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Travel + Leisure readers (and our guests) have just named IE one of the Top 10 “World’s Best” Tour Operators and Safari Outfitters! To qualify for the awards, tour operators were judged on six criteria, including the food. And while our small-group journeys remain committed to exploration, even confirmed “foodies” will find meals worth raving about in Earth’s wild regions.
You’ll work up quite an appetite during daily excursions. And whether it’s sampling restaurants in Lima, Peru, or local fare in India, or settling down for a sumptuous meal in the heart of Laos, you’ll enjoy meals to satisfy every palate. Plus, whenever possible, we use locally grown food to stimulate the economy and give you a fresh taste of the local culture and cuisine.
Some of the true culinary treats IE offers guests include opportunities to dine in a restaurant featured on No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain on our Vietnam vacation, and an exclusive sunset meal at the Miraflores Locks — a Frommer’s Top 5 dining experience on our Panama tour.
Selection of Restaurants:
Anh Tuyet’s (Laos & Vietnam)
Featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations series, Anh Tuyet is a well-known local chef and artist. The restaurant is famous for all kinds of local delicacies but most famous for their roast chicken, which you will sample.
International Miraflores Restaurant (Panama)
As an exclusive treat for International Expeditions’ guests, one dinner in Panama City will be at the fine International Miraflores Restaurant at the Miraflores Locks. Named one of Panama’s “Top Five” dining experiences, from the terrace and dining room we watch ships navigate on their way through the Panama Canal.
Petra Kitchen (Wings Over the Nile)
The Petra Kitchen (pictured) is a relaxed, informal atmosphere where you’ll gather to prepare an evening meal, working alongside local women under the supervision of a chef. Each evening meal includes soup, cold and hot mezza and salads, and a main course — all typical Jordanian dishes. You glimpse of the secrets behind the famous regional cuisine of the Levant.
The readers of Travel + Leisure chose International Expeditions as one of the “Top 10 Tour Operators & Safari Outfitters” in the magazine’s 2010 World’s Best Awards survey. This is the seventh consecutive year IE has been named to the prestigious “World’s Best” list.
“Anytime our company and staff are recognized for the passion and dedication we put into travel, it’s an honor,” said Maggie Hart, IE President. “What makes the ‘World’s Best’ list so special is that it is voted on by our guests – the people who know us the best. And making it to that list seven consecutive years reinforces to all of us at IE the importance of the personal service and engaging, educational adventures we offer.”
To qualify for the World’s Best Awards, readers of Travel + Leisure judged tour operators on six criteria: staff/guides, itineraries/destinations, activities, accommodations, food and value. Out of a total of 100 points, International Expeditions received an outstanding overall score of 90.39.
It’s truly International Expeditions’ enthusiastic local guides that make our Galapagos Island vacations so special, and no one is more passionate about his work than Galapagos Expedition Leader and Naturalist Bolivar Sanchez! We recently asked Boli six quick questions.
If you could be any animal, what would you be?
I would love to be a hammerhead shark — they live on the edge.
What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?
Victoria, Canada was fantastic! It is very pristine and wild outside in the country, but also a modern, organized city.
Is there a past vacation or place you’ve visited that got you hooked on travel?
Not in particular. I just like traveling, and if I did not have to work I would only travel and take pictures.
Where will you visit next?
I am planning a 10-day trip with my family to Argentina and Chile. We’re going to the cities to eat and sample the Chilean wines, then heading to Iguazú Falls.
Given that you’ve lived in Galapagos and visit so often, is there anything in the islands that still surprises you?
Galapagos is a very special place and the wildlife in general surprises me all the time, but it is really the underwater world that I love so much! That’s why I love taking Evolution guests snorkeling there is so much to experience.
April’s issue of Delta Sky magazine featured International Expeditions’ Galapagos Island cruise and your skills as a naturalist. Has being a “big star” changed your life?
I am nowhere near a big star, but almost half of the people that traveled with me in April had read the story. It was fun to have guests already know my name and background before we ever got on the ship!
Read Delta Sky’s article about our Galapagos tour.
We’ll just come right out and say this: We’re a little late to the game, Dear Blog Reader, in responding to the International League of Conservation Photographers‘ list of “Top 40 Nature Photos of All Time” unveiled last week for Earth Day, but given the context of “all time,” a few days is trivial.
These nature photos, eons in the making, are truly captivating and visually accomplish what they set out to achieve: to serve, elevate and glorify the stunning colors and forms of the natural world. No doubt the ILCP members had their work cut out for them having to cull down from thousands of pics to this amazing top 40 selection. (The ILCP is a fellowship of the top professional conservation photographers working today.) Members of the ILCP were encouraged to keep in mind several compositional qualities when picking the top ones. Considering “factors such as aesthetics, uniqueness, historical and scientific significance, or contribution to conservation efforts,” all played an important part of the decision making process.
One of our favorites was Frans Lanting’s Galapagos Island “Tortoises at Dawn,” yet, the Crimson Tide fans couldn’t help but be compelled by “Twilight of the Giants,” also by Lanting. Of course, our selections were not made with the sort of criterion in mind that ILCP members had to go by — our responses were purely visceral.
Below are the photos, along with the photographers’ commentary. To see all of the Top 40 Photographs, visit the ILCP Flickr page.
“During the year I spent living in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, I worked at night for periods of time, waking up at sunset to follow animals through the hours of darkness. I often started the evening at a favorite water hole where I hunkered down by the edge and made myself a fixture in the landscape. Elephants moved around me in the waning light like shadowy forms. One evening a herd of bulls gathered across the water from me, rising above their reflections under an October moon, in a primeval scene of ancient Africa” – Frans Lanting
“The Galapagos Islands provide a window on time. In a geological sense, the islands are young, yet they appear ancient. The largest animals native to this famed archipelago are giant tortoises, which can live for more than a century. These are the creatures that provided Charles Darwin with the flash of imagination that led to his theory of evolution. Today their populations are reduced on most islands. But inside the Alcedo volcano on Isabela Island I experienced a world where giant tortoises still roamed in ancient abundance. One misty morning When the tortoises were asleep in a pond, I was able to create an image that evokes the era when reptiles dominated life on land.” – Frans Lanting
If you’re flying the friendly skies during the month of April, flip to page 70 and read the feature, “Islands Apart.” In this entertaining and succinctly narrated article, Sky Executive Editor Sarah Elbert details her Galapagos Islands adventure cruise aboard International Expeditions’ M/V Evolution from her trip in January 2010. The rich photos and personality driven narrative transport you inside Elbert’s own Galapagos Islands adventure. She writes, “Certain places and experiences have the power to take away our stress, but also to cut through our armor of adult decorum and reach the place where we feel free to cheer, ‘Look, a penguin!’ Or subtly brag about seeing a hammerhead shark.”
As for her Galapagos experience aboard M/V Evolution, Elbert writes, “The Evolution embodied casual comfort, with spacious, well-appointed rooms and public areas, and the staff was accessible, helpful, and friendly.”
For yet another insider’s look at “the living laboratory that inspired Charles Darwin back in the 1800s,” check out Elbert’s own pictures from the Galapagos trip on deltaskymag.com.
International Expeditions is thrilled to extend a hardy “Thank You” to all of the past guests and agents who voted for us in the 2009 Travel + Leisure “World’s Best” awards.
For the sixth consecutive year, International Expeditions has been voted one of the “World’s Best” Tour Operators and Safari Outfitters!
