Bucket List Travel, Galapagos Islands

The Tortoises on the Galapagos Islands Yesterday, we discussed how to make your dream of going on an African safari a reality. Today, we’ll continue with the wildlife theme and visit that mythical home of the blue-footed booby and far too sociable sea lion, the Galapagos Islands. Lindblad has made the Galapagos their number one priority and it shows with their naturalists and new ships. But if you want to go smaller, you certainly can. We’ve put a number of ActiveTravels clients on Haugan yachts, housing 6 to 8 berths and more crew than passengers. They have wonderful naturalists and the ability to anchor in smaller harbors. We’ve also had families and couples go on guided sea kayaking jaunts with ROW, a renowned sea kayaking and rafting outfitter. So there are a number of ways to see the islands. We can also combine the Galapagos Islands with stops in Quito, Lima, and Machu Picchu. Please let ActiveTravels know your desire to visit the Galapagos Islands and we’ll find the best way for you to go eyeball to eyeball with a century-old tortoise!

Similar Posts

|

South African Luxury on a Budget

Think a safari has to be exorbitant, especially when staying at 5-star accommodations? Not necessarily true. African Travel is featuring a 12-night itinerary to South Africa in September, with stays at some of the top properties in the country, including the wonderful Twelve Apostles just outside of Cape Town, Rhino Sands Safari Camp in Mayoni Private Game Reserve, and the Oyster Box in Durban. Cost starts at $5995 per person, including the international flight from New York. Book this trip before March 31, 2019 and you’ll receive an extra night at the Oyster House for free. Please contact ActiveTravels for more information. 

 
|

“Love, Life, and Elephants,” A New Book by Dame Daphne Sheldrick

On my last trip to Nairobi, I had the pleasure of meeting Dame Daphne Sheldrick at the elephant orphanage she founded in 1977. I remember the mix of joy and sadness I felt upon entering the orphanage. Joy at seeing those miniature-sized elephants frolicking in the mud. Sadness at learning that their parents were brutally murdered by poachers who left these babies to wander in the bush.
         “We came to learn how intelligent these elephants are, with a familial instinct and an astounding memory,” Sheldrick told me as we sat at an outdoor table in the back patio of her house. Then her expression suddenly turned grave as she noted, “the elephant community is in a lot of trouble. Not only is poaching on the rise, but the intrusion of livestock into protected areas has led to a scarcity of water.” 
If last week’s New York Times article on the surge of African ivory being transported to Asia is any indication, the only elephants we might be seeing in the future will be orphans. You can read about Dame Daphne Sheldrick’s fascinating life in her just released memoir, “Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story.” 
 
|

The Best of Cape Cod Birding

While the interior of Cape Cod is rich with cardinals, mockingbirds, goldfinches and woodpeckers, it’s the coastal variety that entice many a visitor here.  Shorebirds by the thousands, returning from their Arctic breeding grounds, stop along the Cape coast for much needed respite and food as they fatten up for their journey south. One of their favorite overnights is Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The Massachusetts Audubon Society, who own and maintain the property, have claimed to have seen over 250 different species like oystercatchers, stilts, avocets, plovers, turnstones, and sandpipers.

The Goose Pond Trail is a leisurely ramble though marsh, forest, ponds, and fields. At low tide, continue on the Try Island Trail to a boardwalk that leads to Cape Cod Bay.  Green herons and large goose-like brants are prevalent in the surrounding salty marsh.  Retrace your steps back to the Goose Pond Trail to reach Goose Pond. A bench overlooking the water is one of the most serene spots on the Cape. Northern hummingbirds fly in and out of the branches overhead forming a choir whose voices will soothe any man’s soul.
 

|

5 Favorite Travel Days in 2014, Snorkeling with Wild Dolphins off the Coast of the Big Island

No one in my family really wanted to get up at 7 am to paddle an outrigger canoe. The night before we had a memorable dinner at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, dining under the stars while being serenaded by a ukulele player. Then our son, Jake, had to wake up at 3 am Hawaii time to register for his college courses. We all wanted to sleep in, but man, am I happy we managed to get out of bed. 
 
As we pushed off from shore, we spotted a dozen green sea turtles (honus) feeding on the reef. Within five minutes, as we headed to a sheltered bay, we saw our first dolphin jumping high out of the water. “They never usually come this close to shore,” said our guide, a local who seemed just as amazed as we were. He handed us snorkeling gear and the next thing you know, we were swimming next to rows of six and seven dolphins. One zipped right by my daughter, Mel, and me. When we took the masks off and looked up in the air, the dolphins were flying above the water, doing flips. Amazing! Needless to say, we didn’t get much paddling in, but it easily made my list of top 5 travel days in 2014. 
 

The World is Your Oyster, Volume 4, Our Talk with Fran Golden and Midgi Moore, Authors of 100 Things to Do In Alaska Before You Die

100 Things to Do in Alaska Before You DieOur fourth episode brings you to the 49th state, Alaska! We are super excited to introduce you to a close friend and award-winning travel writer and specialist in cruises, Fran Golden. She and her co-writer, Midgi Moore, a native of Juneau and owner of Juneau Food Tours, join us to talk about about all the cool things to do in Alaska.

Hot off the press is their book, 100 Things to Do In Alaska Before You Die, and it’s chock full of amazing sights to see, foods to try and activities to experience. Ever dined on reindeer sausage pizza? Have you eaten Alaskan King crab legs in Alaska? Midgi can steer you to the right places! If you’re curious where to go to see the Northern Lights, go dog sledding and see 26 glaciers in one day, pick up a copy of this great book. They recommend taking at least 2 weeks to see this glorious state and trying to get a free stopover at a second Alaskan destination on Alaska Airlines so you can see the state more efficiently and economically.

Thank you so very much Fran and Midgi for participating in this episode of The World is Your Oyster and for sharing with us all the best things to do and see and experience in Alaska with our valued ActiveTravels members.

|

Birdwatching at Mount Auburn Cemetery

On Friday, I’ll be waking up early to join Mass Audubon on a birdwatching outing at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Waking up early to visit a cemetery might sound like a macabre undertaking, but Mount Auburn is no ordinary cemetery. It was created on the outskirts of Boston in 1831 as America’s first rural or garden cemetery, a precursor to parks in urban areas. The city was yearning for a new aesthetic, a cemetery landscaped with rolling hills, ponds, flowering shrubs, and a mix of trees that provide shade not only for those in mourning, but for the entire public to enjoy their picnic lunch. It became a smashing success that would lay the groundwork for Frederick Law Olmstead to create Central Park in New York and the Emerald Necklace here in Boston some 40 to 50 years later.

Today, more than 200,000 visitors enter the gates of Mount Auburn annually. Sure, they might come to visit the final resting place of a relative or to stop and say thanks to a long list of luminaries in American arts and letters, like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Winslow Homer, and Buckminster Fuller, yet others like me simply follow in the footsteps of Roger Tory Peterson, the renowned ornithologist who once led bird walking tours here. The height of the spring migration for warblers usually happens around Mother’s Day each year. Bring your binocs and you might just spot the scruffy yellow chin of the divine Northern Parula warbler. To read more about Boston’s historic cemeteries, see my article from last summer’s American Way magazine, the inflight publication of American Airlines.
 

Leave a Reply