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Rob Barbour Leads Trip to Ethiopia

In March 2015, I had the privilege of traveling with Rob Barbour around northern Tanzania, with stops in Arusha and Arusha National Park, the southern Amboseli plains, Mwiba Wildlife Reserve, Ngorongoro Crater, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Kusini Camp in the southern Serengeti, the Grumeti Wildlife Reserve, and the Lamai section of the northern Serengeti, where the legendary wildebeest migration takes place across the Mara River. Rob not only serves as director of African operations for the safari operator, Epic Private Journeys, but he’s a native Tanzanian who formerly owned his own lodges in Lamai and Ruaha National Park in southern Tanzania. It seems like every restaurant, hotel, and airport stop we made, he ran into an old friend. What was invaluable to me was the wealth of information he shared on taking a safari in Africa, knowledge accumulated over a lifetime. 

 
Now Rob is taking his expertise to Ethiopia, April 15-28, 2018. The 14-day adventure involves a range of accommodation styles and modes of transport, including trekking in the high plateaus of the Simien Mountains and the Bale Mountains. Ethiopia offers a diverse cultural experience from the Coptic Christians and medieval rock hewn churches in the north to the remote tribes of the Omo Valley. The country is also home to incredible wildlife including endangered Ethiopian wolves, Bale monkeys, Geladas and the Walia Ibex. Please contact ActiveTravels for pricing if interested. 
 

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This is the Summer to Finally Raft the Chilko River in BC

It was 20 years ago when I first met Brian McCutcheon, owner of Rivers, Oceans, and Mountains, or simply ROAM. I had been hired by Men’s Journal magazine to write about the first descent of the Klinaklini River in British Columbia. It was a spectacular journey down a rip-roaring river dwarfed by snowcapped peaks and glaciers. I was accompanying Johnny Morris, the owner of Bass Pro Shops, who came to the Northwest with his entourage to hook salmon on the fly. The fish weren’t biting but the scenery and excitement of riding the Klinaklini more than made up for the lack of salmon. 

 
Like the rest of the West Coast, British Columbia got slammed with snow and rain this past winter. So the rivers are bulging at the seams, ideal for a memorable multi-day paddle. One of the most exciting whitewater rafting runs in North America and a personal favorite of McCutcheon is the weeklong jaunt down the Chilko River in southwestern BC. Take an hour seaplane flight from Vancouver to 4,000-foot high Chilko Lake where a $10 million lodge now stands. Then let the rollercoaster ride begin. You’ll cruise 130 miles, dropping 3,000 feet through a tumultuous blur of lava gorges and narrow chutes. Looming overhead are sloping carpets of forest and jagged peaks. And, on those rare moments when you slow down, you might find yourself staring at an eagle or grizzly. BC also stands for serious Bear Country, home to 12,000-plus grizzlies.
 
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Tanzania, Greek Isles, Canada, Morocco and More in Our April Newsletter

I was fortunate to visit Tanzania for two weeks in March and I report on my experience in this month’s newsletter. With the weather finally warming up, we also turn our attention to favorite hotels on the Greek islands, a reputable tour operator we love in Morocco, and the upcoming Daffodil and Food and Wine festivals on Nantucket. Finally, with the dollar strong once again around the globe, it’s a good time to not only consider Europe, but Canada. $10 US dollars is now worth $12.22 Canadian as of yesterday. So this is the summer to travel! Talking about Canada, I’ll be with all my buddies at Canada Media Marketplace next week in New York to hear what’s happening across the country. I’ll return the week of May 3rd with my 5 Favorite Places to Go In Canada This Summer. Stay tuned and keep active! 

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On the Road to Tobermory

While ActiveTravels members are cavorting all over the world this month (locations include Colombia, Yellowstone, Alaska, California, Oregon, Colorado, Chicago, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Austria, Bermuda, Nova Scotia, Vancouver, the Canadian Rockies, Quebec, and all over New England), I spent last week two hours north of Toronto, in and around Georgian Bay. It’s not a well-known tourist destination unless you are from the Toronto area. But we were rewarded with many treats including a spectacularly beautiful day in Tobermory, at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula, jutting into Georgian Bay (and, to the west, Lake Huron). 
 
The shores and waterways of Georgian Bay are the traditional domain of the Anishinaabeg. Due to high interest in a current Anishinaabeg exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum (where my husband Josh is Director), this journey was of particular interest. On a purely “personal enjoyment” level, Mermaid’s Cove, just a few miles away from Little Tub Harbour, was another highlight. Josh and I climbed on the rocky shore, swam in crystal clear fresh water, and enjoyed the view. Maybe next time, we’ll take one of the glass bottom boats to see the shipwrecks in Fathom Five National Marine Park for which Tobermory is famous (22 shipwrecks and several historic lighthouses), or ride the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry to Manitoulin Island. It was easy to see why Tobermory has become an inspirational destination for naturalists, photographers, divers, hikers, and kayakers.
 
Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches 
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TSA PreCheck Versus Global Entry, My Latest Story for Men’s Journal

By now, you may have witnessed (and hopefully experienced) the beauty of being in a TSA PreCheck lane at airport security. In blissful pre-9/11 fashion, passengers in the PreCheck line don’t remove shoes, belts, or jackets, and have the luxury of keeping their liquids and laptops inside their bags. The standard metal detector is used instead of the invasive full-body scanner. On average, security agents can process twice as many passengers in PreCheck line than the normal lines.
 
Originally launched in October 2011, the program has expanded to 118 of the approximately 450 commercial airports in the US. New TSA centers are opening around the country to process applications at a cost of $85 for a five-year pass. In April, Air Canada was the first international carrier to sign on to the program. Of course, getting to your gate faster sounds great until you realize that being enrolled in PreCheck doesn’t guarantee you’ll always get to go through the coveted lane, since this is American bureaucracy you’re dealing with. Even after signing on to the program, you still might not be deemed trustworthy enough to get on every other flight.
 
To read why I prefer Global Entry, please click here. 
 
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My Favorite Fall Foliage Travels—Canoeing the Allagash

In 1998, I had an assignment from Men’s Journal magazine to paddle the 92-mile Allagash Wilderness Waterway in the northern tier of Maine. It was late September, when the summer infestation of mosquitoes and black flies were gone, along with most paddlers. Instead, I found a river ablaze in fall color. An added bonus was that moose were in heat. One night while I was sleeping near the shores, several moose were going at it and I thought I was going to be trampled to death. Besides that little mishap, I had a glorious time venturing down this magical waterway. I went with classic Maine guides, Alexandra and Garrett Conover, who are semi-retired and no longer take folks down the river. Instead, go with a trusted guide like Mahoosuc Guide Service, who led me down the West Branch of the Penobscot River in Maine last fall.
 

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Spain, DayTrip, Montreal, and More in May ActiveTravels Newsletter

We were picked up promptly at 9 am in Granada, Spain, by Damir, a driver and guide for a company we’ve been working with more and more in Europe, Daytrip. We could have rented our own car and made the 3-hour trek from Granada to Seville, but it’s so much more relaxing to have someone else drive, especially when you want to stop and visit another town along the way. Two hours later, after sitting in the back of a comfortable Mercedes sedan and peering out at the rolling hills and mountains of this bucolic region of Spain, we arrived in Ronda. Damir guided us around the town, walking along the edge of the famous gorge, touring the oldest bullring in Spain, the one Hemingway wrote about when he lived here (it’s also the town where Orson Welles retired and died), and the historic Moorish settlement at the bottom of the hill. After a lunch of tapas, we arrived in Seville around 4 pm. It ended up being one of the most relaxing days of our recent Spain trip. Daytrip is now expanding to Asia. It’s a wonderful way to connect the dots between destinations, while stopping at off-the-beaten track locales. 
 
To read more about our trip to Spain, a special deal on Relais and Chateaux properties, and what’s happening in Montreal this summer, please check out the latest ActiveTravels newsletter. Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! 
 

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