Cox & Kings Travel Blog

Easter Island—a feast for the eyes and the palate

By Annabel | Published: May 8, 2012

Easter Island is famous for its impressive moai statues. Cox & Kings client Richard Clark recently visited this small island off the coast of Chile with his wife Frances. Here he tells us why there is more to Easter Island than first meets the eye.

Richard and Frances Clark by a magnetic stone at Te Pito Kura

A once-in-a-lifetime holiday has a lot to live up to and so after overnight stops in Buenos Aires and Santiago we arrived at Easter Island hoping for the best. The dream started when we were given a beautiful garland of flowers as we left the small airport. We quickly unpacked at our Polynesian-style hotel and then walked to the seafront of the main village, Hanga Roa. Easter Island makes for a trip back in time where you can see the historical statues (moai) and beautiful scenery, as well as sampling local foods that complements these traditions. The island is dominated by moai carved in rock from a local quarry. Many theories exist over how 500 such moai, all more than 80 tonnes each, could be ‘walked’ and erected by local tribes around the island. This formidable achievement has prompted numerous whys and hows that go mostly unanswered, only for new questions to be asked.

Seafront at Hanga Roa

At the seafront, various moai are visible, as well as the beautiful blue sea and high surf. The heat was always pleasant and fresh. The island was different to our recent city trips – all wooden houses, wide pavements, sleeping dogs, market shops, old cars and no public transport – with a lovely feeling of safety, relaxation and freedom.

The mystical history of the moai is a massive attraction to the island and it was a privilege to see them in all their glory. What’s more, there are many other wonders on the island, including the sites of Vinapua and Orango village, the amazing Birdman legend, the magnetic rock at Te Pito Kura, the beautiful white sandy beaches at Anakena and the blue water-filled extinct Rano Kau volcano crater. The list of attractions is endless. However, these are all appetisers for the famous line of moai at Tongariki.

Tongariki

As for palate, the fruit and fish are supreme. We enjoyed the local fish, picis, three times. Initially, one can find raw fish with coconut and pimentos a challenge, but it is certainly worth persevering. The second time was at a seafront restaurant where the curiously named ‘fish and ships’ was on the menu. The highlight, though, was later when our tour guide and her partner took us for a fish barbecue. This involved visiting Papa Vaka, a petroglyph (ancient rock carving) site, where five picis were caught on the edge of a cliff with a traditional line. The picis were then cooked in front of us and we ate the fish in front of a beautiful sunset on a sandy beach. This is a memory that will stay with us forever, as will our whole Easter Island experience.

Local fishing at Papa Vaka

View Cox & Kings’ luxury tours to Chile.

Posted in Chile, Easter Island | Tagged Easter island holidays, luxury holidays to Easter Island, luxury tours to Easter Island, moai Easter Island, visit Easter Island | Leave a comment

Peru client evening

By Annabel | Published: May 2, 2012

Cox & Kings hosted a Peru evening at the Royal Over-Seas League in London’s St James’ last night for over 100 of our past travellers.

After a welcome Pisco sour and some traditional Peruvian music from the Amaru III, a number of our Latin America experts gave talks about Peru. Cool Earth, a charity Cox & Kings supports, also a gave a talk about their work with indigenous communities to help protect the Amazon rainforest.

After more music and dancing from Amaru III, Cox & Kings’ specialists were on hand to talk more about Peru along with representatives from the official tourist board Prom Peru, Orient Express hotels and Amazon cruise company Aqua Expeditions.

Thank you to everyone who came. We hope you found the evening interesting and inspiring.

View our luxury tours to Peru.

Posted in Peru, Uncategorized | Tagged Cox & Kings Peru, holidays to Peru, luxury holidays to Peru, luxury tours to peru, peru, tours to Peru | Comments closed

Discovering Dresden

By Annabel | Published: April 27, 2012

James Innes Williams, publications manager at Cox & Kings and deputy editor of Compass magazine, spent 48 hours in the German city of Dresden, and was surprised by the splendour of the new-old architecture.

Prior to visiting Dresden, my mental image was of a German Coventry, bombed out and rebuilt using pre-fab architecture with a communist twist. But, in fact, the residents of this war-ravaged city have ensured the city was restored – in the most part – to its former glory.

Capital of Saxony

The city’s history is bittersweet. Augustus the Strong, as Elector of Saxony (1694-1733), established the Saxon capital as a major cultural centre. A patron of the arts and architecture, he attracted artists and musicians from across Europe, built baroque palaces around the city and amassed an impressive art collection – now on show in the New Green Vault museum, where the porcelain collection of works made in nearby Meissen and clocks dating from the 16th to 19th centuries are of particular interest. Indeed, while the city has been through numerous and colossal changes since, it is almost impossible to escape from the influence Augustus cast over the city.

Augustus the Strong depicted among other Saxon sovereigns in Meissen porcelain, Fürstenzug mural dating from 1871

Second world war

Into the 20th century, Dresden remained a leading European centre of art, classical music, culture and science. What’s more, as the second world war began to come to a close, Dresden looked to survive unscathed – having previously suffered heavy destruction in the seven years’ war (1756-1763) – but it was not to be.

The bombing of Dresden by the RAF and USAAF on 13-15 February 1945 destroyed 95% of the city centre, including the 200-year-old cathedral. High explosive bombs ripped buildings apart, while incendiary bombs ignited the city, causing at least 25,000 civilian casualties. Unsurprisingly, the campaign remains one of the most controversial in the war.

View from the city hall over the destroyed city, Dresden, 1945 (by Richard Peter)

Post-war in the GDR

In the post-war period, Dresden, as part of the German Democratic Republic, began the rebuilding campaign. While the cathedral was left as a pile of rubble in the city centre, other historic buildings were recreated in their former glory. The Zwinger Palace, where Augustus the Strong had hosted numerous parties and the Semper Opera House, originally dating from 1841, are two standout developments – perhaps only feasible under the financing of the communist regime.

Not all historic buildings were saved, however, with the Sophienkirkhe, Alberttheater and Wackerbarth-Palais razed. Meanwhile, other areas in the city were rebuilt in the socialist-modern style. Happily, the juxtaposition of the harder-edged communist architecture, the classical historic, and modern day buildings with historical facades work together extremely well.

The standout building from the GDR era must be the Palace of Culture, a brutalist building decorated only with a mural depicting workers, strong women, students, teachers and the red star and seal of East Germany. While the redevelopment of other areas rebuilt under the regime is now occurring, the city has elected to maintain this building, a venue for plays and concerts, in memory of this important time in its history.

Mural on the side of the Palace of Culture

Following re-unification

The brand new Military History Museum, opened in October 2011, is the perfect bringing together of the new and old. Designed by Daniel Liebeskind, the museum is housed in a Renaissance building and features a huge metal ‘wedge’ sticking out of its facade, pointing both to where the bombing of the second world war began and forming the angle of the area destroyed in the campaign. Inside, the exhibitions look at military campaigns throughout history, but with a heavy bias towards the second world war. Standout exhibits include a nuclear missile and other bombs raining down from the ceiling and a work in which the flash of a light creates a shadow on the (photosensitive) wall that remains after you walk away, similar to the effect of a nuclear explosion and quite disconcerting.

The Military History Museum facade; bombs raining down; a shadow remains after the subject that cast it has departed

Dresden’s great success story, however, is the reconstruction of the cathedral – Frauenkirche or the Church of Our Lady. Following the incendiary bombs of 15 February 1945, the stone church lay as a pile of rubble – as a memorial against war – until re-unification. Following a private worldwide fundraising campaign, hundreds of people came together to sort through the rubble, indentifying and labelling blocks for reuse in the structure. The architects used the original plans to rebuild the cathedral, and today the original stones, blackened by weathering, are clear to see in the facade.

Frauenkirche

Inside, the mangled cross that had sat on top of the church is on display as a reminder of the past, while a new gilded orb and cross, donated by the UK, sits on top of the bell-shaped dome. Fittingly, the father of one of the goldsmiths who created the new cross had been part of the aircrew during the campaign – and always troubled by it since. The rebuilding was finally completed in April 2005, in time for the city’s 800th anniversary.

It is a staggering accomplishment. Together with the Semper Opera House, the buildings are a delight to visit. Old buildings, but built anew. Walking around them, you view them as the architects intended, glistening and loved, with none of the dilapidation brought on by time. The originals when viewed in the 18th century must have seemed extraordinary.

The view from on top of the dome – towards the New Town (which dates from the 18th century), the Academy of Fine Arts (with its ‘lemon squeezer’ dome), the Catholic Hofkirche, Rathaus, Royal Palace and numerous Christmas markets dotted about the city is truly spell binding – especially when you consider the effort gone in to making it.

Christmas markets light up the night sky

View from the dome of the Frauenkirche

A visit can be arranged as a short break to Dresden or as part of a tour, such as the Heidelberg to Hamburg Escorted Group Tour / Private Journey, priced from £1,601 per person.

We also offer an expert-led art tour to Dresden, The Masterpieces of Dresden, Berlin & Potsdam.

Posted in Germany, Uncategorized | Tagged Dresden attractions, Dresden tour, history of Dresden, holiday Dresden, holiday to Dresden, luxury short break to Dresden, short break to Dresden, sights to see in Dresden, sightseeing Dresden | Comments closed

Rhino poaching in South Africa

By Annabel | Published: April 25, 2012

As reported in the Telegraph last weekend, rhino poaching across Africa is at its highest level since the ivory trades ban was introduced in 1990. It has been brought to the attention of the media because a recent case was at the Lewa conservancy in Kenya, where Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton. Tusk Trust, whose patron is Prince William, is a charity aiming to stop the decline in Africa’s natural heritage by finding ways to combine the interests of people and wildlife. Last night’s royal premiere of African Cats raised funds for Tusk Trust, further heightening the awareness of the plight of Africa’s threatened animals.

In South Africa, over 180 rhinos have already been poached this year and a record 448 carcasses were found in 2011. Ivory and horn are used in the Far East, in particular in China as a traditional medicine. Poachers are motivated by money. The value of the rhino horn on the black market now exceeds that of gold with the average horn being worth up to half a million dollars. Certainly a lucrative business. Even museums in the UK are adding extra security at exhibitions, and in some such as the Natural History Museum, the horn has been removed from displays as there have been cases reported of the horn being stolen.

Game reserves are doing their best to prevent, or at least limit the possibilities of poaching. A conservation success story in its own right, Kwandwe Game Reserve is taking all measures possible to ensure the protection and monitoring of its rhino population, notably of the highly endangered black rhino, since its successful introduction to the reserve in 2001. The reserve spends a huge amount on notching and tagging their black and white rhino (for their own security exact numbers are never given out) and provides guests the opportunity to participate in the programme too. Offering first hand insight into the growing issues of rhino poaching guests are also taken through the necessary – and recently stepped up – monitoring and reaction measures needed to keep these diminishing populations from being targeted by rhino horn poachers.

Kwandwe rhino darting

The programme provides full briefings and explains the darting proceedings before heading out to locate the rhino from the ground whilst the vet flies overhead in a helicopter. Once the rhino is sedated, guests join the team in administering medication and taking DNA samples for the national database. Crucial to the conservation of the rhino, their horn is micro-chipped and the ear tagged for future identification. To be part of this essential conservation task is as thrilling as it is rewarding. Once it has been completed, guests then return to the lodge in the helicopter, providing magnificent views of the 22,000 hectare reserve from above.

Conservation of these animals, through tagging them to track them should the worst happen, is the key to their survival. But until demand from the Far East reduces, and the black market prices come down, the money on offer is always going to tempt local poachers into the illegal trade.

Cox & Kings can arrange stays at Kwandwe Game Reserve as part of a private luxury tour to South Africa. Read more about Cox & Kings’ responsible tourism policy here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Kwandwe Game Reserve, Kwandwe Game Reserve South Africa, rhino poaching, rhino poaching in South Africa, stop Rhino poaching | Comments closed

MUD Africa Football Tournament 2012

By Annabel | Published: April 17, 2012

At the request of MUD Africa’s Executive Director Mãria de la Guardia, Cox & Kings were asked to enter a team in the first annual MUD Africa 2012 Football Tournament in Battersea Park. MUD Africa is an NGO and advocate for land, housing and women’s rights in Malawi and thus we were delighted to accept the invitation. Eight teams from across the London area participated, and after an exciting series of close fought matches Cox & Kings battled to a respectable 6th Place after five draws, a win and just one defeat.

The tournament helped raise a significant funds for the charity, and should go some way in assisting in their efforts to improve the living conditions of poor households within the country. A special thanks must go to Arsenal FC for supporting the event and for generously loaning their equipment for the teams to use. Cox & Kings hope to return next year…. and win a few more games. If you would like to find out more about MUD Africa then please visit MUD Africa.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

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250 Years of Discovery

Easter Island—a feast for the eyes and the palate

Peru client evening

Discovering Dresden

Rhino poaching in South Africa

MUD Africa Football Tournament 2012

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250 Years of Discovery

Easter Island—a feast for the eyes and the palate

Peru client evening

Discovering Dresden

Rhino poaching in South Africa

MUD Africa Football Tournament 2012

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