Beaches and Islands

Image

Dear Globetrotter:

As of Aug. 1, tourist visits to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) are limited to 30 days (down from 90). In order to board a flight to Rapa Nui, a traveler must present his passport, a ticket showing return from Rapa Nui within the 30-day limit, proof of hotel or other accommodation and the provided Immigration form stamped by the Chilean Police Investigations Division.

Stays of longer than 30 days can be applied for in advance. For info, contact the Chilean tourism office (phone +56 2 2731 8336, chile.travel/en).

Have you ever wanted to travel to a very remote place but thought it was a good idea to have someone help with the plans? Well, my husband, Fred, and I did. Our desired destinations were Robinson Crusoe Island and Easter Island.

We chose Chilean Special Journeys, or CSJ (Palacio Concha, Av. Concha y Toro 44, Barrio Concha y Toro, Santiago, CHILE; phone, in the US, 888/345-6077, www.chileanspecialjourneys.com), from an advertisement in ITN. We could not have chosen better!

When it comes to basking in the beauty of Italy's Riviera, the Cinque Terre is tops for me. But there's much more to this region on the Mediterranean coast than those famous five villages.

A handful of charming towns lie within an hour of the Cinque Terre, with posh ports set against rugged mountain backdrops that have drawn poets, authors and romantics over the years from Lord Byron to Elizabeth Taylor.

If you enjoy travel to pristine wilderness areas and observing wildlife up close, an expedition trip to the Arctic or Antarctic should be on your travel list.

When my wife, Betty, and I traveled to Antarctica in 2015, our trip didn’t include a visit to the Falklands (Islas Malvinas) or South Georgia. After travel discussions with others, we realized that we had missed out on exceptional bird, sea mammal and landscape viewing opportunities.

As we had enjoyed our two previous polar experiences, our next decision was whether to consider another, more inclusive Antarctica trip or focus only on an expedition visit to the Falklands and South Georgia.

Many polar expeditions spend only two to three days each in the Falklands and South Georgia, either on the way to or returning from Antarctica. Uncooperative weather and sea conditions can easily reduce the number of off-ship excursions when you have only a few days to visit each area. We decided that if we really wanted to increase our chances for as many viewing opportunities as possible, we needed to maximize the number ofdays in each destination.

With this in mind, we found that Poseidon Expeditions (Providence, RI; 347/801-2610, www.poseidon expeditions.com) offered the itinerary that matched our interests and price range ($25,000 for two, excludingflights).

In November 2017, we embarked on a 13-day expedition that started in Puerto Madryn, Argentina, and ended in Ushuaia. The expedition schedule included 2½ days in the Falkland Islands and 5½ days in South Georgia.

Tourism to the Caribbean in the fall of 2017 took a big hit following the significant damage done by hurricanes Irma and Maria. Cruise ships responded to the situation there by canceling or modifying their itineraries, and passenger bookings dropped.

By early November, the prospect of empty cabins precipitated some great last-minute bargains for frugal travelers like me.

As the southern islands in the Caribbean chain had escaped most of the hurricanes’ impact, a 7-day cruise on the Celebrity Summit (beginning Jan. 6, 2018) to Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts, Saint Lucia and St. Thomas sounded like a perfect fit for my husband, Lynn, and me. With Celebrity’s sale price, we secured a window-view cabin for a total of $1,160 for the two of us, including taxes and port charges. Except for St. Thomas, all of these were islands we had never seen.

In the Hokianga region of New Zealand’s North Island, visitors can take a sunset tour of the Waipoua Forest, home to the country’s tallest kauri trees (conifers), with Footprints Waipoua (334 State Highway 12, Omapere 0444, Hokianga, Northland; phone +64 9 405 8207, footprintswaipoua.co.nz).

At a cost of NZD95 (near $66) per person (min., two) and led by a Maori guide, the 4-hour “Twilight Tour” (leaving at 6 p.m., Oct 16-March 31, and at 5 p.m., April 1-Oct. 15) visits specimens such as the Tane¯ Mahuta, at 167 feet the tallest kauri tree in the world.

The last essay topic, “My Trail is Australia,” inspired a lot of subscribers to take a shot at the prize, but ITN staff narrowed the entries down to three...

The government of the Philippines closed off the west-central island of Borocay to tourists for six months, starting April 26, in order to upgrade infrastructure and clean up environmental damage caused by a sewage leak. According to the government, less than half of the island’s structures are connected to sewage-treatment facilities.

The island is a popular destination and attracted more than two million visitors in 2017.