer Special, Moroccan Sojourn: Summer Special, Tunisian Sojourn: Summer Special.
Contact Nicole Beattie at 1-800-999-1758 to book your travel to Arabia & Northern Africa.
New Hotel Spotlight — Asia
The recently opened Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel, Shanghai follows in the footsteps of Dubai's over-the-top Burj al Arab, but with an Asian sensibility. With beautiful Himalayan-inspired decor, this well-located property sits the heart of the Pudong financial district across from the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. The hotel complex itself includes an art museum, 1100-seat theater, luxury mall, and a 50,000 square foot rooftop garden.
Our Private Journeys Classic China Odyssey, Treasures of the Orient, and Journey on the Silk Road, all visit Shanghai.
Contact Denise Gogatry at 1-800-999-1758 to book your travel to China.
Ladakh: Land of the Lamas — Free domestic air in India
The India region of Ladakh is famed for its remote alpine beauty and ancient Tibetan culture. On this tour you will meet local Ladakhi artists, enjoy guided walks through villages, and visit Buddhist monasteries and medieval temples which house the region's rich history. Delhi and Agra (Taj Mahal) round out the trip. From $5,945 per person double occupancy; 13 Days, 11 Nights.
Receive free domestic air in India on your Ladakh: Land of the Lamas journey for travel completed by Sept 30, 2011.
Contact Seema Prakash at 1-800-999-1758 for more information.
Sales Staff Spotlight
This month we are featuring two newer members of our sales team, who act as liaisons to travel consultants and destination specialists, providing valuable product and destination information.
Michele Dienna is our Southeast Director of Sales, and a veteran travel enthusiast who has enjoyed two decades of success in travel industry business development. Her strengths are in creating strong, loyal relationships by providing information and exceptional service to the client. Michele has traveled to many regions of the world, her favorites being Africa, India, the UK and New Zealand.
Lurdes Muñoz is our Latin America Director of Sales. With her extensive in-depth personal knowledge, and more than fifteen years of international executive sales experience, Lurdes has developed a sharp focus in the Latin American market. She has traveled to over 26 countries — one of her most memorable trips was traveling to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Contact Michele Dienna and Lurdes Muñoz 1-800-999-1758.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites — Madagascar
Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve
The reserve contains karstic landscapes and limestone uplands cut into impressive "tsingy" peaks and a "forest" of limestone needles, the spectacular canyon of the Manambolo River, rolling hills and high peaks. The undisturbed forests, lakes and mangrove swamps are the habitat for rare and endangered lemurs and birds.
Royal Hill of Ambohimanga
This site consists of a royal city, burial ground and an ensemble of sacred places. It has maintained its spiritual and sacred character both in ritual practice and the popular imagination for the past 500 years. It remains a place of worship to which pilgrims come from Madagascar and elsewhere.
Rainforests of the Atsinanana
These rainforests comprise six national parks distributed along the eastern part of the island. They are important for maintaining ongoing ecological processes necessary for the survival of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, which reflects the island’s geological history.
Visits to Madagascar’s UNESCO World Heritage sites may be added to our Private Journey Mysteries of Madagascar. View also our Perfumed Isles of Madagascar. To book your trip, contact Megan Bryant at 1-800-999-1758.
Travel Advisor of the Month: Nicole Converse
Nicole Converse is our Travel Advisor of the Month. She is President of Sarasota, FL-based Converse Premium Services LLC.
Our comprehensive brochure is filled with Cox & Kings' Exquisite Cultural and Wildlife Adventures, featuring Africa, Indian Ocean, India & Beyond, Asia, Latin America, and Arabia & North Africa. Request one online at www.coxandkingsusa.com.
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COMMENTS
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