Detour's Newest Destination: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and more in Tanzania

Detour, The Adventure Travel Marketplace is pleased to announce its newest travel destination: Tanzania, including climbs of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and walking and driving safaris in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, with cultural visits with the Maasai and other local indigenous groups. Although an amazing destination, Detour had no plans to list any trips in Africa this year until Africa VIP Travel was brought to our attention by some of their previous clients. We checked the company out and liked what we found; we think you will too!

Africa VIP Travel has created an almost cult-like dedication from their previous passengers, many of whom claim that company owner and lead guide Kambona Ole Tirra Mollel is the best and safest guide in the region. Kambona cut his teeth leading trips for some of the biggest name international adventure travel companies based in the US, and his personal touch is evident in every trip offered by the company. He has climbed Kilimanjaro over 86 times, and his philosophy of treating everyone as a VIP has gained him great success in getting climbers to the summit of Kilimanjaro safely. Over the last decade Kambona has taken advanced training in expedition leadership from NOLS and others, as well as wilderness emergency medicine and natural history. Being a native Maasai, Kambona was born in Maasailand and is trilingual, speaking fluent Maasai, Swahili and English.

Africa VIP Travel offers Mt. Kilimanjaro climbs on the Machame Route, shorter and easier Mt. Meru climbs, and wildlife safaris in Tarangire, Ngoronogo Crater, Lake Manyara, and Serengeti National Parks. They also offer an unusual wildlife and cultural experience on their walking safari from the Ngorongoro Crater to Lake Eyasi, combining vehicle safaris in the incomparable Ngorongoro Crater with numerous opportunities to interact with local tribes, including the Maasai and Wahadzabe (bushmen).

Glacier!

Although it’s tough to play favorites with all the gorgeous sights I saw in Chilean Patagonia, nothing can compare to the first time I saw Grey Glacier. The Glacier is in Torres del Paine National Park and is part of the Patagonian Southern Ice Field. It can be seen from miles away on a clear sunny day. As we trekked our seven miles to get to the glacier, the winds were incredible. They must’ve been close to 40mph. I could barely walk straight and was warned to take each step cautiously, as the wind could easily blow me over, especially with a heavy pack on. My cheeks were quivering in the wind as I could barely hear my guide even though he was only five feet in front of me. As we fought the wind, the glacier was not yet in sight. However we began seeing gorgeous icebergs floating in Lago Grey, each on with its own blue or white tinting, reflecting the suns rays with this indescribable luminous glow. The surrounding mountains and partly cloudy sky made for a picture perfect approach.

A little over half way to our ending point for that day my bilingual guide stopped us. He said he wanted us to be prepared to see one of the most amazing sights in Torres del Paine. So about 100 feet later there it was, still two miles away, but in perfect view from the top of the hill where we stood. Looking straight ahead past the lake was a sea of ice with towering walls and jagged edges. Because we were higher than the glacier we could see the front wall and then what seemed like miles of ice behind it. It got me so excited to get even closer so after I snapped a few shots we continued the trek and ended at the lookout point. Below us tons of icebergs had congregated together close to the shore. Despite the once again roaring winds, I was able to get pretty close and took as many pictures as I could without losing my balance and being blown over. The sounds of the floating icebergs crashing below were like listening to the constant crashing of vehicles at a monster truck rally; so loud and forceful. I stood there for almost an hour, admiring nature’s pure and unspoiled beauty.

I went to Chilean Patagonia in March 2006. It was just the end of summer there so the crowds were dying down but the winds were picking up. I had always wanted to go to Patagonia, but I really had no expectations heading in. I knew I wasn’t going to be climbing huge peaks but I was prepared to trek a little. I found that the “W” – the easier of two popular treks in Torres del Paine National Park – would become my perfect Patagonian adventure.

The “W” is named that way because it is a series of trails linked together that form a W shape and it passes by all of the highlights within Torres del Paine Park. Hiking by huge 12 million year old granite spires that rise to over 10,000 feet, while only at 1500 feet above sea level is truly something else. Not to mention the turquoise blue lakes, amazing wildlife, stunning and prevalent waterfalls, and of course never-ending glaciers. Our trek averaged about five to seven miles per day and took us approximately five days to complete the “W”. We weren’t speedy by all means, taking stops all along the way to try and capture Patagonia’s stunning beauty on film. Of course it’s impossible to ever capture how unique and beautiful Southern Chile is without seeing it for yourself. I opted to join a guided tour so I wouldn’t get lost and end up having to live in a granite cave in the middle of the park. Note, I did meet a lovely English woman who ended up spending two nights in a cave with some local Chilean climbers, so at least if I did get lost and live in a cave I had a chance of finding some friends!

Because most of the trails in the park are at a relatively low elevation, the actual hiking was not extremely difficult. I’ve had some hiking experience, mostly in Colorado where I live so I was prepared. The elevation gain was really nothing along the way; a couple 100 feet here and there but no real steep inclines or descents. Around each corner was a sight like out of a magazine; each spot so different than the one prior, and none like anything I had seen in the USA.

The sight of Grey Glacier was truly one of my best memories of my four week adventure to Southern Chile. Those moments are forever inscribed in my memories, and I would recommend an experience like this to anyone who wants to be amazed by this awesome planet we live on.

Mother Nature really thought of everything when she created the jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring and ever impressing land of Patagonia.

This Trip Report was written by Emily Weissleder, a Travel Consultant for Detour, The Adventure Travel Marketplace

Pura Vida! A journey to Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula

The Osa Peninsula, home of Central America’s largest remaining chunk of old-growth coastal rainforest in Corcovado National Park, is not like the rest of Costa Rica. Here, trees grow bigger than resorts, amenities are primitive, and roads are few and boat docks even fewer. In the Osa, nature is in charge.

My wife, Hayley, and I knew the Osa would be different from the rest of this pleasant country from the moment we arrived at the domestic airport in San Jose, where we found that out of the 40 or 50 people in the terminal, we were the only two passengers on the 10-seater flight to Drake Bay. Upon arrival in Drake Bay’s primitive, gravel-strip of an airport, the sounds of the jungle—a cacophony of insects and birds--rushed at our ears. At the thatch-roofed, open-walled “terminal,” 6 or seven passengers milled about patiently to board our plane while a police officer draped his left arm sleepily against the wing of a tiny blue police single prop parked just off in the grass. We later learned that “all of the activity” at the airport (the police airplane) was because the Minister of Energy and the Environment was lost in the Osa Peninsula’s Corcovado National Park, and a search and rescue mission was underway to find him.


Following a short drive on a very primitive road through several rivers without bridges, we arrived in the town of Drake Bay, a couple of houses and a café, where we were picked up on the beach for the 30-minute boat trip to the Marenco Lodge and Rainforest Resort. Time passed slowly, if at all, and by the time we arrived at the Marenco’s beach and hopped out of the boat to wade to shore, we had already forgotten what day it was. The Marenco Lodge, nestled in its own private nature reserve of 500 hectares, sits high on a hill overlooking the rainforest and the Pacific Ocean. Toucans and pairs of brightly colored scarlet macaws roost in the trees just beyond the open walls of the dining room, and white-faced capuchin monkeys roam the grounds.


That first afternoon we saw no other people as we walked on nearby pristine beaches and body surfed waves in the warm Pacific Ocean. The next day we took a boat trip to Caño Island to snorkel and scuba dive, where the water teemed with reef sharks, rays, sea turtles, and schools of fish. On our last full day in the Osa, a naturalist led us through thick, old-growth forests in Corcovoado National Park, pointing out three monkey species, hawks, snakes, poison-dart frogs, and other wildlife. Another group in the area saw two pumas, but we were not so lucky. Jaguar are not uncommon in the park. The air was thick with moisture, making it hard to draw a deep breath, as we walked through the old-growth trees and thick underbrush. Corcovado reminded me of the Amazon Basin, a place I’ve visited a number of times in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

The skies turned cloudy again our last night in the Osa, and like the night before, water poured from the sky. Between the pounding of the water on our tin roof and the booming of the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard, it was impossible to really sleep. Sometime in the early morning, while dozing between explosions of thunder, our cabin shook violently. In a sleepy haze we thought our cabin was falling off the cliff, only for the shaking to stop as quickly as it started. Earthquake, we would later learn. Just another night in the Osa.

In the morning we were awakened with the news that the rivers on the way to the airport had grown dramatically overnight, and the road was impassable; our flight had been re-routed out of Sierpe, more than 2 hours away by boat.

Nearing the end of our long, wet boat ride out of the Osa and back to civilization, I lifted my face from the hood of my black gore-tex jacket to catch a last peak at the magnificent mangroves lining the water. Through the rain my eyes caught the amiable, plump, middle-aged Tico across from me in the boat. He was hunkered under a black plastic garbage bag, which he had pulled up over his head, his shirt off to keep it dry. His slacks, like my zip-off pants, were soaked. He lifted his head for a quick peak outside, and our eyes caught briefly. Water ran down our foreheads and poured off of our noses, but we were in the Osa, where nature dominates everything, and we started to laugh. Pura Vida! Pure Life in the Osa Peninsula!

We booked this amazing journey through Detour, The Adventure Travel Marketplace

Welcome!

Welcome to the Go Your Own Way blog. This is the place for thoughts about sustainable travel, tips on traveling off the beaten path, and reports from interesting trips. Enjoy!