8-day, 7-night luxury safari in INDIA. Departures to Dec. 15, 2016. Luxury tents. Highlights: From Delhi, fly to Raipur/travel with chauffeur to tiger sanctuary Kanha National Park/Pench National Park, home to tigers, leopards, chitals. Visit potters’ village. $4,999 ppdo. Single supp., $1,895. andBeyond (164 Katherine St., Pin Mill Farm Block F, Sandown, Johannesburg, 2010, South Africa; in US, 888/882-3742, www.andbeyond.com).
My daughter, Jill, and I traveled to Rwanda to see gorillas in the wild.
In Husavík, Iceland, visitors can go whale-watching aboard a traditional oak sailboat operated by North Sailing (Husavík; phone +354 464 7272, www.northsailing.is). Using only sails or electric motors, North Sailing’s boats do not alarm whales and are ecofriendly.
Operating multiple 3-hour expeditions daily, May 1-Sept. 30, from Husavík harbor (look for the yellow flags), a trip costs ISK10,500 (near $85) and includes cold-weather overalls, gloves, hat, rain gear and blanket.
15 days, 14 nights (includes 2 nights’ transit time), June-September 2016. Highlights: From Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA, fly to Harare, ZIMBABWE/in Mana Pools National Park, canoe on Zambezi River/game drives, walking safaris in Hwange National Park, home to elephants, buffaloes, giraffes/Matobo Hills National Park, home to eagles and rhinos as well as ancient bushmen paintings. $10,995 ppdo. Single supp., $1,450. Internal air, approx. $425. The Africa Adventure Company (Fort Lauderdale, FL; 800/882-9453, www.africa-adventure.com).
On the Caribbean island of Dominica from May 1 to Sept. 31, guests who book at least seven nights at the Rosalie Bay Resort (Rosalie, Dominica; call, toll-free in the US, 800/831-9249, www.rosaliebay.com) for the “Sea Turtle Experience” are guaranteed to see a leatherback, green or hawkbill sea turtle nesting or hatching.
14 days, 13 nights. Highlights: Transfer from Windhoek to N/a’an ku sê Lodge & Wildlife Sanctuary/watch guides feed lions, leopards, baboons, cheetahs/San Bushmen share stories by evening fire/Namib Naukluft National Park/on catamaran in Walvis Bay, look for dolphins, seals, flamingos/4x4 ride in Aba Huab River valley, home to elephants, giraffes/near Grootberg, visit Himba village/in Okonjima, AfriCat Foundation wildlife sanctuary. $7,000 adult, $5,000 child (12 and under) ppdo. Elevate Destinations (Cambridge, MA; 800/605-0671, www.elevatedestinations.com).
8 days, 7 nights with cook and TV host Maggie Beer on Kangaroo Island, off South AUSTRALIA, Aug. 20-27, 2016. Based at lodge, visit farms and have chef-prepared dinners. Highlights: At sheep dairy, hands-on ricotta making/oak-barrel-wine tasting/lunch with family who coordinates farmers’ market/at Flinders Chase National Park, Remarkable Rocks/tea at Island Beehive/abalone farm. AUD7,700-AUD14,700 (near $5,455-$10,415) ppdo. Single, from AUD13,300 ($9,423). Southern Ocean Lodge (Kangaroo Island, South Australia; phone +61 2 9918 4355, http://southernoceanlodge.com.au).
While visiting Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on a November 2015 Caribbean trip, three family members and I got to swim with dolphins at Dolphin Discovery (Carretera de Veron Bavaro, La Altagracia Province, Higuey Town, 23301, Dominican Republic; phone, in the US, 866/393-5158, www.dolphindiscovery.com).
Although many object to dolphin encounters, Dolphin Discovery does it as “correctly” as possible.
