Maine Week-The Advantage of Using an AMC Guide
On the first morning after breakfast at Gorman Chairback, we met up with our guide, Katie. Katie leads day trips for the AMC’s guests at the three lodges in Maine’s North Woods, Gorman Chairback, Little Lyford, and the recently reopened Medawisla. Not only is she an AMC guide, but she’s a Registered Maine Guide who can take people out in the summer to bag a peak, paddle, or fly-fish, and in winter to cross-country ski and snowshoe. We chose to canoe across 4-mile Long Pond with Katie and it was a wise choice. She shared the Old Town with Lisa, while my son, Jake, and I grabbed the second canoe. We had hopes of seeing a moose but that never panned out. Instead we followed a family of loons, mergansers, and even spotted a bald eagle atop a dead hemlock tree. The waters of Long Pond were like glass that morning, reflecting the surrounding mountains atop the surface. All you could hear was that mesmerizing call of the loon as there no other traffic on the pond. No boats, no canoes, nothing.
We said goodbye to Charlie at the Flagstaff Hut, snagged one of Megan Costello’s heavenly chocolate chip cookies, and exchanged mountain bikes for an Old Town canoe. We were surprised to find that we’d be paddling with a frog that was camping out in the canoe. Canoeing along the shores of Flagstaff Lake, the 4th largest lake in Maine, the mighty ridge of the 4,000-foot Bigelow Mountains soon came into view. Adding to the allure was a bald eagle that flew overhead. The waters were even more magical that evening when we watched a perfect orb of a reddish-orange sun set in the notch between Blanchard Mountain and Pickled Chicken Hill. Living the dream. 
The hysteria over Ebola has persuaded travelers to avoid Africa in the foreseeable future. But here are the facts. The distance from the Ebola outbreak in Liberia to the safari parks of East and Southern Africa is about the same distance as Manhattan to Anchorage, Alaska. Indeed, Madrid, Paris, and London are all closer to the Ebola epicenter than Nairobi or Capetown. Both Kenya and South Africa have stopped all flights to the affected region and so far, there have been no reported cases of Ebola in the eastern or southern part of the continent. With safari bookings dramatically down in 2015, this is the time to go bargain hunting and find deals with African outfitters. They need to fill seats to stay in business. 
Tradewind Aviation
I was delighted to receive word last week that