Table of contents for Jan-16 - Feb-16 in AFAR

1 GIVE THE OCEAN SOME TLC During Royal Caribbean’s Caring Discoveries day trip on Juneau-bound cruises, guests play marine biologist, gathering plankton samples and monitoring invasive species. You’ll see humpback whales, too. $160 for adults. royalcaribbean.com 2 CHIP IN TO MAKE CHOCOLATE The new Fathom cruise line has partnered with a women’s collective that makes chocolate in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. Visitors can roast beans and mold bars. All purchases support the collective. Free with fare. fathom.org 3 HANG WITH THE TORTOISES On Seychelles itineraries, the 62-passenger Crystal Esprit offers trips to Curieuse Island, where travelers visit a haven for Aldabra giant tortoises, assist in reforestation efforts, and sunbathe on Anse Saint José beach. Free with fare. crystalcruises.com 4 HELP OUT THE RAIN FOREST Australia’s Daintree National Park…

1 A CONSCIOUS SHOP Ock Pop Tok is a center that trains Lao craftswomen to make modern clothing and accessories using traditional textiles. Luang Prabang’s balmy climate (the mercury rarely drops below 75°F during the day) is the perfect excuse to stop by Ock Pop Tok’s new boutique for an indigo-dyed organic-cotton dress. ockpoptok.com 2 HMONG HANDIWORK Passa Paa, a sister shop to Ock Pop Tok, sells handicrafts inspired by Hmong batik, traditionally an indigo cloth covered in intricate symbols. In the studio, you can watch artists silkscreen updated versions of those designs onto everything from handbags to white cotton pillow cases. passa-paa.com 3 A ROYAL REST The 3 Nagas MGallery by Sofitel, a boutique hotel, occupies three renovated UNESCO World Heritage buildings. Built in 1898, the buildings were first…

TOURING THE GANGES HAS NEVER BEEN THIS LUXURIOUS. A floating fivestar hotel, the all-suite Voyager II has 28 staterooms sumptuously designed with French balconies, painted murals, and colonial-era furnishings—a welcome respite from the sensory overload on shore. YOU’RE NOT ALWAYS SHIP-BOUND. The first five days of your journey are on land, with stays in the best hotels along the way. The overland portion starts in New Delhi and continues to the Taj Mahal in Agra, then Jaipur, for a tour of the famous Pink City and an evening in the palatial Oberoi Rajvilas, and concludes in Kolkata, the former capital of the British Raj. YOU’LL SEE PLACES RARELY VISITED BY TRAVELERS. Excursions along the river include a rickshaw ride through Kalna, which has the West Bengal region’s highest concentration of…

VISITFLORIDA.COM There are so many FloridasÑall of them equally enchanting. The scenic beauty and diversity of experiences that the state offers makes a visit enriching, stimulating, and inspiring. There’s the rejuvenation promised by top-shelf resorts and the unspoiled treasures of nature, the gastronomic sophistication of the culinary scene and the haute style of fashion-forward boutiques: Florida has it all. Whether you want the glitter of a tropical, American-style Riviera under coconut palms, or small-town charm shaded by live oaks, the vastness and diversity of the state provides the kind of experiences that let you create the kind of holidayÑwhether it is relaxed, artistic, athletic, luxuriousÑthat suits you best. Here are three cities where you can discover all Florida has to offer. MIAMI Only in Miami can you experience the excitement…

GOUDAS UPON GOUDAS Located on a block with some of the city’s best indie boutiques, De Kaaskamer van Amsterdam stocks local cheeses floor to ceiling. Don’t miss the aged Goudas and raw goat cheeses— the expert staff gladly offers samples. Runstraat 7, 1016 GJ, 31/(0) 20-623-3483, kaaskamer.nl A DAYTIME PARTY Devote an afternoon to exploring Pllek, a multicolored structure of old shipping containers, in a dockside artists’ colony. It offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus yoga, concerts, and plenty of seating from which to enjoy views of the city with a glass of wine. Tt. Neveritaweg 59, 1033 WB, 31/(0) 20-290-0020, pllek.nl RADICAL ART Bring your bike to Pllek and take a side trip to the Eye Film Museum. Its space-age exterior made big waves in the design world when…

I JUST GOT BACK FROM my first visit to Dubai in three years, and I couldn’t believe how much it has grown. They do things big in Dubai, and they do them quickly: They already have the world’s busiest mall, and they are building another more than twice as large. They want a Ferris wheel, so they are building one 50 percent taller than the London Eye. Some 70 million passengers passed through the Dubai airport in 2015, but a new airport that will handle twice that number of passengers is under construction. I lived for many years in Phoenix when it was one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. I can relate to the phenomenon of a city rising out of the desert over the course of…

1 ITALIAN REVIVAL Before big-batch prosecco took over in the 1990s, wines made col fondo style ruled Italy. Cloudy, funky sediment is bottled instead of being disgorged. NV Ca’ dei Zago Prosecco Col Fondo, $20 2 A FRUITY, ALL NATURAL ROSÉ Austrian producer Franz Strohmeier is a trailblazer of natural winemaking. His rosé is full of fresh strawberry and underscored by a faint hint of bittersweet cranberries. NV Franz Strohmeier Rosé Sekt, $30 3 BIG TASTE, LOW ALCOHOL Pétillant naturels, fermented to yield mellow bubbles, are what many offduty sommeliers drink. Onward’s, from California, offers notes of lime. 2014 Onward Pétillant Naturel Malvasia Bianca, $23 WHAT TO DO IN CHAMPAGNE LAND (BESIDES DRINK) Moët & Chandon’s Elise Losfelt, a sixth-generation winemaker from Champagne, France, shares her tips. “I live in…

1. For a taste of local history, Judy Perl of Judy Perl Worldwide Travel suggests Napoleon House, a 200-year-old bar and restaurant Òfamous for their PimmÕs CupÓ that serves “the best mufaletta in town.” 2. Shelby Donley of Camelback Odyssey Travel heads to BulletÕs Sports Bar for live music played by Òsome of the cityÕs fnest musicians. It’s a regular gig for worldfamous trumpeter Kermit Rufns.” 3. Acme Oyster House is Òa must if you are a fan of oysters fxed every which way,” says Katie Cadar of TravelStore. Bivalve obsessives have been hunkering over the worn marble counters since 1910. 4. Lauren Maggard of Jet Set World Travel sends folks to the famous ÒCafŽ du Monde for cofee and beignets, of course.” At this institution, the rich chicory cafŽ…

Rosewood Mayakoba Riviera Maya, Mexico Casa de las Olas Tulum, Mexico Las Alcobas Mexico City, Mexico Awasi Atacama and Patagonia, Chile Belmond Peru Cusco, Lima, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley Galley Bay Resort & Spa St. JohnÕs, Antigua The Reefs Resort and Club Southampton, Bermuda Le Guanahani St. BarthŽlemy, French West Indies Belle Mont Farm on Kittitian Hill St. Kitts Grace Bay Club Turks and Caicos Dorado Beach, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado, Puerto Rico Aqua Wellness Resort Tola, Nicaragua Mandarin Oriental, Miami Miami, Florida Vero Beach Hotel & Spa Vero Beach, Florida XV Beacon Boston, Massachusetts Park Hyatt New York New York, New York Loews Regency Hotel New York, New York Langham Place, New York, Fifth Avenue New York, New York Freehand Chicago Chicago, Illinois The Cosmopolitan of Las…

WHAT GETS YOU ON THE PLANE A visit to the Bywater neighborhood, an artist enclave with B&Bs, art studios, and resolution-busting eats. THE HAPPY SURPRISE You could center an entire weekend around St. Roch Market, a gloriously restored market hall that showcases NOLA chefs. Bite to try: the Sweet Spot’s bacon-pecan cinnamon roll. WEEKEND X FACTOR A soon-to-open streetcar line that links the Bywater to the French Quarter allows you to quickly access Café Du Monde’s beignets without having to lodge in touristlandia. Go Beyond Spring Break in Cabo WHAT GETS YOU ON THE PLANE As it continues to recover from Hurricane Odile, Cabo is reinventing itself as a retreat for serious luxury. THE HAPPY SURPRISE Star chefs, such as Enrique Olvera of the new Manta, are leading the way.…

These three programs support Africa’s remaining wild places. How your safari dollars will help: SOUTHERN AFRICA An arm of Wilderness Safaris, Children in the Wilderness is an environmental and life skills educational program that trains local kids to become custodians of key conservation areas. Besides running eco-clubs in rural schools throughout Southern Africa, the nonprofit raises funds for school nutrition programs, water supply projects, scholarships, and school buildings. childreninthewilderness.com ZIMBABWE African Bush Camps Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Beks Ndlovu’s Bulawayo-based company, works with the communities surrounding Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe to oversee education, empowerment, community infrastructure, and conservation projects. The foundation currently educates more than 160 children in a school on the park’s outskirts. africanbushcamps.com THE SERENGETI Bordering Serengeti National Park, Singita Grumeti’s five lodges generate income to…

IN NORTHERN SPAIN, when January rolls around, cider, or sidra, flows like a river. Literally. Drop into any one of the hundreds of stone-walled sidrerías that thread Spain’s Basque region, and this is what you’ll see: Spaniards filling glass after glass with a small draught of cider from long, arcing streams that pour from barrels stacked to the rafters. Known as the txotx season, it’s the beginning of a three-month-long release party for Spanish cider. Worlds apart from syrupysweet American ciders and their light, crisp British brethren, sidra is cloudy and still, bone dry and pricklingly tart with a musty, earthy bloom. And txotx—the Basque word for the act of tapping a barrel as well as for the wooden stopper used to plug it—is the essence of this ancient drink.…

To kneel into the snow of a steep mountain face can’t help but look like an act of prayer. It felt like one, too, after I had climbed several thousand feet up an active volcano. My chest faced the summit, an avalanche beacon strapped below my heart. Please, I thought, don’t let me turn around too fast, tumble down, and break my neck. Please help me remember that I was about to go surfing, in a manner of speaking. Mount Yōtei is about 6,000 feet high. On Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, it’s known as “Little Fuji” for its resemblance to the bigger mountain. But Yōtei doesn’t feel small when you’re calling on the gods. For several hours on a bright February morning, our party of 10 had snowshoed up ridges,…

HERE’S MY NEW Year’s resolution for 2016: To once and for all put an end to the popularity of the travel bucket list. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, consider yourself lucky and turn the page to a more satisfying topic (I recommend Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s elegant story about Switzerland on page 71 ). If you’re familiar with the notion of the bucket list, hear me out. The best kind of travel isn’t about checking a place off a list of 101 “top” destinations you have to “see before you die” and moving on to the next. It’s about the rich, spontaneous, and serendipitous moments that make up any great trip: the connection you make with a local in a Lisbon café or with a fellow traveler in a…

1 SIOP WHITE SAND, SAPPHIRE SEA Fly to Varadero and head straight to Varadero Beach for swimming, snorkeling, and fresh lobster. Cubans call this 12-mile stretch of white sand the most beautiful beach in the world, and they might be right. Skip the all-inclusives for the seaside B&B Hostal Villa Mar (from $30) in nearby Matanzas, a city known for its 17 bridges. In the evening, take in a traditional danzón dance performance at the historic Sauto Theater. 2 SIOP THE PAST IS PRESENT If you thought the multitude of old Chevys took you back in time, wait until you arrive in Santa Clara, where locals still get around by horse and buggy. Stay at the Hostal d’ Cordero (from $35), which you can easily book on Airbnb. It’s straight…

1 HUG A TREE—IT’S BETTER THAN XANAX The latest feel-good cure requires a trip to the woods. “Forest bathing,” as it’s called, is a way of hiking that’s scientifically proven to kick stress. Immunologists in Japan have found the practice can nearly double your production of some sickness-fighting cells. So what separates a “bath” from a hike? Book a tour with an expert at Tennessee’s Blackberry Farm to learn the ins and outs, but the main difference is this: Forest bathing focuses your senses on trees the way meditation focuses on breath. Gaze at towering elms as if you have all day. Feel the leaves beneath your feet and hear them crunch. Inhale deeply; studies say the aromas in the forest contain phytoncides, chemicals that lower stress hormones. We’re not…

The AmaDara, AmaWaterways’ second Mekong River–based ship, is the newest of the vessels making the journey down the delta, with 62 balconied staterooms and suites, and two restaurants (rare on smaller ships). My 16-day adventure began with a land-based tour of Hanoi, then we flew to the ship’s launch point in Siem Reap. From there, we set sail on a sevenday trip that traversed two countries, ending in Ho Chi Minh City. The small boat allowed us to access remote rural villages but also to tap into the big, exciting cities that, if you come so far, you don’t want to miss. I’ve spent years traveling throughout Southeast Asia, but I’ve never experienced it quite like this. From $4,498. amawaterways.com CAMBODIA FROM SIEM REAP TO PHNOM PENH Some guests arrived…

1 Zion National Park From McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, it’s a three-hour drive to Zion Lodge, where rocking chairs on porches evoke summercamp simplicity. Bonus: Guests can drive their cars into Zion Canyon. For most of the year, you can rent a bicycle from the lodge and pedal along a paved road to Zion’s best hikes, such as the one to Angels Landing, a breath-snatching rock promontory offering bird’s-eye views down into Zion Canyon. After a day of exploring, retreat to the lodge’s Red Rock Grill for bison meatloaf and Navajo fry-bread tacos. 2 Bryce Canyon National Park Hike the strenuous eight-mile Fairyland Loop, which offers views of this park’s iconic rock pinnacles, called hoodoos. Then check into the Lodge at Bryce Canyon, where TVs are verboten and…

HARMONY HOTEL Costa Rica For more wellness-related getaways, visit afar.com/interests/wellness-travel. 1 LUMERIA Maui, Hawaii If you’re looking for tropical tranquillity, bypass Maui’s buzzy resort enclaves and head away from the coast to the island’s laidback Upcountry. At Lumeria, a 24-room wellness retreat, visitors can start the day with a guided sunrise meditation, then strengthen their yoga practice, learn to hula or surf, and go snorkeling off the north shore. Spa treatments include Hawaiian massage and acupuncture as well as nontraditional therapies such as crystal healing and shaman-led journeys. The schedule is flexible, so you’ll have plenty of time to learn about Hawaii’s paniolo (cowboy) culture or just take in the ocean views from your room’s private lanai. From $359. lumeriamaui.com 2 KAMALAYA Koh Samui, Thailand Thailand’s Thailand’s pioneering wellness retreat…

WHO: DERK RICHARDSON, SENIOR EDITOR DURATION: 7 DAYS HIGHLIGHT: TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE The Sierra Buttes stand about 90 minutes northwest of Reno, Nevada. The moderately challenging hike to the unmanned fire lookout atop their 8,591-foot pinnacle is my favorite hike in California’s northern Sierra Nevada. In early October, when my wife and I made the gradual ascent, which includes a short ridge-top section of the Pacific Crest Trail, the Lakes Basin Recreation Area campgrounds and log-cabin resorts were relatively unpopulated. That meant we avoided the “Wild effect,” as locals call the summer influx of thousands of hikers attempting to follow in author Cheryl Strayed’s footsteps along the 2,650-mile PCT. We had the trail—and the panoramic views of the Sardine, Packer, Tamarack, and Young America Lakes—virtually to ourselves. From our base…