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Isn’t It Time You Skied Telluride?

If ole Butch Cassidy returned to Telluride today to rob a bank, like he did here in 1889, he would be happy to know that this former mining town has changed little. Sure, there might be more of a California surfing element—a favorite breakfast joint is called Baked in Telluride—but much of the 8-block main stretch gives off the flavor of the Wild West. It’s not just the sense of the familiar that keeps me coming back, but the spellbinding vista of 14,000-foot peaks that surround the ski resort. You’re socked into a Japanese silkscreen, with wave after wave of anonymous snowy peak undulating before you.  
 
At first glance, staring anxiously at the steep trails that run from the face of the mountain back to town, you might think that Telluride was created solely for the hotdogging antics of extreme skiers. And, yes, steeps like Bushwhacker and Plunge reward expert skiers with great rips, usually on fresh powder. Take the lift up to Prospect Bowl, however, and you’ll soon realize that Telluride caters just as much to beginners and intermediates. Best of all, there are little or no lift lines to get to these trails. Located in the remote southwestern corner of the state, you’re a good five-hour drive from the crowds that frequent Colorado ski areas closer to Denver. But that could change soon. With direct flights to Telluride from 11 major hubs in the States, including Newark, Chicago, and LA, expect the word to spread quickly. 
 

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St. Lucia Week: Jungle Biking at Anse Chastanet

There’s a reason why Anse Chastanet is consistently rated one of the top resorts in the Caribbean by Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler. The view of those twin volcanic peaks, the Pitons, from the balcony of my room is jaw-dropping. The way the jagged ridges rise from the sea to a height over 2,000 feet reminds me of a South Pacific isle more than the Caribbean. It’s so dramatic that I’m having a hard time focusing on this blog while peering over at this breathtaking sight. Anse Chastanet, perched on a hillside, is also known for its pristine beach and sheltered bay, one of the best spots on the island for snorkeling. But the reason I’ve come to Anse Chastanet is to mountain bike. 
 
Next door to Anse Chastanet is Anse Mamin, a former 18th century plantation and sugar mill. The 500-acre ruins are now home to more than 8 miles of mountain biking. I met my guide Tyson next to one of the ruins, a former storage facility for molasses that now houses Cannondales and off we went on the Riverside Trail. Within moments we were riding over fallen leaves of almond, tall African tulip, and calabash trees on a soft singletrack trail next to a river. Deep in the jungle we crossed over a bridge onto the Agua Dulce trail, which translates to “Sweet Water.” The trail was sweet as we cruised downhill sweeping over some rocks and roots to make it to the first reservoir ever built on Saint Lucia.
 
We jumped off our bikes as Tyson grabbed ripe guava from a tree, sliced it in half and we sucked it down. Who needs Gatorade when you have an island that grows 67 types of mangoes? He then picked a golden apple, a cross between a tart apple and a pear, and a succulent pink grapefruit. Then we passed more stone walls, remains of a building that used to boil down the molasses. You can still see the cast iron pots made in the UK. Within an hour we were back at the beginning covered in sweat from the 100% humidity. This is when Tyson gave me the option to tackle more of the singletracks on my own. How could I say no? I warmed up with a quick little run on the Banja Loop and then tackled the more challenging French Wall loop, which led me to the Bamboo Rocks loop. None were too technical. French Wall had some easy switchbacks and a nice downhill run. But anyone who’s mountain biked before will love the opportunity to bike on a former sugar plantation in the Caribbean. Then sit back on your porch, rum drink in hand, and soak up as much of those Pitons as possible. 
 
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Travel to the Serengeti with Chef Jody Adams

You don’t typically go to Tanzania for the food. Unless you’re traveling with the James Beard-award winning chef Jody Adams, best know for her long stint at Rialto in Cambridge, Mass. Thomson Safaris, experts on safari travel to Tanzania for more than two decades, will travel with Chef Adams from October 4-16, 2018. You’ll see lions, giraffes, elephant and zebras in the wild, interact with Tanzanians in both traditional and modern contexts, all while savoring Tanzanian cuisine in luxury camps in the Serengeti. The culinary finale will be a hands-on cooking class in the lavish accommodations of Gibbs Farm, a working coffee plantation and pioneer in organic farming. 

 
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Tweet, Tweet For a Free Trip to Africa

If you still haven’t signed up for a Twitter account, we have a great reason to join.  Acacia Africa is featuring a “Wild Tweep” competition, where one lucky winner will walk away with a 6-day African Insight overland safari. Simply fill out the Q&A and confirm that you can give them 20 minutes of your time for a live “tweet up” on Acacia Africa’s twitter page (Friday, February 26th, from 1 to 1:20pm London time). Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to answer questions on South Africa and tell us why you can’t get enough of the Rainbow Nation. Completed Q&As should be emailed to gowildonline@acacia-africa.com. Entries are being accepted until February 12th.
 

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Best Summer Drives in New England

One doesn’t drive in New England simply to get from Point A to Point B at the fastest possible time. No, we like to linger, savor the beauty, cherish the history. We’re fortunate to be blessed with a diverse landscape full of majestic sights like the jagged shoreline of Maine, the granite notches of New Hampshire, the verdant farmland of Vermont, and the long stretch of white beach found in Rhode Island. We stop not only to post photos to our Instagram and Facebook accounts, but to dine on lobster rolls and fried clams at renowned seafood shacks, hike on the same shoreline and forest paths that inspired Winslow Homer and Robert Frost, and stop to stay at legendary inns or a new cabin built into the vast Maine wilderness. 

 
To read my latest story for Yankee Magazine on 8 great summer drives, including maps, please click here. 
 
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My Grandfather’s Sketchbooks Still Inspire Me to Travel

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches

My grandparents were inveterate world travelers — and Grandpa, an architect, was always sketching and painting wherever they went. Framed examples of his watercolors have graced every place I’ve lived. In Boston, our home displayed Pisa (1955), Nara (1959), Crete (1960), and Florida (1977). Now, in Toronto, Josh and I have Venice’s Rialto Bridge on the wall (1954). It was not only the sketchbooks, but gifts from afar that entertained me as a child. With Grandma and Grandpa’s help, I gathered a large collection of dolls from other countries, learning early on that the world was a big, diverse place that I wanted to understand more. I suppose you could say my love of travel and exploration was instilled by them. 
 
Recently, in September, I was looking through a pile of Grandpa’s sketchbooks which I hold for all relatives as part of the family archives. Believe it or not, I found pencil drawings and watercolors of places to which I would travel a month later: Grandpa’s "Newfoundland, 1977." Indeed, in early October, I saw the Bonavista Lighthouse he depicted. Further, I found a notebook entitled "Japan, 1959," and, after pausing to wonder what led my grandparents to Japan at that particular time, I decided to ask my niece whether she had been to any of the named sites. She and her partner were on a 2-week trip to Japan last summer when they became engaged. All seven of the great-grandchildren should have Grandpa’s artwork on their walls, I thought, to inspire even more generations to experience the larger world.
 
Grandma and Grandpa were first generation Americans (born to immigrants from Russia and Lithuania as the 1800s turned to the 1900s), and raised in New York City. Grandpa was the youngest of eight. Amazingly, both went on to college and graduate school. 100 years later, their curiosity, pluck, and sense of adventure still motivates me, and lives on through Grandpa’s sketches and watercolors. 
 
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Bike the Texas Hill Country with Sojourn

Many of the people I meet who founded their active travel company have a genuine passion for the sport. Tom Hale spent over 5,000 miles on a bike the summer of 1979 prior to opening Backroads. When Susan Rand was in college, she would load her panniers witch camping gear and clothes and hit the road. Then she became athletic director at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and worked for four years at Vermont Bicycle Tours prior to starting her own company, Sojourn, in 1995. Her fall foliage trips along the shores of Lake Champlain in her native Vermont are still the most popular weeklong jaunts. Yet, it’s the itineraries I don’t normally see in a catalog that I find most intriguing. In the summer, Sojourn heads to the Columbia River Gorge to bike between glorious Mount Hood and Mount Adams. In late fall and mid-winter, Rand takes riders to the Sonoran Desert outside Tucson to bike, hike in Saguaro National Park, and horseback ride in John Wayne country at the Rancho De La Osa Guest Ranch. New this spring is a trip to Texas Hill Country, an overlooked biking region outside of San Antonio that I’ve written about for National Geographic Adventure. Rand personally tries all of the trips she designs and this has quickly become one of her favorites. You’ll be biking under tall cypress trees on lonely backcountry roads past large cattle ranches and fields of bluebonnets that are in bloom in early spring. You’ll also visit the Alamo and LBJ Ranch. So saddle up and get out there on your next sojourn.
 

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