Though the odds have been bucked (there are bold travelers; and old travelers; but no old bold travelers), I’ve been reconnoitering the backs of beyond since the exordium of modern adventure travel, and have written about quite a few. I would imagine I could swing my Bic with the best of them. Nonetheless, I am daunted by Adventure Link, which boasts the world’s largest database of adventure travel trips and outfitters.
So, I combed through this dangerous catalogue, and picked out what I think will be the best adventures for 2013 — and I have personally tested them all, and reported about each on Huffington Post!
But here’s the lagniappe. You can win a free trip, for two, with air, with me to any of the four great South American wonders by entering this sweepstakes from LAN Airlines before January 18.
Buena suerte! And I hope to see you in South America!
Photos are compliments of AdventureLink
13. Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia
It hosts the highest mountain in SE Asia, Mt. Kinabalu; the largest concentration of wild orangutans in the world; the greatest rainforests on the planet; some of the deepest caves; and of course the ambitious Dayaks, always looking to get a head.
12. Costa Rica
It has been called the Happiest Place on Earth and is infused with a spirit called Pura Vida. It pours with the best rafting in Central America, has the best eco-lodges, more zip-lines than anyplace else on earth, great surfing and some of the finest primary rainforest left.
11. Ireland
Yes, it has the best beer in the world, the oldest scotch distillery and the first Irish Coffee, but it also offers up some of the most dramatic scenery in Europe, great hiking and mountain biking and, in Belfast, the new stunning museum, Titanic Belfast (at the bar next door you can order a gin & Titonic).
10. Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the Tibet of Africa, with an average elevation of 8,000 feet and some of the highest peaks in the continent. It also is the source of the Blue Nile, running through The Grand Canyon of Africa, and the Omo River in the south, along which some of the most intact tribal cultures in the world survive… for now. It is the only country in Africa never to be colonized, and so the cultures run deep and untainted. The Queen of Sheba ruled in the north. The Ark of the Covenant is supposedly hidden here. Good luck…
9. Bosnia
Sometimes good things come out of war. Bosnia possesses what the rest of Europe has lost, as the country’s natural resources were not exploited during the conflicts. The result: the cleanest water and air in Europe; the greatest untouched forests; and the most wildlife. The best way to experience is the three rivers trip, which purls through the best the Balkans have to offer.
8. Zambia
Zambia is Zamazing. Not only does it have the largest game park in Africa (Kafue) and walking safaris in the park with the most wildlife (South Luangwa), but it hosts the largest falling sheet of water in Africa, Victoria Falls, and the wildest rafting in the continent, down the Zambezi. (I confess, I made the first descent.) And it has the best place to get unplugged: The Kafue River Camp.
7. Rogue River
I’ve run most of the wild and scenic rivers in North America, and my favorite is the Rogue. It has thrilling rapids, stunning alpine scenery, crisp, clear water, beautiful white sand camping beaches and a waterslide to which Six Flags can only aspire. And my only credit on IMDb is as a stuntman on the Rogue for a made-for-TV movie, Killing at Hell’s Gate.
6. Zanskar River, Ladakh, India
Ladakh, also known as Little Tibet, is a kingdom at the top of the world, in the throne room of the mountain gods, somewhere between mystery and imagination. The Zanskar, a river deeper and more stunning than the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, cracks the Himalayas like an egg. It is Shangri-La manifested, a wild river of Buddhist temples, monasteries, ibex and snow leopards.
5. Guangdong, China
What a discovery for me. Just a few hours north of Hong Kong or Macau the belly of the earth has bulged, wrenched and kinked in Danxia Mountain Park. There are spirits clad in emerald forest and red stone. Part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, the nearly 70,000 acres of the park are nature’s great sculpture garden. This otherworldly landscape, looking more like the contours of the moon than an earthbound park, is enveloped by a warm, humid climate, which helps conserve great stretches of sub-tropical forest. Within this sanctuary more than 400 rare or threatened plant and animal species thrive in evergreen protection. And nearby are spectacular caverns, and a mighty gorge called Guangdong’s Grand Canyon. At nearly a thousand feet deep and nine miles long, this is a gaping call to adventure. The canyon’s diadem of glory is the Chengtou Waterfall, which fonts from a high ravine like an unleashed dragon.
4. Nicaragua
It was unthinkable not long ago to vacation in Nicaragua, but now, fully bathed in peace, and blessed with preternatural beauty, it is a beginning blip on the adventure travelers’ radar. Lago de Nicaragua, a lake too vast to see across, second largest in all the tropics, where 25 years ago guerrillas skulked among the broad-leafed trees of the 365 volcanic islands, is now garlanded with eco-lodges, kayakers and volcano seekers. Some of the best surfing in the world is on the Pacific Coast. Once a hot spot, now a hot spot of a pleasanter sort.
3. Egypt
There really has never been a better time to visit Egypt. I was there a month ago with my five-year-old-son and was delighted by the lack of tourist crowds — and the overabundance of hospitality and service. Tourism, like the Nile, is lifeblood to Egypt, but visitors have stayed away with the news of internal political jockeying, and so the country is moving smartly to bring them back with a wide welcome mat. he Library of Alexandria is a favorite, and the whole of the North Coast, all the way to the Libyan border, is opening up new resorts and activities. I plan to return this winter. Now is the time for Egypt!
2. North Korea
North Korea has been closed to Americans for 60 years, but the doors have opened a crack. I led a group to the Hermit Kingdom last fall, and it was like dropping into the Rabbit Hole, an alternative reality unlike any other place on the planet. It is 80% mountainous, and is strikingly beautiful, with parks similar to Yosemite and Zion. Pyongyang, the capital, offers up the world’s best preserved open-air museum of socialist architecture, and a chance to bow beneath the most amazing Ozymandias statuary.
1. The Best of South America (Iguazu, Easter Island, Machu Picchu, Galapagos)
If there is a geography of wonder, it is South America, and it is now possible to stitch together the four greatest wonders of the continent, including Iguazu (on the border of Brazil and Argentina), the waterfalls that make Niagara pale; Easter Island (Chile), where the origin mysteries still stir with giant statues that stare into an unknown past; Machu Picchu (Peru), the mystical hidden citadel high in the Andes; and the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), the great living museum of wildlife diversity.
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