With promising news of a vaccine finally arriving and pent-up demand for travel, ActiveTravels clients have already begun to inquire about travels in the second half of 2021 and 2022. Of course, many of you have already rescheduled trips that were cancelled in 2020. We’re hoping those go smoothly after such a turbulent year. We’re also starting to receive new requests to what we consider bucket list destinations. Places like South Africa, New Zealand, and Thailand. After losing a year of travel due to the pandemic, it looks like people are going for the gusto when they travel again, hoping to visit a dream destination. Well, we’re happy to help make those dreams a reality!
We’ve been fortunate over the past 8 years to develop fantastic relationships with local suppliers. We’ve put them through the ringer and a few have succeeded with flying colors, receiving only rave reviews from clients for their authentic and inventive itineraries. They’ve gone overboard to arrange a private dinner atop the Eiffel Tower, visit the Sistine Chapel before it opens to the public, arrange a sunset sail out of Santorini, or champagne for two for a private marriage proposal in the Serengeti. Ask and we’ll do our best to turn your dreams into reality! Based on our solid relationships with suppliers, we’ll be devoting this week to the bucket list destinations we’re excited to send you:
First up, African Safaris. For guided group African safaris, it’s hard to top Abercrombie & Kent. I’ve been fortunate to go on six safari trips to the continent, but the two A&K jaunts, first to Kenya and then Botswana with Lisa were the crème de la creme. They boast exceptional guides like our good friend Kebby in Botswana and small upscale lodges like Sanctuary Olonana on Kenya’s Mara River, where I would wake up each morning to have my poached eggs with the hippos.
A&K trips, however, can be expensive, which is why we’ve developed wonderful relationships with local suppliers in South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya who can design private personalized itineraries. We’ve really enjoyed working with African Scenic Safari in Arusha, who design driving tours of the Tanzania circuit on a more moderate budget. Stops include Ngorongoro Crater, private lodges in the Serengeti, and a beachfront stay in Zanzibar after safari. Some of the money you spend on the trip helps to run an orphanage just outside Arusha’s city limits. Personal Africa in South Africa can combine a week’s stay in Cape Town, visiting the Cape of the Good Hope, the wineries, and all the sites in the city, with 4 nights at Kruger National Park. Origins Safaris in Kenya have been in business since 1963, designing trips to the most distinctive lodges in the Masai Mara, before adding on a 2-might stay in Rwanda to see the gorillas. If you want to go on safari, we have you covered!
Judging from the amount of driving routes ActiveTravels is designing right now for clients headed across America, this summer proves to be the year of the road trip. The UK’s Pentagon Motor Group analyzed over 7 million Instagram hashtags to find the most scenic road trips around the world, calculating the number of photos posted on Instagram of each road per mile. Australia’s Great Ocean Road came in first with 8418 pictures per mile. The rest of the top five are California’s Big Sur, Jebel Hafeet in the United Arab Emirates, Hai Van Pass in Vietnam, and Chapman’s Peak Drive in South Africa, which I can personally attest to stopping every 5 minutes to take another photograph of stunning jagged mountain peaks and ocean. Check out the list of the Top 20 Drives and make sure all are on your wish list!