2017 VAST Catalog - 24

A sunset mokoro (canoe)
safari in Botswana.

is for QUITO

Ecuador's capital is inherently superlative:
At 9,350 feet, it's the world's highest
official capital; it's also the closest to
the equator. What's more, its beautifully
preserved Old Town was among the first
UNESCO World Heritage sites. Ladatco Tours'
22-day Ecuadoran immersion starts with two nights
in the city before embarking into the indigenous
cultures and precious ecosystems of the Andes
and Amazon. With International Expeditions, a
Galápagos Islands sailing aboard the 32-passenger
Evolution can be extended with three days in
Quito and the Andean highlands.

The Virgin of Quito stands
sentinel atop El Panecillo hill.

is for
RANGE ROVER

Wild times in Kenya's
Mwaluganje Sanctuary.

This boxy hero of the safari is one beast you're sure to spot in Africa's landscape. Big Five
Tours & Expeditions' 14-day Tanzania trips take in the wild Serengeti as well as the Mahale
Mountains for chimp viewing. Abercrombie & Kent, which blazed the trail for luxury
African safaris in the 1960s, offers a classic Kenyan safari in the Masai Mara. In Botswana's
Okavango Delta, African Travel, Inc. will get you on the water during a four-day paddle on
the Selinda Canoe Trail, a waterway born of heavy rains in 2009.

is for
SUSTAINABILITY
The United Nations has designated 2017
as The Year of Sustainable Tourism, and
Virtuoso is proud to work with tour operators who lead the way in responsible travel.
Among them: G Adventures, which
takes travelers to nearly 100 countries,
with a core value of giving back to communities and ecosystems, and with strong
animal welfare standards. Natural Habitat
Adventures is the first carbon-neutral
travel company and it partners with the
World Wildlife Fund in trip planning and
guide training. In New Mexico and southern Colorado, Ted Turner Expeditions
invites guests into the private ranches
of the philanthropist-billionaire, whose
passions run from conservation to nuclear
arms eradication.

is for
UP NORTH

is for TAILORED

The best travel is all about connections - to people, places, and our world. Case in point:
Heritage Tours Private Travel's customizable Morocco itineraries, which can include
experiences like curated cooking lessons with a dada (Moroccan grandmother) in her
family kitchen. The company also provides special access in sub-Saharan Africa, plus Spain,
Portugal, Greece, and Turkey. In northern Europe, Norwegian Adventures' approach is
both tightly organized and totally laid back, whether you want to hang out at a remote farm
or grill your catch of the day in a fjord-side rorbu cabin. For those of Viking descent, the
company offers genealogical research and family tracking.

T H E W O R L D I S VA S T. G O E X P L O R E .

Aboard the Rocky Mountaineer, the
Canadian Rockies are the backdrop to
eight- or nine-day rail journeys that wind
their way over seven snowcapped mountain ranges, stopping each night at stunning hotels. Further on, Knightly Tours
is your gateway to Alaska. With 45 years
of experience in the state, Knightly excels
at crafting tours around niche tastes - eight
different tours, for instance, specialize in
bear viewing. To go as far north as the
planet allows, Arctic Kingdom Expeditions takes you "comfortably out of your
comfort zone," to get up close to walruses
and polar bears, and deep into Arctic
Circle communities.

(EL PANECILLO BUILDING) ELISALOCCI/GETTY IMAGES, (ELEPHANT) NARVIKK/GETTY IMAGES,
(ARCTIC) MMAC72/GETTY IMAGES

Moroccan moment: Trekking
in the Saharan sand dunes.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2017 VAST Catalog