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Hike Maiden Cliff, Camden, Maine

Maine’s midcoast mountains reward hikers with views of the Atlantic, picturesque harbors, and three-masted schooners sailing on open waters—all for an hour or two of effort. The Maiden Cliff Trail strolls through hemlocks until it comes to a junction at the half-mile mark. Turn right onto Ridge Trail, and the ledges open up onto Megunticook Lake. The view only gets better when you turn left at the Scenic Trail and continue to the summit. Follow the white blazes, and you’ll find a huge, white cross. This marks the spot where 11-year-old Elenora French plunged to her death on May 7, 1864. She was running to catch her hat. It might be the fastest way down, but not recommended. To get to the trailhead from Camden, take Route 52 West 3 miles from the intersection of Route 1. There will be a small parking area on the right-hand side of the road just before Route 52 borders the lake.

 

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February Newsletter Now Available at ActiveTravels.com

Heading out with your child this spring, summer, or fall to look at colleges? Well, we’re happy to report that ActiveTravels now designs itineraries for college tours in New England and New York, Mid-Atlantic states, the Midwest, and California. Tell us the colleges you want to tour, and we’ll package it together with hotels, restaurants, and sites along the way. That’s just one of the topics we cover in the February issue of our newsletter. Other stories include biking to Giverny on a day trip from Paris, three lodges we love in America’s National Parks, visiting Washington, DC, for the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Junior’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and a tour operator we use for custom-made trips for families to Israel. As always, we’re here to talk about travel ideas for 2013. So if anything comes to mind, email me at steve@activetravels.com. 

 
I’m off to Aruba to kick back with 12 members of my family. I’ll be back Monday, February 25th, with my favorite new trips offered by outfitters. 
 
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Hike the Amalfi Coast with Chef Dante de Magistris

Knowing that their guests like to play hard and then relish their physical accomplishments over an exceptional meal, many active travel operators in the past decade have invited well-known chefs to join them. Ciclismo Classico, best known for their biking and hiking trips throughout Italy, has teamed up with talented Boston chef, Dante de Magistris, chef at Il Casale and Dante to present an exceptional itinerary along the Amalfi Coast September 17-23. Hike amidst the cliffs of Positano, ferry over to Capri to walk secluded seaside towns, and then dine on private meals prepared by Chef Dante. He’ll also provide picnic lunches, offer cooking lessons, and invite guests into his family’s home. 

 
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Carve That Perfect Turn and Then Watch It on YouTube

“What’s on that guy’s helmet?” my daughter Melanie asked as we made our way outdoors this past weekend at Jay Peak. It was a video camera or helmet cam, the latest fad to hit the ski slopes. GoPro’s new model, the HD HERO2, has been selling like hot cakes since it made its debut last year. Retailing for $300, you can mount the video camera on your helmet, poles, or jacket and start filming those runs, easily uploaded to your YouTube page later in the day. The HERO2 also has models that work well with surfers and mountain bikers, so expect to see more action on the water and singletrack trails this summer. You think you’re worthy of being watched by millions? Prove it!

 
I’m off to San Diego, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta, back on February 28th. Have a great two weeks and keep active!
 
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See the Met Fashion Show at The Cloisters

In the world of exhibitions, there are juxtapositions of talent and space that just work brilliantly. Take Chihuly’s twisting and curving glass, now a mainstay at botanical gardens across the country. Putting contemporary fashion into five medieval cloisters is another gem of an idea. The Cloisters, at the tip of northern Manhattan, is now the uptown branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Take the A-train to 190th Street, grab an elevator up, and you’ll soon be walking through Fort Tryon Park high above the Hudson to the monastery-like buildings that John Rockefeller donated to the city in the 1920s. Living in the city for close to a decade, I only made it up here once to see the celebrated Unicorn Tapestries and Medieval manuscripts in the towering buildings. Now there are crowds coming to see Alexander McQueen, Valentino, Balenciaga and more than 50 other designers presenting their interpretations of a Catholic theme in the show titled Heavenly Bodies, on view through October 8th. Dresses created with the imagery of Bosch’s "Garden of Earthly Delights," from Japanese designer Jun Takahashi, was a favorite of our group. Just as impressive as the show and the architecture, including massive wooden doors from the 15th century that lead to each room, are the outdoor terraces. My niece, Sarah, who goes to school at Teachers College at Columbia University, about 70 blocks south of the exhibition on 120th Street, showed me around a Medieval garden of intriguing curiosities straight of Shakespearean times. Definitely worth the effort to make it up here! 

 
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Abercrombie and Kent Week—Living with Elephants and Other Philanthropic Projects

On the second day of our safari, I woke up at sunrise to the cacophony of high-pitched bird calls. French-press coffee arrived at my lodge at Stanley’s Camp and I drank a cup overlooking the high grasses of the Okavango Delta. After breakfast, our group of six was driven to a clearing where we soon stared in awe at a massive 11 ½-foot high, 5 to 6 ton elephant named Jabu. A gentle giant, Jabu was joined by two other elephants, the playful Thembi, and the oldest of the trio, 40 year-old Morula. The elephants were led by American Doug Groves and his South African-born wife, Sandi, two zoologists who adopted the threesome when culling operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe left them as orphans more than 25 years ago. 

Doug first came to the continent in 1987 to help with a feature film about the early days of South Africa. He met Sandi, adopted their elephants, and never returned. In 1999, they founded the charity, Living with Elephants, dedicated to creating a harmonious relationship between people and elephants. That morning, I had the opportunity to touch the ears and tusks of Jabu, walk Morula by the trunk, even get a slimy kiss from Jabu before we had lunch. But this is no hokey tourist trap. The primary goal of Living with Elephants is to help Botswanian schoolchildren overcome their fear of elephants and other large mammals that could very well have killed members of their family in the past. An estimated 30,000 elephants are now killed every year in Africa due to poaching. That leaves some 350,000 elephants on the continent with more than a third of these amazing animals in the small country of Botswana. If the Groves can show locals how compassionate elephants really are, this can only help stem the mass killings. 
 
On our last day of the trip, we visited the community of Nakatindi, not far from where we stayed at Sanctuary Sussi and Chuma in Livingstone, Zambia. When the government promised this village a medical clinic, fresh water, and a primary school and never came through on that promise, Abercrombie and Kent came to the forefront. They built a clinic that now serves 10,000 people annually. They were also instrumental in educating the community about Malaria and AIDS, the two killers that have left many children in this village as orphans. When the villagers had to walk through a national park to get their water from the Zambezi River, they were frequently attacked by wildlife. So Abercrombie and Kent created a water pump to get fresh water piped to their village directly. They also opened a bike shop, shipped old bicycles directly from America to Zambia and Botswana, trained locals to become bike mechanics, and then bought those refurbished bikes back. They are now used by schoolchildren who need to bike 7 kilometers each day to get to school and by farmers who need to get their goods to market.
 
I was once skeptical of these philanthropic projects in Africa. Saw it as a drop in the bucket, especially when you consider that the cost of one day on safari is comparable to the yearly earnings to someone in the village of Nakatindi. Then I visited a school in the Maasai Mara that was built largely due to the donation of one safari client on vacation. I met a young woman there who was continuing her studies at Oxford. She told me that before the school was built, no girls were allowed at the local public school. In one of the largest slums in Nairobi, I saw how a Johnson and Johnson executive on safari returned to donate a factory that created tampons. That way, girls would not miss 2 to 3 days of school when they had their period. Another executive, this one from Warner Brothers, created a computer room where locals could not only play video games but learn about the risk of AIDS. Then, of course, there’s Bill and Melinda Gates, who also went to Africa on safari. Eradicating malaria is now their top priority. I often say to clients that you visit Africa the first time to see the wildlife, but you return often to be with the people. Those people need a helping hand. 
 
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Bike New England and New York with Great Freedom Adventures

I love an outfitter who sticks to one region of the world and does it well, especially when the owner lives in that region and knows it better than most. Before founding Great Freedom Adventures, Jeanne Rummel ran the Mountains to Sea bike tour across Massachusetts, a successful fundraiser for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. Now the Mass native brings riders to her favorite haunts in Northeast, including the North Shore of Massachusetts, Block Island, Vermont, and the often overlooked Hudson Valley of New York. Rummel not only understands the salubrious benefits of a good day’s bike ride, both physically and mentally, but goes out of her way to show visitors a local cheese maker, a historic lighthouse, or the same incredible panorama painted by Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School painters in the mid-19th century. The daily itinerary includes a good dose of biking along with a chance to sea kayak, go on sunset sails, have lobster bakes, and take a necessary break at a local microbrewery. Not a bad way to push the eject button and de-stress!
 

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