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Hike to the roof of Africa

Looking for a challenging hiking experience through spectacular scenery? Well, pack your hiking boots for 22 hours of trekking through the wildlife-filled landscapes of Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains.

Your first day starts with a leisurely stroll around Addis Ababa. With its wide avenues of jacaranda trees, fascinating museums, one of the largest open-air markets in Africa and a temperate climate of 25°C year round, it’s the perfect way to ease into your trek.

Travel to Wendo Genet, known for its natural hot springs and forests, and visit the Rift Valley lakes of Ziway, Abiyatta, Shalla and Langano, renowned for their abundant birdlife. Of course, you’ll get to enjoy soaking your muscles in the springs.

A drive to Dinsho, the headquarters of Bale Mountains National Park, will reveal some of the endemic mammals of Ethiopia, including the mountain nyala, a type of antelope. You’ll head off on foot to be one of the fortunate 200 people each year to trek through this landscape. Look out for giant lobelia plants that can reach up to five metres and stand guard over the undulating plateau. After five to six hours of trekking through this prehistoric expanse of glacial lakes and swamps surrounded by volcanic peaks, you’ll arrive at the stunning campsite of Meraro.

Trek beneath the peaks before making a steep ascent onto the Sanetti Plateau, which is covered by Afro-alpine moorland and resembles a lunar landscape. Keep your peepers peeled for the endemic Ethiopian wolf, Africa’s most endangered carnivore. There are only 500 in existence but they are readily spotted on the plateau.

For five to six hours you’ll climb Mount Batu, one of the highest peaks in Ethiopia then trek across the arms of the Batu horseshoe to a campsite beside Garba Guracha. This lake is set beneath towering cliffs at the head of the Tegona Valley.

With almost a thousand species of birds, Ethiopia is one of the best bird-watching destinations in the world and the highland lakes are frequented by more than 10 endemic species. Look out for the Abyssinian woodpecker, Somali chestnut winged starling and mountain buzzard.

After a three-hour scenic drive from Goba to Nazareth, you’ll visit the Arsi Mountains and the famous barley plantations of the Oromo people. Then come full circle back to Addis Ababa on the eve of Timket, the biggest religious festival in Ethiopia.

The Timket festival is a three-day event celebrating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. Priests remove the tabots (replicas of the Ark of Covenant) from each church and march to the nearest water source, where the communal baptism takes place. Like no other celebration you’ll ever witness, the ceremony includes thousands of white-robed faithful following a procession of colourfully dressed priests shaded by sequinned velvet umbrellas.

For the denouement, unwind with a little shopping or sightseeing around Addis, including a visit to the National Archaeological Museum of Addis Ababa, the Merkato (open air market), and climb Mount Entoto for a panoramic view of the city.

Get in the Orca Zone

The idea of getting up close to a carnivorous predator – especially one of the world’s most powerful – might give even the bravest person the willies. Think you’re daring enough to plunge into the Arctic Circle’s freezing seas and come face to face with one?

Find out on this adventure with orcas in the coastal fjords of Norway. Slap on a snorkel and let waves of awe wash over you as you glide alongside these giants of the sea. It’s also likely you’ll spot humpbacks, sei and fin whales, as well as otters, seals and sea eagles as you cruise the nippy waters.

Back on land you’ll get cosy with hot soup and learn about orcas’ fascinating biology. And, if you’re lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of the northern lights while reminiscing about the day’s encounters.

This is an underwater adventure unlike any other.

Crocodile festival in Papua New Guinea

They say crocodile attacks are a hundred times deadlier than shark attacks – and far more frequent. So the crocodile isn’t an animal with which most of us want to become acquainted. Not so for the people of Papua New Guinea’s Sepik River, for whom the reptile is an important symbol of strength, power and manhood. Each year, the Ambunti Crocodile Festival rolls out the red carpet for these prehistoric monoliths.

This cultural and environmental WWF-supported celebration of all things scaly takes place over three days in August, but this seven-day tour is much more than a croc fest. Travellers will have the unique opportunity to witness a cultural experience in a region of PNG where time stands still. It might also be your one and only chance to smile at a crocodile and live to tell the tale.

Festivities include live crocodile encounters, traditional dancing, dugout canoe races, performances by sing-sing groups, and visits to the sacred spirit houses. These are the homes of the spirits of ancestors, progenitors, crocodiles and other animals and it’s to these places men travel to undergo intensive initiation rituals.

Travellers will also visit Palimbe, Yenchan and Kanganamun in the Middle Sepik. These villages, with their haus tamarans and customs that include initiation ceremonies and scarification, have stood firm against the invasion of Christianity. They’re also home to well-known artists who make carvings.

Crocodile myth number 43: If confronted by a croc, run as fast as you can in a crazy zig-zag motion. Crocs can move as fast as 16 kilometres an hour, so the best advice is to slowly retreat, remove your thongs and run like Forrest Gump in a straight line!

The best of Vietnam: Ho Chi Min to Hanoi

What do you get when you add a vintage Vespa trip in Ho Chi Minh City, kayaking in Phong Na, a visit to UNESCO World Heritage-listed town Hoi An and lunch in Hanoi with a local family to your 14-day Vietnamese itinerary? The perfect combination of culture, adventure, nature and food… It’s the Vietnam you’d expect, only better.

This tour kicks off in Ho Chi Minh City, a former French enclave and bustling hive of activity and culture. It’s the perfect starting point for your adventure and it is here that you will feast on pho, noodles, rice paper rolls and banh mi. But indulge in the culinary delights of Vietnam is not all you’ll do. You will, however, eat pho from a restaurant that’s been serving noodle soup for more than 35 years. You can even contemplate your future at a famous fortune-telling temple nearby. But do you really want to know?

You’ll visit the incredible Cu Chi tunnels, an immense network of connecting underground passages used by the Viet Cong as hiding spots during combat. If you’re the size of a pixie you may just squeeze into one.

You’ll barely have had time to wipe your sweat-laden brow, before you’re off for a jaunt around Hoi An’s Cam Thanh village, known for its coconut jungles and rice paddies. Transfer to the Coco River for a bamboo basket boat ride to Thanh Dong village and the only organic farm in Hoi An. Explore the Thu Bon River by kayak.

The following two days will be spent in Lang Co, where you’ll head out in a local boat to enjoy being on the water and spectacular views of the jungle-covered Annamite Range. You can even try your hand at local fishing techniques, visit families in the village, and have lunch in an authentic stilt house above the waters of the lagoon.

After a chilled night sipping cocktails at Lang Co Beach Resort, you will put your walking shoes on for an eight-kilometre hike along the sub-tropical forest trails of the Bach Ma National Park. There’s also time for a splash at the Ngu Ho Lake and Do Quyen Waterfall.

Transfer to Hue, a city renowned for its historical monuments, to visit the home of a local family and see traditional delicacies being made. Afterwards ride to the citadel to visit a doctor of herbal medicine and his shop. You know that dodgy back you’ve been complaining about? Dr Nguyen will fix it – no problem.

After a biking trip around Bong Lai Eco-Village, a boat journey will take you along Son River to the Phong Nha Cave and drive to the 31-kilometre-long Paradise Cave. After lunch you’ll go zip-lining and kayaking on the Chay River and don headlights and specialised equipment to explore Dark Cave.

Your time in the Phong Nha region will include a hike in the lush jungle of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park, where you’ll learn about the culture of the Ruc Ca Roong people. When you reach Pygmy Cave, you’ll have to duck (joke). It’s a real treat to spend the day underground at Hang Over Cave, the fourth largest cave in the world.

Spend the final four days of the trip in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam and a city renowned for its centuries-old architecture as well as Southeast Asian, Chinese and French influences. You’ll head up the Cham River to gear up for a rafting adventure that takes you to the scenic Tan Lap Bridge.

The following day wander around tumbling rice terraces and trek along small paths shrouded in vegetation before finishing at a picturesque local village where you’ll have the chance to interact with locals living in the hills. Explore working farms and rice fields, and learn about making rice wine and weaving colourful textiles. Finish off having a lunch with a local family. Don’t be shy – seconds are encouraged. If you still want more after this itinerary, you’re just being greedy.

Highlights of Iran

Often ignorantly depicted as a dangerous nation of radicals, chauvinistic dogma and unsavoury politics, the true Iran is a country rich in culture, glorious architecture, history and warm hospitality.

This tour starts in the capital, Tehran. While subjected to destruction at the hands of medieval invasions from Arab, Turk and Mongol Empires, its magnificent architecture representing Qajar culture still remains intact, making it a must-see.

Visit the vast UNESCO World Heritage-listed Golestan Palace complex and the impressive Grand Bazaar, which is split into several corridors covering 10 kilometres and sells everything from souvenirs, clothing and jewellery to carpets and kebabs.

After the sensory overload of Tehran, the tour takes a chill pill and heads for several days to the car-free, historic 10th-century mountain village of Masuleh. With its unique honey-coloured buildings carved into the mountains and interconnected courtyards and roofs that serve as pedestrian areas similar to streets, Masuleh is the perfect destination to prepare for a day’s hike through the forest. You’ll finish up camping beside the majestic Shah Moalem Mountain.

The following days’ walks take in Masal and Kashan, where a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Sheikh Safi mausoleum and shrine complex is a highlight. Also on the agenda is a stroll around the great Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Esfahan and Fin Garden.

The last remaining days are suitably allocated to Shiraz. A stop en route to Pasargadae, the first Achaemenid capital and home to the tomb of Cyrus the Great, will be rewarding for both history nerds and neophytes. Cyrus the Great, founded the Achaemenid Empire and Persia by uniting the two original Iranian tribes, the Medes and the Persians. He was laid to rest here in 530 BCE.

Shiraz is the capital of the Fars Province and one of the oldest cities in Iran. Yes, it was once a producer of the famous grape of the same name, although most vines were destroyed during the 1979 Revolution. It’s also known as a city of poets, literature and flowers. Take some time to stroll though its ethereal gardens, like Eram Gardens, with its romantic myrtles and towering cypress trees, including one that is 3000 years old.

Most of all, Shiraz is the cradle of Persian culture. Visit the tombs of the great medieval poets Hafez and Saadi. To round things off, take an afternoon stroll through the hustle and bustle of the city’s covered Vakil Bazaar and sample Shiraz’s vast array of crafts, including inlaid mosaic work, silversmithing, and the weaving of carpets and kilims.

Discover why Colombia is South America’s phoenix

While Colombia offers up a certain unsavoury stereotype as a destination famous for Pablo Escobar and drug cartels, the reality is that this South American nation has plenty of sights, delights, activities, museums and incredible biodiversity that warrant greater investigation and positive recognition.

This 13-day adventure aims to break down those stereotypes and take you inside the country’s heart through its historic cities, people, culture, museums, national parks and beaches.

The journey starts in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s birthplace Bogota, with a walking tour and introduction to the history and intricacies of current Colombian culture. You’ll visit the Botero Museum, the Casa de la Moneda, where you’ll learn the history of Bogota through the currency, and the Gold Museum, which houses one of the finest collections of pre-Hispanic gold in the world.

A full day’s trekking in Chicaque National Park among oak forests and waterfalls should get the heart rate pumping and the senses activated as you play spot the spectacled bear, deer, tapir, puma, Andean condor, jaguar, woolly monkey, ocelot and toucan.

En route to Villa de Leyva, one of the few towns in Colombia to have preserved much of its original colonial architecture, a pit stop will be made at Zipaquirá, famous for its Salt Cathedral carved underground in a functioning salt mine.

During a full-day tour of Iguaque National Park you’ll see its eight lakes and numerous plants and animals – watch out for the famous frailejon, a high-altitude succulent that’s endemic to the Andean region.

The following days are spent leisurely exploring Medellín and the once troubled Santa Marta, Colombia’s first Spanish settlement. Once known as a hide-out for insurgents, Santa Marta is the gateway to the Tayrona National Natural Park and Colombia’s premier beach destination. The region was once home to the ancient Tairona culture, whose traditions still exist today among the highland indigenous peoples, including the Kogi, Arhuaco, Wiwa and Kankuamo tribal groupings.

The remaining three days are spent in Cartagena, where you’ll be welcomed into the fold by locals at La Boquilla fishing village. You’ll explore the mangroves by canoe, learning about life on the water and identifying the wealth of flora and fauna that inhabits this rich ecosystem.

Later a visit to the Colombia National Aviary, which features 2000 birds representing 140 species, should keep the budding ornithologists happy as they spot toucans, herons, harpy eagles, flamingos and Colombia’s national bird, the Andean condor.

The final day before the flight back to Bogota is a free day, but spending time soaking up the sun at Gente de Ma, a resort in the Rosario Islands and one of the most beautiful archipelagos in the Caribbean, is highly recommended. This group of 27 islands is surrounded by coral reefs, and is one of the 46 Natural National Parks of Colombia. Soak it up.

Live like a nomad in remote Russia

Want to experience what its like to live a nomadic life without having to give up your record collection, coffee addiction, money, phone and favourite pair of sneakers? This trip to Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug will give you an insight into how the nomadic Nenet people of northern Russia live and for eight days you’ll eat, sleep, live and herd reindeer like a local. And you’ll be able to keep all your possessions.

This otherworldly journey begins in Salekhard, where you’ll travel to the Ural Federal District to meet with the reindeer herders of the Langot-Yugan River. On your first night as a nomad you’ll lay down your weary head in a chum, a temporary reindeer-hide tent.

The following day you’ll enjoy sightseeing around the camp, become acquainted with the herders and their children and learn about their dwellings, transportation (sledges), pet deer (avks) and huskies. During your downtime you’ll learn how to make equipment, such as the tynzyan, which is used for catching deer. Witness the arrival of a herd of up to a thousand deer, sample local cuisine and learn how to cook traditional dishes. If you’re pining for your iPhone you need to take a good hard look at yourself!

Back in Salekhard, you’ll go on a sightseeing tour and visit Obdorskiy Ostrog, a historical and cultural complex built to mirror an ancient fortress. Enjoy free time at lunch breathing in the freshest air you’ve ever inhaled before transferring to Gornoknyazevsk by bus. There you’ll explore the natural and ethnographic complex. For many years, the dynasty of Taishin princes ruled Gornoknyazevsk and the museum presents an extensive collection of materials used in nomadic and settled life, including clothing, ornaments and tools for fishing. You can try on traditional clothes and even ride on sleigh pulled by reindeer.

Finish off your expedition by spending the night in Salekhard reflecting on your experience and how you plan to go at least semi-nomadic when you return home – instead of travelling with three suitcases from now on you’ll just pack an overnight bag.

Wellness on Ice

If you think an igloo with a frozen lake for a floor is cool, picture one boasting more than just an icy interior.

This ice-brick structure by Rukan Salonki Chalets conceals a steamy sauna right on top of Lake Salonkijärvi in the heart of Finland.

Illuminated by the reflection of sunlight and ice and heated by a stove, which is only brought inside when guests are there to avoid melting the walls, the ice sauna is one of the most unusual ways you’ll ever get a sweat on.

Warmed to a soft but steamy 60°C, the ice sauna offers more benefits to a spa date than your average steam room. The heat is less aggressive but the humidity is high, causing your body to perspire as soon as you enter. It also promises relief to those with breathing issues and colds.

Up to 10 people can enter the igloo at once, and when it’s time to simmer down, custom dictates you plunge into a hole in the ice for a shrivelling winter swim.

Cruise the East Indonesian Archipelago

Cruise the heart of the Coral Triangle amongst tropical islands where wildlife, culture and age-old traditions coalesce. Experience the world’s best diving and snorkelling sites and traverse the fabled global spice trade route aboard a boutique luxury cruise line.

Aqua Blu is Aqua Expeditions’ first ever coastal ship, and first ever long-range expedition-class yacht to be permanently based in the East Indonesian Archipelago with year-round departures.

With 15 individually-designed sea-facing suites in three cabin categories, Aqua Blu will welcome guests with on-board certified dive guides and a range of luxurious amenities including a sun deck, indoor lounge and bar, outdoor jacuzzi, spa and top-of-the-line non-motorised watersports equipment such as diving and snorkelling gear, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards.

The East Indonesian Archipelago has more than 1000 species of fish, 260 species of reef-building coral, 70 species of sponges, and a smatter of dugong, sharks, manta rays, whales, dolphins and sea turtles.

Aqua Blu will serve the following three destinations on 7-night coastal cruise itineraries: Raja Amat, Bali-Komodo National Park and the Ambon and Spice Islands.

The magnificent Komodo National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its volcanic-sculpted Pink Beach and biodiversity that includes the Komodo Dragon, orange-footed scrub and Timor deer.

Raja Ampat, located in the Bird’s Head Peninsula in West Papua, and Indonesia’s second easternmost province, is a land of glittering, blue waters and unique rock formations. The region is home to endemic and rare bird species, including the exquisite Wilson’s bird of paradise; more than 600 species of corals, and 1500 species of tropical marine fish.

Comprising more than 1000 islands with a backdrop of Gunung Banda Api (Fire Mountain), an active volcano that’s also a hiker’s and birdwatchers’ favourite; the Spice Islands in the Maluku region was once the center of the global spice trade. Underwater, the Spice Islands houses a unique collection of marine life, after lava flow from a 1988 Gunung Banda Api eruption set off a massive rebirth of coral reefs. Today, these underwater gardens are among the liveliest and most diverse marine habitats in the East Indonesian Archipelago.

From August 1, 2020, the Aqua Nera will be embarking on luxury tours of the Peruvian Amazon.

Designed and built to become the most state-of-the-art river boat to ever sail the Amazon, Aqua Nera will present guests with a luxuriously-appointed boat equipped with restaurant, lounge and spa, river-facing plunge pool and gym.

Imperial Russia

Bordering Europe, Asia and the Pacific and Arctic oceans, Russia’s immensity is not only limited to its geographical size. Steeped in rich culture, history and architectural grandeur, it’s an almost overwhelming country to comprehend.

Once shrouded in mystery thanks to a past that involves Soviet regimes, revolutions and ruling Czars, the Russia of today is a bold and modern culture, with a vibrant, thriving creative arts scene.

While the iconic cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg are laden with palaces, statues, orthodox churches, internationally renowned museums and palaces; chic wine bars and high-end department stores pepper the landscape and are integral highlights of any Russian journey.

Visit Moscow’s historic Red Square; take a trip to Pushkin to visit the late baroque inspired Catherine Palace, the magnificent summer residence of Catherine the Great; or spend an afternoon at the iconic Moscow Kremlin, soaking up the incredible history between the five palaces and four cathedrals. If you’ve got any energy left, enjoy a visit to the Kremlin Armoury, one of the oldest museums in Moscow, established in 1851.

Once you’ve had your fill of museums and palaces, get off the beaten track and explore Russia’s stunning countryside on board the famed Trans-Siberian railway, coupled with a visit to the pristine beauty of Lake Baikal.

Or for a truly authentic Russian experience, visit a traditional Russian sauna (banya) and enjoy a birch branch ‘beating’… which isn’t as bad as it sounds! The Sanduny Baths in Moscow is the oldest and most luxurious banya in the city.

Imperial Russia is a seven-day, six-night tour that gives travellers a fantastic insight into a complex country with a fantastic blend of history, culture and natural scenery.

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