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A New Five-Star Lodge Opens in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest

No one needs to be reminded of the brutal atrocities committed in Rwanda in the 90s, where over a span of several months more than a million people were murdered. Thankfully, old wounds can heal. The small central African country that borders Uganda to the north and Tanzania to the east has transformed from “Hotel Rwanda” to Nyungwe Forest Lodge, a five-star resort set to open next week. Set in the mountainous southwestern part of the country in Nyungwe National Park, the region is known for its ancient rainforest canopy with more than 200 different types of trees from the giant lobelia to the African mahogany. Take a walk with naturalists and you’ll also find 13 species of primates ranging from chimpanzees to acrobatic black-and-white colobus monkeys to the baboon-like Grey-cheeked Mangabeys. The lodge is managed by the Mantis Group, who run luxury boutique hotels through the game preserves of South Africa.
 

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Memorable Spring Bike Rides, Walla Walla, Washington

Not so long ago, Walla Walla was known for its sweet tasting onion. Yet, as of late, this community of 40,000 has been transformed by the grapevine, now boasting more than 80 boutique vineyards. Talented chefs have also made the move to this fertile valley, happy to get their produce from the local farmer and to have their meals washed down with award-winning cabernets and syrahs. The relatively level terrain in the southeastern corner of Washington offers a web of backcountry roads through vineyards and fields of wheat, onions, and peas that are perfect for road bikers. Unlike Napa, with its close proximity to San Francisco, there are no limos or buses filled with wine tasters to blow exhaust your way. Indeed, the closest city is sleepy Spokane, 155 miles to the north.  Ride south of town to view the 6,000-foot snowcapped peaks of the Blue Mountains, making sure to stop at Pepper Bridge, Northstar, and Zerba Wineries to try the complex, yet aromatic red wines, which, depending on the vintage, can hint at black cherry, pepper, even licorice.  
 
Follow me live on location next week, when I bike through Niagara-on-the-Lake with Butterfield & Robinson!
 
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Bike Cape Cod and the Islands this Summer

Those of you who have followed my writing over the years know I love biking on Cape Cod and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. All three locales are blessed with a network of bike trails that line the coastline, snake through the kettle ponds, or roll atop the dunes of the Province Lands Bike Trail at the tip of Cape Cod (a favorite family outing). So I was delighted to see that Massachusetts-based Great Freedom Adventures will be offering a 6-day guided bike tour to the Cape and Islands this summer. They’ll visit Provincetown, ride along most of the Cape Cod National Seashore to the Rockwellesque village of Chatham, before ferrying over to Nantucket and the Vineyard to bike a good chunk of both islands. Dates are June   14-19, July 12-17, and September 13-18. Cost is $2,595 per person, including all lodging, most meals, guides, and ferry tickets. Also ask about their Maritime Bike and Beer Adventure Tour which visits many microbrews while biking the scenic Cape Ann region of Massachusetts. 

 
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My Favorite Day Hike in Nova Scotia

“Probably not going to see a moose today,” said a park ranger at the beginning of the Skyline Trail. “It’s a hot day and they’re lying low in the brush,” he added. Not that it matters. The Skyline is one of the most glorious hikes in the Maritimes, a great overview of the breathtaking terrain displayed at Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Listening to bullfrogs and a woodpecker hammering away, we took a serene stroll through a boreal forest lined with buttercups. Every now and then we would get a glimpse of the sea in front of us and look back at the mountains and the carpet of forest. Then you reach the piece de resistance, a series of steps and platforms that reward you with magnificent vistas of the water and the circuitous road rising through the velvet green hillside that’s one of the best coastal drives in North America, the Cabot Trail. After our fill of the scenery, we made our way back down and said goodbye to the park ranger. Less than a 5-minute walk from our car, we heard loud ruffling to our left and spotted a mother moose and her two young calves chowing down on the foliage. Some days, you can get your icing on the cake. 

That afternoon, we signed up for a zodiac tour with Captain’s Mark’s Whale and Seal Cruise in nearby Pleasant Bay and were treated to the bounty of sealife. Within 5 minutes from the dock, we spotted the graceful arch and fin of a minke whale, one of 40 minkes we probably found over a 2-hour span. Adding to the pleasure was a colony of gray seals popping their heads out of the water like periscopes, harbor porpoises, a bald eagle perched on a tree high atop a bluff, and the frightening tentacles of a lion’s mane jellyfish. Then we drove another hour on the Cabot Trail to the Keltic Lodge, where we downed pints of Big Spruce Regatta Red Ale while staring at the massive bluff they call Cape Smoky jutting out into the Atlantic. Not a bad day. 

(Photos by Michael Berger)





 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Boston to Launch Bike-Share Program

Good news out of Boston last week when Mayor Menino announced that the city will follow in the footsteps of Montreal and Denver and initiate a bike-sharing program this summer. Set to open in July, the Hubway will feature 600 bikes in 61 stations throughout the city. Pay a yearly or daily membership fee and the cost of rental for the ride (trips shorter than 30 minutes will be free) and off you go. Alta Bicycle Share, the company that designed the bike-sharing program in Washington, DC, and Melbourne, Australia, has been hired to oversee the Boston network. There are already plans to expand to neighboring Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville in 2012.
 

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Win a Spot on a Biosphere Expeditions Trip

All you have to do is tell Biosphere Expeditions a little bit about yourself and what you can contribute to one of their projects and you could be one of two lucky buggers who win a free one or two-week jaunt with the volunteer-oriented wildlife conservation organization. What exactly do these expeditions entail? How about photographing whales, dolphins, and loggerhead turtles off the shores of the Azores to help monitor their migration patterns in the Atlantic, tracking jaguars and pumas in the Brazilian bush, or finding the elusive Arabian leopard in the desert and mountains of Oman. Deadline for entry is November 1, 2010, and you can submit either a 300-word essay or a 1-minute video clip.
 

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Successful Writers Learn to Deal with Rejection

Every year for the past decade, I have been invited to speak at a magazine writing course at Emerson College on my life as a travel writer. One of my favorite props to bring to that class is a folder filled with at least 200 rejection letters that I pass around. I especially like the one rejection from Mad Magazine that simply checks off a box: “Didn’t tickle our funny bone.” When I first started as a freelance journalist back in the early 90s, you would send a query letter with a self-addressed stamp envelope. If the publication liked your idea, they would more than likely call you to do the assignment. If they didn’t like the pitch, they would send back a rejection letter. I’m not sure what masochistic strain of my personality persuaded me to collect these rejection letters, but I cherish them now. Many editors were encouraging, writing comments like “please send us other ideas.” One editor would simply write “Nope” on my pitch letters and send it back. 
 
The reason I’m reminded of this now is that the latest Man Booker prize winner, Marlon James, admitted in an interview that his first novel was rejected 78 times. 78 times!! We live in an age of helicopter parents and over-coddled college students, ones that are used to getting their way. That simply doesn’t happen in the writing world. You will face rejection often and even after getting the assignment, you could deal with a litany of problems, worst of all an editor who doesn’t know how to edit. If it’s your desire to be a writer, have patience, give yourself enough time to make dreams a reality, and persevere through the muck. Better yet, laugh off the rejection. The word “Nope” became a running gag between my wife and me for years. “Do you want to go food shopping?” “Nope.” “Time to shovel the driveway.” “Nope.” I love that Marlon James was rejected 78 times and I can’t wait to read his latest novel, “A Brief History of Seven Killings.” My record number of rejections is 38 for an assignment to write about the freighter cruise ship, Aranui, which still delivers food to the residents of the Marquesas Islands. More than 1500 published clips and some 90 countries later, I’m often asked what’s my favorite place in the world. The Marquesas Islands, I reply.
 

One Comment

  1. And most important, a detail you seemed to have missed, is that you are within an hour of one of only three gorilla parks in the world!!!! I believe it is the Volcanoes National Park.

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