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A New Five-Star Lodge Opens in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest

No one needs to be reminded of the brutal atrocities committed in Rwanda in the 90s, where over a span of several months more than a million people were murdered. Thankfully, old wounds can heal. The small central African country that borders Uganda to the north and Tanzania to the east has transformed from “Hotel Rwanda” to Nyungwe Forest Lodge, a five-star resort set to open next week. Set in the mountainous southwestern part of the country in Nyungwe National Park, the region is known for its ancient rainforest canopy with more than 200 different types of trees from the giant lobelia to the African mahogany. Take a walk with naturalists and you’ll also find 13 species of primates ranging from chimpanzees to acrobatic black-and-white colobus monkeys to the baboon-like Grey-cheeked Mangabeys. The lodge is managed by the Mantis Group, who run luxury boutique hotels through the game preserves of South Africa.
 

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Hong Kong Week-Seeing Big Buddha and Tai O

It’s hard to grasp the immensity of Big Buddha until you’re high in the sky on a cable car looking down at this massive sculpture perched atop the hillside on Lantau Island. The sitting Buddha is one of the largest in the world at 112-feet high. It’s definitely worth checking out, not only to walk up the many steps that lead to the Buddha and see the neighboring Po Lin Monastery, but to take the wonderful cable car ride to the site. Once again, our concierge at the W steered us in the right direction by getting tickets to the cable car in advance and going for the standard car, not the deluxe one with a glass bottom. The line for the standard cable car was much shorter and frankly the vistas from the windows are magical enough. Take the subway to the Tung Chung station and you’ll see signs to walk over to the Npong Ping Cable Car. Wait in line with your timed ticket (try to arrive at least 20 minutes prior to your time) and then get ready for a 25-minute ride past the international airport to the mountainous silhouette that houses Big Buddha. Once you disembark, walk past the shops and climb the 268 steps to go face-to-face with the statue, which made its debut in 1993. Then wander over to the large monastery, where people were lighting incense and saying prayers for good fortune at the start of the Chinese New Year. 

 
From Big Buddha, you can take a 15-minute bus ride to the historic seaside village of Tai O and then take a short boat ride to supposedly see pink dolphins and the many historic houses built on stilts on the riverside. We didn’t see any pink dolphins on our boat ride, but I did like being on the boat looking at the landscape. Afterwards, we strolled the narrow streets and tried the homemade fish shu mai. Tasty. Realize that from Tai O, it’s a good hour-long bus ride back to Tung Chung station. So if you’re in a rush, you might want to skip Tai O and take the round-trip cable car back. 
  
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Give the Gift of Travel on Small Business Saturday

Thanks to your generosity last year, we were able to donate to World Central Kitchen, which has served over 10 million fresh meals to those in need after disasters. This Holiday Season, we are happy to contribute to Action Against Hunger. They work in over 47 countries around the world to help feed millions of people. If you take the time to look at their website, they list all the countries they help, how many people they’ve reached, and how big their team is in each region. It’s amazing to see and we truly want to support their efforts in their fight against hunger. Join ActiveTravels or purchase an annual membership for a friend or family member and $30 from each subscription will go straight to Action Against Hunger. Annual membership to ActiveTravels is $60 per year, less than dinner for two. Consider the happiness it will bring your friends and loved ones for the coming year!

 
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Marijuana Tours Start to Bud in America

In the November election, residents of Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, DC, all voted to legalize marijuana. Excited to hear that news were a growing number of travel companies from Colorado and Washington that are already offering tours to cannabis lovers, comparable to visiting wineries or craft breweries. Kush Tourism offers the Colorado Highlife Tours and Washington Evergreen Tours, where clientele visit the local marijuana growers, discuss the varietals, delve into the medicinal qualities of the cannabis, even visit glass blowers that specialize in bongs and glass pipes. Cannabus is a mobile marijuana lounge stationed in Seattle and likely to hit the road to Portland, once pot stores open in Oregon in 2016. TravelTHC compiles a list of pot-friendly homes and apartments where you can spark up no problem. With the Denver Post hiring a marijuana critic to taste all the varietals (recently profiled in this New York Times story), pot is no longer a joke reserved for Cheech and Chong. It’s serious business and I see more active travel companies like Backroads joining the fray, similar to their Napa or Loire Valley trips. A culinary tour would be agreeable to older, high-end travelers who wouldn’t mind getting stoned, then feasting on a four-course Oregon farm-to-table dinner. 

 
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Stocking Stuffer No. 3: Lather’s Road Warrior

Those of you who’ve been reading my blog for years know I’m a big fan of Lather products. I came across their goods in LA, but now I’m starting to see their olive oil based soaps and mint thyme hair wash in the northeast, recently at several Lark Hotels. Lather is owned by Pasadena-based Emilie Davidson Hoyt, who grew up sensitive to synthetic fragrances found in most cosmetics. She started using natural ingredients and now she’s celebrating her 16th year in business. The trial sized shaving cream and face lotion are always with me when I travel with my carry-on luggage; the sea kelp body wash and shampoo are with me when I hit the gym. Now you can get all these products and more in a nifty dopp kit holiday package called the Road Warrior. Priced at $48, it’s perfect for that special man in your life. 

 
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Miami’s Den of Tranquility

While we’re on the subject of Miami, I drove the family over to my favorite hideaway in the area last week, the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Coral Gables. This lush oasis is a mix of ponds, palms, ferns, big birds, and whimsical sculpture. One step inside the serene environs and I’m staring at an anhinga drying its wings in the sun next to giant polka dotted pumpkins created by Japan’s Yayoi Kusama. One of Dale Chihuly’s colorful works of glass perfectly blends in with the orchids and big-leaf ferns in the conservatory. But it’s the serpentine trails that take you into a waterfall-laden rainforest shaded by vanilla trees, under the Spanish moss hanging from a southern live oak, and past the massive roots of a 70-year old baobab tree that keeps me coming back to this 83-acre gem. Add the large collection of herons and warblers that are fortunate to call the Fairchild home and you have the perfect rendezvous.
 

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Adirondacks Multisport Trip Just Added to the Backroads Roster

Backroads, the world’s leading active travel company, just announced their 2017 line-up and I was excited to see that my boyhood stomping grounds of the Adirondacks finally made the cut. Their 5-day itinerary includes some of my favorite activities, including biking the Lake Champlain Bikeway, hiking Mt. Jo in the high peaks region, and sailing Lake George aboard the Morgan, the Sagamore’s 72-foot replica of a 19th-century touring vessel. Set on a 70-acre island near the village of Bolton Landing, the Sagamore has been the lake’s top address for over a century. Steps from the patio lead past the manicured lawn to the Sagamore’s shoreline, offering views of Dome Island, a large round uninhabited forest of firs that looks almost tropical, a place that King Kong would find homey. On the opposite shores is an uninterrupted carpet of trees that soon rise to 2,000-foot mountains. 

The Adirondacks itinerary came as a result of guests wanting trips closer to home and a wee bit shorter. Other new trips in this category include a Maui & Lanai Multisport Adventure Tour for families and an Arches & Canyonlands Hiking Trip. Backroads added over 40 new trips to their schedule in 2017. Some of the highlights include hiking in Japan, a family trip to Sedona, Bermuda biking, Basque Country and a Galapagos, Andes & Amazon river cruise. Next year they are running a total of 71 active river cruises, including a Danube full ship buyout (150 Backroads guests take over the ship). ActiveTravels is here to help you pick the itinerary that best suits your level of fitness and dates. 
 

One Comment

  1. And most important, a detail you seemed to have missed, is that you are within an hour of one of only three gorilla parks in the world!!!! I believe it is the Volcanoes National Park.

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