Africa’s Arid Hwange National Park Benefits from Wildland Adventures’ Focus on Water – for Wildlife and People

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Released on Wednesday, 19 February 2020 10:54

SEATTLE, WA, Feb. 19, 2020 – Where there’s water there’s life. One travel company, Wildland Adventures, engages its guests in the miracles that come with securing reliable and safe water for wildlife and villages in one arid region of sub-Saharan Africa.

Wildland Adventures’ 11-day Zimbabwe 2020 Water for Hwange Conservation Safari immerses visitors into a symbiosis of wildlife viewing, village life, community development and hands-on conservation efforts. This is the second year for what is becoming the company’s best-selling safari. It doubled the number of departures for the 2020 season.

“Wildland travelers on this safari make an enormous difference and are agents for positive change in Africa. With water comes life, there’s a better quality of life for villagers and an exponential increase in the numbers of elephants and other wildlife that people travel so far to see,” said Kurt Kutay, Wildland Adventures’ founding CEO/President.

In 2019, Kutay’s company made investments and led a GoFundMe campaign to purchase, install and maintain solar-hybrid water pumps that are becoming game changers in and around Hwange National Park. “The fact that guests get to see the pumps in action, along with the herds of elephants that congregate to the waterholes, and then meet the rangers who protect them, and the communities who benefit from tourism, is incredibly gratifying to us and our travelers,” Kutay concludes. 

A guest on Wildland Adventures’ inaugural 2019 conservation safari said: "I chose this trip because I love elephants and the opportunity to contribute to the local community while on safari was the deciding factor. But my best memories will be of the children in the schools and the visit to the headman's home, along with eating meals with our guides, watching elephants in the blinds, and pump visits.”

Wildland Adventures and its partners have been instrumental in installing and maintaining a growing inventory of solar-hybrid water pumps that assist the conservation of elephants and other wildlife. These pumps are also making life easier for villagers bordering Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe. They no longer have to spend hours pumping water by hand or walking long distances to carry it home. Replacing two old diesel pumps with solar-hybrid water pumps has impacted 10,000 elephants and 3,500 Cape buffalo. The same strategy replaced hand pumps in two villages, impacting over 350 households and close to 4,000 livestock.

There are two departures of this life-altering conservation safari in 2020: June 10-20 and July 27-Aug. 6. The departure in 2021 is July 4-21. Guests meet teachers and children in village schools, sit with community leaders and spend a night in the field with anti-poaching patrols. On mountain bikes they pedal by creatures drinking at solar-diesel-pump-driven water holes and help monitor the pumps. Riding the colonial-era, 24-passenger Elephant Express rail car with an eye out for cavorting wildlife; canoeing on the Zambezi River; participating in game drives and in the excitement of viewing wildlife from underground blinds are part of the adventure that begins at Gorges Lodge at Victoria Falls.

Accommodations are pioneering lodges built on community land. Guest stays help improve schools, provide clean domestic water supplies and health clinics in local villages. Historically tribal communities received little direct benefit from Zimbabwe’s booming tourism industry. For the rural village living next to a national park, wildlife was by no means an attraction. Elephants ate crops and lions killed livestock. These animals were problematic and to the locals something neither to encourage nor to protect. With the benefits from tourism providing income, water, food and medical care, today ex-poachers are working as guides and helping staff the camp.

The park is just an hour southof Victoria Falls, the first stop on this itinerary. From the bountiful falls of the Zambezi River, guestswitness the arid realities within the park that has no major rivers. Year-round water supplies (including an aging infrastructure of diesel pumps and bore holes) are, therefore, unreliable for villagers and some 45,000 elephants. This region of grasslands and mopane woodland supports over 100 species of mammals including lion, leopard, cheetah, African wild dog and the rare sable antelope.

The Wildland Adventures safari is led by resident guru safari guide Mark Butcher, a native Zimbabwean and visionary conservationist who directswildlife conservation and community development in and around Hwange. Mark leads guests on walks in the bush toexperience firsthand the impact that renewed water resources haveon the wildlife and communities of Hwange.

Included in the $7,180 per person double rate is a $500 tax-deductible donation to Wildland Adventures’ non-profit Travelers Conservation Trust Foundation that dedicates 100 percent of contributions directly to support the communities guests visit. Last year was a severe drought year in Zimbabwe. Wildland contributed $4,000 to its partner’s school feeding program which in 2019 provided 425,000 meals to children in the region.

For more information on Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, availability and reservations call 1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit http://www.wildland.com/.

About Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventures in 1986. As active managing directors, they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel.

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Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802.234.6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Over-Visited Destinations Are Changing How We Travel, Says Wildland Adventures

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Released on Wednesday, 23 October 2019 10:26

SEATTLE, WA, Oct. 23 2019 – Certain places on our planet are getting loved to death. 

Why? 

Not long ago, international travel was the priviledge of the rich and worldly. Today, however, the middle class enthusiastically travels the globe with bucket lists that concentrate attention on the most popular places in the world (and rightly so). Unfortunately, the byproduct of this increase in travel means that If the original character of these places is not in jeopardy now, it soon will be.

Kurt Kutay is founder and president of Wildland Adventures, a travel company that for over 30 years has created opportunities for guests to experience destinations from the inside out. Utilizing the Wild Style of travel, Wildland trips build lasting intercultural, interpersonal and environmental bonds. By impressing sincerity, compassion and understanding at each step of the journey, the aim is to enhance rather than exploit the place and people we’ve come to visit. To this end, Kurt offers 6 Ways to Travel Responsibly in an Age of Over-Tourism.

1. Manage Your Expectations and Emotions

As with much of life, aligning expectations with reality is half of the road to happiness. Planning travel is no different in this regard, as you anticipate what you will experience. If we allow preconceived notions of the Taj Mahal or Machu Picchu – without crowds -- drive our desire to travel halfway around the world to experience these iconic destinations first hand, we may indeed leave disappointed.

The proper research will help you to align expectations with reality. Ask many questions, but ask the right questions and don’t be afraid of the answers. Most importantly, stay open to the experience before you. It is unknown what lies ahead and that is the magic of travel. Be diligent in letting go of preconceived expectations, they are persistent. Refuse to let them as well as annoyances like crowds distract you from what drew you there in the first place. That's when the true joy of discovery flows -- no matter what it looks like.

2. Find a Local Connection

Hire a passionate, local guide help to deepen the travel experience while avoiding the 'group think' impact of large tour groups. A good local guide can help skirt the crowds at popular sites and even introduce less-known sites for a unique perspective.

For example, a good guide will take you to the Taj Mahal twice, once to get in line before it opens and later in the afternoon before it closes to experience variable lighting. Kutay remembers his last visit, “Instead of passing through the main gates twice, our local guide took us to the Mehatab Bagh (Moonlight Garden) across the Yamuna River, far from the tourist hordes, where we stood arm-in-arm, standing alone and moved to tears by the beautiful silhouette.”

3. Rethink Your Bucket List

Discover wonders of the world beyond UNESCO's at-risk sites or the favorite ports of call of the cruise industry. Instead of the crowded hilltop towns of Tuscany, try the hills of the Istrian peninsula of Slovenia and Croatia. Rather than being part of the problem of overcrowding in Venice, take the ferry to the small fishing town of Rovinj, where you are welcomed by locals who take you around in a traditional Batana fishing boat.

4. Timing Is Everything -- Spend Time at the Right Place

Plan your day at famous sites carefully and be sure to get the latest information as local conditions and regulations change constantly. The best plan is familiar the world over. In Croatia, plan to tour Dubrovnik before cruise ship passengers disembark, in Cambodia visit Siem Reap before tour buses disgorge, and in Peru arrive at Machu Picchu before the daily trains do. When you finally are where you’ve dreamt of being, follow slow travel principles and linger longer, but in fewer places.

5. Pay to Play

A great many worthwhile experiences cost more. Whether a part of a private and exclusive event or of a carefully managed ecotour that limits the number of visitors, the extra dollars spent help to protect fragile habitats and visitor experiences.

In Africa, this may look like tracking mountain gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda for which there are limited permits. To protect the experience in some locales for years to come, some safaris are very exclusive and conducted in a private nature reserve like Timbavati in Greater Kruger N.P. In Tanzania, the remote camps of Katavi and Mahale require bush flights to access some of the wildest places on the planet.

In South America, the fragile cultural patrimony of the Inca Trail in Peru and delicate balance of nature in the Galapagos Islands are carefully managed by limited permits and fees that control access and provide a source of revenue for critical conservation programs. Advance planning is required to enjoy the privilege of being among the few where limited numbers of permits are allotted.

6. Consider Where You Stay

Your choice of accommodations is one of the most important considerations in minimizing impact on the local environs while maximizing the benefits you bring to the local community. Many hotels, camps, ecolodges, yachts and expedition ships are rated for their level of sustainability. They are rated on energy sources, recycling, waste management, water conservation, food sourcing, and other sustainability-focused initiatives. In addition, many are actively involved in nature and wildlife conservation and in educating guests about ecosystems and biodiversity. These accommodations are deeply connected and committed to indigenous culture and the well-being of local communities. The highest rated ecolodges and camps are safeguarding the world's cultural and natural heritage while delivering the most meaningful guest experiences.

Traveling Responsibly Isn't About Staying Home

The Center for Responsible Tourism asserts that traveling responsibly "…is about managing travel and destinations in an environmentally and culturally responsible way and designing tourism programs and individual trips carefully to provide travelers with the experience they seek, while leaving a positive footprint on their destination." Destinations are always changing and we have many choices to make when we travel, “but the important thing is to be mindful of our impact on the people and places that give us so much and help others to do the same...and to keep traveling,” says Kutay.

For more information on Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, availability and reservations, call 1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit http://www.wildland.com/.

About Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventures in 1987. As active managing directors, they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel. The ‘Wild Style’ is based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel.

# # #

Follow Wildland Adventures

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/wildlandadventures

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/WildTravel

YouTube:       https://www.youtube.com/wildtravel

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+wildlandadventures

Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802.234.6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dave Wiggins / 720.301.3822 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Wildland Adventures Guides Guests Beyond Over-Touristed Sites On Explorations of Turkey

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Released on Wednesday, 14 August 2019 07:48

SEATTLE, WA, Aug. 14, 2019 – Over-touristed sites are now the new norm throughout the world.

For example, this year in record numbers, tourists are queuing up at the Blue Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Istanbul.

“Travel is an investment in time and money. Istanbul has cultural and historical treasures that extend beyond the Blue Mosque. So why waste hours just to get inside a building you have been told you must see?” asks Kurt Kutay, CEO and President of Wildland Adventures.

Instead, guides with deep knowledge of Istanbul and Turkey will share the Blue Mosque story with fine-tuned timing that skirts crowds and by introducing historical/cultural takeaways at less selfie-prone places.

“This resurgence of interest to visit Turkey is keeping us on our toes,” Kutay says. “We have to be aware, well in advance, where the maddening crowds will gather next. Then we plan contingencies that will connect the same cultural dots that the hot spots do – but perhaps even more effectively without the distractions that come with crowds.” Turkey has 100,000 registered historic spots. If a must-see UNESCO World Heritage Site is over-run by crowds, Kutay’s team will choose the best hours to visit or designate a comparable place to fulfill a similar interest and expectation.

Wildland Adventures to Turkey embrace the culture people flock here to experience. “We bring our guests as close as possible to real worlds, freed of artifice, must-sees and must-dos,” Kutay explains. Among the takeaways that Wildland Adventures guests enjoy are:

• Extant Greek and Roman ruins, more numerous here than in Greece and Italy combined.
• One of the world’s prized cuisines. “We make sure to feature a different dish every day. Dining in Turkey is simultaneously a history lesson served up on a plate,” Kutay exudes, paraphrasing Poet Abdulhak Sinasi who wrote: "Do not dismiss the dish saying that it is just, simply food. The blessed thing is an entire civilization in itself."
• Visits to less-known alternative sites that are comparable to the crowded hotspots to imbibe history, culture and traditions. “Instead of waiting in lines, our guests talk with local people including merchants, artists and religious leaders.” Most tours focus exclusively on historic sites around Sultanahmet Square, which is less than half a mile in diameter and a stone’s throw from the cruise ship dock. But Constantinople (so named until 1930) is surrounded by 14 miles of walls; the heart of the ancient city is four miles east to west. Wildland Adventures extends tours into old, traditional neighborhoods and to Bosphorus villages for a full understanding of old and contemporary Istanbul.
• Experiences that move beyond monuments and historic buildings. Guests visit markets, eat street food, visit artist workshops, neighborhood coffee shops, wine bars and panoramic rooftop bars to take it all in on a grand scale.
• Cruising the Turquoise Coast of the Mediterranean in traditional hand-built Gulets (classic Phoenician-style, wooden yachts). Guests explore along footpaths only accessible from the sea, paths that lead to pastoral grazing lands chalk full of Crusader, Byzantine Greek and Roman archaeological sites. “It’s all about timing as well by avoiding busy coastal towns and beaches where tourists flock by day,” underscores Kutay. “We anchor in quiet coves and wait until tourists disappear for the day. We then serve wine and appetizers in ancient ruins where, sitting in the sunset, we take turns reciting poetry or singing a song in the Odeon (a stone structure specific to the ancient arts).”

The tours Wildland Adventures offers in Turkey are

• Turquoise Coast Odyssey- a 13-day itinerary from $4,965 per person double. Accommodations include a restored Ottoman home in the heart of a mountain village, a boutique cave hotel and Istanbul inns with rooftop restaurants. Highlights are Istanbul, Cappadocia, Kas, an Anatolian village, Ephesus and a voyage along the Turquoise Coast in a traditional gulet yacht.

• Highlights of Turkey- a 9-day exploration from $3,695 per person double. This itinerary embraces Turkey’s three most important cultural and political centers: Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesus on foot along ancient pathways and by boat. Guests enjoy well-appointed friendly hotels, a boutique cave accommodation and a renovated historic hotel in the Aegean highlands.

Departure dates are available upon request. Kutay notes that even though there’s more pressure on prices because of renewed demand by tourists, the Turkish Lira has fallen against the stronger dollar.

“Our trip prices remain the same as they were three years ago,” he notes.

For more information on these itineraries and all of Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, availability and reservations, call 1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visithttp://www.wildland.com/. Kutay has also recently published 6 Ways to Travel Responsibly in an Age of Overtourism.

About Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventures in 1987. As active managing directors, they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel. The ‘Wild Style’ is based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel.

# # #

Follow Wildland Adventures

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/wildlandadventures

Twitter:          https://twitter.com/WildTravel

YouTube:      https://www.youtube.com/wildtravel

Google Plus:https://plus.google.com/+wildlandadventures

Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802.234.6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dave Wiggins / 720.301.3822 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Wildland Adventures Opens Window on Wildlife and Culture of Madagascar

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Released on Monday, 25 March 2019 11:38

SEATTLE, WA, March 25, 2019 -- Wildland Adventures has created an intricate choreography in a little-known land, the world’s fourth largest island, Madagascar. Fully 80 percent of the plants and animals found on this island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa are found nowhere else on earth.

On the 12-day Madagascar: Land of Lemurs, new for 2019, guests roam rainforests and mangrove swamps for sightings of endemic wildlife, including dozens of lemur species. They track around rice paddies and up 3,000-foot highlands for stories of the culture of this island that millennia ago broke away from the Indian subcontinent. This was long before 350BC when outrigger canoes carried people here from Borneo and before Madagascar became a trading post stopover on the transoceanic slave trade route. Guests engage with the indigenous Antandroy (“people of the thorns”) tribe who live in their sacred spiny forest (an eco-region under threat of coal explorations). These are nomadic cattle herders who ventured from the East Africa mainland in the 17th century.

“On this trip, our guests follow an astonishing evolutionary path through one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots harboring an exotic array of fantastic creatures, epic landscapes and a blended Malagasy culture of Malayo-Indonesian and African-Arab ancestry,” explained Kurt Kutay, Wildland Adventures founding President and CEO.

The island’s isolation has allowed endemic species here to thrive. Some 130 species and subspecies of lemur (Madagascar’s flagship animal) are found here, including earth’s smallest primate, Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur, weighing in at about 1.1 ounces and the indri or babakoto, which can weigh 21 pounds.

Wildlife enthusiasts will encounter habitat under increasing threat of deforestation as local populations encroach further and further into the limited forest lands for timber and firewood. Large-scale cultivation of sisal and vanilla require enormous plantations that add to the land stresses as do expanding mining operations that produce some of the industrialized world’s must-haves: nickel, titanium ore, copper, oil and gas.

Throughout this exploration, accommodations have been curated for comfort, the charm of the Malagasy (people of Madagascar) and access to nature reserves and native communities. Guests are pampered in lodgings that reflect the French colonialism (until 1960): a 19th century bank building turned pension; a mountaintop lodge surrounded by rainforest; a tented, riverside camp with hand-carved furnishings; and thatched roof dwellings positioned between a rainforest, a white sand beach and the Indian Ocean. Studded with mangroves, this is the last untouched patch of coastal rainforest in southern Madagascar.

Departures in 2019 are in the non-rainy months from the end of June to late November.The per person rate is from $7,890. The gateway city is Antananarivo (Tana), a mix of traditional and French colonial architecture with sparkles of Indonesia. See: https://www.wildland.com/trips/africa/madagascar/madagascar-land-of-lemurs/overview.aspx

Guests sample koba, a traditional sweet made from ground peanuts, brown sugar and rice flour, wrapped and roasted in banana leaves. In Moramanga they can ride in a bicycle rickshaw or pousse-pousse. A night walk in the forest with a local guide reveals a variety of nocturnal species: mouse lemurs, white footed sportive lemur, fat-tailed dwarf lemur, woolly lemurs, chameleons and frogs. Walking on primitive trails in dense forest exposes an abundance of birds including the scaly ground roller, the pitta-like ground roller and the breasted coua. A private reserve, Lemur Island, protects rescued and habituated lemurs including bamboo lemur, black & white ruffed lemur, brown lemur and diademed sifaka. In a misty forest may come the loud wail of the barely visible tail, black and white markings and a surprised teddy-bear face of the rare indri, Madagascar’s largest lemur, one of the few animals that cannot survive in captivity.

Depending on departure flight schedules, guests may have time to visit Ambohimanga, 12 miles northeast of Tana. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the ancestral home of the Merina kings and queens who united Madagascar under one rule. It is a fortified, sacred hill with 16 gates leading to the former house of King Andrianampoinimerina, together with a series of elegant royal summer homes. The King ruled the Kingdom of Imerina from 1787 until his death in 1810, and these amazingly well-preserved sites are a window into Tana’s royal history.

“After recently spending three weeks in Madagascar, I can say that this island is a continent apart from anywhere else I have been in Africa. Nearly all of the lemurs, chameleons, geckos, amphibians, reptiles, flowers and trees are endemic to this one little corner of the world,” said Chris Moriarty, Wildland Adventures’ Africa specialist. “This is what an adventure is all about – journeying to a faraway land and coming face to face with a strange, beautiful and captivating place that’s home to amazing creatures, unusual plants and intriguing cultures.”

For more information on this itinerary and all of Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, availability and reservations, call 1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit http://www.wildland.com/.

About Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventures in 1987. As active managing directors, they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel. The ‘Wild Style’ is based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel.

# # #

Follow Wildland Adventures

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/wildlandadventures

Twitter:          https://twitter.com/WildTravel

YouTube:      https://www.youtube.com/wildtravel

Google Plus:https://plus.google.com/+wildlandadventures

Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802.234.6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dave Wiggins / 720.301.3822 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In 2019 Wildland Adventures Explores Slovenia’s Wild Side and Complex Culture

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Released on Wednesday, 12 December 2018 11:10

SEATTLE, WA, Dec. 12, 2018 -- In 2019 Wildland Adventures explores the wild side and cultural complexities of Slovenia, a hidden gem of Central Europe that’s only a stone’s throw across the Adriatic Sea from over-visited Venice.

“Slovenia is surrounded by its more popular neighbors -- Croatia, Austria, Hungary and Italy – who left their marks here, but not the crowds,” says Kurt Kutay, Wildland Adventures’ CEO and President. “Whereas ancient caravans and modern nomads used to pass through here on their journeys east or west, today Slovenia rightly commands the attention of travelers.”

With Slovenia’s yet-to-be-discovered natural riches and diverse cultural influences in mind, Kutay and his team have created two itineraries that help distinguish Slovenia from its neighbors. Guests learn, for example, that Slovenia’s Slavic language uses the Latin – not Cyrillic – alphabet. They enjoy the culinary rewards of an explosive food culture with farm-to-table, slow-food presentations that mix up splashes of Italy and Austria along with a distinctive Slovenian slant.  The historic relationship of people to their land is revealed through visits to an apiary, to vineyards and to farms where cheeses can be sampled.

Slovenia shares a 110-mile, north-south border with Italy; owns some 30 miles of Adriatic coastline on the Istrian Peninsula (across from Venice); embraces a climate spanning Mediterranean to alpine (the highest peak is 9,396 feet); and its main river, the Sava, courses from near the mountainous border shared with Austria on the north out to the Black Sea (via the Danube Basin). At her feet lie Croatia and the historical complexities of the late Yugoslavia (that included Slovenia.) Since 2004 Slovenia has been a member of the European Union while claiming a lineage that includes ancient Rome and the Habsburg Dynasty from the north across the mountains in Vienna.

These mountains, the hidden valleys, waterfalls, lakes and forests all harbor mysteries of culture and history that Wildland Adventures’ itineraries will reveal as guests

• trek and cycle (on e-bikes) along unpopulated high alpine slopes and valleys,
• explore underground caverns near the Adriatic Sea,
• stay as guests in accommodations that reflect the energies of people who still work close to the land and with their hands,
• marvel while in the Julian Alps (named after Julius Caesar) at medieval Bled Castle towering over Lake Bled that embraces an island with its own pilgrimage church,
• sip wine at Vila Bled, the summer home of former Yugoslavian President Tito,   
• meet the people behind one of the most exciting, emerging food cultures in the world,
• witness young people embracing entrepreneurship, and particularly tourism, after years of Communism,
• get to know the only country who can claim “love” in their name: sLOVEnia.

Best of Slovenia: Alps to the Adriatic is an eight-day wine and culinary immersion including hiking and cycling that explores chapels and castles, samples cheeses on family farms, sips wines from Slovenia’s own Tuscany, dines in mountain huts and at the world-famous Hiša Franko restaurant in the Soča River Valley. This restaurant, among the top 50 restaurants of the world, supposedly is where Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms. Now a self-taught chef who originally trained as a diplomat breaks down culinary borders with a modern-international cuisine sourced locally from woods and streams. The trip ends in a Venetian Gothic town on the Adriatic – still in Slovenia. The per person double rate is from $4,995. See: https://www.wildland.com/trips/mediterranean/slovenia/best-of-slovenia--col---alps-to-the-adriatic/overview.aspx

Trekking the Julian Alps: Hut to Hut delivers 10 days of travel including four days of quintessential European-style trekking but with far fewer hikers sharing the trails than are found in Austria and Italy. The region is Triglav National Park in a remote corner of Slovenia’s spectacular Julian Alps that jut some 9,000 feet into the sky, eventually plunging west onto the warm Adriatic coast. Here lie the oldest hiking trails in Europe. Along a limestone ridge of the Komna Plateau, several days into the journey, guests are encouraged to imagine a legend of a magical white chamois buck with precious golden horns, Zlatorog, that lives among the outcrops of limestone. His likeness is found in statues, operas and on the label of Slovenia’s popular beer, Lasko Zlatorog. Days on the trails lead to mountain huts at night for hearty soups, fresh breads and local cheeses – and sleep. The per person double rate is from $4,595. See: https://www.wildland.com/trips/mediterranean/slovenia/trekking-slovenia--col---hut-to-hut/overview.aspx

For more information on Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, availability and reservations call 1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit http://www.wildland.com/.

About Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventures in 1987. As active managing directors, they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel. The ‘Wild Style’ is based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel.

# # #

Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802.234.6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dave Wiggins / 720.301.3822 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Follow Wildland Adventures

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/wildlandadventures

Twitter:          https://twitter.com/WildTravel

YouTube:      https://www.youtube.com/wildtravel

Google Plus:https://plus.google.com/+wildlandadventures

A Personal Message from Kurt Kutay

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Released on Thursday, 15 November 2018 10:47

Dear Friends,

On the cusp of Thanksgiving we’re taking stock of our blessings here at Wildland Adventures. High on our list always is the privilege we have of sharing the world and its many people with our clients.

While this has been our practice for over three decades, we’re following an emerging trend that is especially gratifying. Grandparents want to travel alone with their grandchildren – leaving parents behind. Something we and others are calling 'Skip-Gen' travel. We started asking questions of both generations.

What’s it like for tweens and young adults to travel in a foreign country with only their grandparents as companions? And conversely, what do grandparents experience when their travel mates are more than a generation apart?

Interviews by telephone with grandparents were intense and often emotional just before the recent midterm elections and after learning that scientists predict that Mother Earth, as we know it today, may slip from our fingers by 2040. The grandchildren interviewed reflected confidence and were highly appreciative of their grandparents.

The desire of these grandparents to bond and create memories with their grandchildren is universal. However their motives in opting for travel as a pathway to those memories is informed by their concerns about the world and by their passion to impress upon their grandchildren that the world is more than the United States. They see travel as a game changer for grandchildren who will better understand the changing environment and vulnerable communities on the planet they are to inherit. They want their grandchildren to become better ambassadors of their future.

Good Luck in Morocco

“I didn’t travel until I was 50 beyond Mexico, Canada and Hawaii. I wanted my grandchildren to explore the world earlier. They had a hand in where we went, a place they were curious about, but I insisted it be on another continent. I just traveled to Spain and Morocco with my granddaughter who is 20. Emma’s world is getting way beyond mine. I wanted to get experiences myself through their eyes, to be awed by a very different lifestyle and culture,” says grandparent Anne.

Anne and her daughter’s journey through Morocco sparked conversations about the roles of women in the world, about what constitutes work in different cultures and even about social media. They tented one night in the Sahara, experiencing a severe storm that induced a long-dry river to suddenly flow. Their guide wept and said that they brought good luck.

“In Morocco there are so many different cultural codes. It was hard for me to understand. But I could still relate to people. We had different world views but we could share this incredible moment. An experience like this expands your world view. I definitely won’t be the same person that I was before I left,” reflects Emma.

Active in Belize

Lollie is another grandparent inspired to travel with a younger generation.  When her grandchildren turn 11, they study up on where they want to go and select activities. Her goals, shared by nearly all of the grandparents are to broaden their appreciation for the rest of the world, to understand that, throughout the world, cultures are different but people are very much the same, to learn about the abundance (and diversity) of animals that inhabit our Earth and to become better stewards of the environment.

Granddaughter Emily, age 12, chose Belize’s active adventure, including zip lining, cave tubing, horseback riding, canoeing, snorkeling and paddle boarding, with time out to visit ruins...all the while experiencing a culture very different from home.

“This trip made me able to see how different other parts of the world are from where we are. It changed the way I look at things,” says Emily.

Slower but More Fun in Tanzania

Adventuresome grandparents George and Dianne enjoy arranging activities and experiences for grandchildren that may be out of the parents’ reach financially at this point in their life.

Their 14 year old granddaughter, Ana, remembers her excitement as George planned their trip to Tanzania.

“The Africa trip was really, really fun. Grandpa booked everything before. He knew everything about the trip. We just came along and enjoyed. He always likes planning ahead of time,” Ana says. One difference between traveling with grandparents is that travel is “slower but more fun. It’s always a quicker pace with my parents.”

“On the way to Tanzania, we spent a few days in Amsterdam”, adds Diane, “While there, we had a tour of the city by a young lady who showed us her family’s synagogue and shared the experiences of her Jewish Grandparents’ survival during WWII. That experience impressed the children far more than just reading about WWII in a school setting would.”

South Africa Then and Now

At age 20, Hunter’s grandson, Evan, hopes to pursue environmental engineering, in part because of a trip to South Africa.

“Living in the US, my concept of being poor was very different before the trip than after. Travel gives you an appreciation of the hardships people face in other places around the world,” reflects Evan.

Hunter enjoys sharing generational differences related to exploring the world, explaining along the way “what it was like to travel abroad when you traveled back in the 1950s compared to now, the understanding that traveling around Africa even 10 years before we did Africa was different.” He anticipates traveling with the next grandchild but with the caveat that deciding where to go isn’t “totally free form. We’re not going to Yemen.”

Globe Trotting

When she was widowed, Marna thought, “Aha!I know how I can see the world...” Costa Rica, Galapagos, Tanzania, Hong Kong and Malaysia later, she has traveled with one grandchild at a time, save for one trip which included an extra cousin.She prefers a solo companion.

“These were serious 10- to 14-day trips taken in the summer. We went where they wanted to go. I wanted them to know there’s something else going on in the world. Now I’m out of grandchildren. A lot of people would like to give me theirs,” says Marna, who professes to be a third-world traveler.

It’s Not a Frightening World

Grandparents Bob and Judy like to feel the excitement of their grandchildren when together they visit places familiar to the grandparents.

“I want the kids to know that differences are good. There’s a world out there they should be able to travel in and be with anybody. It’s not a frightening world,” Judy underscores.

Their granddaughter, Isabelle, thinks it’s more fun to travel with Bob and Judy than with her parents. Her travel takeaways? “You never understand how much you have until you come back. You visit poor villages; you see things they can’t get in everyday life – clean water, a healthy diet. In Cape Town houses are made of trash, metal slabs, they built with their own hands. They had no electricity. A family of eight lives in a house the size of my bathroom. How grateful I am. I don’t take things for granted.”

Taking Charge in Costa Rica

Determining where to go is a challenge, says Ellen, a grandmother of six. It is especially difficult when one of the rules is that the upcoming destination can’t be one a sibling or cousin has visited. “We want them to be interested in travel and out of the basic comfort zone with their own family,” notes Ellen, underscoring the importance of guides in helping secure the impressions and memories that come with travel.

Ellen and Robert charged their 13-year old grandson to take oversee their inner-generational vacation. “Our grandson chose Costa Rica and did the research where and what he wanted to see. He made the final decision choosing a company. We just tagged along, enjoyed everything, and were thankful he chose Wildland.”

This grandson was moved to write a blog about their trip. Please see  https://ww2.wildland.com/travel-blog/costa-rica-teen-review-everything-was-perfect.html

The experience he shared expresses what Anne and I as guides and grandparents hope to foster from our inner-generational Wildland Adventures around the world. After our son traveled together with his Turkish grandfather in their ancestral homeland of Turkey, and after many family adventures together throughout the world, our son’s family is truly all of humanity. Most recently we traveled with our teenage grandson to the jungles, Mayan temples and indigenous villages of Guatemala, a journey that took him way out his comfort zone while discovering the mysteries of ancient civilizations and wildlife of tropical rainforests, and in these discoveries transforming his outlook on the world and of himself. 

Whether traveling for first-hand insight or through informed journalism, we strive for an accurate depiction of our world. Thank you for the understanding you share through your communications. If you would like to pursue this new trend with us, please let me know and I can introduce you to some of our senior and junior clients.

Helping all to become citizens of this amazing world!

Kurt Kutay

Founder and President of Wildland Adventures

Phone: 1-800-345-4453

Website:  http://www.wildland.com/

Contact Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802-234-6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dave Wiggins / 720.301.3822 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

GoFundMe for Solar-Diesel Water Pumps Will Yield Water for Elephants, Villagers in Africa’s Arid Hwange National Park

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Released on Tuesday, 28 August 2018 10:21

SEATTLE, WA, Aug. 28, 2018 – Making positive change through travel is a goal of one travel company’s new safari into southern Africa to showcase the results of a $24,000 GoFundMe campaign to purchase, install and maintain four new solar-diesel water pumps assisting elephant conservation and villages in Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe.

Wildland Adventures’ Water for Hwange Conservation Safari is scheduled for June 10-20, 2019. It is designed as a special insider’s opportunity to be immersed into a symbiosis of incredible wildlife viewing, village life, community development and hands-on conservation efforts on the front lines of wildlife protection. A new fundraising effort has been set up through the Travelers Conservation Trust foundation to support the campaign. For details please see https://www.gofundme.com/water-for-hwange.

The itinerary showcases the necessity of sustainable and reliable water sources for wildlife and clean drinking water for local villages. Guests will discover firsthand from local villagers how they now view wildlife conservation as essential to their livelihood and therefore keep a lookout for poachers who may threaten it. The per person double rate for this 11-day safari is $6,950. This includes a $600 tax-deductible contribution to the non-profit Travelers Conservation Trust that assists communities like those visited in Hwange.

The park is just an hour south of Victoria Falls, the first stop on this itinerary. From the bountiful falls of the Zambezi River, guests witness the arid realities within the park that has no major rivers. Year-round water supplies (including an aging infrastructure of diesel pumps and bore holes) are, therefore, unreliable for villagers and some 45,000 elephants. This region of grasslands and mopane woodland supports over 100 species of mammals including lion, leopard, cheetah, African wild dog and the rare sable antelope.

The Wildland Adventures safari will be led by guru safari guide Mark Butcher, a native Zimbabwean and visionary conservationist who directs wildlife conservation and community development in and around Hwange. Mark leads guests on walks in the bush to experience firsthand the impact that renewed water resources have on the wildlife and communities of Hwange.

Guests will assist in a pump run, which means working alongside villagers who tend to a system of water pumps (including the new solar hybrids) that pump water up into “pans” where animals come to drink. Game drives are coupled with village visits including school children, elders and tribal chiefs who help stitch together stories of living with wildlife, and the promise that solar water pumps and conservation hold for a better future for people and wildlife. Other tour highlights include mountain biking on elephant trails, close-up elephant viewing and photography from ground-level “look-up blinds,” and an overnight fly-camp under the African sky together with an elite Cobra unit of anti-poachers. The journey ends at a luxury camp on the banks of the Zambezi River with canoeing on the “River of Life,” the fourth largest river system on the African continent and the force that created Victoria Falls where this itinerary begins.

For more information on Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, availability and reservations call 1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visithttp://www.wildland.com/.

About Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventures in 1986. As active managing directors, they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel.

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Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802.234.6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Wildland Adventures Digs into Cuba’s Soul Via Musicians and Artists

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Released on Monday, 09 July 2018 11:24

SEATTLE, WA, July 9, 2018 – The active travel company known for its transformational journeys has curated a new, nine-day plunge into Cuba focused on that country’s soul – its art and music.

Wildland Adventures’ itinerary, Adventure Cuba: Art, Music & Dance that debuts Nov. 10-18, 2018, probes how music and the arts overall have celebrated the revolution and sustained Cubans through decades of deprivations. See: https://www.wildland.com/trips/caribbean/cuba/adventure-cuba--col---art2c-music-26-dance/overview.aspx

“Music and revolution go hand in hand in Cuba, as music in many aspects is a representation of the revolution,” says Kurt Kutay, CEO and President of Seattle-based Wildland Adventures (https://www.wildland.com/) who will be co-leading this departure with company Vice-President, Anne Kutay.

People-to-people moments are staples of all Wildland Adventures. This trip reveals the creativity of 21st century Cubans and stories of their forebears who toiled in sugarcane and tobacco fields but who never stopped singing and dancing.

“We've chosen a variety of artists and a range of both musicians and performance venues from living rooms to community centers and performance stages. Our travelers will experience the vibrant character of Cuban culture, with opportunities for open-ended Q&As in private-audience settings,” he underscores. “The musicians will showcase how deep – and how far reaching – this musical heritage is with a musicologist lecture on the history of Cuban music and performances from Dayme Arocena’s songs reflecting the original Yoruban culture up to contemporary fusion jazz performances.”

This stroll by way of Havana, Cienfuegos and Trinidad explores how music, art and dance rooted themselves in the Cuban character, helping Cubans endure isolation imposed on them by political isolation and economic blockade as they used art to challenge artificial boundaries and limitations.

Every day this exploration guarantees dialogue with Cubans who are at some level engaged in the arts: culinary, visual including needle and pottery, music, dance, literature and architecture. Some meals are taken with artists and scholars. Farmers markets and, yes, ration stores are mixed into the tour, along with a private sunset cruise and a walk through El Cubano National Park.

Guest accommodations include bed & breakfast-style overnights in casas particulares (private homes) and the glamour of Hotel Nacional de Cuba, a national monument overlooking Havana Harbor that harbors the stories of the rich and famous pre-revolutionary days. Cuban-American Gloria Estafan immortalized the hotel in song. Its gardens include a museum memorializing the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The 2018 scheduled trip date is Nov. 10-18 (additional small group scheduled departures are available and private trips on request). A per person double rate starts at $5,600. A single hotel room supplement is available for $900.  Included are:

• all guided tours, group transport (including airport transfers) and excursions;
• entrance fees, speaker fees and private concerts;
• services of two in-country guides;
• accommodations with breakfasts;
• some lunches and dinners;
• gratuities for presenters, luggage service and meals
• limited Cuban medical insurance of only $1,000 coverage;
• People-to-People tour license;
• Wildland Adventures travel consultation and pre-departure services

This itinerary is available upon request for educational and arts groups who seek to expand their familiarity with Cuban culture and music. For organized groups of 12 to 14 the per person, double rate is $5,800. For 15-18 participants the rate drops to $5,600 per person, double, including an American escort from the sponsoring organization.

Local in-country guides use their extensive network of friends and professional colleagues to design in-depth and personal small group experiences for over 18-years leading specialist in tours of Cuba and focusing on Cuba’s burgeoning music world.

For more information on the new Cuba programs as well as all of Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, availability and reservations call1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit http://www.wildland.com/.

Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventuresin 1986. As active managing directors they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel. The ‘Wild Style’ is based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel. Rated by National Geographic Adventure as the #1 Best ‘Do-it-all’ Outfitter on EarthandFodor’s as one of the World’s Best Tour Specialists, Wildland Adventures offers more than 150 unique itineraries on seven continents in 45 countries.

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Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802-234-6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Wildland Adventures Immerses Guests In Spiritual Life of India Over 10-Day Journey in February 2019

Details

Released on Thursday, 05 April 2018 11:06

SEATTLE, WA, April 5, 2018 – A rare journey in 2019 will guide guests over 10 days through the centuries-old worlds and traditions that help define today’s spiritual universe of India.

Wildland Adventures has organized this Feb. 9-18, 2019, trip, Diving into Immortality, to culminate at the Kumbh Mela (The Festival of the Urn), a 45-day spiritual gathering in Allahabad, which the Hindus consider to be India’s religious capital.

A massive pilgrimage of faith and the most euphoric religious event in India, the Kumbh Mela observes the largest congregation of men, women and children on the planet. It is especially renowned for the presence of an extraordinary array of sages, yogis, mendicants and religious ascetics (sadhus and mahants) enticed from remote hideaways in forests, mountains and caves. During the festival, more than 10 million zealous devotees gather together to wash away their sins for the purification of body, mind and soul. The city vibrates in hectic religious fervor amidst the intermittent chanting of mantras, the heart-rending dance of the Aghori (people smeared with cremation ashes) and the holy ghats (steps to the river) lit up with fiery diyas (oil lamps). The Hindu people hold this festival in the highest regard because the Kumbh Mela, representing a cycled phased over 12 years is considered to be the most auspicious time to take a dip in the sacred river and attain a step forward toward salvation.

“Over the two days we spend in Allahabad, we will step out of the comfort of our luxury tents in the heart of the Kumbh Mela to the center of the largest gathering of sadhus and pilgrims on earth. Streets are awash in ash-covered bodies hung with garlands of bright orange marigolds. The smells, sights and sounds overwhelm the senses. With our camp host and personal guru, we will walk into a zone unknown to western culture and religion. I predict we will return home reborn with new perspectives that will manifest in positive changes in our lives. This is how travel can be transformational,” underscored Kurt Kutay, Wildland Adventures’ founding CEO/President.

Shepherding Wildland guests from their “glamping” tents will be host Lakshmi Singh, a spiritual disciple of two great Advait philosophy masters and a princess from the royal family of Tikari in Bihar. She spent years operating luxury camps throughout India. In 1989 she discovered the Kumbh Mela when one dip in the holy Ganges changed her life. She has traveled multiple times to Allahabad to be part of the special gathering with her guru. Lakshmi and expert guides navigate guests through the sea of people and labyrinth of piety, providing unrivaled access and photographic opportunities.

In the week leading up to this immersion, Wildland Adventures’ guests dive into India’s soul in some of its holiest cities. The itinerary begins in with the imperial vibe of New Delhi and the frenetic bustle of Old Delhi, moving on to Amritsar, the center of the Sikh religion, and then to the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi and Allahabad, both so sacred for the Hindu religion.

Guests lodge in New Delhi at Claridges, which gives a nod to this city’s British colonial past. They enjoy modern regional Indian dishes in the gardens of the National Handicrafts Museum and they witness the world of street children as seen through the eyes of the children themselves, now trained as local guides. Here in India’s capital city are vestiges of the one-time Mughal Empire that was ruled by a Muslim dynasty.

The Sikh religion, the world’s fifth largest religion, is introduced at the gold-plated holy shrine in Amritsar, the site of Sikhism, a religion founded in the 15th century in part as a rejection of the Hindu caste system. Since 1481 the Golden Temple has been serving free hot meals (Langar) to people of all faiths who come to its doors. Volunteers, along with 300 sewadars (permanent helpers), daily prepare over 50,000 nourishing vegetarian meals. Wildland travelers join devotees to witness the Langar and participate in an evening Palki Sahib ceremony that prepares a palki orpalanquin (a large box carried on horizontal poles) for the transport of the Guru Granth Sahib (Holy Book) from the main shrine to the inner sanctum, laying the book to rest for the evening. The Sikhs also represent an ethnic group known as Punjabis. Out in the country guests visit a working farm and sit down to tandoori, a typical Punjabi lunch, returning in the evening to Swarna Amritsar, a five-star Taj hotel.

In Varanasi guests participate in the glittering Aarti ceremony on the Ganges when to honor the deities candle wicks soaked in ghee (purified butter) are set afloat. And guests walk through the great cremation ground of Shiva, the deity that destroys evil. The host hotel here, Suryauday Haveli, is located beside the river with convenient access to a particular flight of steps to the river, the Ganga Ghats. Guests have multiple opportunities in this, one of the oldest living cities in the world, to witness the rituals of life and the afterlife that are focused on Mother Ganga.  

The per person double rate exclusive of international and domestic air is from $6,395. A single supplement is $2,375. For details please see: http://www.wildland.com/trips/asia/india/diving-into-immortality/overview.aspx.

For more information on Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, availability and reservations call 1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visithttp://www.wildland.com/.

About Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventures in 1986. As active managing directors, they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel. The ‘Wild Style’ is based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel.

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Follow Wildland Adventures

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/wildlandadventures

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/WildTravel

YouTube:       https://www.youtube.com/wildtravel

Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/wildtravel

Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802.234.6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dave Wiggins / 720.301.3822 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Wildland Adventures Introduces Three New Tour Itineraries to The Emerging Travel Hot Spot of Colombia

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Released on Thursday, 22 February 2018 13:53

SEATTLE, WA, Feb. 22, 2018 – Successful tour operation requires months if not years of careful research and planning. One award-winning travel company known for its meticulous tour development, Wildland Adventures, is now primed to introduce the newest emerging travel hot spot of Colombia.

For 2018, Wildland Adventures (http://www.wildland.com/) offers three new active tour itineraries in Columbia that weave culture and wildlife with hiking, rafting and birdwatching.

“Now that peace and security have been restored, Colombia is “one of the world’s extraordinary new travel hot spots because of its stunning biodiversity and cultural heritage,” said Kurt Kutay, Wildland Adventures founder and president.

Americans are often surprised by the sophistication they find upon shaking hands with such South American gems as Bogota, Colombia’s capital. These itineraries introduce the 500-year-old patinas of vibrant cities, still cobblestoned, former colonial hubs that welcomed explorers, pirates and conquistadors searching for El Dorado.

“Our Wildland Adventures in Colombia utilize a comprehensive network of new airline connections and a good primary road system, with 4x4 access on secondary roads into more remote regions and trailheads. The last decade has seen new-found economic growth and political stability, andvastly improved security presenting itself as the new gateway to South America. As tourism develops, restored colonial boutique hotels and ecolodges are popping up across the country. There’s also an exciting gastronomic scene evolving,” added Kutay.

Colombia is a virtual topographical and ecological smorgasbord with…

• two coastlines, the Caribbean to the east and the Pacific to the west,
• Andes Mountains thrusting to 18,700 feet in elevation
• Amazon rainforests splayed across the horizon below Andean cloud forests
• Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, the most irreplaceable concentration of biodiversity on Earth

Rafting, snorkeling and diving into freshwater rivers and salty seas hint at a gold standard of adventure. Along with prehistoric and extant jungle creatures come nearly 20 percent of the world’s bird species. The company’s Colombia Wildlands and Wildlife is a 14-day program that starts and ends in Bogota. The per person double rate is from $5,840. See: http://www.wildland.com/trips/south-america/colombia/colombia-wildlands-and-wildlife/overview.aspx.

In Bogota guests visit vibrant neighborhoods and plazas, including the impressive Gold Museum and the Botero Museum. Fernando Botero’s transcendent depictions of his people recall themes familiar in the work of Mexico’s Diego Rivera. Then the economy and culture of coffee come to life in the cool uplands of the central Andes, along with sub-tropical cloud forest rife with bird and wildlife. One of the world’s most difficult genus of birds to catch sight of, antpittas, and the masked saltator and ocellated tapaculo are protected in their natural habitat in the Rio Blanco Nature Reserve.

The Amazon Basin eco system introduces a conservation project and eco-lodge helping support indigenous peoples on their own lands. The tour visits a foundation that protects and studies primates on site.Another ecosystem of montaine forest rises to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains, a coastal range home to around 600 bird species. Once off-limits for security reasons, the San Lorenzo Ridge is the crown jewel of the avian habitat, allowing birders to see over 20 of the Sierra’s 24 endemic species representing the highest level of endemism in the world. Here are the Santa Marta parakeet and rufous antpittas that can be spotted walking along the road just before sunrise.

Highlights of Colombia is an 11-day itinerary from $3,150 per person double. See: http://www.wildland.com/trips/south-america/colombia/highlights-of-colombia/overview.aspx#/overview.

Guests meet in Bogota before transferring to Villa de Leyva, a 16th century colonial town surrounded by a dry Andean Acacia forest. Guests hike in a nearby cloud forest and bike in the adventure capital of Colombia, the province of Santander, where the UNESCO World Heritage town of Barichara dating to the Spanish conquest remains “the prettiest town in Colombia.” One six-mile hike on the cobblestoned Caminos Reales (Royal Road) leads to a meet up with a restoration specialist who demonstrates how to construct mud adobe brick walls in their original style. Caminos Reales also connects to Chicamocha, the Grand Canyon of South America. A stay at a coffee plantation concludes the interior tour before moving to the Caribbean coast to explore Tayrona National Park, a bio-diverse, palm-fringed paradise skirting white sand beaches. Here are the ruins of El Pueblito, a vast system of stone terraces, aquaducts and round platform foundations of an ancient civilization.

Leaving nature behind, Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage city, teases appetites for colonial and Caribbean flavors in this former (1533) Spanish port. A visit includes a foodie walk stopping at favorite cafes and food stands frequented by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the fabled author of, among others, Love in the Time of Cholera. Kutay thinks that Cartagena is the most seductive city of the Caribbean.

“Here in the capital of amor, we eat and drink our way through Cartagena following in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ footsteps with a literary expert reciting excerpts from the author’s writings describing his favorite food stands, pastries, cafes and local drinks that we savor on a Marquez culinary walk in Cartagena,” he added.

Unexplored Colombia: Coffee, Culture, and Coast over 12 days combines the Coffee Triangle with whale watching (extension) on the Pacific. The per person double rate is from $3,660. See: http://www.wildland.com/trips/south-america/colombia/unexplored-colombia/overview.aspx.

From Bogota guests travel to Cali, famed for the Salsa Dance Academy. Medellin (the departure city) is revered as one of the most beautiful places in South America. Here via cable car, guests access the re-invigorated and thriving barrio that drug king Pablo Escobar helped build. They also hike through the Otun Quimbaya Flora & Fauna Sanctuary, a cloud forest with hundreds of species of butterflies; birds ranging from eagles to hummingbirds; and mammals, including spectacled bears, tapir, deer, cane skunks, and howler monkeys. Enroute to the Andes guests may climb 600+ stone steps for a 360-degree view from El Penol, amassive stone rising out of the flat ground and once worshiped by the Tahamies Indians. The one-time mansion of Pablo Escobar is nearby.

Guests engaged in the extension to the Pacific Coast fly to the Chocó region. Here there are no roads, just air and boat access. Misty jungle-clad hills spouting waterfalls and hot springs meet the white sand of the Pacific. This biodiverse region offers kayaking around one of world’s largest humpback whale migrations (June – November).Located in the Biological Conservation Corridor Panamá-Chocó-Manabí, this zone is one of the most pristine marine ecosystems in the Pacific.

For more information on Wildland Adventures’ worldwide offerings, tour availability and reservations call 1-800-345-4453 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visitonline at http://www.wildland.com/.

About Wildland Adventures

Kurt Kutay, Founding CEO/President, and Anne Kutay, Vice-President, established Wildland Adventures in 1987. As active managing directors, they are continuously refining and evolving their Wild Style of travel. The ‘Wild Style’ is based on an ethic of sincerity, compassion and understanding that breaks down barriers of separation to build lasting intercultural, interpersonal, and environmental bonds designed to enhance rather than exploit the people and places where they travel.

# # #

Follow Wildland Adventures

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/wildlandadventures

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/WildTravel

YouTube:       https://www.youtube.com/wildtravel

Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/wildtravel

Contact Widness & Wiggins PR for photos, interviews and more information:

Sara Widness / 802.234.6704 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dave Wiggins / 720.301.3822 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.