Going Global

Submitted by Mona Mesereau https://www.mesereaupr.com/

Long-known for its high-end safari-style whitewater rafting trips on Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River and other rivers, Far and Away Adventures is taking its show on the road to offer luxury tours to raft the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, ski Italy’s Dolomites and float the Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers in the Yukon, British Columbia and Alaska.

“Our trips have always been a combination of slow-travel adventure and luxury in pristine locations in the U.S.,” said Steve Lentz, founder and owner of Far and Away Adventures. “These new expeditions will feature the same kinds of unforgettable human-powered adventures as well as extraordinary cuisine and beautiful places to lay your head after a day of adventure.”

The company’s classic safari-style rafting trips on Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River are known not only for the pristine 100-mile rafting expedition in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness but also for their nightly “moveable feast,” featuring gourmet riverside-cooked cuisine prepped with organic, locally grown ingredients. Meals are presented on tables set with French country cloth, and specially chosen wines are poured in fine stemware. Sweep boats depart early each day so that camp sites with tents, bedding, carpets and more are already set up when the rafts and guests arrive.

These new Far and Away international trips are priced per person based upon double occupancy. Airfare is not included.

Rafting the Zambezi is truly an adventure of a lifetime for whitewater rafting fans. This 12-day trip combines, rafting, kayaking, hiking and wildlife watching with five-star accommodations and cuisine.

Participants will fly in and out of Victoria Falls and visit national parks, game reserves and river gorges. Highlights include observing hippos, giraffes, elephants and crocodiles while floating the Upper Zambezi; swimming the famed Devil’s Pool above the waterfalls and seeing a herd of rescued elephants.

Accommodations include the luxurious Old Drift Lodge safari camp, Iganyana Tented Camp and the Elephant Camp. Dates are Oct. 20-31 and Nov. 1-12, 2022. Rates are $6995.

If skiing 12 resorts and staying in a different mountainside lodge in the Italian Alps sounds appealing, this is the trip to take. This trip features one ski pass that is good for 12 ski areas featuring 1,200 kilometers of trails that comprise Dolomiti Superski. Each night will include dinner reflecting the influences of Italian, Austrian and Ladin cultures. Participants will fly in and out of Venice and shuttle to and from the ski areas. Dates are Jan. 29-Feb. 4 and March 19-25, 2023. Rates are $5995.

The area where the boundaries of Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon converge is the largest protected wilderness on the planet featuring the St. Elias Mountains, massive glaciers and ice fields. The trip begins on a plateau in the Yukon on a small creek that doubles in size every day, eventually emptying out in the Pacific Ocean. Early in the trip are Class III rapids that give way to smoother water. Sights include grizzlies, ravens and eagles. Glaciers descend to the water’s edge, shearing off into calving icebergs. Far and Away’s Lentz describes this trip as similar to his own Middle Fork trips with riverside camps featuring fresh food supplemented by fine wine and craft beers. Dates are July 22-Aug. 3, 2023. Rates are $6995. call 1-800-232-8588.

By Renée S. Gordon

Nelson Mandela, widely referred to by a tribal honorific, Madiba, left us with a legacy of the values with Madiba’s Journey app, an outstanding tool that includes maps, narratives, practical information and features 27 sites that are related to Mandela. Sites and activities are offered across the country, are accessible and clearly marked and give travelers an opportunity to learn more about the Republic of South Africa and how he impacted the country.

Included are the individuals who mentored and influenced Madiba, beginning with his parents, on his journey. www.nelsonmandela.org

South Africa is bordered by two oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian, and has 1,836-miles of coastline. There are eight UNESCO sites, one of which is considered the “Cradle of Humankind”, a Hominid fossil site with artifacts that date back 3-million years. The “Out of Africa” theory is based on findings in the Sterkfontein Caves and more than 10 other sites exhibiting numerous bones. www.thecradleofmankind.net It is the largest producer of chrome, platinum and vanadium, has the world’s second largest reserve of uranium and mines every mineral except oil. The Kimberley Mine alone has produced 14.5 million carats of diamonds. Because of the country’s abundance, European settlers honed in on what they felt was free land for the taking, eventually marginalizing the native Africans (Bantus) and establishing a system of segregation in 1910 that led to the founding of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912. The system was legalized as apartheid in 1950 and the Group Areas Act demanded that nearly 2-million Africans be removed from cities and made to live in poverty in white controlled townships. It is into this country of vast, unequal, wealth and potential that Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. Johannesburg is filled with locations, monuments and memorials connected with the struggle and offers the best opportunity to gain an overview of Madiba’s journey, the country’s history and the people and cultures involved. The Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 to provide a comprehensive overview of apartheid. Exhibitions guide visitors from the origins of apartheid through the reconciliation process. Outdoor exhibits feature SA’s ancient history. Chronologic galleries interpret the story in films, photographs, artifacts and dioramas. www.apartheidmuseum.org The South Western Townships (Soweto), the most recognized of the townships, was first settled in 1891. In 1948 the government began forcing black Africans out of Johannesburg and into Soweto, situated on polluted land. There were no public services and houses could not exceed 4 rooms of equal size. Streetlights were not installed until 2010 in the township of !.5-million inhabitants. It was a site of protest and rebellion. Lebo’s Soweto Tours offers guided, narrated tours of Soweto’s famous sites by foot, bike or Tuk Tuk. Their outdoor restaurant serves authentic meals cooked over a fire. www. sowetobackpackers.com

Vilakazi Street, the only street in the world that housed two Nobel Peace Prize winners, President Nelson Mandela and Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, is the site of the restored Mandela House. Tours showcase family personal items. He,

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and his family lived there from 1946 and Mandela returned there for 11 days after he was freed from Robben’s Island. www. mandelahouse.com

Constitution Hill is a must visit. The complex features the Constitutional Court, Old Fort, Women’s Jail and Number Four. White prisoners were held in the Old Fort and in 1902 Numbers Four and Five were built to house black prisoners. Walter Sisulu, Gandhi, and Nelson and Winnie Mandela were held here in inhuman conditions. Tours of the prison are conducted by former prisoners and include Gandhi and Madiba’s cells, vivid interpretations of prison life and the isolation cells. Do not miss this tour. www.constitutionhill.org.za

Mandela opened the Constitutional Court in 1995 on Constitution Hill. The location was selected to represent the new South Africa linking this place of oppression with the new order. The architectural and design elements enhance the story of South Africa. That year the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication was the site of a gathering to adopt the Freedom Charter that was used as a template for the modern constitution. Ten columns symbolize the charter’s clauses.

The 2002 Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial is dedicated to thirteen-year old Pieterson who was killed in the 1976 Student Uprising. A photograph of the dying Pieterson, displayed at the site, being carried by another student gained the world’s attention and galvanized the movement.

Regina Mundi is Soweto’s largest catholic church. It provided sanctuary for students in the 1976 protest. Police officers fired on the 4,000 students inside and a tour reveals bullet holes, a black Madonna and stained-glass windows that depict the story. Police shot off one hand of a Christ sculpture and the congregants removed the other hand because they are now “the Hands of Christ.” Michele Obama visited in 2011. www.reginamundichurch. co.za Keyes Art Mile is representative of the country’s emerging art scene. The area is a perfect blend of art, architecture and upscale retail. www. keyesartmile.co.za Durban looms large in the history of South Africa in general and the Zulu in particular. On December 24, 1497 Vasco da Gama sailed into Durban’s bay and named the area “Terra do Natal”, the land of Christmas, the next day. In 1824 the British made contact with Shaka, King of the Zulu. Shaka remains so fabled that elements of Black Panther were taken from his legend. In 1835 the area was named after Governor Benjamin D’Urban. Shaka granted permission for the British to build a trading station and Durban remains the country’s largest port and the second biggest city. www.durban.gov. za

The Inanda Heritage Route interprets the story of

the Inanda Valley just outside of Durban. Gandhi’s Phoenix Settlement, his 100-acre farm and home is now a museum. The nearby Ohlange Institute was founded by John Dube and modelled on Tuskegee Institute. Dube also founded the ANC and was greatly admired by Madiba. After casting his first vote in 1994 in the school’s chapel Mandela visited Dube’s grave and reportedly said, “Mr. President, I have come to report to you that South Africa is free today.” #visitdurban

The Nelson Mandela Capture Site is where he was captured in August 1962. Mandela, disguised as a chauffeur, was apprehended, after a 17-month police pursuit, on this road between Durban and Johannesburg. He stepped out of the car and onto the broader stage of history. A museum exhibits compelling photographs and many rare family pictures. A superb sculpture, 31-ft. high and 99-ft. wide is comprised of fifty steel columns that when viewed at a certain angle depict a 2-dimensional image of Madiba. The emerging picture represents his disappearance and reemergence 27- years later. The sculpture is accessed via a twisting path lined with wayside markers that relate benchmarks in his journey.

Port Elizabeth, part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, was founded in 1820 as a buffer between the Xhosa and the Cape Colony. The city was named in memory of the wife of Sir Rufane Donkin. In 1965 enforced removals of non-whites began and townships were created. The Donkin Heritage Trail links 51 historic locations and interprets the history of the city. The trail begins at The Campanile, a 176-ft., 204-step, tower with 360-degree views. www.nmbt.co.za Route 67 is an arts and cultural route that features 67 public art works representing Madiba’s 67-year journey to free South Africa. The route begins at the Campanile Monument and ends at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum. The route’s premiere artwork is the 125-ft. long Voting Line Sculpture depicting his first vote at the age of 72. The laser-cut figures represent children and people from all walks of life. www. route67tours.co.za

Cape Town, known as “The Mother City”, was established to resupply the Dutch East India Company. In 1795 the British seized the town and in 1814 the British took total control and in 1910 it became the legislative capital of the Union of South Africa. After apartheid was legislated many of the anti-apartheid leaders were incarcerated in the prison on Robben Island. Table Mountain has been inhabited for more than 30,000-years and was sacred to the Khoi and San people. The first European to sight it was Bartolomeu Dias in 1448. In 1929 a cable car was installed so that visitors could ride to the top at 3563ft. above sea level and no trip is complete without a visit and a view. www.tablemountainnationalpark.

org

Robben Island, a World Heritage Site, was the scene of Madiba’s incarceration for 18-years. He and other activist prisoners turned their imprisonment into an opportunity to educate and to learn. Visits begin with a boat ride to the island followed by a narrated bus ride to significant sites. Your guide for the walking prison tour is a former prisoner who takes questions and escorts you to Mandela’s cell. Other important areas are the limestone quarry where prisoners worked and the garden in which Mandela hid the manuscript he later had smuggled out. www.robben-island.org.za

The perfect place to end our path through Madiba’s Journey is in Nobel Square on the waterfront. There sculptures of Desmond Tutu, Nkosi Albert Luthuli, F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela, all Nobel Prize winners, are arrayed in the square for contemplation and photo ops. These are people who worked to become the change they wanted to see. #VisitSouthAfrica .

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