Richard’s 10 Greatest Adventures for 2018
Richard Bangs
Chief Adventure Officer at Expedition Travel Advisor (ETA) and Steller.co
[All photos courtesy of Mountain Travel Sobek]
I’ve been reconnoitering the backs of beyond since the exordium of modern adventure travel, and have reported about quite a few.
So, I combed through the dangerous catalogue and picked out what I think will be the best adventures for 2018 (and personally tested them all).
1) The Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
The trek along the legendary Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is one of the world’s classic adventures, a four-day epic pilgrimage that echoes the ceremonial journeys of the ancient Incas. History unfolds while hiking up and down steep stone staircases, past long-abandoned villages and impressive temples, through green valleys and misty cloud forests until arriving at South America’s most awe-inspiring archaeological site, the enigmatic stone citadel of Machu Picchu. Only a limited number of travelers are allowed to make this trek each year, so it may be wise to book well in advance.
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.
Yes, it has the best beer in the world, and the oldest scotch distillery, 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)
Zambia is Zamazing. Not only does it have the largest game park in Africa (Kafue), 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.
5) Rafting the Middle Fork of the Salmon River
The Middle Fork is one of the world’s greatest rafting rivers, and an unbelievable voyage through time, where layered rock strata and shifting landscapes give way to riverside hot springs, pit dwellings once inhabited by the Shoshone people, and old Gold Rush homesteads. It boasts more than 100 rapids in 100 miles, 60 of which are Class III to Class IV in the early departures—a blast for amateurs and pros alike! You can choose a new boating experience every day: relax on an oar boat, get wet with a team of paddlers, or captain your own vessel on an inflatable “ducky” kayak. With afternoons spent relaxing in natural hot springs, hiking, fishing, visiting ancient rock pictographs, and cooling off in the refreshing waters of Veil Falls, you don’t have to worry about being an expert—all you have to do is enjoy the ride. This is, quite simply, one of the greatest adventures of all time!
Hemingway made it famous, and now it is at the top of many bucket lists – the trek to the “roof of Africa” in Tanzania. Beginning in the rainforest at 6,400 feet, climb through magnificent alpine scenery, gazing at the mountain’s southern glaciers from the hauntingly beautiful Great Barranco Valley. Acclimatize in the inner crater, and explore Kili’s glaciers. Then on to the summit at 19,340 feet, to a perch that allows a rare and stunning view of the curvature of the earth.
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 traveler’s 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.
8) Nepal and Everest in a Box (A Week-Long Adventure)
A thrilling adventure ideal for trekkers with limited time to spare. Kick off in vibrant Kathmandu, and then fly on to the splendor of the Himalaya for a lodge-to-lodge trek of a lifetime. Discover quiet Sherpa villages where one hears the heartbeat of the Himalaya, soak up the solitude of ancient Buddhist monasteries and take in the stunning panorama of Mt. Everest and other soaring icons from a helicopter ride back to Kathmandu. Wrap up by diving right into the swirl of color that is Kathmandu, exploring the hustle and bustle of its labyrinthine streets strewn with sacred stupas and shrines.
The Angkor temple complex is one of the most overwhelming cultural and architectural sites on earth. Nothing prepares for the experience of seeing the world’s largest Buddhist Temple for the first time, especially at sunrise or sunset, when soft light bathes the ruins with an otherworldly, haunting radiance. No less spectacular is Angkor Thom, once a city of a million inhabitants. Also visit the dramatically overgrown Preah Khan, and the royal baths of Preah Neak Pean, with its intertwining naga temple surrounded by four bathing ponds.
10) The Nile and the Pyramids of Egypt
There really has never been a better time to visit Egypt. I was there a few months ago with my ten 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. The 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. Now is the time for Egypt!
Bonus Round:
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.
12) 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 ahead.
Ethiopia is the Tibet of Africa, with an average elevation of 8,000’, 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…
14) 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.
Ponder one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries on an excursion to isolated Easter Island, 2,200 miles off the Chilean coast. Named for its discovery by Dutch explorers on Easter Sunday, it’s known to its Polynesian residents as Te Pito o Te Henua, “The Navel of the World.” The island is legendary for the 900 massive stone busts, known as moai, that guard its slopes. Why they were built is unknown, and their inscrutable faces offer no clues. Come explore the island’s volcanic terrain by bicycle and on foot, snorkel and fish its pristine reefs, and meet the descendants of the ancient Rapa Nui civilization on a unique adventure deep into the past and far off the map.
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.
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