New Weeklong Glamping and Island-Hopping Trip to the Galapagos Islands

Blue-Footed Boobies in the Galapagos IslandsNervous about taking a cruise again, but still want to check out those century-old tortoises, far too social sea lions, and colorful blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos Islands this year? Well, you’re in luck. Two of the finest properties in the Galapagos Islands, Scalesia Lodge on Isabela Island and Finch Bay Hotel on Santa Cruz have teamed up to create an exciting 8-day land-based itinerary. The $4658 per person staring price, double occupancy, includes all lodging, meals, inter-island flights, day trips aboard Yacht Sea Lion, glamping in luxury tents up in the highlands of Isabela Island, snorkeling with sea turtles and other marine wildlife, hiking active volcanoes, and visiting the Charles Darwin Research Station and tortoise breeding facility, which I remember fondly from my travels to the islands. Not included in the price is round-trip airfare from Guayaquil or Quito to Baltra Island, entrance fee to the Galapagos Islands National Park ($100), alcohol, and tips. Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands are now open to vaccinated visitors, so if you’re ready to go, let ActiveTravels know and you’ll be on your way!

Chad, Anyone?

Trips to Unexplored Africa With the announcement of Kenya Airlines new code sharing agreement with Delta and the increase of frequency of flights from JFK to Nairobi to 3 times per week, Steve Turner is taking the opportunity to escort the more intrepid travelers on expeditions to unexplored Africa. The owner of Origins Safaris, in operation since 1963, is first planning a trip in February 2022 to Zakouma, Chad, which according to Turner is Africa’s most successful conservation project. In March 2022, Turner will be leading a trip to the Ethiopian region of Gambella and the South Sudan region of Boma-Jonglei, home to Africa’s second-largest mammal migration—approximately one million White Eared Kob. April 2022 brings us to the Democratic Republic of Congo to visit with the Bonobos or Pygmy Chimps. Lastly, in June 2022, Turner plans to guide a group to Ethiopia’s remote Omo Valley to see firsthand its indigenous tribal culture. If interested in any of these memorable adventures, ActiveTravels will get you there!

Douro River Wine Cruise with AmaWaterways

Douro River Cruise with AmaWaterwaysSteve Chapin, owner and winemaker at California’s Chapin Vineyards, will be your host of AmaWaterways last cruise of 2021 on the Douro River November 9-16. Expect temperatures to reach the mid-60s as you cruise through the heart of the Port Wine country on the 102-passenger AmaVida. The 7-night cruise starts and ends in Porto and with an option for a 3-night pre-cruise in Lisbon starting November 6th. Stop to sample wines at historic vineyards that cling precariously to the cliffs of the Douro River Valley. Other highlights include Regua, the main hub of the Douro Valley, and Salamanca, the UNESCO-designated “Golden City.” Book now with ActiveTravels and you’ll have the flexibility to change your AmaWaterways sailing date up to 48 hours prior to the start of your journey and reschedule your cruise with no change fees to any river cruise sailing through 2023.

Lima, Machu Picchu and Sacred Valley with Abercrombie & Kent

Machu Picchu One of my last trips before travel came to a screeching halt was this gem of an 8-day jaunt with A&K to Peru October 2019. I would spend my first day in the Lima neighborhood of Barranco, known for its art museums, artisanal stores, and top-tier restaurants. That night I would dine on charred octopus and fresh tuna, washed down with powerful pisco sours at a local favorite, Amoramar. Our next stop was Sacred Valley and the highly recommended property, Sol y Luna. Our group of 18 met in a ranch-style setting for cocktail hour and then a sublime dinner, worthy of the property’s Relais and Chateau rating. We started with pisco mojitos, created with the sweet local mint grown in these parts. Then we dined on trout carpaccio and beef tenderloin, finishing with a dessert of tres leches. Lunch aboard the PeruRail Sacred Valley, a 2-hour train ride inspired by the Orient Express, soon led us to our room that night at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge, the only property overlooking majestic Machu Picchu. Finally, we ended with more fresh fish at a sushi joint in Cuzco. Fantastic sights, fantastic food, all at Peru’s finest properties. A&K plans to return to the country in mid-August and offer trips throughout September and October. ActiveTravels is ready to send you to Peru!

Fall Trips to Try for Foodies, Dolomites and Lake Garda with DuVine

Bike Lake GardaThere’s no better way to jumpstart the post-pandemic body than to entice the senses with a tantalizing venue of local food and drink. Many tour operators are upping the ante this autumn by not only bringing you to scenic locales like the Dolomites and the Douro River, but adding to the excitement by adding hosts like a Michelin-starred chef or wine expert.

The first trip that has us salivating is the Dolomites and Lake Garda Chef on Wheels Bike Tour with DuVine. Andy Levine’s love of topnotch restaurants, the finest wine, and memorable bike routes spurred him on to create DuVine Cycling decades ago. After all, his motto is “Bike, Eat, Drink, Sleep.” This is certainly true of this September 6-day jaunt in northern Italy with Michelin-starred chef Stefano Righetti. Raised in the mountains above Lake Garda, Righetti rose to prominence at Lake Garda’s acclaimed Vecchia Malcesine. Bike on a traffic-free network of local bike paths, crossing three regions from the Italian Alps to Lake Garda, and stop at Righetti’s favorite local wineries, farms, and food suppliers along the way. Actually, you’ll go one step further by foraging for wild ingredients and then preparing a sunset dinner in an alpine chalet with Righetti. If you want to start traveling again with gusto, this is certainly worthy of a bucket list trip! Please contact ActiveTravels and we’ll check availability.

Quick Escape: Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, Vermont

Frisbee Golf at Trapp Family LodgeWith Vermont now allowing vaccinated out-of-state travelers to arrive without quarantine, Lisa, our son, Jake, puppy Theo, and I decided to hit the road for two nights prior to Memorial Day Weekend. First stop was the acclaimed Hill Farmstead Brewery, known for their exceptional pale ale found only at their farm in Greensboro. We pre-ordered the beer, drove two miles down dirt roads without signage to arrive at a 7th-generation farmstead. A woman popped out, plopped the tray in the trunk, and off we went to nearby Willey’s General Store to pick up some Jasper Hill Cheese, also made in Greensboro. Then we drove another hour south to arrive at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe.

Once we drove up the hillside and saw the surrounding mountains, you couldn’t help but breathe deeply. Surrounded by fields of green, this is the soothing remedy my mind and body yearn for post-pandemic. They even have dog friendly rooms so Theo could venture on his first road trip. We spent the days playing Frisbee golf at a relatively new course carved through the fields and forest at Trapp’s, then hiking at Moss Glen Falls to see the water cascading down. Twice we visited dog-friendly Wiessner Woods to walk deep in the forest and fill our lungs with mountain-crisp oxygen I sorely missed all these months away. At night, we dined on bratwurst and schnitzel, washed down with Trapp’s award-winning pilsner and Kolsch at their bierhall. Then went for a requisite meal at Plate in the village of Stowe, my favorite dining establishment in town and one of the few places I know where you can find a Heady Topper on the drink menu. Of course, we stocked up on Heady Topper and Focal Banger at The Alchemist before leaving. Our fridge is now happily filled with craft beer and artisanal cheese. And yes, that Edward and Citra Single Hop IPA found at Hill Farmstead was well worth the detour to get there.

Interested in a pet-friendly room at Trapp Family Lodge? Please let ActiveTravels know and we’ll find you a room!

The World is Your Oyster, Volume 5, Our Talk with Aaron Daker, Managing Director of Costa Rica Experts

Travel to Costa Rica with ActiveTravelsCosta Welcome to our fifth episode of The World is Your Oyster, our ActiveTravels web series where we look forward to introducing you to some of the wonderful people we are fortunate enough to work with in the travel industry. Today, we’re delighted to talk to Aaron Dakar, Managing Director and trip designer extraordinaire for Costa Rica Experts. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Aaron for almost a decade now as he personally has designed more than 100 trips for our clients headed to Costa Rica. And each trip seems to be better than the last!

Based on your interests, he custom designs itineraries and never ceases to surprise us with new resorts and exhilarating activities. In this episode, Aaron discusses how Costa Rica has fared during the pandemic and why the country continues to be a popular destination. You’ll want to watch to the very end, when Aaron discloses his favorite new lodging picks and little-known places to visit in this gorgeous and topographically diverse country. Thank you, Aaron, for participating in The World is Your Oyster!

Literary Traveler Debuts Concord, Massachusetts Trip October 21-24, 2021

Walden Pond, Literary TravelerThanks to Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, the historic hamlet of Concord, Massachusetts, 20 miles west of Boston, has achieved legendary stature as a literary outpost. After all, it was here that Thoreau ventured to the woods with ax in tow in March 1845 to build his hut on Walden Pond. The town where Alcott grew up with her sisters in the Orchard House, which remarkably still stands today and was the backdrop for the latest version of Little Women in 2019. Also still standing on the banks of the Concord River is the circa-1770 Old Manse, where Emerson wrote his integral work, Nature, in the upstairs study, and the young Nathaniel Hawthorne brought his bride Sophia to live for 3 years. It happens to reside next door to Minute Man National Historic Park, where the Revolutionary War started as a result of the “shot heard round the world.”

With such a rich literary history, it’s no surprise that the founder of Literary Traveler, Francis McGovern, has chosen Concord for his inaugural trip, October 21-24, 2021. It also doesn’t hurt that Francis lives in Concord and knows the area intimately! Over the course of three days, you’ll visit all the important sights with Francis and other experts who specialize on the works of these renowned 19th-century scribes. Cost is $2495 per person double occupancy and includes three nights lodging at Concord’s Colonial Inn and dining at such esteemed local restaurants as Woods Hill Table, which Yankee Magazine recognized as the top farm-to-table restaurant in New England. ActiveTravels is happy to join forces with Literary Traveler to make all the bookings and provide any assistance to and from the region. We’re excited that Literary Traveler has started to design trips around the globe and this is the perfect start!

Boston’s Newbury Hotel Makes an Impressive Debut

Boston's Newbury HotelOne step off Newbury Street into the reception area of the The Newbury Boston and you’ll notice the stairwell that always took up a good portion of the lobby is no longer there. It’s been replaced by a gem of a small library with books stocked by nearby Trident Booksellers and the Boston Public Library and art selected by Boston public relations executive Lynne Kortenhaus who doubles as a talented curator, as evidenced by the works displayed throughout the property. A six-pack of Yousuf Karsh photographs peer down at you from the left, including portraits of people who had significant impact on the city like architect I.M. Pei, who designed the JFK Library. You’ll also spot Tennessee Williams, who legend has it spent a good deal of time in his room penning a play called “A Streetcar Named Desire” back when the hotel was The Ritz Carlton.

To read my latest story for Everett Potter’s Travel Report on the new Newbury Hotel, please press here.

Under-the-Radar New England State Parks, My Latest Story for Yankee Magazine

Lake Glorietta, New HampshoreWhile New England may have only a handful of parks with “National” in their name, it is blessed with an enviable collection of state parks, including many whose names are known well beyond our region’s borders. What hiker doesn’t dream of conquering Baxter’s Mount Katahdin? Who would want to miss the foliage fireworks of Franconia Notch? But just as appealing, especially now, are the parks with a quieter appeal, offering swaths of land to roam while rarely running into crowds. Here are seven hidden gems where you can find a retreat to restore body, mind, and spirit.

To read more of my latest story for Yankee Magazine, please press here.