We drove north to Dortmund this morning to see one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany and arguably the largest Christmas tree (actually a creation of dozens of trees stacked artfully together) in the world. We parked at the train station and walked into the pedestrian zone where we ordered Turkish Doner kebabs, another German mainstay given the large Turkish population. The pedestrian zone was packed wall to wall with shoppers enjoying the first days of the market. The market was absolutely stunning, a collection of huge Christmas displays and personalized booths that seemed to each be trying to outdo each other with decorations, similar to the personal touches provided on a parade float. Four plazas were filled with wooden booths that were elaborately decorated with Christmas themes including reindeer, Santa, and even a little gondola that actually moved tiny passengers from one end of the booth to the other. We sampled some chocolate dipped fruit (bananas, apples, and strawberries) from one of the Christmas booths and looked for the handmade ornaments that I remembered from Bavarian Christmas markets of past years. The wares themselves, however, were uninteresting (except for the food!) with lots of commercial goods including scarves, purses, jewelry, etc. There were several incredible rides, much more beautiful than the typical fair rides at home. There was a swing ride that had a mix of swings, ships, geese, and other creatures to ride as it lifted kids up in the air and spun them around. All of the brightly colored ride was decorated with twinkling lights and detailed paintings. Another ride allowed kids to board an antique car and drive through a Christmas wonderland with beautiful Christmas lights, a tunnel, snowman, Santa, and much more. I've never seen such a pretty ride. It looked like a kids' dreamland of the North Pole. The kids even got to ride live ponies.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.