Wild Frontiers

Jonny's Travel News - December 2011

Newsletter - December 2011

The year the world went WILD!

Looking back over 2011 it’s hard not to reflect on a fairly challenging year. Nature unleashed all manner of horrors, from earthquakes in New Zealand and tsunamis in Japan to floods in Thailand and volcanic eruptions in South America. There were unprecedented political upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East. And with many of the economies of the world in turmoil, 2011 could be said to have thrown up the perfect storm.

But for all that, things over at WF have been holding pretty firm. This year we have run some amazing new group tours to the Congo, Sudan and Albania. Our tailor-made department has blossomed organising some wonderful holidays, beyond our traditional locations, to South America, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. And our new website went live at the end of September.

They say out of adversity comes strength and character… let’s hope so! But if there is one thing I have learnt running Wild Frontiers, it is the need to be flexible and reactive, which is one of the joys of running a small business.      

My Latest Adventure

It was almost a year since I had been to India and I was delighted to return and explore the central region in October. From Delhi I headed down to Bhopal, a city inextricably linked to the Union Carbide disaster of 1984, but a place I found to be rich in architectural splendour and around which are a host of fascinating sites. From here I headed down to explore the lush and remote Satpura National Park before heading on to Hyderabad the City of Pearls. Here I stayed in the most amazing hotel I have ever visited, not because the Falaknuma Palace is so luxurious – although it is – but because by staying here, the sixth Nizam’s former play palace, the history of the city comes to life. So important is this to the overall experience we have added it to the new and much improved Heart of India group tour. More than any other part of the country Central India offers a huge variety of sites and experiences and my trip here thoroughly reenergised my love of the wonderful subcontinent.

A Year of Group Adventure

At Wild Frontiers we are always keen to push the envelope, but even by our standards 2011 was an exceptional year. Following an idea I had back in 1992 while travelling the African continent on my motorbike, we finally got our Congo River journey – in the footsteps of Stanley – away, and if you haven’t already read Kat’s Congo blogs I advise you to do so, they are outstanding. In Ethiopia’s remote Omo Valley, Mette Steen ran another extraordinary trip along the rivers western bank (which did involve a few unexpected issues, scrambling through knee deep mud), Amanda ran an interesting new trip Around the Caspian Sea, and Jorge took a very adventurous group across Lake Aswan and deep into Sudan’s Nubian Desert on our Road to Khartoum trip.  All of which we are running again in 2012, a part from the Congo, which we will embark on again in 2013. 

As far as my own travels were concerned it was more about recces than leading trips, with exploratory adventures in Syria, Mexico, Burma and Central India. I did lead one epic trip, a brand new horse ride – not just to us, but ever! – through the mountains of southern Albania and I implore anyone that likes getting off the beaten track to take a look at the pictures and video of this ground-breaking adventure; apologies for the interesting Albania dialogue. 

And then of course there were our usual haunts, with wonderful trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir all of which saw a large rise in numbers travelling and all of which passed of smoothly. 

Tailor-Made Holidays

With the tailor-made holidays department accounting for almost 50% of our clients trips this is a hugely important area and although traditionally of a ‘softer’ nature than the groups, we are pleased to report running some wonderful private holidays here.

Through our new Wild Child brand we have organised some amazing family adventures in Ecuador & the Galapagos, Kerala & South India, Kyrgyzstan & Uzbekistan. For Wild Romance we have done honeymoons in Botswana & Mozambique, India & Kashmir, Cambodia and Bhutan. And for Wild In Style we have run some amazing bespoke adventures in Argentina, Chile & Bolivia, Kenya & Tanzania, Laos & Cambodia and Bhutan.

With our team of highly experienced travel specialists we are ideally suited to setting up these kind of trips and hope to so many more next year.

Arab Spring Update

To say that 2011 began with a bang would be a master understatement! Each of the first four months of the year saw us evacuating a group as country after country fell to the cries of democracy. So where are we now? Well, as ever, for many of these countries stretching along the North African coast and into the Middle East the situation is unclear, but for others things are looking good and 2012 should see increase possibilities in this region. Here is my country by country assessment:

Jordan: Nothing much happening here politically and with numbers generally lower than normal, this is a great time to visit. Either contact James in our tailor-made department or check out our new horse tour, Ride Wadi Rum led by Richard Dunwoody.

Egypt: Although politically things are far from finalised here, that does not mean you can’t go. The troubles have nothing to do with us, are generally far from places you’ll visit and again with tourist numbers much lower than normal, in my opinion now is a great time to visit. Again either contact James or we have a few places left on the January departure of our Egypt Tomb Raiders Tour.

Libya: This is an interesting one and we are hoping to get back in there ASAP. Libya was a huge destination for us, and as such I am hoping to head out there in March to see how things look. It is then our hope to be running groups and bespoke itineraries from October.

Syria: This is much harder to predict but with the troubles on-going I think I t will be some time before are running trips here. We all just hope things will sort themselves out as this is one of the most fascinating and tourist-friendly places I have ever been. (The double car bombing in Damascus on Dec 23rd will not help matters) 

Yemen: Again hard to tell but I suspect it will be some time before we have out group tours running to Yemen. We are looking at a Sana’a Socotra only tour but even for that we need a stable Sana’a and that might be a fair way off. Watch this space?

Morocco: Absolutely fine; I was there for a week in November. Book up through Nigel

Oman: Not only fine, hot for 2012! So again contact James or try our wonderful new group tour, Oman Desert Adventure this February, but please be aware there are only 2 places left.

Our New Website

After a huge amount of work – thousands of hours over 15 months, September finally saw our new website go live. Although there were quite a few glitches, and there are still many aspects we are working to improve, we are happy that this new site will help us move forward. This week has seen a new photo sharing facility go live, where clients returning from a trip will be able to share their pictures with others from the trip. The blogs page we can see you’ve been enjoying will be redesigned – and please remember this is for you to blog as well – and the Wild Tribe area is being prepared.   

Awards

This year saw us win more awards, kicking off the year with another highly recommended in the Wanderlust Best Tour operator category. Our Hindu Kush Adventure was then voted by National Geographic Adventure Top 50 Trips of a Lifetime and we finished the year gaining silver medal in the Guardian Observer small tour operator category. Added to that Wild Frontiers former guide Mark Chapman also won silver in the AITO Responsible Travel Awards for his amazing efforts with TESFA (Tourism in Ethiopia for Sustainable Future Alternatives).   

Events

Join us at the Frontline Club on Thursday, 12 January for a presentation evening exploring Central Asia's Silk Road and the Tea and Horse Caravan Trail in China.

We have also had some wonderful events this year, and the aim is to have many more in 2012. Having moved now from the Troubadour to the Frontline Club in Paddington we have had evenings discussing Ethiopia, Pakistan and the Silk Road. We had a great India evening in Brick Lane, and an interesting night of travel inspiration with Al Humphreys and Howard Marks in Covent Garden. As well had the great pleasure of being invited to talk to the Oxford University Explorers Club. On 12 January Marc Leaderman and I will be hosting a talk on Ancient Trading Routes through China and Central Asia at the Frontline Club. On the evening we will also welcome special guest and Wild Frontiers' guide, Ed Jocelyn, who will talk about our new trip, Wild Walk in Old China. The Walk was actually named amoung Wanderlust Travel Magazine's Best New Trips for 2012.  

Wild Frontiers will also be attending the Adventure Travel Show in January and Destinations Travel Show in February. Visit our Events page for more details on all happenings early in the New Year.