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All-New Adventures for 2001
By horseback, raft, foot, bike, sailboat, and sea kayak, ten far-flung trips to satisfy that wanderlust
By Meg Lukens Noonan
Horse Trekking Through Romania
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| B&C Promberger |
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THE BIG PICTURE: Spend 14 days mostly on horseback in Bram Stoker country, cantering through the alpine meadows of the Carpathian Mountains and along the ancient roads of the Transylvanian forest. You'll join researchers from the Carpathian Large Carnivore Project to search for signals from radio-collared wolves and lynx,
overnight in wilderness lodges built for former Communist dictator and hunting fanatic Nicolae Ceausescu, and visit movie set–worthy Gothic castles, including the one associated with Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula.
DATES: September 16–30, 2001
COST: $2,550
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
ACCOMMODATIONS: Tents, cabins, small inns
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Spending a seriously spooky night with researchers in one of Ceausescu's remote "bear blinds," where you may spot brown bears (or werewolves).
BEWARE: You may want to pack a few dozen heads of garlic.
OUTFITTER: Boojum Expeditions, 800-287-0125; www.boojum.com
Multisport Kenya
THE BIG PICTURE: Sixteen hyperactive days in East Africa, beginning with white-water rafting on the Tana River, followed by mountain biking and rock climbing in Hell's Gate National Park, then trekking and caving in lava tubes near Mount Susua--with time in between for viewing wildlife in the Masai Mara, home to Kenya's
largest lion population. The trip winds down on the beach north of Mombasa with several days of sea kayaking, scuba diving, and catamaran sailing.
DATES: February 3–18, July 21–August 5, September 1–16, and December 1–16, 2001
COST: $4,130
DIFFICULTY: Moderate to strenuous
ACCOMMODATIONS: Camping, rustic lodges, hotels
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Jumping off a 30-foot bridge into the Tana River and swimming to your raft. Try not to land on a hippo.
BEWARE: Be alert for notoriously moody elephants. One minute they're squirting their young 'uns, cute as bath toys; the next minute they're bellowing, ear-flapping missiles--charging straight at your Land Rover.
OUTFITTER: Outer Edge Expeditions, 800-322-5235; www.outer-edge.com |
Exploring Remote Guyana
THE BIG PICTURE: A rugged exploratory trip into one of South America's last true frontiers. You'll head overland from the canal-laced capital city of Georgetown to the coastal village of Charity, then down the Pomeroon River by boat to Shell Beach where you may spot, among the spectacularly diverse wildlife, the rare scarlet
ibis. You'll also stay in several inland rainforest lodges, go out looking for ocelots and giant river otters, make a visit to impressive Kaieteur Falls, and spend some time in an isolated Nappi Amerindian village.
DATES: April, May, September, and October, 2001
COST: $1,200–$1,500
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
ACCOMMODATIONS: Homestays, tents, small hotels
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Being one of only 200 annual visitors to the remote sign- and guardrail-free Kaieteur Falls--which is more than four times higher than Niagara Falls and completely surrounded by virgin rainforest.
BEWARE: Roads are horrendous, crime is high, mosquitoes can be ferocious. But boy, those birds are pretty.
OUTFITTER: G.A.P. Adventures, 800-692-5495; www.gap.ca
Walking and Biking Egypt's Upper Nile
THE BIG PICTURE: An unhurried nine-day journey along the Nile, some days cycling 15 to 25 miles, other days walking six to ten miles on flat or gently rolling terrain between the river cities of Aswan and Luxor, staying in some of Egypt's finest small hotels, with ample time to explore the region's museums, monuments,
and antiquities in the company of Egyptologists.
DATES: January 22–30, February 19–27, March 19–27, October 8–16 and 22–30, November 5–13, 2001; December 24–Jan 1, 2002
COST: $5,750
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
ACCOMMODATIONS: Hotels, one night of camping
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Sailing in feluccas to a private island where you'll be entertained by Egyptian dancers, feast on local specialties, and spend the night under the desert stars with the temples of Luxor as a backdrop.
BEWARE: Though the mandate may soon be lifted, as of press time the Egyptian government was requiring that tour groups be escorted between cities by police convoys.
OUTFITTER: Butterfield & Robinson, 800-678-1147; www.butterfield.com |
Kanchenjunga with David Breashears
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| Sanjay Saxena |
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THE BIG PICTURE: A rigorous 18- to 26-day trek to about 18,000 feet on the ridgelines surrounding 28,169-foot Kanchenjunga, hiking five to seven hours a day in India's restricted northern region with noted filmmaker and mountaineer David Breashears along as guide and campfire raconteur.
DATES: Fall, 2001
COST: $4,000–$10,000
DIFFICULTY: Strenuous
ACCOMMODATIONS: Camping
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Being among the first trekking groups allowed into the region, which previously was closed to all but a handful of large-scale Indian-organized mountaineering expeditions.
BEWARE: Last-minute changes of heart from permit-issuing government officials may drastically alter your route.
OUTFITTER: Geographic Expeditions, 800-777-8183; www.geoex.com
Trekking and Rafting Ethiopia's Blue Nile
THE BIG PICTURE: Spend several days touring the ancient cities of Lalibela and Gonder, and then make your way by boat across Lake Tana to the storied source of the Blue Nile. After an overland journey to mist-shrouded Tissisat Falls you'll begin a seven-day trek across the high plateau down to the riverbank, where
you'll board rafts for a weeklong, 120-mile float through the mile-deep, basalt-walled canyon of the Upper Nile.
DATES: September 15–October 6, 2001
COST: $3,490–$4,490
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
ACCOMMODATIONS: Camping, hotels
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Being part of the first commercial trekking and rafting expedition to travel from the headwaters of the Nile to the take-out point at Shafartak--and among the only Westerners ever seen by residents of some river villages.
BEWARE: You'll be advised to load your raft with rocks--just the right size for hurling at crocodiles who suddenly develop a taste for rubber. Say a prayer to Sobek, the Egyptian croc god, to keep you safe.
OUTFITTER: Mountain Travel–Sobek, 888-687-6235; www.mtsobek.com |
Diving the Northwest Passage
THE BIG PICTURE: These 7- and 11-day trips offer divers the chance to explore the Arctic Ocean, under ten-foot-thick ice. Participants are based at Cornwallis Island's Resolute Bay, in a lodge frequented by North Pole explorers, and travel by sled and snowmobile to the dive hole, often in below-freezing temperatures. Other
options: a flight to an ice floe to see walruses, beluga whales, and polar bears.
DATES: May 26–June 2 and May 26–June 6, 2001
COST: $6,950 and $8,200
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Being among the few recreational divers to slip under the polar ice cap, where ghostlike ice fish, seals, and soft corals thrive in 28-degree water surrounded by intensely blue, purple, and green ice caves and walls.
BEWARE: Participants should be in good physical condition and divers should have the equivalent of a PADI advanced open water certification and drysuit certification.
OUTFITTER: Mad Dog Expeditions, 212-744-6763; www.maddogexpeditions.com
Everest Expedition 8000
THE BIG PICTURE: For highly experienced mountaineers who want to climb, but not summit, 29,035-foot Mount Everest. Following the North Route, participants will make the steep, icy climb to Camp Four (23,000 feet) at the North Col, from which they'll make a one-day up-and-back attempt, with oxygen, to reach 8,000 meters
(26,247 feet).
DATES: April 3–May 9, 2001
COST: $12,000 (does not include some pre- and post-climb meals)
DIFFICULTY: Strenuous
ACCOMMODATIONS: Camping, hotels
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Being able to say you climbed Mount Everest--kinda sorta.
BEWARE: Though you won't spend a night in the "death zone," this is still Into Thin Air territory. You'll be asked to sign a pre-trip body-disposal election form. Among the choices: cremation by local monks and being dropped into a crevasse.
OUTFITTER: International Mountain Guides, 360-569-2604; www.mountainguides.com |
Exploring the Kamchatka Peninsula
THE BIG PICTURE: Travel by horseback, raft, and foot across the Kamchatka Peninsula in far-northeastern Russia, with its diverse geography of volcanoes, hot springs, ice-capped peaks, and tundra, and its varied wildlife that includes lynx, sable, reindeer, and the great Kamchatkan bear. You'll canter along old post roads once
used by envoys of the Czar, float on the Levaya Avacha river, and eat copious amounts of fresh salmon.
DATES: July 22–30, August 5–13 and 12–20, 2001
COST: $1,400
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
ACCOMMODATIONS: Camping, hotels
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Climbing to the top of steam-spewing, 8,965-foot Avacha volcano, and gazing out on the forests, tundra, and distant peaks of the virgin Kamchatka wilderness.
BEWARE: Ask for your guide's advice when buying local vodkas; counterfeiters sell lethal wood alcohol in pretty bottles to unsuspecting visitors.
OUTFITTER: Wild Russia, 011-44-1631-563-663; www.wildrussia.spb.ru
Multisport Greece
THE BIG PICTURE: An 11-day odyssey beginning with trekking in the pristine fir and chestnut forests and deep river gorges of the mountainous Carpenisi region, then moving to the Ionian islands for several days of sea kayaking from lush, hilly Levkás, thought by scholars to be Homer's "Ithaca," past the
Onassis-owned Skorpiós Island to tiny Meganísi, 12 miles south--with plenty of time for swimming, snorkeling, and sea-cave exploration. The trip ends with a visit to Delphi.
DATES: May 3–13, May 24–June 3, August 30–September 9 and September 27–October 7, 2001
COST: $1,695
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
ACCOMMODATIONS: Hotels, guest houses, camping
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Climbing to the vertigo-inducing cliffside monastery of Proussos to view the miracle-working icon of the Madonna, said to have been carved by St. Luke.
BEWARE: Pace yourself. Ouzo, Greece's ubiquitous aperitif, has a way of sneaking up on you. It is not necessary to do the plate-smashing dance every night.
OUTFITTER: REI Adventures, 800-622-2236; www.rei.com/travel |
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