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Harvard Museum of Natural History Unveils Permanent Exhibition on New England Forests

While we’re on the subject of trees, the Harvard Museum of Natural History just opened the new Zofnass Family Gallery with its inaugural exhibition, New England Forests. This permanent multi-media display explores the wildlife and ecology of the New England forest. The exhibition will teach people about the trees, lichens, and animals right outside our doors while enjoying a forest walk with air conditioning and without mosquitoes. To further their educational goal, the museum will host a companion lecture series this fall.
 

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Where to Stay in New England

If you’re planning to spend a weekend in New England this summer or fall, check out the New England Inns and Resorts Association (NEIRA) website. The group is comprised of 250 inns and hotels in the region. They recently came out with a bucket list, where the price of a room includes a nearby activity. For example at Inn by the Sea, one of my favorite hotels in Maine, you can haul in lobster with a working Maine fisherman and dine on your catch that evening. Another favorite, Liberty Hill Farm, in bucolic Rochester, Vermont, will let you milk the cows, stack the hay and ride a tractor like a real farmer. Rabbit Hill Inn is offering zipline tours, White Mountain Hotel features rock climbing with the International Mountain Climbing School, and Glynn House Inn is giving you the chance to go hot air ballooning in the morning, complete with champagne. That’s the only way to fly.
 

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Ecuador, So Much More Than the Galapagos! Great Activities Within an Hour of Quito

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches

To reinforce yesterday’s recommendation to add at least 3 or 4 days to a Galapagos trip in the highlands region of Ecuador, here are three wonderful activities I did just outside of Quito. 
 
Definitely don’t miss the ½ hour side-trip to the base of the Teleferico Gondola. The view, as you ascend the east side of the Pichincha Volcano to lookout point Cruz Loma, reveals a unique landscape of the city and the opportunity to travel more than 8,000 feet in less than 20 minutes. Once there, you can spend a few hours or a few days! Options abound: hiking to the summit of Pichincha, camping, horseback riding, mountain biking, rock climbing, and even paragliding. Of course, you could just sit with a picnic and take in the vista, including the world’s highest Catholic Church. I loved swinging on the giant swing.
 
Another lovely place for outdoor activity is the Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve, less than an hour’s drive from downtown Quito. Lush green farmland has developed in the crater of the inactive volcano, the only such agricultural area in the world (growing maize, beans, potatoes, vegetables, alfalfa, and more, for 500 years). Side note: In Ecuador, there are 18 varieties of bananas, 137 varieties of corn, and 300 varieties of potatoes! From the top of Pululahua, you can take it in, or, if so inclined, hike down. Horseback riding, hiking, birding, and mountain biking are the most popular activities inside the volcano trails. There’s even an ecolodge using renewable energy inside the 2500 year-old crater.
 
And, of course, you can’t go to Ecuador without straddling the equator. There are not one, but two competing equator sites close to Quito. Most people apparently know that Mitad del Mundo’s equator line is a bit off. Intiñan Solar Museum has its own marker, which is closer to the right spot. It’s hard to know if either is 100% accurate, but locals claim that Intiñan is more "real." They are only a few hundred yards from one another, so you can easily see both sites. Interestingly, science experiments like the Coriolis effect (where water swirls down a drain clockwise on one side of the equator, and counter-clockwise on the other) work at both.
 
Tomorrow, Otavalo, South America’s most famous market, where indigenous locals come from the surrounding villages to sell their colorful handicrafts and produce. 
 
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Caribbean Update, Kauai Resorts, and Maine’s Cliff House in October ActiveTravels Newsletter

In the October ActiveTravels Newsletter, we discuss the Caribbean locales that weren’t affected by the hurricanes, pick our favorite hotels in Kauai, talk about how Amazon can help you in a pinch, and introduce you to one of the finest new resorts in Maine, the Cliff House. Please have a look! 

 
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The Tasty Debut of Hungryroot

Trust me, when you’re celebrating Passover and trying to stick to a Passover diet—no wheat, no rice—the options become less and less during the course of the week. That’s why I was delighted to hear about Hungryroot, a vegetarian-based 7 minute meal that made its debut on March 31st. Thinly cut vegetables take the place of pasta noodles and are topped with delicious sauces like Thai sesame or walnut pesto. Our favorites were the Zucchini Noodles with Sweet Basil Gremolata and Sweet Potato Noodles with Creamy Cashew Alfredo. You can add chicken to any dish, but it’s really not necessary. Our son, Jake, not one to love his veggies, downed the zucchini meal in record time. Hungryroot is the brainchild of three partners well known in the culinary world. Ben McKean founded restaurant reservation service Savored, which was acquired by Groupon; his partner Greg Struck founded Long Island Iced Tea brands; and chef Franklin Becker founded The Little Beet and starred in Bravo’s Top Chef Masters in 2013. Cost of each dish is $10 and Hungryroot is now shipping direct to clients in all cites east of the Mississippi. By the end of the year, they’ll be nationwide. 

 
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Norway, ActiveTravels Group Trips, and More in our June/July Newsletter

With the low-cost carrier, Norwegian Air, expanding across North America, it should come as no surprise that Norway has experienced a surge in travelers these past two years. Who wouldn’t want to be whisked away to this stunning land of fjords, colorful and charming UNESCO World Heritage cities like Bergen, and a history that dates back to the time of Vikings? We recently went to an all-day seminar in Boston with a dozen representatives from across Norway and describe the trips that sound the most exciting in our summer newsletter. We’re also excited to announce a slate of group trips in 2019, including a cruise to Alaska with renowned travel writer, Fran Golden; a wine cruise to Bordeaux on AmaWaterways with Vinodivino, owners of 4 wine stores in the Boston region; and a Bike n’ Brew Weekend at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, with one ride led by avid biker Sam von Trapp. Have a look and, if interested in any of these trips, please contact ActiveTravels. 
 
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Hiking in the White Mountains

There’s a reason they call New Hampshire the Granite State. But surprisingly most of the rock you find on the trails is quartz, gneiss, and schist, not granite. Nevertheless, if you’re hiking at the higher elevations of the Whites, you’re going to encounter rocks in every shape and size and every form of obstacle. Trails like the Crawford Path, the oldest hiking trail in use in the country, circa 1819, start off as dirt, but quickly change to rock. Once you rise above treeline after summiting Mount Pierce on the famous ridge walk, you’re entering an alpine wilderness of wildflowers, gnarly krumholz, and a mind-boggling panorama of mountains and ridges in every direction. Everywhere you look is a carpet of green, rising and falling along the slopes. 
 
Water was our friend on the first three days of hiking, from the Gale River Trail all the way up to Mizpah Springs Hut. At first, the rushing stream was just a delight to look at while walking along water’s edge or crossing over rivers on countless rock bridges. By Day Two, you want to soak your feet in the water of Zealand Falls after a long hike, dip your bandana into the cool waters every chance you get on a hot humid climb up to Mizpah. Thankfully, there were numerous opportunities to cool down and relax. 
 
Then you reach Lakes of the Clouds Hut and it’s all hardscrabble rock the last 1.4 miles to the summit of Mount Washington. Strong winds were thrusting against the windows of our room at the hut the night before our ascent. When we woke to Emily playing violin, we were socked in to a cloud. The thought of attempting to summit Washington, the highest peak in New England and a beast of mountain to bag in often volatile conditions, put many ill at ease. But off we went, and lo and behold, the winds subsided, the clouds opened up at the 6,288-foot summit and we were treated to wondrous views of Mounts Jefferson, Adams, and Madison. 
 
In a col between Adams and Madison, a stone hut was built 125 summers ago announcing the debut of the Appalachian Mountain Club. We wouldn’t make it to Madison Spring Hut on this journey, but there’s always another challenge, another memorable experience waiting in the future. I’d like to thank the AMC for a great week of hiking hut-to-hut and getting my summer off to the perfect start. 
         
 
 

2 Comments

  1. I walked through this last week. Hard to believe the huge trees, plants and lichens are all hand-made from different epoxies. Good news is you can’t get poison ivy from the model! The museum has half priced admission on 4th Wednesdays this summer, and of course is always free to Mass. residents on Sunday mornings.

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