Serengeti Hot Air Balloon Safari
Sunrise in the Serengeti savannah…
Floating over the migration of a million Wildebeest…
Champagne breakfast in the African bush…
This is stuff that that dreams are made of!
The safari hot air balloons operate year-round in the central Serengeti and Western Corridor of the Serengeti. They will now also fly in southern Serengeti January 15 – March 31, 2011. A perfect cherry to add to your safari sundae!
Machu Picchu Sanctuary
Effective immediately, the INC (Instituto Nacional de Cultura) has issued new policies for entrance to the historic Machu Picchu Sanctuary ruins. This is to ensure proper security, and to better monitor the number of visitors to the site.
To purchase of Machu Picchu entrance tickets, personal information must be supplied: full name, gender, nationality, passport number and birth date.
The ticket is valid for one day’s visit to Machu Picchu: on the day listed on the ticket, one day before, or one day after (only one day, however). There is no limit for the number of entrances during this day.
The visitor must carry a copy of his/her passport, as this information will be validated at the entrance of the Machu Picchu Sanctuary.
Visitors, who wish to buy their tickets locally in Aguas Calientes, will need to show their original passport.
Adventures Within Reach (AWR) will be requesting this information for all clients who are visiting Machu Picchu. Note that this information is currently requested for Inca Trail permits. The new policy expands to those visitors who take the train to Machu Picchu for a tour. Please contact us if you have any questions!
Thanks to Julian from Australia for this great feedback!
Climbing Kilimanjaro
I just thought I’d let you know that the Kilimanjaro trek was fantastic! It was everything we had hoped for, and more.
Our two guides, Azizi and Kibacha, were excellent. They ran their team very efficiently, helped us in any way they could, and were professional throughout.
The food that Paul and his team prepared was far beyond expectations. We are all vegetarians and so we were unsure of what we would be served. However, we had no reason to fear at all as the food was absolutely fantastic, plentiful and always at a perfect temperature to suit the day. Paul deserves a medal for being able to prepare the menu he did on that stainless steel tray on his lap!
The porters were all hard-working, patient and ever-ready with a smile. Lots of fun to be around.
All four of us acclimatized fairly well during the first five days and headed off for the summit full of energy. How tough was the summit day?!! None of us have ever done anything so exhausting, and we’ve conquered a few challenges in our time. But it was well worth the effort to see the sunrise from the summit ridge.
Overall it was an absolutely wonderful adventure with a 100% success rate.
Many many thanks to the AWR team for making it happen.
Cheers,
Julian
How do extraordinary experiences for teachers translate into extraordinary experiences for their students? How can close encounters with the deep power of the natural world and our connection to it change a teacher’s worldview, and change their students lives?
The intent of the Inspire Me! film series is to address these questions, celebrate the art of teaching, and to serve as a powerful call-to-action through experiences. “Inspire Me! Africa” carries the theme of life-changing experience through a 2-week trip to Africa.
Adventures Within Reach was excited to host 20 American teachers as they climb Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the African continent, go on safari to explore the fabled lands of the Serengeti, visit Tanzanian school-children and African aids orphans as they seek understanding for themselves and their students of an increasingly interconnected globalized world and the inspiration that each of us must be stewards of the planet and each other.
Over the years, AWR has organized five trips for the Experiential Science Education Research Collaborative (XSci) out of the University of Colorado-Denver to Africa and South America. This trailer is great overview of the Tanzania experience!
To Robin and the Staff at Adventures Within Reach,
I just wanted to thank you for arranging our fantastic Danube trip. Because of your expertise we not only had the best ship on the river, but the best room (without being a ‘stateroom’). Because of your selection, our stateroom was on the correct side of the ship so that our view through our fabulous sliding glass door was never obstructed when we were docked. We never closed our drapes.
Thank you also for arranging our special anniversary – the flowers, wine and fruit followed by a beautiful cake were very thoughtful.
We had a terrific exposure to the Eastern Bloc countries which would have been most difficult to experience any other way, and never at the great price you were able to get for us.
This trip was the perfect ‘soft adventure’ appropriate for this time in our lives.
Thank you so very much. We look forward to working with you again.
Jim and Jeanne, Santa Barbara, CA
Planning a trip for a special occasion such as a honeymoon, special anniversary, or milestone birthday is a real treat for us. We love the opportunity to deliver the trip of a lifetime and a life-changing experience to all our clients! Thanks, Jim and Jeanne, for sharing your special moment with us.
This blog post is by AWR collaborator Sarah Martens. Sarah and her husband Ted are currently traveling around the world in search of adventure and, along the way, sampling some of AWR’s great trips and looking for new destinations.
Sarah Martens with the towers in the background
The most beautiful park in the world… I’m talking about Torres del Paine National Park in Extremo Sur Chile. If you are headed to Southern Patagonia, this place should be on your list.
There are several awesome AWR itineraries that will get you down to the end of the continent – once you’re there Puerto Natales, Chile is the main access town (only 1.5 hours from the park by bus). Puerto Natales is actually quite a cool little spot, so if you have some extra days to play with you can definitely hang out there and entertain yourself.
The real highlight and the reason to visit this area is Torres del Paine (pronounced pie-nee) where you’ll see Patagonia at its most spectacular. You won’t be disappointed!
Amazing cloulds above the mountains
Torres del Paine is blessed with extreme rugged beauty, but the incredible scenery does not come without a cost. After hearing people rave about the glaciers, the jagged mountains and the emerald blue-green lakes, the most common thing we heard about the park had to do with its notorious weather. It is a very windy place all year, but when combined with blowing rain and snow and muddy trails you can be in for a tough day of hiking! We were rightfully warned and decided to accept the potential bad weather as a right of passage. If you want to see some of the most amazing scenery in the world, you might just have to work for it!
There are many ways to spend your time at the park – anything from day trips to multi-week treks. The most popular route is called the ‘W’ which is in reference to the shape of your walking path that allows you to see the park’s highlights. The ‘W’ can take anywhere from 3 to 5 days and involves backpacking between refugios (huts) along the route. Some hardy people prefer to do a 5+ day circuit which includes the ‘W’ but also covers some more remote hiking that is off the established trail. Accommodation options include camping, the well-equipped refugios, and luxury lodges at the main trailheads (AWR trips combine “EcoCamp” lodges and the refugios). We opted for an abbreviated ‘W’ which allowed us to see the park highlights without having to carry our packs for long distances each day.
Beautiful weather and emerald lakes
On the day we arrived I was mentally and physically prepared for both the mountainous glory and potential weather challenges Mother Nature might offer us. However, I had no need to worry as the weather was absolutely gorgeous – blue skies, very little wind and no sign of it changing.
My husband and I quickly selected our camping site and headed up to see the park’s namesake – the Towers of Paine. Though we were sweating when we arrived at the top, the cold wind quickly cooled us down. It is quite a view and definitely worth the final push to get up there.
Ted Martens on the ferry
Our second day involved taking a ferry boat over to another camping area. We once again had an amazing weather day and couldn’t believe our luck. The view from the ferry of Torres del Paine’s mountains and glaciers against the vivid blue color of the lake was phenomenal.
The third day was a long hike up into the French Valley and back. We finally got a taste of the park’s infamous “imperfect” weather but I guess it was our turn to experience the true character of Torres del Paine after 2 days of being spoiled. In the French Valley you get to hike next to an enormous glacier that thunders and calves every few minutes. The view from the top was a little cloudy but still afforded 365 degree views of a wide open bowl.
One of park's glaciers
The last section of our abbreviated ‘W’ trek involved a hike to a glacier. I decided to take a rest day (which are allowed on vacation, right?); my husband, however, set out to see the Grey Glacier and his pictures make me wish I hadn’t been so lazy that day! You can walk along a path and look directly down onto the glacier, a unique angle to take in this mammoth flow of ice.
When we got back to Puerto Natales after 3 nights in the park we were exhilarated and exhausted. Nothing can prepare you for the incredible scenery that surprises you around every corner – it is worth every day you can spend there! We were spoiled by two days of phenomenal weather and loved our time in the park. But even those who get rained on (including us) love it – no matter the weather you’re sure to have a memorable time in Torres del Paine.
This past October AWR’s Tilden Daniels traveled to Chamonix, France. Located beneath the Mont Blanc, western Europe’s highest peak at 15,781 feet, the Chamonix valley is a must-see destination for anyone who loves the mountains. Here is the first of two trip reports.
The Bossons Glacier and the Dôme du Goûter
As the train made its way up the narrow valley I admired the verdant forest and the steep slopes. Then, after a bend in the tracks, I looked up upon the ice falls of the Mont Blanc’s impressive Bossons Glacier. I was in Chamonix to visit hotels and do some fall hiking, returning here for the first time since moving back to the US from Geneva. I’d visited the valley numerous times with friends to hike and climb, but it had always been for a day trip and by car. Taking the train for the first time gave me the opportunity to gaze up at the massif above Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, the town’s official name that includes the mountain that made it famous. The mountains seemed bigger, the cliffs seemed steeper, and the glaciers seemed whiter than they had ever been before.
De Saussure and Balmat, the first "conqueror" of the Mont Blanc
During the 1920s Brad Washburn, the famous American mountaineer, spent summers in Chamonix as a teenager, learning the art of climbing mountains in this idyllic alpine environment. I had dreamt of Chamonix while reading about Washburn’s formative climbing experiences on the Mont Blanc, and, as I gazed upon the valley walls, I remembered other tales of climbing in the massif including the first ascent of the Mont Blanc in 1786 by Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard organized by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, the exploits of guides including Gaston Rébuffat, the novels of Roger Frison-Roche, pioneering big wall climbs by Walter Bonatti in the 1950s and 60s, and modern climbs by Arnaud Petit. The massif is certainly steeped with history and mountaineering legend.
Junior suite at the Le Morgane hotel, Chamonix
All visitors to Chamonix, whether arriving by train, bus, or car, will quickly be able to find their way around the town. Since I was traveling light I walked to the helpful tourist office where they provided me with a map and directions to my hotel, the four-star Le Morgane. After a five-minute stroll I arrived in the tastefully decorated and recently renovated hotel where I was greeted by the welcoming staff and the hotel manager, Tiphaine. For those looking for an upscale and comfortable lodging experience, Le Morgane is an excellent choice. It has modern rooms, a restaurant and bar, and a full service spa. My spacious room included a balcony with magnificent views of the Mont Blanc and the Aiguille du Midi.
Chamonix and the Mont Blanc
Chamonix is a charming, vivacious mountain town with excellent shopping, numerous restaurants and cafés, and old-world streets and squares all in a spectacular setting. I walked around the town center and strolled along the banks of the Arve river. After visiting several hotels I walked by the Musée Alpin (Alpine Museum) and the Maison de la Montagne (Mountain House or Guide’s Office). Chamonix is also France’s official mountaineering center and the alpine training center lies on the edge of the town’s center with towers named after Himalaya massifs.
I noticed a brewpub off past the end of the training center and decided to check out the Micro Brasserie de Chamonix (Chamonix Mirco Brewery). The friendly brew master poured me a glass of excellent pale ale and conversed with clients in both French and English. I commented on the smooth nature of the pale ale and he replied that he brewed it that way since the locals don’t have the palette for the “hoppy” style of American pale ales and IPAs. It was good beer and a great atmosphere. I felt right at home.
The "needles" ("aiguilles") above Chamonix
I strolled back to the center of town and chose one of the numerous restaurants. I ordered the hearty specialty of Haute Savoie (Chamonix is in the French department of Haute Savoie): Tartiflette. As I ate my meal of potatoes covered with Roblechon cheese and bacon served with a green salad, I thought about the next two days hiking along the south and then the north side of the valley and the wonders that awaited me: the Mer de Glace glacier and towering, granite needles of the Mont Blanc massif; the wild beauty of the Aiguilles Rouges with pristine mountain lakes; and views over the Mont Blanc.
Stay tuned for my next post on these two amazing hikes.
— Tilden Daniels / Adventures Within Reach
Interested in visiting the Chamonix valley? Visit our website to learn about hiking and skiing trips departing from Chamonix or contact us for information about visiting the area and custom trips.
AdventuresWithinReach.com/europe
More Photos:
All photos © Tilden Daniels, 2010.
Aconcagua Normal Route
It’s not too late to join our Aconcagua trek up the Normal Route February 14 – March 2, 2011. We have a fun group of people, all of whom have climbed Kilimanjaro already.
Full itinerary for the Aconcagua Normal Route >>
Starting and ending in Iquitos, you will experience the Amazon Rainforest as you never have thought possible on the Delfin Amazon River Cruise in Peru! Visit the Pacaya-Samiria national reserve, hike to the community of Yanallpa, explore the jungle on walks and skiff trips, tour Atun Paza Lake, and relax on board the luxury cruise ship.
See full itinerary for the Delfin Amazon River Cruise >>
This amazing luxury adventure starts at $1989/person, but we have a reservation for four people on the Delfin II for April 24-27, 2011 with a 10% discount off the Suite cabin rate. Dates may be negotiable. If you would like to receive more information or book this 4 day cruise, please contact us!
Delfin Amazon Cruise
Delfin Amazon Cruise -- Dining Room
Delfin Amazon Cruise -- Lounge Area
Delfin Amazon Cruise -- Cabin with a view
You will find a gem in Peru that is beyond Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu! A side trip to Puno and Lake Titicaca is well worth the bus or airfare. This destination in the southern area of Peru became popular when the National Geographic Magazine featured the Uros people and culture; the group is known for living on floating islands made of reeds.
You may visit Puno and spend a day touring Lake Titicaca by boat, where you will visit the Uros floating isles, as well as the island of Taquile, another amazing cultural group of people. To enhance your experience, you can stay over night at a family lodge on one of the islands. A bi-lingual guide will be with you for the trip.
More information is available at: http://www.adventureswithinreach.com/peru/overview.php?tripid=70
Allow three days to visit this area. You will also want to experience the Puno city life and tour the Sillustani burial ruins while there!
