Monument Valley is located on the northern border of the southern state of Arizona and into southern Utah. Its infamous for the majestic, red buttes of sandstone rising up from the desolate landscape to form part of the Colorado Plateau. The tallest of these buttes tower some 300 meters into the sky. For me, Monument Valley represents the wild west of America. I can remember watching early Cowboy & Indian movies that showed such scenery and I have always been in awe of such landscapes.
Navajo Indian Reservation makes up much of Monument Valley. The Navajo Nation’s Monument Valley Park is located south of the border in Arizona and attracts visitors from all over the world. The park offers a self guided 27km drive through the valley and an optional 47km guided tour through the back country that is home to Navajo families.
Get inspired to visit this travel destination with the DVD ‘Nature Wonders: MONUMENT VALLEY U.S.A.’
Muscat is the capital of The Sultanate of Oman, a small country bordering Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. Muscat itself is made up of a number of coastal towns on the Gulf of Oman that have joined overtime. Each town is sandwiched between the coast and the barren desert mountains.
Muscat has strict building regulations and there are very few high rise buildings and even the newest, most functional building is required to reflect the traditions of a dome or an arabesque window. Muscat in places has a medieval feel resulting from the Portuguese occupation during the 1500s and two old forts, Al Jelali and Al Merani are testimony to this era. Whilst visitors are unable to enter ‘Al Alam Royal Palace’, photos of the entrance are permitted. The maze-like market of Mutrah Souk, which also includes the fish market, is often described as the best in the Gulf region.
The Namib Desert is situated on the west coast of Namibia in Africa. It also covers a small part of Angola the country located north of Namibia. It’s one of the most captivating destinations in the world. Tourism is increasing but still there are very few travellers. The Namib Naukluft Park encompasses one of the oldest deserts in the world and offers amazing sights, including some of the highest sand dunes of Sossusvlei in the world.
It’s also one of the largest conservation parks in the world. North of the Namib Naukluft Park but still by the Namib Desert you’ll reach the Skeleton Coast. The Skeleton Coast has one of the most wildest, windswept and amazing coastlines in the world. Its name dates back to the early 1930’s when Mr Sam Davis, a publisher of a South West Annual, stated in an article concerned with a missing plane of a local celebrity, that “his bones will forever lay on the coast of skeletons”, referring to the many ship wrecks, whale and seal skeletons that laid to rest on this inhospitable coastline.
A necessary guide book for those planning to travel to Namibia
Aswan is found on the banks of the Nile River in southern Egypt. It is the last main stopping point before you reach the Sudanese border. Like much of Egypt’s large cities and towns there are numerous archaeological sites to see. The most well-known being the Isle of Philae but it is also the main travelling point to the more southern ‘Abu Simbel’ which was in fact a temple that was moved and reconstructed to make way for the damming of the Nile to form Lake Nasser during the 1960s.
Diary extract – 25 July, 1988 – Abu Simbel to Aswan Taxi Trip.
“…The drive back to Aswan was absolutely unbearable. (I later learnt the temperature was 40C plus) The hot wind that blew off the desert and hit us full-on choking us because we had the windows down due to no air-conditioning, was incredible. All 8 of us in the taxi carried bottled water but it was now ‘hot’ and no longer gave us the cool relief we needed. There was no getting comfortable. Either your back was dripping with sweat, you stuck to the seat or to your neighbour. Beads of sweat trickled and tickled all over and became really annoying. It was the longest 3 hour car trip I’d done and it was truly revolting…”
A short ferry or felucca trip on the Nile takes you to Elephantine Island. Here you’ll find the Museum which displays many Nubian artefacts. Beyond Elephantine Island, is Kitchener’s Island and soley constitutes the local Botanical Gardens, a popular spot for locals and tourists wishing to have some peace and quiet. Continuing across the Nile to the west bank is the Tomb of Agha Khan, a great viewing spot of the traffic on the Nile and Elephantine Island. A great viewing location of the western bank and the Nile River is from the Old Cataract Hotel. It in itself is a landmark of the city.
An essential travel guide to Egypt including Aswan and the other major travel destinations of this historic country.
One great reason to visit Aswan is to sit by the pool at the beautiful Old Cataract Hotel, that majestically overlooks the Nile River that is constantly busy with feluccas.
The Traveler IQ challenge ranks geographic knowledge of cities such as: Punta Cana, Willemstad or Columbia by comparing results against 5,473,834 other travelers.
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