The Times - UK (2022-01-01)

the times Saturday January 1 2022

32 Travel 100 trips for 2022

15 The Guna Yala islands, Panama

Details Nine nights’ B&B from £3,820pp,

including flights and transfers

(originaltravel.co.uk)

7 Ghosts of West Africa

Best for Pioneering adventure

For most travellers the West African

nations of Togo and Benin are little

known and even less understood, but

this pioneering 15-day group tour — a

recce trip, no less — will set you right.

On Togo & Benin: Cultural Explorer

you’ll see the scars left by the slave trade;

the fetish market at Lomé; the butterfly

clouds of the Misahöhe forest; a fire

dance in Sokode, in which the entranced

participants eat red-hot coals; and the

savannah of the Sarakawa Wildlife

Reserve. After an audience with King

Adedu Loye in Benin you’ll head to

Ouidah for the annual voodoo

celebrations — although “celebrations”

doesn’t quite suffice to describe the

spectacle of the rituals you’ll observe.

Details Fourteen nights’ full board from

£3,295pp, including guides and

transfers, departing on December 28

(wildfrontierstravel.com). Fly to Lomé

8 Walking with Turkish

nomads

Best for Hands-on hiking

In early summer the Yoruk herders of

camp, tour Petra and float in the Dead

Sea before arriving in Amman, like

El Aurens, as the locals called Lawrence

of Arabia.

Details Eleven nights’ half-board from

£2,599pp, including transfers, departing

on February 19 (explore.co.uk). Fly to

Jeddah with British Airways

6 Entranced by

Transylvania

Best for Primeval discovery in Europe

It’s not easy to describe the combination

of awe and wonder stirred by immersion

in the primeval forests of the

Transylvanian Carpathian mountains.

The beech groves date from the end of

the last Ice Age and the people who

live among them seem happy with

a way of life largely unchanged

since the 15th century. It’s a

magical and deeply peaceful

world in which to spend

ten days on a private tour

called Rewilding in Romania,

which includes tracking

bison, sleeping in the woods,

exploring the medieval streets

of Sibiu, meeting the man who

sells honey to Prince Charles

and being enchanted by local

craftsmen. Be warned, though: this

holiday might leave you questioning

your values.

good chance of seeing the first two of

these on this new six-day group

expedition led by Rewilding Europe’s

Mario Cipollini, who will take you on

slow treks through this beautiful

wilderness in search of life.

Accommodation is in a selection of

hotels and mountain refuges.

Details Five nights’ half-board from

£2,349pp, including flights and transfers

(exodus.co.uk)

5 Arabian adventure

Best for Travellers looking for a new

experience

From buying football clubs to building

futuristic resort cities, Saudi Arabia is

desperate to build a reputation and a

future in an oil-free world. Within

two or three decades this polarising

nation could be no more exotic

than Dubai, but for the moment

it’s still an unknown quantity.

Starting in Jeddah, Journey

Through Arabia, a new 12-day

group trip, heads north through

the Empty Quarter to explore

the islands of the Umluj

archipelago — a taste of the

Maldives circa 1922. Pressing on

through mesmerising desert

landscapes past the Nabaetean city of

Hegra and Wadi Disah canyon, you

cross into Jordan to sleep in a Bedouin

W mightiest rivers. Its middle stretch
separates Zambia to the north and
Zimbabwe to the south, with hippos in
the middle. Elephants wade in the
shallows, crocodiles dart across the
surface as you paddle past, and African
fish eagles soar overhead. But you need a
good guide for a canoe trip here, and if
you book the Tigerfish Safari you’ll get
one in Nick Murray at Vundu Camp in
the Mana Pools National Park. This
six-night safari spends three days on
the water, gliding silently past the
wildlife and camping in comfort on
the banks by night. Along with the
hippos, elephants and crocodiles you’ll
see lions, zebras, buffalo and maybe
even African wild dogs.
Details Six nights’ full board from
£5,810pp, including flights, transfers and
guides (expertafrica.com)

4 Rewilding the

Apennines

Best for Spotting rare wildlife
Italy’s backbone is the dramatic 750-mile
Apennine range, characterised by
limestone peaks soaring nearly 10,000ft
into the sky and extensive beech forests.
As a consequence of the conservation
initiative Rewilding Europe, it has an
increasing density of wildlife too,
including the Marsican brown bear, the
goat-like chamois and wolves. There’s a

A jaguar in the

Pantanal, Brazil

12

For more

great ideas

see part 2 in

tomorrow’s

Sunday Times