There is one sure-fire way to ruin a perfectly good holiday – get the wrong
guide. Following some chump who loves the sound of his own voice but doesn’t
have a clue can be a soul-destroying experience.
Enlist the services of an expert guide with charisma and a sackful of witty
anecdotes, however, and the place truly comes to life. Here, we’ve tracked
down 10 great holidays with internationally acclaimed authorities at the
helm.
SEE THE BIG CATS with Jonathan and Angela Scott The BBC’s Big Cat Diary
made household names of Khali the lioness and Toto the baby cheetah – and
did no harm to the career of its presenter, the wildlife photographer
Jonathan Scott.
Scott has spent a lifetime stalking Africa’s wildlife and, along with his
wife, Angie, who worked as a stills photographer on the show, knows as well
as anyone how to capture animals on film.
If you’re quick, you can join the Scotts on a week-long safari to Zambia’s
South Luangwa National Park, where they will share their knowledge of
photography, wildlife and life in the bush. They will go on game drives,
give lectures and be on hand for camera tips and campfire chats.
Other speakers will include Jonathan Truss, a wildlife artist; Phil Berry, a
world authority on giraffes; Derek Solomon, an animal-behaviour expert; and
Manda Chisanga, a safari guide specialising in traditional bush medicine.
The next trip departs on November 16 and costs £2,950pp, including full-board
at Mfuwe Lodge and BA flights. Another tour will depart next November with
prices likely to rise by about 3%. Book with Okavango Tours & Safaris
(020 8343 3283, www.okavango.com).
Jonathan Scott will be talking on Antarctica at the Royal Geographical Society
on Tuesday at 7pm; £12; 020 7591 3090
RIDE ACROSS KYRGYZSTAN with Richard Dunwoody The Central Asian state of
Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked slice of untamed mountain wilderness. Its deep
canyons, high passes and lakeside trails are unsuitable for motor vehicles,
so – like the nomadic tribesmen and Silk Road traders of old – you’ll need
to tackle them on horseback.
There can be few better guides than Richard Dunwoody, three times champion
National Hunt jockey and twice winner of the Grand National. Since injury
forced him into retirement in 1999, he has thrown himself into the role of
adventurer, riding across Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, and
competing in a 350-mile overland race to the North Pole.
Next summer, Dunwoody will lead a two-week trek to Kyrgyzstan, through the
pine forests of the Sary-Chelek National Park, around the glacial lakes of
Kara-Toku and across the spectacular 3,400-metre-high Korata Ter pass.
The riding will be challenging – your ability should be intermediate to
advanced – but the atmosphere will be intimate and easy-going. After long
days in the saddle, the group will camp on river banks, eating by open fires
and watching the sun set behind snowcapped peaks.
The 14-day trip departs on July 20 and costs £1,850pp, including meals and
drinks, with Wild Frontiers (020 7736 3968, www.wildfrontiers.co.uk).
Flights need to be booked separately (from £535).
UNRAVEL CUBA with Lord Hattersley The allure of Cuba as a tourist
destination goes way beyond white-sand beaches and 1950s American cars. On
every street corner is a clue to the country’s gripping political history –
in the crumbling colonial architecture, the cigar factories, the painted
billboards proclaiming victory to the workers.
The man to unravel the complexities is Roy Hattersley, author, journalist and
former deputy leader of the Labour party. Next year, he will lead a two-week
trip across Cuba, visiting the cities of Havana, Trinidad and Santiago de
Cuba, as well as less familiar sights such as the Bay of Pigs, site of the
disastrous American-backed invasion in 1961, and Turquino National Park, the
first guerrilla stronghold during the Cuban revolution. There will also be a
meeting with Che Guevara’s son, Camilo. With a tour manager providing
information on the geography and culture of Cuba, Lord Hattersley will use
his knowledge and experience of the events of the 20th century to offer a
political perspective.
The trip will run in October next year and will cost £2,995pp, including
flights, 13 nights’ accommodation and most meals. Book with Cox &
Kings (020 7873 5000, www.coxandkings.co.uk).
UNWIND IN ANTIGUA with Maya Fiennes For stressed execs and yummy mums,
kundalini yoga is the latest route to nirvana. It’s an intensive form of
yoga that combines movement and breathing exercises with the chanting of
mantras to induce a state of total relaxation.
One of its most sought-after teachers is Maya Fiennes, a former classical
pianist and the sister-in-law of Joseph and Ralph Fiennes. She will host a
residential yoga week at Carlisle Bay, the luxury designer-hotel resort in
Antigua. The sevennight course runs in May and includes a daily yoga class
with Fiennes, three spa treatments, five evening tennis clinics, breakfasts,
dinners and afternoon teas, and a snorkelling trip. It costs from £2,930pp,
based on two sharing, including flights and private car transfers, with
Elegant Resorts (01244 897516, www.elegant
resorts.co.uk).
LEARN SKI RACING with Sir Steve Redgrave Fancy yourself as a whizz on
the ski slopes? Here’s a chance to measure yourself against other
enthusiastic amateurs – and a trio of sporting celebrities. The annual
Sunday Times Crystal Ski Challenge Cup will be held next March in the
Austrian resort of Mayrhofen, hosted by Steve Redgrave, his fellow Olympic
rower Ben Hunt-Davis and the British ski racer Noel Baxter.
The week-long event includes race training with the British Ski Academy, plus
a series of team competitions: a downhill race, a mogul run, a parallel
slalom and a giant slalom. Redgrave and Hunt-Davis will be taking part
throughout – and comparing notes with fellow guests in the bar afterwards.
Baxter will join the group for the final four days.
The event is open to all skiers, from beginner to expert, and will also
include the chance to try other winter sports, including snow-tubing,
snowmobiling, paragliding and bobsleighing.
A week’s half-board at the three-star Strass Garni hotel costs £650pp,
including flights departing on March 15, transfers, lift pass, ski and boot
hire, race training, competition entry and a gala dinner and VIP party. Book
with Crystal Ski (0870 403 3309, www.crystalski.co.uk/challenge).
DISCOVER A LOST CIVILISATION with David Drew The ancient Mayan
civilisation of Central America has fascinated and puzzled historians and
archeologists for hundreds of years. At their peak, the Maya enjoyed immense
power and wealth; they developed sophisticated astronomical systems and
built monumental stone temples. Then, in the 8th and 9th centuries, for no
obvious reason, the civilisation collapsed.
Visiting the lost cities of the Maya, many of them now shrouded in jungle, is
a rare thrill, but to bring the whole story to life you need an expert on
board. None is better qualified than the archeologist David Drew, who has
made BBC documentaries on the subject and written the book The Lost
Chronicles of the Maya Kings.
Drew will lead a 15-day adventure tour of Guatemala, Honduras and Belize,
travelling by boat deep into the jungle, staying in the beautiful colonial
city of Antigua and visiting Mayan sites including Tikal, Caracol and
Lamanai. Departing on March 5, the trip costs £3,600pp, including flights,
meals, guiding and lecturing, with Andante (01722 713800, www.andante
travels.co.uk).
EXPLORE CHILE with John Blashford-Snell Colonel John Blashford-Snell is
one of the world’s greatest living explorers. He led the first descent of
the Blue Nile at the invitation of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia,
orchestrated the first vehicle crossing of the Darien Gap and was the first
man to navigate the length of the Zaire River.
He is also the founder of Operation Raleigh, the author of 15 books, and is
credited with pioneering the use of inflatable boats to negotiate
treacherous rivers – thus introducing the world to the sport of
whitewater rafting.
Now in his seventies, “Blashers” has never lost his thirst for adventure, and
in January he leads an exclusive tour down the spine of Chile, from the arid
moonscapes of the Atacama Desert, down through the Lake District and on to
the mountains and glaciers of Torres del Paine National Park.
There is little chance of catching malaria or being attacked by vampire bats,
as has happened to Blashford-Snell on previous expeditions. In fact, you
will travel in some comfort. But with an erudite host, who is an amusing
raconteur with a lifetime of anecdotes, this is sure to feel like a
full-blooded adventure.
The 13-night tour departs on January 12 and costs £3,250pp, including flights,
breakfast and six lunches, with Cox & Kings (020 7873 5000, www.coxand
kings.co.uk).
LEARN TO WRITE with Romesh Gunesekera Romesh Gunesekera is the author
of Reef, a novel shortlisted in 1994 for the Booker Prize. It was a book of
the month in The Economist and was described by The Times as “a sensuous
feast of delight, incessantly pleasurable to read”.
Gunesekera, who spent his early years in Sri Lanka, now lives in London and
teaches creative writing on Skyros, a picturesque Greek island where
students can immerse themselves in literature and thought far from the
distractions of modern life. With three hours of lessons each day, including
group exercises and individual feedback, there is plenty of time left to
relax on the beach, explore the countryside and join early-morning yoga
sessions.
The week-long courses take place from May 3. The cost is £525pp, half-board,
including a night in Athens, with Skyros Holidays (01983 865566, www.skyros.co.uk).
Flights are not included: try Olympic Airlines (0870 606 0460, www.olympicairlines.com)
or EasyJet (www.easyjet.com).
STAY IN ANTARCTICA with Patrick Woodhead One of a new generation of
British explorers, Patrick Woodhead has sailed the Atlantic, kayaked the
Amazon and scaled unconquered peaks in Tibet. But his abiding passion is the
Antarctic.
In 2002, he was part of the youngest and fastest team to reach the South Pole
on foot, with the help of skis and kites. Later, he led the first
east-to-west traverse of Antarctica, covering 1,850km in 75 days.
Woodhead’s latest project is an adventure-holiday company, White Desert, the
first to set up a luxury tented camp in Antarctica. A small group of
privileged guests will experience the desolate beauty of the continent and
have the chance to climb uncharted mountains, abseil down ice cliffs and
learn the art of kite-skiing.
The first expedition will leave this month, flying by private jet from Cape
Town. The camp will run entirely on wind and solar power, pitched on a cliff
overlooking the sea, 2,000km north of the Pole. A DC-3 will be on hand for
scenic flights.
Four 10-day trips will set off in 2007/2008. Woodhead will be at the helm,
along with a multinational team of experienced polar explorers. It’s summer
here, so expect 24 hours of sunshine – and temperatures as mild as -5C.
“You can ski in T-shirts some days,” says Woodhead.
The cost is £16,500pp, including all meals, excursions and carbon-offsetting,
but not flights to Cape Town, with White Desert (020 7313 6529, www.white-desert.com).
Or book a flight-inclusive package with Black Tomato (020 7610 9008, www.blacktomato.co.uk).
UNLOCK ST PETERSBURG wiith Princess Katya Galitzine Who better to guide
you around the imperial city of St Petersburg than a British-born descendant
of Catherine the Great? Princess Katya Galitzine studied sculpture with
Mikhail Anikushin and is the author of St Petersburg: The Hidden Interiors.
During the 10 years she spent living in the city, she hosted her own radio
show.
Using her contacts, Galitzine can arrange exclusive viewings at the Hermitage
or help bag tickets to a ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre. She will also act
as your private guide throughout the trip, taking you around the sights,
such as the Grand Palace at Peterhof and Catherine’s Palace at Pushkin, and
offering her own personal interpretation.
Private tours can be arranged through Steppes Travel (01285 880980, www.steppestravel.
co.uk), which recommends four nights in St Petersburg, staying at Rocco
Forte’s five-star Astoria Hotel. The trip, including British Airways
flights, B&B, transfers, private car and driver, entrance fees to
museums and palaces and the guiding services of Princess Katya, costs from
£1,895pp, based on two sharing.
