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My 5 Favorite Tanzanian Properties: Alex Walker’s Serian Kusini Camp

There’s something magical about being lost in the African bush for at least 3 nights in a mobile tent. You’re surrounded by wildlife, drink sundowners at sunset around a raging campfire, view the twinkling stars of the incredible African night sky, and then sleep peacefully with a breeze. One of the best mobile tent locales in the winter months is Kusini just past Ndutu Safari Lodge (where Mary Leakey stayed, along with numerous BBC documentarians) in the southern Serengeti. Alex Walker’s Serian is a master of glamping, offering six spacious tents with bucket showers and flush toilets that move close to the Mara River in the summer months for prime wildebeest crossing viewings. Not surprisingly, these camps are often booked well in advance, with the same clientele returning year after year. So plan accordingly. 

 

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The Dutch Culture of Curacao

Curacao, along with Bonaire, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, and Saba, are all considered part of the Netherlands Antilles. The Dutch came to power on Curacao in 1634 and to this day, Dutch remains the language of instruction in schools and is widely spoken in government and business. Over 2,000 makambas (the name coined for native Dutch people) have made the island their permanent home.

Stroll along the narrow streets of Willemstad, the capital of Curacao, and you’ll find exquisite 17th and 18th-century Dutch colonial buildings not found anywhere outside of the Netherlands. The steep pitched gable roofline is typical of Dutch urban architecture, but the bright bold palette painted on the walls of the buildings is undeniably Caribbean. First stop in town is Fort Nassau, a restored Dutch seafood restaurant created from the ruins of an 18th-century fortress and is now a favorite dining spot of Queen Beatrix and Crown Prince Claus of the Netherlands. Dine on fresh red snapper and grouper on a hilltop overlooking Willemstad with panoramic views of the ocean. Then head onward to New Amsterdam, a favorite store in Willemstad known for its hand-embroidered tablecloths and other Dutch novelties. Last, but certainly not least, make sure to pop into any of the grocery stores in town to grab Dutch chocolates and a wheel of very old Gouda. The latest resort to make its debut on the island is Hyatt Regency Curacao Golf Resort, Spa, and Marina. The hotel features a Pete Dye-designed golf course, private beach, spa, multiple pools, and 350 rooms offering water views.

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Favorite Fall Drives, Route 54A, Keuka Lake, New York

Autumn in the Finger Lakes of western New York State is the time of year when leaves on the maples turn a tad crimson and the grapes on the vines are ready to be harvested for their award-winning Rieslings. Start on the northern tip of Keuka Lake in the town of Penn Yan. Head south on Route 54A and just outside of town, you’ll see signs for Apple Barrel Orchards, a third-generation U-pick apple orchard that makes homemade cider on the premises. Continue south along the shores of the 20-mile long lake to reach Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellar. Founded in 1962 and now run by Dr. Frank’s grandson, Fred, Dr. Frank put the Finger Lakes on the wine lovers’ map with his award-winning dry and semi-dry Rieslings. Have lunch on an outdoor deck overlooking the narrow northern part of the lake at Heron Hill Winery. The Blue Heron café takes full advantage of its locale nestled amidst the farmland to offer local seasonal fruit over field greens and a caprese salad with large fresh tomatoes. A perfect place to stay in Hammondsport is the octagonal-shaped Black Sheep Inn, where the owner, a former caterer in Cleveland, creates innovative and tasty breakfasts. 

 
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Safaris for Kids

Safaris were once such a luxury that they were reserved only by honeymooners for that trip of a lifetime. Well, times have certainly changed. These days more and more safari outfitters are catering to the post-honeymoon crowd, otherwise known as families. At Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa, their “Kids on Safari” package (geared to children ages 4 and up) lets the little ones see the Big Five. They also visit the Born Free Foundation to watch animals that almost died in captivity released into the wild. In Zambia, Norman Carr Safaris has a special “Kids Go Wild” trip that teaches about the conservation of lions in the dense bush. Families also learn to play traditional African drums and mold clay pottery into African sculpture. At Olonana Sanctuary in Masai Mara, Kenya, owned by Abercrombie & Kent, children spend a morning with kids at the local Maasai school after touring their village.
 

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Availability on Thomson Family Adventures Trips to Galapagos, Costa Rica This Xmas

If you still don’t have Christmas plans and want to surprise the family with a memorable vacation, you’ll be happy to know that Thomson Family Adventures has availability on their Galapagos and Costa Rica trips. The Galapagos trips leave either 12/20 or 12/21, returning 12/29. The itinerary includes three nights in the Andean highlands at Cuenca where the family will tour this impressive Colonial city, see Incan ruins, rock climb, and hike in El Cajas National Park. Then you fly to the Galapagos Islands, where you embark on a 4-night cruise that includes stops to see century-old tortoises, blue-footed boobies, flamingoes, and colonies of tame sea lions. Having just been to the Galapagos Islands with my family this summer, I can tell you without hesitation that it’s magical. The 9-day Costa Rica Multisport Adventure is scheduled 12/22-12/31 and 12/25-1/2. Activities include whitewater rafting Pejibaye River, seeing the turtles of Tortuguero, then hitting the Pacific coast to zipline and go on a naturalist-led hike through Manuel Antonio National Park. If interested, please contact ActiveTravels.com to book. 
 
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Bike the Cape Cod Rail Trail

The small strip of pavement forms a straight line into the horizon like an express route to freedom. Astride my bike, I zip over bridges and through tunnels, past large ponds, salt marshes and cranberry bogs, all while breathing in the sweet smell of spring wildflowers and the far more potent brine of the sea. The hum of traffic is gone, replaced by the call of the red-winged blackbird and the yellow warbler. The only obstacles before me are runners, clumsy rollerbladers and other leisurely bikers. In the Cape Cod town of Orleans, I hop off my bike for a few minutes and take that quintessential New England snapshot of fishing boats bobbing in the harbor. Soon after, I’m in the shade of Nickerson State Park, pedaling straight through Brewster to a series of swimming holes that reward bikers with a refreshing dip.

Such is a ride on the 25-mile long Cape Cod Rail Trail on a corridor that, until 1937, was used to ship cranberries the Cape to Boston aboard the Old Colony Railroad. Today, the relatively level rail trail is a placid retreat that has quickly become one of the most popular destinations in the Northeast for biking, hiking, strolling, jogging and in-line skating.

Like so many of these paths proliferating across the US—from the 225-mile Katy Trail that stretches across most of Missouri to the 61-mile Illinois Prairie Path that snakes through the heart of Chicago’s suburbs—the Cape Cod Rail Trail was for many decades an abandoned railroad line. Far away from maddening congestion on city streets and the noise of rural highways, rail trails are beloved by outdoor enthusiasts and a focal point of renewal across the country. From 1965 to 1985, only 1,000 miles of trail were opened. Today, there are currently more than 15,000 miles of rail trails open across the country.

The Cape Cod Rail Trail takes you through the interior of the Cape from South Dennis to Wellfleet, or vice-versa. The salty air is a pleasant reminder that the Cape Cod National Seashore and its 40-mile stretch of pounding Atlantic surf is never far away. At the visitors’ center in Eastham, you can veer off the CCRT for two miles on a separate trail to lounge on the dunes of Coast Guard Beach. Continue on to Brewster to cool off in a series of kettle ponds (swimming holes). Nearby, a favorite picnic spot, the Pleasant Lake General Store in Harwich, was once a popular stop on the Old Colony Railroad Line.
 

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How A Travel Advisor Helps Design an Authentic Travel Experience

As a young travel writer, working as a Contributing Editor at Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine, I would regularly meet Arthur Frommer in his office in midtown Manhattan. I would come prepared, ready to pitch my 3 to 4 story angles on a sheet of paper and the legendary writer, who made his name penning "Europe on 5 Dollars A Day" in 1957, would politely listen and shoot down every one of my ideas. He then would come up with his own suggestions: "Steve, why don’t you do a story on the Caribbean islands that are rarely affected by hurricanes, like the ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao?" One of those story ideas I would return to again and again in my travel writing career and, in fact, became the cornerstone of our beliefs when we opened our travel agency, ActiveTravels, 7 years ago. Arthur said to me, "Steve, these big-name American travel companies like National Geographic Expeditions are hiring smaller outfitters to run their trips in each of the countries they visit. Find the best small local ground operator in a dozen countries and pen a story on them. This way, you eliminate the middleman and save a bundle." 

 
Working as a travel writer since 1990, I’ve had the good fortune to visit close to 100 countries, 46 American states (still missing Iowa, Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Dakota), and 9 out of 10 Canadian provinces (need to get to Saskatchewan). This has given me a wealth of knowledge to help design routes for clients when they travel. But let’s be realistic. Even if I’ve traveled to the African continent 7 times, I’m no expert. In fact, I’ve barely scraped the surface. And what about those countries still on my Bucket List, like Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Uganda. It’s simply unrealistic for any travel agency to have expertise on all countries. That’s why we rely on local contacts we’ve made around the globe, these small tour operators Arthur Frommer first introduced me to so many years ago. They live locally, know every nook and cranny of their country like I know every nook and cranny of the Northeastern US, and they have become invaluable in our profession in creating an authentic itinerary that only a local could know. These include a New Zealander who designs detailed self-guided driving itineraries to his favorite sites and B&Bs on the South Island, a naturalist in Sumatra that will help locate the native orangutans, an art historian in Rome who will take you behind the scenes to talk about Caravaggio, and a Ecuadorean yacht owner who takes small, select groups to visit the Galapagos Islands on weeklong cruises. Whenever one of our clients returns with rave reviews for a local outfitter or guide, we add them to a growing list. That’s how we find the perfect person to custom-design your itineraries based on your desires. 
 

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