Afar July-August 2016

GO OFF
THE GRID IN
SWEDEN
p.100
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THE REAL
W H E R E T R AV E L C A N TA K E YO U A FA R .COM # T R AV E L DE E P E R BELIZE
p.88
STAY UP ALL
NIGHT
IN DUBLIN
p.26
Be
Fearless.
Travel
Now. 13 TRIPS TO TAKE BEFORE
ITS TOO LATE
p.61
JULY / AUGUST 2016 A Dream Safari in Kenya p.76

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JULY/
EXCEPTIONAL
TRAVEL
EXPERIENCES
76
EYES WIDE OPEN
IN KENYA
In the Mara, a safari goes
ALEX CRTEY SYSTERMANS
way beyond the Big Five.

by MARK BYRNE
4 AFAR JULY/AUGUST 2016

JULY/
EXCEPTIONAL
TRAVEL
EXPERIENCES
88 100 DESTINATION INDEX
THE BIG LEAP OUT ALASKA 62 GREENLAND 62 KENYA 76 NORWAY 52

ANTARCTICA 71 HAWAII 55 LOUISIANA 54 OHIO 72
What happens when
life turns you into
OF RANGE ARGENTINA 112 HONG KONG 66 MAINE 30 PENNSYLVANIA 55, 72
A trek through AUSTRALIA 64 INDONESIA 47, 55 MICHIGAN 72 PERU 71
a different kind of Swedish Samiland BELIZE 88 IRAN 14, 70 MONTENEGRO 57 SOUTH AFRICA 71
traveler? will make you feel BRAZIL 41 IRELAND 26 MOZAMBIQUE 52 SRI LANKA 54
CLINE CLANET
by LESLIE JAMISON smallin a good way. CALIFORNIA 24, 65 ITALY 54, 64 NEPAL 71 ST. LUCIA 55
CHILE 52, 112 JAPAN 52 NEW MEXICO 52 SWEDEN 100
by JENNIFER K AHN COLORADO 52 JORDAN 68 NEW YORK 55, 72 SWITZERLAND 34

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JULY/
EXCEPTIONAL
TRAVEL
EXPERIENCES
p.28
p.47
This leather Shinola

bag is a stunner
and a symbol of the
Rust Belts revival.
p.72
WANDER with tales of nautical

tote bags and fresh
CONNECT 57 SPIN THE GLOBE
Cyndi Stivers finds her
SPECIAL ON THE COVER
24 ONE GREAT lobster. 41 FEAST way in Montenegro, SECTION At Kenyas
BLOCK A night out in Rio a country thats still 61 NOW YOU SEE IT Angama Mara,
34 PRECIOUS CARGO begins and ends at
Theres a new food hub finding its own. Yes, Venice is sinking the land belongs
A watch built for a
shining beneath San the p-sujo, where and San Franciscos to the Masai.
fighter pilot will have
Diegos sunny skies. the food is comforting classic bars are shutter- Read more on
you on time in style.
and the people- ing. But theres still page 76.
26 BEFORE SUNRISE 36 MIX watching prime.
Its time to update your time to see the worlds
Gold medal posters most endangered Photograph
47 RESIDENT
MUHAMMAD FADLI, COURTESY OF SHINOLA
image of Irish nightlife. celebrate the worlds by Alex Crtey

A designer who grew wonders. Start with
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: ALANNA HALE,
28 OUR PICKS greatest games. Systermans

up in Bali shares these 13 unforgettable
Pack your basket with her favorite island experiences.
these picnic-perfect inspirations.
touches.
51 STAY 14 FOUNDERS NOTE
30 WANDERING The best hotels for 18 FROM THE EDITOR
DESIGNER adventure; how Mario 20 CONTRIBUTORS
An outdoorsy creative Batali does room
112 JUST BACK FROM
director sails back service; where to get a
from Portland, Maine, massage in the ocean!

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WHATS
YOUR DREAM
ADVENTURE AFAR.COM @AFARMEDIA
TRIP?
FOUNDERS GREG SULLIVAN & JOE DIAZ
EDITORIAL I want to have cold

VP, EDITOR IN CHIEF Julia Cosgrove @jules_afar adventures. I want to see
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Elizabeth Spiridakis Olson @white_lightning penguins and orcas
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Jeremy Saum @jeremyafar in Antarctica, hike in the
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Tara Guertin @afarfotos Himalayas, and watch
wolves in Yellowstone
DEPUTY EDITOR Jennifer Flowers @jennflowers
during the winter.
SENIOR EDITOR Andrew Richdale @therichdale
J.S.
ART DIRECTOR Jason Seldon @jasonseldon11
ASSOCIATE EDITORS Aislyn Greene @aislyngreene
Danielle Walsh @deedubbayew
Its my dream to ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR Alex Palomino @palographic
travel to the Kodokan GUIDES EDITOR Nick Rowlands @pharaonick
Judo Institute EDITORIAL PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Nicole Antonio Someday, Im going
in Japan for a judo
ASSISTANT EDITOR Nicoletta Richardson @nicolettarich to buy a motorcycle
training camp.
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Maggie Fuller, Sarah Purkrabek and drive through
N.A.
STYLE EDITOR Jennifer Lee @jennleestylist Greece looking for epic
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Lisa Abend @lisaabend
rock-climbing spots.
M.F.
Chris Colin @chriscolin3000
Tom Downey @tjdnewyork
David Farley @davidfarley
Emma John @em_john
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS Chip Conley @chipconley
Nina Dietzel @ninadietzel
Rainer Jenss @jensstravels
Joss Kent @ceo_andbeyond
Matt Villano @mattvillano
COPY EDITOR Elizabeth Bell
PROOFREADER Pat Tompkins
INTERNS Thomas Alexander, Jeehye Choi,
Kyana Moghadam, Alina Polishuk
AFAR MEDIA LLC

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Greg Sullivan @gregafar
VP, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER Joe Diaz @joediazafar
VP, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Laura Simkins
VP, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Derek Butcher @derekbutcher
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Matt Fenster
Taking the advice AUDIENCE MARKETING DIRECTOR Lisa Radler
of my colleague Aislyn DIGITAL AUDIENCE MARKETING DIRECTOR Sean Nakamura
(see page 112), I want HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR Breanna Rhoades
to visit Patagonia and
AUDIENCE MARKETING SPECIALIST Samantha Juda @slam_antha
hike to glaciers!
B.R. DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING Sherry Jin
SENIOR DIGITAL EXPERIENCE DESIGNER Anne Nguyen
DIRECTOR OF MOBILE APPS Kevin Favro
SOFTWARE ENGINEERS Yue Weng Mak
Cricket Wallace
IT MANAGER Jonathan Chu
STAFF ACCOUNTANT Erika Stallworth
LEARNING AFAR Jordan Robbins
PRODUCTION MANAGER Adam Bassano
PREMEDIA MANAGER Frank Linzan
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Marshall White
NEWSSTAND CONSULTANT George Clark
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Joe Diaz, Ernie Garcia, Greg Sullivan
ADVISORS Priscilla Alexander, Pat Lafferty, Josh Steinitz

WHATS
YOUR DREAM
ADVENTURE AFAR.COM @AFARMEDIA
TRIP?
FOUNDERS GREG SULLIVAN & JOE DIAZ
EVP, CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER Ellen Asmodeo-Giglio

ellen@afar.com, 646-430-9884
PUBLISHER Bryan Kinkade
bryan@afar.com, 646-873-6136
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MARKETING Maggie Gould Markey
maggie@afar.com, 646-430-9879
SALES
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SALES Barry Brown
barry@afar.com, 646-430-9881
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL SALES Elizabeth Allerton
eallerton@afar.com, 646-430-9877
WEST COAST SALES DIRECTOR Onnalee MacDonald
onnalee@afar.com, 310-779-5648
LUXURY SALES DIRECTOR Kate Hornsby
khornsby@afar.com, 646-213-4840 Following in the
INTEGRATED SALES DIRECTORS Lauren Peterson footsteps of my mother,
lpeterson@afar.com, 646-430-9880 I would like to take a
Lauren Sonnenberg couple of months and
backpack through
lauren@afar.com, 646-461-2265
Germany, Belgium, and
DIRECTOR, AFAR CUSTOM Lou LaGrange
the Netherlands.
lou@afar.com, 415-814-1394 L.S.
SALES COORDINATOR Lucy Flanagan
lflanagan@afar.com, 646-430-9888
SALES, SOUTHEAST Colleen Schoch Morell
colleen@afar.com, 561-586-6671
SALES, MIDWEST Focus Marketing & Media
focusmm@afar.com, 248-909-5430
SALES, SOUTHWEST Lewis Stafford Company
lewisstafford@afar.com, 972-960-2889
SALES, ASIA Kristin Nicholas, K.M. Nicholas Consulting
knicholas@kmnicholas.com, 310-991-3373
SALES, INDIA Faredoon Kuka, RMA Media
kuka@rmamedia.com, 91/(0) 22-2925-3735
SALES, MEXICO AND LATIN AMERICA Lourdes Berho Corona, Alchemia
lberho@alchemia.com.mx, 52/(01) 55-5004-0490
Riding a horse
along the coast of MARKETING & CREATIVE SERVICES
Iceland is pretty MARKETING AND SPECIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR Katie Galeotti
high on my list. BRANDED CONTENT DIRECTOR Kate Appleton
K.G. DIRECTOR OF EXPERIENCES Jill Greenwood
EVENTS DIRECTOR Jill Cooper
DIGITAL AD OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Denise Hoo
SENIOR DESIGNER Christopher Udemezue
I dream of going to
INTEGRATED MARKETING MANAGER Maci Wachtel
Kenya to stay at
ASSOCIATE MARKETING MANAGER Juliette San Fillipo Giraffe Manor and spot
ASSOCIATE MARKETING MANAGER, AFAR COLLECTION Grace Montgomery hyenas and leopards
MARKETING COORDINATOR Erin Jeffery on the savanna.
DIGITAL AD OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Connie Lam E.J.
BRANDED CONTENT ADVISOR John Newton
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JUMP INTO
THE NOW.
WELL KEEP
A SEAT FREE
FOR YOU.
In Ireland we live in the now.
So dont worry about tomorrow.
Enjoy todays stroll among
Dublins landmarks, the
stories that unfold on the
Guinness Storehouse tour, or
the enchantments of Irelands
countryside. The unanticipated,
the poetic and the astonishing,
theyre all in the now. Come
and share the now with us.
Visit Ireland.com
FOUNDERS NOTE
Living Boldly
IM IN TEHRAN , on the back of make visiting the country danger-
a motorcycle being driven by ous. When governments are
a random guy of the street who at odds, I believe its even more
speaks no English. We are in a important to get to know a place
dedicated bus lane passing one and its people.
bus as another heads straight for Tehran was fascinating, and
us. I yell to my friend behind me full of interesting, curious people.
(did I mention there are three of I might not get on that motor-
us on the bike?), I hope he knows cycle again, but I would definitely
what hes doing! go back to Tehran.
I think back to a recent talk I We each have to make deci-
heard by Arnold Donald, CEO sions about what were going
of Carnival Cruise Lines. He said, to fear. But if we only do whats
We are all afraid to die. Its in our comfortable, then what is life?
DNA. But we should not be afraid
GOOD TRAVELS,
to live. As the bus closes in on us,
I think, maybe Im pushing this liv-
ing boldly thing too far.
Obviously, we survived. It was
one of those uncomfortable mo-
ments that becomes a good story
once you get back home. Greg Sullivan
Cofounder & CEO
I think a lot about fear and how
it afects us. Our judgment, not For more on my trip to Iran,
our fears, should rule our actions. visit afar.com/gregiran.
Some of my friends thought I
shouldnt go to Iran. If I had told
them I was going to get on a
motorcycle, they might have had
a good case. But Iran is actually
quite safe. Our governments dont
agree on a lot, but that doesnt
JJ. LIM/ALAMY

GoToBermuda.com
YO U M AY N E V E R M A K E I T BA CK HOM E
T HE SA M E .
Travel Is Now
IVE NEVER BEEN partial to the Jordan. Yes, the world is always
1,000 Places to See Before You evolving, but these are the places
Die books. I hope theyve inspired you should experience now. Or
people to travel, but the whole at least soon, before further cul-
concept strikes me as grim, not tural, political, or environmental
to mention overwhelming. A changes upend the exceptional
thousand places? Even if I quit travel experiences they ofer.
my job today (impossible) and Im a cockeyed optimist. I
started traveling nonstop (also believe in travel. I believe that
impossible), I wouldnt want to seeing these threatened places
spend the rest of my days racing and connecting with the people
to cross destinations of a list. there gives us a deeper sense of
But hear enough reports about our place in the world. Travel
how places are changingaspen afects how we live and the choices
trees dying in Aspen, Colorado; we make. Nows the time to go
critically endangered black rhinos and let yourself be transformed.
murdered by poachers in southern
Africaand travel feels more
urgent than ever. Throw political
and cultural shifts into the mix
the opening of Cuba and Burma
to American travelersand
suddenly it seems like the name
should be 1,000 Places to See Julia Cosgrove
Before They Change (see, its not Editor in Chief
about you, its about the world).

For our expanded coverage of
In this issue, were starting travel experiences that wont
with 13 of those changing places wait, go to afar.com/travelnow.
in Now You See It on page 61.
Greenland and Venice made the
list, as did such unexpected desti-
nations as Americas Rust Belt and
JEFFERY CROSS

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CONTRIBUTORS
p.76
MARK BYRNE ALANNA HALE CYNDI STIVERS JENNIFER KAHN MUHAMMAD FADLI
Writer Photographer Writer Writer Photographer
Eyes Wide Open in Some Fun in the Sun On a Clear Day You Out of Range Paradise Rediscovered
Kenya p.76 p.28 Can See Italy p.57 p.100 p.47
The expat life: My Local spot: We shot the A Balkan blitz: Her humbling hike: Im Reconsidering Bali:
mother is an anthropolo- picnic spread for Our Podgorica, the capital not an especially spiri- As an Indonesian, Ive
gist, and when I was Picks at Precita Park in of Montenegro, lacks tual person, but when always thought that Bali
a kid we moved to Kenya San Francisco, where the grand architecture we reached the high is very touristy, and so
for her work. There are neighborhood families of most European cities point of our trek through I hadnt explored it aside
many ways to cloister hang out. The uh-oh its full of concrete Swedish Samiland, I felt from visiting friends
yourself in Africa, but it moment: At one point, slabs. But there are a profound presence. who live there. The shoot
was important to my the sprinklers came on. plenty of parks, and the I wanted to bow my head made clear that Ive
family that we not hide. We had thousands of mountains and seaside to whatever gods are missed out on a lot
I spent a lot of time crawl- dollars of equipment are a short drive away. up there. A walk back especially the sweets
ing around villages. Fast scattered everywhere, It was a real kaleido- in time: Ive spent so at Room 4 Dessert.
forward 26 years: When so, naturally, I panicked. scope of a trip. What much time outdoors, but Pilgrimage site: I had
I returned to Nairobi I stood in front of the the locals eat: I tried northern Sweden felt like been to the Tirta Empul
ALEX CRTEY SYSTERMANS
to report this story, as sprinkler, hoping I would some really good pro- another order of mag- temple before, but the
we were rounding a bend absorb the water, while sciutto, cheese, and a nitude. The landscape ambience was totally
en route to the hotel, everyone else ran to res- red wine called Vranac. was really primordial. We different in the morning
I remembered the turn. cue the gear. I finished Those are the countrys could have been hiking light. You could really
I vividly felt, I know where the job soaking wet. See specialties. Find shots a million years ago. sense the spirit of the
I am. Roam with him: her snaps: on Instagram of her trip: on Instagram Trek with her: on Twitter place. Fly with him: on
on Instagram @markwby @alannahale @cyndistivers @JenniferMKahn Instagram @mfimages

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BEFORE
CURIOUS TRAVELERS ONLY
SUNRISE
ALAIN LE GARSMEUR/GETTY IMAGES
Jumping from basalt rock into Dublins freezing Forty Foot swimming hole is a summer
rite of passage for some locals (and a daily ritual for the diehards). If youve followed
our guide to the citys new nightlife (p. 26), its also a head-clearing way to put an ocean
between you and the effects of all that Irish whiskey.
JULY/AUGUST 2016 AFAR 23

W ONE GREAT BLOCK
SAN DIEGOS ENDLESS SUMMER

A band of committed locavores, indie designers, and restaurateurs have
marched into Liberty Station, a former naval training center.
by ARCHANA RAM
General, where you can buy canvas-

and-leather backpacks and electric-blue
surfboards, all made in San Diego. Stop
at the bar for a local beer or a nitro
cold-brew coffee made with Monikers
own blend, or scope out the boutiques
salvaged-wood furniture.
2860 Sims Rd.
1 3
The people behind the citys best pizza

(Buona Forchetta) and pasta (Bice) the Patio is like hanging out in a friends
have joined forces at Officine Buona backyardif your friend had an enormous
Forchetta. The magic happens in deck and an obsession with cooking
two gold-tiled wood-fire ovensone by fire. Most tables are outside, and every
dedicated to gluten-free pizzasthat item on the menu, from juicy elk yakitori to
produce blistered Neapolitan pies. finely charred quinoa salads, is cooked on
2865 Sims Rd. a grill or in a wood-fire oven.
2855 Perry Rd.
COURTESY OF FIRESIDE BY THE PATIO, MARC TIELEMANS/ALAMY, JESSICA SAMPLE

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: CATALINA LONDOO, COURTESY OF MONIKER GENERAL,
4
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens
has bocce ball, craft brews, and 50,000
With nearly 30 local purveyors, square feet of spacewhat more could
the just-opened Liberty Public you want on a summer day? After dusk,
Market is a microcosm of San settle in for a classic movie (Fight Club,
Diegos food worldand its sole The Princess Bride) paired with pretzels,
restaurant, Mess Hall, is a micro- tuna poke tacos, and a Stone IPA.
cosm of the market. Every day, 2816 Historic Decatur Rd. 6
chef Tim Kolanko roams the stalls
and then riffs on ingredients
that catch his eye. Say, sea trout.
to both comic geeks and 80s kids.
Kolanko once served a potato
It hosts rotating exhibits of works by
pancake inspired by the ones his
curator Kevin Eastmanthe cocreator
Polish grandmother made, but
of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
upgraded it with a sea trout crudo,
and other artists, including My Little
trout roe, and lemon pure. There
Pony illustrator Sara Richard. A
was a lot in one bite, he says.
re-creation of Eastmans studio displays
2820 Historic Decatur Rd.
nostalgia-inducing TMNT figurines.
2765 Truxtun Rd.
24 AFAR JULY/AUGUST 2016 illustrations by WENDY MACNAUGHTON

There are many sides to The Islands of Tahiti. Yet they are all
connected by Mana. Mana is a life force and spirit that surrounds us.
You can see it. Touch it. Taste it. Feel it. And from the
moment you arrive, you will understand why we say
our Islands are
To discover Mana for yourself, visit Tahiti -Tourisme.com

W BEFORE SUNRISE
The Dean
House Forest Avenue
DUBLIN, BEYOND THE PUB

Theres more to this town than Guinness: Join the locals for new
riffs on whiskey cocktails and dancing until the wee hours.
by JESSICA COLLEY CLARKE
COURTESY OF THE DEAN, LINDA SCHNEIDER; BOTTOM: JEFFERY CROSS

6 P.M. 7 P.M. 9:30 P.M. 11 P.M. 1:30 A.M. THE NEXT DAY
Rooftop Toast Dinner and a Show Modern Tinctures Time to Dance One Final Stop How to Recover
The Dean Hotels Zip across town Its a short ride Cross the River Back on the South The Irish swear by
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF HOUSE DUBLIN,

style is so dialed- to Forest Avenue, to South Great Liffey to Wigwam, Side, choose your one trusty hangover
in that even your where chef John Georges Street, a a North Side venue own adventure cure: a plunge in
rooms vintage- Wyer prepares nightlife hub thats with multiple per- at House, a laby- the icy Irish Sea.
inspired minifridge smart, affordable home to the new sonalities. Saturday rinthine bar that Follow the locals to
is a talking point. five-course tasting Chelsea Drugstore, night socials are the occupies two con- the Forty Foot, a
Equally stylish: menus in an open a watering hole set big draw: DJs play nected Georgian scenic nook on the
The hotels rooftop kitchen. Reserve a in a former phar- a mix of soul and townhouses. Sip coast eight miles
bar and restaurant, table near the ac- macy. Nod to the funk, and you can one of 39 varieties south of the city.
where you can tion to watch him bars history with order from a menu of Irish whiskey at The key is to jump
nurse a coconut assemble your Henrys Elixir, made of 100-plus rums. the bar, chill in the in quickly, then
waterlaced rabbit agnolotti with with gin, chartreuse, Return the next garden, or dance immediately start
Whiskey Swizzle peas, salsa verde, and minty Strega. morning for a flat for hours in the swimming to warm
while the sun sets. and whey. forestave thechelseadrug white from the caf. sultry Red Room. up. Your headache?
deandublin.ie nuerestaurant.ie store.ie wigwamdublin.com housedublin.ie Banished.
FOR THE FLIGHT From JFK, you have seven uninterrupted hours before landing in
Dublin to devote to The Little Red Chairs, a hypnotic new novel from 85-year-old Irish writer
Edna OBrien. The story starts with a stranger settling in a small Irish town and slowly intruding
into the lives of several locals, including Fidelma, an unhappily married woman. Fidelma takes
the stranger as her lover only to discover too late that he is a Balkan War criminal. In clear,
unstinting prose, OBrien traces Fidelmas grim fall and slow redemption. VINCE COSGROVE

haveKINDLE willTRAVEL
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OUR PICKS
Moroccanoils
SOME FUN IN sunscreen

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THE SUN
A blissed-out day in the park begins
vitamin E.
2
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1 Moroccanoil sunscreen, $32, moroccanoil.com 1 Leopoldine Cores
2 Alexander McQueen sunglasses, $430, short stories are
alexandermcqueen.com 3 When Watched by Leopoldine often dark, always
Core, $16, penguin.com 4 Fredericks & Mae dominoes, precise, and hard
$38, fredericksandmae.com 5 Eugenia Kim Bunny straw to put down.
hat, $425, eugeniakim.com 6 Brahms Mount herringbone
blanket, $280, brahmsmount.com 7 Wlffer
Estate dry cider, $16 for four, wolffer.com 8 Truss
3
bag, $180, trussnyc.com
Satisfy both beer

and wine drinkers
with this fizzy,
slightly sweet cider
made of apples and
grape skins.
7
Designer
Eugenia Kim weaves
her Bunny hat
with Japanese toyo
rice paper.
Trusss bags
are made
ART CREDIT
in collaboration
with Oaxacan
artisans.
28 AFAR JULY/AUGUST 2016 photograph by AL ANNA HALE

Life does come with a reset button.
You just have to know where to look.
Kauai Discovery.com
W WANDERING DESIGNER
PORTLAND,
MAINE
Maine feels like the essence ONE SAILORS
of New England to me, TRASH . . .
says Alex Carleton, creative I love tote bags.
I own hundreds
director of outdoor clothing
of them. When
brand Filson. The coast, the I discovered Sea
mountains, the elegant small Bags back in the
towns. He looks the part of late 90s, I was
SMALL TOWN, a rugged local, too, for good hooked. The owners
make them out of
BIG BEACH reason: Before moving to
Spring Point recycled sails
Filsons headquarters in and nautical rope.
Ledge Lighthouse,
Seattle, Carleton lived in the Another store I love
a small Victorian
lighthouse state. Today, he still keeps is David Wood
surrounded by a a home in Portland, a town Clothiers. Owner
David Hodgkins
dog-friendly he just cant seem to quit.
beach, is perfect for travels the world
by SARAH PURKRABEK
tromping around. and brings back
To explore further, hand-knit socks
take a day trip to the from Ireland, great
rustic shipyard town Italian neckties,
of Bath. I usually and other unique
stroll around the finds. His store is
shops. After, I plan a small and selective.
cookout at Popham
Beach. From there,
at low tide, you ROCK (AND) LOBSTER
can cross a sandbar Things in Maine tend to be very understated.
and walk out to Street & Company restaurant is a great example:
Fox Island. Its casual and humble with incredible seafood.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: TATIANA NAZARINOVA, THE BOSTON FASHIONISTA,

For lobster specifically, visit the Lobster Shack in
LUCIE FINK; ILLUSTRATION BY SAM KERR; LETTERING BY A. SALAMANDRA

nearby Cape Elizabeth. I recommend bringing
friends, lingering for the evening, and then hitting
Save Alexs picks to
your trip plan at afar Js Oyster for drinks with the locals. Warning: The
.com/carletonmaine party can get rowdy on the weekends.
1 2 3
Where to Stay POMEGRANATE INN THE DANFORTH PORTLAND HARBOR HOTEL
Your best bet in this town is A minimuseum, the Built in 1823, the Danforth was The convenient Portland Harbor
to rent a vacation home or stay Pomegranate Inn is filled a Prohibition hideout, a school, Hotel is steps from the wharf
at one of these small hotels. with watercolors, sculptures, and an Episcopal rectory before and centrally located. Make use
Each has character in spades and several paintings by it became a hotel. Youll spot of the complimentary bikes
and plenty of old-school local abstract artist Frederick remnants of each in its nine and explore the historic Old
touches. Lynch. From $199. rooms. From $439. Port neighborhood. From $339.

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Before Rio hosts South Americas first
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posters from games past.

photographs by JEFFERY CROSS
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CONNEC T
FEAST p.41 RESIDENT p.47 STAY p.51 SPIN THE GLOBE p.57
Ubuds
Bambu Indah hotel,
constructed from
bamboo and open to
MUHAMMAD FADLI
the breeze, is one

manifestation of
Balis creativity. Find
more on page 47.

CONNECT F E A S T
Bar do Gomez, in
Rios Santa Teresa
neighborhood,
is the quintessential
p-sujo: filled with
history, cachaa, and
locals of all stripes.
Bite by (Brazilian) Bite

To truly taste Rio, you need to stop at only one place: the p-sujo.
by CHANEY K WAK photographs by RIVER HIJANO
MIGO! ANTONIO CALLS out One of the irst things you learn about a order. Persistence pays of. Our waiter inally
A to a harried waiter trotting by us

outside Pavo Azul, a tiny bar two
blocks from Copacabana Beach.
The waiter, carting plates heaped with
Brazilian bar snacks, doesnt stop. Antonio, my
p-sujo, the Brazilian equivalent of a dive bar,
is that catching the attention of a waiter is a
sport unto itself. When amigo doesnt work,
you can shift gears to moo (young man),
upgrade to chefe (chief ), flatter with capito
stops, scribbles chopp and frango passarinho,
and soon returns with two ice-cold draft
beers and a platter of chicken morsels that have
been marinated in lime, then fried and topped
with slivers of garlic. Theyre salty, oily, and
carioca (Rio local) drinking guide, and I are just (captain), or crank it up all the way to fara zestyjust what you want on a languid afternoon.
two of many revelers vying for his attention. (pharaoh) until one of the men jots down your I irst fell in love with Pavo Azul seven

CONNECT F E A S T
years ago when I met Antonio, an acquaintance

of an acquaintance who introduced me to the
Know Your black bean PO DE QUEIJO
p-sujo. By the end of the night, he was a true stewBrazils
Brazilian Bar Snacks Bite-size puffs
friend and Pavo Azul was on my all-time national dish made with
Stave off I-cant-read-the-menu
favorite listdespite the absence of the expect- thats served (gluten-free!)
panic with this handy guide.
ed accoutrements. The bar, like most p-sujos, everywhere from cassava flour and
has no real facade. Once the servers roll up the p-sujos to high- Parmesan cheese.
end restaurants,
doors, the white-tiled space simply becomes
AIPIM FRITO mild cheese are and consumed no PASTEL
part of the sidewalk, and its size requires you to wrapped into a matter the tem-
Fries made from Referred to as
get friendly with your neighborsfast. The few starchy cassava. crunchy teardrop- perature outside. pastis in the
tables are plastic, and the food and drink are shaped shell. plural (and you
classic: salt cod fritters, the rustic black bean BOLINHOS DE FRANGO will want more
stew feijoada (Brazils national dish), beer, and BACALHAU EMPADA PASSARINHO than one), this
caipirinhas (the national drink). Ubiquitous A meat-stuffed Batterless fried snack is a thin
fritters made half moon chicken served wonton filled with
But thats the charm of the p-sujo. More shaped pastry
from salt cod. with a minimoun- ground meat,
than the $1,000-plus box seats at the glitzy thats similar to tain of garlic and cheese, hearts of
Sambadrome or the overburdened bleachers COXINHA an empanada. parsley. palm, or shrimp.
of the Maracan soccer stadium, a sidewalk Shredded chick-
table gives you front-row access to Rios ever- en, onions, and, FEIJOADA
changing spectacles: the sudden combustion sometimes, a Pork-laced
Heading to Rio for the Olympics? Get
of a marching band, a drag queen strolling by, travel tips at afar.com/olympicrio.

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CONNECT F E A S T
The AFAR
Guide to Rios Best
P-Sujos
1 tongue-in-
ADEGA PROLA cheek reference
One of Rios old- to it: Try the
est bars, Adega favela chic
Prola serves all plate of fried
the traditional homemade
bar snacks plus sausages.
more than 70 On Sundays,
Portuguese-style feijoada gets
seafood dishes, an oceanic
including vin- makeover with
egary raw herring shrimp, octo-
rolls and octopus pus, and
marinated in other seafood.
olive oil. Ladeira Ari
Rua Siqueira Barroso 66/
Campos, 138, Loja 03, Leme
Copacabana
4
2 PAVO AZUL
BAR URCA A Copacabana
Each evening, favorite, Pavo
revelers of all Azul excels in
ages settle on p-sujo classics
the bayside wall like bolinhos
outside Bar Urca de bacalhau
and feast on (those addictive
the restaurants codfish fritters),
famous empa- and serves
das filled with carefully pre-
meat or seafood. pared plates of
or a parade of Ipanema girls who are, as the same. In bourgeois Santa Teresa, locals, expats, The food is shrimp risotto.
song goes, tall and tan. and travelers mingle at the roomy Bar do second only to Rua Hilrio de
the view of Rios Gouveia 71/
The century-long history of the p-sujo Gomez. The nearly century-old institution skyline at night. Lojas A e B,
isnt entirely clear. One theory speculates that began as a Spanish grocery, thus the faded Rua Cndido Copacabana
its name, literally dirty foot, comes from the tins of olives and aged bottles of cachaa Gaffre, 205,
old practice of sprinkling sawdust under the crammed onto the wooden shelves. Bar Urca, Urca 5
tables, while others figure that the name owes near Sugarloaf Mountain, is best for people- BAR DO GOMEZ
to the regulars of yore, who were slaves without watching and empadas, mini pot pies illed with 3 This Rio classic
BAR DO DAVID makes a killer
shoes. Today, following the salty scent of the beef jerky, bay shrimp, or crab meat.
Located in shrimp pastel
p-sujo will take you all around the city and al- Years after my irst visit, Pavo Azul remains
the Chapu and pours 60-
low you to sit elbow to elbow with cariocas from my favorite. I always encounter characters here: Mangueira com- some varieties
all walks of life. Menus vary little from place a local professor who spoon-fed me feijoada; munity, Bar do of cachaa, the
to place; the dependability is part of the homey a Brazilian architect eager to mark every art David not only national liquor
comfort. Youll always ind teardrop-shaped deco monument on my map; even a collagen- defies unsavory used to make
coxinhas, whose crunchy savory shell gives way enhanced society lady who invited me back images associ- caipirinhas.
ated with slums, Rua urea, 26,
to tender, shredded chicken meat. Deep-fried to her mansion. The bar is so popular that its
but makes Santa Teresa
cod balls are a reminder of Brazils maritime owners, sisters Vera and Bete Alfonso, opened
Portuguese heritage. And pastis, half-moons an equally no-frills branch across the street
of fried dough, are illed with such beloved in 2011. Once, over batida, a cocktail of cachaa Save these stops to your Rio trip
plan at afar.com/riobars.
ingredients as hearts of palm and salted beef. and coconut milk, Bete shared their secret to
Thats not to say that all p-sujos are the success: Well never change.

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CONNECT R E S I D E N T
WHO
Elora Hardy
WHERE
Ubud, Bali,
Indonesia
school in California, then I went on to study

ine art at Tufts in Massachusetts.
I spent a few years working for Donna
Karan in New York, but I began to miss Bali.
So I moved back in 2010 and founded Ibuku,
a design irm that builds homes and furniture
using bamboo, an exceptionally sustainable,
sturdy, inexpensive, and plentiful material.
Ibuku works with students from the Green
School (founded by my dad, jewelry designer
John Hardy, and my stepmom, Cynthia Hardy),
where kids learn sustainable building and
gardening techniques. These days my son,
Nayan, and I split our time between Bali and
the United States, where my husband, Rajiv,
is inishing his medical residency. I like the
idea of Nayan, who is almost a year old, spend-
ing his childhood connecting to nature in Bali
the way I did.
Today, Ubud has become a much bigger
tourist destination, where overheated visitors
pour out of buses and people on the street
try to sell them tickets to dance performances.
A lot of the rice paddies I used to walk through
as a kid have been built over with villas by
expats. But increasingly, you stumble onto
little oases and creative pockets in town:
charming restaurants, beautiful boutiques,
tiny workshops. The more visitors seek out
Paradise Rediscovered and value those things, the more it encourages
After years spent living abroad, Elora Hardy boomeranged back artistic life here.
to her childhood home of Ubud, Bali, to launch a design firm. The open, creative spirit of Bali is what
drew me back. Theres a magical ingredient
as told to JENNIFER FLOWERS photographs by MUHAMMAD FADLI here. It has to do with the genuine friendliness
of the locals, but another part of it is resilience:
Bali has been barraged by interest from the
West for centuries. Despite all this outside
I grew up outside of town in a home
M
Y PARENTS WERE TRAVELING influence, the Balinese are still very much
artists who brought me to that overlooked a lush ravine. Instead of taking focused on their own culture. You see more of
Bali from Canada in 1981 when piano lessons or going to soccer practice, traditional village life in Ubud than in other
I was five months old. Back I learned Balinese dance and wood carving. parts of Bali. Coming home the other night,
then, Ubud was a relatively peaceful town with When I slept over at my friends house in a I had to drive a circuitous route because the
the occasional traveler wandering through. It nearby village, Id help plant rice and slaughter village road was blocked off for an evening
was really just a dirt road lined with beautiful ducks for the familys smoked duck business. ceremony. Its all still going on around us; were
temple gates and mud walls. When I turned 14, I left the island for boarding just living alongside it.

CONNECT R E S I D E N T
1. GREEN VILLAGE BAMBOO TOUR 2. BAMBU INDAH HOTEL 3. GAYA CERAMIC AND DESIGN
You can tour the Green Schools workshop My dads hotel is made up of antique The workshop makes high-end ceramics for
as well as the Green Village, a community wooden Javanese bridal huts. The restau- hotels and homes around the worldgreat
we built from bamboo. You can also stay in rant, run by local women, serves some of for wedding presentsand is affiliated with
one of the Villages homes through Airbnb. the islands most authentic Balinese food. an arts center that offers pottery classes.
greenschool.org bambuindah.com gayaceramic.com
4. ROOM 4 DESSERT 6. THREADS OF LIFE

Will Goldfarb, who worked at el Bulli in A cycling tour is a lovely way to take in the This shop is reviving Indonesian textile
Spain, makes desserts that use Balinese islands rice paddy landscapes. Banyan arts by giving indigenous communities an
ingredients, such as the chocolaty Tree drives you into the hills, then you bike incentive to maintain traditions instead of
kluwak nut in his ChocoBubble Too. your way back down, village to village. switching to rayon thread or synthetic dyes.
room4dessert.asia banyantreebiketours.com threadsoflife.com

Save Eloras
picks for your
next trip
at afar.com/
visit/bali.
7. LOCAVORE 9. KUL KUL FARM

The restaurants world-class tasting menu This Hindu place of worship was built in My brother, Orin, founded this permacul-
is built around seasonal Balinese ingredi- the 10th century on the site of holy natural ture farm. People from all over the world
ents. And now, the casual Locavore To Go, springs, a 30-minute drive from Ubud. study here. Visitors can join free workshops
across the street, serves Wagyu burgers. Hotels can arrange for a water blessing. and pitch in by, say, planting seedlings.
locavore.co.id Tampaksiring, Kec. Gianyar kulkulfarmbali.com

CONNECT S T A Y
AMANEMU
Ise-Shima
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Japan
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Refined retreats that get you into the great outdoors,
minus the roughing it. Plus, spas beyond the
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ANDBEYOND BENGUERRA
massive, room-to- Mozambique
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Dont Miss
A walk in the enclo- big-sky landscapes,
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some one-on-one filled with bison, elk,
time with a social- and mule deer.
ized wolf. Howl into From $550.
the night and listen
for the wolves to
6
howl back at you.
From $3,150, three Amanemu
nights, all-inclusive. JAPAN
On the coast of
5 Ise-Shima National
Park, Amanemu em-
Casa Grande braces the ancient
at Vermejo tradition of soaking
Park Ranch in onsen, mineral-
NEW MEXICO rich hot springs. The
TAYLOR RIVER LODGE Ted Turners seven- 24 suites and four
Colorado bedroom estate villas face private
THE GREAT OUTDOORS was built by a men- gardens of bayberry
Fresh Air, Fresh Digs tor of Frank Lloyd trees and have views
and right into the Dont Miss Wrights. Turner still of Ago Bays inlets,
Six stylish new retreats put you stays here some- dotted with floating
ocean. As your horse Island-hopping
at the doorstep of adventure. walks on the sandy on a wooden yacht times, but otherwise oyster farms.
by JILL K. ROBINSON floor of the shallow made for the hotel it operates as an Dont Miss
bay, both of you are by local craftsmen. inn, one embel- A hike along ancient
buoyed by the warm Youll disembark lished with mosaics, pilgrimage routes
salt water. to see penguins, marble columns, that pass through
1 2
From $765. visit 17th-century and a snooker table. cedar and cypress
Taylor River andBeyond churches, and bike Dont Miss forests to sacred
Lodge Benguerra along the coast. A photography Buddhist shrines.
COLORADO MOZAMBIQUE 3
From $645. tour of the ranchs From $833.
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through a canyon azure waters of Hotel & Spa

the Bazaruto Archi- 4
forested with aspens CHILE
and evergreens, pelagos secluded Atop the green Wolf Lodge
ANDBEYOND BENGUERRA ISLAND, TIERRA CHILO
then retreat to your national park from hills of the Riln NORWAY
dreamy cabin and these 10 thatch- Peninsula, Tierra Bears, reindeer, and
fall asleep to the roofed casitas and Chilo looks down other arctic animals
sound of the current. three houses. Interi- on the sky-blue find refuge in Polar
ors combine tropical Pullao Bay. Inside, Park. Its most famed
Dont Miss
African design with wool blankets residents, a pack of
The cedar sauna
flourishes from the and wood sculp- wolves, can now be
and saltwater pool
countrys Portu- tures made by area observed from the
in the spa, where
guese heritage. artisans bring the windows of a rustic
a hydraulic canti-
levered door opens Dont Miss islands culture into six-bedroom lodge
onto the river. A bareback ride the 12 guest rooms that sits inside the
3
From $1,720. along the beach and public spaces. fence of the packs

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CONNECT S T A Y
EXIT
THROUGH THE
GIFT SHOP:
A DASH OF MAGIC
GALLE FACE HOTEL

Colombo, Sri Lanka
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK
Of Pimms
here for 72 years.
Cups and a Young the great-grandson
History tours
of one of the hotels
Paige Russell of Austin, Texas,
Prince Philip first Sri Lankan at the hotel point
designed this Le Grande Zombi Sri Lankas grande dame shareholders, the out paintings left
hotel embraces its behind by a Russian
Scarf by cutting and arranging is reborn for another era.
pieces of colorful construction pastjust take a Revolutionera
by SANDRA RAMANI traveling circus
paper into shapes of celebratory look at the celebrity
dancers, like a modern-day photos lining the performer, as well
Matisse. Her inspiration? The clubby bar. A classic as the springboard
festive spirit of NOLA and At a time when glamorous hub dur- high tea on the floors in a ballroom
the work of folk artist William chain hotels are ing Britains colonial veranda gets a local that once housed
Hawkins. An image of a snake popping up in rule, hosting such twist with snacks the famous
refers to 19th-century voodoo Sri Lanka, the Galle notables as Mark like pandan pan- Coconut Grove.
queen Marie Laveaus pet ser- Facefresh from Twain and Vivien cakes. And doormen Before sun-
pent, a central symbol in a nearly three-year Leigh. Prince Philip still dress in the set, according to
the citys Creole tradition. Youll renovationstill visited too, and his traditional Portu- long tradition, the
find the silk accessory at the stands out. It was first car, a beloved guese-influenced flag is lowered to
recently opened Ace Hotel New opened right on the 1935 model Stan- Kuruppu uniform the sound of the
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: JEFFERY CROSS, COURTESY OF GALLE FACE HOTEL,

Orleans. $112. shop.acehotel.com shore of the Indian dard Nine, is the out of respect to one bagpipe, followed
NICOLETTA RICHARDSON Ocean in 1864 by centerpiece of the legendary employee by Pimms Cups and
British business- in-house museum. who wore it while gin and tonics all
men and became a Now owned by greeting guests around. From $125.
RENT THIS PLACE: AT HOME IN ROME

In a flat on Via della Scala in Trastevere, beamed ceilings run above mint-green walls, and
a terrace faces historic Janiculum hill. The French-Italian owner embraces color, from magenta
COURTESY OF ONEFINESTAY
armchairs to a bathroom tiled in a blue the color of the Mediterranean. And her place can now
be yoursshe rents it out through OneFineStay, a vacation-home booking site that recently
launched in Rome. High-quality linens and toiletries and 24-hour guest services are par for the
course at the companys rentals, now also available in London, New York, Paris, and Los Angeles.

Q&A
Room Service
Done Right
With the opening of La Sirena,
his trattoria in New York Citys
Maritime Hotel, Mario Batali has
launched his first room service
menu. Which got us wondering...
by JENNIFER FLOWERS
me. It was room

service to the nth
degreea curious
pairing, perhaps,
but they are two of
my favorite things.
Any personal pet

peeves about
in-room dining?
What can we order I hate it when a
upstairs? tray comes without
Along with some of hot sauce. At the
La Sirenas sophisti- Maritime, we always
cated dishes, weve send up Tabasco.
added room service
standbys and have Your biggest
given them our own room-service 1
spin. Our drive-in- surprise?
style burger is two Last year, the Four
patties of dry-aged Seasons in Orlando
beef, caramelized sent up a cake TREND WATCH
onions, and house- an homage to my Wellness Beyond the Walls
made pickles on a dog, Willie. It was
potato roll.
More resorts are getting guests out of the spa and into nature.
decorated with
photos of the great by SANDRA RAMANI
What if I want Willies: Nelson,
something sweet? Wonka. It was an
Our pastry chef, exemplary and
Michael Laiskonis, delicious hospitality 1 2 3 4
is a Zen master experience.
of sweetness and Omni Lumeria Nihiwatu Viceroy
texture. His Its 2 a.m. Youre Bedford Maui SUMBA ISLAND, Sugar Beach
chocolate cream jet-lagged and Springs MAKAWAO, HAWAII INDONESIA ST. LUCIA
puffs are a revela- hungry. What do PENNSYLVANIA From its farmland A 50-minute flight For long-weekend
tion. Theyre just you order? In precolonial times, setting on the from Bali, this surf- guests who may
like what youd have If I were at the the Tuscarora and western slope of ers retreat turned not want to spend
in Lyon, France. Maritime, Id order Iroquois people the Haleakala vol- upscale hideaway any of their precious
RICHARD NOWITZ/GETTY IMAGES/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE;
the burger. If I were soaked in the eight cano, this 24-room just launched a Spa Caribbean time
Whats the last almost anywhere natural springs retreat sends guests Safari to a private, indoors, the three-
delicious thing you else, Id order a here. Since then, down to the coast hotel-owned hour Sulphur
ate in a hotel room? grilled cheese countless blissed- in a shuttle for beachside lounge Seduction trip
When I recently sandwich with any out guests, including Aqua Craniosacral in the Nihi Oka visits the dormant
arrived in my room sort of local bread 13 U.S. presidents, Therapy, a gentle, Valley. Guests have Soufrire volcanos
at the Peninsula in and local cheese. have followed suit. wave-like massage the run of a clifftop black sulfur pools
Shanghai, there And hot sauce. Lots The latest twist is that relieves com- dining area, pool, for a soothing soak
were hot dumplings of hot sauce. the two- to three- pression in the neck, and cluster of spa and a slathering
ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVID WILSON
and white burgundy hour Eternal Springs spine, and sacrum. huts. They can also of the mineral-rich
on ice waiting for Guided Hike, which In an oh-so-Maui swim in the Indian mud. After a fresh-
stops at each of the touch, Lumerias Ocean between air rinse under
springs and incor- version can be unlimited massages, a waterfall, the
porates stretching, performed right at cooling body wraps, whole experience
meditation, and sunrise, as you float and natural scrubs is capped with a
bits of history along on the surface of made from garden- 20-minute massage
the way. the Pacific Ocean. sourced ingredients. back at the spa.

I AM
THE MYSTERY
AND THE
REVELATION
9291 Burton Way | Beverly Hills, CA 90210 | 310 278 3344 | viceroylermitagebh.com
/viceroybevhills
CONNECT S P I N T H E G L O B E
On a Clear Day You Can See Italy The passenger terminal at Podgoricas
airport is less than 10 years old, and like the
AFAR chose a destination at random and sent entire country, it is still in a wary state of
writer Cyndi Stivers, with 24 hours notice, to a young becoming. Even the airport code is a reminder
Balkan country where life happens at the caf. of harder times: It remains TGD, a nod to the
citys former moniker, Titogradas in Josip
illustrations by JULENE HARRISON
Broz Tito, the strongman who ruled Yugoslavia
for most of the second half of the 20th century.
Tito died in 1980, the city took back its old
RE YOU WRITING a blog? the the superintendent of my onetime Manhattan name in 1992, and when Montenegro became
A waiter asks amiably, watching me

tap away on my iPad at a caf table
in Porto Montenegro, a seaside
spot an hour and a half outside Montenegros
capital city, Podgorica. When I explain that
apartment building; indeed, until this trip
Id thought of the country as a breeding ground
for Upper West Side supers. Zuffer and his
Montenegrin pals often compared notes on
the skirmishes among the factions back home,
an independent nation in 2006, it was tapped as
the capital.
After deplaning, I headed straight for the
airports welcome desk, stafed by two women
who spoke English. I asked how much I should
I am here because an editor chose my destina- and the tutorials on Balkan politics he gave pay a taxi to take me to town. They looked
tion by spinning a globe, he laughs. It must me during the 1990s Yugoslav wars made the stumped. Fifteen euros could be the going rate,
have been a very tiny inger, he exclaims, to place sound sketchy, if not dangerous. Yet they said. They shrugged and waved me along.
spin the globe and pick out Podgorica! every summer, he added unpaid leave to his Fortunately, my taxi driver also spoke
Only a week before, Id known Montenegro vacation so he could stay there as long as pos- English. When he heard where I was from,
mainly through the colorful stories of Zufer, sible. Podgorica was his hometown. he announced, I dont like United States. He

said hed lived in Chicago for a year but found Moscow. The far side is anchored by a kitschy casino played an endless loop of commercials.
it too cold. Yeah, I said, that weather can statue of a shirtless folk singer, complete with I checked out some of the boutiques, many
be rough. No, the people. All they do is work. guitar. Over the next few days, I would ask a featuring logowear of dubious provenance.
All they care about is money. They are robot half dozen locals who he was, but no one knew. On a recommendation from the staf at the
people! Here, we work today, relax tomorrow. The musician turned out to be Russian cul- Ziya, I had dinner at the Hemera, the local
Beach is 45 minutes away, mountains 45 min- tural hero Vladimir Vysotsky. Was this artwork design hotel. The music on the sound system
utes away. It is relaxed. (The fare: 25 euros.) Russias overweening attempt to claim cultural was a surprising mixture of U.S. soft rock, Sades
Though its Montenegros largest city, kinship? Or some sort of clueless-dad gesture? greatest hits, and local mashups (a woman
Podgorica is not exactly large. Only a couple Hoping to better understand the coun- singing, not in English, over a Hall & Oates
hundred thousand people live there, and based trys geopolitics, I dropped in at the EU Info sample; a white-sounding guy covering
on my observations, at any given time about Centre, just a few blocks away. Montenegros Gregory Isaacss reggae classic Night Nurse,
half of them are sitting in a caf. The place application for membership in the European and so on). I ordered the White Montenegro
was bombed repeatedly during World War II, Union was iled in 2008. Nothing will happen Pasta, since it featured Njeguki prosciutto
so theres a lot of Eastern Bloc gray concrete, until 2020, a staffer told me, but after that, if and cheese (the regional specialties), and a
but also a fair amount of green space. I was we make progress . . . glass of Vranac, the local red wine, which was
happy to see that the Hotel Ziya, where I would Thats a pretty big if. As it happened, the gutsy and good. From my table on the terrace,
be staying, was at the edge of town, beneath
Gorica Hill, which gave the city its name.
Old-growth trees loomed and there was a park
just across the street. After a brief nap, I
hiked to the panoramic view at the top, amid
cypresses, Aleppo pines, and Macedonian
oaks, to get my bearings. I nodded to the itness
bufs I passed. No response. On my way out
of the park, I stopped at St. Georges Church, a
tiny, icon-packed chapel dating from the 9th
centurya rare structure that seemed to have
survived the wars. In its garden, roses and
herbs were still blooming, even in November.
I sought out the tourist oice, which was
I had my mission: to
in an arcade near a supermarket. I startled the
two men insideno one comes on holiday in
somehow see two hours worth
November, they insisted. They handed over
maps and brochures, pointing out museums
of sightsin five days.
and historical sites, but said there was nothing
going on: You can walk everywhere and see
everything in about two hours. I had my EU released an update concerning the I had a ringside view of the street scene. The
mission: to somehow see two hours worth of countrys application that very week. While local guys appeared to travel in packs of three
sightsin ive days. acknowledging Montenegros progress, the or four, and most wore jeans or tracksuits.
But irst, I needed sustenance. I plunked commission called out the fact that no senior When they arrived at the restaurant, theyd sit
down for a plate of risotto at a caf just down oicials have yet stood trial for the war crimes down together but would say little to one an-
the street from the gorgeous Calatrava-style they allegedly committed in the 90s. other before pulling out their phones. Across
Millennium Bridge. I smiled and nodded I spent the next two days tramping around the room, a group of women were likewise
to those passing by, but no one gave me even the city. The street signs were confusing lost in their devices. I turned to my own phone
a glance, and my waiter, apparently not some were in Cyrillic, some in the Roman and called Zufer in New York. He conirmed
an unemployed actor, did not stop to chat. alphabet. Even in the pedestrian-friendly that hanging out in cafs really is the national
After my meal I checked out the view from center, where cars are banned in the evenings, pastime and suggested that I make a trip to
the bridge, which spans the blue Moraca sidewalks tapered of without warning, and the seaside.
River. Splashes of Cyrillic graffiti adorned some streets still had open storm drains of the The next day, and whenever I craved a
the walls nearby (mostly variations, I later sort I hadnt seen since a trip to the Caribbean jolt of natural splendor, I found myself return-
learned, on NO TO NATO). Taking advantage in the 1970s. ing to the roads that run along and across the
of an unseasonal run of hot, sunny weather, As I strolled, I smiled at those whose gaze Moraca River, which winds diagonally through
a young couple was making out on the I met. No one smiled back. town. Over the centuries, the river has shaved
steps of the kayak club, far below. The citys epicenter is a glistening white away the limestone riverbed, leaving layers of
Just a few hundred yards away from the stone plaza, Trg Republike, surrounded by rock lined with old pines and cypress treesa
Millennium Bridge is Moscow Bridge, a shops and cafs that were packed with people welcome slice of wilderness.
pedestrian-only span built by the city of at all hours. A large video screen atop the South of the city center, along the river, lies

Stara VarosOld Townwhich was the hub of each group with its own dialect and grievances crash course in Njego, as he is known. Petar II
urban life here during the Ottoman era, from against the others. Too many wars, Jovana Petrovi-Njego was the most important leader
the 15th to the 19th century. Theres an old said simply. of the dynasty that held power in Montenegro
clock tower and a mosque, and as I walked the Jovana and her colleagues, on the other prior to World War I. Born in 1813, Njego
narrow, winding streets I spied grape-laden hand, were eager to help. They captioned my grew up to be a bishop-prince-philosopher-
trellises, pigeon coops, a chicken yard, and photos, translated the multilingual graiti Id politician-poet. Momo and I started at
lots of feral cats and dogs. It felt like a country seen splashed all over town, and suggested Njegos birthplace, a stone farmhouse in the
village, even though its a short walk from Trg restaurants and sites to visit. They described hamlet of Njegui, source of the specialty ham
Republike. Podgorica as a business town, and it was and cheese Id enjoyed in Podgorica. Later,
To try to piece together Podgoricas crazy evident from the breakfast room that most of wed stop in Cetinje, a mountain town that was
quilt of cultural inluencesRoman, Slavic, the hotel guests were indeed hommes daffaires, a center of European culture around the time
Ottoman, Soviet, to name a fewI visited reading the morning news on their phones. Columbus landed in America. But the pin-
the Museums and Galleries of Podgorica. The Ziya staf also ixed me up with a driver nacle of my journey, literally and figuratively,
The women at the desk seemed flustered, who could take me to the seaside. was the Njego Mausoleum, which opened in
requesting exact change when I purchased For my last two days, I put myself in the 1974 atop Mount Loven, the black mountain
a guidebook. While I was there, a young hands of a courtly guide nicknamed Momo. alluded to in the name Montenegro. After
couple hurried through, but otherwise I was Momo spoke almost no English, so when winding up the road to its end, we parked and
alone. There were no guards or surveillance pantomime and Google Translate failed, we climbed the 461 stone steps leading to the
cameras evident, despite the ancient icons and called a friend of his to interpret. Thanks to monument. There were no railings or fences
other irreplaceable bits of history on display. the spotty radio reception as we drove from of any kindjust a view from almost 6,000 feet
I marveled at the delicate Roman glassware Podgorica through the mountains, I got famil- up. On a clear day you can see Italy, they say.
unearthed amid the ruins at nearby Doclea, iar with Momos CD of Balkan pop hits, which It wasnt until I got home and read further
which dated from the 1st century C.E. sounded like a cross between the Eurovision that I understood why Njego is so important
At the Center for Modern Arts, housed Song Contest and the soundtrack of a Wes to the Montenegrins. He was a controversial
in an erstwhile palace near the river, I had the Anderson film. The tunes added color to the ruler, rabidly anti-Muslim and committed to
place to myself, too. Two stafers waved me in, stark, rocky landscape, studded with scrub heavy taxation. But he was also an early propo-
then quickly returned to their office, leaving and rust-colored ash trees. nent of unifying the many Slavic peoples into
me to explore the few rooms that were open. We breezed along the cloudy coast of the one politically significant bloc against the
Here, too, there were no visible cameras and Adriatic Sea, an area known as the Budva Ottoman Turks. His epic poem, The Mountain
no one to tell visitors not to touch the art. Riviera, stopping in Kotor, a fortiied medi- Wreath, part of the Montenegrin and Serbian
That night, I had dinner in Old Town at eval city right out of Game of Thrones, and in cultural canon, has been widely translated.
the fabled Pod Volat, where the locals go for the town of Budva itself, a higgledy-piggledy Njego represents a moment when this region
special occasions. Since most of the patrons jumble of hotels, casinos, shops, and cafs. was a major player on the international stage,
inside were smoking, I opted to sit beneath a Conveniently, the sun came out just as intellectually and politically.
sprawling acacia tree on the patio. The menu we arrived at the pit stop Momo chose for A month after my trip, NATO announced
was a cornucopia of organ meats, and in honor lunch: a caf in Porto Montenegro, about 20 that it had invited Montenegro to join the
of my WWI vet Grampa, who loved them, I minutes drive from Kotor. The contrast to Western alliance16 years after its forces
ordered the grilled kidneys. workaday Podgorica could not have been more bombed the place during the Kosovo war.
Here, for the first time, strangers ap- stark. Once home base for the Yugoslav navy, Judging by the graffiti I saw while there and
proached me. One guy stopped by my table Porto Montenegro is now an eerily pristine the news stories Ive read since, public opinion
trying to sell me a car air freshener. Another luxury yacht facility, lined with recently im- is divided on whether joining NATO is a wise
urgently peddled some sort of fashion item in ported full-grown palm trees. It looks like its move. As for Russia, a spokesman for Vladimir
a blue trash bag. (It is, he assured me, excel- auditioning to be in a James Bond movie. Most Putin vowed a retaliatory response to
lent design.) This was also the only place I of the megayachts, as well as the patrons at the an acceptance.
saw young men actually conversing while out caf, were Russian. Shortly after I returned to New York, as I
together. That may be because one of them Later that day, as we zoomed by Lake walked along upper Broadway, I bumped into
was not actually in the restaurant; he was lean- Skadar, the Balkans largest lake, I felt a pang Zuffer, my old superthe first time Id seen
ing over the stone wall and chatting with a pair of regret that I had not been able to express him in ive years. We talked about my trip, his
at a table on Pod Volats patio. to Momo how much I would have enjoyed family, and his summer visit to Montenegro.
When I got back to the Hotel Ziya, I asked checking out the lakes famous birding spots. Whatever happens politically, he knows
Jovana, a vivacious university student who But secure in the knowledge that he was a Podgoricas cafs will be there to welcome him.
worked at the front desk, why the people I was kind, benevolent guide, I found enjoyment When I thanked him for his advice, he chided
encountering seemed so, well, unavailable. in not knowing where the heck I was going to me for not reaching out sooner. The next time
She explained that as this part of the former end up, or why. you go, call me irst, he says. Ill give you the
Yugoslavia evolved into its own country, the The Ziya staf knew by now that I really key to an apartment.
population has encompassed ethnic Serbs, did want to learn some local history, so for
Bosnians, and Croats, as well as Montenegrins, my last day, they worked with Momo to plan a Writer Cyndi Stivers is proiled on page 20.

Tasting is believing when youre in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Combine vibrant, local ingredients with recipes steeped
in tradition, and youll find flavor unlike anywhere else
on the map. The perfect time to take a taste of the best
of our islands is this October when well showcase the
islands most popular chefs and restaurants at Dine VI.
#USVInice /visitusvi /usvitourism

Exceptional Travel Experiences 2016

GLACIER JAUNTS
GET SMARTER
Visiting the planets
troubled glaciers
has often meant
hopping on a gas-
guzzling tour bus
talk about an ethical
conundrum. But
Alaska Coach Tours
has begun testing
electric-powered
coaches for trips to
the mighty 13-mile-
long Mendenhall
Glacier near Juneau,
Alaska, and by 2017
it plans to roll them
out to the public.
Hey, when it comes
to glaciers, well
take any good news
we can get.
Chunks that calve

off Jakobshavn
glacier account for
10 percent
of the ice lost by
Greenlands sheet.
By now youve Theres no better
TAKE likely read about

Greenland. That its
melting twice as
way to appreciate
it than by touring
with a scientist,
IN THE fast as we had

originally thought.
which outfitter
Cox & Kings can
FEARSOME
That an iceberg the arrange on tours of
size of Manhattan the country. While
recently vanished. its too danger-
BEAUTY But visiting and

seeing the Earth
evolve in real time
ous to walk on the
glaciers surface,
you can hike on
OF A is infinitely more
powerful than
words on a page.
mountains near
the site, sail past it,
or fly above it in a
MELTING Every day, 170

feet of one par-
ticular glacier,
helicopter to get a
fuller perspective
on our present
GLACIER Jakobshavn, melt

away. This majestic
and future. From
$8,460/person.
JAMES BALOG/AURORA PHOTOS
block of ice is both SARAH PURKRABEK

ground zero for cli-
mate scientists and
Whats the rush? a UNESCO World
Greenlands Heritage Site. Like-
Jakobshavn is the wise, a trip there
worlds fastest- is a mix of shock
melting glacier. and awe.

Hike, bike and sea kayak
Inside
through New Zealands
pure wilderness on our ALL ABOUT NEW ZEALAND
4
incredible adventures. WHY TRAVEL WITH
US 5
L D S B E
OR
W
S
T
THE
PS
RI
A
V
D
EN E
TUR
HELP
RESCUE
THE
BIGGEST
LIVING
THING ON
EARTH
Whats the rush?
In the next 30 years, reefs could
die off faster than they can grow.
At Australias most pristine dive

spots, the truth of the constant
headlinesMORE THAN HALF OF
AUSTRALIAS GREAT BARRIER REEF DAM-
AGEDcan be hard to believe.
For example, at Opal Reef off
Queensland, youll still find a
kaleidoscope of angelfish, anemo-
nes, and giant clams. Everyones
YES, VENICE
Venice faces Venice needs holding their breath and hoping
many threatsthe a savior, which is the warning signs are wrong,
limestone stilts on where MOSE says John Rumney, owner of Eye
REALLY
which it was built (named after to Eye Marine Encounters, which
are buckling under Moses) comes charters boats in the area. But
the stress of the in. The $6-billion the effects of warming water and
IS SINKING citys heavy build-

ingsbut the most
urgent is rising sea
levels. So far, sea-
project aims to
hold back the sea
at the citys three
inlets using huge
polluted runoff are undeniable. In
other parts of Queensland, youll
find huge patches of lifeless
bleached coral, boneyards on
sonal flooding has metal flaps. If it the ocean floor that cover 620
Whats the rush? Scientists have struck only sporadi- sounds wildly miles. Rumney, for one, isnt just
By 2100, the city spoken: Venice is cally. Soon, it could ambitious, thats sitting around. After 30-plus
will lower at least sinking. It has arrive annually and because it is. Picture years of seeing the changes up
another six feet. dropped a foot in stay half the year. an 18-wheeler. Now close, hes launched the Great
the last century Satellites are still stack up five of Barrier Reef Legacy project, and
(four inches of that gathering data, but them. Thats about starting next year you can be
in one swoop, back the prognosis, says the size of one a part of it. Hell be gathering
FROM LEFT: DAVIDE ANNIBALE, CYNOCLUB/MAXX IMAGES
in the 1950s). And geologist Luigi Tosi, flap. Line up 78 of marine experts and travelers to
absent a miracle, is definitely bad. those, and youve explore the reef and conduct con-
it will drop six more Already, on got a miles worth of servation research. Its a hell of
feet during this winter nights, water floodgates that can a lot better than just shaking your
century. oozes into ground rise 10 feet above head and looking the other way.
What will that floors. When the the water. MOSE is SERENA RENNER
look like? Picture briny smell hits, like a musical in-
St. Marks Square. caf workers know strument that well
The piazza would the drill: Move be able to play how
become the grand- electronics up. Halt we want, says local
est outdoor pool service. And when architect Ettore Vio.
ever. And the colon- the tide recedes, Lets cross our
nade of the Doges pull on rubber boots fingers that the in-
Palace could host and resume serving strument is in tune.
docked gondolas. cappuccinos. ANGELICA MARIN

Drag queen
Rahni Nevermore
performs at San
Franciscos legendary
Aunt Charlies.
RAISE
It seems as though
every other week,
a San Francisco
1. ZAM ZAM 3. LONE PALM 5. MARTUNIS
A GLASS TO neighborhood bar

thats catered to
passionate regulars
Moorish archways
welcome you to
Candlelight, white
tablecloths, Miami
Have a favorite
show tune? The
OLD SAN for decades sud-

denly goes under
to make way for a
this dive bar, built
75 years ago by
Assyrian immi-
Vicelike neon sign-
age: The beloved
Lone Palm, blocks
kind sir behind
the piano probably
knows it and can
FRANCISCO glitzy condo. Its

become the new
norm in the rap-
idly gentrifying city
grants. Inside, youll
find a mural of a
Persian fairy tale.
from Dolores Park,
is sexy and cheesy
at once. Roll with it.
play it while you
sing. Do it properly,
martini in hand.
where average rent 2. AUNT CHARLIES 4. LUCKY 13 6. TRADR SAM

Whats the rush? for a one-bedroom House rule #1 at Rumors often fly Opened in 1937,
With the citys has crept up to this cozy, mirror- that developers will Tradr Sam is the
surging rents, more than $3,000 lined gay bar from bulldoze this rock citys oldest tiki
lets just say that a month. So hurry the 80s: no phones n roll shrine soon. bar that is still in
if you want to up and visit these outespecially dur- Go now, drink beer, operation. Enjoy a
drink at these bars, classic watering ing the over-the-top and flip through mai tai, a cocktail
its a good idea to holes while you can. drag shows on the the punk records that was born in the
JAMES HOSKING
call ahead. SARAH BAIRD weekends. on the jukebox. Bay Area.

DINE ON
The dirty secret of
Hong Kongs dim
sum scene is that
HONG KONGS
most places use the
frozen stuff. Not
so at Lin Heung,
LAST GREAT a celebrated clas-

sic. Its obsessive
chefs have worked
DIM SUM together for four

long decades. Soon,
master head chef
Wong Kam Shing
and his crew, now
Whats the rush? in their late 60s, will
The Master chefs all retire together.
Cantonese have from a Hong Kong When the next
enjoyed institution are generation steps
dim sum since on the verge of in, these refined
221 BCE. retirement. creations just wont
taste the same.
GEORGIA FREEDMAN
TINY BITES, LABORS OF LOVE

Chef Wongs
expert touch
ensures dumplings
are tender and
flavorful but not
too sticky. 1. HAR GOW 3. DAN TAT
Done right, prepar- Chefs fold, flatten,
ing shrimp dump- and repeatedly
lings requires razor freeze dough, then
focus. The shrimp roll it out and cut
is soaked and fla- it into crusts much
vored so its plump like puff pastry.
to the touch and They strain the
pops on the tongue. custard filling until
Chef Wongs team its 100 percent
actually calibrates smooth and take
the dough accord- care to bake it just
ing to the days right so it emerges
weather forecast. without cracks.
2. CHEUNG FUN 4. SIU MAI WITH

Fun to say and eat, QUAIL EGG
less fun to make. To assemble this
Chefs smooth a pork dumpling,
JEFFERY CROSS; ILLUSTRATIONS BY MIKEY BURTON
layer of rice noodle rarely seen outside

batter onto a thin Hong Kong, the
cloth, then steam it chefs enclose the
over boiling water. meat in a hand-
Their careful hands made wrapper, top
separate the cloth it with a hard-boiled
from the noodle, quail egg, cover
then roll it gently it with another
around shrimp, wrapper, and then
beef, or pork. steam it.
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Wedged between sea will continue to WHATS IN THE
FLOAT IN the banks of Jordan
and Israel, the
vanish at a rate of
3.3 feet of depth per
PLANETS MOST
MAGICAL SEA?
THE (NEARLY)
famously salty Dead year. In the mean-
Sea is drying up. time, travelers have
DEAD SEA
Why? For decades,
industry has plun-
dered the water
ten times saltier
a small window
to experience the
greatest outdoor
spa on Earth, to
1
SILICON DIOXIDE
than the oceans float in its fizzy hot A mineral also
for its bounty of waters and slather found within
Whats the rush? minerals. Unless a on mud loaded with 90 percent of all
Scientists have contentious $1 bil- these three (plus rocks, silicon
predicted it will lion-replenishment many more) restor- dioxode might help
shrink to the size plan is approved ative ingredients. strengthen bones
of a pond by 2050. (and works), the HILARY ELKINS
and pump up the
bodys production
of collagen.
2
SELENIUM
Believed to be
anticarcinogenic
when taken orally,
this powerful trace
element is used
by visitors (and
local hotel workers)
to soothe psoriasis.
Coat yourself
well in the Dead
Seas soothing,
moisturizing
3
MAGNESIUM
One of Mother
mud.
Natures triple
threats, magnesium
calms inflamed
skin, kills bacteria,
and is so good
at moisturizing that
it may take years off
wrinkly skin.
PAOLO PELLEGRIN/MAGNUM PHOTO

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1 2 WHOS WHO
1. Mona Hakimi-
Schler portrays
herself in various
forms of hijab.
2. Monir Shahroudy
Farmanfarmaians
mirror mosaics
blend Persian and
modern designs.
3. Hadieh Shafie
uses ink, acrylic,
and many, many
paper scrolls for her
large-scale works.
4. Farideh Lashai
repainted classic
scenesthen lay-
3 4 ered video on top.
artists left. Today, crossed lineseven

though, there total nudity. If they
are around 500 came back, theyd
galleries in Tehran, go straight to jail.
many owned by Lots of art right
women, most show- now, particularly by
ing art by women. young artists, is po-
litical and provoca-
How did that tive. Some want to
change begin? see how far they can
In August 2013, go without being
Hassan Rouhani, caught. Some just
who is up for his last want to get kicked
reelection next year, out and move to
became president, Europe or America.
BRAVE WOMEN
the election of a and the atmosphere
moderate leader- became more open. Whose work excites
ship in 2013 opened Fewer women are you right now?
ARE ROCKING
the door for just being arrested for Modernist Behjat
that. Curator Faryar bad hijabdress Sadr. Farah
Javaherian, who has code violations. Ossouli, who paints
IRANS ART helped nurture this In the past, about in miniature. I

fragile movement, 50 percent of all recently co-curated
explains. concerts were shut a show on Farideh
WORLDFOR NOW Whats the role of

women in Tehrans
art scene today?
down by the police.
Now its more like
one in ten. Id say
theres more space
Lashai, who died in
2013. She projected
video onto abstract
paintings. I showed
Iran is not like these days for artis- her work alongside
Whats the rush? Tehran may not be Pakistan or Saudi tic expression. art that inspired it:
Irans relatively where youd expect Arabia; women here Pollocks, Rothkos,
progressive regime to find a thriving have been emanci- So new boundaries and other pieces
is up for reelec- avant-garde art pated for centuries. are being pushed? that have been too
tion next year. If it sceneespecially But when the revo- Yes, plenty of controversial to
loses, everything not one where lution happened in Iranian artists liv- show since the 70s.
could change. women reign. But 1979, many female ing abroad have SARAH PURKRABEK

raise the spatula- How to spot
IF like discs at the

feathers tips, la
Dracula, over their
a male: They have
turquoise patches on
ANYTHING
their throats;
head. They then females, white ones.
frantically flap them
while clicking with
COULD their beaks. Like

many odd behav-
MAKE YOU A iors in life, its

an attempt to win
over a partner,
BIRDER . . . the more demure

female spatuletail.
YouTube does not
do this mating
ritual justice, but
Whats the rush? Were there ever sadly, if you dont
There are fewer a winged beauty visit soon (try a
than 2,000 of that could convert 10-day tour of the
these birds left in the blas crowd to region with outfitter
the Amazon. Audubon members, Wings), it may be The marvelous
its the marvelous the only way to wit- spatuletail
spatuletail (thats ness the spectacle. can flap its wings
its official name) As landowners up to 200
found in northern continue burning times per second.
Peru. The hum- down trees to make
mingbird, with its room for cattle, the
punky purple crest, bird moves higher
is as small as your up the endangered-
thumb but moves species list.
with bravado. Its all From $4,650.
in the lengthy tail wingsbirds.com
feathers. The males AISLYN GREENE
These
feathers are more SPOT THESE OTHER RARE CREATURES IN THE WILD
like tails: The
bird can move each
one individually.
1. LEOPARDS 2. WHITE RHINOS 3. EMPEROR

BJRN ANDERSON; ILLUSTRATIONS BY MIKEY BURTON
On Intrepids At andBeyonds PENGUINS

four-day Chitwan Phinda lodge Identify these ice-
tour in Nepal, in South Africa, dependent (i.e.,
youll travel from guests can work very endangered)
Kathmandu to with conservation- penguins on INCAs
Chitwan National ists to track, dart, Antarctica cruise.
Park, where leop- and microchip It docks at the birds
ards coexist white rhinos to help rarely seen home
with Bengal tigers. prevent poaching. of Snow Hill Island.
From $470. From $3,200. From $14,395.
intrepidtravel.com andbeyond.com inca1.com

THE 4
The abandoned
factories of the
Midwestern Rust
COOLEST Belt sat empty

for decades until,
in recent years,
THE NEW MODELS
OF DETROIT
There are many
BELT OF creatives types

moved in. Theyve
opened stylish new
shiny toys being
assembled in
THE YEAR restaurants, shops, Detroit besides

and art venues that automobiles. These,
have jump-started for starters. A.R.
flatlining neighbor-
hoods. You know 1. AN ACTUAL BELT
Whats the rush? when an area first Shinola, which
Go now, while the heats up but isnt helped employ 372
Rust Belts hip overrun yet? That people after the
food, drink, and moment is now. Go auto industry crisis,
shopping scenes before it's passed. has expanded be-
are at their peak. ANDREW RICHDALE yond watches and
bicycles to hand-
some leather goods,
including this
blue, no-rust belt.
$150, shinola.com
2. HANDMADE FOR
YOUR HOME
1
CINCINNATI:
2
PINTXOSIN
3
BUFFALOS
Conjoined stores
City Bird and
Nest feature a mix
of eclectic goods:
BEER PIONEER PITTSBURGH MUSIC HEAVEN ceramic coasters,
In its heydey, This city has So just what has garden gnomes,
Cincinnatis long been known singer-songwriter and mirrored
Over-the-Rhine for pierogis, Ani DiFranco been glass terrariums
neighborhood was but Morcilla, up to since the from local artists.
FROM LEFT, COURTESY OF: RHINEGEIST BREWERY, ADAM MILLIRON/MORCILLA, SCOT FISHER/
home to 17 brewer- which opened in 90s? For one, citybirddetroit.com
ies, most of which December and converting a Gothic
specialized in clean, quickly snagged a revival church into
easy-drinking suds. James Beard nomi- Asbury Hall, a
Then, three years nation, has put it on music venue, in her
ago, Rhinegeist the map for Spanish native Buffalo, New
opened, and more cuisine. Chef York. Wooed by the
offbeat stuff en- and butcher Justin buildings acous-
tered the equation. Severino sources tics, stained glass
3. MAKES SCENTS
BABEVILLE BUFFALO, SHINOLA, XENIA TALER, KEROSENE
Try these two, which aged jamn ibrico windows, and other
you can sample from Spain, rolls period details, she Kerosenes
on one of the brew- maple pork cheek pulled together $10 fragrances have
erys tours: Truth, croquettes, and million to overhaul unexpected notes
an unconvention- smokes coriander- it. And the space such as green tea,
ally fruity IPA with caramel ribs in still feels sacred, smoked vanilla, and
a lean, gritty, dry Lawrenceville, a especially when it peppered flowers.
finish, and Peach happening part of hosts angelic voices Theyre mixed by a
Dodo, a sour ale town. After dinner, like those of Sufjan mechanic who loves
with a twist end- wander the areas Stevens and St. the smell of diesel.
inghints of peach. countless bars for Vincent. $140, houseof
WILLIAM BOSTWICK live music. A.R. LYNN FREEHILL-MAYE kerosene.com

LIGHTS
ND OTHER DE
EXPLORE IT A
Its like a
2016 Oice of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism.

"This experience has opened many doors for me. Learning AFAR has been an
integral part of my high school experience because it showed me how to be a
leader and a shaker, and how to take my future into my own hands. I can only
hope that this program will continue transforming the lives of my peers because
it immensely revitalized my life. Thank you for changing my life."
- Nora, age 16 (Learning AFAR Chicago)
#learningafar
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Can a modern, conscientious traveler have the experience of a lifetime
on safari in Africaand banish the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt?
by Mark Byrne photographs by Alex Crtey Systermans

BOREDOM OF THE WESTERN KENYA BUSH. you can engage in a kind of communion with gist, had received a Fulbright, so our young
The intertwined zebras dozing, heads on each the laziness: let the heat in, allow the body familyshe and my father, my older brother
others backs, tails mindlessly wagging; the to slump against the seat of the car, stare of and Iwas transplanted from California to
shade-seeking lions, lopped over like house into the waving grass and sort out lifes big Nairobi for the tail end of the 1980s. We moved
cats; the contortionist leopards, wrapped in questions. In March, at the end of a long game back to the States before I began preschool.
the trees, suspended. The mud-bathing buf- drive, I did just this. It was my irst time back to In 1996, when I was 10, we briefly moved to
faloes; the strolling, prehistoric rhinoceroses. Kenya in 26 years. I had spent that time simul- Zimbabwe, where she taught and resumed
Girafes staring of into the middle distance, taneously longing for the place and avoiding it her ieldwork, and though we traveled around
chewing cud. Floating crocodiles, drifting in out of principle. There was a lot to unpack. the area then, we didnt make it back to Kenya.
the Mara Rivers slow current. Ive wanted to since, but the time has never
It is amidst this boredom, heavy enough I was just a year old the first time we moved been rightmy life here, the political climate
to weigh on every animal in the valley, that to Africa, in 1987. My mother, an anthropolo- there, the myriad reasons one can summon to

Previous spread: Some Masai staffers at Angama Mara wear traditional dress instead of uniforms. Left: Alfresco lunch preparations.
This page: Balanites trees shade zebras, topis, and the Big Five: lions, elephants, buffaloes, leopards, and rhinoceroses.
At Angama Mara, a Masai guide is literally in the drivers seat, but you control when your ride begins and when it ends.
convince oneself not to do something. I wasnt Do I even need to point out that safaris are safari aversion. I wanted to know if my notions
afraid of Kenya, not directlyyou could say I an imported good? Before Europeans and about the safari might be as outdated as
was afraid of being afraid of it, of discovering Americans arrived, tribal people on the game hunting itself, if it was possible to set
that, despite my childhood, Id grown up to be Swahili Coast did not don khaki jackets and out across Kenya in a Land Cruiser and not
a dumb, ogling tourist. Or worse, a privileged, stalk out across the bush in search of animal participate in a form of historical acid relux.
oblivious one. I must emphasize: It had never heads to mount; they certainly did not cap of And to do that, I had to go to the Mara.
occurred to me to go back to Kenya on a safari. their treks with gin and tonics. Local people
For some travelers, safaris are, to use a word hunted, of course. Some, like the Masai, even
thrown around a lot lately, problematic. To go made the killing of a lion a coming-of-age
to Kenya and look at animals these days is to ritual for young men. But the development of
buy into an antiquated kind of colonial fetish- the safarithe traditions, the expectations, the
ism. It is something not quite of this time, a industry that sprang up around itwas predi-
remnant of an earlier, much worse era. Long cated on an outsiders obsession with danger
before 1888, when the English planted their and exoticism. The animals provided the dan-
lag in what they would call British East Africa, ger; Kenya itself provided the exoticism.
rich men with guns were visiting that part of Even though hunting was banned in the Fairmont Norfolk, one of the citys oldest,
the continent in search of trophies. In the late country in 1977, the African safari persists. grandest hotels. Here, with one evening to kill
19th century, Kenya became a favorite way- Binoculars replaced the guns, but all the trap- before the adventure began, I tried to recall
point for these men, and this status persisted pings are still there. And yet I was curious: Has a few of the Swahili words Id tucked away
through the colonial era. On a famous visit by it evolved? Has a new age of eco-consciousness decades earlier. For years, I believed the words
Teddy Roosevelt in 1909, the former president and cultural awareness in travel changed the were up there somewhere: an entire vocab-
and his son killed some 500 animals. game? I decided to test the boundaries of my ularya childs vocabulary, but sentences

Above, from left: Angama Maras lobby. Kids from a school supported by Angamas foundation. The lodges deck, 1,000 feet above the valley.
Below, from left: The crew that flies Angamas hot-air balloons. Angamas brick-and-shingle guest area. A local Masai woman.

Days on this safari are spent simply: searching for wildlife until youre ready for a picnic break on the grass.
nonethelessthat would unspool at the irst circular Masai homesteads pockmarking the Angamas guests are greeted by a small wel-
sound of native dialogue. land. The plane lew so low I could just about come party. Since Nicky was on my light, our
This did not happen. I remembered a word count the number of huts in each. welcome party included the camps manager,
here and there, the familiar cadence of some I was making my way to the Mara with an efusive woman named Milka.
popular phrases, but I still felt largely like a Nicky Fitzgerald, the owner and operator of a Karibu! Milka exclaimed, greeting Nicky
irst-timer. One word I did remember well was new lodge there called Angama Mara. Angama with a hug.
mzungu, Swahili slang for white foreigners, was my great hope for a conscientious safari
cleverly derived from the phrase for those one of the newest lodges, and seemingly one
who walk in circles. Perhaps I remembered it of the most clued-in: small, owner-run, con-
in self-defense. nected to a nonproit that supports projects
The next morning, I made my way to throughout its community. Nicky and her
Nairobis Wilson Airport, two intersecting air- husband, Steve, spent decades in the business,
strips and a single waiting area, a favored entry opening and running lodges throughout sub-
point to the east African bush. The last leg of Saharan Africa for the outitter andBeyond.
my journey would be aboard one of AirKenyas Fifteen years before Angama opened, Steve
tiny twin-prop planes, which pick up tourists had reached out to the Masai landowners to but two of the languages fundamental call-
in Nairobi and deposit them on dirt airstrips ask about a lease. Fifteen years later, he and and-responses: Jambo/karibu. Asante/karibu.
across the country. We took off and banked his wife got their wish. Construction began in You are, very frequently, welcomed.
over the city, angling west, the buildings and 2014. And the lodge opened last summer. Angama is suspended in midair. Thats
roads thinning out beneath us. By the time we An hour after takeof, 150 miles west, we what the word means, and its what the
flew above the Ngong Hills, there was noth- landed at Angamas private airstrip, a lat patch lodge is. Its main building, a stunning, glass-
ing but the hardened ripple of the Rift Valley, in an area favored by grazing zebras. All of walled structure built around a massive,

chimney-shaped column, is perched on a creating a protective ilm between the space inlamed skin. We were basically in Tanzania
cluster of rocks jutting out from the Oloololo and its surroundings. Angama does the at that point, but Alice pointed the car in the
Escarpment. Thirty individual tents, sepa- opposite, promoting a kind of porousness direction of the pinned leopard and refused
rated into two camps, dot the land along the with the larger Masai community. You can to let me wimp out on the experience. It took
bluf, high above the valley. From most points see evidence of this everywhere, but it was about 45 minutes to get there, and by the time
on the main buildings deck you cannot see especially apparent during the week I visited we did, I couldnt wait to see it; her excitement
evidence of vertical earth. In fact, the only way in March, when Ole Kijabes family and the had spilled over onto me. It was something to
to get a clear perspective of the height of the hotel staf took it upon themselves to throw a behold: a pissed-of leopard, wrapped around
escarpmentof the distance to the valley traditional Masai wedding ceremony for Kate, a branch, eyeing a couple of lions who, perhaps
belowis to point the house telescope at one of Nicky and Steves daughter, who had gotten maliciously, refused to stop screwing long
the tiny dark smudges way down in the grass. It married the previous year, but not at the lodge. enough to let the treed cat come down. And
is almost impossible to make out what they are. I saw the preparations being made throughout yes, here I did stop to think about how long
Which is weird, because they are elephants. the week, Ole Kijabe and his relatives planning it had been since people would come here to
If youve seen Out of Africa, you have seen the celebration, Nicky trying on the traditional shoot these things. How distant and wrong
Angamas land. It is right here, on this very hill, Masai outit that had been made for her. There that felt, even from the front seat of a Land
that Robert Redfords character seduces Meryl was a kind of hushed excitement as the staf- Cruiser, even while wearing khaki.
Streeps over a picnic. Streep and Redford ers readied the camp; they were doing it, one
played real people, the big game hunter Denys could tell, out of love (and largely out of sight) can tell you this, now: It is possible to
Finch Hatton and writer Karen Blixen, while of Nicky and Steve. It felt like a gift. go on safari, in 2016, and not feel like
the Mara played itself. In the filmmade in Days at Angamaat any safari lodgeare youre play-acting a hunt. Its possible
1985 but set in 1914Redford invites Streep best spent in the bush. Traditional safari here, especially, at Angama, driving
on a trip with him. Theres country there you protocol is to wake before dawn, head out at around with a guide like Alice. In the
ought to see, he says, meaning the Mara. It irst light, spend the morning spotting animals Mara, you see the animals on their
wont last long, now. And whats really miracu- before the sun is too high in the sky, and head terms, not yours. You are welcomed
lous about that statement is that he was wrong. back to camp in time for a nap and some G&Ts.
In 1914 and 1985, he was wrong. This is certainly an option at Angama, but I You are their guest. Its their land. Still.
It did last. The Mara is still wildly preferred a looser schedule. My guide for On my last day, I headed back to the runway,
unchanged. There are lodges here and there, my entire stay was Alicea brilliant, feminist watching zebras scurry as the tiny AirKenya
and what could be generously described as Masai woman, one of only four female guides plane swooped down to land. I looked out my
roads. But it is possible to scan the landscape, in the Mara. The job of the safari guide is part window as we took of, and beneath me, on
even with binoculars, without spotting signs driver, part zoologist; the best of them, I think, the crest of a hill, overlooking the endless
of modern life. It is open grazing land, fence- take on the role of collaborator, too. Alice and valley, was the wedding. Even from the sky I
less, unadulterated, and at any given time the I practiced a kind of unhurried, impulsive could make out the colors. Alice and the rest
plains are spotted with herds, prides, families, safari. I had no checklist. of the staf had traded their uniforms for native
and pods. The animals move as they want. She and I must have spent a dozen hours Masai dress, as had Nicky and her family. It
They have the Masai to thank for this. together, driving around Kenya, frequently was something to behold, bursts of Masai red
Although the Masai were, for centuries, a pressed against binoculars, whispering Do and blue, the lush spectrum of the green hills.
nomadic tribe, state and private land-grabs you see it? until the other one did. By the The Maras newest residents and its oldest.
in the 20th century eventually began to suf- third day, I began to feel as if our wildlife- A celebration both traditional and not, some
focate their ability to roam. So they adapted. spotting goals were intertwined, that our incredible new territory in between.
Some of the Masai families began to purchase safaris were not simply designed to show me
land. One, in particular, purchased a lot of animals, but for the two of us to look for them Writer Mark Byrne is proiled on page 20.
landland that happens to overlook the pris- in each others company. We watched a pride Photographer Alex Crtey Systermans shot
tine Mara River valley, some of the most lush, of 16 lions soaking in a shallow, mud-colored Chablis in the May/June 2016 issue of AFAR.
animal-illed acreage on earth. puddlean unheard-of occurrence, shock-
That Angama is built on land leased from ing to Alice and everyone I described it to. I
a Masai family is a serious part of its appeal. almost grew tired of watching the elephants
A chunk of the money you spend on your room shovel grass into their mouths, until they did
is destined for the areas native inhabitants. the thing where they walk single ile, alter- Africa
And the tribes footprint is everywhere. Much nating adult and child, which is staggeringly
of the hotels staf is local; some 20 employees cute. We saw innumerable pods of hippos,
were hired on after they helped construct yawning in the river, huddled in little gangs. Uganda
the buildings. And Ole Kijabe, the leader of Two clearly annoyed rhinos. A crane swallow- Somalia
the family that owns the land, is a frequent ing a rat whole. At one point, a fellow guide
Kenya
presence in the hotels library. He and his close radioed Alice to tell her a leopard was stuck in
relatives sometimes use the space as a kind of a tree because two lions were mating beneath ANGAMA
MARA
second living room, gathering around a big it. Her excitement was palpable. I wanted the Nairobi
table and chatting into the night. day to be over. I was exhausted, sunburned, Tanzania
Some hotels excel at cloistering guests, cowering under a windbreaker to protect my Mombasa

a personally tailored nered with the non- person per night. grown, and the staff
game drive through profit Grumeti Fund singita.com has teamed
the Mara, a visit to a to create sustain- up with the Africa
Masai crafts studio, able living solutions ANDBEYOND MATETSI Foundation to help
These go the extra mile to or a full-body mas- for the community: The banks of the locals develop bet-
protect their surroundings. sage in a serene vegetable gardens, Zambezi River used ter environmental
outdoor setting. chicken farms, and to be a hotbed of practices.
ANGAMA MARA From $825 per dozens of clean- big-game hunters From $950 per
Book the same person per night. water boreholes. in Zimbabwe, where person per night.
safari from this angama.com After a day of spot- hunting is still legal andbeyond.com
story and youll ting wildlife, travel- and common. Now ALINA POLISHUK
wake up to pan- SINGITA GRUMETI ers have the option its the site of
oramic views of the In the 10 years since to sleep among the andBeyonds new
Mara Triangle Tanzanias Singita animals in mobile Matetsi lodge, a pri-
along with break- Grumeti opened, luxury tents or vate game reserve
fast on the deck the number of retreat to an airy that is protected. In
of a private, elegant water buffalo in the cottage where calls addition, the lodge
tent cabin. From area has increased of the wild can be is solar-powered,
there, the day sixfold. In addition, heard from afar. the kitchens
might unfold with the lodge has part- From $1,210 per produce is home-
B L
e
a
T
h
e
ig p
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN LIFE TURNS YOU INTO A NEW KIND OF TRAVELER?
by Leslie Jamison photographs by Thomas Prior
HE FLIGHT WAS 15 MINUTES TO SAN PEDRO TOWN, IN A 14-SEAT
Cessna over crystalline waters, with the sky impossibly close at our
shoulders and our life jackets folded into pockets at our knees. My hus-
band, Charles, said the duct-taped sun visor over the pilots seat looked
like something from a 75 Chevy Vega. My daughter, Lily, tugged my
sleeve and told me, nearly breathless, that wed just gone inside a cloud.
She was almost six and three-quarters, the salad days of six and a half
receding behind us faster than the pink plush snake shed begged for at
the Belize City airport gift shop.
Wed spent the night in Houston, an unexpected layover after we
missed our irst light from La Guardia because we didnt have a copy of Lilys mothers death
certificate. You see, Lily is not my daughter by birth. She is simply the daughter I am helping
to raiseas if simply could ever apply to her loss, or our family, or any family; as if you could
control everything, or even really anything, about taking a six-year-old to an island 1,800 miles
away. Travel is ultimately a series of intentional disruptions, and we found that our disruptions
had been disrupted.
But now Ambergris Caye was appearing under us: its shimmering mangrove swamp and the
long brown ingers of its jetties. We saw an uninished spiral staircase made of concrete twisting
into the sky. A small motorboat met us at the docks in San Pedro, where dark frigate birds hovered
over the water as if suspended by strings, waiting for ishermen to clean their catch so they could
dive for the scraps. The boat took us up the coastsalt wind in our facesuntil we reached our
resort, Coco Beach, an imposing lotilla of villas facing the ocean, their eerie prefab splendor like
a record skipping in place: villa, villa, villa.
The resorts buildings, all peach stucco and crimson tiled roofs, lanked a terraced honeycomb
of swimming pools, circled by sauntering iguanas and urgently plural: a hot tub enclosed by
a warm tub enclosed by a cool pool, a shallow moat around the swim-up bar. All this was just the
irst pool, actually. The second was a massive lima bean that held a faux-rock centerpiece Lily
would come to call the rock-jumping valley, a tower that looked like outsize macram, with
hidden passageways and grottoes and cubbies, a concealed stairway andits pice de rsistance
an interior waterslide. If youve never paid this kind of attention to a pool feature, then youve
never traveled with a child.

Our hotel represented everything I hated about travel in the devel- felt the limits of what I was doingthe fraught complexities of being
oping world: soulless luxury divorced from its context, proits funneled a privileged do-gooder sojourning somewhere beautiful and impover-
abroad. I had been to Central America before. As a 16-year-old, full of ishedbut at least Id been doing something besides turning money into
good intentions, Id joined a service trip to a small Costa Rican village pleasure. Id turned it into memories of altruism and unremembered
in the foothills of Chirrip, the countrys tallest mountain. Id stayed nights of drunkenness. Those days had been restless and messy but also
with a family and spent a month laying a concrete path between the committed, however navely, to something besides my own enjoyment.
I found myself planning a different kind of trip.

Our double-pooled resort, our swim-up bar, our balcony
these felt like an insurance policy I badly needed.
main dirt road and the church. The only thing worse than my Spanish This trip to Belize, though, was committed to little but the deliberate
was my ability to mix concrete, and it became clear that my service and ruthless pursuit of pleasure. Its only sellessness existed within the
was really an experience I had purchasedor my parents had. At 23, bounds of our own family: Charles and I were more committed to Lilys
Id spent a summer in Nicaragua, teaching at a two-room schoolhouse enjoyment than our own. I was still getting the hang of being a mom
outside Granada and drinking my body weight in rum. In each case I had when we went to Belize. Id been married to Charles for six months and

At Belizes Coco
Beach resort, left,
iguanas circle
the pools, nibbling
at handouts.
had known his daughter just over a year. (Things had moved fast.) deck overlooked a life-size chess set; our back deck perched above
Lily and I had bonded from the start, which surprised me because Id a construction site of stray lumber and debris piled onto a dirt yard,
never spent time with kids or found myself particularly drawn to them. rebar gaping out of concrete shells. Something was being built here.
But she had been calling me Mommy for half a year, and Id started On Ambergris Caye, it seemed as though something was being built
seeing the world diferently as I moved through it with her. Manhattan everywhere. This is nothing new. Foreign interests have shaped the
was suddenly full of playgrounds that had been invisible to me before, land now called Belize since the 16th century. English and Spanish are
and crowded subway stations were suddenly places that could swallow both widely spoken because the two colonial forces vied for control
a tiny body whole. The world felt full of more danger, more wonder, of its resources. The Spaniards were the ones who first stole the land
and less freedom. from the Mayas, but the British kept doggedly going after its lumber
Wed been through a huge yeara new marriage, a move to a new anyway. It had other things, too: sugar, bananas, oil. But these days the
apartment, a newly forged motherhoodand it felt good to think primary resource is beauty, and the main commodity is pleasure itself.
that I might be able to give something to our family, some experience of
giddy, visceral beauty. But it was the first trip Id ever planned for all
three of us, and I struggled with the fear that Id do something wrong,
something that betrayed my total misunderstanding of a childs needs or
that suggested I was placing my needs or desires above hers. So I found
myself planning a diferent kind of trip from any Id ever taken before.
Our double-pooled resort, our swim-up bar, our balconythese felt like
an insurance policy I badly needed.
Actually, we didnt have just one balconywe had two. Our front
O UR FIRST NIGHT, WE DECIDED to rent a golf cart
and drive it into town. I asked for directions and was
told, There is only one road. Take a left.
The golf cart had a half-drunk can of Belikin,
Belizes local beer, in its cupholder and an accelerator you had to pump
into compliance. It maxed out at something just shy of 15 mph. I loved it.
I loved the wind in my hair and the lagoon to our right glimmering in the

Down on the beach,
snorkeling fins are
packed up for tourists,
and locals settle
in for a hair braiding.
sunset, the liquid roots of mangroves curling into the water. We braked On the ride home, we picked up a hitchhikeran old woman carrying
for thick ropes laid as makeshift speed bumps. We passed teenagers groceries back home to a place called the Reggae Shack, a rusty trailer
on bikes wearing decade-old NBA jerseys. We passed fruit stands with with light seeping like luid from its seams. I spotted the silhouettes of
banana bunches hanging like bats in the shadows. scorpions crossing the highway, their raised tails black and regal in our
We stopped for dinner at a little roadside bar a mile out of town. golf-cart headlights.
Boat buoys hung from its thatched roof, Christmas lights looped around
palm trunks, an old rusty anchor lay abandoned in the ferns. There was
an empty birdcage with a tray full of peanuts and feathers caught in the
wire, but no parrot in sight. The crescent moon was sharp, glowing pale,
and the sky was like a naked version of our sky back homeas if its skin
had been peeled away to show more stars.
We misted ourselves in an organic rose geranium bug spray made
by a nonproit that was ofering a prize for the best photograph of the
spray in an exotic locale. Lily was thrilled with this mission, a gauntlet
B Y DAY, EACH DAY, WE ADVENTURED. I rode in the
copilots seat of another tiny Cessna, with the pilots
orange soda at my knee and his lip-phone resting on
the throttle between us. We lew over a rum distillery
that rose like a metal pagoda from the green ields of cane. It had been
owned, we were told, by a workers unionwhich had been bought out
recently by a company based in Florida.
thrown down at her small sandaled feet, and we would photograph We took a boat upriver to the Maya ruins at Lamanai, passing
this bug spray everywhere, like a tiny inanimate runway model in a Mennonite farmers in overalls on break from building a massive barge
series of photo shoots. We started right there at the bar, tucking it into a for their sugar crops. (Sugar had long been Belizes biggest industry
hammock behind a rotting ishing net. We ate coconut curry and pork until tourism surpassed it.) We pulled over to the riverbank to pee.
chops that had been smoked in coconut shells. We heard a woman get Wheres the bathroom? Lily asked, expecting a building. I taught her how
in trouble for ordering a Red Stripe instead of a Belikin. to pee in the woods, as my mom had taught me. Our guide, Antonio,

paused to hand out bananas to a group of boys harvesting ironwood. to snorkel with manatees. (Youve got to get on your flippers and
He pointed out sleeping sac-winged bats flattened like furry brown GO! our guide yelled.) We snorkeled with sharks, the water rippling
pancakes against the trunk of a dead tree. He gave us the full scoop and frothing around their muscled bodies15 of them ighting for the
on pretty much every plant in sightthe strangler ig, the elephant-ear bloody chum our captain, Giovanni, was tossing of the back of the boat.
tree, and the give-and-take palm with spines that inlict nasty cuts and From her perch, Lily reminded everyone, These are the nice sharks.
sap that soothes and disinfects them. When Lily got tired and her mood She said it several times, a kind of mantra.
started creeping toward meltdown, we brought out the bug spray for Lily loved snorkeling the irst time, then things went downhill. The
art shots: Bug Spray on the Royal Mayan Ball Court; Bug Spray in the water got choppier, her snorkel kept illing with salt water. By the end
Ruined Bedrooms of the Royal Palace; Bug Spray and the Carving of of the trip, her dislike for snorkeling had become an identity statement.
Lord Smoking Shell. Weeks later, when people asked about the trip, shed answer by saying
Also, we snorkeled. We snorkeled like nobodys business, though how much fun she had except for snorkeling. Shed say, Ill never go
of course it was business, for everyone involved. We snorkeled with snorkeling again. I felt her pleasure in this insistenceshe had prefer-
de-fogging dish soap in our goggles and greed in our hearts. We wanted ences. Traveling ofers us the chance to constitute ourselves with taste:
to spot everything. I heard someone say octopus and felt my rubber what we love and what we dont. I fought the impulse to say, But you
lippers twitch with resolve. At Hol Chan, we snorkeled over little brains liked it the irst time, because I could recognize in that impulse the need
of coral and past a turtle munching on patches of sea grass, its shell for her tastes to be my tastes, and I wanted to fight the imposition.
an intricate jigsaw of lacquered puzzle pieces. We snorkeled over a What Lily did love was our afternoon on Bajo Caye, where we
wrecked supply barge that had become its own ecosystem, ish like slips stopped for lunch one day. It was a tiny strip of sand the size of a football
of quicksilver darting in and out of the ragged mouths where rust had ield, the bathroom just a shack over the sea, a wooden bench inside
eaten through the metal. We jumped into the water with great urgency cut with an oval of perfect blue. Lily wondered how the ish felt about

our peeing in their ocean. She teamed up with a little boy to solve the rest of Belize. She told me she didnt like going on the golf cart because
mystery of an abandoned shack that had a half-built solar panel lying on the rest of the island was creepy. The national lag scared her because
its defunct stove, a hammock in its tiny loft, a T-shirt full of Oreo cook- it showed two men holding an ax and a bat. I worried that by choosing
ies on the sandy floorboards. Lily went around collecting clues: There our hotel Id done exactly the opposite of what I wanted to dowhich
was a parrot on the island. The parrot liked Oreos. was to make her feel comfortable in a strange placeand had instead
Captain Giovanni told me he used to be a deep-sea diver and would polarized this place into a familiar world she loved and an unfamiliar
dive the atolls off the coast, Turneffe and Glovers Reef. He used to world she didnt.
do crazy thingshe once dove to 285 feetuntil his mom heard about But I learned something from how Lily traveled as well. She got
how extreme his dives had gotten and made him promise to stop. Now excited about the parts of traveling that I could easily dismiss as packaging
that he was a father, she told him, things had to be diferent. He said hed around the actual experience. She loved putting our laptops into bins
made that promise and kept ithe hadnt gone diving since. He told me on the baggage belt at airport security. She adored the water taxi, those
this story as if to say, You know how it goes. Strangers always assume that bursts of spray when it smacked the choppy water. This. Is. Awesome,
Lily and I are mother and daughter because she calls me Mommy she said, giving each word its own moment. She defeated the notion of
and our hair is the same wavy brown. We are both dramatic gesticulators child as ego extension. She wasnt a sculpture we shaped from clay, an
and constant question askers. But it still surprises me to benow, incarnation of our vision for what she should be. She was beautifully
suddenlythe mother of a six-year-old. I feel perched at the edge of and inevitably herselfan engine of curiosity running on peanut butter
failure in each moment. This is nothing unusual. Every parent feels this and watermelon juice. And her dance card was booked with glorious
way. Its just that if I fail, I am failing another womans child and my business: solving the mystery of an abandoned shack, hurling herself of
own child at once. a pile of fabricated rocks, organizing a moonlit search for mermaids in
the moat around the swim-up bar. What grace for all of us that she was
I
more than a collection of our desires for what she might bethat her
N TOWN, WE ATE LAMB CURRY and lobster tacos piled curiosity glowed on its own terms, always.
with radish and corn, big stewed chunks of meat drizzled
with lime. We ate chicken salbute on deep-fried tortillas
and crema de calabazaa squash soup with crushed seeds STANDING IN THE CUSTOMS LINE AT HOUSTON, on our trip back,
sprinkled on topand tamalitos de chaya, moist tamales full of island an agent gave us the wrong information about which forms we needed
spinach. We ordered pork pibil and coconut chipotle ish. We scarfed and a burly American guy standing in front of us tried to commiserate:
tiny stewed plums like they were candy. We ate little balls of coconut Theres a reason some people work minimum wage jobs, he said. He
and ginger called dulce de coco. We drank caf de ollaa local coffee understood the world as a place where some people deserve five-day
that tasted like cinnamon. No matter where we were, Lily asked for Belizean vacations and other people deserve to provide the human labor
chicken ingers. that makes them possiblethat all of this is as it should be. Taking care
Our hotel might have represented everything I loathed about travel, of a child made it easier to forget my privilege, or somehow justify it,
but it was also oursours as we kept returning to the wrong villa (they all because I felt sellessattending to her needs, trying to make her world
looked the same), ours as we played Clue and ate our morning bananas, possible and pleasurable. Because I still felt uncertain of my mother-
ours as we built one of the irst stories wed shared as a family. Lily even- hood in every way, all this felt virtuous. But our obligations as parents
tually faced down her nerves to jump of the rock-jumping valley, to let dont displace our obligations to strangers, and the act of caring for a
it earn its name. She climbed up the stairs, came back down, uncertain, child doesnt obscure the inequalities that emerge with clarity whenever
Traveling offers us the chance to constitute ourselves

with taste: what we love and what we dont.
pumped her fist in the airI can do thiswent back up, and finally Westerners arrive in the developing worldhungry for its beauty, for
jumped. The triumph of the moment was palpable. The rock tower was its difference, for its coral reefs and ancient temples.
a monstrosity, the resort a touristic obscenity, but it was also fun to swim We left our money in Belizewhere much of it went back to U.S. real
there, and it brought Lily joy. It made me think of Marianne Moores estate developersand we left our tips in the hands of men who deliv-
notion of poetry having imaginary gardens with real toads in them. ered us to regal manatees and shipwrecks covered in coral. We fed our
Lilys bliss was something real inside the absurd theater of those fake daughter chicken ingers in the land of coconut chipotle snapper. We
rocks. There were real iguanas strolling the imaginary gardens of the leapt from the grip of our guilt and landed in the deep end of the swim-
hospitality machine. ming pool, where her bliss at chasing mermaids was one truth and the
For me, the manicured features of our resort challenged my sense of construction workers beyond our balcony were anotherthe truth of
self, or angered the ghosts of prior selves: the self whod mixed concrete joy and the truth of proitand neither truth ever cancelled the other.
(terribly), the self whod taught second-graders (with a hangover), the
versions of me that slept in beds skittering with cockroaches and ate Leslie Jamison wrote about traveling through northern Sri Lanka in the
tamales by candlelight when the power went out. What was that self March/April 2015 issue of AFAR. Her next book, about addiction, will be
doing in this villa, with a daughter, trying to decide between balconies? published in 2018. Photographer Thomas Prior shot The Heros Journey,
Lily, on the other hand, loved our hotel but felt uncertain about the about a cruise in Greece, in the January/February 2014 issue of AFAR.
98 AFAR JULY/AUGUST 2016 Plan your trip to Belize at afar.com/visit/belize.

Belizes famed Great
Blue Hole swirls with
tropical fish, sharks,
and scuba divers.
A trek through the reindeer country of northern Sweden puts it all into perspective.

by JENNIFER KAHN photographs by CLINE CLANET
Lapland, time stopped. We had crossed the season along with the reindeer across a swath
3,700-foot Tjktja Pass and were making our of what is now northern Sweden, Norway,
way down the Tjktjavagge, a vast, high valley Finland, and Russiaoutlasting both the end-
worn smooth by the creep of ancient glaciers. less arctic winters and several centuries of
Although it was summer, low clouds hid the colonial invasion. Even now, when many Sami
peaks, and a biting headwind made us tuck our own guesthouses or lead snowmobile tours,
chins inside our jackets. they can strike the outsider as uncannily
If ordinary wilderness can make you feel tough. One local cheerfully mentioned that
small, the Tjktjavagge shrinks you into nonex- he had once run in a single day the entire A boat shuttle
istence. Though my husband, Nick, and I had route of our six-day, 54-mile hike. across Alesjaure
Lake shaves six
been hiking for hours, we were no deeper into Our plan was to start at the Kungsleden miles off a 19-mile
the valley, which continued to open before us in Trails northern endthe tiny town of Abisko, day along Swedish
an endless grassy chute. Even a small waterfall 155 miles north of the Arctic Circleand hike Samilands
Kungsleden trail.
that wed judged from the pass to be perhaps south along a chain of river valleys, turning
an hours hike away, remained stubbornly dis- west to inish at the base of Mount Kebne,
tantlike a virtual reality simulation that had Swedens highest peak. Along the way, wed
frozen at some point while we walked. The efect pass through a surreal array of landscapes:
was so disconcerting that I began checking stunted birch forests, mile-long bogs bridged the trail (there are no campgrounds), the
my watch every few minutes, just to reassure by planks, broad highlands whose folds hid route also has dormitory-style huts every six to
myself that the hands were actually moving. bears, lynx, and wolverines. Streams in the 12 miles, with outhouses and propane stoves
area are so numerous and pure that some hik- (though no electricity or running water). Some
Id hiked the mountains of Colorado, ers dont even bother to carry a water bottle, of the huts even have wood-fired saunas and
British Columbia, and New Zealand, but this bringing just a cup to dip as they walk. small stores selling beer and canned food.
hike on the Kungsleden, a 275-mile trail Happily, the route is also quite civilized. Unlike many places in the Arctic, the
that starts above the Arctic Circle, seemed The Kungsleden is Swedens answer to the Kungsleden is relatively easy to get toa quick
to promise something more rare: an ancient Appalachian Trail, with several thousand commercial light from Stockholm to the town
wilderness that is still a working home for hikers a year on the most popular sections, and of Kiruna, followed by a one-hour ride to Abisko
its earliest inhabitants. The Sami people had a pleasant set of accompanying amenities. on the Arctic Circle Train. From our home
irst come to Lapland (or Samiland, as its now Although the countrys rule of allemansrtten in Oakland, we marveled that in just hours we
oicially called) 7,000 years ago, a small band allows hikers to pitch a tent anywhere along would be hiking the ends of the earth.

e arrived in Kiruna jeans and a fitted T-shirt, Berg grew up in a Its very short-term thinking, Berg said wor-
during a weeklong heat family of reindeer herders, but like many riedly, as he iddled with his iPhone. You can
wave that had everyone Sami he now runs his own ecotourism business take minerals from the ground for maybe 15
talking. As we loaded up (Ofelas, which leads horseback tours in the years, but then the area is destroyed forever.
mountains). For the last four years, since being Still, he acknowledged, some things have
grocery store clerk gestured to his heavy poly- elected to the Sami Parliamenta government gotten better. The Sami Parliament has given
ester uniform and matching hat and grinned. agency made up of Sami representatives them more visibility, and there is a growing
When we see 30 degrees Celsius here, it elected by Swedens Sami populationhe has appreciation in Sweden for the value of wilder-
usually has a minus sign in front, he laughed. also begun a campaign against the 10 active ness. There are also some signs that the Sami
This?he raised his eyebrowsIts crazy! mines digging for ore in Lapland. Northern culture, which has dwindled after centuries of
Chugging water, I hurried of to meet up Sweden is rich in minerals, and Berg and repression, may be slowly reviving. Sami-
with Matti Berg, a Sami from the nearby others worry that additional excavation being language schools have opened in ive towns,
village of Puoltsa. A burly man in tight black proposed could threaten the areas wilderness. and an ancient form of Sami song known as

yoik is on the rise. In the town of Jokkmokk, inishing dinner, he passed out lat on his back led past tightly constructed wood cabins and
a local Sami chef holds seasonal bear-meat and snored deafeningly through the night. At beehive-shaped goahti, turf huts that Sami
dinners, with the promise of initiating diners 3 a.m., unable to sleep, we decided to pack up herders use as shelters when the reindeer
into the mystery that surrounds bears. and get back on the trail. migrate to new grazing grounds.
Though the appeal of an all-bear-meat din- If we were tempted, that morning, to feel One day, we shaved six miles off a 19-mile
ner seemed to perplex Berg (I ate bear once. sorry for ourselves, we couldnt keep it up. hike by catching a ride with a Sami herder who
My grandfather slaughtered it and boiled it. It Besides the epic scenery, there were all the small runs a boat shuttle for hikers. The pilot of the
was awful.), he saw it as evidence of a promising reminders that these wild mountains, which we boat, Roland Enoksson, was afable if taciturn;
trend. If people were willing to pay good money were crossing with the help of well-maintained with his weathered face and cool gaze, he
to eat bear meat, after all, the reindeer-meat trails, huts, and wood-ired saunas, had been reminded me of a Sami Harrison Ford.
market was sure to rebound. (Reindeer is very home to the Sami for thousands of years before As we crossed Alesjaure Lake, Enoksson
healthy meat. Very low-fat!) Even the fact that the arrival of these niceties. And plenty of explained that he spends much of his year
a growing number of Sami were choosing to locals have vivid stories of what those days in the mountains, caring for his herds as they
live in the city didnt seem to worry him. There were like. Anna Sarri, a third-generation Sami migrate; he started the boat shuttle in 1999 as a
are other careers besides reindeer herding that local who runs a guesthouse, told me a few way to make some extra money. He pointed to
let you stay in touch with your cultural values, days later that she grew up hearing tales from a cluster of tidy wood houses, painted a dark
he said. Gesturing toward a large mine in the her grandfather about tracking his reindeer red, where local families stay during the early
distance, he gave me a dry smile. We need a lot through the snow and dark of the arctic winter, summer calf-marking. When I was young,
of good lawyers, for example. sleeping wherever the herd chose to linger. there were no houses in the mountainous
In the old time, the reindeer gave us food, areaonly goahtis and tipis, Enoksson said
fter a fitful sleep, we protection, transportation, everything, Anna wistfully. And most didnt use snowmobiles
caught the morning train to said. It was part of our identity. She brought we had our legs and very good dogs.
Abisko and started our hike. At out a black-and-white photo of her grandfather When I asked Enoksson whether he spoke
irst, the trail was easy and lat, from 1910, showing a scrappy, weathered man Sami (few locals still do), he nodded: To work
with a tall shepherds staff, surrounded by with reindeer, you must. Sami has a special-
birch. While I had expected the landscape mountains. Every day, life was like this, she ized vocabulary for herding, one that allows
to be tundra-barren, it was improbably lush: said, shaking her head. We couldnt cope a herder to quickly describe one individual
full of shady glades and mossy pools. At this today. We couldnt survive what they did. reindeer from among a running herd of thou-
latitude, the trees were small and curiously sands. If the animal is a darker color, with a
twisted; some trunks had grown sideways in Over the next few days, we fell into small amount of white on face, and the horns
sprawling corkscrews, or upward in tight, a rhythm, rising earlyoften around 4 a.m. a particular shapewe can say all that in one
vertical loops, as though pruned by a dizzy and reaching each hut just as most other hikers word, he explained.
Cirque du Soleil arborist. Overhead, the were leaving. (A Canadian couple later admitted Though Enoksson was polite enough, I got
sun wandered around the sky like a lost hiker, they had started calling us the mysterious the impression he does not delight in the hik-
never quite managing to find the horizon. Americans for our tendency to vanish while ers who tramp through his family grazing land,
As we hiked, we steadily stripped of layers. everyone else was still asleep.) despite the visitors outlandish willingness to
Though some online posts had warned about Though the arctic sun was always upin pay $50 just to avoid walking another six miles.
summertime crowds, after 10 miles we had July, it set for just a single twilit hour each After dropping us at the hut, he mentioned
passed just three other couples, plus a lone
Swedish woman in her 60s who exclaimed over
the good weather. We reached our overnight
hut just in time to see a double rainbow arc
brightly over the receding trail, and spent the
afternoon swimming in a placid lake nearby
ABISKO
and foraging in the huts tiny store. Kiruna
With what seemed to be gentle malice,

the hut warden assigned us to the bunks sheet of paper. Russia
closest to the kitchen, where, for the next six Arctic
hours, pots clanked and the door opened and Circle
slammed shut as 30-odd hikers went through

Finland
their evening routines. Our bunk mate, a huge,
hairy man who arrived carrying a six-pack of
beer, began the night by stripping down, then
proceeded to fry up pan after pan of canned Norway
sausages in nothing but his briefs. With
only a foot between bunks, I regularly looked it was 10 million years ago.
up from my book into a tight-angle shot of
Captain Underpants junk as he bent over to Sweden
root for something in his pack. Not long after
To plan your trek on Swedens Kungsleden, go to afar.com/samilandhike.

the afternoon chopping wood in preparation through with slick summer snowbanks. The chatted with a Canadian TV producer and his
for winter. Then he stood expectantly as we climb took almost an hour, but when we inally Swedish wife, then were joined by Johan
dug out our wallets. This is my favorite part, crested the ridge, the view opened as though and Cathleen, a young couple from the Swedish
he said with a grin. wed stepped through a celestial door. To coastal city of Gothenburg. Cathleen seemed
the west, we could see all the way to Norway, cheerful and earnest, Johan entertainingly
e crossed the highest where a panorama of towering mountains gruff and dour. When I mentioned how de-
point of our hike, the sprawled, pillowy with snow, above a vast lood- lightful it was to be able to drink water straight
Tjktja Pass, the following plain trailed through by a sinuous pale blue from the streams without iltering it, Johan
day. Most hikers opt to river. Looking out, I felt an inexplicable urge replied flatly, Unless a reindeer has died
to kneel, as though before an immense and upstream. Gradually, though, he warmed up.
sauna and the distance to it is comparatively ancient presence. For the irst time, I under- After Cathleen remarked that Thursday is
short, but it turned out to be our favorite. In stood why the Sami once believed their moun- the traditional day for Swedish families to eat
the kitchen, tiny birch-bark vases had been tains to be inhabited by gods. pea soup and pancakes together, Johan added
illed with dried spring lowers, and the walls that he spends Friday evenings with his family,
were covered in blurry photos of the wolver- The next day, by contrast, was a slog. as most Swedes do. We call it Fredagsmys,
ines and lemmings that roam the pass. After a long hike over a rocky trail, we reached Friday Cozy Time, he explained bashfully.
The hut warden, Lena Lopate, poured our penultimate hut, Slka, a little after noon. I joined Cathleen and the other women
us cups of bright red lingonberry juice, Since that first sleepless night with Captain in the wood-ired sauna. Though Nick later
then left us chatting with a Slovakian father Underpants, Id become as territorial as a reported that the mens session had been packed
and his three teenage sons, who had come in badger: We would arrive early to secure the and rowdy, all the men drinking beer and mak-
from the rain for lunch. Though the boys had room with the fewest bunks (usually four) and ing barefoot runs to the icy river, where they
spent much of their lunch break taping up anxiously shut the door to delect would-be would splash each other with bearlike grunts,
blisters, the family seemed happy to be having roommates. That strategy had paid of. For two the womens session was pleasantly convivial.
an adventure. After packing a heavy thermos of nights running, wed had a room to ourselves. A mother teased her daughter for not re-
boiled cofee, the eldest son shook my hand and In the process, though, we had remained stub- membering her towel, and a French woman
earnestly wished us a good trip, then merrily bornly outside the huts cheery United Nations confessed, with a blush, that she was not so
followed his brothers back out into the drizzle. culture, a chatty fraternity where strangers familiar with this kind of collective nudity.
We changed into dry clothes and climbed shared stories over instant pasta dinners. We One roundly built woman returned from
a high ridge behind the hut under a freshly had become the North Korea of hikers. her dunk in the stream, sat down next to me,
blue sky. With no trail to follow, our trajectory But now, with the bulk of the route behind and pressed an icy palm to my chest with a
was steep and occasionally treacherous, shot us, I felt bolder. Lingering in the kitchen, we happy laugh. After a week of solitude and
smallnessof vanishing into the vastness of
the Kungsledenthe gesture was so warm,
so welcoming, that I felt I suddenly under-
stood both the purpose of the hut sauna, and
4 More TASMANIA
Seaside Ramble
BHUTAN
A Walk into the deeper question of why human beings
Unforgettable Off Australias Another World banded together in the irst place.
southern shore, Bhutans high-
Treks Tasmanias Bay altitude forests,
Although the crowded life of our modern
Journeys rugged enough to be proud of Fires is a remote mountain peaks, cities and neighborhoods often obscures it,
of but cushy enough to enjoy stretch of white and sacred temples the truth is that the world was once a vast and
beach and granite deserve to be seen alien territory, and our place in it vanishingly
painted orange with at a walking pace.
PATAGONIA SWITZERLAND lichen. Tasmania With five elegant small. Thousands of years ago, when the Sami
High Adventure Storybook Charm Walking Company lodges across the first walked these mountains, that awareness
Argentinas Lakes Dawn breaks in leads a four-day kingdom, Amankora would have been unavoidable, inescapable.
District is all alpine the Alps with fresh hike that explores leads made-for-
meadows, granite- pastries, local the shoreline you treks that
But even now it was possible to experience it:
ringed lakes, and cheeses, and views of Mount William thread through to return to humanitys early days, when we
snow-capped peaks. that preview the National Park, stop- the bamboo forests were isolated tribes wandering a wild and
A five-day trek days plan: wander- ping for the night of Khelikha and
with Andes Cross ing mountain paths
indiferent earth.
at a camp of semi- stop to explore the
includes the chal- and meadows. A permanent tents cliffside temple Though the feeling wouldnt lastin just
lenge of some seven-day village- in dunes abutting complex of Paro days, wed be on a plane, bound for California
major summits but to-village trek the beach. Your Taktsang. Bonus:
MAP AND LETTERING BY JULIE EDWARDS
that night, at least, I was grateful for the heat

also the comfort with Alpinehikers reward for putting Each lodge offers
of meals and micro- includes homey in the miles is two holistic spa treat- and press of bodies, for the company and good
brews in mountain touches like nights at the sleek, ments based on cheer. The world may be wide, but it was a
hutsand, for homemade iced tea solar-powered Bay Himalayan plant relief to know that we werent alone in it.
the brave, maybe brewed with herbs of Fires Eco Lodge and herb remedies.
a bracing dip in a to quench your (swim, snorkel, spa, From $380/person/
glacier-fed lake. thirst along the way. repeat). night. aman.com/ Writer Jennifer Kahn is proiled on page 20.
From $950. From $3,595. From $2,300. resorts/amankora Photographer Cline Clanet shot The Other
Paris, in the November/December 2010 issue
of AFAR.

Trailside streams
in Swedish
Samiland are so
clean that some
hikers dont bother
with a canteen,
carrying just a cup
to scoop up a fresh
drink as they walk.
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AFAR partnered with Explore Charleston to bring some serious
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Envoy Hotel in Boston. Guests enjoyed Charleston-inspired cocktails
and hors doeuvres while a bluegrass band set the ambiance.
Many thanks to Explore Charleston, The Hay-Adams Hotel,

The Envoy Hotel, Charleston Distilling, Striped Pig Distillery,
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events successful!
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]VQ\M\ZI^MTMZ[_WZTL_QLM
-TTMV)[UWLMW/QOTQW).):->8+PQMN :M^MV]M7KMZ# AFAR CONVERSATIONS: LOS ANGELES, MARCH 2016
/ZMO;]TTQÎV).):+WNW]VLMZ Our latest AFAR Conversations event brought us to The Spare Room in L.A.,
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Panelist Mark Miller on the new value equation: & Marketing, Americas, at Cathay Pacific Airways; and Jane Whitehead, VP,
Its not about a three-day hotel stay, but a Americas, for Tourism Australia.
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WHO: AISLYN GREENE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR DURATION: 10 DAYS SOUVENIR: A BONE-WHITE ALPACA THROW
AISLYN GREENE; LETTERING BY A. SALAMANDRA
Mendoza, Santiago, Patagoniagoing in, I knew my trip down the spine of South America would be a wild, compressed
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JULY / AUGUST 2016 A Dream Safari in Kenya p.76

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