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Tulum, Mexico, No Longer a Sleepy Seaside Town

The southernmost town on the 80-mile strip of sand referred to as the Riviera Maya, Tulum has always been a perfect getaway from Cancun to see the Mayan ruins. Only well-traveled European backpackers would consider spending the night in one of the bungalows on the beach. Lately, however, a small sampling of all-inclusive resorts have opened in this sleepy seaside town. It’s ideally suited for young American families on their first international trip. Children learn about the historical significance of the Mayans by touring the impressive ruins. Then they can snorkel at Xel-Ha and go for a dip in one of the natural swimming holes called cenotes. Plus, those same white pearly sands that cater to the Spring Break crowd in Cancun can be found on Riviera Maya in a more serene setting that families find attractive.

I’ll be headed to the Yucatan all next week and most likely won’t have the time to blog. I know I’ve been traveling quite a bit this past month and missed many a blog, but stay with me. I have great travel advice, film footage, and photos from Kenya that I’ll be sharing upon my return on December 6th.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Make sure to work off that turkey by doing something active.  And, as always, thanks for checking in!

 

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Grabbing Drinks in Zurich West at Frau Gerolds Garten

After dropping our bags off at our boutique hotel, Marktgasse, in Old Town, we went on a wonderful walking tour of Zurich’s historic core before grabbing lunch at Kaiser’s Reblaube, a wood-paneled restaurant locaed in a house that dates from 1260. Both hotel and restaurant, I would highly recommend. We checked out the vast chocolate selection at the resplendant Globus food court before getting on a train to visit the burgeoning Zurich West neighborhood, a favorite local hangout after work. Nestled under the train tracks behind the container tower that is the corporate headquarters of Freitag bags, we found Frau Gerolds Garten, an oasis in a former industrial park. Craft shops, a restaurant, large outdoor beer garden, even a surfing pool, are now situated outside the confines of old factory buildings. We ordered mojitos and grabbed a seat at the picnic table, taking in the ambience. Then wandered over to Freitag to walk up the tower of shipping containers and see their innovative bags made of truck tarps, inner tubes and seat belts. A fun outing with the locals. 

 
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Favorite Travel Days in 2011, Rafting and Rock Climbing with Austin-Lehman Adventures in Alberta

Each January, I like to look back at the prior year of travel and pick my five favorite travel days that come to mind. Not to boast about where I’ve been on assignment, but to point you in the right direction. You’ll be happy to find yourselves in any of these five locales.

in late July, my family of four took a memorable six-day, five night trip into the Canadian Rockies with the highly reputable outfitter, Austin-Lehman Adventures. Based in neighboring Montana, few if any outfitters know this mountainous terrain better. Each day was jam-packed with adventure, like taking a glacier walk on the famous Icefields Parkway, biking down a backcountry road surrounded by snow-capped peaks on the outskirts of Banff, and taking walks away from the masses to a lonely lake in Lake Louise. Yet, it was hard to top the day we spent in Kananaskis Valley, an hour outside of Calgary. In the morning, we rafted the Kananaskis River and the afternoon rock climbed on the face on Mt. Yamnuska. The river was a rip-roaring ride on glacial-fed waters that certainly cooled down when splashed. My 15 year-old son, Jake, got a wake-up call when he was thrown out of the raft and we had to pull him back in.

At Yamnuska, I followed my daughter up the rock face twice, peering down over the U-shaped valley once atop. It was wonderful to share my love of adventure with my wife and kids and to be in the more than capable hands of the ALA guides. My kids had never rafted or rock-climbed before that day and are now hooked on both sports. My detailed story on the six-day trip will appear in The Boston Globe this spring and I’ll be sure to pass that along. 

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Top 5 Dream Days in 2016, Climbing the Via Ferrata at Quebec’s Palissades De Charlevoix

Just when I thought I had my fill of adventure in the Saguenay/Charlevoix region of Quebec this past July—biking on the celebrated Véloroute des Bleuets, a 256-kilometer bike trail that circumnavigates Lac-Saint-Jean, hiking atop a ridge at Parc National du Fjord-du-Saguenay, sea kayaking with beluga whales on the Saguenay Fjord, and whitewater rafting down the rapids of the Metabetchouan River—my buddy Jeff persuaded me top it all by tackling one of the few Via Ferratas in the world outside of the famous Dolomites. Using cables affixed to an 1187-foot rock face, we attached our carabiners and used iron rungs on the steep sections to clamber up the rock wall at Pallisades De Charlevioix. Following our relaxed guide, Vincent, (me, not so relaxed), we slowly and carefully made it to the top of the steep cliff. We stopped to pick wild blueberries and to peer down at a sinuous creek below where we spotted a beaver swimming next to his oversized dam. The real excitement starts at the top when we crossed a suspension bridge made of wobbly planks high above the canyon floor. Then Vincent says to me, “now it’s time to rappel down.” I looked down the 230-foot rock ledge and panicked. But Vincent slowly got me to lean off the ledge and believe in the equipment. I descended, kicking off the smooth face of the wall, and quickly found myself at the bottom, heart racing but proud of my accomplishment. That’s one climb I won’t soon forget. 
 
To top it off, we went whale watching on a zodiac that afternoon from Baie-Saint-Catherine with Croisieres AML. Near the mouth of the Saguenay Fjord, the St. Lawrence feels vast here, like an ocean. We zipped out to the heart of the river on the speedy raft and soon were watching the second largest mammal in the world, the fin whale blowing its spout and surfacing the water with its long arching back. Suddenly we heard a huge splash and the naturalist got very excited pointing to a minke whale that was completely out of the water breaching. He would breach 3 or 4 times, flipping out of the water like a flying fish. We then cruised over to a colony of gray seals before making our way into the fjord to see Caribou Falls. At the corner of my eye, I caught a splash of white and soon we were following a pod of beluga whales, jumping in and out of the water like dolphins. That’s what I call a memorable day in Quebec. 
 
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Going on Safari in Kenya Will Get Easier Come October

Very excited that Kenya Airways will start daily non-stop service from New York’s JFK Airport to Nairobi on October 28, 2018. A member of the SkyTeam Alliance, the only African carrier in the group, Kenya Airways will offer 30 Premier World lie-flat seats in each Dreamliner aircraft. The 7,360-mile journey is scheduled to take 14.5 hours from New York to Nairobi and 15 hours on the return flight. October is an ideal time to be in the Maasai Mara, when the summer crowds are long gone. Go on a circuit route with The Safari Collection and spend the first two nights at Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor, which I visited when writing this story for The Boston Globe. Then head north for 3 nights to the cultural hub of Samburu and the luxury lodge, Sasaab, before spending the final 3 nights at Sala’s Camp in the Mara. Contact ActiveTravels and we’ll be happy to package together all lodging, guides, and flights with Kenya Airlines. 

 
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Bike Across North America

Tour d’Afrique, the socially responsible bike touring company out of Toronto, doesn’t fool around when they create their dream bike trips. In 2003, they traversed the entire African continent in four months, from Cairo to Capetown. Then came the 50-day jaunt on the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul, the 2752-mile Silk Route ramble from Istanbul to Samarkand, the 7500-mile Vuelta Sudamericana that traveled from Rio to Quito, and the upcoming 2050-mile jaunt through India that starts in January. Now the company has just announced a new itinerary next summer that will cross North America, from San Francisco to Newfoundland. Starting on May 29th, they’ll bike for 76 days, averaging 106 km per day. Along the way, you’ll hit California wine country, the Grand Canyon, Route 66, Chicago, Toronto, and Montreal.  Cost of the entire tour is $9,950 per person or you can do one of the five shorter segments for $1800. Cost includes guides, van support, and lodging.

 

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ActiveTravels.com Named One of the Top 125 Travel Blogs in the World

I was happy to hear this week that ActiveTravels.com was named one of the top 125 travel blogs in the world by the premiere adventure outfitter, Austin-Lehman Adventures. Not only that, but Austin-Lehman is offering two lucky readers from one of the nominated travel blogs a chance to win a trip for two on one of their glamorous getaways. Simply give them your name, email address, and mention ActiveTravels.com as your travel blog of choice. Thanks again for sticking with me these past several years! My brother just purchased a new HD video camera that’s perfect for video blogging, so I plan to talk to you directly in the upcoming months. I also promise to update my Facebook fan page and add more content to Go Play!, your one-stop resource to the great outdoors. Have a great weekend and do something active! I’ll be back next week with Canadian adventures.
 

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