Crusing To Baffin Island

by Kraig Becker on

The variety of options when it comes to taking a cruise continues to expand all the time. Of course, you have the traditional Caribbean variety, and the ever popular Alaskan cruise. There are river cruises on the Nile, Yangtze, and even the Amazon, and of course, adventure travelers can go to Antarctica, and now through the Northwest Passage to Baffin Island.

The largest island in Canada, Baffin is home to herds of caribou, arctic wolves, and polar bears. It is remote, desolate, and covered in ice and snow for much of the year, but during the summer months, it thaws out enough to allow visitors to make the journey.

The Times Online travel section has a story on just such a cruise to Baffin Island, warning readers early on that this isn’t a cruise for someone looking to relax in the sun and sip fruit drinks with little umbrellas. This is an active adventure vacation, and travelers will be exploring the island, viewing wildlife, and interacting with the Inuit people who have lived on the island for over a millennia.

The best time to go on a cruise to this arctic region is late August into late September, when the summer has had a chance to melt off the ice and open the Northwest passage more fully. Expect active days, unpredictable weather, and breathtaking scenery on an adventure cruise unlike any other.

Adventure Destination: Roraima

by Kraig Becker on

Here’s a tip for an out of the way adventure travel destination that isn’t on the radar for many travelers yet, and remains a remote escape for those looking to get away from the tourist crowds.

There is a region in the Amazon Basin known as Roraima that sits where Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana come together. The area is dominated by rainforest, as you might expect, but there is a small patch of savannah as well. But the most awe inspiring aspect of the landscape is the towering tepuis, or flat topped mountains, that rise up from the jungle and dominate the horizon.

Roraima is incredibly remote. So much so that it was the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s book The Lost World in which dinosaurs are found roaming the jungle. It is a tropical destination with a warm, wet climate, at least at the lower altitudes. When you scale the tepuis, the altitude changes the climate dramatically, bring gusting winds, cooler tempertures and thick clouds.
The highest of those table-top mountains is Mount Roriama, which reaches 9,219 feet in height, and is generally the destination of choice for trekkers and backpackers to the region. The steep walls seem daunting when viewed from a distance, but there is a natural ramp carved into the side of the rock that makes for a non-technical, but physically demanding hike to the top.

And when you reach the top, you’ll find an eerie lanscape carved by the constant winds and often wrapped in thick clouds. The experience is made all the more unique by the fact that the mountain is large and flat, and unlike most other mountains on Earth. In fact, the tepuis in the Roraima area are considered to be amongst the oldest geological structures on the planet, and seem oddly out of place in the jungle setting.

Treks through Roraima can be organized in any of the three bordering countries, but it is most easy to get access in Venezuela. The hike, which includes a trip to the summit of Mount Roriama, generally takes about four to five days, and will lead the adventurous traveler through remote and relatively untouched areas.

Five Destinations for the “Super-Adventurous”

by Kraig Becker on

The Wall Street Journal has put together a list of five travel destinations that they deem are for the “super-adventurous” amongst us. They label these places as scary, saying that most travelers wouldn’t venture anywhere near them, but for the adventure traveler who has been everywhere and seen everything, they recommend these locales.

The two scariest places on the list are Iraq and Afghanistan, thanks to the fact there are ongoing wars in both places. Iraq has just officially reopened for tourist traffic for the first time since 2003, with small tours visiting some of the historical sites throughout the country. Afghanistan, on the other hand, has generally remained open these past few years, although certain places remain safer than others. That country is lauded for its historical landmarks as well, although the more remote regions get a nod for scenic beauty too.

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%Gallery-9128%The next two places on the list are Colombia and the Sudan, both of which require a bit of an adventurous spirit to visit. Colombia has made huge strides in recent years, and is far safer than it once was, although crime remains high in some areas. The country has seen a renaissance in tourism in recent months none the less. The Sudan is a completely different level of dangerous however, with unrest throughout the region, and westerners often the target of attacks. If you’re willing to take the risk though, the Journal notes that there are amazing Nubian ruins and pyramids to explore.

Which brings us to the final destination on their top five, which is Transylvania. While I’m sure the country is interesting and exotic, it doesn’t exactly strike me as an “adventure” destination. They recommend taking a Dracula tour, which really isn’t inspiring adventure either. Compared to the other four on the list, Transylvania, which I’m sure is quite lovely, is down right safe and boring for adventure travelers

Reading over their list I can’t help but wonder if an adventure travel destination needs to be intrinsically dangerous to appeal to that segment of the travel industry. Personally, I don’t think so, as I think there are great adventure destinations that are not necessarily dangerous. But looking at the Wall Street Journal‘s choices, it seems that they think there should be an element of danger involved, even if it is from vampires.

The Worlds Highest Photography and Videography Workshop

by Kraig Becker on

A unique trek is about to get underway in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is a combination of adventure travel and photography/videography workshop that will see ten lucky people spending the next three weeks exploring the Himalaya, while receiving expert instruction in how to shoot better photographs and video.

Everest Base Camp Trek 2009 is the brainchild of professional photographer Chris Marquardt, who hosts the Tips from the Top Floor photography podcast, and professional videographer Jon Miller, who hosts The Rest of Everest, a video podcast that is the most comprehensive look at climbing in the Himalaya you’ll find anywhere. Each day, Chris and Jon will provide lessons, tips, and inside information to those joining them on the trek, all the while hiking up to Everest Base Camp, located at 17,500 feet.

Right now, Chris, Jon, and the rest of their team are gathering in Kathmandu, and the trek/workshop will get underway in the next few days. They’ll spend a little time siteseeing in Kathmandu, before flying off to Lukla and begin the actual trek up the Khumbu Valley. Most days will be spent on well marked trails which lead to Himalayan villages, and like most visitors to the region, they’ll spend the night in traditional tea houses.

But the aspect that sets this trek apart from all the others, is the workshop. Several hours each day will be set aside for photography and videography instruction. The students will then have the chance to immeditely put what they’ve learned into action in one of the most scenic settings in the world.

The team will be posting regular updates to their website over the next few weeks, sharing their experiences along the way. Hopefully they’ll be sharing some of those amazing photos as well.

Saving Endangered Species Through Tourism

by Kraig Becker on

One of the real successes in ecotourism over the past decade or so has been the use of tourist dollars to aid in wildlife conservation. Many countries have discovered that travelers are willing to pay a good deal of money for the opportunity to observe wildlife in its natural habitat, and those funds can go a long way to not only protecting that wildlife, but building an economy as well.

With that in mind, the Times Online has put together a list of ten top wildlife conservation holidays. Each of the trips on this list will not only give us amazing, once in a lifetime, wildlife encounters, but also piece of mind that we are having a positive impact on the animals as well.

On the high end of the scale, travelers can go to Noah’s Ark on the North Island in the Seychelles. For a mere £1200 per night (roughly $1800), you’ll be pampered with your own private villa, complete with plunge pool and butler, a spa, and pristine beaches. And while you lounge in luxury, the resort is using all that money to return the island to its original state, which includes removing invasive species such as rats, brought there by the coconut plantations. Their efforts have already yielded results, with the Seychelles white-eye, an indigenous bird, seeing its population increase by 36% in the last two years.Birds not your thing? Then how about heading to Uganda, where roughly 700 mountain gorillas still exist. Uganda has practically become the model for the use of tourist dollar to protect wildlife with their highly successful gorilla treks. The permits are on the expensive side, but that money goes to protect these noble creatures from poachers, deforestation, and guerillas of a completely different kind. Despite all that, the gorilla population continues to grow, and visitors continue to pay top dollar for a chance to spend just a few hours with them.

There are plenty of other good suggestions for wildlife vacations that help save endangered animals, ranging from black rhinos in Namibia to spectacled bears in Ecuador. Take any one of the trips and go with a clean conscience, knowing that you are having a positive impact on the places you are visiting.