Quick Escape to Portland, Maine

Truffle fries at DuckfatWe love Portland in the off-season to dine at the acclaimed restaurants that are hard to get reservations in summer and to walk our dog, Theo, on the beach of Cape Elizabeth at that pet-friendly gem of a resort, Inn by the Sea. Portland has been making innovative food for the past decade. Just ask our kids who plead with us to stop at Duckfat every time we pass through town just to have another taste of their crispy French fries dipped in truffle ketchup. Fore Street, which led the food revival in town, is consistently nominated by James Beard for Outstanding Restaurant in the national category. Other longtime favorites include Evo and Street & Co. Also check out the fantastic baked goods at Tandem Coffee and Bakery, the deli food at Rose Foods, and the microbrews at nearby Bissell Brothers Brewing Company.

Portland’s 10-Day Carnaval Maine is going on right now at the Eastern Promenade. The winter wonderland features live music, art installations, light shows, a rail jam competition by Sunday River, professional ice and snow sculptures, and Bites and Brews, where award-winning chefs and craft brewers come together to make made-in-Maine pairings. Families looking for kid-friendly activities during school vacation week can visit The L.L. Bean WinterKids Fun Zone where activities include a snowshoe obstacle course, Bean Boot toss, and more. In the evening, the event shifts to popular local and regional bands who will turn up the volume for the adults, like Scott McCreery on Saturday.

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Be Wary of Circuit Routes and Name-Brand Hotels When Choosing a Safari

The last two weeks I had the privilege of traveling with Rob Barbour around northern Tanzania, with stops in Arusha and Arusha National Park, the southern Amboseli plains, Mwiba Wildlife Reserve, Ngorongoro Crater, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Kusini Camp in the southern Serengeti, the Grumeti Wildlife Reserve, and the Lamai section of the northern Serengeti, where the legendary wildebeest migration takes place across the Mara River. Rob not only serves as director of African operations for the safari operator, Epic Private Journeys, but he’s a native Tanzanian who formerly owned his own lodges in Lamai and Ruaha National Park in southern Tanzania. It seems like every restaurant, hotel, and airport stop we made, he ran into an old friend. What was invaluable to me was the wealth of information he shared on taking a safari in Africa, knowledge accumulated over a lifetime. This week, I’ll be sharing some of his tips to ensure that your next safari is indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

 
Throughout the trip, Rob emphasized that you can’t pick a safari based on hotel name. You design a safari itinerary on where the wildlife will be that time of year and than combine 3 or 4 properties near the wildlife that will best suit your needs, whether an upscale boutique hotel or a mobile tent deep in the African bush. Actually, to get the true African flavor, it’s best to have a combination of both, like 3 nights at Alex Walker’s Serian camps in Serengeti, combined with an exclusive stay at one of the private wildlife reserves say Singita Grumeti or the relatively new Mwiba Lodge. 
 
The most important thing is not to be seduced by name. Outfitters like Abercrombie & Kent or andBeyond will design a circuit solely based on their properties. That’s wonderful when staying at A&K’s Olonana Sanctuary on Kenya’s Mara River, where you wake up to breakfast with views of the hippos swimming. Not so great if you’re staying at A&K’s outpost near the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, where tents were lined up practically on top of each other. andBeyond’s Ngorongoro Crater Lodge and it’s over-the-top “Out of Africa” style is easily the best property in the region. But in Grumeti, andBeyond will put you in their own tents, which doesn’t offer the same privileges of staying at Singita Grumeti, like night drives and off-road driving to get closer to the wildlife. So it’s best to mix and match with a company like Epic Private Journeys who simply want the best experience and don’t have loyalty to one name. Also be wary of the big name hotelier. For example, Four Seasons Serengeti is located in central Serengeti in a locale far away from the both the wildebeest migration in summer and winter. It’s actually best in late February and March.
 
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ActiveTravels, Home to the New England Dream Day Itinerary

Travel and Leisure just came out with their 50 Best Places to Travel in 2020, and much to our delight, Boston popped up at Number 10 and Maine at Number 29. If you’re thinking of a Boston and New England trip in 2020, we’ll happily design a route and point you in the right direction. Since ActiveTravels made its debut in 2012, we have designed more than 100 itineraries for clients headed to New England from all over America and the world (including New Zealand, the UK, Switzerland, and Israel). We send clients all over the globe, but New England is our area of expertise. I wrote more than 400 travel stories on New England for The Boston Globe and Yankee Magazine, and authored Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England. Depending on your passions, we can customize our Dream Day Itineraries for wildlife lovers (moose, whales, seals, beavers, and loons), active travelers (biking past 5 lighthouses in Portland, hiking to waterfalls in the White Mountains, paddling the Allagash River), foodies (James Beard award winning restaurants and favorite lobster-in-the-rough joints in Boston, Portsmouth, Portland, and the Maine coast), or art lovers (MFA, the Clark, Mass MoCA, the Farnsworth). We’ll divulge all of our secrets, especially the most scenic off-the-beaten-path driving routes. 

 

Hotels We’re Booking Right Now

Cliff House, Maine We currently have a group of 15 family members at the Cheeca Lodge in the Florida Keys and a couple who flew in from Atlanta with a negative COVID-19 test to stay at the Cliff House in Maine. We recently booked a family vacation at Wequassett Resort and a romantic retreat at Chatham Bars, both in August on Cape Cod. We also designed a 10-day itinerary for a family headed to South and North Dakota in early August and are currently working on a late September 50th birthday celebration in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains at Primland Resort, where you can stay at a luxurious treehouse. If you want to get away this summer or fall for a therapeutic escape from the pandemic and the news (like we recently did for a week on Cape Cod), please let ActiveTravels know.

Depending on where you’re located, we’ll work within the travel restrictions to not only find you a perfect getaway, but lodging that you feel comfortable in, like an isolated private house or cabin. And since we’re part of Virtuoso, we’ll get you those free amenities. At Cliff House, that translates into upgrade upon arrival, daily continental breakfast, and a Cliff House signature “Sea Bag” tote, made from recycled sails and valued at $150. Don’t forget that we design our coveted Dream Day itineraries across North America. So we’re more than happy to create a detailed tailor-made road trip that includes lodging, all activities, recommended guides, restaurants, and scenic routes. This is easily accessible on a phone app we create. As the motto on our website states, “We Help You Get There.”

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Isiolo International Airport Set to Open Soon in Samburu Region of Kenya

On the northern frontier of Kenya, the parched desert landscape is home to one of the most cherished stops on an African safari tour, the Samburu National Reserve. Mention Samburu to any avid African traveler, like I recently did at dinner with Rob Barbour, Director of East African Travels for Epic Private Journeys, and their eyes light up. Here, the wilderness experience is savored by a select few, enhanced by the chance to meet the indigenous cattle-herding Nilotes and Turkana clans. It’s also home to one of our favorite properties in the country, Sasaab, owned by the same group who run the Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. The problem with Samburu was accessibility, a good 4-hour drive from the Lewa Wilderness or prohibitively expensive flights to a nearby airport. That will change when the new Isiolo International Airport opens by the end of the year. I’m hoping the new airport doesn’t make it too easy to visit Samburu, but I would get here sooner rather than later. 
 
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Beer Gardens, Fiddlers, and More at the Trustees This Summer

Yesterday, I wrote about the beer gardens around Boston this summer, but I forgot to mention that the Trustees has teamed up with Salem’s Notch Brewing to create a beer garden at many of their parks and farms this summer. First stop is Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover May 17-20. Also on the calendar is a Fiddlers Fest at Fruitlands August 5th and Thursday Nights concerts at the glorious Crane Estate throughout summer. Be sure to check the events listing at Trustees weekly to see what’s in store. And check out my story in the Boston Globe on overlooked Trustees sites. 

 
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TripAdvisor’s Not So Trusted Travel Advice

TripAdvisor, which bills itself as the world’s most trusted travel advice, just came out with their listing of the Top 10 Beach & Sun Destinations in the World. Number one on the list is Providenciales, otherwise known as Provo, in the Turks & Caicos. What a joke! I last went to Provo to write a scuba diving story on this Caribbean locale for Islands Magazine. Except for a sublime stretch of beach that was crowded with many overpriced hotels, I found the place to be another one of those scruffy islands in the Caribbean with no mountains, no waterfalls, no tropical allure, no beauty. It’s a culturally void locale where you can pop into the local bar and watch Monday Night Football on TV and feel like you’re back in the States. In fact, my favorite part of the trip was actually leaving the island and going underwater on a far more enchanting dive.

Number five on that same list is Myrtle Beach. This is one of the top beach destinations in the world?! Are you freaken kidding me?! Then there are two locales in Mexico, one in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, San Diego. Sure, they threw in the Cook Islands, Boracay, Philippines, and Byron Bay, Australia, but these are also bizarre choices. The first article I ever sold was on the Cook Islands, so it remains a nostalgic place for me. There’s a nice island trek across Rarotonga, but the landscape is not even in the same league as other South Pacific locales, like the mind-blowing verdant volcanic landscape of Bora Bora or any island in the Marquesas, French Polynesia. As for Byron Bay, it’s a popular place to hang for celebrities, but it can’t compete with the beaches north of Brisbane, like Coolangatta, or the largest sand island in the world, Fraser Island.

This list wasn’t made by any one who can remotely call themselves the most trusted voice in travel.  Judging from the list of locales, many of which are easy flights from the Northeast, I think it was written by some editor in the corporate offices of TripAdvisor in Boston, who has rarely traveled farther than Fenway Park. TripAdvisor is best used as a reference for hotels once you know exactly where you are going. I would never use them as expert opinion to find a stunning beach locale. Instead toss this list in the garbage and take my trusted expert advice, culled from over 20 years of being a professional travel writer. If you want one of the top beach and sun destinations in the world, start with Capetown, Folegandros, Greece, Kas, Turkey, the Gold Coast north of Brisbane, the Big Island of Hawaii, Savusavu, Fiji, Bahia, Brazil, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, the Seychelles, and yes, Bora Bora!
 

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