Wanderlust Issue 214

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Taking The Road Less Travelled Since 1993

Mana in

Finding

THE ISLANDS of TAHITI

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25 SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL PIONEERS

Indigenous Alaska Palau Spain’s Cantabrian bears Costa Rica Montevideo Tagging whales in Antarctica Nur-Sultan Beyond the Inca Trail Styria

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Introducing the new features of your Wanderlust • Indigenous culture (p172)

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Travel, meet and engage meaningfully with the people of the land, from Alaska to Panama, from Australia to Indonesia…

• World heritage (p174) Explore the world’s foremost heritage sites, from mythical temples to fortified citadels to imposing cathedrals and exquisitely preserved historic towns.

• Hidden USA (p168) Rediscover the hidden wonders of the 50 United States of America, from Saint Augustine to Santa Fe and Vermont to Louisiana.

• Off-grid destinations (p184) Familiarise yourself with destinations well and truly off-the-beaten path, from Nur-Sultan to Ouagadougou, and Nuku’alofa to Chichicastenango.

• World cuisine (p34) Experience the tastiest and most authentic cuisine in the best local spots, rejoice in the delectable flavours of lands near and far.

• Short Break: Europe (p188) Get inspired, plan and go the short-haul way to our very own incredible continent and its wondrous regions, cities and national parks.

SUBS

Outdoor eating and socialising (from another era) at Bryggen in the city of Bergen, Norway (p166)

ART

Dear readers, Wanderlust Club members,

PRODUCTION Cover image: Bora Bora, French Polynesia/ Getty Images/ ©Douglas Peebles This page: Alamy

CLIENT

For a very long time, we’ve taken travel as granted. Yet for more than a year now, many of us have had to fulfil our wanderlust only through armchair travel, through throwbacks to our travel memories, through virtual travel. Indeed, we’re so grateful to you for keeping your wanderlust alive through our magazine.

This edition is quite special. As details on the resumption of travel are finally emerging, we are proud to present you with our biggest issue ever! You’ll experience an enhanced look and feel throughout, with inspirational photography and insightful, stimulating travel writing. There’s a whole new range of features and sections that have been added (see right); what does remain intact, is our commitment to bringing you the most rejuvenating ideas for authentic travel, for sustainable travel, for soul-defining travel. As the incoming Editor-inChief of Wanderlust, I am very eager to refresh and expand our proposition while remaining true to our 28-year-old journey.

We start by taking you to one of the most iconic – and far-flung – destinations of the Pacific, French Polynesia (p90), to find impossibly blue waters, ancient sea-faring traditions and a rugged landscape that transports you back through the eons of time…

As we always take the road less travelled, we’re sharing some of the great alternative routes to Peru’s storied Inca Trail (p110). Elsewhere, we sail with Antarctica’s whales on a meaningful, conservation-minded journey (p54) and attempt to spot the elusive Cantabrian bear in rewilding champion Spain (p130).

But that’s not all. Join us this issue as we take in Kazakhstan’s futuristic capital (p184); eat our way through Uruguay’s city of cool (p178); dig out 200 forgotten pyramids in Sudan (p174); walk about the USA’s oldest city, St Augustine (p168); buy memorable keepsakes in Jordan (p40); and swim with jellyfish in Micronesia’s microstate of Palau (p48), among many, many others. Further still, we’d like to remind you that travel cannot and should not ever be the same: our round-up of the most promising sustainable travel experiences for 2021 (p72), recognises the destinations prioritising a long-term view of their tourism development plans.

It is almost time to start planning again – and our wanderlust has hit rocket highs! Soon, we’ll be hitting the road. Until then, join us as we take you on the most invigorating travels around our glorious planet…

We’ve brought back…

• Dream Sleep (p43) &

Safe travels, George Kipouros Editor in Chief @georgiostravels

WANDERLUST: ‘the wish to travel far away and to many different places’ – Cambridge Dictionary

WanderSleeps (p44) The most welcoming, iconic venues, from historic granddames to sustainabilityleading eco-lodges.

• Gear (p37) Never leave home unprepared again: we try and test all the things that will make your next adventure hassle-free.

• Health advice (p36) Tips on getting you there and back safe and sound!

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Welcome_214

WELCOME

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Contributors

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Wanderlust is brought to life by people from all over the planet.

Here are some of the writers and artisans who’ve crafted this issue – plus how they’ll travel more responsibly in 2021...

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CELESTE BRASH

HAZEL PLUSH

HOLLY TUPPEN

TOBY SKINNER

PRODUCTION CLIENT

French Polynesia

Guilt-free travel

Sustainable trips

Double bill: Norway

After first visiting French Polynesia in 1991, Celeste fell head over heels for both the islands and her future husband.

After spending 15 years living in – and writing about – them, she lays out the best way to explore them on p90.

How will you travel more responsibly in 2021?

“I hope to concentrate on destinations that need the tourism dollar most, to move less and stay longer.”

Wanderlust's former web editor, Hazel’s now a senior editor on The Telegraph's travel section. On p86, she sets her own 'roadmap' for guilt-free, responsible post-pandemic getaways.

How will you travel more responsibly in 2021?

“I'll be spending mindfully – and as liberally as possible – with independent hotels, tour guides and travel companies. I will also relish every chance meeting, every new friend, as I go.”

The author of our sustainable travel article (p72), Holly’s been spreading the word about positive-impact adventures ever since circumnavigating the world without flying in 2010. Her debut book, Sustainable Travel, will be published in August.

How will you travel more responsibly in 2021?

“I try to fly only once a year so I look forward to some long train or boat rides and will savour every moment of the journey.”

Award-winning writer and editor Toby fell in love with Norway after launching N by Norwegian magazine for the Norwegian airline. He twins together Bergen to Ålesund for us on p166.

How will you travel more responsibly in 2021?

“I will be looking to travel with passion-driven small businesses with authentic values – and I will be extra keen to meet new people and hear different viewpoints.”

MIKE UNWIN

KATHERINE GALLAGHER

Indigenous Alaska

Nur-Sultan

The world-renowned artist is a member of the Chilkoot-Tlingit tribe in south east Alaska. As a master carver, metalsmith, creative artist and traditional dancer, Nathan shares Tlingit values and traditions with us on p172.

How will you travel more responsibly in 2021?

“I’ve had my vaccinations, but I will make travel safer for myself and others by still masking up whenever I'm in a group.”

Not just the author of five guidebooks for Bradt Travel Guides, Sophie’s a tourism development consultant specialising in emerging destinations, with a particular interest in Central Asia. She writes about Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan on p184.

How will you travel more responsibly in 2021?

“I’ll be taking fewer international trips, but they will be longer, with more overland travel than flights.”

Rewilding Spain

Author of 35 books and a ‘Travel Writer of the Year’ winner for BBC Wildlife and the British Guild of Travel Writers, Mike’s marvelled at wildlife on every continent. He’s going in search of bears in Spain on p130.

How will you travel more responsibly in 2021?

“I will be pursuing 2020’s lockdown lessons: spending more time looking local and ditching the wheels whenever I possibly can.”

World food

Cuisine and sustainable travel expert Katherine spent seven years living in Hawaii, getting to know its old – and new – culinary traditions. She lays out the islands’ local menu for us on p34.

How will you travel more responsibly in 2021?

“2021 will highlight domestic and low impact travel. I’ll definitely be taking more camping and road trips and discovering new things about my home state of California.

NATHAN JACKSON

SOPHIE IBBOTSON

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Contributors 214

THIS ISSUE

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Get In Touch LONDON OFFICE Capital House, 25 Chapel St, Marylebone, London NW1 5DH

REPRO OP SUBS ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

Wanderlust is the UK’s leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993.

Paul Morrison and Lyn Hughes schemed the project on a flight to Ecuador, aspiring to produce a publication that combined the right mix of wildlife, activities and cultural insight. Twenty eight years later, Wanderlust is the oldest UK travel magazine still in circulation and it continues to inspire through impartial information and fresh ideas alongside original creative writing and astonishing photography. It has a distinct focus on highlighting off-the-beaten-path experiences and bringing to light the most exciting destinations. Responsible, conscious and sustainable travel has been its modus operandi for the last three decades.

It is always upfront about whether its writers have travelled independently or with a tour company and will never guarantee positive coverage to any of our advertisers.

With a strong and rapidly growing digital presence, wanderlustmagazine.com delivers thousands of articles and attracts over 12 million visitors a year, alongside 150,000+ social media followers. ‘The Wanderlust Club’ maintains a community of serious travellers engaged 24/7.

Wanderlust leads the way in the production of intelligent, inspirational travel stories. Its blend of exclusive features, practical reviews, unique insights, tips and ideas has won awards from respected travel and media industry bodies across the planet. © Wanderlust Travel Media Ltd, 2021, ISSN 1351-4733 Published by Wanderlust Travel Media, Capital House, 25 Chapel St, Marylebone, London NW1 5DH. All rights are reserved. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or in part, is strictly forbidden without the prior written consent of the publishers.

All prices are correct at time of press. No responsibility for incorrect information can be accepted. Views expressed in articles are those of the authors, and not necessarily the publishers. Wanderlust is a registered trademark.

US distribution Wanderlust, ISSN 1351-4733, is published bi-monthly and is distributed in the USA by Pitney Bowes International Mailing Services Inc as mailing agent. Periodicals postage paid at Kearny, NJ and additional mailing offices.

Contributions & work experience For details, please go to www.wanderlustmagazine.com/about-us Printing Walstead Roche, Victoria Business Park Roche, St Austell, Cornwall PL26 8LX Newstrade distribution Marketforce (UK) Ltd: 0203 787 9001 Circulation marketing Intermedia Brand Marketing Ltd: 01293 312001

SUSTAINABILITY Wanderlust is printed on paper from sustainable forestry and produced using suppliers who conform to ISO14001, an industrial, environmental standard that ensures commitment to low carbon emissions and environmentally sensitive waste management. The paper can be widely recycled.

Please recycle this magazine

Subscriptions +44 (0)1371 853641, subs@wanderlust.co.uk

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Advertising +44 (0)20 3771 7203, sales@wanderlust.co.uk General enquiries +44 (0)20 3771 7190, info@wanderlust.co.uk EDITORIAL CONTENT Editor-in-Chief George Kipouros @georgiostravels Founding Editor Lyn Hughes @wanderlust.lyn Managing Editor Tom Hawker Special Features Editor Rosie Fitzgerald @rosiefitzgerald Digital Editor Sarah Riches @healthy_holiday

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Contributing Editors Sarah Baxter, Mark Carwardine, Paul Goldstein & William Gray DESIGN Art Director Graham Berridge Associate Designer Mike Wright Assisted by Lisa Duke, Scott Jessop (maps) DIGITAL Digital Creative Director Anil Karwal Global Technology Director Simon Chubb PRODUCTION Production Director Justin Masters Production Manager Paul Lincoln Production Controller Joe Fordham COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS Partnerships Director Adam Lloyds (adam.lloyds@wanderlust.co.uk) Senior Creative Partnerships Manager Simon Bryson @_bryos Creative Partnerships Manager Lucy Bairstow PUBLISHING Chief Executive George Kipouros Chief Operating Officer Elliot Wellsteed-Crook Content Marketing Director Chris Johnson Wanderlust Club Manager Maria Manta Projects Assistant Calliope Tsourakaki ACCOUNTS & ADMIN Accounts Assistant Kym Williams WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO Froso Zioga, Anna Papavasileiou, Cecile Papadimos

In memory of Co-founder & Publisher Paul Morrison

Recent Awards

Official partner of the FCO’s Know Before You Go Campaign

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Flannel Panel 214

ABOUT US

THIS ISSUE MAPPED

Ålesund & Bergen, p166

Alaska, p172

Orkney, p180

Spain, p130

Sedona, p72

St Augustine, p168

Hawaii, p34

Costa Rica, p145

Peru, p110 French Polynesia, p90

Montevideo, p178

Antarctic Peninsula, p54

12 Viewfinder

31 Grapevine

JOURNAL

38 Armchair Travel

48 Dispatches

Horizon-expanding images from Saudi Arabia to Guatemala

The most exciting new routes, the coolest (re)openings and the world's best travel news

Get that travel itch from new films, TV shows, podcasts and a whole wave of books

A deep dive into conservation projects on the Pacific isle of Palau

40 Arts & Crafts

20 Letters

You drop us a line to tell us your travel thoughts and gripes…

34 World Food: Hawaii

Readers’ top shots

36 Health

A safari in Zimbabwe

We go behind the mask of 2021’s most important travel essential

We asked. You told. We liked!

The sustainably made gear to get you out-and-about this spring

22 Your Photos

24 Just Back From…

26 Things You’ve Missed About Travel

10 May/June 2021

Traditional Pacific staples meet Asian flavours in a fantastic fusion

37 Gear

How to shop for a piece of authentic Jordanian artisanship

52 Interview

We catch up with Julia Bradbury

FEATURES

43 Dream Sleep

54 Antarctic Peninsula

Why Seville’s Hotel Alfonso XIII isn't just for celebrities

44 WanderSleeps

An extraordinary expedition that helps conserve the white continent’s whales

The seven finest places to stay to get the very best out of Laos’ cultural classic, Luang Prabang

Looking forwards with 25 green experiences that do it better

72 Sustainable Travel

Map illustration: Scott Jessop

CHECK IN

Styria & Graz, p188

Nur-Sultan, p184

Crete, p176 Jordan, p40

Meroe, p174

Luang Prabang, p44

Palau, p48

Sabah, p72

Zimbabwe, p24

Australia, p72

86 Guilt-Free Travel

eye out for wolves and birds in the country’s rugged north

168 Hidden USA

The best places to spot ursines on the continent

172 Indigenous Culture

110 Peru

Julia Bradbury introduces a special on the green favourite

174 World Heritage

Get acclimatised for Machu Picchu – including a brand new wild trekking route

166 Double Bill

DISCOVER

176 Top 10 Highlights

We go searching for Cantabrian brown bears – while keeping an

Go on a great twin-stop break by pairing up Norway’s coastal classics Ålesund and Bergen

Top tips to make your next trip a green one – read an exclusive extract from our new book

90 French Polynesia

We create the perfect Pacific planner for adventurous travellers

130 Spain

142 European Bears

145 Costa Rica

Discover history and wildlife in St Augustine, the USA’s oldest city Uncover the rich cultural heritage of native Alaskans

walkable, culture-packed capital is an underrated gem

180 British Break

Explore seven millennia of history in Scotland’s Orkney Islands

184 Off The Grid

Why are Sudan’s Pyramids of Meroe so little-visited?

Gaze up at Nur-Sultan’s dramatic skyline for a glimpse into Kazakhstan’s future

Explore the legend-laden Greek island of Crete

Styria and its capital Graz make for a diverse Austrian escape

…Montevideo. Uruguay’s

Looking out over Verona

178 First 24 Hours in…

188 European Short Break

194 The View From Above

www.wanderlustmagazine.com 11

VIEWFINDER

Montpelier at twilight, Vermont, USA

Photographer: Sean Pavone With a population of just under 8,000, the USA’s smallest state capital was originally named after the city in southern France. The ambience, however, is quintessentially New England, with visitors exploring quaint architecture, a lively arts scene and a diverse range of restaurants, largely thanks to the presence of the New England Culinary Institute. The city’s crown jewel is the impeccably restored Vermont Statehouse, one of the oldest and best preserved in the country – complete with a distinctive gold-leaf dome.

With a number of Vermont’s famed ski resorts under an hour’s drive away, and just 15 minutes from Ben & Jerry’s original factory (do the tour), it’s a great base from which to experience the Green Mountain State. © Sean Pavone/Alamy

Rolling out the carpet for Semana Santa, La Merced church, Antigua, Guatemala

Photographer: Oliver Wintzen Often recognised as the largest Easter celebration on the planet, Antigua comes alive during its annual Semana Santa Holy Week. The weeklong, festival-like celebration commemorates the passion, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ through sombre processional marches and uniquely decorated floats. Sand and coloured sawdust are used for alfombras (Arabic for ‘carpet’), painstakingly designed in exquisite patterns for the religious processions; a tradition first brought by Spanish missionaries from Seville, Andalucia. Modern travellers to Guatemala’s Central Highlands should ensure that they’re in the city for Easter Sunday, when a spectacular fireworks display lights up the town – ending the most important week of celebrations in Antigua’s calendar. © Oliver Wintzen/Alamy

VIEWFINDER

VIEWFINDER

Summer salmon, Kurile Lake, Kamchatka

Photographer: Tom Walker With summer on the way, we’re making plans to start exploring again. In the furthest corner of Russia’s south-eastern Kamchatka peninsula, the start of the season heralds the arrival of rather different visitors to Kurile Lake: a battalion of hungry bears. Momentarily creating the densest population of brown bears on the planet, these usually solitary ursines are irresistibly drawn by the explosion of spawning salmon – six million of them – who’ve made a happy home here thanks to the volcanic activity enriching the water with plankton; a circle of life (and death) that caught the attention of the filmmakers behind A Perfect Planet. This is a teddy bears’ picnic that’s firmly on our – now simply enormous – to-visit list.

Extracted from A Perfect Planet (BBC Books) by Huw Cordey; £25; Photography by Tom Walker.

The gateway to Mecca, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Photographer: Jonathan Nelson The historical centre of Jeddah, Al Balad (‘the town’) has been welcoming visitors for over 2,000 years.

The port’s position on the Red Sea meant that it wasn’t just a key stop for pilgrims, beginning the final leg of their journey to Mecca, but also for rich merchants on the trade route. Al Balad’s 19th century trading elites constructed tower houses – ornately designed with latticed-wood mashrabiya windows – among the mosques, souks and squares, traditionally built using coral stone. This UNESCO-listed site and its unique architecture is given some appreciation in a new book, Crafts of the Kingdom, which celebrates Saudi Arabia’s rich tradition of creativity, whether buildings, textiles or handicrafts: a beautifully constructed invitation to be welcomed into Al Balad yourself. © Jonathan Nelson/Alamy; Crafts of the Kingdom: Culture and Creativity in Saudi Arabia (Assouline) is out now; £150.

VIEWFINDER

Letters 214

POSTE RESTANTE VERSION

Your Letters

SOCIAL TALK

REPRO OP

“Catching up on @wanderlustmag and this column from @LolaAkinmade has beautifully captured everything I miss most about travel: the people.” @Lorna_Explorer

Your mail and missives about revisiting classic adventures, dreams of pangolins, tasting Tobago, walking Surrey, and much, much more...

SUBS

”I can’t travel at present, but I still travel through this magazine. I have tried other travel magazines, but this is the one that I stick to, as I have from issue 1.”

David De’Ath

Journey journals

ART PRODUCTION

I recently put together a photo book of shared worldwide adventures for a friend’s 60th. We started travelling together in 1989 so there were many photographs to browse; lockdown afforded me the many hours this took. Reading the travel journals I kept instantly took me back to the memories that I would otherwise not have been able to recall.

I am so glad that I took time to write these journals as I was able to accompany many of the photos with an original narrative. I particularly enjoyed recounting our experience of the Trans-Siberian railway in 1998. I wonder how this trip would differ now. I love to look at travel photos, whoever they belong to, but the power of the written word cannot be underestimated and I would always recommend keeping a travel journal. Karen Spinks

“Was meant to be going after the northern lights and then going storm chasing this year. Both cancelled.

Maybe next year...” @anarchy4angels [On Surrey tips...]

“Langley Vale Wood near Epsom is one of the Woodland Trust’s hidden gems. There’s a 4km walk that takes you past a series of sculptured soldiers.“ Hannah Theobald

CLIENT

Wonderful webinar

Thank you for the webinar on Tobago. Inspiring! Thanks too for the chocolate ball, little chocolates and the rum! This made a marvellous lockdown evening. Tony Cram

New arrival

Scaled heights

I loved your article on the plight of the pangolin [issue 213]. I have had the privilege of being on safari at Phinda and have witnessed its work in saving rhinos and elephants on a specialist safari – what an amazing, inspiring and dedicated

fromtheroad@wanderlust.co.uk

group of people! You can hear some of the people in your article talking live on social media to mark world pangolin day and hear real life rescue stories using AndbeyondtraveI to search. I can’t wait to return to see a pangolin.

Donna Curtis

@wanderlustmag

I have only just recently started reading your magazine and during these crazy times I think it has definitely helped to partly satiate my own wanderlust. seeing what others are or have been up to has allowed me to start compiling a list of places that I want to travel to, as soon as

@wanderlustmag

I have the chance. I’m excited to dust off the hiking boots and get back on the trails, back in the water and back up the mountains. Keep up the good work. Andy Wilson

Quality quizzer

Just to say thank you for all the quizzes. I forward them to my brother and we compare our scores; we’re amazed about how much we have learned about the wonderful places there are to see, when this pandemic is a thing of the past.

If only my geography teacher had engaged me as much as Wanderlust has... Joyce Wheeler

wanderlusttravelmagazine

Drop us a line with your pics, thoughts, tips and travel suggestions, and help other travellers find their way

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#wanderlustmag

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We’ve been loving your images of lockdown trips and favourite adventures – tag us at #wanderlustmag on Instagram or email them to us at fromtheroad@wanderlust.co.uk

SUBS ART PRODUCTION

“Terekeka, South Sudan. A young Mundari takes care of his cattle. Staying with the Mundari was remarkable.” Joe Buergi

“The Aurora Borealis leading the way for us over Quebec at 13,700m before we coast out for London.” Steve Smith / @thegeordiepilot

”Walking the South Downs Way in Sept.

Here looking back over the Seven Sisters.”

Gunilla Roberts

“A stunning sunrise at Bamburgh Castle.

The North East coastline is truly spectacular.”

Scott Antcliffe / @uktravelman

“Christmas Eve walk on the Stairway to Heaven boardwalk, Cuilcagh mountain.

Co. Fermanagh.” Rhonda Vaughan

“The temple ruins are a glorious sight, even more captivating with locals at Ayutthaya, Thailand.” Sam Rios / @creativerios

”Here's a pic from when we were walking part of the Geopark Way, near Stourport-onSevern.” Linda Cox

”Feeling the weight of the daily toil of a Nepalese farmer carrying his load.”

Bernie Ramsay

CLIENT

”Ticking off our final sighting of the big five; a lone lion guards her kingdom in Serengeti NP, Tanzania.” @hannahsimm_

22 May/June 2021

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Reader Pics 214

YOUR PHOTOS

Just Back From 214

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YOUR TALES OF...

COVID-19 DISRUPTION

SUBS

”We were in France when the UK announced that it would introduce a two-week quarantine for returning travellers. We made it to the earlier ferry just before the deadline for a quarantine.

The kids found it exciting!”

Jackie Borland

ART

Hanging in Hwange (clockwise from this) Enjoying sundowners at Verney’s Camp;the calf that made it; the Verney’s Camp watering hole; the rangers

CLIENT

Zimbabwe

Reader Claire Roadley looks back on rescuing baby elephants The highlights: We visited Hwange National Park after a harsh drought. On one of our game drives, we came across a dehydrated newborn elephant calf struggling to get on its feet in the blazing sun. Our rangers diverted a little water to him and when we returned for sundowners we were elated to discover he’d made it! A small act of empathy we will always cherish.

Must see: If you’re an ‘eleph-anatic’ put Hwange top of your bucket list! Not only is it home to all the Big Five, but if you book a lodge overlooking a waterhole you can watch the action from your bed or deck. Don’t be surprised if elephants gather enviously around your tent when they hear your shower running!

Top tip: Temperatures can exceed 40°C so be sure to pack sun cream, a hat and light, cool clothing. Hiking boots are essential for guided

bush walks at dawn. Pack lightly in soft-sided bags for small aircraft!

I wish I’d known: Pack some ear plugs! The elephant activity at the watering hole in front of Verney’s Camp where we stayed was so unbelievably noisy that we could barely sleep for all the schlurping and trumpeting of ellies.

Anything else: After facing this catastrophic pandemic, it has never been more important to travel responsibly and to support eco-friendly establishments with conservation and community upliftment at their core. You can find low impact, sustainable safari camps in pristine wilderness areas in Botswana and Zimbabwe – we stayed with the family-run Machaba Safaris – and they have probably never needed support more.

“We flew to Barbados last March for a 14-night cruise.

I’d just finished unpacking in my cabin when the Tannoy announced that the cruise had been cancelled. We opted to return to England by ship. At least we had a day trip to Barbados and a trans-Atlantic crossing!”

Nicholas Anderson Go online to share your travel tales on next issue’s topic: ‘Unexpected wildlife encounters’

Just got back from somewhere amazing?

Email us at fromtheroad@ wanderlust.co.uk or visit us at wanderlustmagazine.com

Cheryl Mallon; Shutterstock

PRODUCTION

“My husband was working in Brunei which decided it didn't want to lose its key workers. I ended up writing to the Brunei government explaining that he wasn’t essential and I needed him more than they did.

They soon had the correct paperwork sorted for him.”

Rita Nardone

24 May/June 2021

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YOUR TRAVELS VERSION REPRO OP

15

things you miss most about travel

SUBS

Travel, how we miss you! We asked you what you were missing most and hundreds of you responded – read and weep (and dream)

ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

“I miss the excitement of researching, which would include how to travel there, options of places to stay and places to visit and activities that are available – but not necessarily booking too much in advance.”

Peggy Martin

2 Stocking the suitcase

“I really miss getting new guidebooks, sorting out a few silk sarongs and swimsuits, and escaping!”

Linda Gemesi

to embark on an adventure. Arriving a little early so you can browse the airport shops, have a coffee or glass of bubbles and stock up on magazines and aeroplane snacks. It’s almost better than the trip itself!”

Lynelle Swanepoet

4

Reaching the sky

“Being a redundant pilot, I miss flying towards the rising sun on an early morning flight, and the brilliant blue skies above the clouds.”

Judith Mitchell

3 Building the excitement 5 First sight “That feeling of anticipation when you arrive at an airport, about

26 May/June 2021

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“That transfer from the airport to the hotel and having

that first look at the city that will be home for the next few days. No guidebook can beat that feeling when you see the city pass by as you look through the train or car window – the city’s smells, atmosphere, the traffic.”

Paul Sandel

6 Taking in the atmosphere “I miss the smell of the hot, steamy air at night when you arrive in a new place after a longhaul flight; the jasmine and ginger lilies; and waking the next morning to discover the things that you couldn’t see last night.”

Fiona Parr

Shutterstock

1 Putting in the hours

7

Waking up to adventure

“I miss that first morning when you wake up somewhere new, with new smells and sounds everywhere – whether it is the sound of a call to prayer, a hippo chuckling or spices in the air. Experiencing another culture isn’t an intellectual exercise, it’s a sensory one.”

Isobel McVey

8

Losing yourself

“As counter-intuitive as it may seem, I really miss the true feeling of being alone; with only you to rely on and to make important decisions, and being alone with your thoughts.”

Antonia Majcher

9 Taking to the road

“Hiring a JEEP, no destination in mind, just seeing where the road takes us. The freedom! The unexpected! The unexplored gems.

I miss pulling over to the side of the road for a view, or to buy something from a street vendor and to feel the fresh air rush past on to the next unknown destination.”

Rebecca Bromwich

10 Hitting the highways

“I miss popping the first bottle of wine that first evening, the crickets chirping in the fields, the smell of lavender in French fields.

I miss it all, even the insect bites!”

Martin King

11

Finding that place

“I miss finding that one special cafe or restaurant; the one a wise friend recommended, the one you found last time and can’t wait to return to, or perhaps best of all, the one you stumbled on by chance and then wanted to dine at every day of your trip.”

Heather Mackin

12

New dawns

“I miss forgetting where I am when I wake up!”

Jill Douglas

13 Meeting people

“The thing I miss most about travelling is the people you meet from all over the world and experiencing their cultures. I miss being able to listen to and share travel stories with others and getting suggestions for the next place I visit. It’s also great to make friends all over the world so that next time you travel, you may even have a place to crash as well as a personal tour guide!”

Nicole Garratty

Step into 14 the unknown

“Embracing a heightened sense of curiosity. Whether trying some stuttering linguistics, sampling new delicacies, or a wander/paddle/pedal of discovery, because you’ll probably never have that same chance again.”

Lloyd Cameron

Shutterstock

15 A fresh perspective

“Watching the same sun rise in a new place where the colours, scents and sounds are different to home, but familiar at the same time.

There’s no better way to get a sense of perspective on the world.”

Justine Johnstone

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CHECK IN Things You've Missed

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE VERSION REPRO OP SUBS ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

Get a culture fix in Japan from the moment you step off the plane

wanderlustmagazine.com/culture-gate-japan

CULTURE GATE to JAPAN

Most visitors to Japan simply pass through airports on their way to enjoy the country’s iconic cities and landscapes. The CULTURE GATE to JAPAN project has been set up inside seven of Japan's airports and a cruise terminal to enrich that transition, exhibiting art by cutting-edge creators inspired by Japan’s diverse regional traditions, history and culture. Each of the exhibits showcase the local culture of that specific region, so you don’t even need to leave the airport to get a culture fix. Visit our website to learn more about the project and begin a cultural journey across Japan…

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Grapevine

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World food: Hawaii

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Travel health

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Armchair travel

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Arts & crafts: Jordan

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Dream sleep: Seville

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WanderSleeps: Luang Prabang

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Dispatches: Palau

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Interview

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Lighting up Laos The Haw Pha Bang (Royal Temple) looms over Luang Prabang’s night market

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WANDERLUST PROMOTION: TRAVEL WITH THE EXPERTS VERSION

ITINERARY

Day 1: Tbilisi Day 2: Tbilisi Day 3: Tbilisi – Davit Gareja – Kvareli Day 4: Kvareli – Gremi – Tusheti National Park Day 5: Tusheti NP Day 6: Tusheti NP Day 7: Tusheti – Alaverdi – Telavi Day 8: Telavi – Mtskheta – Gori Day 9: Gori – Akhaltsikhe – Vardzia Day 10: Vardzia – Lake Paravani – Tbilisi Day 11: Tbilisi

JOURNEYS

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EXCLUSIVE TRIPS

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Georgia more than lived up to my expectations, thanks to its fabulous scenery, culture, history and people.

Oh, and not forgetting the wine. To travel there with Dario was a real pleasure.

Lyn Hughes

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WHAT’S INCLUDED

Book with Wild Frontiers and pay just a £25 deposit. The full-price deposit is normally £500 per person for group tours.

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Explore Georgia SEE THE PEARL OF THE CAUCASUS IN A NEW LIGHT ON AN EXCLUSIVE TRIP WITH AWARD-WINNING GUIDE, WILD FRONTIERS’ DARIO GHIRLANDA

I

n search of pristine mountain scenery, celebrated vineyards, and ancient cave towns? Well, Georgia has them all. Best of all, it’s still practically undiscovered.

Team up with former Wanderlust World Guide Awards winner, Wild Frontiers’ Dario Ghirlanda, who’ll show you the lesser-explored side of the land on this 11-day small-group tour.

Explore Georgia’s crown jewels – the current and former capitals of Tbilisi and Mtskheta, where UNESCO-listed gems and hidden treasures go hand in hand – before delving into the remote Tusheti region.

HIGHLIGHTS

Tbilisi Set on the banks of the Mtkvari River, Georgia’s cosmopolitan capital is home to a few cultural gems – don’t miss the Narikala Fortress, the Sulphur Baths, the sixthcentury Sioni Cathedral and Anchiskhati Basilica.

Food & drink From Kakheti’s famous wine to Tusheti’s cheese, all manners of delicacies abound here.

Visit a farmers’ market, see how yoghurt is made, and dine on home-cooked fare with a local family.

Tusheti National Park Located to the north of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, Tusheti NP’s unspoiled landscapes await those who love walking between remote villages.

Epic views seem a fitting reward.

Monasteries & fortresses Sitting starkly in the desert, Davit Gareja’s centuries-old monasteries are sure to impress.

But the fortresses here aren’t too shabby, either – Vardzia’s Khertvisi Fortress leads to a cave city (pictured above), while Akhaltsikhe’s Rabat fortress is one of the only Ottoman complexes in the land.

BOOKING DETAILS

The dates: 24 July – 3 August 2021 The price: From £1,995pp* Call 020 8741 7390 to find out more, or visit wanderlustmagazine. com/GeorgiaJourney

OUR TRAVEL PARTNER

*Price based on two sharing. Flights are not included. Subject to availability.

Single supplement: £170. Our travel partner, Wild Frontiers, is AITO-bonded and this trip is ATOL-protected. For full terms and conditions, go to wanderlust.tripsmiths.com/georgiawl

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Shutterstock

PRODUCTION

ONLY £25 DEPOSIT

● A Wild Frontiers tour leader with local guides and drivers ● All accommodation in guesthouses and three-star hotels ● All meals, transport and entrance fees (for full itinerary details see online) ● Wine tasting and home-cooked dinner ● A carbon-offsetting contribution to Carbon Clear (if booking international flights through Wild Frontiers)

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The latest routes, most interesting developments and most-exciting initiatives in the world of Wanderlust

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REACH NEW HEIGHTS

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Soon you can swap climbing the walls for climbing mountains as a tough hiking trail has opened in Grampians NP in Victoria, Australia. While a shorter circular route is already accessible, the next section of the Grampian Peaks Trail will open in summer, with the final part opening in autumn. Designed for experienced hikers, the entire 160km trek features rough terrain, steep climbs and long descents – there’s a reason why Mt Difficult got its name. Grampians Peaks Walking Company runs guided tours of individual sections with stays in boutique hotels. Along the way you’ll see waterfalls, wildlife and Aboriginal rock art. grampianspeaks.com.au

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Away with the fairies

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

Visitors to the USA’s newest national park, New River Gorge in West Virginia, can explore a railroad dating back to 1872, which is lined with rusty mine cars and coal workers’ gravestones.

But while these relics are reminders of the area’s industrial past, nature has fought back – and now 70,000 acres of wetlands and forests stretch from Bluestone Dam to Hawk’s Nest Lake. As well as cycling the railroad, you can hike trails and raft down the New River, which courses through the park’s canyons. nps.gov/neri

A new museum dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen is opening in the Danish author’s birthplace this summer. H C Andersen’s House in Odense in Denmark is as whimsical as the author’s fairytales. Inspired by The Tinderbox – in which a tree reveals an underground world – the museum is partly subterranean and intertwined with a labyrinthine garden. Inside, light and sound shows tell the tale of the author’s life and work. visitdenmark.com

Gary Hartley

Dates for the Diary

Visit our website to find out about upcoming webinars and come and say hello to us at the virtual Destinations, the holiday and travel show (7-9 May) wanderlustmagazine.com; destinationsshow.com

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GRAPEVINE

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Be an elephant whisperer If you’ve already photographed wild elephants, now you can go one step further. Wilderness Safaris has teamed up with Eco-Exist, which works to reduce conflict between the animals and rural communities. On a six-night safari in Botswana, you’ll stay three nights each at Vumbura Plains in the Okavango Delta and at the new DumaTau camp in Linyanti Wildlife Reserve. While there, you’ll visit Eco-Exist’s research base by helicopter and assist a researcher who is collaring 10 elephants in 2021 to monitor their movements so elephant corridors can be set up. You will also meet a kgosi (chief) and install a hand pump. wilderness-safaris.com

BLAZING A TRAIL

A new route highlights the people and places at the heart of the USA’s Civil Rights Movement. The Louisiana Civil Rights Trail is a series of markers around the state that share historical photographs and inspirational accounts of ordinary people who had the courage to organise boycotts and marches in the 1950s and 1960s.

Look out for markers at the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge, the destination of a 169km march from Bogalusa; Dooky Chase, a restaurant in New Orleans where peaceful protests were planned, and Little Union Baptist Church in Shreveport, where Martin Luther King once preached. louisianacivilrightstrail.com

NATIVE NARRATIVES The world’s largest public collection of Inuit art is now on display in Canada. Three years in the making, Winnipeg Art Gallery’s extension, Qaumajuq, offers a remarkable insight into northern Canada’s Inuits. Its opening exhibition, Inua, exhibits the work of 90 Inuit artists, including a photograph of a seal skin spacesuit, the bones of polar bear paws arranged to resemble a fossil and a stone boat sculpture with a sail made from bone and sinew. You can tour the exhibition virtually. wag.ca

HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME

Tenerife may be known for its beaches but whale-watchers will be adding it to the top of their list now that its waters have been named Europe’s first UNESCO Whale Heritage Site.

The Canary Islands’ deep water and mild climate attract a third of the world’s 79 species of cetaceans – a collective term for whales, dolphins

and porpoises – with a colony of more than 500 pilot whales based between Tenerife and La Gomera. Over the past 20 years, cetacean sightings have been regulated to encourage responsible tourism. Whale watching boats need a permit, they can’t get closer than 60m and they can’t gather in groups larger than three. whaleheritagesites.org

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) / Experience AlUla; Dana Allen/ www.Photosafari-Africa.Net

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A town in the north-west of Saudi Arabia has opened to visitors after three years’ restoration. Established in the 12th century, AlUla Old Town was a significant stop for traders and pilgrims, but it fell into decline in the 1980s. Now you can join a rawi (storyteller) on a tour or explore the town independently. Wander around 900 mud-brick homes, see a renovated sundial, citadel and mosques and visit ‘Incense Road’, which is lined with fruit stalls and handicrafts. experiencealula.com

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Taste the history of Hawaii

Say Aloha to a rush of Pacific flavours. Modern-day local Hawaiian cuisine is a fabulous fusion of different cultures – but if you truly want to experience the islands’ real soul, look no further than traditional luau…

Words Katherine Gallagher

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locally-sourced ingredients helped set the stage for Hawaii’s culinary traditions today.

However, in the 1850s, the sugar plantation industry began to attract workers from countries outside the islands, such as the Philippines and Japan. Sharing recipes and stories, these workers created the framework for the mixture of flavours and ingredients that characterises modern-day Hawaiian food. The much-liked fusion of flavours that emerged from this cultural blending became known simply as ‘local food’, rather than ‘traditional’ Hawaiian food, the heritage of which has been kept alive by luau feasts and local eateries. We’d suggest visitors to the island sample as much of both as they can, to taste a thousand years of Pacific history.

Food on the go One of Hawaii’s celebrated food trucks

AWL; Shutterstock; Alamy

D

eeply rooted in tradition and flavoured by a respect for locally sourced ingredients, Hawaiian cuisine combines rich comfort food with a cultural heritage that dates back a millennia, to when Polynesian settlers first set foot on Hawaii’s volcanic islands. They brought along crops from their homelands in canoes, including many of the local ingredients that visitors to the islands will still find in use today, such as taro and sweet potato.

Already highly skilled farmers and fishermen, the first Hawaiians lived in small communities along the island coastlines where they could take advantage of the rich growing soil and seafood available to them. This reliance on

5 DISHES YOU SHOULD TRY (AND WHERE TO TRY THEM)

1 Poke

Although ‘poke bowls’ have recently become trendy outside of Hawaii, you can’t beat the real deal. Hawaiian poke (which roughly translates to ‘cut into chunks’ in the Hawaiian language) consists of bitesized cubes of raw fish marinated with a mixture of limu seaweed, onion, Hawaiian salt and roasted kukui nut.

The fish may range from soft ahi tuna to the much firmer nairagi marlin, but the biggest requirement is that it’s locally caught and extremely fresh.

Head to Fresh Catch on Oahu to try their signature smoked tako (octopus) poke or Da Poke Shack on the Big Island for fresh fish that literally came off the boat that morning.

2 Shave Ice

The ideal complement to a hot Hawaiian day, shave ice is a humble combination of finely shaved block ice and sugary syrup in a rainbow

of colours and flavours. Try it at Matsumoto’s on Oahu’s north shore or Ululani’s on Maui topped with Japanese sweet red adzuki beans or chewy pieces of rice flour mochi.

3 Kalua Pig

Any good luau will have authentic kalua pig on the menu, traditionally made by roasting a whole hog in an underground imu oven all day long. Succulent, salty and packed with that natural smoky flavour, kalua pig is typically a luau’s main event.

Historically, kalua pig was saved for Hawaiian royalty, but it wasn’t until King Kamehameha II invited all of his subjects to eat together in 1819 that commoners could taste it. Smith’s Family Garden Luau on the island of Kauai is one of the best places to try it.

4 Taro

Taro, or kalo in Hawaiian, is an important plant in Hawaii’s history

since it was one of the first crops planted on Hawaiian soil. Grab a bag of Hawaiian Chip Company’s original taro chips at any ABC Store for the perfect beach snack. Or, try kalo in its most authentic form: the typical Hawaiian condiment known as poi, made from mashing cooked kalo root into a sticky paste, a tradition that requires its own special tool.

5 Lau Lau

Lau lau is made of tender pork and salted butterfish wrapped in kalo or ti leaves and steamed to perfection.

Historically, the lau lau was placed in the imu oven alongside the kalua pig, so the proteins gain that same earthy flavour. These days, plenty of restaurants can make them in a steamer or pressure cooker. For some of the best lau lau in the state, head to the James Beard Awardwinning Helena’s Hawaiian Food on Oahu, open since 1946.

DID YOU KNOW...

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Hawaii’s famous for its food trucks, and for good reason.

You’ll find them all over the islands serving up modern takes on local classics like buttery garlic shrimp and Portuguese malasada doughnuts. Some of the best can be found on Oahu’s north shore or scattered around Maui, including Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp Truck, Mike’s Huli-Huli Chicken and Ono Tacos. Oahu even puts on a monthly celebration of the trucks called Eat The Street, located at the Kakaako Waterfront Park.

WANDERLUST RECOMMENDS www.gohawaii.com Alan Wong’s New Wave Luau: Recipes from Honolulu’s Award-Winning Chef

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JOURNAL Hawaii

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e all look forward to travelling again but, even as restrictions lift, we need to understand the precautions that still need to be taken. Probably the most important is proper mask use. In the UK we are only told to wear a face covering yet although a thin silk scarf, buff, snood or a jumper pulled up over the face might catch some droplets if you cough, try blowing a match out through it to see how ineffective these are. Increasingly too, these are not accepted by airlines even for journeys within the UK. Many people wear disposable medical masks.

These are protective but some airlines stipulate that they should be changed every four hours; however, using such plastic-containing products that need to be discarded often are not a choice that environmentally conscious travellers should embrace. These masks are creating a new solid waste disposal problem as they find their way into rivers and the sea. Anyway who would want to fill their luggage space with disposable masks?

Many European countries and some airlines now expect people to wear KN95 masks, or its European equivalent FFP2. It is now important to check on the rules for your chosen airline before travelling, as well as any local stipulations on what must be worn when using public transport and when entering shops.

The World Health Organization states that three-layer cloth masks are protective and I feel that these are a good solution for those travelling long-term, especially in regions where there is a solid waste disposal problem. Such masks should be made with three different materials. The inner layer should be of a comfortable water absorbing cloth like an old T-shirt and the outer of waterrepelling synthetic cloth. The middle layer can be a changeable insert, another layer of spun fabric or polypropylene (like medical, sanitary and cleaning cloths), or paper towel.

Understanding hand hygiene is part of effective mask selection and use, which is why public health campaigns are emphasising the need for clean hands. Hand-washing with soap and water for 20 seconds is effective but washing facilities aren’t always immediately available; some taps – especially on board aircraft – deliver very little water, and then consider: how clean are the toilet door handles? Hand-sanitising gels are therefore a necessity back-up. Gels are not a super-efficient magical route to total sanitisation though: hands must be visibly clean and then gels must be rubbed in properly; to sanitise hands effectively gels must be in contact with the skin for a similar amount of time.

All of which is perhaps a salutary reminder that we will need to keep thinking prevention for a very long time yet if we are to regain our freedom and travel again.

The WHO say that to use a mask safely:

• Hands must be cleaned before putting on your mask, as well as before and after taking it off, and each time you touch it.

• Ensure it fits and covers your nose, mouth and chin.

• Once a mask is removed, it should be stored in a clean plastic bag. If it is a fabric mask it should be washed daily; if it is a medical mask it should be thrown away.

• WHO say masks with valves should not be used (they protect the wearer but may not protect others).

Dr Jane now works on COVID-19 advice on Nepali radio; her first audiobook is just launched.

Gear words: Lyn Hughes Images: Shutterstock

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Travel is reopening but masks remain a packing essential. But what makes a face-covering safe?

Dr Jane Wilson-Howarth unmasks face masks

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KEEN ASTORIA

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Open-Toe (£85) or Closed-Toe (£90) The Astoria West women’s hybrid sandal’s been designed with sustainability, versatility and comfort in mind. It has a webbed upper containing recycled PET plastic bottles and treated with KEEN’s Eco Anti-Odour system.

Water-repellent, it has Aquagrip outsoles to be worn anywhere from slippery trails to city streets. keenfootwear.com

DAVY J

Long Sleeve Winter Swim Top, £110 For use in open water, The Waste Collection is a capsule range of women’s swimwear made from a yarn of regenerated nylon from fishing nets and textile discards. The collection also includes swim shorts and a crop top as well as classic swimsuits. davyj.org

PEOPLE4OCEAN 100% NATURAL SUN CARE

SPF30 Sunscreen 200ml, £30 This Australian brand was developed by two marine biologists concerned over the damage that many sunscreens were doing to coral reefs, waterways and aquatic life. Formulas are 100% plant-based and non-polluting and the packaging and production is sustainable too people4ocean.co.uk

PRODUCTION CLIENT

MILLICAN

The Maverick Collection ranges from £16 to £170 Millican’s uber-stylish range of Maverick travel bags is already known for its sustainability. Now the brand’s gone a step further with the launch of its Dalton canvas fabric made of recycled plastic, giving the collection the same look and feel of waxed cotton. homeofmillican.com

GANDY’S

Camo Field Coated Cotton Jacket, £95 Gandy’s supports underprivileged children through the Kid’s Campuses it has built. One such project near the Amazon Rainforest has inspired its Rainforest collection of clothing and bags. The eye-catching Camo jacket is available for men or women and is made from sustainably sourced cotton. gandysinternational.com

FJALLRAVEN

Abisko Lite Trekking Jacket, £245 Made from a hybrid fabric that contains G-1000 Lite Eco (recycled polyester and organic cotton), the Abisko Lite Trekking Jacket is the perfect lightweight layer for the UK’s mild, variable spring or summer weather. Packed full of useful features such as an adjustable hood and a two-way zip, this jacket will last you for years. fjallraven.com

6 sustainable pieces of kit for spring We’re getting out! With the weather picking up and the restrictions (hopefully) slowly lifting, it’s time to stock up on a few new essentials – all made from green and renewable sources www.wanderlustmagazine.com 37

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Negotiating Nomadland

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ith great locations, you don’t need to over-do it. Two fine new films are available to stream that don’t sugarcoat the raw beauty of where they’ve been shot. Nomadland [from 30 April; streaming on Disney+ Star] follows Frances McDormand’s grieving Fern, who sets off from her economically devastated Nevada hometown and onto the road to join the (real) communities of campervan nomads, drifting around America’s under-appreciated middle. Set mostly in the plains of Nebraska and South Dakota – Badlands National Park looks sweepingly vast – this very human story gently unfolds among the starkly otherworldly landscapes.

Also getting its due this month is the Jurassic Coast. Lyme Regis is the setting for Ammonite [out now; streaming rental], which tells the story of 19th Century proto-paleontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet), struggling for recognition in a male-dominated scientific world. Dorset’s rugged coast-

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line, with water-spume crashing on those prehistoric stones, reflects the inner-turmoil of its repressed heroine’s life.

Also hitting Dorset – among other counties – is Kate Humble.The presenter’s Coastal Britain [Channel 5; streaming] sees her trekking around a handful of our loveliest shorelines – including Somerset, Suffolk and North Yorkshire – getting to know the people and secret histories that fill their nooks, crags and coves along the way.

Even if she’s taking things much more comfortably, Sandi Toksvig also makes the case for the UK in Extraordinary Escapes [Channel 4; streaming], as she investigates some of Britain’s most interesting, unique and occasionally eye-watering accommodation, as well as the landscapes that surround them. Bringing along a different guest for each location – The Highlands, Kent, The Cotswolds and Suffolk – the pair make fine cases for pushing the boat out, and even paddling in it too. A little bit of sugar doesn’t hurt, after all.

On the road Actress Frances McDormand and director Chloé Zhao are set to win all the awards this season with the poetic wander around the USA’s underloved middle

Words: Lyn Hughes/Tom Hawker Images: © 2020 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved

Geological wonders and epic plains? The USA’s ‘flyover country’ is about to get parked firmly on your slow travel to-do list, thanks to this year’s film awards front runner

Read this!

World Travel: An Irreverent Guide

By Anthony Bourdain

£19, Penguin Random House The final work from the late chef, writer and TV presenter gets a helping hand over the finishing line from his friends, supplementing Bourdain’s typically sharp-scribed rough guides to some of his favourite places.

I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain

By Anita Sethi

£17, Bloomsbury Wildlife After being the victim of a race-hate crime on a train, Anita Sethi sets out to explore the rugged Pennines‘ wildlife, geology and history, as well as Britain’s undergrowth of racism and misogyny – reclaiming her rightful place not only in the UK but also in its wild places.

Slow Trains Around Spain

By Tom Chesshyre

Words: Lyn Hughes/Tom Hawker Images: © 2020 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved

£17, Summersdale Spain’s train service doesn’t get much attention but, as Tom Chesshyre finds out in the latest of his slow-railing travelogues, it’s a fine way to get beyond the beaches. Taking an ‘S-shaped’ route through Spain’s little-visited centre, he finds a country at a crossroads and wondering which track to take.

Handmade in Japan: The Pursuit Of Perfection In Traditional Crafts Ed by Robert Klanten & Lincoln Dexter

£40, Gestalten One of the joys of visiting Japan is seeing millennia-old artisanship in action. Taking us through the regions and highlighting the handicrafts associated with them – pottery in Ishikawa, fishing boats in Gifu, embroidery in Kyoto – we get an insight into one of travel’s great cultural experiences.

Slow Adventures

By Tor McIntosh

£13, National Trust Books With people reconsidering how they journey around their home, former Wanderluststaffer McIntosh creates 36 inventive itineraries across Britain that encourage you to not only get outside but to do so at a pace that allows you to rediscover its phenomenal nature, too.

Pilgrimage: Journeys of Meaning

By Peter Stanford

£25, Thames & Hudson The concept of the pilgrimage has found itself back in vogue, even as the original religious purposes of these journeys have become blurred. Here, Stanford walks us through the history behind 12 of the most celebrated treks – from Mecca to Machu Picchu – and why they still resonate with travellers today.

Hidden Beaches: Spain Wild Swimming: France (2nd edition) Spain by Lola

Culsan and John Weller; France

by Dainel Start

Both £19, Wild Things Publishing The adventurous publisher’s new (and updated) titles are perfectly timed to help those looking to try something different – and dodge the crowds – in those Euro-staples. Swimming with dolphins and watching whales in the Gulf of Cadiz? Yes, please.

Camping Road Trips: France & Germany

By Caroline Mills

£17, Bradt Travel Guides All-in-one slow travel facilitator and isolation-bubble? Bradt successfully capitalise on ‘glampervanning’s’ post-COVID makeover with this practical guide to getting your show on the road, steering you through some of Western Europe’s most striking and dramatic routes, taking you right to the Polish border.

Take a Virtual Trip Want to take a guided walk in Cusco, Isfahan, Kyoto or a traditional village in Senegal?

Each day, VirtualTrips offers dozens of options of live-streamed tours led by local guides. You can interact with the guide through the chat function and ask away about daily life.

With over 200 locations on offer, you’ll find yourself signing up for trip after trip. Indeed, the site should come with a government health warning as it is truly addictive! Tours are free but you are asked to leave a tip, the majority of which goes to the guide.

VirtualTrips.io

THROUGH THE WINDOW

Longing for a different view from your window?

Well, with WindowSwap you get to look out through a stranger’s window. You could be transported to San Juan, Puerto Rico or downtown Nashville. It could be a motorway in rush hour, city rooftops or someone’s back garden. The views are often very ordinary but that’s the fascination as it taps into our interest in everyday life in other corners of the world.

WindowSwap.com

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JOURNAL Travel From Home

Arts & Crafts Jordan 214

ARTS & CRAFTS

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For a meaningful memento of your trip to the Middle-Eastern kingdom, step away from tackiness and bring home traditional folk art created by locals

SUBS

1 MOSAICS

ART

Watch artists restoring mosaics on a tour of Madaba Institute for Mosaics Art and Restoration, or observe artists creating new mosaics at Jordan Jewel nearby. Firas Abdullah says, “Jordan Jewel’s artisans create scenes by hand with colourful stones harvested from the wild.” To make a mosaic yourself, book a class at Mosaic House in Amman. mimarjordan.org; jordanjewel.com; mosaichouse.online

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2 OSTRICH EGGS

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Byzantine-era mosaics often depict ostrich eggs, which were used to store water or as lanterns.

Today, locals use needles to dot-paint farming scenes and ibex on them. Ashraf Barqawi, director of eco-tourism for The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), says, “The RSCN trained artisans to dot designs on eggs at Azraq Wetland Reserve. Visitors can try in its workshop.”

3 KILIM RUGS

These decorative and functional rugs are still

produced using traditional techniques. Bedouin women spin sheep wool and goat hair by hand at Bani Hamida Weaving Centre in Mukawir in central Jordan, then weave it on looms and colour it with dye from the indigo plant, pomegranates and mulberries. Enquire in advance about joining a weaving class. jordanriver.jo

4 CALLIGRAPHY

If you’re fascinated by the swirls and flecks of Arabic calligraphy, take a class at Deewan Institute for Languages and Cultural Studies in Amman, during which you’ll write the Deewani and Ruq’ah scripts using a bamboo pen. deewaninstitute.com

5 POTTERY

The Nabateans – the people who built Petra – used local sandstone to create lightweight pottery, which they painted with images of plants and wildlife. Watch women making ceramics at Petra Pottery Association in Taybeh village near Wadi Musa, or try it yourself at Creative Art Centre Amman. cacamman.com

WHERE TO BUY… Mosaics Prices aren’t fixed at Jordan Jewel so take note of them in various workshops before making an offer. As a guide, a 1 sq m mosaic takes 300 hours to complete and costs around £3,020 with shipping. jordanjewel.com

Ostrich eggs

Ostriches are bred in Shaumari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq, painted, then sold in Azraq Lodge’s workshop as well or the souklike shop by King Abdullah Mosque in Amman. When bartering, keep in mind that prices range from £55 to £225 for more complex patterns. rscn.org.jo

Kilims

If you’re interested in kilims, buy one direct from its creator in Mukawir – when haggling, do so with a smile and never suggest a price you’re not willing to pay. You can also buy rugs made by Bani Hamida women at Jordan River Designs Showroom in Amman. Prices are fixed and range from £140 to £710. jordanriver.jo/en

Calligraphy

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Learn about calligraphy at the House of Calligraphy in Ajloun Forest Reserve and buy stationery decorated with the script. Pre-book an appointment. wildjordan.com

Pottery Local artist

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Aya Bataineh creates pottery by hand in Spaceulous in Amman. Products include finjan coffee pots, which are painted with images of cacti, pomegranates, palm trees and calligraphy.

Spaceulous is on Facebook.

Words: Sarah Riches Images: The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Jordan Jewel, Alamy, Olivia Lewis

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America AYLI Commecial

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE VERSION REPRO OP

THE YUKON WHERE NATURE & CULTURE COLLIDE

SUBS ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

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igh in Canada’s northwest, the Yukon fires the imagination like no other territory. It’s a place of ‘gold rush’ hills, Indigenous histories and imperious mountains. And all it takes is four wheels and a whisper of adventure for you to discover it for yourself…

GOLDEN HIGHLIGHTS

Begin in Dawson City, gateway to the Klondike ‘gold rush’ that saw a stampede of fortune hunters swarm the hills and towns of the Yukon 125 years ago. The rush

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lasted barely a handful of winters but in that time some 100,000 found and lost fortunes among the lakes and mountains, scattering relics of ghost towns, prospector trails and mines still explored today. Visitors can also walk part of the 53km Chilkoot Trail or canoe Bennett Lake, as the miners would have done all those years ago.

INTO THE WILD

Drive west along dramatic roads to reach Kluane National Park. Wilderness dominates the landscape here, with Mt Logan (5,959m), Canada’s tallest mountain, glowering down over the world’s largest non-polar ice fields. Hike backcountry trails to milk-white glaciers or descend into the valleys where some 160,000 caribou are joined by wolves, black and grizzly bears.

Take to the water in a canoe or a kayak and if you’re lucky you will see the bears. Alternatively, soar overhead on flightseeing tours to take in spectacular views from where only bald eagles roam.

DIVE INTO CULTURE

Human history runs through this territory as freely as gold and water. A half-dozen cultural centres across the Yukon allow you to explore the stories of many of the 14 First Nations peoples that made this their home as far back as 12,000 years ago. In Carcross, drop by the Haa Shagóon Hídi Learning Centre to discover the history and art of the Carcross/ Tagish First Nation. Visit Da Ku (Our House) in Haines Junction to see Indigenous artists in their studios, learn about the intricate beadwork of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations people and explore traditional trails. From Whitehorse to Old Crow, you’ll find Indigenous histories that echoed

across this land long before the first prospector set foot here.

One thing not to miss? The Dempster Highway. It veers up from the ‘gold rush’ hills of Klondike and high into the Northwest Territories, passing the magnificent Tombstone Territorial Park, Indigenous communities and the Arctic Circle. For those with a car and a sense of adventure, it’s a welcome invitation to make a few stories of your own...

Government of Yukon/ Archbould Photography; Government of Yukon/ R Hartmeir; Martin Haeussermann; Peter Mather

A revealing road trip through Yukon’s wilderness

For more information, visit windowsonthewild.com/canada/yukon

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Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville

CLIENT

Often mistaken by visitors for a Moorish palace, the Hotel Alfonso XIII isn’t only a Seville landmark but is also the ideal destination from which to enjoy the city’s unique architecture, orange trees, tapas and flamenco.

Reviewed by George Kipouros

Marriott/ Adolfo Rancaño

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eville’s storied Hotel Alfonso XIII was commissioned by – and named after – the King of Spain for the Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929, serving as the residence for visiting international dignitaries but with a bigger aim: to become the grandest hotel in Europe. It quickly became one of Seville’s best-loved buildings and an integral part of the city’s social life; the ‘Alfonso’ is still owned by the City of Seville today. Its elaborate decoration in the Neo-Mudéjar style, fashionable in the early years of the 20th century, continues to dazzle guests and visitors alike, transferring them to a romanticised bygone era of Moorish elegance.

The Hotel Alfonso XIII has 148 rooms corresponding to three different looks, each design reflecting a facet of Seville’s own idiosyncratic personality: Andalusian style, with leather headboards and chairs embellished with metal rivets; Moorish style, with Mudéjar details and arabesque plasterwork; and Castilian style, with elegant cornices, wooden coffering and Murano glass lamps. We recommend you ask for room 303, a regular room that nonetheless comes with a huge patio boasting outstanding views over the skyline of historic Seville, including the imposing 16th century Catedral de Sevilla.

At the Hotel’s San Fernando restaurant, distinctively Andalusian with its ornamental tilework and colourful upholstery, regional flavours are the order of the day. Arrive after 9pm, as you do in Seville, and try a plate of Iberico ham from Jabugo, or Almadraba tuna carpaccio, before making your way to the Bar Americano. Tucked into the covered galleries around the central patio, its Art Deco-influenced design is twinned with a celebrated cocktail menu.

Visitors can find some respite from the harsh Sevillian summer sun in the hotel’s exotic garden. While enjoying the shaded calm, you can spy species of the plants that were originally brought in for Expo 1929, among them a banana palm and several avocado trees.

The hotel’s unmistakable sense-of-place is magnified by its central position. You are just steps away from the elaborate gardens of Seville´s medieval Real Alcázar, the always-buzzing historic quarter of Santa Cruz – the perfect place to take in a flamenco show – and that looming cathedral: one of the world’s largest, boasting its own aromatic orangerie. Of course, it’s easy to inhale in the sensory pleasures of Seville when you’re already staying in the city’s most iconic address.

Rooms from £180pn. hotel-alfonsoxiii-seville.com

Sevillian splendour The terrace of room 303 with views towards La Catedral de Sevilla; the private patio of the Suite Torreon; the main entrance façade

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DREAM SLEEP

WANDERSLEEPS

Luang Prabang’s 7 best sleeps Its rich culture and elegant architecture has made this Laos city a cool classic. Here are seven sustainable stays from which to enjoy it Reviewed by Claire Boobbyer

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3 NAGAS

Built from teak and rosewood borne by elephants across the Nam Khan River, Khamboua House (left) is an exquisite example of local Lao architecture, sitting pretty behind the frangipani blossom. Part of 3 Nagas – three buildings straddling the quiet main Luang Prabang street – it’s named for the naga, fabled water serpents, and the protectors of Laos.

Built in 1903 by a royal mandarin, intimate Khamboua House overlooks a secret garden sloping towards the slow-flow river. Perfect for a hibiscusinfused tequila cocktail amid fragrant flowers.The team are also dedicated to keeping the local streets sweeter too: 3 Nagas staff join Trash Hero Laos collectors in picking up rubbish around the neighbourhood once a month.

From £108pn; www.3-nagas.com

© Claudio Cerquetti; © Jonathan Sayeb/enzocreation.com

SOFITEL LUANG PRABANG

Cocooning guests amid lily ponds and flowered gardens set within the walls of a dressed-up French colonial prison, Sofitel Luang Prabang is now a quiet sanctuary off the town centre. The elegant flood-lit pool is a treat, too, after a day strolling the town’s gilded temples and betel palmstuffed alleys. At the canopied Governor’s Grill, dine on vegetarian or vegan – flagged on the menu as Eat Like An Elephant – and support the Elephant Conservation Center, which strives for the survival of the last herds of Asian eles in mountainous Laos. Cinephiles have extra reasons to book: once a year the Sofitel becomes the town’s social magnet for the Luang Prabang Film Festival, a buzzy celebration of Asian movies.

From £178pn; www.sofitel-luangprabang.com ⊲

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Aman Resorts; Owen Raggett; Michelle Chaplow © 2016

AMANTAKA

With its cloistered feel, this lovingly restored old French hospital whispers ‘lemongrass-refreshing retreat’. You’ll want one of the pool suites – cosseted sanctums of calm. Amantaka, from tripitaka, means ‘teaching of the Buddha’. It’s a philosophy not only in name: Amantaka offers insider access to Luang Prabang’s deeply rooted cultural lore. A private visit to the archive of Buddhist photography reveals glimpses of more than a century of Theravada Buddhism monastic life; witness saffron-robed novice monk life at the Buddhist Academy north of town; and learn the beliefs of the religion with a local abbot in a private class and temple tour.

From £636pn; www.aman.com/resorts/ amantaka

VILLA SANTI

A 19th-century villa blending Lao vernacular and French whimsy on main street, Villa Santi is an ode to the lives of the Lao royal family. The mansion-turned-hotel once belonged to Queen Kamphane, wife of Sisavangvong, penultimate king of Laos. You’ll want a royal suite for the full immersion in royal history, all gleaming rosewood floors. Rise early to gift rice to saffron-robed monks in the dawn hour during the daily tak bat almsgiving. By day learn to paint with students from the Fine Arts school; by night watch dancers perform Fon Nangkeo, once a for-royal-eyes-only spectacle.

From £34pn; villasantihotel.com/villa-santi-hotel

Aman Resorts; Owen Raggett; Michelle Chaplow © 2016

ROSEWOOD LUANG PRABANG

The fairy-tale stay in the tropical trees at Rosewood Luang Prabang promises blissful isolation. Bill Bensley, an American architect based in Bangkok, crafted an intimate curio-filled getaway outside of balmy Luang Prabang. Escape to luxury tent canvas and beautiful rooms set by the gentle babble of the Nam Dong River. The hilltop tented rooms are lit by silk lanterns and decorated with embroidered clothing from Lao’s ethnic minorities. Forage the forests for herbs and veg and learn to cook royal Lao cuisine with the hotel chef. The hotel’s commitment to culinary excellence extends to its neighbours too: a Rosewood hospitality training school for locals is due to open in 2022.

From £458pn; www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/luang-prabang

BELMOND LA RÉSIDENCE PHOU VAO

Views from the forested Phou Vao hill, where Lao princes would fly their kites, catch the glinting golden stupa of Mount Phousi, the sacred anchor of the temple town of Luang Prabang. It’s a secluded, peaceful spot to meditate on the spiritual life of ‘the Land of a Million Elephants and White Parasol’, cushioned by the mellow vibe at La Résidence Phou Vao. With the Belmond + You initiative, prepare bear snacks for endangered moon bears, craft clay vessels with pottery makers, and visit a female-owned weaving enterprise promoting ethical fashion.

From £85pn; www.belmond.com/hotels/asia/laos/luang-prabang/belmond-la-residence-phou-vao

AVANI+ LUANG PRABANG

Wrap-around Avani+ Luang Prabang blends vintage French flair with a sleek, contemporary feel sealing its peaceful courtyard from the bustle outside. A beautiful pool, under the shade of a sacred Bodhi tree, is at the heart of this town centre hotel. A green and grassroots ethos is core to Avani+: no plastics, high recruitment of staff from the community, and a focus on supporting Luang Prabang food growers. Think porridge with buffalo milk from pioneering Lao Buffalo Dairy, rice from Living Land Lao organic farm, and paper and soap wrapping made from naturally shed tree bark. And for sundown drinks? Bamboo straws made by initiatives Bio Bamboo Laos and BambooLao. From £108pn; www.avanihotels.com/en/luang-prabang

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Getty; Alamy

CLIENT

Committed to the future As much as 80% of Palau’s territory is covered by a National Marine Sanctuary; (right) spotting pink skunk clownfish and chambered

NEED TO KNOW

Pristine Palau

Micronesia’s micro-island-nation of Palau may be hard to get to but punches well above its weight in sustainability credentials and otherworldly marine beauty Words George Kipouros

Getty; Alamy

“A

Koror, the main settlement, is a quiet, laid-back lii!” The customs officer greeted me with a huge smile and a differ- town with a disproportionate number of marine ent kind of welcome message: and dive centres. I was lucky that my first evening “Enjoy pristine paradise Palau and coincided with the Friday night market full of please don’t disturb or harm the dance performances, food and crafts stalls. It felt natural environment around you.” Then, instead like the entire country joined the fun, while all of the usual passport entry stamp, I got a stamp visitors, myself included, were treated like part with the ‘Palau Pledge’: a world-first, where every of an extended family. It didn’t take long before visitor to this tiny Micronesian country has to sign I was being offered the inside intel on ‘secret’ spots a declaration as a commitment to future genera- for hiking, snorkelling and diving.

It is the world-class diving that attracts most tions that they will preserve and protect the Palauvisitors to Palau and its wall dives have an almost ans’ beautiful and unique island home.

Just five hours earlier, I had taken off from the mythical status. On my short trip to the Ngedeurban chaos of Tokyo. Descending into Palau, the bus and Ngermenis Walls (some of the finest dive vista from my window couldn’t be more different: sites are a mere 60-90 minute boat ride away from Koror) I was lucky to a truly paradisiacal landsee the chambered nautilus, scape with a turquoise lagoon “Before long I was a rare species found only in dotted with hundreds of Palauan waters, and some of rocky islands covered in lush being offered the largest, most colourful foliage. I’d been drawn to the inside intel on ‘secret’ the country by the dreamscape gorgonian fans that I have spots for hiking, ever encountered. of Chelbacheb, the legendCruising along the incredary tales of close encounters snorkelling and diving” ible coral walls, we also with marine wildlife you’d spotted Spanish dancers, normally stay well clear off (see Jellyfish Lake over the page) and the head- dog-tooth tuna and grey and white tip sharks. line-grabbing initiatives on tourism sustainability. In 2009, Palau became the world’s first national Indeed, this little island nation of just 18,000 shark sanctuary, ending all commercial shark people has been cautious about its approach to fishing. Further still, a large part of the lagoon tourism; it has limited flights from mainland remains off-limits to visitors, with Chelbacheb China (for a brief period, visitors inundated the becoming the country’s first UNESCO World island and its infrastructure) and has launched Heritage site in 2012.

No matter where I went, with every activity a number of initiatives to protect its precious environment from the impact of tourism. Still, I took, with every local I met, the nation’s toura lot remains to be done to build towards a truly ism mantra was reinforced: ensuring that all that sustainable future for its tourist industry, particu- makes Palau the pristine paradise it is today, will larly around waste management and food supply. last for generations to come. ⊲

Best time to visit Palau’s dry (and high) season runs between December and April. This is also the best time for diving, with clear, calm seas. June and September are best avoided with the possibility of rough sea conditions and lower visibility.

Currency & costs These days, the US$. In ancient times, Palau was the ‘mint’ of Micronesia, and the location where the infamous Yapese Stone money were quarried.

Palau is overall an expensive destination.

Getting there & around Limited choice when departing the UK/Europe; Taiwan, Tokyo and Guam offer the best connections.

Book early and expect rates of over £1,700 in economy.

Palau is a federation of 16 states, most connected by road or a short ferry ride. Consider renting a (hybrid) car, while most excursions to dive/ snorkelling sites and islands can be easily organised with local boat owners.

Accommodation The Tourism board site (Palau Visitors Authority; pristineparadisepalau.com) lists a number of options; the country is still short in terms of eco-lodges and has mostly hotels catering for group tours and/or divers. The most highend place to stay – with excellent sustainability credentials and arguably the best sunset spot in the country – is the Palau Pacific Resort (rooms from £300 per night).

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JOURNAL Palau

VERSION REPRO OP SUBS ART PRODUCTION Getty; Alamy; George Kipouros

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WHEN IN PALAU DON’T MISSÉ THE BAI

Traditionally, every village in Palau had meeting long-houses called bai. While present throughout Micronesia, the Palauan bai er a rubak, is highly elaborate; they are built of fine hardwoods and ornamented with traditional designs and colours.

The bai served as community hubs and also hosted the meeting of the governing elders; inside, there are no dividing walls, no furnishings and only two fireplaces to break up the expanse of the hardwood floor. There are four fine examples to visit spread across Palau – a reconstructed bai at the National Museum in Koror, and in Airai (the oldest, dating back two centuries ago), in Melekeok and in Aimeliik State.

THE MILLION JELLYFISH LAKE

Getty; Alamy; George Kipouros

Palau’s Jellyfish Lake is a unique curiosity in the island of Eil Malk. Through a quirk of evolution, jellyfish in this isolated marine lake have lost their sting, enabling snorkellers to swim amid clouds of the astonishingly harmless invertebrates. Scuba diving is forbidden and visitors have to wash thoroughly before swimming in the 12,000-year-old lake, while use of suncream is prohibited to protect the population of more than one million jellyfish. The jellyfish underwent a massive decline in 1998 but their population has been steady in recent years, with local authorities enforcing the strict conditions for entry. Once you’re in, it feels like an experience on another world.

PRISONERS’ ART FOR SALE

For visitors to Palau, the wooden storyboard has become one of the most sought-after keepsakes. The practice of carving these storyboards was revived

on the island in the 1930s by Japanese artist and folklorist Hisataku Hijikata. Palauans have traditionally carved the interiors of bais with mythical, erotic and humorous stories.

In the last few years, demand has skyrocketed, especially with growing exports to other Micronesian nations. Inventively, the local prison inmates joined in the action: one of the best places to buy storyboards is Koror Jail, where a dedicated shop is well stocked with the creations of Palau’s incarcerated artistic souls.

BADRULCHAU STONE MONOLITHS

A scenic drive to the northernmost point of Babeldaob Island brings you to Palau’s enigmatic megalithic site of Badrulchau. Dating from approximately AD160, archaeologists believe the existing structures were the foundation for a larger bai-style building. However, there are plenty of questions still left answered, including why a number of the 52 basalt monoliths possess human-like facial features?

Palauan legend ascertains construction of the site to eight gods; the spectacular setting and vistas towards the aquamarine lagoon are certainly fit for one.

Turning green (clockwise from this) The UNESCO-listed Chelbacheb rock islands; prisoners display carvings for sale; Badrulchau stone monoliths; sunset over the Palau Pacific Resort beach; bai on the island of Babeldaob; snorkelling among thousands of the titular locals in Jellyfish Lake

PALAU NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY

In 2015 Palau passed a law creating a ‘no-take’ Marine Sanctuary covering about 80% of the country’s territorial zone, with the view of not only shielding Palau’s vulnerable marine resources but also at protecting declining global tuna stocks.

The tradition of managing fishing waters sustainably goes back many centuries; the practice of bul has preserved the livelihoods and strengthened food security of the Palauan people for generations.

Many of the diving and snorkelling sites you are likely to visit will be part of the Sanctuary. Knowing this will hopefully make you feel better when confronted with the steep fees required to access the sites.

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JOURNAL Palau

INTERVIEW VERSION

Julia Bradbury

SUBS ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

You launched a podcast last year – A Little Bit of Positive?

Yeah, just like the rest of the planet!

It’s with Giles Paley-Phillips, one of the kindest people I know. There are so many podcasts out there but we felt that you can’t have too many good news stories. It’s not too prescriptive or restricting in terms of our guests.

One of the people in the upcoming series is a lady called Julia Baird from Australia who has written a beautiful book called Phosphorescence.

Essentially, she is obsessed with bioluminescence, a bit like the same way I’m obsessed with moss. She’s an open water swimmer and the book is a journey of discovery and it’s all about how important nature is to us all.

Another guest is Professor Myles Allen and he is the world leading expert on climate change that is driven by human activity. So he’s very interesting, and the positive spin on climate change is that he knows that there are solutions and he knows what they are. This is actually about the top polluters. Just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions!

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I was a little bit surprised when you mentioned climate because of it being a positive podcast!

His message is about making changes and at government level. Costa Rica is a perfect example of when they made that decision over 25 years ago to stop deforestation, and were going to turn to renewable energy, which is exactly what they’ve done. The world needs to start to value nature in the same way that Costa Rica has done.

Another guest who’s coming on is a writer and government adviser called Simon Anholt and he has a movement called the Good Country Index. He lists countries not by how successful they are; it’s based on what do they give back to the world? How happy are their citizens?

It ties in with The Economics of Biodiversity:The Dasgupta Review, a global report which concludes that we can no longer continue to measure success on GDP alone and that

“The world needs to start to value nature in the same way that Costa Rica has done” nature and biodiversity must become an integral part of our measurement of wealth in the holistic sense of that word. Essentially this should be the blueprint for how countries are moving forward.

During the last year a wider range of people seem to have realised that they need the outdoors Yes, they have. I live in London and walk in my local park, and yesterday I saw three young girls chatting to each other in the sunshine. I just thought to myself, ‘I hope that people do still continue to take walks in the park with their friends.’ I think walking

Twofour Productions;

REPRO OP

The presenter and author tells Lyn Hughes about staying positive in the outdoors, the joys of Devon and Cornwall, and annoying a lot of people with a spoonful of cream...

Twofour Productions;

meetings are a fantastic idea and more companies should be doing it.

I’ve been working with the Outdoor Guide lately on this project called Outdoor Ambassadors, where people sign up to become the person within their company that encourages the team to take regular outdoor breaks.

I hope that people have re-evaluated the time that they spend commuting and that we can do more flexible working and days at home.

A lot of people are realising that they don’t have to live within commuting distance of a major city anymore.

Yes, I think Cornwall is number one most-searched for destination for houses for sale! On my Land’s End walk in the series [Cornwall and Devon Walks] I interviewed Kurt Jackson, who is one of our most successful British artists, and he was a real ambassador for Cornwall as a place to live, not just as a place to visit.

“Dawn French sent me a stern message on Twitter”

Totnes and the walk through the Dart Valley. The series was in eight parts and every single walk was very different. The landscape, the story, the atmosphere… and all edifying in their own way.

The series got a great reaction, although you did stir up a lively debate when you put cream first on a scone…

Dawn French sent me a stern message on Twitter saying, “I think you will find it is jam.” As a result of the controversy, I’ve even had a sea shanty written after me by the lovely Colin Leggo.

Looking ahead to travelling again, have you been dreaming of going anywhere?

Yes, I don’t want to be melancholy, but last year we were going to return to Greece and introduce the children to their great, great grandmother Yiyi Maria. Very sadly, she passed away during the pandemic. She was 103 and she had a great life but I’m very sad that my little ones didn’t get to meet her. So, we are dreaming about going to Greece, so at least we can go and pay respect to YiYi and have a swim in the sea just to say goodbye.

So, other than scones, did you have any surprises when filming?

When you think about Cornwall and Devon, you mostly think about the beaches and the cliffs. But I think what I really enjoyed was exploring more of the woodlands and the villages. I loved Dartmoor, Frenchman’s Creek, Helford Village,

Positive walks (clockwise from this) Julia Bradbury starts her Dartmoor walk at Haytor; watching the sun set at Lands End; beginning her Land’s End Walk at Porthcurno Beach

Cornwall and Devon Walks is on the ITV Hub.The second series of A Little Bit of Positive will be available on the usual platforms from April.

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JOURNAL Julia Bradbury

ANTARCTICA

Voyage of Discovery

Sailing to the pristine White Continent is a privilege. So how about giving something back? We embark on a new trip that combines a mind-blowing Antarctic expedition with a bit of citizen science…

Words & photographs Mark Stratton

L

ike a rehabilitated Captain Ahab, Daniel Zitterbart led his scientists into the sort of supranatural stillness only Antarctica can deliver.

I followed them in an inflatable Zodiac, cold snapping at my fingers, squinting at glossy icebergs fissured with stilton-blue veins, heading towards the spouts of vapour we could see suspended in Paradise Harbour’s frigid dawn.

There she blows, as Captain Ahab would say.

Next to brash ice that glinted like rough-cut diamonds, two distant dark lines revealed themselves to be slumbering humpback whales, fat from gorging krill. Forty tonnes of rorqual, happily recovering since the 1986 ban on commercial whaling, before which they were slaughtered to near extinction by Ahab’s ilk.

There was no harpoon in Daniel’s hand, just a hi-tech $10,000 whale tag on a long carbon-fibre pole. His Zodiac manoeuvred alongside and he leaned out and slapped one of the humpbacks with the suction-cupped device (it would release after several hours). The whale started, arched and then dived, rocking the Zodiac as it went.

“It can be a little bit terrifying,” Daniel admitted later, “when these giant creatures are beneath your flimsy boat.”

Yet all went smoothly. Over the next few hours the scientists followed the tagged humpback around the ice-choked Southern Ocean bay on a quest to learn more about these secretive denizens of the deep.

ON A MISSION

Having previously visited Antarctica, I vowed I’d only return if I had a greater purpose. As demand grows (COVID-19 aside), the number of cruises heading to this pristine wilderness is projected to increase. Can Antarctica sustain higher levels of tourism? I wasn’t sure.

Attempting to add value to my voyage, I joined an Antarctic Whale Safari led by Hayley Shephard, a Wanderlust World Guide Award medallist, and operated by Polar Latitudes, a company committed to supporting scientific research. The 14-day small ship expedition aboard the Hebridean Sky was my opportunity to participate in citizen science projects that further the understanding of Antarctica’s ecology and changing environment. It was also a chance to observe German scientist Daniel and his colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts investigating humpbacks.

“This is an investigation into how baleen whales find food, with a hypothesis that it might be by chemical smell,” explained Daniel. Antarctic humpbacks feed on krill, tiny crustaceans that swarm in countless millions. Krill feed on phytoplankton, a process that results in the release of the gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS). It’s very preliminary research as to whether humpbacks can sense this DMS,” Daniel said. The aim of our journey was to gather more data.

Thus on a mission, we left Ushuaia, on Argentina’s end-ofthe-world Tierra del Fuego archipelago, and sailed some 1,000km towards the Antarctic Peninsula, a swan-necked isthmus protruding northwards from the seventh continent. Easily reachable by expedition vessel, the peninsula is Antarctica’s entry-level destination, popular with first timers.

The first two days of our voyage involved crossing the rumbustious Drake Passage, beyond Cape Horn, where ⊲

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On the lookout Ship scientist, Annette scans the horizon on a Zodiac; (previous) The Hebridean Sky is watched by seal

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mountainous seas can leave you green around the gills.

Ukrainian Captain Andrey Rudenko promised “not too much rock ’n’ roll”, but the three-metre swell was boisterous enough to leave me reeling between the decks like a drunken sailor.

Regardless, our citizen science programme began immediately. We analysed seawater for temperature and salinity, contributing to an ongoing study into ocean warming and increased freshwater melt. A seabird survey took place astern – it wasn’t long before albatrosses were trailing the ship, swaying side to side like kites – while cloud observations were collected for input into a NASA database.

Passengers were also encouraged to photograph the tailfins of whales and submit the pictures to happywhale.org. “Each humpback has a unique fluke pattern so they can be identified,” said Annette Bombosch, our onboard marine mammal expert. One humpback, she told us, was recorded to have travelled 8,904km from Antarctica to Tonga. But is citizen science really valuable to scientists? “For sure,” Annette reassured.

“They benefit from this data because they cannot always be in Antarctica due to its remoteness and cost.”

A LAND BEYOND IMAGINATION

It was around 4am when we finally crossed the Gerlache Strait, the channel separating the offshore islands of the Palmer Archipelago from the Antarctic Peninsula itself. Dawn was a fuzzy half-flight when I grabbed a coffee, shrugged against the chill and joined fellow passengers on deck, wide-eyed with wonder.Within a bay of dark volcanic peaks that poked above amphitheatrical glaciers and snowfields, the tide was sluggish, congested by a graveyard of house-sized icebergs. I found myself trying to describe their shapes; Frank Worsley, Shackleton’s legendary navigator, saw ‘gondolas steered by giraffes’ and ‘ducks sailing on crocodile heads’. They can be whatever your imagination allows – although I was shaken from my own imaginings by a gunshot-like crack: a glacier calving in a slow-motion concertina, triggering avalanches upslope.

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Splashdown A humpback breaches off the Antarctic Peninsula

ANTARCTICA

Little can prepare you for this, Antarctica’s frosted monochromatic world; its overwhelming coalescence of cold, beauty, purity and stillness. But then there are the bluebird days, when the continent’s unpredictable weather yields sunshine, and everything is blue except your mood: the sky, the ocean, the diaphanous ice refracting the colours above. However, seven years on from my previous visit, the snowscape was now washed with more red and green algae, symptomatic of warmer melting days. Only the week before I arrived, the peninsula hit record summer highs of 20°C. We spent seven days exploring this fractured landscape, with twice-daily excursions, either landing on pebbled beaches or taking Zodiac cruises. One day we disembarked at Port Lockroy to visit Bransfield House, home to the world’s most southerly post office. Lauren Elliot, a volunteer from Portsmouth, said they’d franked a record 65,000 postcards from 14,000 visitors this summer. It was March, late in the tourist season. And late for penguins too – most juveniles had

already fledged. However, just outside the post office a few moulting gentoos regurgitated smelly krill-infused paste to their late hatchlings beneath a Union Flag.

Danger lurked offshore for these youngsters. As I watched an adolescent gentoo honing its swimming, a stealthy leopard seal ghosted into the shallows, snatched it up and repeatedly smashed it on the water to remove its feathers. Kelp gulls swept down to gather flying guts mid-air while Wilson’s storm petrels hopped daintily on the water’s surface, supping the fatty film. Amid the kerfuffle I barely noticed a fast-swimming minke whale barrelling through the icy waters.

Tag alongs

(top) Whale taggers tag a humpback; (bottom) Seabirds off the ship’s bow are a common sight in the Southern Ocean

IN PARADISE

Yet it was humpback whales that stole the show and held me in utter rapture. It started the next day, in Cuverville Bay. Their slow, deliberate, arching dives and the loud exhalations from their double blowholes had us rushing from port to starboard and back with excitement. ⊲

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Heads up Humpbacks lunge-feeding in the icy waters

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Daniel and his team tagged the first of five whales they were licensed to sample. A second Zodiac was driven by bioacoustician Professor Joe Warren, who monitored krill density by echolocation and sampled seawater for DMS via a complex device way beyond my comprehension. By mapping the tagged humpbacks’ movements and syncing the data with krill and DMS densities the scientists can begin to theorise if any relationship exists between the two.

“We got very little data,” Daniel said later, during an alfresco lunch on the upper deck in glorious sunshine. “The whale we tagged was fat and healthy and spent much of its time sleeping. We needed it to dive and feed, but it made little effort before the tag came off.” He suggested the whale was in peak condition to make the epic migration north to tropical calving grounds off South America’s coasts.

Over the following few days, it was showtime. Anchored at breakfast in Paradise Harbour, we watched humpbacks breach like space rockets, exploding from the deep, corkscrewing backwards, hanging momentarily in the air and then crashing back down, sending icy pearls of spray skywards. “Researchers have recorded this behaviour when another group is some distance away and conditions are windy so their vocalisation undersea cannot be heard but splashing can,” said Kylie Owen, our humpback expert.

Breaches occurred throughout the morning as Paradise Harbour lived up to its name. We also marvelled at blueeyed shags skimming by blinding-white tidewater glaciers and at seals hauled out on ice pedestals: South Georgia fur seals, Weddell seals, crabeater seals. Minke whales crashed the party again, hurtling along like turbo-charged dolphins.

Three days beyond the Lemaire Channel, we emerged into Wilhelmina Bay. Here, humpbacks spy-hopped through floating brash ice. I watched one whale circumnavigate the ship, its large barnacled head bobbing out of the ocean, full of curiosity at this metal intrusion into its world. “Textbooks say they do not swim in brash ice, but these are,” Kylie shrugged. “There’s so much we still don’t know about them.”

With livelier whales around, the scientists recorded better data. Their final four tagged whales repeatedly dived while spikes of krill DMS were detected. Data taken from the ⊲

Beyond blue

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(clockwise from this) A vast blue iceberg off the north-east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula; a blueeyed shag dries off; humpback spouts off on the horizon; a glacier breaks up at tidal level

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tags’ accelerometers proved feeding was taking place as it showed the whales accelerating and then decelerating on their dives – the huge baleen plates, which they open to feed, act like a handbrake, causing them to slow.

Our own citizen science efforts included sampling phytoplankton during Zodiac cruises for the FjordPhyto survey run by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Microscopic phytoplankton obtain energy through photosynthesis and are recognised to be an important source of carbon capture in global oceans. With cold hands I collected samples, plunging test tubes into the seawater. The data contributes towards a project examining how phytoplankton flourish in changing ocean temperatures. Back onboard we analysed the organisms under microscopes, which revealed science-fiction-looking critters from a parallel Lilliputian world.

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FULL STEAM AHEAD

The irony of seeing so many humpbacks in Wilhelmina Bay wasn’t lost for we also saw former Norwegian whaling vessel the SS Guvernøren here, rusting on the glaciated shore. Her bow and bridge poked above water. “In 1915 it caught fire and the captain beached it to save the cargo of 3,500 tonnes of whale oil,” said our ship historian, Pablo Brandeman.

Throughout this voyage the beaches lay scattered with whalebone reminders of Antarctica’s darker past. Before whaling was banned here, the scale of slaughter was horrific. Humpbacks were targeted because they swim close to the surface, but whalers also turned their attention to blue whales, which

were pushed almost to extinction. Now, humpbacks may be back to 95% of their pre-whaling population, while recently 55 blue whales were recorded in a survey off South Georgia.

The world’s second-largest species, the fin whale, accompanied the Hebridean Sky as we finally left the peninsula for the South Shetland Islands.The scientists were content with their tagging and data although, in his last lecture, Daniel reiterated that the study had a long way to go to prove anything. If humpbacks do possess chemical smell it may only be useful over hundreds of metres, which doesn’t explain how they migrate thousands of kilometres to find krill. “Only when we understand how whales hunt can we consider issues like how climate change may affect their prey distribution,” he concluded.

We made one final landing, at Robert Point, a stony beach inside the wall of an ancient volcano. It wriggled with life: young fur seals jousted and chinstrap penguins hurried between the sea and their nests as predatory skuas harassed their chicks. Obesely blubbery elephant seals reared their heads only to yawn, which seemed to require great effort. It was a parting reminder of how alive the extraordinary Antarctic ecosystem is. And, while the spectacle of wildlife-watching had been enthralling, I felt true satisfaction being part of a broader effort to better understand the region.

The Drake Passage lay ahead. A world in the grip of a pandemic beyond it. Distant blowholes accompanied our journey north, the humpbacks beginning the long migration to their calving grounds without the hinderance of Captain Ahab, just a vast expanse of open ocean. ⊲

The tail end of the journey (clockwise from this) Humpback whale fluke, Wilhelmina Bay; crabeater seal on ice; wreck of the SS Guvernøren off Enterprise Island; gentoo penguin gang on Cuverville Island

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The author travelled with Audley Travel (01993 838615, audleytravel.com/ antarctica). Audley Travel offers 15-night, tailor-made citizen-science adventure trips to Antarctica operated by expedition experts Polar Latitudes (polar-latitudes.com), starting from £9,995pp, including 12 nights aboard an expedition vessel on a full board basis, two nights in Buenos Aires and one night in Ushuaia (both on a B&B basis), all flights and transfers.

Vital statistics

Capital: None Population: Around 4,000 seasonal scientific staff Languages: International Time: GMT-3 (Antarctic Peninsula) International dialling code: None Visas: Not required by UK nationals Money: No currency. Port Lockroy shop takes UK sterling, euros, US dollars and credit cards.

When to go

The heart of Antarctica experiences some of the most extreme conditions on earth – the lowest temperature recoded at Vostok Research Station is -89°C. The Antarctic Peninsula is milder due to its proximity to South America.

November Tourist season begins, running to March; milder temperatures and ice-free bays. January is usually the warmest month (averaging 1-2°C) although February 2020 recorded a record 20°C. Late December-mid-February Three species of penguins (gentoo, Adélie, chinstrap) rear chicks in large colonies.

February-March Ideal time to watch whales feeding before they migrate; many seals hauled out on ice.

April-October Antarctica off-limits to most visitors except overwintering scientists; temperature can drop to -50°C.

Health & safety

No specific vaccinations are required.

Travel is not unduly arduous but, if you have a pre-existing condition, pack adequate medication and take out insurance

that covers emergency medical evacuation (the South Shetland has an airstrip).

Summer temperatures are not savage but warm clothing is essential. Pack sea sickness tablets – the Drake Passage is often rough.

Getting there & around

LATAM (0800 026 0728, latam.com) flies from London to Ushuaia via São Paolo or Buenos Aires from around £1,169pp. Flight time is around 24 hours, including stops. Allow two nights in Ushuaia pre-cruise to safeguard against flight cancellations.

Most visitors travel to Antarctica via expedition cruise from Ushuaia.

Excursions are made by inflatable Zodiacs.

Cost of travel

Make no bones about it, visiting Antarctica is pricy. Voyages to the Antarctic Peninsula are the most economical option; trips typically take 12-14 days. Prices vary widely, depending on your cabin choice (lower-deck cabins are cheaper than upperdeck suites); bear in mind that most of your time will be spent outside of your cabin.

Budget-conscious travellers can find lastminute deals in Ushuaia, potentially sharing with complete strangers. Onboard, money is only required for alcoholic drinks and staff tips.

Accommodation

Arakur Resort & Spa (arakur.com) is a hilltop property set above Ushuaia, with sensational views down the Beagle Channel. B&B doubles cost from around US$228 (£193) in cruise season. ⊲

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Passengers are usually given a waterproof expedition jacket to keep and are loaned fleece-lined rubber boots, the only real option for both slushy snow and wet landings – and using these means your own footwear won’t return smelling of penguin poo.

Thermal underwear, a neck buff, a warm hat, thick gloves, liner gloves and waterproof trousers are essential. Easily removable layers are helpful – you may warm up during land activities. Consider ski-goggles if you wear glasses. Take lip balm too.

Further reading & information

8 ANTARCTIC PENINSULA HIGHLIGHTS

1 Port Lockroy

This former British scientific base hosts a museum where visitors can send a postcard to a loved one (for £2) from the world’s most southerly post office (pictured right).

2

Cuverville Island

Glaciated mountainous island in the Errera Channel, discovered by a Belgian expedition (1897-99), possessing vertical cliffs and a large gentoo colony.

5 Recess Cove

Fabulous and infrequently visited beach, charted by explorer Adrien de Gerlache, where seals haul out and fish in the shallows.

Antarctica: A Guide to the Wildlife (Bradt, 2018) by Tony Soper – A thorough wildlife guide packed with colour and interesting facts.

An Unsung Hero (Collins, 2009) by Michael Smith – An account of overlooked Irish polar explorer, Tom Crean, who served with Shackleton during the legendary Endurance expedition.

3

7 Wilhelmina Bay

WANDERLUST RECOMMENDS • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution – whoi.edu/ocean-encounters/ • Our Planet ‘Frozen Worlds’ on YouTube– youtube.com/watch?v=cTQ3Ko9ZKg8 • Wanderlust travel guide to Antartica– www.wanderlustmagazine.com

It was near this Argentine science base that, in 1921/1922, two British researchers, Bagshawe and Lester, spent a year living beneath an upturned boat. Whales abound offshore in Paradise Harbour.

4 Lemaire Channel

8 Robert Point

Base Brown

Truly dramatic 11km-long channel dotted with icebergs and flanked by lofty dark cliffs.

6 Enterprise Island

Site of the SS Guvernøren wreck and extensive historical reminders of the whaling industry.

Astonishing glacial bay, often full of feeding humpback and minke whales, seals and blue-eyed shags.

Volcanic beach in South Shetland with high densities of chinstrap penguins, elephant seals and skuas.

Map by Scott Jessop

What to pack

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Ancient delights (from top to bottom) The village of Mellieha; St John’s Cathedral; local rabbit loin

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MALTA

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rom Crusaders to pirates, everyone has always wanted a piece of Malta.

It’s little wonder. Nearconstant sunshine, crystalline seas and majestic, fortified cities speak to a long history and a vibrant present. Exploring its three islands is the perfect way to get back in the adventure travel spirit…

Grab a taste of local life

Maltese cuisine reflects its Mediterranean and Arabic roots, dished up in old taverns where fenek (rabbit) and braġjoli (beef olives) stews accompany a slew of pastas. Be sure to try Gozo’s famed gbejna cheese: creamy and mozzarella-like when fresh but just as often served

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peppered, dried then soaked in vinegar, affording a sharp tang dulled by olives, tomatoes and hunks of herby Gozitan sausage.

You can also enjoy a taste of history at Malta’s museums. Taste History is a new project where curators and chefs have teamed up to recreate ancient Maltese dishes, giving you the chance to sample the surprising flavours.

Recent years have seen Malta’s culinary reputation soar, and even Michelin come calling.

Starred restaurants now include Valletta’s playful Noni, which takes rustic Maltese influences and mines them for flavour, and Under Grain, which finds ample room for expression in a menu of unfussy Med staples. Lastly, head to Mdina for the island’s final star, where hotel restaurant De Mondion serves up more formal Mediterranean delights amid the stoic walls of the ‘Silent City’.

Sink into history

Speaking of walls, the Knights of St John, a crusading medieval religious order, still loom large over the history and citadels

of Malta. They governed here for nearly three centuries, weathering sieges and pirates, raising the defences of the mainland’s fortified capital, Valletta, as well as the city of Mdina.

Strolling Valletta’s UNESCOlisted old town today still affords glimpses of their largesse, from the Grandmaster’s Palace to the Co-Cathedral, a plain-sided outer hiding a grand, gilded Baroque interior designed to humble even those of Rome. Masterpieces of the age adorn its walls, and a new museum devoted to its collection

Visit Malta; Shutterstock

WHY SHOULD BE TOP OF YOUR POST-LOCKDOWN TRAVEL LIST

of artworks speaks to the city’s time as a medieval cultural hub.

A short drive south of Valletta reveals a history beyond even Malta’s golden age. The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, a 6,000-yearold subterranean burial chamber so delicate that no more 80 visitors a day may enter, is one of several UNESCO-listed ancient sites, including Gozo’s megalithic Ggantija temple, thought to be the oldest free-standing man-made structure in the world.

Watery wonders (clockwise from this) Malta’s coastline and bays; Cugó Gran Macina Grand Harbour Hotel; snorkelling in the Blue Lagoon; rooftop pool at 66 St Paul’s; Embassy Valletta Hotel

Cool off underwater

Malta, and Gozo in particular, is famed for its diving, and it consistently ranks in the top two places in the world at the Dive Magazine Awards. Waters are warmest between July and October, but are diveable year round, with many gently sloping shores making it ideal for beginners. PADI qualifications can be earned from the age of 10 amid dramatic sites such as Gozo’s Mgarr ix-Xini Bay or the shallow labyrinthine channels off the salt pans of Xwejni.

More advanced divers can explore the wrecks. A Blenheim bomber that ditched off the southern mainland coast in 1941 is a popular spot, its wings and engine still intact—even its tyres remain pumped. Others flock to Dwerja’s ‘blue hole’ on Gozo, a sheltered entrance for exploring the drop-off and reef below, or skip north to Cathedral Cave, which sees you emerge in an

underwater dome the size of that of London’s St Paul’s.

Go wild

Adventurers will find their feet on the coast. Comino, a tiny island and former smuggler’s hideout between the main island and Gozo, makes for scenic kayaking trips. Visit its Blue Lagoon,

squeeze in a bit of snorkelling, then dry off on the island trail.

Quieter waters can be found further north around Qbajjar, paddling past old salt pans still in use today and brightly coloured boathouses dug into the rock.

On foot, there’s plenty of coastal walking to be found on the mainland. Trails skim the cliffs of Dingli, stretching down past Bronze-Age villages and mysterious ‘cart ruts’ (ancient tracks carved into the rock) to the megalithic sites of the west.

Find your place

Visit Malta; Shutterstock

After, relax in the classical streets of Valletta. Its old town is riddled with 16th and 17th-century palazzos adorned by boxed balconies. In recent years these buildings have taken on a new life as boutique stays, with the elegant 66 St Paul’s typical of the style, its handful of rooms wrapping a cool, quiet internal stone courtyard.

For more information, visit: visitmalta.com

Modern-style hotels exist in the old town, too. Over on the once notorious Strait Street, an alley dubbed ‘the gut’ back in its hedonistic heyday, the new Embassy Valletta Hotel joins its collection of hip bars. The huge rooftop infinity pool offers a stylish and scenic way to cool down after a day of exploring.

For locals, Malta’s countryside is a popular escape, with many of its old farmhouses converted into plush B&Bs. But if you want peace and style, across the bay from Valletta lies sleepy Senglea.

Here the Cugó Gran Macina Grand Harbour has been cleverly whittled from the bones of the old fortifications. Fine restaurants and a rooftop terrace perched atop the old bastion afford unmatched views over the ancient harbour.

The perfect finale to any visit.

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Arizona architecture Visitors in Sedona take in the view

25 places plotting a

GREENER FUTURE

While travel’s on hold, enlightened destinations are looking towards more responsible forms of tourism. We look at those vowing to build back better…

Words Holly Tuppen

adventure hub puts residents first 1 Arizona USA

The small city of Sedona, which sits amid Arizona’s spectacular buttes, canyons and pine forests, had the classic problem of many similar tourism gateways: horrendous over-crowding during peak season. But since 2019, it has worked with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council to establish how residents and visitors can co-exist. The plan includes no-fly zones over residential areas for helicopter tours, improving walking-and-cycling routes and traffic flow, and better public transport. It also features the Sedona Cares Pledge, which asks tourists to be mindful of their noise, leave no trace, minimise water use and be caring and considerate at all times. visitsedona.com/sustainable-tourism-plan ⊲

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The laidback Okanagan Valley is often overlooked in favour of British Columbia’s showier headline acts like the Rockies and Vancouver Island. But that’s missing a trick. This landscape of furrowed canyons, dense forest and semi-desert grasslands protects some of Canada’s most fragile biodiversity.

Also, the region has long championed responsible tourism that works alongside communities, supporting local makers and producers along

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Yellow vines, Blue Mountains, green projects (clockwise from this) Blue Mountain Vineyard in autumn, Okanagan Valley; bison in Romania’s Tarcu mountains; Portelet Harbour, Guernsey; shopping in Cartagena

the way. The Okanagan is Canada’s primary wine-producing region and, in 2021, will be home to the largest percentage of organic wines in the world. At wineries such as Cedar Creek, which makes 27 organic wines, foraging and tasting experiences help visitors understand the organic transition. cedarcreek.bc.ca; hellobc.com

dollars stay local 3 Tourist COLOMBIA

The devastating effects of 2020’s travel pause have sparked a renewed drive to ensure that tourism revenue goes to locals rather than international companies. Two projects underway in Colombia are doing just that. Portia Hart, the owner of Blue Apple Beach Club, has launched an Insider’s Guide to Cartagena’s best locally owned restaurants, bars and shops across the city’s colourful streets. Meanwhile, Much Better Adventures has been busy plotting off-the-beaten-track trips with Expedition Colombia, which helped save the Semana River from damming and has trained former FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) members in guiding. blueapplebeach.com; muchbetteradventures.com

boosts on-foot adventures 4 Guernsey CHANNEL ISLANDS

Meandering around the edges of five islands, the new Islands of Guernsey Way will help visitors appreciate the diversity of landscapes and wildlife across the bailiwick on foot. The 80kmish path ranges around Guernsey, Herm, Sark, Alderney and little Lihou, taking in everything from quaint Portelet Harbour, where wild waves blow in across thousands of miles of uninterrupted Atlantic, and the L’Eree Aerodrome – Guernsey’s first airfield, which is now the Colin Best Nature Reserve. A free app provides all the information needed to piece together an adventure, including commentary on history, culture and folklore, circular routes and buses. Visit Guernsey lists places to stay along the way. visitguernsey.com

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5 Bison return to the Carpathians ROMANIA

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Europe is losing its wilderness: less than 2% of the continent remains in its original, natural state.

One organisation on a mission to turn back time and restore the balance is Romania’s Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC), which hopes to make Romania a world-leading conservation success story. In 2020, the rewilding initiative took a giant leap forward with the reintroduction of over 20 bison to the Făgăraș Mountains, after more than 200 years since their disappearance. The bison provide a key role in ecosystem restoration, naturally churning up trees, plants and soils. Working directly with the FCC, Steppes’ Wildlife Conservation in Carpathia trip offers the opportunity to see the foundation’s work firsthand, and includes a £500 contribution to the project. carpathia.org; steppestravel.com ⊲

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South American country creates 6 colossal wildlife corridor BELIZE

Big cats such as jaguars are under threat throughout South and Central America since forest destruction reduces space for the apex predators to roam and hunt. Thanks to a protection order signed by the Belize Government in 2019, change is hopefully on the way.

Connecting the protected landscapes of Belize’s Maya Mountains and the tri-national Maya Forest of Belize, Mexico and Guatemala, the Maya Forest Corridor will create the most extensive continuous stretch of jungle in Central America. Other animals that will benefit include spider monkeys, tapirs and river turtles. Help fund the conservation effort by staying at Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, which is part of the wildlife corridor and a critical not-for-profit partner of the vision. monkeybaybelize.com

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slows down 7 Menorca SPAIN

Sun, sand and parties may spring to mind when thinking of Spain’s Balearic Islands, but a long-overdue image makeover is putting Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca on the map for slower, greener trips. The entire island of Menorca is a designated UNESCO

Biosphere Reserve, and a series of historic walking and horse-riding routes (Camí de Cavalls) has been revamped to lure visitors to places they wouldn’t usually go. Slow food is big on the agenda, too, especially since the island has been awarded the European Region of Gastronomy 2022 title. New trips and tours from Farmers Way and Slow Travel Menorca focus on the island’s fish, cheese, olive and wine heritage, supporting local producers and old-world farms with mindful production methods. slowtravelmenorca.com; farmersandco.es/farmers-way; menorca.es

Canaries get serious about cetaceans 8 The SPAIN

While it’s magical to see cetaceans in the wild, too much interference from noise, pollution and people can disorientate, stress and, in the worst cases, kill whales and dolphins.

Several years ago the Canary Islands established a Blue Boat Badge scheme to help tourists identify wildlife tour providers that are conducting trips responsibly; the badge criteria were updated in 2020 to ensure the boats adhere to the latest ethical practices.

In January 2021, the Tenerife-La Gomera marine area also became the first European destination to gain Whale Heritage Site status, making it one of the world’s most sustainable whale-watching spots. Wild Sea offers a collection of marine experiences across the Canary Islands that focus on education rather than exploitation. wildsea.eu

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Spotted in Central America (clockwise from left) Jaguar in Belize; Camí de Cavalls, Menorca; Amsterdam’s once notorious red-light district; sperm whale, Tenerife

reclaim Amsterdam 9 Locals NETHERLANDS

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Amsterdam’s waterways, leafy parks and cycle culture have always appealed to greenminded souls. Yet, pre-pandemic, tourism had become almost unbearable to residents. The medieval cobbled streets of De Wallen – the city’s infamous red-light district – were overrun with gawping visitors. Thanks to 2020’s break from the influx, the city has voted to shutter De Wallen, moving the sex-workers elsewhere and resetting the city’s reputation. Cleaner, greener activities include Plastic Whale’s canal tours, which take guests on three-hour expeditions to clean up plastic while cruising through the city. ⊲ plasticwhale.com;

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Ancient art A guide elaborates on Aboriginal cave art found in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory

SUSTAINABLE EXPERIENCES

board advocates Aboriginal experiences 10 Tourist AUSTRALIA

Australia’s national tourist board has spent several years building up a portfolio of Aboriginal run-and-led experiences under the umbrella Discover Aboriginal Experiences.

From the Kimberley to New South Wales, each trip and tour is vetted to ensure empowerment and equality rather than exploitation, showcasing the heritage, wisdom and modern-day life of the oldest civilisation on the planet. New additions include exploring the creeks and tidal flats of Western Australia’s Dampier Peninsula, with fourth-generation Bardi man Terry Hunter, and 4WD adventures with proud Wiradjuri Mark Saddler, whose ancestors have lived in the now heavily-farmed Riverina region of New South Wales for 40,000 years. ⊲ australia.com

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Swisstainable in slow Switzerland 13 Going

If there’s one skill we’ve finessed in the past year of restricted movements, it’s picnicking. When we’re able to travel again, switch limp sandwiches on over-familiar park benches for a bite of nthochi (banana bread) on the shores of Lake Malawi or overlooking the cedar forests of the Zomba Massif.

Thanks to community-minded safari company Land & Lake, picnic sites across Malawi are getting a makeover while being put back into the hands of those that live close to them.

Land & Lake provides money to local communities to signpost and maintain the picnic sites, which are then managed to suit local needs. Money received from visitors will go back to communities to keep picnic sites functioning for the benefit of all. landlake.net

From an impeccable rail service to its hydro power, Switzerland’s always near the top of sustainability rankings yet it’s never shouted about its achievements.

Its new ‘Swissstainable’ programme is inviting accommodations, attractions and transport to list a Swisstainable level – either one, two, or three – while visitors are encouraged to enjoy the benefits of slow travelling through the country, taking their time to discover its nature and local culture. Spanning landscapes from the rocky steppes of Pfyn-Finges Nature Park to Thal Nature Park’s castles and valleys, the Swiss Parcs are a good starting point for a deep delve into the country; if you want a more expansive yet equally intimate journey, La Route Verte is a new e-bike route that spans six Regional Nature Parks throughout the north-western Jura region. myswitzerland.com bicycle-mountain-bike/bicycle-tours

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help the mountains 12 Hikers GEORGIA & ARMENIA

Since 2015, the Transcaucasian Trail initiative has been carving out a walking route across one of the world’s most biologically, culturally and linguistically diverse regions. Spanning Georgia and Armenia, the 3,000km route will, once finished, not only improve access to the landscapes and heritage of the Caucasus Mountains, but also secure their protection. The trail network, which comprises many paths that have been used by villagers and shepherds for centuries, will connect 24 national parks, from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. Current trip possibilities include ten-day and two-week adventures on existing parts of the trail and volunteering opportunities. All profits are fed back into the cause. transcaucasiantrail.org

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Leading the way (clockwise from above) Manuel Antonio NP, Costa Rica; maned wolf, Pantanal; Georgia; Malawi; Switzerland

parks ban single-use plastic 14 National COSTA RICA

Long considered a world leader when it comes to sustainable travel, Costa Rica generates more than 99% of its electricity via renewable sources and has devised a Pura Vida Pledge to encourage visitors to ensure their trip is as responsible as possible. In February 2021, the country went one step further, banning all single-use plastics in national parks and reserves.

Visitors can support the plastic-free movement by booking a trip with Cayuga Collection. From Kurà Hotel in the Uvita rainforest to the vibrant bungalows of Hotel Aguas Claras on the Caribbean coast, this group of lodges hasn’t used single-use plastic for ten years, even managing to avoid them through the pandemic.

Impressive initiatives include persuading suppliers to cut their plastic use, prioritising homemade and homegrown produce, and innovating where solutions don’t yet exist. cayugacollection.com

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pick up on picnicking 11 Communities

15 Eco-lodge defends the Cerrado BRAZIL

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Covering more than 20% of Brazil, the Cerrado is considered the country’s forgotten biome. Despite being relatively unknown, it’s essential for Brazilian wildlife, holding sizeable underground water reserves. One lodge, Pousada Trijunção, uses tourism revenue to protect its 33,000-hectare patch of this endangered environment, to safeguard jaguars and maned wolves, and to raise awareness around why the destruction of the Cerrado for agriculture must stop. One alternative to this is regenerative food production; Trijunção leads the way with a low carbon Brazilian beef trial and helps farmers yield better produce using less land, ultimately preventing deforestation. pousadatrijuncao.com.br ⊲

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communities get their share 16 Caribbean

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The largest archipelago in the Bahamas, Andros is a dazzling cluster of islets, cays, mangroves, seagrass, swamplands and the world’s highest concentration of enigmatic blue holes (a diver’s dream). Tourism here has traditionally been resort-based and international-owned but, thanks to the new Andros Community Based Tourism Initiative, there’s a renewed push to ensure local communities get their fair share of visitor revenue.

The project comprises 57 small businesses and ten charities working together to co-fund low-impact ecotourism opportunities from birding to traditional medicine tours. While the project gets online, find similar experiences on the Bahamas National Trust site or Caribbean-led green experiences on See the Caribbean. bnt.bs/explore; seethecaribbean.org

Blue Bahamas (clockwise from this) Andros Island, Bahamas; the Women Rockin Pamirs guides; art in Folkstone

first art geo-tour will offer a sociallydistanced dose of creativity too: seven new outdoor sculptures will be dotted around the vibrant Kent, Essex and East Sussex shores, with each piece reflecting its unique location. Visitors can happily stumble upon them or plan itineraries with England’s Creative Coast, which also feature cultural tours, places to stay, activities and experiences with local makers. englandscreativecoast.com

The travel industry can open up a world of opportunity for women, especially in destinations where they remain tied to traditional roles.

A heartening example is Women Rockin Pamirs, a charity that helps Tajik ladies understand their potential and take up mountain guiding.

Although trips paused through 2020, training continued; seminars covering biodiversity, climate awareness and conservation received record interest. Adventure specialist Untamed Borders runs Trekking Tajikistan trips guided by women who have graduated from the programme. womenrockinpamirs.org/en; untamedborders.com ⊲

Coast moves art outside 17 Creative

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Stretching 1,400km from the Thames Estuary to the Channel, the England’s Creative Coast project was originally conceived to open up the south-east’s artistic heritage to a greater number of people, promoting its wealth of galleries, studios, workshops and cultural events. This year, the UK’s

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turn to ecotourism 19 Landowners

fisherman fights back 20 Cyclades

The rugged Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in northern Mexico is vast and varied. Ranging from 260m to 3,100m above sea level, encompassing 15 habitat types and supporting a wealth of wildlife – including jaguar, black bears, otters, macaws and toucans – it is one of Mexico’s most significant ecosystems. Despite being a designated UNESCO reserve, the region is mostly privately owned and slash-and-burn agriculture and cattle rearing are huge threats.

However, ecotourism organisations such as Sierra Gorda Ecotours, which works alongside the Sierra Gorda Conservation Alliance, are experiencing an upturn in interest from landowners wanting to protect their patch via ecotourism. Virtual tours, a new online shop and smaller, socially-distanced experiences are also keeping revenue coming in despite COVID-19. sierragordaecotours.com

The sun-kissed Cyclades islands are home to some of Greece’s finest tavernas: think soft sand, sparklingsea views, cold beer in hand, the daily catch smoking on the grill.

Fishing and tourism dominate livelihoods here, and last year one young fisherman, Lefteris Arapakis,

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won a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Young Champion of the Earth prize for taking action to make both more sustainable. Having noticed fish stocks declining, Arapakis set up Enaleia, an organisation providing education about sustainable practices and the dangers of overfishing to locals. The initiative is funded by the Cyclades Preservation Fund, which is also working to reduce plastic waste. Visitors can immerse themselves in the islands’ natural wonders in a low-impact way on Responsible Travel’s series of Cyclades nature tours. cycladespreservationfund.org; responsibletravel.com

city earns Green Capital status 21 Ski FINLAND

Sitting on Lake Vesijärvi, one hour by train from Helsinki, the city of Lahti is a winter sports hub and an eco pioneer. Thanks to more than ten years dedicated to greening up its infrastructure, including a plan to be zero waste by 2050 and carbonneutral by 2025, it’s been named European Green Capital for 2021.

Plus a new urban City Skis programme (like Boris Bikes for skis) allows the free sharing of equipment, providing an affordable and sustainable way to enjoy the snow. Visit Finland’s Trip Planner tool allows you to plan a sustainable trip to the Lakeland region, encompassing its green-certified accommodations, shops and activities, including Slow Food menus, eco fashion boutiques and lakeside log cabins relying entirely on renewables. greenlahti.fi/en; trip-planner.visitfinland.com ⊲

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Green Greece (clockwise from above) Fisherman on the Cyclades’ coastline; chatting

by Lake Vesijärvi; Cascada El Chuveje, Sierra Gorda

gets serious about carbon 22 Scotland UK

In late 2020, Scotland became the first national tourist board to Declare a Climate Emergency, signing up to Tourism Declares, a collective hoping to shrink tourism’s hefty carbon footprint.

Visit Scotland’s vision includes encouraging accommodations to use more local suppliers and improving the nation’s public transport network – ideal for slower, more authentic experiences.

Flight-free travel operator By Way – launched in 2020 – can arrange a seamless, low-carbon rail and ferry Scotland adventure, whisking you from Glasgow’s bars to eco isolation on the off-grid Isle of Eigg. tourismdeclares.com; byway.travel

reforestation provides wildlife hope 23 Sabah MALAYSIA

The state of Sabah in northern Borneo is a wildlife wonderland: endangered orangutans, proboscis monkeys, saltwater crocodiles, hornbills, pygmy elephants and many other species make their homes in its dense rainforests and snaking rivers. Logging and palm oil plantations are a constant threat here, but reforestation projects are helping to restore habitats. Recent success stories include the Bukit Piton Forest Reserve; heavily logged in the past, it has now been replanted with over 300,000 trees and hundreds

of orangutans are thought to have moved back in. Visitor contributions to tree planting and maintenance are highly encouraged. borneoecotours.com

takes small steps to going green 24 Krakow POLAND

Kraków, Poland’s cultural capital, is now home to 18 ‘pocket parks’ – small, communal patches of greenery, fashioned from formally neglected spaces, that are designed to give residents, visitors and local wildlife a little burst of nature. Some are shaded roadside areas with seating and tables, others are tiny wildflower meadows with stepping-stones and gazebos. For a bigger hit of nature, head 7km out of the city to Wolski Woods, a huge expanse of hilly forest.

Other sustainability-minded travel ideas in Kraków include an Electric Car Tour and a Kazimierz Food Tour, which explores family-run restaurants and street-food in the Old Jewish Quarter. getyourguide.co.uk; viator.com

Pushing forward in Poland (clockwise from above) Take a an electric car tour around Kraków’s highlights, including Wawel Royal Castle; rangers in Kenya; proboscis monkey; Isle of Eigg

(the first time since 1999). This is partly thanks to conservancies using residual funds to keep rangers employed. To ensure rangers receive the training and equipment required to continue doing their vital jobs, conservation advocates Sam Taylor and Pete Newland established For Rangers Adventure in 2020. The tour company donates 40% of all profits to the For Rangers charitable campaign, which currently supports the welfare and training of more than 2,500 rangers across 14 African countries. A nine-day Conservation of Kenya trip includes a visit to Borana Conservancy with the charity’s founders to learn more about Borana-Lewa, which protects 200-plus black and white rhinos. borana.co.ke; forrangersadventures.com

company supports African rangers 25 New Alamy; Shutterstock

KENYA

Despite headlines about poaching being on the rise during the pandemic, the Kenya Wildlife Service reported zero rhino poaching incidents in 2020

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eco friendly trip 7 steps to planning an

In this exclusive extract from Wanderlust’s new book, How to Travel Guilt Free: Essentials Tips for Ethical Travellers, Hazel Plush provides some top tips to make your next trip a green one…

When it comes to sustainability, different countries have different priorities. So if responsible travel really is important to you, take a look at your destination’s eco-credentials before you book. Are its nature reserves outstanding? What’s its stance on single-use plastic? Does it provide an amazing experience without shortchanging the environment?

Find a place whose priorities align with yours. France, for example, was the first country in the world to announce a total ban on the sale of single-use plastic cups, cutlery, plates and take-out boxes. Meanwhile, 90% of Costa Rica’s energy supply is renewable – thanks to its abundant geothermal, wind and hydroelectric resources. It aims to become entirely carbon-neutral by 2050.

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Don’t stick to high season

High season means high prices, but that’s just one con of travelling at peak time. There are more crowds, more strain on resources and – in overtourism pinch points such as Venice and Paris – more tension between locals and visitors.

If you stay out of season, you might sacrifice a few sunny days, but you’ll find your destination much calmer, cheaper and quieter, and you’ll be helping the local economy. Here are some low-season surprises: • The Maldives, in October and November – the rain clouds are clearing, but prices haven’t crept up yet. A great time to grab a bargain.

• Porto, Portugal, in March and April – you’ll find a city that’s in full spring swing before the summer hordes arrive.

•L angkawi, Malaysia, in September and October – days are hot, but afternoons bring short tropical showers while you snooze in a hammock.

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Book with experts

Before you book your trip, quiz your tour operator or travel agent: • What’s their policy on environmental issues, such as singleuse plastic and carbon offsetting?

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• Do they support any charities? If so, what proportion of their profits are donated?

• How do they ensure any wildlife experiences are sustainable?

Thinking green (from top) Eco-lodges in Ecuador; water bottle; hiking in Costa Rica

A good travel company will have a strong stance on all of the above, and even go beyond expectations – by providing its customers with reusable water bottles, for example, or working closely with community outreach projects. They should be able to provide you with solid proof of their

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minimise your carbon footprint, but you’ll have much longer to get under the skin of the country.

6 efforts, too, such as fundraising figures or industry accreditation.

It’s easy to be dazzled by great itineraries, reviews and photography – but think of your booking as an investment. You’re not only securing a great holiday for yourself but ensuring that the people and places you visit will be looked after too. If you spend your money wisely, everybody wins

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Do your research

Those unplanned, impromptu travel experiences can be the stuff of magic – but it also pays to plan in advance because…

•N ot everything is as it seems. Is that wildlife sanctuary really as good as it sounds? Read the reviews, check the critics and make an informed decision.

• You can find the best route. The most obvious one isn’t always the most responsible. Is a domestic flight really necessary – or can you find a lowercarbon alternative?

Where possible, always opt for an eco-conscious hotel. Check its website to see if it has a green mission statement and take a look at online reviews. Also, widen your search on sustainability focused accommodation directories, such as bookdifferent.com – which is recommended by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Its hotel partners must meet strict credentials, such as committing to recycling, reducing energy consumption and working closely with local communities.

And don’t limit yourself to comparison websites – consult guidebooks, blogs and travel magazines, too.

• It’s less faff while you’re away. You won’t be tied to the Wi-Fi, researching your next hotel/activity/destination – and missing out on the here and now.

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Take fewer trips – but stay longer

While it’s tempting to pack your weekends with minibreaks, keep those shorter trips close to home – and save up your annual leave for one big adventure. Not only will you

Be picky about your hotel…

Meeting the locals Helping at an elephant sanctuary; (top right) catching up in Cuba

… or make yourself at home

What about a homestay? By staying with a family, you’ll fit right into local life – with insider advice on where to go, what to eat and how to get around. It’s usually far cheaper than other accommodation options, but your money can change the lives of your hosts. While there are homestays all over the world (check out homestay. com and homestayin.com, as well as airbnb.com), local directories are often the best-connected – such as casaparticularcuba.org in Cuba and lookafterme.co.nz in New Zealand. See if there’s one in your destination, too.

How to Travel Guilt Free: Holiday Tips for Ethical Travellers (£10; Welbeck) is out now

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WIN! £500 OF QUECHUA OR FORCLAZ GEAR

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Decathlon is offering one lucky reader the chance to win £500 worth of Quechua or Forclaz clothing or equipment to help them have a more eco-friendly staycation

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ith the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the summer of 2021 is set to be the season of the staycation. If there’s one thing the last year has taught us, it’s to have a greater appreciation for our travels (and the planet) and outdoor retailer Decathlon couldn’t agree more, offering you the chance to win £500 of eco-friendly clothing or equipment. Here are just three incredible products you could spend your voucher on…

Quechua MH500 jacket

After such a long time away from the UK’s wilds, you may want to head out on a hike around somewhere wild such as the Lake District’s craggy peaks or the barren beauty of the Cairngorms. You’ll need to be prepared for any kind of weather, and the Quechua MH500 walking jacket will be your trusty friend when the heavens open. Dreamt up at the foot of Mont Blanc, it was designed specifically with the fiercest mountain storms in mind and its triple-layer membrane protects you from the heaviest downpours and the strongest winds.

Whatever the weather (and you’re bound to get a mix, even in the height of the British summer), you’ll work up a sweat on your hike but the jacket’s 29cm-long side openings and wicking technology ensures maximum breathability. The compressible Quechua MH500’s feather-like weight (only 538g) not only means it takes up hardly any space in your backpack but it’s also contributed to the jacket’s eco-friendliness. Along with fewer raw materials being used in its creation, its lighter size has led to a reduction of 31% in CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process when compared to its predecessor. In short, the Quechua MH500 is the perfect partner for your next staycation.

Plus loads more products!

Forclaz Trek 100 rucksack

Sometimes rucksacks can have so many features that you don’t know where to start and this can be frustrating when you need to locate something quickly. Thankfully, the Forclaz Trek 100 rucksack prefers simplicity over complexity without compromising on an array of technical features. Developed in partnership with trekkers in the French Alps, its EASYFIT adjustment technology means it can comfortably fit any size or shape of hiker. The rucksack’s durable polyester fabric can not only deal with the everyday rough and tumble of the outdoors but it was dyed using coloured granules rather than being dipped in a dye bath, meaning water consumption and CO2 emissions were reduced by 35% during its making.

Hidden inside, there are five compartments that make it simple to organise your storage, as well as handy access to the bottom of the rucksack. A number of versatile outer pockets also make it easy to reach for your water bottle when you want to cool down while traversing the South Downs National Park or blanket your pack with a rain cover when the clouds open over the Yorkshire Dales. The Forclaz Trek 100 is a piece of kit you can rely on when you need it.

Visit Malta; Shutterstock

The list of eco-friendly and highquality clothing and equipment available at Decathlon goes on and on! Scan the code to explore the full range now.

Quechua 2 Seconds Easy Tent

When we’re finally able to enjoy the UK’s wilderness once more, we’re going to want to make the most of every second. That’s where the Quechua 2 Seconds Easy Tent comes in.

As its name suggests, it takes the blink of an eye to erect, making it ideal for those impulse overnighters under the stars. Its Fresh & Black patented fabric, which promises 99% darkness even on the sunniest of days, and mechanical air vents will ensure a cool and comfortable night’s sleep anywhere in the country. The fabric itself has been dope dyed, an ecofriendly method that uses fewer chemicals, less energy and minimises wastewater. If you’re worried its time-saving abilities means less durability and quality then you needn’t be, as the tent’s wind resistance of up to 50km/h and waterproofness of up to 5,000mm mean that it can stand up to harsh conditions.

It’s the following morning when you’ll realise the tent’s true worth. You’ll wake up feeling refreshed from a great night’s sleep (not always guaranteed when camping) before revelling in the fact you won’t need to fight with your tent to take it down. With the Quechua 2 Seconds Easy Tent, you’ll be lacing up and hitting the trail again in no time.

HOW TO ENTER

Decathlon is offering one lucky reader the chance to win £500 worth of Quechua or Forclaz clothing and/or equipment. For your chance to win, simply answer the following question: When was Quechua founded?

A) 1987 B) 1997 C) 2007 To enter and for full terms, conditions and data policies, go to wanderlustmagazine.com/competitions. Closing date: 16 June 2021.

To enter the competition, visit: wanderlustmagazine.com/competitions

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FINDING MANA IN

French Polynesia Five archipelagos, 118 islands, countless patches of ocean heaven... With our trip planner, we help you get your head around exploring the pristine Pacific Words Celeste Brash

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the waterworld beneath me again, where fish of every colour swam below and sharks slunk slowly, uninterested in the humans hovering above them.

Five minutes later, after spotting a sea turtle, several barracuda and countless green parrotfish, we found ourselves inside the lagoon where the blues of the shallower water lightened to a glowing turquoise. The ride had been too fast.

I wished I could do it all over again.

Just as I drifted by the left-hand beach of the inner pass, still feeling a tinge of disappointment, a manta ray glided towards me as if the strong current didn’t exist. Its graceful triangular wings must have been 5m wide and, right by its side, its baby, a perfect replica in miniature. I was face to face with two of the most spectacular creatures I’d ever seen. I kept my body motionless and let the current take me closer to the mother and child. Eventually they spotted me, slowly turned right, then sped up in unison, flying towards the middle of the lagoon. It felt like they were my welcome committee.

Mana, the sacred force that brings everything together in the islands, was in those manta rays, in the waters around me, in the flower-scented air above. I could feel it. In this moment of awe, I understood. Everything about my passage through the pass, the water and its denizens was perfect. ⊲

Dive into French Polynesia (clockwise from this) Many islands, mixed bag: across French Polynesia you can swim with manta rays, visit coral cathedrals, watch weavers at work, sail into calm lagoons and engage with local culture

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jumped off our small skiff into the sapphire ocean outside of the pass into Ahe Atoll. Immediately, through my mask, I spotted a school of jacks, their bodies glistening silver and gold in the surface-filtered light, their electric-blue edges making them look more of sea than in it.

In a moment, the jacks were far behind. The current propelled me and my three fellow snorkellers towards the lagoon so fast it felt like a carnival ride. The water was glass-clear, so I could see straight to the bottom – at least 20m down – where two whitetip reef sharks cruised over canyons of coral reef that spread like octopus tentacles towards the navy depths of the atoll’s edge. We were now in the pass, with coral cliffs rearing on either side of the 90m-wide waterway. Floating on the surface, it was like looking into a deep river valley, except instead of trees, there was coral and instead of birds, there were fish.

A large Napoleon wrasse nibbled on coral while one of my snorkeller friends dived down for a closer look. I raised my head above water to see the two sides of the pass, both flat land masses covered in coconut palms and bleachedwhite coral beaches that sloped down steeply to meet the reef. Behind me was some 8,000km of empty ocean and in front was the safety of the lagoon. I felt small. I focused on

Previous spread: Tahiti Tourisme/Mark Fitz. This spread: Alamy; Tahiti Tourisme/ Vincent LYKY ; Tahiti Tourisme/ Grégoire Le Bacon; Tahiti Tourisme/ Vincent LYKY

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Into the blue (clockwise from this) Bora Bora continues to dazzle visitors with its turquoise waters, dramatic Mount Otemanu and more overwater bungalows than any Polynesian island; the snorkelling across the islands is sublime

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Blue lagoon circuit Island-hop between the bluest lagoons and best beaches in the country

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rench Polynesia is home to some of the clearest waters on earth, thanks to its isolated location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Hundreds of pristine lagoons are delineated by fringing coral reefs, creating natural swimming pools of the most intense blue imaginable.

Water babies should start in the Society Islands. Here, the jumbled geometry of Moorea’s mountainous interior rises from a halo of sky-blue seas. This lagoon holds something for everyone, from the wide white sands and calm swimming at Temae Beach (a local family favourite) to kite-surfing and surfing off the west coast, around Haapiti.

Don’t miss a boat trip to Stingray World, a sandy mount off the north coast where you can swim with rays and sharks.

You can also rent kayaks or SUPs here, to spend hours exploring – pack a picnic and paddle over to Coco Beach on Motu Tiahura, a near-empty islet on the fringing reef.

North of Moorea, Tetiaroa’s powdery beaches and crystalline lagoon were once reserved for Tahitian royalty. Marlon Brando bought the atoll with his Polynesian co-star (and third wife) Tarita after filming the 1962 film, Mutiny on the Bounty; it is now home to luxury resort, The Brando, as well as being a sanctuary for nesting birds.

Further west, honeymooners’ haven Bora Bora has what many consider to be the region’s most beautiful lagoon.

The range of blues here is simply dazzling, while the underwater landscape ranges from white sand to vibrant coral gardens. Boat tours are available but you could spend days just kicking around with a mask and snorkel. Biking around the 32km-long ring road, through tiny villages, is the best way to experience a less touristy side of the island.

Duration: 14-21 days Best for: Watersports, beaches, marine life, relaxing Route: Moorea, Tetiaroa, Bora Bora, Fakarava, Rangiroa, Ahe, Raivavae, Gambier Why do it: To enjoy warm, bright waters – both remote and less so – and let the ocean’s mana soothe your soul.

For more lagoons, head east to French Polynesia’s Tuamotu Islands, where almost 80 coral atolls each embrace their own azure waters. Fakarava stands out – its remarkable array of underwater life has garnered UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status. Activities available here include scuba diving, snorkelling and fishing.

Rangiroa is the largest atoll of the Tuamotus. Rent a bike and explore the two main villages, take a full-day lagoon tour to visit the dreamy Pink Sand Beach and Blue Lagoon (a lagoon within the lagoon), and hit Vin de Tahiti to taste unique wines made from grapes grown in coral soil.

Ahe is a lesser-known Tuamotu atoll, worth visiting to snorkel its marine-life-filled pass and see its old-growth forests, rich in rare birds. Pension Raita, located on its own palm-covered islet, offers a local-style experience, with ukulele music at sunset and fish barbecues on the weekends.

Further south lie the Austral Islands. Here you’ll find idyllic Raivavae, home to a blue lagoon to rival Bora Bora’s.

The atoll is a prime choice for getting away from the modern world: it has no resorts and no organised activities, although all the homestays can help you find hiking guides to lead you up the lone mountain, arrange transportation to isolated white-sand islets or just lend you a bike so you can explore and make friends.

Remotest of all is the Gambier Archipelago. This cluster of small, high islands is encircled in a common lagoon where the most colourful Tahitian pearls in the country are produced. Mangareva is the biggest island; Rikitea its main town. Visit the eerie Catholic cathedral and chapels, built with coral blocks via forced labour by Pere Honoré Laval in the 19th century. Also, check out the pearl oyster carving school at the college St Raphael – it’s a great chance to meet the young people of the island and see their innovative pieces made from local oyster shells. ⊲

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DON’T MISS...

French Polynesia comprises five main island groups: Society, Tuamotu, Austral, Marquesas and Gambier.

Most visited are the Society Islands (home to Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora); least visited is the Gambier Archipelago, which is unusual trait in being a cluster of several islands encircled by a common lagoon and coral reef.

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More than paradise Hiva Oa isn’t just a pretty place to flop by the sea: the Marquesas island offers activities, ancient sites and artistic links

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History & archaeology Explore ancient sacred sites and follow in the footsteps of Paul Gauguin

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ake a voyage through complex social hierarchies, hear local myths and legends and get a feel for French Polynesia’s ancient soul on a route via the country’s maraes (sacred sites) and museums.

Start on Tahiti with a 4WD tour through Papenoo. This hard-to-access valley was once heavily populated, and is home to two beautifully restored archaeological sites: Marae Farehape and Marae Anapua. Guides will help bring the old stone foundations, archery court and irrigation systems to life. You’ll also visit the country’s only lake and take in glorious mountain scenery.

The stone platforms of Marae Maeva on Huahine, also in the Society Islands, are spread along the coast and hillside.

Tours are available with expert guide Paul Atallah (Island Eco Tours) and there’s an excellent museum that’s filled with artefacts. Don’t miss the centuries-old V-shaped fish traps just beyond the marae, that are still in use today.

One of the most important temples in Polynesia is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed site of Taputapuatea, on Raiatea, the second-largest of the Society Islands. This sprawling lagoon-front complex is over 1,000 years old. An important political, ceremonial and funerary centre, it once hosted voyagers from around the Polynesian Triangle. Hike up the newly cut trail on the hillside behind the marae for a view over the whole complex.

Finish on the Marquesas. Lush, rugged Hiva Oa, the archipelago’s second-largest island, is home to arguably the most magnificent ancient sites in the country: take a 4WD tour to visit towering stone tiki (carved figures), mosscovered birthing stones and giant platforms shaded by banyan trees. If you can, book a trip that includes lunch,

PRODUCTION CLIENT

History in Huahine (clockwise from this) Village life is laidback in Huahine; dances take months to rehearse; tiki carvings are found all over Hiva Oa

usually a Marquesan feast of goat and coconut milk stew, baked breadfruit and poisson cru, served in a local family’s home. Afterwards, visit the Paul Gauguin Cultural Centre and Calvaire Cemetery (where Gauguin is buried) – the artist spent his last years on Hiva Oa. Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas, also has several archaeological gems, the best being the three connecting sites of Kamuihei, Tahakia and Teiipoka. Take a few hours to explore this mystical-feeling valley, which is dotted with numerous ua ma (stone pits where breadfruit was fermented and stored), around 500 petroglyphs and a few banyan trees that are estimated to be over 600 years old. Nuku Hiva also has some excellent hiking trails that lead across barren hills where you’ll find wild mountain goats and cool ocean breezes, and get magnificent views over steel-blue seas. For a more tropical wander, make the easy one-hour walk from Hatiheu to Anaho, which rewards with the most beautiful white-sand beach in the Marquesas. ⊲

DID YOU KNOW...

Ancient Tahitian temples are called marae and were used for social, political and religious purposes. Some small marae consist only of one small, raised rectangular stone platform while others can have hundreds of features spread over acres of land.

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Previous spread: Tahiti Tourisme/ Grégoire Le Bacon This spread: Alamy; Tahiti Tourisme/ Grégoire Le Bacon; Getty

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Duration: 12-16 days Best for: History, adventure, art, traditional folklore, culture Route: Tahiti, Huahine, Raiatea, Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva Why do it: To get in touch with the spiritual and physical past of the islands.

Previous spread: Tahiti Tourisme/ Grégoire Le Bacon This spread: Alamy; Tahiti Tourisme/ Grégoire Le Bacon; Getty

Secret sailing The island of Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas can only be reached by boat

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FRENCH POLYNESIA TRIP PLANNER

Iconic wander Hit the main islands’ not-to-bemissed sights and little-visited mountainous interiors Duration: 10-14 days Best for: Hiking, culture, great outdoors, flora Route: Tahiti, Moorea, Tahaa Why do it: See the sights, shop local and then get some exercise while filling up on tropical mountain jungle mana.

T

Tahiti Tourisme/David Kirkland; Grégoire Le Bacon/Tahiti Nui Helicopters; Alamy

he 118 islands of French Polynesia cover an oceanic area larger than Western Europe but little of this is landmass. This route focuses on the Society Islands, taking in the top sights on DIY tours, but also plunging into the lush interiors that many visitors miss.

Start in Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia, where you can spend a day or two touring on your own. Don’t miss Papeete Market, the best one-stop shop for colourful pareu (sarongs), woven hats, Tahitian pearl jewellery and exotic flowers. Other highlights include Maison James Norman Hall, which explores the life on Tahiti of the Mutiny on the Bounty co-author, and the Botanical Gardens, where you can walk through bamboo and giant mape (chestnut) forest.

The island has a virtually untouched interior, ripe for exploring on foot. One of the most beautiful routes is the Fautaua Valley Trail, which includes a 300m-high waterfall and lovely swimming hole. For a two-day challenge, hire a guide for the walk along the uninhabited coastline of Te Pari, between the villages of Teahupoo and Tautira, to bathe in waterfalls that tumble into the sea and sleep in a cave. ⊲

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By air, by sea See French Polynesia all ways: soar above Tahiti’s interior by helicopter and explore the lagoons of Tahaa by kayak and boat

FRENCH POLYNESIA TRIP PLANNER

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Next, hop over to Moorea. Highlights include Te Mana O Te Moana, the sea turtle rehabilitation centre at the Intercontinental Hotel, where baby and injured turtles are cared for, and the Manutea Fruit Juice Factory, where you can taste and buy locally made juices and liquors. Moorea has nearly as many hiking trails as Tahiti and most are better maintained. Head to the areas around Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay where you’ll find plenty of trailheads, with maps at the entrances. One of the most popular hikes is Three Coconuts Pass, which leads along a ridge affording views over Moorea’s outrageously blue lagoon.

Tahitian pearls and vanilla are two of Tahiti’s biggest exports and there’s no better place to learn about both of them than on the tiny hibiscus-shaped island of Tahaa. It doesn’t have an airport, but it shares a common lagoon with Raiatea, from where you can hop on a water taxi. Rent a car to drive around Tahaa and stop at one of the handful of small pearl farms – the owners will be happy to show you the production process and their beautiful jewellery. In between are vanilla farms that offer free tours; see how the flowers are pollinated by hand and how the pods are grown and dried. Get off the road and hike to Haamene, in the island’s verdant interior, or take the shuttle-boat to the Le Taha’a Resort to swim in coral gardens with views of Bora Bora’s square-topped silhouette in the distance. ⊲

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Rugged rambling There’s good hiking on these isles, including around Hatihea on Nuku Hiva (above) and Papenoo, towards Tahiti’s north

Local expert

CLIENT

“Don’t overlook Tahiti. The natural beauty of French Polynesia’s biggest island – which is divided into Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti – will leave you wondering why you’re not staying longer. Here you’ll find Jurassic Parklike scenery and black-sand beaches, classic turquoise lagoons and coral reefs, and an interior of wondrous rivers and waterfalls.”

Tahiti Tourisme /Stéphane Mailion Photography; Alamy

Tracey Thomas, owner, Unique Tahiti Tours (uniquetahiti.com)

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FRENCH POLYNESIA TRIP PLANNER

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Sail the Marquesas and beyond Sail the South Pacific aboard a unique vessel to reach otherwise unreachable shores

A

PRODUCTION

hybrid cargo and cruise ship that’s brought thousands of adventurous travellers to the Marquesas Islands over the past 30-plus years, the Aranui, now offers trips to other far-flung destinations including French Polynesia’s Austral, Gambier and Tuamotu Archipelagos as well as the Cook Islands and Pitcairn Island.

The newest in a long line of vessels, the Aranui V has a maximum occupancy of 230 passengers and is managed by an entirely Polynesian crew. There’s usually a guest lecturer and tour guide on board such as an archaeologist or cultural specialist who will help you delve deeper into the local cultures. Expect to sway your hips to a live Polynesian band in the evenings and swim in the pool during days at sea.

You’ll visit at least one very remote island that can only be reached by boat – such as Rapa in the Australs, Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas and Pitcairn Island, famed for its population of mutineers. Wherever the ship comes to port, it’s met with festive islanders happy to receive their supplies and welcome new faces to their shores.

Upcoming special trips include a new route launching in September 2021 that takes in the Austral Islands (including Rapa), remote Anaa in the Tuamotus and the Cook Islands, and another special trip taking in Pitcairn and the Gambier Archipelago in October 2022.

CLIENT Tahiti Tourisme/ Grégoire Le Bacon; Tahiti Tourisme/Lionel Gouverneur; Alamy

Big island Tahiti is often overlooked for French Polynesia’s smaller isles, but offers huge diversity

Tahiti’s wild corner Head south to discover Tahiti Iti’s rugged cliffs, caves and history

T DON’T MISS Tahitian dance is an ever-evolving living art-form that is enjoyed by locals as much as by tourists. The routines can take months to rehearse, are performed in elaborate costumes made from local materials and are filled with fast-moving hips and soul-moving vocals.

he smaller, southern loop of Tahiti’s figure eight shape is called Tahiti Iti, meaning ‘Little Tahiti’. This is one of the most alluring parts of the island, half of which can only be accessed by boat or on foot.

Drive to Teahupoo, a traditional village on the south-west coast known for its world-class surfing. Here you can charter a boat, some owned by local fishermen, to take you out to watch surfers tackle the giant wave, or for a full day trip to the wild Fenua Aihere (bush country) and Te Pari, a remote cliff area. On this day trip expect to explore caves, duck into waterfalls tumbling into the sea, visit remote archaeological sites and swim in natural swimming pools.

For a second day outing you can drive to the top of the bucolic Taravao plateau to a viewpoint overlooking Tahiti Nui, then take the lesser traveled road to the village of Tautira on Tahiti Iti’s east side. In Tautira, visit the 1775 grave of Domingo de Bonechea, the first missionary to land in Tahiti, at the Catholic church in the centre of the village. There’s also a wide black-sand beach and rustic Snack du Bout de Monde, one of the best local eateries on Tahiti Iti, where you can dine on steamed lobster with a view of the sea. ⊲

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FRENCH POLYNESIA TRIP PLANNER

Polynesia 214, 9

FRENCH POLYNESIA FOOTNOTES VERSION REPRO OP SUBS ART PRODUCTION

Capital: Papeete (Tahiti) Population: 280,000 Language: French is the official language; Polynesian widely spoken. English spoken in most hotels.

Time: GMT-10 (Tahiti) International dialling code: +689 Visas: British citizens don’t need a visa for stays of up to three months.

Money: Pacific Financial Community franc (XPF), currently F138 to the British £.

When to go

May to October is less humid and rain is less frequent. The rainy season runs from November to April.

Health & safety

For the latest advice on entry requirements, including information regarding COVID-19, visit the FCDO site (www.gov.uk).

You may need remedies for seasickness if you are prone and plan on island-hopping.

Wear plenty of sun cream. Drink lots of purified water. For information on boosters needed, check in with fitfortravel.nhs.uk for latest updates.

Getting there & around

Faa’a International Airport, on Tahiti (5km west of Papeete), is the only international airport in French Polynesia.

It is served by flights from cities such as Tokyo (flight time 11 hours), Los Angeles (eight hours) and San Francisco (nine hours, but most likely with connections).

Flights from here are the quickest – if more expensive – way to connect to the archipelagos’ other islands. The interisland airline, Air Tahiti (airtahiti.com) offers money saving air-passes that can make complex itineraries more affordable.

Some cruise ship itineraries explore French Polynesia. The Aranui (see previous page) offers the most authentic cruise/ cargo experience.

Cost of travel

French Polynesia’s expensive, as most of its goods are imported, but also because much of it is positioned as a high-end destination. However, it is possible to go low budget, especially on accommodation. You can swap the glamorous resorts for less frilly pensions (homestays) for a fraction of the cost.

Food & drink

The national dish of French Polynesia is Poisson cru: fresh fish (usually tuna) is cut into chunks, flash marinated in lime juice then doused with coconut milk and mixed with vegetables.

It’s usually served on a bed of shredded cabbage and white rice.

The staple diet of most islanders is a mixture of starchy breadfruit, fish, pork, coconut milk and a few vegetables. On special occasions, the whole lot is placed in a hole on top of burning coals, covered in banana leaves and then buried to cook for several hours. Seafood is common, and may be curried or cooked in coconut milk.

Coconut milk is the cheapest and most refreshing drink. The local beer, Hinano, is drunk everywhere.

WANDERLUST RECOMMENDS • Bobby & Angelo, the most popular Tahitian album of all time on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/ album/04wo67nuL2YHn5h60vI8Dk • Tahiti Tourisme site – tahititourisme.uk/en-gb/ • Winner of the 2019 Heiva traditional dance competition on YouTube – youtube.com/watch?v=mmxhkPudK4g • Tahiti Tourisme video site on YouTube – youtube.com/channel/UCTaiNSJ2bjpQn5aFr12IZrQ

Map illustration: Scott Jessop

CLIENT

Vital statistics

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Lights. Camera. Action. We go in search of the phenomena, wildlife and people that make Swedish Lapland so special WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS MARK STRATTON

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MEXICO

Towering volcano

Mount Teide stands within Teide National Park and is a must-see place to visit

TENERIFE

EXPLORE THE NUMBERS

26

The number of species of cetaceans found off the coast. These include bottle-nose dolphin, pilot whale, orca, baleen whale and blue whale.

Go now to fix fix the lockdown blues THE DESTINATION:

TENERIFE

3,718

The height of Teide in metres – the highest volcano in Spain.

HIKING

WALK YOUR WAY AROUND THE ISLAND

Getting there

Tenerife has two airports – one in the north and one in the south, so decide where you’re staying before booking your flights. British Airways flies to both from London Heathrow, from £103 return. Flight time is around four and a half hours. ba.com

No bones about it

A woman dressed up as La Calavera Catrina, an iconic symbol of Día D’a de los Muertos created in the early 1900s by artist José Guadalupe Posada

Walking, whales and waterfront cafes. With cheerful temperatures and crowd-dodging adventures, Rosie Fitzgerald says that Tenerife is the perfect place to beat the lockdown bluesÉ

ÒW “W

ow, was the whole of England on your plane?” said the airport worker at Tenerife South Airport. I laughed from under my mask. I was standing in a long queue of socially distanced, last-minute travellers, waiting to get my temperature checked, just days after the Canary Islands were added to the UK’s travel corridor.

On the other side of the airport, I was greeted by blue skies and swaying palm trees. I smiled.

Where better to blow away those

Mexico’s Day of the Dead captured the world’s attention with its skulls and colours, but behind the facepaint is a touching celebration that embraces everything that’s good about life – and death WORDS NICK BOULOS

lockdown blues than in Tenerife, an island popular for its year-round balmy temperatures? Although it may be the warm weather, sand and sea that attracts so many travellers, there’s much more to do here than lying on a sun lounger.

Despite staying in lively hotspot Costa Adeje, just a 45-minute walk lifted me up in the mountains.

Surrounded by lunar landscapes, with the sun sparkling off off the blue waters below, there wasn’t a person or hotel in sight.

With a reputed 900km of hiking trails embossing the volcanic

island, it’s easy to get off off the beaten track here. Head inland to wind up the iconic Teide – the tallest volcano in Spain. Or head to Parque Rural de Anaga to stand at the most northerly point of the island, admire the desert-like flora flora and work your way downhill to a white-washed village where you’ll have the black-sand beach at the bottom almost to yourself.

More adventures await off off land.

Brave the waves whipped up on the south-west coast by taking a surfing surfing lesson, or venture further on a whale-watching tour,

where sightings of pilot whales are pretty much guaranteed.

All that Atlantic has other pluses too. At the waterfront taverns you can enjoy fresh local favourites vieja (parrotfish) (parrotfish) or sardines. Or you can try the traditional rabbit stew, with a side of papas arrugadas – boiled spuds served with a mojo rojo sauce, whose spices often reflect reflect the Canaries’ proximity to Africa.

With all that walking, water and whales, there’s a very good reason why the flights flights should be full when they start up again. But Tenerife is certainly worth queuing up for.

The best way to really explore Tenerife’s verdant forests, volcanic slopes, coastal views and historic towns is on foot. The good news is that walkers are well-catered for, with plenty of signposted trails.

If you’re looking to eye-up the coast, then stretch your legs in Teno Rural Park in the north-west of the island. At over 1,300m, offering up sea views in almost every direction you look. Teno is also popular because of its greenery. You’ll find yourself in thick laurel and giant heather forests.

Look out for rare species such as the osprey and the giant Teno lizard.

For a deeper understanding of Tenerife’s explosive past, go on a guided hike up Pico Viejo, the island’s second-highest volcano. Your guides will show you the black lava that scars the landscape, left over from an eruption in 1798. If there are blue skies, you’ll also be able to see some of the smaller islands in the Canaries, including La Palma and La Gomera.

2,034

The size of Tenerife in square kilometres – the largest of all the Canaries.

18 million

Units shifted of U2’s Achtung Baby – many of the images on the album’s cover were shot at the Carnival of Santa Cruz.

IF YOU ONLY DO THREE THINGS

Must-try outdoor activities

AWL; Alamy; Shutterstock

THE TRUE SPIRIT OF

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MEXICO

WHALEWATCHING

STARGAZING

PARAGLIDING

Head out on one of the many boats departing from the southwest of the island. Pilot whales can be seen year-round. Visit between

With some of the clearest skies in Europe, head to Teide National Park with a local guide to observe the stars. While the night sky glitters year-round, visit in August to witness the shooting meteor showers of the Perseids.

You may not think it’s your thing, but watching those kites sailing high up and gently making their way to the coast before touching down on the sand is strangely tempting. If you’re going to try this anywhere, Tenerife makes for an exciting first time.

November and February and you might spot migrating humpbacks, fin whales and even blue whales.

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YELLOWSTONE NP, US

HOT SPRINGS

ETERNAL From herds of bison to the elusive wolf, steaming geysers to diamond dust, Yellowstone National Park is a year-round destination, but in winter the few visitors get this wildlife-rich wonderland all to themselves WORDS MARTIN SYMINGTON

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PRINT

Inca Ambling Fewer crowds. More ancient sites. Better experience?

A new trekking route in Peru’s Inca heartland uses a range of local trails to reach Machu Picchu without the crowds Words Sarah Baxter

PERU

VERSION REPRO OP SUBS ART PRODUCTION CLIENT

A

precise-cut block – neat corners, straight ing incoming weather. Fortunately the skies were benign edges – sat in the middle of the shal- as we ate avocado sandwiches in the huge plaza. “It’s an low stream. It had, I imagined, spent indication of the scale of the ceremonies that took place centuries slow-tumbling from the here,” guide Guido said. A giant hummingbird sucked the ruins further up the canyon, inching crimson trumpets of a cantua tree; a few llamas grazed. But past sheer, tight cliffs and hand-hewn otherwise we were the only visitors. terraces, past the lupins and wild potato The Inca built around 30,000km of trails during their plants. And it had brief domination of South America. come to rest, for now, on the waterToday, 99% of the focus is on the “That night, we bed: the perfect stepping stone.

42km that lead to Machu Picchu.

I hopped on it, then across, this watched the moon rise The Inca Trail. But I was in Peru to try itinerary – the ‘Black Diamond’ historic bit of rubble helping me behind the mountains a– new follow the original Inca trail through spending ten days hiking with a small and the stars flick on, group towards the fabled ‘lost city’ by Leon Punku (Lion’s Mouth) ravine.

Once, the entourage of Inca ruler piecing together sections of Inca road then we laid in our Viracocha would have processed this far less travelled by tourists, but still tents as Pachamama’s used by local people. Having spent way, en route to his estate at Huchuy Qosqo (‘Little Cusco’). The trail exhalations shook the day one walking from Cusco’s Plaza de Armas to Piuray Lake, and day two was hard to discern, thanks to the world outside” spring wildflowers and the passage of following this regal route to Huchuy time. But it led the same way: after Qosqo, both my lungs and legs were our morning’s hike up and over a wild pass, and slip-slash- nicely limbered. I was keen to see what more lay ahead. ing through the overgrown canyon itself, Huchuy Qosqo Two days later, that meant setting off from Huarán, where appeared below, suspended above the Sacred Valley. an old, wide Inca trail climbed into the Lares Valley. ParaInaccessible by road, this complex of stone and adobe keets flew about the invasive eucalypts, which gave way to houses and terraces occupies a plateau at 3,650m, with alpaca pasture, river braids and native polylepis trees, looking clear views all ways. Its pre-Inca name meant ‘place where fabulous in their beardy and twisted old age. In the forests you can see thunder and lightning’, just the spot for read- in particular there was more than a suggestion of magic, ⊲

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Following the Black Diamond (clockwise from this) Approaching Ollantaytambo; guide Guido talks through the local flora in the Leon Punko ravine; wandering the passages of Ollantaytambo; selling goods in the Lares region; hiking up from the camp at Cancha Cancha

Sarah Baxter

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Peru Trekking, 2

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and talk turned to the mischievous muki and duende spirits of Peruvian folklore. “I’ve never seen one,” said assistant guide Alejandro, “but they took things from me, maybe.”

If the forest was bewitched, the community of Cancha Cancha – at around 4,000m, in the wilderness above the tree line – was something else. We turned a corner and felt the bite of the wind, swept straight off the glaciers. Ominous clouds were advancing towards us, inevitable as a tsunami.

So we sheltered at Dorothea’s house. At first she was shy, self-conscious of the green-black herbs smeared under her eyes (good for headaches, she said). But then she ushered us into her yard, where we sat with the chickens; a grisly llama fetus hung from the eaves, drying for use in a summer ritual.

Fortuitously, Dorothea was the village ‘bar’, so we shared a big, cheap beer while we waited for the weather to pass; Guido poured a ceremonial splash on the ground. “For Pachamama.”

As we chatted to Dorothea her fingers constantly worked her spindle. Wool is as vital as veins to women here. They

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work it into chullo hats, shawls, wristbands, bags; each community has its styles and motifs. It was a connective strand to our trip too: even at breath-stealing altitudes and middle-of-nowhere passes, ladies in capes rivalling Joseph’s dreamcoat would appear, spread their blankets and lay out their woollen wares.

It’s a tough life, though. While Dorothea weaves, her husband farms potatoes, her son hikes eight kilometres to school and back each day, her daughter herds the sheep.

Indeed, as we climbed a little further to our comfy camp, remote within a bowl of mountains, we passed incredibly young girls leading alpaca the other way.

That night was bitter-cold but extraordinary. We watched the moon rise behind the mountains and the stars flick on, then we laid in our tents as Pachamama’s exhalations shook the world outside. We woke to snow, hot coffee and mists slowly drawing to reveal emerald lakes, high slopes and glistering glaciers.

Sarah Baxter; Alejandro Muller/Mountain Lodges of Peru

CLIENT

On the way (clockwise from left) Hiking up from camp at Cancha Cancha; en route to Huchuy Qosqo from Chinchero; girl selling weaving; the ruins at Huchuy Qosqo

Sarah Baxter; Alejandro Muller/Mountain Lodges of Peru

We mixed a few nights camping with stays in lodges, and every day’s hike was different, from crossing eerie, Martian passes to bushwhacking seldom-used trails with a village shaman (who, incidentally, reckoned he knew the cure for COVID-19). The cherry-on-top was supposed to be the KM104 day-hike, a short version of the classic Inca Trail that arrives at Machu Picchu via the Sun Gate. But landslides had closed the route, so our last proper hike was to Ollantaytambo, the only Inca stronghold to resist repeated attacks by the Spanish.

We started from Huacahuasi lodge, a striking guesthouse part-owned by the local community. We walked through Huacahuasi village, past neat homes and the rustic church.

Ascending gently, we passed drystone enclosures scattered on vivid-green slopes, which reminded me of Yorkshire; higher up, the terrain widened and wildened, giving the sensation of walking the African savannah amid a great migration of llama and alpaca. Sahuasiray – the monstrous

peak we’d been dancing around the whole trek – put in brief appearances through high clouds and, at every new rise, a woman waited to sell us bags and bracelets. We crossed a pass at around 4,600m but our lungs were unflustered by now, and we near-bounced down the other side, all the way to the village of Patacancha.

After a short drive, we arrived at the plateau-top ruins of Pumamarca, a site once used to guard the entrance to the Sacred Valley. No one stopped us proceeding, so from here we hiked down to Ollantaytambo, a lovely walk via purple corn and tangled forest, alongside irrigation channels and between mighty terraces, some still farmed, others abandoned to cacti and wildflowers. It was a shame not to walk right to Machu Picchu, but it was a pleasure to be alone on this old Inca trail, amid the drama of the Andes. Well, almost alone: “Look there,” pointed Guido. In the cliff face ahead, if you squinted, the massive profile of Virachocha surveying the scene. Overseer of all Inca trails. ⊲

Local life (clockwise from left) Meeting a wooly friend on the hike from Huacahuasi; Ollantaytambo; on the way from Huaran to Cancha Cancha; hiking up from camp at Cancha Cancha

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Peru Trekking, 3

PERU

7 routes to consider in the

CUSCO REGION

Everyone’s heard of THE Inca Trail. But there were, in fact, 30,000km of Inca trails connecting sites across the empire. If you fancy hiking in Peru’s Inca heartland but aren’t sure exactly where, read on…

Words Sarah Baxter

Shutterstock; Alamy

Incredible Inca The view over Machu Picchu; (right) hiking up to the 4,215m Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest point of the Inca Trail

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THE CLASSIC, CROWD FREE...

1

5-DAY INCA TRAIL

Length: 5 days Difficulty: Moderate

▲ For many, the classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is a Peru must-do. Most complete the route in four days, which means a pre-dawn start to reach the trailhead, queuing with almost 500 others (the maximum daily allowance) to get permits checked, and then jostling with them on the trail and at the same busy campsites. But allow yourself five days and this over-peopled path becomes a potentially quieter prospect as you’re out of sync with the masses.

On the first day you can set off later, after the crowds have raced ahead. You sleep at the lesser-frequented camps most four-dayers have charged past. You hit the trail’s breath-stealing high-point – 4,215m Dead Woman’s Pass – on day three rather than day two, when you’re better acclimatised. You have more time to take in the views, the wildlife and the ruins.

You’ll also enjoy a better arrival at Machu Picchu itself, reckons Paul Cripps of Cusco-based tour operator Amazonas Explorer: “Rather than trekking in the dark to get to the Sun Gate for an overrated sunrise, you can start the last day’s hike at a sociable hour and arrive at Machu Picchu in the afternoon, when the light is softening (better for photos) and the site is at its quietest.”

Need to know: The trailhead is at Piscacucho (KM82 of the railway); this is a three hour/ one hour drive from Cusco/Ollantaytambo.

Permits are essential. ⊲

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THE SECOND CHOICE...

SALKANTAY

Length: 5 days Difficulty: Challenging

▲ Salkantay is the ‘savage mountain’, a 6,271m monster rising from the Cordillera Vilcabamba.

The trek that bears its name is the most popular alternative to the classic Inca Trail, accessing Machu Picchu via sparkling glaciers, lush cloudforest and high passes – the trail tops out at 4,650m – as well as the Inca site of Llactapata. However, with no permits required (although you will still need a ticket for Machu Picchu) and no limit on hiker numbers, the ‘second

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choice’ Salkantay trek can end up being busier than the Inca Trail itself.

“Campsites can be crowded and dirty, and trails packed with backpackers and donkey trains,” warns Cripps, who reckons the Lares Trail is a better alternative (see right). Those wanting to avoid camping altogether could consider a lodge-to-lodge option (either on foot or horseback) with Mountain Lodges of Peru, which operates four properties along the Salkantay route with proper beds, hot showers and hot tubs. Note, landslides devastated the area around Santa Teresa in February 2020, killing local people and damaging infrastructure; this could delay the reopening of the full trail.

Need to know: The trail starts just beyond the village of Mollepata, which is a two-hour drive west of Cusco.

Shutterstock;

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Valley view Taking a break to admire Salkantay; (below) Llactapata

THE CULTURAL ENCOUNTER...

3

LARES

Length: 3-5 days Difficulty: Moderate/Challenging

▲ Lares lies north of Cusco, an offbeat valley where life goes on much as it has for centuries. It is, says Cripps, “the go-to alternative short trek in the Andes – especially for authentic insights into rural life.” Indeed, what Lares lacks in Inca sites it makes up for in topological drama and cultural interaction. Hikes here pass remote communities of old stone houses, alpaca herds, potato patches and bright-shawled ladies.

Permits are not required, and there are numerous trails and trailheads.

Some routes start from Lares village itself (home to hot springs); all routes run via alpine lakes, native forest and high passes (expect to reach around 4,500m) and camp at or near small settlements such as Quiswarani and Huacahuasi.

For those who dislike canvas, Mountain Lodges of Peru runs a trekkers’ lodge at Huacahuasi.

Itineraries usually end – either on foot or by road transfer – at the charming Inca town of Ollantaytambo, on the trainline to Machu Picchu.

Need to know: Lares village is around 100km north of Cusco by car; treks use different trailheads in the area. ⊲

Shutterstock;

Locals in Lares Llamas on the Lares trekking route; (top) a family on the trail

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THE ALTERNATIVE RUINS...

CHOQUEQUIRAO TO MACHU PICCHU

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Length: 7-9 days Difficulty: Challenging

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The slope-side Inca citadel of Choquequirao is less well known and less well excavated than Machu Picchu. It’s also far less busy – Choquequirao might see in a year the number of visitors that Machu Picchu gets in a day. It’s possible to do a four-day there-and-back hike to Choquequirao, which barely tops 3,000m but involves strenuous switch-backing

up and down a mile-deep canyon. Better is to plan a longer expedition, trekking beyond Choquequirao and accessing Machu Picchu by the backdoor.This is harder work, including a 4,668m pass, but it’s wild and worth it.

“The two days of hiking beyond Choquequirao to Maizal and on to Yanama are possibly two of my favourite days hiking in Peru,” says Cripps.

“Tough but spectacular.” Note, the Choquequirao ruins are extensive, so build in a whole day to explore them.

Need to know: Buses run from Cusco to Cachora, taking from around 3.5 hours. The trailhead is a three-hour walk or short bus/taxi ride from Cachora.

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Green alternative (this and top) Choquequirao is a more rugged option if you want to avoid the crowds at Machu Picchu

Rainbow rambles The multi-coloured slopes of Vinicunca; (top) the Cordillera Vilcanota range from the Ausangate

THE MOUNTAIN MEANDER...

5

AUSANGATE

Length: 5 days Difficulty: Challenging

▲ At 6,372m, Ausangate is one of the most formidable peaks in the Cusco region.This makes its flanks first choice for those who like their hikes properly mountain-y.The terrain here has a different vibe to jungly Machu Picchu: trekking around Ausangate reveals open puna meadows, alpaca-herding communities, condors and rare vicuñas, and close-ups of glaciers.

It’s a tough undertaking, largely due to the altitude – you hike and camp above 4,000m for the duration, and there are two passes over 5,000m.

“You need to be well acclimatised,” says Cripps, “but the rewards are the solitude, the huge views, the friendly locals, the hot springs and the lakes and formations of ridiculous colours.” Indeed, it’s worth noting that while Vinicunca – aka Peru’s ‘Rainbow Mountain’ – has become overcrowded in recent years, this trek includes multiple ‘rainbow mountains’, which display similar crazy-hued geology but see none of the crowds.

Need to know: The trek starts at Tinki, 80km east of Cusco. The drive from Cusco takes around three hours. ⊲

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THE DAY-TRIPPER...

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CUSCO DAY-HIKES

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You don’t have to do a multi-day trek at all – the Cusco region has plenty of interesting day hikes that offer variety and more gradual altitude acclimatisation, with no need to camp. First should be a hike around the city’s outskirts, where you can link sites such as Sacsayhuaman, Tambo Machay and Salumpunku (the Temple of the Moon) via well-preserved Inca roads.

Other options include the hike from Moray to the salt pans of Maras and the little-walked route from Chinchero to Huayllabamba. If you’re well-acclimatised, try the trail from Lake Qoricocha to Huchuy Qosqo or hike to Palccoyo, one of the other unspoilt ‘rainbow mountains’ (note, this reaches 4,970m). One day is also enough to give a flavour of the classic Inca Trail.

“If you’re reasonably fit, you can do the KM104 Royal Inca Trail in one day from Ollantaytambo, avoiding overnighting in busy Aguas Calientes,” says Cripps. “If you catch the first train to the trailhead you can be in the ruins for early afternoon, explore Machu Picchu when it’s quieter and catch a late train back. This also means you can leave your stuff in your hotel, avoiding any clashes with PeruRail’s strict luggage limits.”

Need to know: Permits are required for the KM104 trail. Ollantaytambo is 2.5 hours by bus from Cusco.

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Alamy; Alejandro Muller/Mountain Lodges of Peru

Mineral meanders Maintaining the salt pans of Maras; (top) Temple of Moon

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Diamond views Trekking from Quiswarani to Huacahuasi; (below) locals along the way

THE NEW TOUGHIE...

7

THE BLACK DIAMOND

Length: 10 days Difficulty: Challenging

▲ The new Black Diamond itinerary (followed by the author of this article) is a testing 120km trekking itinerary from Cusco to Machu Picchu, with a few judicious road transfers thrown in. Using a mix of lodges and camping, it stitches together lesser-used trails around Cusco and in the Lares Valley to inch towards the ‘lost city’ away from the crowds.

Starting the trek in Cusco itself is both exhilarating and literally breathtaking – on day one you’re climbing to heights of 4,200m so prior acclimatisation is vital. Also, most days are long and strenuous, with multiple high passes over 4,000m. But it’s a rich and varied challenge.

Need to know: This trek is run by Mountain Lodges of Peru (mountainlodgesofperu.com). A high level of fitness is required to walk it. ⊲

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THE TRIP The author travelled with Last Frontiers (01296 653000, lastfrontiers.com) on its Black Diamond Trek with Mountain Lodges of Peru. This 14-night trip costs from £5,630pp, including flights, a ninenight trekking programme (staying in a mix of lodges, characterful hotels and well-catered camps), four nights in Cusco, one night in Lima and most meals.

Vital statistics

Capital: Lima Population: 32 million Language: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara Time: GMT-5 International dialling code: +51 Visas: Not required by UK nationals Money: Peruvian Nuevo sol (S/), currently around S/5 to the UK£.

When to go

Jan-Feb Rainy season. Trekking not advised. The Inca Trail’s closed in Feb. March Still damp but clearing. Some weather disruption possible but landscapes lush and trails quiet.

April-Oct Dry season; clearest skies, coolest temperatures and the trails’ busiest time. Note, Inca trail permits go on sale in October for the following year; permits for May usually sell out within a week, June and July fill quickly after that.

Nov-Dec: Warmer but wetter; trails quieter.

Health & safety

For the latest advice on entry requirements, including information regarding COVID-19, visit the FCDO site (www.gov.uk).

Be aware of the risks of altitude sickness, typically felt above 2,500m. Symptoms include

shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness and nausea, escalating to vomiting, confusion and hallucinations. It can be deadly. Cusco sits at around 3,400m – allow at least two days in and around the city or Sacred Valley before starting a trek to allow your body to acclimatise.

Hike slowly. Stay well-hydrated (drink plenty of boiled/filtered water) and avoid alcohol.

Speak to your GP about taking acetazolamide (Diamox), which can help reduce symptoms.

For information on boosters needed, check in with fitfortravel.nhs.uk for latest updates.

Getting there & around

Iberia (iberia.com) flies from London Heathrow to Lima, via Madrid.

Returns cost from around £470. Onward flights to Cusco take 75 mins.

Central Cusco is compact and walkable, if hilly. Local taxis are cheap. PeruRail (perurail. com) operates several classes of train from Poroy (near Cusco) to Aguas Calientes; this journey takes four hours. Most tourists only use the train between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes (around two hours) – it is quicker to travel Ollantaytambo-Cusco by road.

What to pack

Take your gear in a soft duffle or holdall, ⊲ which is easier for mules/porters

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Locals in Lares Hikers amble through the Lares Valley

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Accommodation

El Mercado: With rooms arranged around a quiet courtyard, this stylish hotel is only a short walk from Cusco’s Plaza de Armas. Doubles from around £130pn; elmercadocusco.com Mountain Lodges of Peru: MLP operates a handful of lodges in the Cusco region, including at Lamay and Huacahuasi, providing a comfortable alternative to camping. These can only be used as part of an MLP programme; mountainlodgesofperu.com

Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo: Sitting in a large, bird-filled reserve, away from the main throng of Aguas Calientes, this place is a quiet haven. Serves lethal pisco sours too. Doubles from around £270pn; inkaterra.com

Food & drink

Peru’s food is fabulous. Vegetarians will not struggle here: vegetables and grains are tasty, abundant and interesting, from the many types of potato and quinoa to fat choclo corn kernels and delicious avocados. Meat is still a mainstay though, with lomo saltado (a beef stir-fry), pollo a la brasa (Peruvian-style roast chicken) and cuy (guinea pig) some of the most common dishes.

Further reading & information

Cuzco, Machu Picchu & the Inca Heartland (Footprint, 2017) The Inca Trail, Cusco & Machu Picchu (Trailblazer, 2017) Turn right at Machu Picchu (Plume, 2012) by Mark Adams, an engaging read about retracing Hiram Bingham’s footsteps.

WANDERLUST RECOMMENDS 9 fascinating archaeological sites in Peru (that aren’t Machu Picchu) – web exclusive Horse-riding on the Salkantay Trek, Peru – Issue 152 Off Pisco: 9 alternative Peru trips – web exclusive

TOP TIPS A high percentage of tourist businesses in Cusco are ‘informal’ (ie, illegal). If a trip looks cheap, there’s likely a reason why. New postCOVID-19 regulations should help, but do your research.

The APTAE (aptae.pe) is a group of operators that have signed a charter pledging to operate sustainably.

If the Inca Trail’s sold out and you’re desperate to hike to Machu Picchu, try the oneday KM104 – this route has an allocation of 250 permits a day and rarely sells out.

Climbing either Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain (both inside the Machu Picchu archaeological site) requires an additional permit. These must be bought as add-ons to Machu Picchu entry tickets.

Shutterstock

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to carry; for extra protection, put everything in a bin liner/drybag inside the holdall, in case it gets rained on while being transported. Worn-in, waterproof, sturdy hiking boots are essential, plus sandals/slippers for camps/lodges.

Take a comfortable daypack in which you can fit waterproof trousers and jacket, at least a two-litre capacity waterbottle or hoser, warm layers and snacks. A down jacket will be welcome for cold nights at campsites. Hiking poles save knees and boost confidence but do contribute to trail erosion – ensure yours have broad rubber tips.

Take gloves, warm hat and scarf (or buy them locally) and sun protection – sunglasses, hat, high-factor cream (the sun is incredibly strong here). A headtorch, swimming costume (for hot springs/hot tubs) and hand sanitiser are also recommended.

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ISEL TRAIL

Get back to basics and reconnect with nature on this five-day hike

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n Austria’s East Tirol, one of the last free-flowing glacial rivers – the Isel – winds its way from the Umbalkees Glacier to Lienz. The Isel Trail, opened in 2020, offers a multi-day hike through the High Tauern National Park. It’s a valley of rugged mountains, dreamy forests, hay meadows, Alpine villages and a glacial-blue river. This shape-shifting river has taken on a life of its own, carving out long gravel islands and banks where rare wildlife habitats thrive.

How different it would have been if plans for a hydroelectric power station hadn’t been halted. Instead, thanks to the work of dedicated conservationists, the valley was made a Natura 2000 protected area in 2015.

Post lockdown, hiking the Isel Trail is the perfect way to rediscover freedom in wilderness. Enjoy a deeply rewarding five-day hike or pick out the river’s highlights for shorter strolls…

CLIENT

Following the river (clockwise from this) The final stage of the Isel Trail in East Tirol; High Tauern National Park; stage two of the Isel Trail; Umbaltal Waterfall; stage four of the Isel Trail

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DAY 1

LIENZ TO ST. JOHANN IM WALDE

Distance: 16.2km Total height reached: 752m Lienz is known as ‘the pearl of the Dolomites’ and as its name suggests, it makes for a picturesque starting point for this soul-restoring hike. From the railway station, cross the colourful medieval town, passing the 13th-century hilltop Bruck Castle, out into a countryside of pine forests and meadows.

The milky-blue Isel is broad and stately at this point, gently flowing towards the River Drava. Shingle islands and banks, pale sandy beaches and the glittering surface of the Isel will tempt you to linger.

This is a journey not to rush.

Once you reach the village of Ainet, relax in the beer garden of Aineterhof before climbing through a forested canyon to Daberer Waterfall, where you can feel its invigorating spray on your face.

Back at the Isel, follow the river to St. Johann am Walde for a wellearned rest in one of the riverside or farmhouse holiday lets.

DAY 2

TO MATREI

Distance: 15.5km Total height reached: 975m From St. Johann to Huben, the Isel snakes through river meadows surrounded by majestic peaks.

The long, gravel banks and islands, splashed with the pale pinks of the rare German Tamarisk against the blue water is a heart-lifting sight.

TVB Osttirol / Ramona Waldner; Matthias Schickhofer; Johannes Geyer

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Find freedom on the

Take a break on the panorama sun terrace of Café Landerl at Huben before continuing through the narrowing river valley. The character of the river changes here: the Isel tumbling wildly through the cataracts of Feld.

Pause to listen to the roar of the water and the low rumble of rocks carried along the riverbed. As you continue your walk, you will notice the valley opens out again and the river calms before the market town of Matrei shifts into view. Here, recuperate at the chic four-star spa Hotel Outside with its natural swimming pool, or at Monika Steiner’s cosy chalet.

DAY 3

TO PRÄGRATEN AM GROSSVENEDIGER

Distance: 16.7km Total height reached: 1,323m As you pass through inky-green forests south of the river, with light streaming through the conifers and the scent of pine filling the air, you will likely feel at peace – until the booming waters of the Virgen cataracts shake you awake. Here, the Isel wildly plunges tens of metres through a ravine.

Stop for lunch at the horse ranch of Ortnerhof at Bobojach, where the river crashes through the Great Isel Gorge, before ambling through the open valley east of Prägraten am Grossvenediger.

Spend a tranquil night at the forest and wildflower-surrounded Pension Schneiderhof.

DAY 4

TO CLARAHÜTTE

Distance: 12km Total height reached: 2,038m After Prägraten am Grossvenediger the river burbles through open meadows, but soon the valley narrows and the Alps close in as mountain hamlets give way to forest and rock. At the gorge of Glo-Schlucht, watch the water thunder through the ravine, raising dramatic clouds of mist.

Halt for lunch at the rustic Islitzeralm and enjoy the tastes

of the Tirol: Schlipfkrapfen (filled dumplings) and Kaiserschmarren (pancakes). Nearby Umbaltal Waterfall is a highlight of the trek, where white water pounds through rocks. From here, walk beyond the tree-line and out into the amphitheatre of the Alps. The mountain hut of Clara – Clarahütte – is a welcome sight after the long climb, wedged between the sheersided walls of the High Tauerns.

DAY 5

TO UMBALKEES GLACIER AND BACK TO STRÖDEN

Distance: 16.1km Total height reached: 2,504m

TVB Osttirol / Ramona Waldner; Matthias Schickhofer; Johannes Geyer

The mountain path on the final day takes you through a terrain of glacial moraine and ice. Wildflower meadows give way to scarp slopes. The air is significantly cooler and the water of the young Isel icy cold. Reaching the tongue of the Umbalkees Glacier is an emotional moment – the sweep of ice, rock and scree offers up a terrain of harsh beauty – raw, powerful and magnificent.

Retrace your steps to Ströden and take the bus back to Lienz.

Stop off at the Islitzeralm on the

For more information, visit: austria.info

way down and celebrate the end of a glorious five-day hike with a Tirolean beer or strong coffee and Austrian cakes. Once you have completed the route, you will soon realise that the Isel Trail is more than a walk. Your lungs and muscles will be strengthened, your head decluttered and your body and soul revitalised – the perfect post-lockdown adventure.

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Searching for

WILD SPAIN

An increasing number of rewilding projects in Europe means we no longer need to travel far to watch big predators in their natural habitats.

Wanderlust goes on a Cantabrian bear hunt...

Words Mike Unwin

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This spread Mike Unwin; Nature Picture Library; Bernardo Canal Previous Nature Picture Library

VERSION

M

y eyes ached. I lowered my In the Cantabrian Mountains, TENT’s partner is the binoculars to blink back some Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP). Founded in 1992 to arrest life into them then resumed the decline of the brown bear, FOP has since helped the the vigil. Wildlife watching, animal’s numbers recover from a historic low of around 30 I reflected, sometimes to more than 330 today. This, for the first time, has made involves staring for a very long ecotourism a viable option, and I was hoping to join the ranks time at nothing while hoping, of the many who have now enjoyed a sighting. in vain, for something. But “In the past five years bear tourism has developed incredwith expert guide Fernando ibly,” Fernando told me, as he packed his telescope into Ballesteros beside me doing the van and we headed down towards the forest. He explained the same, I was determined not to be caught napping. that the Cantabrian brown bear, though the same species The ‘nothing’ I was scrutinising was, to be fair, the glori- as the grizzly and Kodiak, does not allow the easy viewous dawn vista of northern Spain’s Cantabrian mountains, ing associated with its more habituated American cousins. and the ‘something’ for which we were combing the rugged Smaller and shyer, it is wary of people and sticks to dense slopes was a wild brown bear. Our odds on a sighting were cover. Sightings involve knowing where and when it might hard to gauge. Here, in Fuentes del Narcea Natural Park, appear. Now, in the hyperphagia (binge feeding) season, we were deep in bear country and the roadside mirador is when females are roaming the hillsides with their cubs, a renowned viewing spot. Furthermore, this was peak time: viewing is at a peak. All you need is binoculars. And patience. early autumn generally brings the animals up to the higher “We have our red lines when it comes to bear-watching,” slopes for the blueberries. But it had been a bad blueberry explained Fernando. “One is distance and the other is year, Fernando explained, and they could still be down in feeding. Here you can see bears naturally, at a natural the woods, polishing off the last of the season’s hazelnuts. distance, without disturbing them.”

Passing a poster bearing the FOP bear logo, we continEither way, it was a fine autumn morning and first light was etching form into the panorama, ued through rough pasture into from the high limestone battlements, woods groaning with autumn’s “Birds appeared as down across the heathery hillsides bounty: brambles, acorns, elderberto the dark wooded valleys. As the sun rose: a soaring ries. Though technically carnivores, brown bears subsist largely on plant I scanned the horizon, it also revealed distant radio masts, a cable honey buzzard heading matter and this traditional farming car and what Fernando told me is an landscape offers plenty of nourishsouth; red-billed old coal-mine: reminders that this is ment. Cue Exhibit A: in the middle of choughs tumbling the path, a fresh pile of what bears do a human landscape, too. around the cliffs; My binoculars inched once again in the woods. “Sweet,” pronounced over the landscape. I tried to be griffon vultures rising Fernando, as he prodded the blackberry-infused droppings with a stick methodical, working along ridge on the first thermals” and crouched for a sniff. “Muy bien!” and down gulley. Would a bear be out in the open? How big would it It was sobering to imagine that look from here? Suddenly I saw a brown animal crossing an adult bear had sauntered down this very track just the scree. Bingo! “Fernando,” I called. “I’ve just…” But hours earlier. Sure enough, we soon found the broad, he was already onto it. “Chamois,” he exclaimed. “Bravo!” five-toed prints. I peered deeper into the woods and Ah, I think. Nice. But… imagined the animal returning tonight and sniffing at our own prints. As we continued, the track revealed signs of RESTORING THE BALANCE other nocturnal commuters: the parallel slots of wild boar; This was September 2019, before the pandemic. I was in the cat-like signature of a genet. It all vindicated FOP’s Spain with The European Nature Trust (TENT) who, since philosophy: manage the habitat for one animal and 2000, have been working with various European partners to everything shares the benefits. protect and rewild some of the continent’s most important natural landscapes. Critical to this process has been restor- HUMANS FOR HABITATS ing populations of indigenous large mammals where they Lunch at a local village café brought a menu of intriguhave been historically persecuted or even eradicated, from ing translations (‘Typical trouts,’ anyone? ‘Height cows’?).

European bison in the Romanian Carpathians to brown Meanwhile, Fernando told me how FOP now owns 14 local bears in Italy’s Abruzzo mountains. woodlands and helps manage many others for the benefit These projects are about more than the simple satis- of bears. An extensive programme of planting fruit-bearing faction of seeing apex species back where they belong. trees, such as wild cherries, alder buckthorn and whiteEach species is a critical missing piece of a broader beam, is not only providing more natural food but also ecological jigsaw. Returning them to healthy numbers has restoring a degraded habitat. More bears, with their foraga knock-on effect through the entire ecosystem, right down ing and seed-dispersal habits, means an enriched biodiverto plant communities and even water flow – as demon- sity across the entire landscape. strated so impressively by the return of wolves to the USA’s Meanwhile, education is slowly overturning historical Yellowstone National Park. fears. Attacks on livestock are rare and farmers receive ⊲

This spread Mike Unwin; Nature Picture Library; Bernardo Canal Previous Nature Picture Library

Cantabrian carnival (clockwise from this) Griffon vultures; a Cantabrian brown bear overlooks an Asturian village; Picos de Europa NP; chamois

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Where wolf?

Looking out for wolves in Fuentes Carrionas Natural Park; (left) a Cantabrian brown bear in the mountains

Nature Picture Library; Mike Unwin

compensation where, for example, beehives or orchards Pride was certainly etched on the face of Elías Suárez, who are raided – although mitigation methods such as elec- joined us for lunch. Three months earlier, Elías was awarded tric fencing help prevent this. Bears avoid people – only the Order of Civil Merit, Spain’s greatest civil honour, seven aggressive interactions have been recorded in the past by King Felipe VI himself, for ‘connecting the people of 30 years, with no casualties – but to keep things safer for Asturias with nature’. Elías was raised in a nearby village and both parties, some trails close during knows many landowners personally, peak season. Community outreach making him the ideal bridge between work has created school projects conservation and community. His “Elías Suárez’ ‘bear ‘bear whisperer’ reputation is the stuff and volunteer groups, while the whisperer’ reputation of local legend. I asked whether he’d FOP team use camera trapping and faeces analysis to keep tabs on the ever had a close encounter. “Tan is the stuff of local rising bear population. cerca como esta,” he smiled, indicatLocals, in turn, have been discov- legend, making him the ing the width of the table between us. ering what bears can bring. “At first ideal bridge between “As close as this.” people were nervous of visitors,” said Our search continued early the conservation and Fernando, explaining how tourism following morning in nearby Parque community” is new to these remote mountain Nacional de Somiedo. We wound up through the tiny stone hamlet of villages (which perhaps explains that menu), “but there’s been a lot Perlunes to a precipitous viewpoint of positive talk.” With 20% of profits from ecotourism over the crags and ravines. It felt a world apart, the dawn hillploughed back into the community, people are seeing sides glinting with dew-laden cobwebs. Birds appeared as the real economic benefits. And with the region now sun rose: a soaring honey buzzard heading south; red-billed the self-proclaimed ‘bear capital’ of Iberia, pride seems to choughs tumbling around the cliffs; griffon vultures rising on the first thermals. More chamois crested a ridge, ⊲ be replacing prejudice.

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On alert (clockwise from this) A Cantabrian brown bear forages in the undergrowth; Somiedo Natural Park; buzzard; Cantabrian mountains; a wolf catches the photographer in mid-snap

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a wild echo of the goats that emerged in a tinkling of bells from the village below. “Nunca digas nunca,” said Fernando, as we scanned the slopes. “Never say never.”

But still the orsos were lying low.

That afternoon, we visited FOP’s small local museum.

Among the interactive displays, conservation videos and bear T-shirts for sale, I was intrigued to find lovingly inscribed, vellum-bound hunting records dating back to 1609. They spoke volumes of just how deeply bears are embedded in the local culture, and how much would be lost if they disappeared.

A-LIST ANIMALS

Our final day found us heading east towards Fuentes Carrionas Natural Park. We were now leaving bear country and had to accept that our quarry had given us the slip – only by a whisker, mind you: at one viewpoint we’d met people who’d watched a female with cubs the day before and had the photos to prove it. But it’s wildlife, I told myself: the thrill of seeing any wild animal requires the possibility of having not seen it.

And it wasn’t over yet. Northern Spain’s A-list animals don’t end with the brown bear. In the village of Boca de Huérgano we picked up our new guide, Rafael, to help us look for another alpha predator – one whose local history is even more chequered. A rugged track led us bumping slowly up into the park until, emerging through the oak woods, we found ourselves on a sunlit central plateau with a panorama of muscular hillsides sloping away in all directions: a perfect arena for the red deer rut, which was now in full swing. As the hoarse bellows came at us in surround-sound, our binoculars picked out the russet coats of the antlered combatants staking their territorial claims. As each stopped to bellow, a puff of exhalation caught the low late-afternoon sun, the sound following a split-second later.

“Aquí, aquí,” called Rafael, quietly. “Lobos.” While we had been enjoying the stag serenade, our diligent guide had been scanning with his telescope. Now he stepped back and ushered us forward. Through the eyepiece, I zoned in on a gleaming promontory of rock that rose like the prow of a ship between the steep sides of a gorge. On top, sprawled in sunlit grey and ochre, was – unmistakably – a wolf. As I watched, its ears pricked up. Had it seen us? No. Another appeared from the left. The first sprang up and the two greeted one another in that familiar canine frenzy of sniffing and tail-wagging.

José Ramón Lora Robles; Mike Unwin; Gabriel Llorens;

A WILDER FUTURE?

Since my trip, of course, COVID-19 has brought international ecotourism to a halt – in Spain as everywhere else. But while tour operators have been anxiously awaiting the lifting of travel bans, the teams on the ground have not stood still.

Spain’s bear and wolf populations have continued to rise and the rewilding process continues organically, as a result. On 4 February this year, the government officially outlawed the legal hunting of the wolf in the north, adding the species to the national list of ‘special protection wild species’.

As the world opens up again, it is exciting to think that we needn’t travel long-haul to encounter serious predators back in the natural landscapes where they evolved. With Spain’s two A-listers just a hop away, I, for one, will be heading straight back to track down the one that eluded me last time around. Nunca digas nunca. ⊲

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The author travelled to Spain on a three-night trip with the European Nature Trust. Steppes Travel (01285 880980; steppestravel.com) offers a tailor-made eight-day On The Trail of Bears in Northern Spain trip from £1,995pp (based on a group of six travelling together), including accommodation, all meals, transport, the services of expert guides and a donation to TENT’s project in Cantabria; it excludes international flights or ferry.

WANDERLUST RECOMMENDS • Cantabrian Brown Bears: Tracking the Wilderness documentary – www.youtube. com/watch?v=NMyCfRsR1Mw • The European Nature Trust on YouTube – www.youtube.com/ user/TENTEurope/videos • Re-introducing wolves in Yellowstone – Wanderlust no. 200

Vital statistics

Regional capitals: Oviedo (Asturias), Santander (Cantabria) Regional population: Around 1.6 million (Asturias and Cantabria) Language: Spanish Time: GMT+1 (summer GMT+2) International dialling code: +34 Money: Euro (€), currently €1.16 to the UK£

When to go

May; Sept-Oct Best months for bear and wolf watching (autumn’s when females are active with cubs). Temperatures are pleasant, days are sunny and light conditions ideal for observation and photography. Autumn is also good for spotting European wild cats and migratory raptors and other birds.

Jun-Aug Mid-summer; hot by day.

Nov-April Snow on higher ground. Bears are hibernating. Spring is best for birdwatching.

Getting there

Several airlines fly from UK airports to Oviedo/Asturias and Santander. Flight time is from around 90 minutes.

Brittany Ferries (brittany-ferries.co.uk) runs a 20-hour overnight service from Plymouth to Santander, departing Sun and Weds (returning Mon and Thurs); foot passenger fares from £70pp one way. Steppes Travel recommends this and will collect clients from the ferry terminal.

Getting around

The Cantabrian range spans much of north-western Spain, from the Pyrenees in the east to Galicia in the far west.

Wolves and bears occur in three provinces within this region: Cantabria, Castile & León and Asturias. Viewing is best in natural parks, notably Redes, Somiedo, Fuentes Carrionas and Fuentes del Narcea.

Organised tours concentrate on these locations, following the local knowledge of experienced guides. Independent travellers can explore the region by vehicle. A good road network connects the major towns and parks.

All reserves have marked hiking trials and viewpoints. Some trails are closed in September and October when bears are most active

Other wildlife highlights

Bring your binoculars – there’s plenty more to see. Whale-watching in the Bay of Biscay can be excellent, especially as ferries pass over the deep trenches off the Spanish coast; fin whales are a regular sight.

On land, scan hillsides for other large mammals, including chamois, red deer and wild boar. Autumn offers excellent chances to see the elusive European wildcat – especially early morning in harvested meadows, when they emerge from the forest to hunt rodents Spring is best for birdwatching (pack a field guide). Local specials include black woodpecker, capercaillie and golden eagle. Spring and autumn also see a major passage of migratory raptors through the mountains, including honey buzzard, black kite and short-toed eagle.

Further reading & info

hikingiberia.com/en/cantabrianmountains – Hiking Cantabria fundacionosopardo.org – Fundación Oso Pardo

Map by Scott Jessop

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Bear-watching opportunities are growing throughout Europe – Lyn Hughes finds six more countries where you can go in search of them

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SLOVAKIA

Slovakia has over 1,200 bears, most of them in the Tatras Mountains, the north-westernmost stretch of the Carpathians. Keen and fit walkers can join a Walking with Bears in Slovakia trip from Walks Worldwide to try and catch a sight of them. Rather than sitting around in a hide, this is an active trip that tracks bears in the Tatras National Park. Accompanied by a ranger, you will learn about the lifestyle of these bears and how to spot their signs, all the while trekking through glorious, untrammelled scenery.

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Alamy; Shutterstock

FINLAND

Finland has one of the largest bear populations in Europe, estimated at around 2,000. Several companies offer bear-watching trips in the Lakeland area between April and September. Overnight stays in hides are on offer, eg at Martinselkonen Nature Reserve and at Boreal Wildlife Centre, while at the Bear Centre in Vartius you can stay in individual ‘luxury’ viewing cabins overnight. Perfect for photographers, there is a very high chance of seeing bears on your visit, and you may be lucky enough to see elusive wolverines or even wolves.

ROMANIA

Bears in Greece? Yes, absolutely. Your best chance is to go tracking them in the Northern Pindos National Park on trips accompanied by researchers from the CALLISTO conservation group. While actual sightings are not guaranteed, you will almost certainly see tracks and other signs of the bears, all while exploring little-visited mountain scenery. If you’re not lucky enough to see bears in the wild you can see them close-up at the Arcturos bear sanctuary in Nymfaio.

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SLOVENIA

Alamy; Shutterstock

GREECE

The Carpathian mountains are home to around half of Europe’s brown bear population and, with around half the range falling in Romania, the country can boast a significant number of ursines.

Piatra Craiului National Park near Zarnesti, towards the centre of Romania, is one of the most rewarding places to see them, with a very high percentage chance of spotting them from a hide. Also visit the Libearty Bear Sanctuary in Zarnesti, home to over 100 rescue bears.

ITALY

The Dinaric Alps in southern Slovenia are home to a growing population of over 400 brown bears. The best opportunity to see them is by booking a hide through SlovenianBears who have a network of 20 intimate hides in the Notranjska region, all overlooking spots where bears hang out. They are ideal for photographers as they have been built to give bear-height views. But even if you’re not into photography you’ll appreciate the dramatic karst rocks, flower-strewn meadows and thick forest of this beautiful and undiscovered corner of Europe.

Not all naturalists agree on whether Italy’s Marsican brown bear is an actual subspecies or not of the European (also called Eurasian) brown bear, but what isn’t disputed is the fact that they are critically endangered. Also known as the Apennine brown bear, there are only around 55-60 of them left, with most of those found in the Abruzzo National Park. Conservation efforts are underway, including the planting of beech trees for food, and the creation of natural corridors to encourage dispersal across the Apennines.

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Chloe Gunning

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Join Julia Bradbury and travellers Ash Bhardwaj, Chloe Gunning and Sian Lewis in finding sanctuary in Costa Rica. Head off to the brand-new website to discover their inspirational videos and articles, and to catch up on their free virtual events. Nature, wildlife and adventures that are good for the mind, body and the environment: Costa Rica has it all.

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verybody that you meet in Costa Rica has this wonderful expression: Pura Vida! And it’s not just a greeting: It basically means goodbye, have a lovely day, how are you? It’s always said with a huge smile, and I think it really encapsulates the atmosphere of Costa Rica, which is ‘pure life’. The smiles are constant: the locals are incredibly friendly and they’re very proud of their country, and quite rightly so.

My first impression of Costa Rica? It’s just dazzling.

It’s such an outstandingly beautiful country and after travelling there briefly for work, it was instantly on my bucket list and I knew I had to return.

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And when I did, what an adventure I had! It’s probably easier to tell you what adventures you can’t do in Costa Rica.

You can have a go at everything from surfing, ziplining and kayaking to hiking and rappelling. There’s so much to do if you have an adventurous spirit.

The nature and wildlife are spectacular and because Costa Rica has done such a great job of protecting its natural spaces and nurturing its forests, the landscapes are abundant with wildlife and it’s beautiful to see.

I believe that if the natural world and natural beauty are important to you then Costa Rica is one of the places on the globe that you must see. It really does have something for everyone, and it is breathtakingly beautiful.

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1

Conquer the rapids

Costa Rica’s rivers swell during rainy season, so the best time to raft is from May to October. Rivers are graded; slow currents are classed as one or two, while six is the most challenging. Nervous? Then avoid ones with names like The Terminator (on Sarapiquí) or El Abismo (on Reventazón). Novices might want to try Peñas Blancas or Balsa, where you may spot herons, sloths and monkeys.

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If you want to shake things up, opt for Savegre, which has calmer spots interspersed with rapids.

Alternatively, paddle hell for leather on Río Toro, which is class two to four. Save Pacuare for last, as it’s voted among the world’s best rivers for white-water rafting. You can snake along its 108km length from the Talamanca mountains to the Caribbean – as long as you survive its double drop rapids, that is!

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Fly through the trees

Central America’s longest zipline (1,590m) awaits at 100% Aventura in Monteverde. This is a heart-racing way to see the misty cloud forest and you will whizz down 11 ziplines before reaching the grand finale: Tarzan’s Swing, which will drop you to the ground 45m below. A little further north of Monteverde is La Fortuna, where you can zipline with the backdrop of Arenal volcano.

© Fernando Acuña; Shutterstock; Costa Rica Tourism Board

ADVENTURE

3

Another nine ziplines and 13 platforms await in Costa Rica’s south in Montezuma, at the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. Zip through the brocolli-green canopy, pausing at each of the platforms to soak up the incredible views of the surrounding mountains and the glittering Pacific Ocean. You may even spot capuchin monkeys and colourful parrots (such as macaws), while the sounds of howler monkeys will echo through the trees.

When your feet are back on solid ground, be sure to explore the many waterfalls of Montezuma and cool off in their natural pools.

Swim with sharks

Whether you’re an advanced diver or a first timer, there are plenty of underwater spots, teeming with sharks, that are suited to your level. Novices should head under the water at Drake Bay where reef sharks can be seen along with orcas, humpbacks and pilot whales.

More experienced? Travel DID YOU 30m below the surface at KNOW? Bat Island, the only place Costa Rica is home to 30 national parks in Costa Rica where you and 25.5% of its area can experience bull sharks. is protected.

Advanced certified divers can sail out to the far-flung Cocos Island, south-west of the mainland.

This remote outpost is world-famous for its hundreds of hammerhead sharks and huge tiger sharks.

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Gaze in awe at volcanoes

Costa Rica’a north is home to five active volcanoes. To admire the most photogenic, visit La Fortuna, where you can combine gawping at the symmetrical cone of the 1,657m-high Arenal volcano with jungle treks. After stretching your legs, take a dip in one of the many hot spring pools and apply natural clay body masks made with volcanic ash. Then tick off the other active volcanoes

Up in the clouds

(clockwise from above) Take a stroll in a rainforest canopy; snorkelling with whale sharks in the Corcovado Peninsula; ziplining in Monteverde; white-water rafting; Arenal volcano

on the list – Poás, Rincón de la Vieja, Turrialba and, of course, Costa Rica’s highest volcano, the 3,432m Irazú, the closest to the capital, San José.

Don’t underestimate the thrill factor of dormant volcanoes either. Catarata Del Toro awaits exploration in the less-visited Central Valley. Listen to the crash of the waterfall from the top and feel its spray on your face as you descend into the 90m crater of an extinct volcano.

© Fernando Acuña; Shutterstock; Costa Rica Tourism Board

5

Trek the jungle

Over 90% of all organisms in a rainforest are found in the canopy, so what better place for a jungle adventure? At the Sky Walk at Monteverde Cloud Forest, six suspension bridges join together to form a 2.5km trail through Monteverde’s canopy. Follow a tour guide across the knee-shakingly high bridges while learning about the native flora and fauna.

For an extra thrilling adventure, embark on a jungle trek in the dark.

In both Monteverde and Manuel Antonio NP, you can join a guide for a night walk. While your sight will be diminished, your other senses will come alive: the smell of the damp on the jungle floor; the high-pitch buzz of the insects; the low grunts of the toads. The forest never sleeps so expect to see bright tree frogs, ⊲ huge snakes and tarantulas.

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Stay in an eco-lodge

The first step to sustainable travel? Book yourself into an eco-lodge, preferably one with a Certificate of Sustainable Tourism (CST). They exist in harmony with their surroundings and offer low-impact adventures galore. Near Corcovado National Park, Lapa Rios Lodge is surrounded by primary forest – which puts waterfall hikes, birdwatching safaris and whale-watching right

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on your doorstep. But the southeast has a wealth of award-winning accommodation: visitors to the Luna Lodge, Tiskita Jungle Lodge, Playa Cativo Lodge or Casa Corcovado Jungle Lodge – to name just a few – will find themselves enjoying the balance of comfort with lush wilderness; while you’re in the Golfo Dulce, Playa Nicuesa makes a fine base for kayaking, snorkelling and dolphin-watching.

On the east coast, Selva Bananito Lodge offers horse-riding, treeplanting and even gyrocopter experiences, while Rio Tropicales in Limon is perfect for white-water rafting on the nearby Pacuare River.

Approaching the northern border, at Hotel Capitán Suizo in Tamarindo, you can spy macaws, snorkel and watch whales while at Laguna del Lagarto Rainforest Lodge, near the Rio San Carlos, you can spy critically-

Costa Rica Tourism Board

SUSTAINABILITY

endangered great green macaws in their natural habitat.

2

Volunteer your time

Whether it’s for a few days or an entire fortnight, volunteering can make a real difference – and Costa Rica has a wealth of wildlifefocused projects.

Las Pumas Rescue Centre offers rewarding volunteering programmes for wildlife – especially big cat – enthusiasts. Located just outside Cañas, the centre rescues and rehabilitates animals, providing care in their natural habitats. The centre offers volunteering positions for people interested in learning about the conservation of wildlife for a minimum stay of one and a half months. There’s never more than eight volunteers at the centre at one time, so you need to be prepared to get your hands dirty.

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Eat at an eco-farm

There are many places you can visit in Costa Rica to see how farmers use natural remedies instead of chemicals to protect their crops.

For example, Costa Rican farmers will plant a colourful flower they know certain pests don’t like instead of spraying their crops with pesticides.

You can see this in action at the Finca Educativa Don Juan. You can visit for the day or spend a night or two. You will get a tour of the

Gone green

(clockwise from above) Being responsible has plenty of up-sides: try horse-riding; visit jaguars, dive the Isla del Caño and stay in an eco-lodge

farm and be treated to a feast of locally grown vegetables, beans and homemade salsas.

Or try Hacienda El Viejo, which offers mangrove tours and gives you the chance to infuse your own rum.

even assist with the morning count of new hatchlings.

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Take the pledge

Costa Rica is serious about protecting the environment and it wants to make sure its visitors Protect the wild are, too. The Pura Vida Pledge Conservation projects is a four-step plan that ensures more dedicated to protecting the sustainable travelling. country’s diverse flora and fauna Step one is to choose can be found all over Costa accommodation and tour DID YOU Rica. And since many of operators that have a KNOW? them rely on money from Certification of Sustainable 99% of Costa Rica’s energy supply is visitors, the best way you Tourism (CST). Step two renewable, and it aims can offer support is is all about carbon to become entirely by going to see them. offsetting.

So be sure to carbon-neutral by 2050.

The Rescate Wildlife Rescue check your carbon footprint Center (Also known as ZooAve) (fonafifo.go.cr/en/calculadora). in Alajuela is just one example, and The third step is volunteering. Step has spent over 30 years rehabilitating four is quite simply about respecting animals. Visit to see over 125 species the environment – so ensure you including sloths, jaguar and pumas. leave no trace. ⊲ Meanwhile, the Fundecodes volunteer programme aids flora research in six areas across the north-west’s Scan the QR Tempisque Conservation Area. code to watch Visit Pacuare Reserve on Costa the full video Rica’s east coast and join in with on the Pura Vida a walk of the coastline during turtle Pledge featuring nesting and hatching season to help Lyn Hughes. protect leatherback turtles – you can

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ONE TO WATCH

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1

Go wild in the jungle

The undeniable star of Costa Rica’s jungles are sloths. They may be slow moving, but that doesn’t make them any easier to see. These smiling creatures live all over Costa Rica, one of the few countries that have both the two- and three-toed species. Other cute, common mammals you’re likely to see in the jungles of Costa Rica are tapir, peccary and coati – a racoon-like

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animal the size of a large cat. They’re most often spotted around Arenal and Monteverde.

Look out for iguana in the Osa Peninsula, Arenal Volcano and Tortuguero National Park and don’t miss Jesus Christ lizards walking on water at Cahuita National Park.

Bigger reptiles can be seen in the jungle rivers, swamps and lagoons, which you can tour to uncover crocodiles and caimans.

Head to Corcovado to spot ocelots and margay cats. If you hire a guide – and if you get lucky – you might spot a jaguar in Corcovado in the biodiverse Osa Peninsula. While there’s only thought to be around 30 of these cats left in this area, Osa boasts 2.5% of the entire planet’s biodiversity.

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Monkey business

The first time you’re woken by the booming roars and shouts

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NATURE & WILDLIFE

of howler monkeys is when you really know you’re in jungle territory.

Staying in eco-lodges or family run accommodation on the edge of the parks is the best way to immerse yourself. Once there, you can explore with guides, wildlife-spotting by boat in Tortuguero on the east, for example, or by foot in Manuel Antonio Park on the west.

Alongside howler monkeys, you’re also likely to see capuchin, squirrel and spider: tick all four species off in Corcovado NP. Watching them swing through the trees, sometimes with a baby clinging on, is mesmerising.

are the species’ only herbivores; they nest between June and October in Tortuguero NP. Olive ridleys are the most abundant and they nest all year round on the Pacific Coast. To see endangered hawksbill, head to Cahuita NP (Sept to Oct). Visitors to Ostional beach between August and November could see up to 300,000 sea turtles arriving.

4

A birder’s paradise

Bird watchers dream of seeing the vibrant year-round birdlife of Costa Rica. There are more bird species here than anywhere else in the world – more than 900. Visit in dry season (Jan-Apr) and you’ll see Turtle nesting herons, ducks and spoonbills around You won’t be the only one water and scarlet macaws in Manuel enjoying Costa Rica’s pristine Antonio, Corcovado, Carara and Palo beaches – a well-timed visit will see Verde National Parks. Hummingbirds you enjoy watching turtles digging, breed November to March, so listen laying and burying their eggs on the out for their calls around Arenal and beach. It’s always best to see them in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. with an official guide to ensure you You can see toucans there too, as don’t scare them. well as in Manuel Antonio, Corcovado Four turtle species can be found and Tortuguero national parks. in Costa Rica. Leatherbacks are the Sunbitterns can be seen in La Marta largest and they love eating jellyfish.

Wildlife Refuge close to Tapanti NP. See them nesting between March Intrepid twitchers should also look and July on the Caribbean coast and out for fasciated tiger-heron, between September and March on black-and-yellow tanager the Pacific coast. Green turtles DID

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YOU KNOW?

Shutterstock; Costa Rica Tourism Board

Over the past six years, on average, a new species of wildlife has been discovered in Costa Rica every two-and-a-half days.

Totally resplendent

(clockwise from above) Resplendent quetzal; hawksbill turtle; flora in Drake Bay; a sloth

and russet antshrike. The most exotic bird has to be the resplendent quetzal: small with iridescent greenand-red colouring and long tail feathers, they can be found in the Monteverde Cloud Forest and Los Quetzales NP (Feb to May).

5

Under the sea

Be sure to explore off land, too. You can see migratory humpback whales almost all year round at Marino Ballena NP; they have two seasons – from mid-July to mid-Nov and mid-Dec to April.

You’ll likely spot dolphins, too as Costa Rica’s waters are teeming with them. The Pacific coast is home to bottlenose, Risso’s, rough-toothed, spinner and striped dolphins while on the Caribbean side you can find costero and bottlenose dolphins.

Those prepared to go deeper should dive during the dry season, when the water is at its clearest.

Huge manta rays can be seen off the Catalina Islands (Dec to May) while Drake Bay’s Cano Island hides an underwater world of bright corals, eels, reef sharks and sting rays. Beginners can test their skills at Manuel Antonio NP where turtles, octopus, lobsters and whitetip sharks await. ⊲

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We’ve hand-selected some of the best tours to Costa Rica...

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Best for ADVENTURE

Best for SUSTAINABILITY

Luxury Adventures in Costa Rica

Rainforests, Rivers and Rapids

Costa Rica Sustainable Wildlife Tour

Untouched Costa Rica

Rafting the Pacuare river, gazing at the puffing Póas Volcano, canyoning, thermal pool dipping and wildlife watching: during this eight-day adventure with Journey Latin America, your feet will hardly touch the ground.

The exhilarating days are bound to leave your heart racing and your muscles aching, so you’ll be glad of the luxury lodges this tour offers, where you can relax while being surrounded by jungle.

This two-week tour with Trailfinders will see you enjoy adventures on land, on water and even in the air. Hike through thick forests by day and, by night, join monkeys and other wildlife up in the canopy on a walk across hanging bridges and hold on tight as you tumble down the Pacuare River in a raft.

The last two days are spent soaking up the sand and sea at Puerto Viejo – a rest you will have well and truly earned after such an active trip.

This Rainbow Tours’ trip celebrates Costa Rica’s sustainability.

Soak up jungle views in the Central Valley; spot sloths, macaws and monkeys in Corcovado National Park; enjoy beaches on the Pacific; and explore Monteverde’s cloud forest. This tour ensures all hotels have been awarded the Certificate of Sustainable Tourism (CST) to help you leave no trace.

Pura Aventura’s 17-day journey through the lesser-known areas ensures sustainable travel by avoiding overdeveloped places and taking you off the beaten track so you can explore untouched nature without the crowds. Enjoy guided tours around the Golfo Dulce, spot wildlife from Pacuare’s hanging bridges, hike through Bajos del Toro cloud forest and relax with the locals in Nosara.

Journey Latin America

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Trailfinders

Rainbow Tours

Pura Aventura

Costa Rica Tourism Board; Shutterstock; Mary Anne Nelson

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MAKE IT HAPPEN

Best for WELLBEING Costa Rica Coast to Coast Ride

Wellness Costa Rica

Unspoilt nature, a sea breeze and two wheels: these components of Trailfinder’s Costa Rica Coast to Coast Ride make for a slow-paced adventure to soothe both the body and the mind. You’ll cycle through rural villages, past horizon-breaking coastal views, through wildlife-rich forests, up and down misty mountains, and will stop to enjoy wildlife tours, incredible accommodation and meet farmers along the way.

A trip to Costa Rica with Healing Holidays is all about relaxing and rejuvenating. Enjoy wellness activities that connect you to nature such as hiking, outdoor yoga, surfing and white-water rafting. You will feast on healthy, organic and locally-sourced food.

Healing Holidays has hand-picked the finest spas and retreats, so you can enjoy top spa treatments that use local products such as coffee and chocolate.

Trailfinders

Best for NATURE & WILDLIFE

Best for CULTURE

Flora and Fauna of Costa Rica

Natural Wonders of Costa Rica

Costa Rica Experience

The Heartlands of Costa Rica

What better way to understand Costa Rica’s diverse nature than to hear from the locals that live here? On this 12-day trip with Journey Latin America, a local guide will show you the natural wonders of Costa Rica. Expect to see turtles at Tortuguero National Park, a rainbow-spectrum of birds in the Monteverde cloud forest, the sparkling pools and waterfalls of Rio Celeste, and crocodiles among the mangroves in Carara.

This ten-day journey with Latin Routes will get you off the beaten track and will give you a chance to stay in remote locations, where you will be surrounded by unspoilt landscapes that are home to a huge diversity of wildlife.

Highlights include a quetzal trail walking tour, hiking to the Fatima waterfall and exploring the Tenorio National Park, which is home to howler monkeys, toucans and even big cats such as pumas and jaguars.

Wander the bustling streets of San José.

Kick back at the rustic beach town of Quepos. Meet the locals by lending a hand on a rural farmstay near Santa Rosa de Pocosol. Spot quetzals in Monteverde’s cloud forest.

This nine-day tour with Intrepid Travel will leave you with a deeper understanding of Costa Rica’s culture alongside a healthy dose of nature and adventure.

This ten-day tour with Travel Local will reveal Costa Rica’s rich culture and history. You will visit Guayabo National Monument to see the largest collection of preColumbian ruins, learn to make chocolate with locals and stay at a coffee plantation, all while being surrounded by Costa Rica’s nature with plenty of time to admire the vast landscapes and wildlife wonders, too.

Journey Latin America

Costa Rica Tourism Board; Shutterstock; Mary Anne Nelson

Healing Holidays

Latin Routes

Intrepid Travel

Travel Local

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

CULTURE 1

Get a caffeine fix

Since being to introduced to Costa Rica in the late 1700s, coffee has become one of Costa Rica’s top exports. By law, the country only grows 100% Arabica beans; Coffee grows in eight regions; among these, Tarrazú is thought to produce the highest quality beans, known for their strong aroma and vanilla, cocoa and caramel notes. There are many coffee experiences available around Costa

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Rica. One good option is La Montaña Tarrazú plantation. As well as sampling a cup of fresh Joe you can ask a coffee producer about the difference between washed coffee – when the cherry is removed before the bean is dried – and naturally processed coffee, when the fruit is removed after the drying process. Honey processed coffee is somewhere in-between, as part of the pulp is left on for a sweeter flavour.

25 COSTA RICA BUCKET LIST EXPERIENCES

DID YOU KNOW?

2

Cowboy culture

Costa Rica is a peaceful and democratic country.

It has not had an army since 1948.

The Nicoya Peninsula is home to the sabaneros – Costa Rica’s cowboys. Don a cowboy hat and join them on horseback to herd cattle: a hands-on way to experience their way of life and gain an understanding of the deep connection they have with nature.

Help them to wash and feed the horses before hearing more stories of this fascinating culture around their dinner table. Hacienda El Viejo in the northern wetlands is a good place to start.

3 A taste of Costa Rica

(clockwise from above) Enjoy thrilling local cuisine; a chocolate tasting tour; red coffee cherries; vibrant San José

Meet the Bri Bri

Shutterstock; Costa Rica Tourism Board

The Bri Bri live in a protected reserve in the mountains near Cahuita, off the Caribbean coast.

The indigenous group maintain a traditional way of life, speaking their own language, making bows and arrows for archery, and hunting for fish.

Embark on a tour to the Yorking river – or Yorkín – part of the Sixaola River that marks part of the border between Costa Rica and Panama. After a trip in a wooden canoe, you’ll arrive on the indigenous territory, where cocoa and medicinal plants grow alongside corn, plantain and cassava. Dinner is cooked on an open fire, and you’ll sleep in a thatched hut.

4

From bean to bar

Go on a chocolate tour in La Fortuna to see coffee growing alongside sugar cane and avocado.

You’ll see the whole journey from bean to bar. Pick the pod from the cacao plant and suck on the fruit until you get down to the bean. The beans are then sun-dried and roasted over a fire before being crushed by a stone and grinded into a chocolate paste. You’ll then have a chance to make your own chocolate truffles – the perfect souvenir.

5

Food for thought

Costa Rica’s cuisine reflects the history and diversity of the country. Visitors to San José should check out the buzzing Barrio Escalante to enjoy the eclectic culinary experiences on offer.

Beyond the capital, head to Costa Rica’s Caribbean side to enjoy rondón – a seafood stew filled with coconut milk and plantain. Olla de carne is another Costa Rican classic – a beef stew bursting with potatoes and vegetables. Rice and beans are a staple and gallo pinto is usually served for breakfast alongside eggs and fried plantain.

It should come as no surprise that seafood features heavily here. Ceviche, a raw dish flavoured with lime is a refreshing meal on a hot day while a pescado entero – literally a whole fried fish – is rather satisfying after a day of hiking. The Pacific side isn’t just worth seeking out for its seafood: it’s established on the cooking scene for fusing Latin tastes with flavours from around the world. ⊲

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Yoga

Yogis should head to the northeastern Nosara region, famous for its wellness retreats. With its long stretches of golden sands and expanses of forests, you’ll soon see why it is so easy to relax here. At Nosara’s Harmony Hotel, guests can combine morning yoga sessions with soothing surf lessons on the waves that lap Guiones Beach. Cala Luna in Guanacaste is surrounded by

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greenery; the hotel offers yoga classes as well as sound therapy, reiki and other holistic treatments to soothe both body and mind. The boutique Lagarta Lodge meanwhile sits in a privately owned biological reserve.

Over on Costa Rica’s Caribbean side, Samasati Yoga and Wellness Retreat offers swaying hammocks, surfing and yoga in the laidback coastal town of Puerto Viejo. With meditation classes, yoga and

breathwork all on the cards, you’re bound to leave feeling rejuvenated.

2

Farm-to-table food

Being mindful about what you put in your body is easy in Costa Rica due to the bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables available.

To learn about seasonal ingredients in Costa Rica’s cuisine, join a course led by a local. Try the cooking class experience at Casa Turire, which

Dreamstime; Joan Vendrell; Giancarlo Pucci; Photomatix; Joan Vendrell; Costa Rica Tourism Board

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WELLBEING

listening to the sounds of the jungle.

Meanwhile, on the Orosi River, the luxurious Hacienda Orosi awaits – a thermal mineral spa where steam rises from the myriad hot pools.

The water here is rich in calcium, magnesium and potassium and can reach temperatures of up to 38°C. Recline in one of the many pools while admiring the view of the surrounding green hills and valleys.

organises lessons with a local Turrialba valley chef. Once you’ve picked vegetables and herbs from their organic garden, you’ll learn traditional recipes and then sample your creations.

3

Hot springs

Costa Rica’s position on the Pacific Ring of Fire means it has an explosive history and volcanic topography. The result of all this geothermal activity? Natural, mineral-rich hot springs where you can relax and feel your aches melt away into the bath-like water.

A good place to relax in the hot springs is along the Tabacon River where a series of deep pools allow you to have a warm soak while

4

Forest bathing

With 30 national parks all hiding numerous well-marked trails, there are countless places to unwind on a mindful stroll in Costa Rica. Forest bathing (the art of finding calm among the trees) comes naturally here and you’ll soon feel connected to the bountiful nature all around you on a jungle hike.

Don’t miss Manuel Antonio National Park to find walking trails that take you past mangrove swamps, tropical plants and up to the Escondido viewpoint where you can look out over the Pacific Ocean. Similarly, as one of Central America’s largest lowland tropical rainforests, Corcovado NP allows you to refresh yourself in nature.

At Tenorio Volcano NP, the cloud forest can be explored on foot via the many walking routes. One of the highlights is the hour’s hike to

DID YOU KNOW?

Dreamstime; Joan Vendrell; Giancarlo Pucci; Photomatix; Joan Vendrell; Costa Rica Tourism Board

Costa Rica has been recognised as one of the most positive and happy countries in the world.

Taking care, the Costa Rica way

(clockwise from above) Refreshing in a forest; Isla Tortugas; papaya;

the Celeste River and waterfall, where you are led across hanging bridges over a brilliantly blue river to a waterfall cascading into a turquoise pool.

5

The beaches

There’s nothing much more relaxing than feeling the sand between your toes and with over 300 beaches to choose from in Costa Rica, the only stress will be deciding which stretch of sand to take your shoes and socks off for.

On the Pacific Coast, Guanacaste has been called ‘The Golden Coast’ thanks to its sunsets. Visitors sit on the beach waiting for that sensational moment when the sky becomes gilted.

Over on the Caribbean side, Punta Uva beach is great for snorkelling with colourful coral just under the surface. A walk along the sand will reveal the laidback atmosphere of this small fishing town.

To really get away from it all, visit the Isla Tortugas, a pair of unspoilt islands on the Nicoya Peninsula.

The islands are uninhabited, so in true Costa Rican fashion, nature rules supreme here. ⊲

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PLAN YOUR PERFECT COSTA RICA ESCAPE

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Best for: Luxury and wellness

Best for: Luxury & wellness

Best for: Adventure

Best for: Leisure

Best for: Adventure

Best for: Wellness

Audley Travel has specialists who have travelled extensively around Costa Rica and their expert local knowledge is invaluable when it comes to planning your bespoke tour. Audley Travel has designed a number of itinerary ideas to inspire you and they can blend these with your own unique interests to tailormake the perfect Costa Rica adventure for you. Audley Travel are also on hand to help you while you are in Costa Rica, as their knowledgeable guides will assist you in getting around the country, understanding the culture and getting the most out of your time here.

Tour operator: Audley Travel Visit: audleytravel.com/costa-rica Phone: 01993 683115

Drive from coast to coast on a self-drive tour, stopping for numerous adventures along the way. Seek out monkeys and birds on land, and dolphins and whales on water. Cruise through cloud forests and gaze at active volcanoes. Get lost in San José’s fascinating culture or spend your time lying on the golden beaches of the Pacific coast. However you want to spend your time in Costa Rica, you can rely on DialAFlight and its 40-plus years of experience to organise you an incredible holiday for a great price.

Tour operator: DialAFlight Visit: dialaflight.com/flights/centralamerica/costarica Phone: 0330 159 6117

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With first-hand experience, a passionate team and over 30 years of experience, Elegant Resorts are leaders in luxury travel. Whether you want to explore the foothills of Arenal Volcano or trek through Manuel Antonio National Park, escape to the golden beaches of the Osa Peninsula and Guanacaste, or seek out cultural experiences in the Central Valley, Elegant Resorts will ensure you do it in style. They work with some of Costa Rica’s most luxurious hotels and eco-lodges so that you can have a wild adventure in Costa Rica without compromising on comfort.

Tour operator: Elegant Resorts Visit: elegantresorts.co.uk Phone: 01244 897564

With 11 itineraries in some of the most exhilarating national parks in the country, including Arenal, Manuel Antonio and Tortuguero, Exodus is great if you’re after an adventure. Rainforest hikes, cycling, surfing and more are all on offer. What’s more, Exodus helps you to do it responsibly, without damaging the environment or disrupting local communities. Exodus works with local guides, restaurants and guest houses to positively impact their communities and to help you get closer to the real Costa Rica.

Tour operator: Exodus Visit: exodus.co.uk Phone: 020 3553 2401

Fly over jungle canopies by zipwire and gaze at mighty volcanoes on the same day. Seek out sleepy sloths and other amazing creatures in the rainforest while listening out for a chorus of crickets and frogs. Cycle across the Guanacaste plains, La Fortuna National Park and through the foothills of Miravalles Volcano. And if you book with Explore, you can enjoy all of this adventure in a small group of 16 people or less. So not only will you benefit from the expertise of a local guide, you can be sure that your Costa Rican experience will be both an intimate and memorable one.

Tour operator: Explore Visit: explore.co.uk Phone: 01252 883761

G Adventures has been leading the way in small group adventure tours for over 30 years and with its diverse Costa Rican itineraries, you’re bound to find something suited to you. Whether you want to focus on the classic Costa Rican experience, see some of the country’s most incredible wildlife or venture off the well-trodden path, the experts at G Adventures can help. And as G Adventures only use locally-based guides, you will be shown around by someone who knows Costa Rica like the back of their hand.

Tour operator: G Adventures Visit: gadventures.com Phone: 020 7313 6937

We’ve hand-selected some of the best and most sustainable tour operators in Costa Rica, so you can make sure that your trip is as good as it possibly can be, and benefits you as well as the locals…

Best for: Wellness

Best for: Culture

Best for: Adventure

Best for: All-round

Best for: All-round

Best for: Wildlife and nature

Europe’s leading spa and wellness experts can help you find a journey in Costa Rica like no other. Enjoy activities that connect you to nature such as hiking, wildlife watching, white-water rafting, outdoor yoga and surfing. Taste healthy and locally sourced organic food. Relax in soothing spas and stay in luxurious hotels. There is arguably nowhere better than Costa Rica to switch off from the stresses of daily life. And as Healing Holidays sorts everything from arranging your visa to booking your tours, you can be sure you will be relaxed from day one.

Tour operator: Healing Holidays Visit: healingholidays.com Phone: 0207 843 3597

There’s so much to choose from in Costa Rica that it can be overwhelming, which is where the experts at Black Tomato come in. Black Tomato first discovered the jungles of Costa Rica in 2005 and the team has struggled to tear themselves away from it ever since.

Start by looking through Black Tomato’s example itineraries to help you decide what you would like to see and do during your time in Costa Rica. One of Black Tomato’s specialists will then tailor, alter and refine your itinerary until it matches your needs completely.

Tour operator: Black Tomato Visit: blacktomato.com Phone: 020 7426 9888

Intrepid Travel has been taken travellers off-the-beaten track to discover the world’s most amazing places for over 30 years. If you’re seeking an immersive cultural experience in Costa Rica then look no further than Intrepid Travel. Each trip is designed so that you can truly experience local culture by meeting the people, trying authentic food, taking public transport and staying in locally-owned and sustainable accommodation. Intrepid offers an average group size of just ten, so you can benefit from going the local way, exploring places where big groups simply can’t go.

Tour operator: Intrepid Travel Visit: intrepidtravel.com Phone: 0808 274 5111

From wildlife-watching itineraries and heart-racing holidays to luxurious trips designed to really let you relax and unwind, Journey Latin America can help you make your time in Costa Rica whatever you want it to be. Choose from carefully-curated private and group tours that ensure you go beyond the guidebooks. With all of the hotels, tours and guides expertly selected for you, and with over 40 years of expertise at your fingertips, your Costa Rica holiday is safe in the hands of Journey Latin America.

Tour operator: Journey Latin America Visit: journeylatinamerica.co.uk Phone: 020 3553 0261

One of the best ways to explore Costa Rica’s adventurous and wild landscapes is on foot, something you can do with KE Adventure Travel. Its experts will take you on a trek of a lifetime through lush rainforests and misty cloud forests, under incredible waterfalls, to the foot of volcanoes and across golden beaches.

By selecting the best local wildlife experts to guide you on your hikes, KE Adventure Travel will ensure you don’t miss a single thing along the way. Expect to enjoy sightings of sloths, coatis, tapir, a myriad of birdlife including the elusive quetzal and much more.

Tour operator: KE Adventure Travel Visit: keadventure.com Phone: 01768 773966

However you want to explore Costa Rica, Latin Routes can help. Its specialists have travelled extensively through Latin America and know the continent like the back of their hands, so they will be able to make great recommendations and plan the perfect itinerary for you. As well as tailor-making truly individual holidays, Latin Routes also operates escorted group tours. These carefully crafted itineraries have passionate expert tour leaders ready to guide you around this spectacular country in the company of other like-minded travellers.

Tour operator: Latin Routes Visit: latinroutes.co.uk Phone: 020 8546 6222 ⊲

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Best for: Sustainability

Best for: All-round

Best for: Leisure

Best for: Sustainability

Best for: Adventure

Best for: Nature and Wildlife

Pura Aventura has been offering personally made, planet-friendly and trusted holidays to Latin America since 1999. Pura Aventura’s independence, passion and local experience gives it the freedom to create your perfect trip to Costa Rica, whether that’s choosing to embark on a road trip to discover Costa Rica’s lesserknown highlights or to head into the rainforests to spot wildlife. Alternatively, you may opt to explore Costa Rica’s glorious coastal towns. Whatever you choose, you can be sure that you will be staying at eco-friendly hotels and won’t be harming the places you visit.

Tour operator: Pura Aventura Visit: pura-aventura.com Phone: 01273 676712

Pioneers in responsible travel, Rainbow Tours can help you to uncover Costa Rica’s famous icons and its hidden corners, where you will get right to the heart of the local culture. Whether you want a custom-made trips for couples, a family holiday or an expert-led group trip, the experts at Rainbow Tours can help. What’s more, Rainbow Tours takes looking after the planet seriously, so you can be sure that your trip will be a sustainable one that not only protects Costa Rica’s natural environment but gives back to the local communities.

Tour operator: Rainbow Tours Visit: rainbowtours.co.uk Phone: 020 8131 5603

With Select Latin America, you can take your pick from Costa Rica’s dense rainforests, rugged mountains, misty cloud forests, refreshing waterfalls or vast stretches of white sandy beaches. Choose to go headfirst into adventure by ziplining and white-water rafting or take it slow with wildlife hikes and beach-side yoga sessions. Select Latin America will individually design your Costa Rican adventure for you, so you can make sure all of your personal highlights are ticked off while benefiting from friendly experts. You can rely on their un-biased knowledge, advice and inspiration.

Tour operator: Select Latin America Visit: selectlatinamerica.co.uk Phone: 020 7407 1478

The experts at Trailfinders have spent the last 50 years tailor-making incredible holidays for over 16 million clients. Trailfinders offers a range of holidays to Costa Rica and has a dedicated team of specialists who are a mine of information about what to do in this incredible country, often with first-hand travel experience. Whether you want to explore Costa Rica with your own private driver, embark on a fly drive, or are simply looking for advice on the best national parks to visit, they will be more than happy to help.

Tour operator: Trailfinders Visit: trailfinders.com Phone: 020 7084 6518

TravelBag has been curating trips all around the world since 1979, so its experts know a thing or two about creating unforgettable travel experiences. Whatever you want to do while you’re in Costa Rica, the experts at TravelBag will help you to create a tailor-made itinerary.

TravelBag has sought out incredible places to stay all over Costa Rica so, whether you spend your days at the beaches of Puerto Viejo or exploring the Arenal National Park, you will be safe in the knowledge that you’ll have a comfortable and welcoming retreat to return to after your long days.

Tour operator: TravelBag Visit: travelbag.co.uk Phone: 020 3733 1799

With over 25 years of experience in creating outstanding wildlife holidays around the globe, you can trust Wildlife Worldwide to create a wildlife adventure through Costa Rica like no other. Whether you want to see turtles laying their eggs, hear the call of howler monkeys or watch toucans brighten up the forest, it has a tour to match and can build you the perfect tailor-made trip. Wildlife Worldwide offers trips to Costa Rica’s lesser-known national parks such as Carara and Cahuita, allowing you to truly escape the crowds.

Tour operator: Wildlife Worldwide Visit: wildlifeworldwide.com Phone: 01962 302086

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HOW MANY HAVE YOU TICKED OFF? ADVENTURE

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1 Conquer the rapids 2 Fly through the trees 3 Swim with sharks 4 Gaze in awe at the volcanoes

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5 Trek the jungle

SUSTAINABILITY

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1 Stay in an eco-lodge 2 Volunteer your time 3 Eat at an eco-farm 4 Protect the wild 5 Take the Pura Vida Pledge

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NATURE & WILDLIFE

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1 Go wild in the jungle 2 Spot monkeys 3 See turtles nesting 4 Go birdwatching 5 Go diving or snorkelling

CULTURE

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1 Get a caffeine fix 2 Experience cowboy culture 3 Meet the Bri Bri 4 See how chocolate is made 5 Eat traditional food

WELLBEING

☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

1 Take a yoga class 2 Eat farm-to-table food 3 Soak in the hot springs 4 Go forest bathing 5 Relax on the beaches

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This issue’s essential Wanderlust destinations – and the most exciting ways to experience them

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Double bill: Ålesund & Bergen

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Hidden USA: St Augustine

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Indigenous cultures: Alaska

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Heritage: Meroe

174

Top 10 highlights: Crete

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British break: Orkney

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Off-grid: Nur-Sultan

184

Short break: Styria & Graz

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View from above: Verona

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Sudan's sandcastles The ravaged pyramids of Meroe – damaged by treasure hunters – remain an extraordinary and little-visited site

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First 24 hours: Montevideo

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Bright chocolate-box buildings, world-class seafood and access to some of Norway’s most iconic fjords. These two coastal cities have a lot in common, making them an adventurous twin-city break, as Toby Skinner discovers…

Ålesund

SUBS

Population: 45,747 Average July temp: 14.5°C Famous for: Art Nouveau architecture, cod fishing (and eating), shipbuilding, access to famous fjords like the Geirangerfjord.

History

CLIENT

Bergen

Strung across a hook-shaped peninsula on a dramatic archipelago, Ålesund has long been an important centre of fishing and shipbuilding, as well as a gateway to the fjords and Sunnmøre Alps inland. A 1904 fire led to Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm rebuilding the whole town in Jugendstil Art Nouveau style, and it still boasts a remarkable collection of buildings with fairytale turrets and ornamentation. Like Bergen, the Hurtigruten ferry up the Norwegian coast stops here regularly.

During the Middle Ages, the so-called ‘city of seven hills and seven fjords’ was Norway’s capital and an important seaport as part of the pan-European Hanseatic League. That history can be felt keenly around Bryggen, the UNESCO-protected area of colourful wooden houses by the harbour.

The famously wet Bergen is also an important centre for oil and shipping, and a buzzing university town, which welcomes more cruise passengers than anywhere else in Norway.

Around town

PRODUCTION

Ålesund

There’s a leisurely pace to Ålesund, where life rarely moves much faster than the wooden fishing boats that chug out of the harbour. The Art Nouveau Centre museum and cool adjoining KUBE art museum are must-sees, as is the view from the Fjellstua viewpoint, with the pretty town framed by a dramatic seascape. There are kayak tours from the harbour, and local tourism operators 62°NORD run RIB sea safaris to spot seal colonies, sea eagles and more.

Norway’s second city is buzzy as well as pretty, with the harbour area dotted with cool cafes and homegrown boutiques like Norwegian Rain, makers of smart raincoats. The grand KODE Art Museum houses work by Edvard Munch and more, while the Troldhaugen is a cute museum/ concert hall in the former home of composer Edvard Grieg. Nature’s never far away, with kilometres of hiking stretching into the hills from the top of the Ulriken cable car (reopening in May).

Surrounding nature

ART

Population: 283,929 Average July temp: 15.6°C Famous for: Its seven hills and seven fjords, being the wettest city in Europe, composer Edvard Grieg, Bryggen’s wooden buildings, street art by ‘Norwegian Banksy’ Dolk.

Ålesund is within striking distance of some of Norway’s most famous fjords, like the Geirangerfjord that partly inspired Frozen, and iconic roads like the steeply zig-zagging Trollstigen. The Sunnmøre Alps stretch inland, with mountain-tofjord skiing in the spring and mountain biking and hiking in the warmer months; memorable stays include the Hotel Union Øye, which has hosted the great and good since 1891, or the futuristic nature pods of the Juvet Landscape Hotel.

Bergen is similarly close to fjords and adventures, with ‘fjord safaris’ on RIBs leaving regularly from the harbour. There’s also white-water rafting on the rivers around nearby Voss, and lots of kayaking opportunities, especially across the steep-sided Aurlandsfjord and Sognefjord, the deepest in Norway. From Flåm, a bucolic village at the end of the Sognfjord, the hour-long train ride up to the Myrdal mountain station is one of Norway’s most spectacular rail journeys.

Food & Drink

Bergen

Ålesund is famous for its seemingly inexhaustible bounty of seafood, especially the flaky cod that locals refer to as ‘white gold’ and often serve with roe and liver. It’s best sampled at harbourside restaurants like seasonal long-timer Sjøbua and Apotekergata No. 5, at the smart waterfront Hotel Brosundet – which also lays on fishing trips and the chance to have chefs cook up your catch.

The Brosundet’s bar, Arkivet, is also one of the smartest in town.

Norway’s second city is home to the sort of modern ‘locavore’ restaurants that trouble the World’s 50 Best list, like the ambitious Lysverket or the smart Restaurant 1877 in the city’s old meat market. Or you could just eat at one of the concessions at the harbourside fish market, where local fishermen have been hawking their catch since 1200. Bars range from student-y haunts like ping-pong bar Vaskeriet to Skipperstuen, a more classic fisherman’s pub.

Need to know

The drive between Bergen and Ålesund is a punchy eight hours, crossing the Sognefjord by ferry, with a possible detour to the UNESCO-listed Geirangerfjord before Ålesund.

How to get there

Direct flights are currently not available due to restrictions. Norwegian (norwegian.com) and SAS (flysas.com) are expecting to resume direct flights from London to Ålesund and Bergen. Connecting flights are still available; around £400; flight time from 4.5 hours.

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Ålesund & Bergen

AT A GLANCE

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Norwegian nirvana (clockwise from top left) Geirangerfjord is just south-east from Ålesund; the colourful buildings in UNESCO-listed Bryggen in Bergen; on the remarkable train journey on the Flåm Line, taking you between Flam and Myrdal; a bird’s-eye view over Ålesund as the autumn sun sets over it; (far right) Aerial view of the fjord near Os village, just south of Bergen

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HIDDEN USA VERSION REPRO OP

St Augustine, Florida

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Introducing the USA’s oldest city… we discover the history and wildlife beyond the beaches of the Sunshine State Words Aaron Millar

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Shutterstock; FloridasHistoricCoast.com

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Educated views The view from Flagler College’s courtyard, Downtown St Augustine

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HISTORIC SITES

iami is sparkling and raucous; Orlando is full of thrills; but the little town of St Augustine, nestled into Florida’s historic coast, has something those glitzy big cities lack: charm.

Founded in 1565, St Augustine, 65km south of Jacksonville, is North America’s oldest continuously occupied European settlement.

And it shows: more than 450 years of history are infused into its cobbled stones, from its narrow, winding streets and old colonial forts to its bright Spanish Revival architecture soaring in gilded towers. This may be the USA, but it feels more like an old-world European break.

That is, apart from the beaches.

St Augustine may have history that predates the country itself, but this is still the Sunshine State.White sand stretches 67km along the coast, from golden bays filled with buzzing resorts to wild desolate dunes with not a soul around. Kayak along peaceful waterways with dolphins and manatees brushing past your boat, hike nature trails through estuaries ringing with birdsong, or cast a line and wait for tarpon and mackerel to bite.

That’s what St Augustine is about.

Culture and open air. Historic sites in the morning, wild coastal adventures in the afternoon. Sounds pretty charming to me.

Beyond St Augustine’s Downtown there’s a lot more history to explore, just a short drive away.

Fort Mose

Mose (pronounced ‘Moh-Say’) was the first legally sanctioned ‘free black town’ in the country. Risking their lives to escape the English plantations of Carolina, African-born slaves crossed the dangerous swamps south to Spanish-controlled Florida where they were freed in exchange for their service to the crown. Fort Mose was their home, the end of the first American Underground Railway to freedom, a century before the civil war. The fort itself no longer stands, but the history is still palpable and the waterfront is ideal for birding or gentle paddles. floridastateparks.org; admission to park ground free ($2 to enter visitor centre)

Fort Matanzas

This 18th century fortified watchtower marks the site of many battles and storied history of the region, from early Spanish rule through to the American Revolution. Take the ferry across to the fort, and it’s still possible to climb the stone steps and peer out across the waters where British warships once sailed in. But, today, just as important is the 1.2 sq km of eco-system that the park protects and can be explored through nature trails along the banks. nps.gov; admission free

HIGHLIGHTS

Shutterstock; FloridasHistoricCoast.com

HISTORIC DOWNTOWN

Fifty five years before the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, Admiral Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés spotted a tiny Timucuan village on the coast, came ashore and claimed it for Spain. Those roots still define St Augustine to this day, especially in its Historic Downtown: 144 blocks of living history framed by the sparkling waters of Matanzas Bay. The sites here though are interspersed between museums, galleries and restaurants with outdoor terraces that spill onto the streets [see next page].This is a place to wander, to slow down and soak in the atmosphere, colour and scents – of fresh seafood and sweet treats – that drift on the air.

One of your first stops should be the Fountain ofYouth Archaeological Park (fountainofyouthflorida.com; $15.96[£12] adult), which marks the site of the original Timucuan village, Seloy, where the town was founded.

Dispersed around its 61,000 sq km waterfront are numerous exhibitions that showcase the Native American and colonial history of the town.

Nearby, is the Castillo de San Marcos (nps.gov; $15.96[£12] adult): the oldest masonry fortification in the United States with nearly 350 years of stories hidden within. But, perhaps, most impressive of all is the Colonial Quarter, a walk-through recreation of the town in different stages of its history, from 16th century boat makers and blacksmiths to 17th century watchtowers, where Spanish soldiers would have watched for pirate flags on the horizon. ⊲

Walking to freedom (from top) A bridge brings you to Fort Mose, the site of the USA‘s first legally sanctioned free black town; Fort Matanzas National Monument; St Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum

St Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum

Climbing to the top of this 50m lighthouse is worth each one of the 219 steps. From the top, the views across St Augustine’s Historic Downtown and inlet lagoon offer the best sunset view in town. But the Maritime Museum also tells the stories of the nation’s oldest port, with boatwrights demonstrating ship building and – if you come after dark – you can go on a ghost tour where you might just meet a few of its former keepers. staugustinelighthouse.org; $14.95 (£12) adult ticket

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BEACHES

This northern coastal sliver of Florida may be an oasis unto itself when it comes to history, but when it comes to beaches, it’s all-out Sunshine State. Stretching 67km along the coast, joined together by the scenic A1A Beachfront Avenue, its sandy spots offer visitors a varied menu of wildlife and wandering.

In the north, Ponte Vedra is the most upmarket choice, with resorts, golf and all manner of ocean fun. A few kilometres south, at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas (GTM) Research Reserve (gtmnerr.org; $3.00[£2] per vehicle up to eight people) it changes completely: an estuarian ecosystem, completely wild and filled with nesting sea turtles and more than 350 species of birds, including parakeets, egrets and plovers.

Further south, St Augustine Beach is lively, fun and right outside the Historic Downtown. Crescent Beach, on Anastasia Island, is one of the most scenic and untouched in the region, while Anastasia State Park (floridastateparks.org; $8 [£6] per vehicle) is all about hiking barefoot in the sand, kilometres of open beach crossed by rolling dunes and some of the best sunrises you’ll ever see.

No matter which shore you traipse over, keep your eyes especially peeled for a very special memento: the beaches here, especially Vilano and Mickler’s Landing, are some of the best places in the country to find sharks’ teeth washed up on the shore.

WATERWAYS

The centuries of history will spark your curiosity and the beaches will fill your senses, but the waterways of Florida’s Historic Coast are where you’ll find adventure. The Matanzas, Tolomato and Guana Rivers pass right through here and, because they are protected from the ocean, the waters are calm, easy to paddle and perhaps the best way to experience the region’s local wildlife.

A fine way to dip your oar in is to paddle The Salt Run, on the edge of Anastasia State Park and one of the best places to spot dolphins and manatees; maybe try cruising through the rich birdlife of the GTM Research Reserve; or take the chance to float along the bayfront of Downtown St Augustine, taking in the history from a waterside view. Stand-up paddleboards, surfboards and hydrobikes (like a pedal-powered mini-catamaran) are available too, as are more motorised adventures, including Florida’s iconic airboat tours.

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Sunrise at the Castillo (clockwise from top) The rising sun gives the 17th Century walls of the Castillo de San Marcos a pink tinge; St George Street in the Historic District; one of the 67km stretch of beaches

DISCOVER St Augustine

BACKGROUND INFO Food

Enjoy seafood so fresh that it still smells of the ocean. For traditional Florida recipes and farm-to-table food, check out The Floridian (thefloridianstaug.com), while Cap’s on the Water (capsonthewater.com) offers great views of the Intracoastal Waterway while you eat.

Try traditional Menorcan dishes at Aunt Kate’s (aunt-kates.com/menu); the Menorcans were one of the town’s original settlers, and much of their culinary influence can still be savoured here, including local twists on classic Spanish dishes like paella and clam chowder. But don’t forget to try the local delicacies too, especially St Augustine-style fried shrimp.

Hotels For relaxed beach style digs, go

for a ‘vacation rental’ along the Ponte Vedra coast. Splash out on a luxury waterfront home with private pool and dock or settle into a cosier cottage steps from the sand.

For something more unique, head to one of St Augustine’s Historic Downtown hotels.

Casa Monica is the city’s grande dame: it is filled with original art and antiques, as well as boasting a waterfront pool for that midafternoon cool down. kesslercollection.com/casa-monica/

Golf

Stacey Sather / FloridasHistoricCoast.com; Stacey Sather/Stacey Sather SGS; Alamy

Ponte Vedra is also home of one of Golf’s most famous, and difficult, courses, TPC at Sawgrass (tpc.com/sawgrass). Come to play (beware: a round in peak season costs upwards of $500) or watch the pros at The Players Championship, one of the sport’s premier events.

But if taking out a mortgage to play 18 holes isn’t your cup of tee (pun intended), don’t worry: St Johns Golf Club (sjgc.com), in St Augustine, is far more affordable and you won’t spend half your time fishing balls out of the lake. Check out the World Golf Hall of Fame nearby too for some pre-round inspiration.

Museums

Downtown St Augustine may be a living museum in itself, but you should certainly make time to visit The Lightner Museum (lightnermuseum.org; $15 [£12] adult). Home of one of the country’s premier collections of 19th and early 20th century fine and decorative arts, the museum is like Florida’s very own Smithsonian.

Don’t miss a tour inside the former Ponce de Leon Hotel too, now Flagler College: opulent enough to drop your jaw, it is the premier representation of St Augustine’s eye-catching, gilded age architecture. flagler.edu.

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INDIGENOUS CULTURE

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For a deeper understanding of Alaskan culture, experience indigenous traditions first-hand alongside its native population

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he chance to hear the haunting song of humpback whales or to watch one breach draws two million visitors to Alaska each summer, more than half of whom visit on a cruise. But beyond its wildlife and scenery, there’s also a wealth of culture to be found in the USA’s most-northern state.To fully appreciate Alaska, it’s important to meet native Alaskans, who’ve inhabited this corner of North America for more than 10,000 years – long before Russia colonised much of its coast in the 1700s. But despite the Russians introducing disease and forcing Alaska’s original inhabitants into slavery – before selling the region to the USA in 1867 – native culture survived.

“The people coming to the city of Sitka had no idea there are native Alaskan people living here,” says Chuck Miller, who created the Sitka-based dance troupe Naa Kahídi Dancers in what was once the capital of Russian America. “The only thing they hear on the cruise ships is, ‘the Russians this, the Russians that…’ I wanted to educate visitors.”

Today, around 15% of Alaska’s 731,500 residents belong to native groups, roughly associated with the state’s five regions. The Arctic north is home to Iñupiaq and St Lawrence Island Yup’ik; the interior and south-central regions are the Athabascans’ homeland; the south west belongs to Yup’ik, Cup’ik, Unangax and Sugpiaq while Tlin-

git, Haida, Eyak and Tsimshian inhabit the south-east’s Inside Passage.

The regions’ natural resources led to distinctive cultural differences between the tribes. Coastal communities such as the Iñupiaq and St Lawrence Island Yup’ik hunted whales, seals and walrus, while the Athabascans in the interior migrated depending on the season and availability of food, camping along rivers to fish in summer. Trade between communities was common, so they built canoes and dog sleds to transport goods.

The south-western native Alaskans lived in lodgings that were partly underground, while those in the south-east used cedar trees to build plankhouses and totem poles. The latter featured clan crests and images of wolves, eagles and mythical creatures which were carved into tree trunks. These poles recorded legends, treaties, crimes and life events. The significance of a pole was explained during raising ceremonies, but these stories were passed down orally through generations, so many have now been lost.

Today, visitors can gain an insight by meeting totem pole carvers and experiencing a weaving class or even a raven dance.

On the next page are six ways to escape the cruise ships and discover indigenous Alaskan culture for yourself.

Authentic Alaska (clockwise from above) Boy on an Iñupiaq drum; totem pole in Sitka National Historical Totem Park; Tlingit war helmet; Ketchikan; downtown Sitka; native woman wearing regalia

Words: Sarah Riches Images: Wayde Carroll; Shutterstock; National Museum of Natural History; Alamy; Visit Anchorage

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Alaska

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SIX PLACES THAT WILL GROUND YOU IN NATIVE CULTURE

1 Anchorage

The state’s largest city is home to the Anchorage Museum (anchoragemuseum. org), which honours native heritage through soundscapes, storytelling and a permanent exhibition that features everything from ceremonial masks to an embroidered dog blanket. At the Alaska Native Heritage Center (alaskanative.net), meanwhile, you can learn native dances and games, listen to storytellers and watch traditional art being made. You can also meet elders at native dwellings set around a lake. Each structure represents an ethnic group; look out for whale bones at the Iñupiaq site and an Athabascan food cache.

2 Ruby

Only accessible by plane or boat, Ruby is an Athabascan village on the Yukon River in the interior region, home to just 160 people.

Here you’ll meet George Albert (nativeamerica. travel), an Athabascan Living Cultural Treasure according to the Alaska State Council on the Arts. George makes dog sleds and snowshoes from birch and moose skin. Stay at Empty Nest Bed & Breakfast, and try its locally-caught king salmon. Empty Nest is on Facebook

Words: Sarah Riches Images: Wayde Carroll; Shutterstock; National Museum of Natural History; Alamy; Visit Anchorage

3 Camp Island

The Kodiak Brown Bear Center on Camp Island is owned by Alutiiqs, which is the Sugpiaq way of describing the original residents of the south-west’s Aleutian Island archipelago.

Traditionally, Alutiiqs hunted bears, but these days, visitors watch the ursines instead. As the centre is only accessible by seaplane or helicopter and guests are limited to six, visitors have plenty of opportunities to listen to the hosts’ stories about their heritage as they sit around the firepit. kodiakbearcenter.com

4 Ketchikan

Ketchikan’s Totem Heritage Center (ktn-ak. us/totem-heritage-center) in the Inside Passage has one of the world’s largest collections of unrestored 19th century totem poles. Visitors can browse carving tools such as axes and scythe-like adze and take classes in carving, basketry and ‘ravenstail’ weaving. In town, you can also meet Ken Decker, a Tsimshian pole carver, who owns Crazy Wolf Studio downtown. crazywolfstudio.com

5 Saxman

Also close to Ketchikan is Saxman Totem Park, where you can watch Nathan Jackson at work. Nathan’s craft – which has been displayed in London’s Horniman Museum and Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian – has earned him a National Heritage Fellowship, the USA’s highest award in folk and traditional arts. “Once when I was younger, I carved a 3m pole in seven days, but I was working like crazy,” laughs Nathan, 82, who’s also known by the Tlingit name Yéil Yádi (Raven Child). “Nowadays I spend more time talking about poles than carving them.” alaska.org/detail/saxman-totem-park

6 Sitka

Naa Kahídi Dancers perform at Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahídi Tribal Community House in Sitka in the Inside Passage. The dancers perform native tales such as the raven dance wearing regalia decorated with shells and clan crests. ”Raven ignored a party invitation because he didn’t think highly of the hosts,” explains Chuck, who is part Tlingit, part Haida. “But when he found out they were serving great food he disguised himself and went. He was treated so well that he thanked the hosts by teaching them to dance.” The audience is invited to participate at the end. “By the time visitors see our show, they’ve not only seen dancing, drumming and singing, they have a better understanding of the Tlingit people.” sitkatours.com

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WORLD HERITAGE

Pyramids of Meroe

The ancient Kushite capital, marooned in the Sudanese desert, must be a top contender for the world’s most impressive least-visited site, reckons Lyn Hughes.

Here’s why you should make the trip…

Sudanese spires Sunrise catches the pyramids of Meroe, shorter and pointier than the more-celebrated Egyptian versions

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f someone asked you which country has the most pyra- nearly a century, the Kushite kings – the so-called Black mids, you’d immediately know the answer, right? A big Pharaohs – ruled Egypt.

Countless pyramids remain as legacies of successive pat on the back if you said Sudan.

However, even armed with that knowledge, it’s still Kushite kingdoms. There are nearly 100 at Meroe alone, a jolt when you’re driving the highway north-east of the oldest dating back to the ninth century BC. At the time, Meroe was the second city of Kush, the Khartoum and you see the pyramids of Meroe start to appear on the capital being at Napata. Following the horizon. Rising from the desert like fall of Napata in around 590 BC, the “They elicit the same capital was relocated to Meroe, a posijagged molars, due to their various states of disrepair, they elicit the same tion it held until the fourth century AD. spine-tingling awe spine-tingling awe you feel spotting During that time, deceased kings and you feel spotting Stonehenge from the A303. queens were buried under pyramids in Stonehenge” This area of northern Sudan was the necropolis outside of the city. once home to the ancient civilisation French naturalist and mineralogist of Kush, a powerful trading culture Frédéric Cailliaud brought the pyrathat had strong links – and deep rivalries – with the phar- mids to the attention of the world in the 1820s, and sparked aohs of Egypt to the north. For thousands of years, power a graffiti trend by carving his name in the stone. However, over the region of Nubia ebbed and flowed along the Nile the sorry state of many of the Meroe pyramids is primarily between Kush and Egypt. Indeed, for a brief period of due to Italian adventurer Giuseppe Ferlini, who visited in

DISCOVER Sudan

NEED TO KNOW

Alamy

Location: Northern Sudan, 230km north of capital Khartoum.

Getting there: There are no direct flights from the UK to Khartoum.

Turkish Airlines flies to Khartoum via Istanbul, Egyptair flies via Cairo.

Getting around: It’s possible to catch a bus from Khartoum to Meroe via Shendi. But we recommend using a good tour operator and guide, and visiting other historic sites. ITC Sudan (italtoursudan.com) is an Italian-owned company specialising in cultural tours, used by incoming companies and independent travellers. Entrance to Meroe costs US$20.

When to go: October to April, when temperatures are bearable.

Accommodation: Meroe Camp, owned by ITC (details above), overlooks the pyramids – stay here to easily access Meroe in the morning, when it’s coolest, and to see the sun set over the site. Accommodation is currently in simple, comfortable tents but new thatched stone bungalows are being built to replace them. Food is a good mix of Italian and Sudanese dishes.

Further information: Sudan (Bradt Travel Guides)

1834. He had a licence to excavate, but was really a treasure-seeker in search of bounty. In one tomb, belonging to Queen Amanishakheto, he discovered a rich hoard of jewellery. He found little else, but destroyed around 40 pyramids in the process of looking.

Today, the ancient site of Meroe is bisected by the main north-south highway. The remains of the Royal City lie to the west, towards the Nile, but are currently closed due to flooding in 2020. Even when they’re open, you need a good guide and a powerful imagination to really appreciate what little is left.

The Royal Cemetery lies to the east of road. This is Sudan’s main tourist attraction, not that you’d know. As it only sees a few thousand visitors a year, you may well have the place to yourself. The pyramids are split between two main clusters, the Southern necropolis, which is older, and the Northern, which is better preserved. To enter the archaeological site you need to pass a few handicraft stalls – and may be offered a camel ride – but it’s all very lowkey.

The pyramids aren’t as big as those found in Egypt – they have much smaller bases and steeper sides, and many have temple structures attached.

Also unlike Egypt’s tombs, the bodies here were buried beneath the pyramids rather than laid to rest within.

A few have been reconstructed, which UNESCO tends to frown upon.

However, in 2011 the Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe, which also includes the mysterious temple complex of Musawwarat es-Sufra and the Meroitic temples of Naqa, was granted World Heritage status.

As you visit, it becomes clear how little is known about the Kingdom of Kush and day to day life in Meroe. Archaeologists admit to relying mostly on theory and speculation.

But that is all part of the appeal. Just sit in the shadow of a pyramid, slowly soak up the atmosphere and ponder the mystery of one of the great ancient civilisations.

Wall-to-wall history Relief from the interior of the funerary chapel of a Meroitic queen – most likely Queen Shanakdakhete (2nd century BC), the first of Meroe’s ruling queens

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TOP TEN HIGHLIGHTS VERSION

Crete, Greece

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Minoans. Greeks. Romans. Byzantines. Saracens. Venetians. Ottomans. Crete has more than 4,000 years of history and folklore, scattered liberally through the island. This rich heritage is set against spectacular mountain scenery and Mediterranean coastal charm…

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1 Ancient Knossos

3 Chania

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Chania is Crete’s second-largest city, with colourful Venetian buildings set around a sheltered, fortificationguarded harbour. To the south are the tireless peaks of the Lefka Ori (‘White Mountains’), sometimes snow-covered

until June. Good beaches lie to the west and on the Akrotiri peninsula to the north. As well as Venetian ramparts and churches, a handful of old Islamic buildings such as the Yali Tzami mosque serve as reminders of the 250-year Ottoman rule. This pretty harbour city, which has plenty of open-air restaurants and shops, makes for a great base for exploring Crete’s wild west.

4 Phaistos Time on the move (clockwise from left) You can explore Crete’s history in Knossos, Gortys and Rethymno, before enjoying Chania’s relaxed seafront

One of the main Minoan sites in Crete, Phaistos is a maze of excavated courtyards and stairways on a hillside

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Knossos is steeped in mystery.

In legend it was the seat of King Minos, beneath whose palace the bull-headed Minotaur hunted its victims in the labyrinth built by Daedalus. In reality it was the hub of a Bronze Age empire that held sway over the Aegean more than 4,000 years ago. An impressive relic of the ancient Mediterranean world, the Minoan palace was excavated and imaginatively reconstructed in the early 1900s.

A good place to see a slice of everyday Greek life, Crete’s capital is an eclectic mix of medieval buildings, bustling markets and modern streets.

The huge fortress still guards the harbour where the galleys of the Serene Republic of Venice once moored. The centuries-old Agios Titos church and ornate Morosini Fountain are other reminders of Irakleio’s Venetian era, but the busy open-air markets and Heraklion Archaeological Museum are also fine places to explore before finding a café table on one of the central squares to indulge in a spot of people watching.

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overlooking the Messara Plain and the Libyan Sea. Most of the ruins visible today are remnants of a later palace (‘the Second Palace’) built around 1600 BC, although you can find sections of the original Minoan structures that date back more than 3,500 years.

5 Rethymno

Crete’s third-largest city has had a multi-layered history. The huge medieval fortress, Ottoman- and Venetian-era architecture and busy markets are part of its charm, along with a beach esplanade, built on a wide, shallow bay. The medieval quarter is crammed with tall windows and wrought-iron balconies, while several well-preserved structures remain from the Ottomans – including the Nerantzes Mosque. Along with the palm trees planted along its seafront, they give the town an exotic atmosphere.

6

Gortys

DK; Alamy; Dreamstime; AWL Images

Resting in the middle of the Messara Plain, the toppled Roman columns, ruins of a Byzantine basilica and post-Minoan fortifications

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all hint at Gortys’ chequered past.

The ruins here – including the Basilica of Agios Titos, the Temple of Pythian Apollo and a Roman Code of Laws built into the wall of an odeion (a key find) – may date from later Romanand Christian-eras than some of Crete’s Minoan palaces, but are just as impressive and often less crowded.

7 Samaria Gorge

This canyon is one of the most striking areas of natural beauty in Greece. The ‘White Mountains’ of the Sfakia region dominate south-west Crete. This rugged massif, most of which can be explored only on foot, is traversed by the lovely Samaria Gorge, which cuts through from the Omalos Plateau to the Libyan Sea. Peaks soar on both sides of the gorge, flanked by pine woods, wildflower meadows and medieval buildings such as the Osia Maria church. Beginning 1,250m above sea level, it emerges on the coast, close to the village of ‘New’ Agia Roumeli, after passing the original Venetian-era village and through the narrow Sideresportes (or ‘Iron Gates’).

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Birthplace of a legend (clockwise from this) Frescos in the Amari Valley; ruins of Gournia; Arkadi Monastery; Samaria Gorge

Amari Valley & Mount Idi 8 The

Overlooked by Mount Idi, the remote Amari Valley is dotted with olive groves, vineyards and fresco-laden churches, such as the 14th century Agios Ioannis Theologos and the 11th century Thronos.

Agios Efstathios meanwhile, just outside Hromonastiri village; boasts

one of the island’s oldest frescoes.

The old-fashioned villages and legendladen caves can be explored with a car or on a guided coach tour.

9 Gournia

Crete’s best-preserved Minoan town has a labyrinth of tiny houses and narrow lanes surrounding a small palace overlooking the Gulf of Mirabello – yet it receives few visitors.

It was inhabited from around 3000 BC, although the surviving buildings date from the later Second Palace period.

Like other Minoan settlements, it was destroyed by an earthquake and fire around 1450 BC. The honeycomb of ruins – workshops, courtyards, storerooms – stands only waist-high.

10 Moni Arkadiou

Arkadi Monastery is Crete’s best-loved Greek Orthodox monastery, a place of tranquillity with a tragic past, set high above the north coast on a fertile plain at the base of Mount Idi. During the Ottoman occupation, Orthodox priests not only kept the Greek language and traditions alive, but also led freedom fighters into combat during the 18th- and 19th-century rebellions; in 1866, the monastery’s gunpowder store was the site of one siege’s last stand that saw 943 Cretans martyr themselves rather than surrender.

This feature is adapted from the DK Eyewitness Top Ten Crete travel guide, which contains illustrations, tour suggestions and a pull-out map.

See dk.com

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FIRST 24 HOURS MINI GUIDE

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ontevideo may be less glam than Buenos Aires but it has some advantages over its rival. For one thing, its centre is small, walkable and encircled by the River Plate – sea breezes keep the city airy, and you can walk to La Rambla promenade in a matter of minutes.

Founded in 1726, the Uruguayan capital honours national hero, José Artigas, on the expansive Plaza Independencia.The history of this small country, has largely been about constructing its own identity. Uruguay remains a largely agricultural country and Montevideo is its only major city, home to more than a third of the population. The best galleries, museums, theatres and music scene – including a lively tango circuit – are all here.

Liberal laws and a mini-construction boom have generated headlines, but Montevideo stands out for not changing very much at all: retaining its convivial pace and that oh-so-easy atmosphere.

At the airport

Carrasco International (aeropuertodecarrasco. com.uy), 22km from the city centre, has limited connections to Europe; Air Europa and Iberia operate services to Madrid. In the arrivals hall are ATMs, casas de cambio and car-hire firms.

Getting into town

The airport offers shuttles to the centre; around £10 one-way. Regulated taxis are also available, charging UYU1,900 (£33); taxisaeropuerto.com

Other ways to arrive

Buquebus (buquebus.com) operates ferries from Buenos Aires. At least one operates in each direction daily (2hrs 15mins). It’s possible to cross a narrower section of the river, between Buenos Aires and Colonía de Sacramento, completing the journey to Montevideo by bus (4hrs). Buquebus and Colonia Express (coloniaexpress.com) offer this service.

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Independent minded The ornately designed Palacio Salvo looms over Plaza Independencia

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NEED TO KNOW Population: 3.6 million Languages: Spanish; English widely spoken in Montevideo.

African-Uruguayans pepper their Spanish with Africaderived words.

Timezone: GMT-3 International dialling code: +598 2 Visas: Not required by UK nationals for up to 90 days.

Currency: Uruguayan peso ($U or UYU), currently around UYU61 to the UK£.

Highest viewpoint: Cerro de Montevideo (132m).

Health issues: There’s low to no risk of malaria in Uruguay.

Dengue is present but the risk is low. The sun is strong.

Recommended guidebooks: Uruguay

by Tim Burford and Sean Connolly (Bradt, 2017).

Web resources: turismo. gub.uy is the official website for tourist information.

Smartphone app descubrimontevideo.uy offers ideas on museums, cuisine and carnival culture.

Climate: Montevideo is a year-round destination.

Expect hot summers (about 25-30ºC) from December to March and mild, damp winters from June to August.

Argentines descend on the beaches en masse after New Year; avoid the crowds by visiting in the shoulder months (Mar–May; Sept–Nov).

Alamy; Shuttertcok; Dreamstime

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Often overlooked by travellers en route to Buenos Aires, the River Plate’s other great capital is compact, convivial and packed with historical character, writes Chris Moss

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Hot stepping Pocitos beach traces the River Plate; (left) a couple show off their tango moves

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FIRST DAY’S TOUR

An easy walk along Avenida 18 de Julio and calle Sarandí, through three plazas, opens up a lot that the city has to offer. Start with a coffee and medialunas (sweet croissants) at lively Bar Facal (Ave 18 de Julio 1249). Outside is a bronze of tango legend Carlos Gardel seated and smiling toothily. If tango’s your thing, six blocks south there’s street art dedicated to Gardel on pedestrianised Curuguaty – also known as the ‘Candombe street’ in reference to Montevideo’s African musical heritage.

Further along the avenue, inside an ornate 19th century building, is the Museo del Gaucho (Ave 18 de Julio 998; free), dedicated to the historical role and daily life and labours of the South American cowboy. The national numismatic collection is also here.

At the centre of the Plaza Independencia is the equestrian statue, and tomb, of Artigas.

In the south-east corner is the Palacio Salvo, built in 1928 in a mixture of Art Deco and New York Gothic. At street-level is the privately run Museo del Tango – La Cumparsita (See Facebook, UYU150/£2.50, including glass of wine), dedicated to the memory of the first performance, at this spot, of ‘La Cumparsita’ in 1917. The country’s main theatre, the Teatro Solís, is just off the plaza.

Continue along calle Sarandi into the heart of the old town. The Museo Torres García (Sarandí 683, torresgarcia.org.uy, UYU170/£2.88) houses a collection of works by Uruguay’s best known artist, Joaquín Torres-García, the father of Latin American Constructivism. Passing the Cabildo (Town Hall) on your right you’ll come to another square, the tree-shaded Plaza Constitución, where the cathedral stands. Continue to the Plaza Zabala, formerly the site of the city fort; turn right down calle Pérez Castellanos to end your walk at the Mercado del Puerto. Opened in 1868, it’s now full of traditional restaurants and bars, and a fine way to finish your day.

WHERE TO STAY

Top end: Sofitel Montevideo (all.accor.com) is a luxurious hotel, casino and spa occupying a grand edifice, completed in 1921; it’s located in Carrasco, a beach resort east of the city centre (close to the airport). The French cuisine at the 1921 Restaurant, opulent setting and river views are the draws. B&B doubles from £149.

Mid range: Alma Histórica (almahistoricahotel. com) has just 15 stylishly appointed rooms – each themed to honour an Uruguayan poet, actor or tanguero – and sits on the Plaza Zabala in the old town. Doubles from US$133 (£96).

Budget: Casa Sarandí Guesthouse (casasarandi. com) is a beautiful Art Deco property in the old city run by a couple, Sergio and Karen, who also runs the English-language website guruguay. com. Rooms from US$95 (£69).

STAY OR GO

Unless you’re only here to dance, then explore beyond Montevideo. Around 180km west lies UNESCO-listed Colonia del Sacramento, founded in 1680; though small, it played a key role in skirmishes between the two conquering Iberian nations. An hour’s drive north of Colonia is Carmelo, a riverside town close to one of Uruguay’s main wine-growing areas.

East of Montevideo the accent is on beaches.

It’s a two-hour drive or bus-ride to Casapubelo (clubhotelcasapueblo.com), the remarkable Gaudí-esque former summerhouse and workshop of the late artist Carlos Páez Vilaró.

Today it’s a hotel but there’s also a restaurant and it’s well worth a pitstop.

Beyond are the beach resorts of Punta del Este, La Barra and José Ignacio. Great for a swim and fine dining, they are not as alluring as what lies further up the Atlantic Coast. La Paloma and La Pedrera are smaller, more sedate seaside spots. Inland, at Garzón, you can indulge in great food and wine in a classic Pampas landscape, go birding or hire a horse.

Ask a local

“Sports fans visiting this soccer-mad country should see Parque Batlle and the Centenary Stadium, where the first World Cup took place in 1930; the Soccer Museum is a must.

Also in the park is the marvellous ‘La Carreta’ monument, a history lesson in bronze, showing something of gaucho life.”

Marcelo Sivack, tour guide for local firm Buemes and Journey Latin America

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t was when the Atlantic surf starting drawing me down towards the village of Skara Brae that Orkney really started to sink in. From the visitor centre, I passed signs that marked more recent constructions – from the Pyramids to Stonehenge – transporting me back over 5,000 years.

The natural backdrop for this historical drama is the 70-plus islands sprinkled off the wild northern fringes of Scotland. Orkney is not barren as the Outer Hebrides can be; nor bog-laden like Shetland; it’s a green oasis where the locals have been doing very well, thank you, farming the rich pastures since time immemorial. When they talk of distant ‘southerners’ here, they mean me, a mainland Scot, who clearly isn’t as lucky as them.

And Orcadians are demonstrably lucky: they keep coming out tops in UK lifestyle and contentment surveys to prove it.

Orkney is built on rock solid foundations in every way. This is a land of Viking warriors and Scottish monarchs, a battleground fought over for centuries, not least in both World Wars. The vast natural harbour of Scapa Flow saw both one of the Royal

Navy’s darkest days - the sinking of the HMS Royal Oak in 1939 - and the scuttling of 52 captured German ships in 1919. But it is Orkney’s pre-history that is most beguiling: a quartet of UNESCO-listed sites, among a litany of others, many protected by Historic Scotland.There is even a very rare, privately run prehistoric gem, the Tomb of the Eagles.

Visitors usually spend most of their time on Orkney’s mainland, home to the hub towns of Stromness and capital Kirkwall. But while it’s a wrench to move on – with all that history, scuba diving, hiking, birdwatching and rugged coast – a flotilla of subsidised local ferries, causeways and wee aircraft spirit you off to isles that make the Orcadian mainland seem like Manhattan.

Papa Westray tempts with two remarkable prehistoric sites (including ‘mini Skara Brae’ the Knap of Howar); Sanday with its, well, sandy beaches; and hilly Hoy with Dwarfie Stane, reckoned to be the only prehistoric rock-cut chambered tomb in the UK. Because in the Orkney archipelago, history isn't trapped behind museum glass; instead it bursts into spirit-soaring life right in front of you. ⊲

Ancient Orkney The 5,000-year-old Neolithic settlement at Skara Brae

Ask a local

“A gentle walk home through Stromness’ cobbled streets ‘that uncoil like a sailor’s rope’ and I’m back in my own sea haven watching the gulls and listening to starlings roost under the Pole Star Pier. I can walk a little further around to the Point of Ness, look to Hoy Sound and very likely spot a gannet fishing.”

Erland Cooper, Multi-instrumentalist and contemporary composer

Alamy; Getty; Shutterstock

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Five-thousand years of human history comes to life in this spectacular Scottish archipelago, as Robin McKelvie excavates a tangible past that underpins the compelling present

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Orkney

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Scottish sentry (clockwise from this) The Old Man of Hoy greets visitors from Scrabster; puffin; Stromness

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4 TOP THINGS TO DO Stroll around the

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postcard pretty stone streets of historic Stromness with local Erland Cooper in your ears as big skies and Scapa Flow views swirl all around.

Linger in wee shops and the Pier Arts Centre, an art gallery and cultural hub that showcases the prodigious talents of the local artistic community. pierartscentre.com

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Today you’re delving deep back over 5,000 years exploring the UNESCO World Heritage-listed ‘Heart of Neolithic Orkney’ (historicenvironment.scot), all within 5km of each other. At Skara Brae (£7 entry) wander above this beachfront village peering into the lives of our ancestors. Heading south-east, next is the Ring of Brodgar, the only major henge in the UK that forms an almost perfect circle.

Next door the Ness of Brodgar tempts, where excavations are very much ongoing at what BBC TV Presenter Neil Oliver calls the “The most significant archaeological discovery of my lifetime.” It is thought the site may have been at the heart of the UK’s largest Neolithic community.

A little further east are the Stones of Stenness, said to be part of the UK’s oldest henge. Four of the original stone circle elements still vault over 5m.

Then turn north at Maeshowe (£9 entry; book in advance). A guide ekes you down a narrow passage into this burial cairn, scarred with graffiti by fairly recent visitors – the Vikings! Come on winter solstice to see (weather permitting) a shaft of sunlight surge to illuminate the dark depths.

DAY 2

This is your ‘non-prehistoric day’. Cut to the heart of Orkney’s remarkable First and Second World War history (Scapa Flow played a pivotal role in both) at the Italian Chapel. This old Nissen Hut was refashioned by Italian POWs in the 1940s using junkyard scraps into a Renaissance chapel that touches the hearts of every visitor, no matter your beliefs.

Push south across the Churchill Barriers (causeways built between the islands by those same prisoners) taking in the views, beaches – such as the one next to the third barrier – and wrecks of blockships. There are Second World War gun emplacements to ramble around and eventually the Scottish mainland looms into view to the south.

Head back to explore either the artistsprinkled wee town of Stromness, or the island capital: Kirkwall offers the vaulting St Magnus Cathedral, a window into the Viking and Pictish influences that have shaped Orkney today.

Well-stocked souvenir and tastefully curated craft shops tempt, as well as what is reputed to be the world’s smallest gin bar.

Take off and land

in around 90 seconds on the world’s shortest scheduled flight from Papa Westray to Westray.

The total distance is shorter than either of Heathrow’s runways.

Savour the scenic threeflight hop (£10) from Kirkwall, via these twin islands, and you’ll still be back in the capital in half an hour. loganair.co.uk

Hike

Getting there: You can fly from both Edinburgh and Glasgow to Kirkwall with Loganair (loganair.co.uk; from around £200). The longest ferry trips are to Kirkwall from Aberdeen or Shetland with NorthLink (northlinkferries.co.uk; from £14), who also offer a shorter sailing from Scrabster to Stromness. The latter’s the most scenic arrival, with Orkney unfolding as you round the Old Man of Hoy. The shortest option is from Gills Bay with Pentland Ferries (pentlandferries.co.uk) who sail to St Margaret’s Hope (from £34).

Stay at: Set just to the south of Kirkwall, The Foveran sits atop a bluff, offering views out over Scapa Flow. It styles itself as a ‘restaurant with rooms’, so don’t miss Chef/owner Paul Doull’s delicious modern Scottish cooking. Kirkwall Bay scallops and lobster star, alongside world-class Orkney beef. From £85pn; thefoveran.com

on Hoy. Churlish visitors could bemoan Orkney’s flatness, but Hoy awaits across Scapa Flow.

Hiking and history are the main charms. The most famous route is out to view the Old Man of Hoy, a striking sea stack that remained unconquered by man until 1966.

Drink

a dram.

Orkney sports two whisky distilleries – Highland Park and Scapa. The former in Kirkwall is the most visitorfriendly, so take a tour (from around £30) and find there is indeed a whisky for you.

Orkney also produces superb gin and beer. highlandparkwhisky.com

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Old – and older – Orkney Ring of Brodgar; (right) Italian Chapel

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Kazakhstan’s capital has the most dramatic contemporary skyline in Central Asia and challenges every expectation you might have of the Eurasian country, says Sophie Ibbotson

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Alamy; Shutterstock

Nur-Sultan

The right notes

51.1605° N, 71.4704° E

The Ishim flows in front of the Central Concert Hall; (left) the Baiterek Tower is a Nur-Sultan landmark

Alamy; Shutterstock

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nyone who visited Tselinograd in 1991, the year Kazakhstan became independent, and then asked a tour operator to take them back again 30 years later, would be in for a shock.

They would wonder, not unreasonably, if the city they saw today – now called Nur-Sultan – was even in the same country; or if they had perhaps wandered onto the set of a futuristic sci-fi movie that happened to be being filmed in this remote section of the Eurasian steppe?

There has been a small settlement in this part of north-eastern Kazakhstan since the 1830s. At first, it was called Akmola, meaning ‘white grave’ – probably referring to the burial place of a local holyman. In the mid 20th century, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev made it a regional administrative centre for his Virgin Lands campaign, which brought 30 million hectares of previously unfarmed land under cultivation. Akmola became Tselinograd (‘City of the Virgin Lands’) until 1992, when it reverted to its earlier name.

When Kazakhstan became independent, the existing hub Almaty – not Nur-Sultan – was the natural choice for capital city. But Kazakhstan’s new leadership had concerns. Almaty is in the extreme south-east of Kazakhstan, close to the borders with China and Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, the country’s sparsely populated north had little in terms of population or infrastructure.What if Russia decided

to encroach on Kazakh territories there? Akmola replaced Almaty as the capital in 1997 and was renamed Astana (‘capital city’) the following year.

That name lasted two decades more, when it was once again changed, this time to Nur-Sultan, in honour of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s first President and ‘Father of the Nation’.

The exciting thing about building a new capital at Nur-Sultan was that the site was an almost blank canvas. Many of the low-rise Soviet-era apartment blocks and non-descript public buildings could be swept away. Celebrity architect Kisho Kurokawa won first prize in the international competition to design the new capital. Kurokawa, a founder of the post-war Metabolist Movement in Japan, had already created dozens of futuristic buildings around the world, including Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia and Republic Plaza in Singapore. His global reputation as a ‘starchitect’ and his futuristic vision for the city captured the government’s imagination: this was the man they needed to put Nur-Sultan on the map.

The plan worked beyond their wildest dreams.

Kurokawa’s plan caught the attention of numerous other big-name architects, including Norman Foster of Foster + Partners. When designers such as this were onboard, it seemed that neither money nor convention were limiting factors.

Foster designed Nur-Sultan’s Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, a dramatic glass pyramid with ⊲

NEED TO KNOW International dialling code: +7 Currency: Kazakhstan Tenge (KZT) Getting there: Direct flights to Nur-Sultan from the United Kingdom are currently suspended, but you can fly via Moscow (the fastest route), Istanbul or Tashkent. The airport is around 17km south-east of the city centre. Public buses run every 15 minutes, and the journey takes around 45 minutes. Taxis complete the journey in half an hour.

Getting around: The easiest way to get around Nur-Sultan is by taxi, and the Yandex taxi app is the local equivalent of Uber.

Public buses are cheaper but slower, and the signage is written in Cyrillic, which can pose a challenge to visitors.

Festivals: Kazakhstan celebrates Capital City Day on 6 July, and the biggest celebrations are in Nur-Sultan. There’s a military tattoo with parades and concerts, including from foreign bands. Edge Magazine (www.edgekz. com) publishes listings for other festivals and cultural events taking place throughout the year.

Further information: www.visitnursultan.kz/en

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Architectural astonishments

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(clockwise from this) Statues guard the National Museum; the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation; Nur Alem; Nur-Astana Mosque; The Khan Shatyr

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a £41 million budget; and then, four years later, the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center, the world’s biggest tent, which covers an area equivalent to 10 football pitches. Italian architect Manfredi Nicoletti, the pioneer of bioclimatic architecture, contributed the design for Nur-Sultan’s Central Concert Hall while Danish firm Bjarke Ingels Group won a competition to design the National Library. One of the latest additions to that eclectic skyline is Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill’s Nur Alem, the glass sphere centrepiece of the Kazakhstan Pavilion at EXPO 2017. Any architecture enthusiasts could spend weeks grid-walking Nur-Sultan’s streets, and with new structures continually rising storeyby-storey from the ground, there will always be something new and aesthetically unexpected to see.

Aside from its impressive architecture, Nur-Sultan’s other claim to fame is that it has one of the most extreme climates in the world. Only Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar is colder in winter, but summer temperatures can reach beyond 30°C. This influences when you will want to travel (avoid December to March) and may mean you spend more time indoors, or sightseeing from a bus, than in some other destinations. When the weather is fine, however, it’s a great joy to be outdoors, joining Nur-Sultan’s residents on the wide boulevards, plazas, and parks.

The pedestrianised Nurjol Boulevard is on the left bank of the Ishim River. It is a key part

of Kurokawa’s city plan, and runs between the Ak Orda (the President’s official residence) and the Khan Shatyr, with the Baiterek Tower and other notable monuments en route. The fountains dance, often in time to music, and, in the evenings, are choreographed with coloured lights.

The fabulous flower displays, which change with every season, make you forget that this part of Kazakhstan is naturally arid steppe.

If you are searching for signs of traditional Kazakh culture, which does at first may seem lacking in Nur-Sultan, you need the Zhailau Ethnoaul. This ethno-cultural complex was built during EXPO 2017 but is now a permanent attraction, popular with locals as well as foreign visitors.

Unlike in other parts of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s nomadic population has been settled and urbanised for the past century. At Zhailau, however, there’s a family-friendly opportunity to see inside a Kazakh yurt, watch horse sports, meet artisans and admire the national costumes you are unlikely to see elsewhere.

Yes, there is a touch of Disney-fication at Zhailau Ethnoaul and across Nur-Sultan. Nothing really is natural, and it’s not necessarily what it seems. And yet, this is entirely fitting in a city where almost everything has been created in the past three decades to present a modern vision of Kazakhstan. After exploring those remarkable streets, visitors can only wonder what you would discover there in another 30 years.

Alamy; Shutterstock

Stay here...

Small & Characterful Nochleg Nochleg is a welldesigned, well-run and – most importantly – clean and safe hostel option for budget travellers.

It’s within easy walking distance of the Baiterek Tower and the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet, right opposite Jetisu Park and the Ishim River.

4 TOP THINGS TO DO Climb… to the top

of the Baiterek Tower for panoramic views across Nur-Sultan. The design of this monument was inspired by a Kazakh folk tale of a mythical bird of happiness which laid its golden egg in the tree of life.

Eat… authentic Kazakh cuisine at Alasha (www. alasha.kz), a restaurant modelled on what seems to be a Bukharan palace and an oriental bazaar.

It’s atmospheric, and the food is some of the best in Nur-Sultan.

Discover…

the country’s history and culture at the award-winning National Museum of Kazakhstan. The museum’s showstopper is the Golden Hall, which displays Bronze Age ornaments discovered among the ‘Golden Man’ treasure horde.

Relax… on the

Mid-Range Vintage Boutique Hotel Centrally located and wonderfully kitsch, Vintage Boutique Hotel is a super choice for those wanting elegant interiors and good facilities without breaking the bank. The Japanese Sauna is ideal if you are planning to visit Nur-Sultan during the freezing winter.

Best Address in Town The Ritz-Carlton, Astana Nur-Sultan’s most exclusive hotel sits in Talan Towers in the city’s business district. Strikingly designed and with some of the best views in the city, the hotel carefully incorporates aspects of Kazakh culture, such as a tea ceremony at zen, with top standards of service.

beach! Kazakhstan may be land-locked, but the Sky Beach Club within the Khan Shatyr (www.khanshatyr. com) recreates a marine environment. The sand is real, as are the palm trees, and there is even a wave machine in the pool.

WANDERLUST RECOMMENDS • Nur Soultan: Your Soul is Here – www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj9kVX0G20s • “Very Nice!” Kazakhstan Tourism’s official new slogan (and response to Borat) – www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRGXq4t9wY4 • This is the latest album by Ninety One, Kazakhstan’s biggest Q-pop band.

Q-pop is Kazakhstan’s answer to South Korea’s K-pop – open.spotify.com/ album/0eLk4HG05Gd0RLDglYhiwR

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SHORT BREAK MINI GUIDE

Styria & Graz High peaks, rampant forest, delicious wine, striking design – the Austrian state of Styria and its cool capital make the ideal choice for a back-to-nature escape, reckons Robin McKelvie

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t’s easy to see why Styria is eulogised as the ‘Green Heart’ of landlocked Austria. The state is almost 60% tree-cloaked and home to one national park – Gesäuse – and seven nature parks. Hiking is the traditional way of exploring, and there are options to suit all, from testing routes among high peaks that top out at 2,995m to longdistance forays, lovely lake loops and low-level walks for more amateur amblers. Myriad other summer pursuits are possible, including superb mountain-biking, plus you can ski year-round.

Styria is also a world-class wine region – the vine-cloaked slopes of the south have been dubbed ‘Styrian Tuscany’. After a day spent drinking in the region’s great outdoors, drink in its fine welschrieslings, traminers and sauvignon blancs. People here love their food, too – the state is famed for its bountiful fresh herbs, vegetables and apples. Other renowned local produce includes alpine oxen, fresh trout and perch, and kürbiskernöl, the glorious pumpkin seed oil that features in many Styrian dishes.

It’s not just nature that excels. Styria has an array of impressive castles, palaces and monasteries that

reveal its rich history. Graz is the undoubted star: the state capital is one of Mitteleuropa’s most alluring cities, and ideal for a city break or base for longer trips. Its UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Town is a chocolate-box feast, crammed with a mix of styles – from Gothic to Baroque, Renaissance to Art Nouveau – that tell its story from the medieval period. But the city doesn’t rest on its historic laurels. Named European Capital of Culture in 2003 and a UNESCO City of Design in 2011, there is cutting-edge modern architecture here, too, including the balloon-like Kunsthaus contemporary art museum and the glass-and-steel Murinsel ‘island’, spanning the Mur River.

Beyond Graz are a string of characterful towns: historic Bruck an der Mur; the spa resort of Bad Blumau; the pastel-hued houses of Murau; and a swathe of traditional villages.

The larger centres buzz with urban energy, but things slip back in pace as you venture out to the smaller spots and get in among the soaring mountains, sweeping glaciers, dense forests, alpine pastures and ice-blue lakes and rivers – the Austria of your imagination.

Ask a local

“I recommend taking a leisurely stroll through the historic city centre of Graz on a Sunday evening and enjoying the views of the Clock Tower and the Schlossberg. My favourite places to eat are the inns in my village of Kalsdorf, which offer delicious meals prepared with regional produce.”

Johanna Haindl, breadmaker and nutritionist, Haindl Mill, Kalsdorf, near Graz

Grazing in Graz (clockwise from this) In Graz the modern Kunsthaus sits within walking distance of the historic main square; elsewhere, Styria is smothered in trees

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STYRIA & GRAZ – IN THREE DAYS… DAY 1: GRAZ

Graz is a thoroughly walkable city. Kick off at the Schlossberg, with the city sprawling below, and don’t miss the new GrazMuseum Schlossberg while you’re up here. Descend now south towards the Murinsel artificial island – which seems to bring Graz past and future together on the river, before getting a culture fix at the Kunsthaus contemporary art museum on the opposite bank of the river. Afterwards cross the river back to relax on the Hauptplatz main square. Wander 10 mins north to the SKYBAR to watch night settle on the city before a decadent dinner in the old city; bar-hopping afterwards as Graz’ students propel the lively nightlife scene.

DAY 2: SPECTACULAR STYRIA

An hour’s drive north of Graz, the new hiking trail at Pöllauer Valley Nature Park gives you a taste of Styria’s greenery. Then head west (2 hrs) and base yourself in Schladming.

This hub offers easy access to the Dachstein Mountains and their myriad mountain bike routes and hikes; downhill tobogganing too.

View Styria’s highest peak (Hoher Dachstein), as well as the otherworldly Dachstein Glacier, handily reachable on a gondola.

DAY 3: A STYRIAN SOAK

After city slicking and mountain meandering, it’s time to just relax. The region east and south of Graz – ‘Styrian Tuscany’ – is known not just for its great food, but also for its wines and thermal spas. Today is a day of helping your mind and body recover with a treatment and a hot soak either at one of the spa hotels, or in a spa town like Bad Blumau. Rogner Bad Blumau (blumau.com) is a large complex of hot springs designed by avant garde architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. This slice of Styria is the home of Kürbiskernöl pumpkin-seed oil too, so make sure to enjoy some of this local delicacy at dinner along with a glass of local wine from the bountiful vineyards. ⊲

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International dialling code: +43.

Currency: Euro (€) Getting there: No airlines currently fly direct from the UK to Graz; flights go via hubs such as Vienna and Frankfurt. Buses from the airport run to Graz Puntigam (ten minutes) for trams to the centre. The airport also has a train station; the ride into Graz takes ten minutes.

The fastest rail route from London involves taking the Eurostar to Brussels, the night sleeper to Vienna and then the train to Graz.

Getting around: Trains connect Austria’s cities rather than countryside, though don’t miss a ride on the UNESCO-listed 41km-long Semmering Railway, the world’s first mountain railway, between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag. An efficient bus network provides comprehensive coverage of Styria.

Festivals: The wine festivals in Styria’s south are worth planning around – these coincide with the autumn harvest. Christmas markets are a draw too, making Graz a tempting festive option.

Further information: www.steiermark.com, www.austria.info/en/ where-to-go/provinces/ styria

Don’t miss...

Countryside Schladming A hiking oasis in the Dachstein Mountains, home to Styria’s highest peak and over 900km of bike routes. Ride a gondola up to the Dachstein Glacier to get close to the ice. www.schladming-dachstein.at

City Schlossberg Catch the funicular up to Graz’s hill-top castle. Look out for the 16th-century Clock Tower, the city’s icon, and don’t miss the GrazMuseum Schlossberg or the views from the SKYBAR. www.schlossberggraz.at

Admont Abbey This Benedictine Abbey has an eye-catching Baroque design and the largest abbey library in the world. It sits on the border of Gesäuse, Austria’s newest national park. www.stiftadmont.at

Kunsthaus Lovingly known as the ‘friendly alien’, this contemporary art museum is housed in a remarkable biomorphic glass-skinned structure that seems to float amid the old town. www.museum-joanneum.at/kunsthaus-graz

Mariazell Basilica Compelling ecclesiastic hub that’s long been drawing pilgrims; handy for hiking too, given its mountainous location. www.basilika-mariazell.at

Eggenberg Palace Built on a medieval original, the construction of this Renaissance gem is based on the Gregorian calendar: four corner towers, 31 rooms on each floor, 24 state rooms with 52 doors, 365 windows. Catch the tram here and enjoy the surrounding parkland afterwards. www.museum-joanneum.at

Stainz Castle Arguably Styria’s finest schloss, Stainz presides over a landscape of vineyards and orchards. There’s a fascinating museum dedicated to hunting and agriculture inside. www.museum-joanneum.at Klimazukunft-Wegs This new 9km hiking circuit winds gently through lush Pöllauer Valley Nature Park, with info stations addressing climate change issues en route. www.naturpark-poellauertal.at

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Murinsel Part island, part ship, this unique creation of glass and steel was conjured up by American artist Vito Acconci. The structure reclines in the River Mur, connected by footbridges to both banks. It has an amphitheatre, café and shop, hosts events and lights up at night. Unmissable. www.murinselgraz.at

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Serene in Styria (clockwise from bottom left) The Clock Tower is a Graz icon; Admont Abbey has the largest abbey library in the world; a walk around Altaussee Lake provides lovely mountain views

4 TOP THINGS TO DO Eat chocolate! Lots of

it, at the Zotter Chocolate Factory in Riegersburg.

Learn how the delicious sweet stuff is conjured from bean to bar, before stuffing yourself silly. www.zotter.at

Ski

year-round.

Depending on snow conditions, it is possible to ski during spring and summer – as well as all winter long – on the Dachstein Glacier.

Gondolas run up the mountain, which peaks at 2,995m. Go hiking, climbing and paragliding too. www.derdachstein.at

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Luxury Grand Hôtel Wiesler This art nouveau grand dame is the most glamorous address in Graz. Rooms are stripped-back stylish, and period art and furnishings abound. It has a great central location too, right by the river. www.grandhotelwiesler.com

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Thermenresort Loipersdorf This relaxing spa resort, a one-hour drive east of Graz, has an array of hotels, spas, wellness centres, water parks and thermal pools, set within forested hills. www.loipersdorf.at; www.therme.at/en Mid-range Kai 36 This cool Graz retreat, housed within sturdy 400-year-old walls, is tucked between Schlossberg and the Mur River. It has 21 chic rooms; hardwoods, natural stone and artistic flourishes abound. It has terraces and an outdoor pool too. www.kai36.at Budget Aiola Living This new boutique spot in the centre of Graz’s Old Town is not your average budget bolthole.

Aiola has 46 rooms and trio of apartments, each with its own distinct feel, all homely and welcoming. www.aiolaliving.com Posthansl-Hof This new guesthouse is a 15-minute walk from hill-tucked Gamlitz (one hour south of Graz by train). It is surrounded by vineyards and orchards – a super spot for wine lovers – and well placed for lovely local walks. www.posthansl.com Wild cards Novapark Flugzeughotel This quirky Graz hotel, a little north of the centre, has two old aircraft – an Ilyushin and a Boeing – perched on its roof, which serve as the bar and restaurant. There’s a large spa and swimming pool too. Gimmicky but fun! www.novapark.at

the sixth floor of Graz’s signature department store, Kastner & Öhler. The Freiblick café serves an extensive day-time menu – featuring proper coffee and lots of local produce – with great city skyline views. www.kastner-oehler.at

Hike

around the Altaussee Lake on one of the most enjoyable short walks in Austria. The glacial waters are aquarium-clear (and lovely for a cooling swim), and the easy trail provides big views to the surrounding mountains and glaciers. www.altaussee.at

Pures Leben Lagenhäuser Pick from a handful of gorgeous, individually designed holiday homes, scattered across the southern Styrian countryside, tucked into rural locations. All made from natural materials, some have their own plunge pools, separate saunas, huge panoramic terraces and roaring log fires. www.puresleben.at

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An alternative Odyssey to lesser-known Greek islands

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Top marine wildlife experiences Bougainville, Papua New Guinea Kerala, India Exploring the Hanseatic League Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way

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View From Above Verona 214

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Romeo & Juliet

Verona from Piazzale Castel San Pietro, Verona, Italy A kaleidoscope of Italian history, Verona’s flourished during the Roman period, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance too. But far from being an overrun museum city, Verona maintains its joie de vivre; its winding streets are full of lively bars, intimate restaurants and buzzing piazzas.

Come in the summer and join the spectators lining up the Arena, an impressive Roman amphitheatre that now hosts the foremost

Opera festival in the world. You’ll certainly make the obligatory stop at Via Cappello where, according to legend, Juliet’s house stands at no.23, complete with the most famous balcony in the world.

But after walking the lovelorn streets of Shakespeare’s Verona, don’t miss out on the city’s best vista. To reach the Piazzale Castel San Pietro, walk over the Ponte Pietra and then either take the funicular or walk your way up the hill. There you’ll appreciate just why the playwright chose this city as the location for his most famous of tales.

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“In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…"

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