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See Iceland’s northern lights. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity — and in Iceland’s case an ash-spewing volcano that sparked global aviation chaos helped pop the far-flung country on to Australians’ radars. At least that’s the theory from Intrepid Group’s co-founder Geoff Manchester, who has witnessed a surge in Iceland bookings across the past two years, helped along by more low-cost airlines flying to the country.
“People just wouldn’t have thought of it (before the eruption) — they would have thought of going to Scandinavia,” says Manchester. “People are always looking for somewhere new because they travel so much now — it’s also that thing of going somewhere where very few people have been.”
Certainly, Iceland seems to be the place from which to see the vivid light show that is at its most spectacular during long, dark winter nights. The company offers two northern lights itineraries. Its six-day Intrepid trip (November to March) has proved so popular that it has sold out until late January. The more upmarket eight-day Peregrine trip departs November to February. In October and November next year, luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent will offer two nine-day Icelandic northern lights trips.
Hike between hot springs. The Izu Peninsula, 150km from Tokyo, is home to some of Japan’s most stunning onsen (thermal hot-spring baths). Those happy to hike up to 12km a day can travel between these onsen on Walk Japan’s seven-day Izu Geo Trail.
The first onsen is perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific; another, at the base of a waterfall in Kawazu, is so photogenic that it regularly stars on the silver screen. At Dogashima, on the peninsula’s west coast, soak up a sunset over the sea while relaxing in an onsen.
Walk Japan chief executive Paul Christie, a Briton who has lived in Japan since 1987, says chatting quietly in an onsen with fellow walkers and hotel guests at the end of each day is “relaxation writ large”. “Imagine seeing the waves crashing on the shore as you’re wallowing naked, communing with the same sex, I hasten to add, in a bath — it’s a very human, pleasant way to socialise,” he says. Walking trails traverse beech forests, pass wasabi fields and clifftop shrines, and snake up mountains that, on a clear day, afford views of Mount Fuji.
Food Lover’s Spanish Camino. If the idea of the pilgrimage route appeals but the hardcore mileage, blistered feet and barebone refugios not so much, then take a more luxurious approach to the camino.
UTracks’ 15-day Food Lover’s Spanish Camino kicks off in Bilbao, home to the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum, which has revived the fortunes of the industrial port city. The tour combines day walks — the longest is 18.5km on the original pilgrims’ route from Oviedo — with cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, insights into camino history, a clifftop section of the Camino Norte route and several standout gourmet dinners.
The pinnacle of the culinary outings is Casa Marcial, a two-Michelin-star restaurant tucked into the mountains of Asturias. Guests also dine at Echaurren Tradicion, known for interpreting Rioja cuisine with dishes such as stewed partridge, grandmother’s meatballs, cheese on toast with apple and honey ice-cream, and ewe’s milk junket with honey and walnuts.
In Lugo, where the original pilgrims’ route blends with the French camino route, there’s time to see the city’s World Heritage-listed Roman walls — and sample the tapas bars — before heading to a restaurant for Galician-style octopus.
Gallop through Kenya. There’s a rare freedom to riding a horse through Kenya’s Masai Mara, says Julie McIntosh, founder of the Classic Safari Company.
“It’s one of the last types of trips you can do where it’s not all rules and regulations,” says McIntosh, a keen horserider who has tested many of the company’s equine adventures that range from joining gauchos in Argentina to sloshing through the waters of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. “You have these canters where often you just run along next to the animals so it’s quite an exhilarating trip.”
The horses are so attuned to their surroundings, says McIntosh, “they smell when there’s elephants or lions around and become alert and you become alert with them”.
The company’s Galloping with the Migration trip (from seven nights, August to October departures) allows guests to ride up to herds of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and gazelles. Elephants and buffalo could also be roaming around.
The eight-night Masai Mara by Saddle trip (July and September departures) includes stays at four mobile camps and also caters to non-riders.
Swim with sea lions in the Galapagos. The Galapagos Islands, 1000km from Ecuador’s mainland, are famous for rewriting our ideas about evolution. It was the finches that inspired Charles Darwin to argue that similar species, once isolated from each other, could evolve separately through favourable variations.
The finches aren’t the archipelago’s most spectacular birds — you’re likelier to gawk at blue and red-footed boobies, blush-coloured American flamingoes and vermilion flycatchers. The islands are also home to giant tortoises and basking marine iguanas.
Despite all the land-based natural wonders, though, a highlight is swimming in the rather bracing equatorial waters with fish, sharks and curious sea lions (ships carry wetsuits or you can bring your own).
There are plenty of swimming opportunities for those cruising aboard Metropolitan Touring’s 90-passenger Santa Cruz II, which arrived in the Galapagos late last year, replacing its veteran namesake.
Although the archipelago receives more than 200,000 visitors a year, it’s rare to cross paths with passengers from other ships. Expedition vessels follow a predetermined itinerary that outlines which sites are visited morning and afternoon, minimising crossover between vessels and making it even easier to imagine you’re retracing Darwin’s footsteps.
Spot lemurs at night. Looking for lemurs after dark is a highlight of Abercrombie & Kent’s two hosted journeys to Madagascar next year. Charlie Gardner, a naturalist who helped film Attenborough’s 2011 three-part series on the island’s astonishing wildlife, leads the August and November trips.
On night two of the 12-day itinerary, guests explore the forest surrounding Perinet Special Reserve, looking for four kinds of nocturnal lemur. The reserve is known for its large indri lemurs, but there are also 11 other types to be found.
The reserve is also a birdwatcher’s paradise: the velvet asity features a startling emerald stripe on its otherwise black plumage while the blue coua is a striking cuckoo endemic to Madagascar.
After flying south, explore the island’s other-worldly spiny forest — filled with drought-resistant flora — where lemurs may be bedding down or waking up. The trip finishes with two days at Manafiafy Beach, where there’s a lemur-filled rainforest to explore.
Track India’s big cats. Make like a maharajah or maharani and set off on a stylish big-cat safari through India. US-based Ker & Downey specialises in luxury itineraries such as a 19-day tour that intersperses jungle time with big-city action and plush hotels.
Swan around the Leela Palace in New Delhi before heading to Agra’s The Oberoi Amarvilas, with its views of the Taj Mahal from every room. After checking into a tented suite at The Oberoi Vanyavilas, a jungle resort 10 minutes’ drive from Ranthambore National Park, spend three days nosing around royal bengal tiger territory. Before reaching the next big-cat destination of Rajasthan’s Jawai Leopard Camp, stay at Oberoi hotels in Jaipur and Udaipur. At Jawai, there are twice-daily Jeep safaris to spot some of the 30 to 50 leopards regarded as guardians of the ancient temples dotting the semi-arid landscape. There’s also every chance of seeing sloth bears, antelopes and monkeys.
The final leg — Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Mumbai — includes seeing intricate residential architecture, riding camels through sand dunes and visiting a cave temple complex.
Source: theaustralian.com.au