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My 5 Favorite Tanzanian Properties: Mwiba Lodge

Fly 40 minutes from the domestic airport in Arusha over the Ngorongoro Crater and you reach Mwiba Lodge, the latest upscale property from Legendary Expeditions. All 9 rooms and main lodge are filled with modern African art to give it a contemporary flair. There’s a small infinity pool, wine cellar filled with South African selections, two dining areas, and a small library, all looking over a watering hole where I spotted more than 20 elephants strolling leisurely down to the spot. Rooms are spacious and a bath filled with warm water, bubbles and salts is waiting after your afternoon game drive. Mwiba is located in a vast game reserve, not a national park, so you have the option to take night drives and veer off-road straight to the wildlife. Ideal for honeymooners or couples celebrating an anniversary, I would probably recommend staying at Mwiba after first staying at a mobile tent in the Serengeti bush. It offers a great dose of comfort before leaving Africa.

 

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Africa Week—CroisiEurope Cruise in Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe

Not surprisingly, Lisa met many travel advisors at the We Are Africa conference in Utah who specialize only in African travel. Several of those advisors mentioned to Lisa that the best trip they ever took in Africa was aboard a unique river cruise with the European river cruise company, CroisiEurope. You start in Jo’Burg before flying to Chobe National Park in Botswana, where you’ll board small boats to cruise the elephant-rich waters of the Chobe River. Then you’ll fly to Kariba in northern Zimbabwe and board the African Queen for a 3-day cruise across Lake Kariba to see the lions, giraffes, rhinos, and leopards of Matusadona National Park. The icing on the cake is one last flight to see Victoria Falls and cruise the Zambezi River to say hi to the hippos. Pricing of this 9-day itinerary starts at $6528 per person and includes all lodging, meals, and the Jo’Burg to Kasane, Botswana flight (gateway to Chobe National Park). Let ActiveTravels know your dates and we’ll check availability and pricing. We’ll also help with international flights and design an itinerary for Cape Town and Jo’Burg before or after your trip. 
 
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Get Cozy at a Maine Inn this Winter

A number of Maine inns offer a warm winter welcome for those in need of a weekend getaway. Start with The Danforth Inn in Portland’s Arts District. This boutique property offers stylish and comfortable bedrooms, roaring fireplaces and the Southeast Asian cuisine of the Tempo Dulu restaurant. At Among the Lakes Bed and Breakfast in the Belgrade Lakes region, not far from Colby College, a winter’s day is best spent with a good book in the Parlor Library or heading out on the x-c ski and snowshoe trails that lead from the house’s back door. Pampering is the rule at the legendary White Barn Inn in Kennebunk, where the treatments at the Spa and dinner at the restaurant can elevate a stay from a mere getaway to an ultra-sybaritic weekend. Lastly, avoid the summer crowds at Acadia National Park by heading there in winter. If you make the wise choice to stay at The Maples Inn in Bar Harbor, you’ll wake up to stuffed blueberry French toast before hitting the spectacular trails. For more suggestions, check out the list of inns at Visit Maine.
 
I’ll be back next week with some of my favorite local outfitters around the globe. Have a great weekend and stay active! 
 
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Bermuda Beckons

Soft and cushiony, with a shade of pink to enhance the dramatic effect, the sand on the beaches of Bermuda is better than advertised. Hemmed in by jagged rock formations and backed by cliffs, the southeastern shoreline of the island, where the finest beaches reside, are a mix of horseshoe-shaped coves filled with tanning bodies and small jewel-like pockets of sand with just enough space to contain a couple or two. This sublime stretch of coast serves as the ideal welcome mat for the weary waves that have rolled some 600 miles from the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the closest landmass to the west. September and October are the ideal months to visit this 23-mile speck of land in the Atlantic. The surge of travelers, many venturing here aboard cruises in summer, have come and gone, returning the island back to its natural relaxed state. And, most importantly, late summer is the driest time of the year, bringing warm sunny days. Stay at the Reefs Resort in Southampton. Honeymooners or those in need of a dose of romance should ask about the rooms with private hot tubs on the balcony overlooking the Atlantic. 

 
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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. 
         
 
 
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My Top 5 Adventures in 2009, Climbing Masada, Israel

This past January, almost exactly a year ago, my family spent several weeks in Israel. On our final day, we drove south of Jerusalem past Bedouin villages into the rolling hills of the Judean desert. This is where you find the mountain fortress, Masada, known as the site where the Israelites committed mass suicide rather than serve as slaves to the Romans in 73 A.D. Climbing Masada is a rite of passage for most people heading to the country. Fortunately it was January, so the heat wasn’t too bad as my daughter Melanie counted all 865 steps to the summit. As a reward for the hike, we brought the kids for a swim in the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth. It was late in the day, the waters were rough, and we forgot our towels. No one seemed to care as we floated in the salty sea, staring at the mountainous ridges of Jordan on the opposite shores. See the full story in The Boston Globe.
 

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New York’s High Line Park Receives $20 Million Gift to Expand

Since its debut the summer of 2009, High Line Park has become a huge success. Attracting more than 3 million annual visitors to the Chelsea section of Manhattan, the aboveground park built on a former elevated railroad line, has led to more than $2 billion in planned or new development in the neighborhood. All it takes is one stroll on the mile-long walkway to understand the magical allure of being above the streets of Manhattan. The pathway heads north from Gansevoort to 30th Streets. With the announcement last week that Barry Diller, chairman of IAC and Expedia, and his wife, designer, Diane von Furstenberg, have donated an additional $20 million to the park, Friends of the High Line hope to expand the park another half mile to 12th Avenue and 34th Street, close to the Hudson River. Diller and his wife are no strangers to the High Line, having donated close to $15 million prior to their latest gift, the single largest donation ever made to a New York City park. It’s exciting news that the park will finally curve its way to the railway’s rightful endpoint.
 

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