“I’m a writer and my husband runs a nonprofit organization. We have two teenagers and are the type of family that typically goes to national parks, museums and cultural events for our vacations. We’re big on educational travel. Now that the kids are old enough to be left behind, my husband and I are looking to take our first extended kid-free vacation in almost two decades. (We’ll also be celebrating my 50th birthday.) I want to go abroad for two weeks and have the middle-aged equivalent of the monthlong backpacking trip through Eastern Europe that I did in college in the 1990s. We don’t want an organized tour but do want opportunities to learn new things, stretch our minds and bodies — and perhaps have a little bit of an adventure and return home with a new perspective on the world.” — Heather, Staunton, Va.; budget: under $10,000
A few years ago, T asked the travel writer Pico Iyer and T writer-at-large Aatish Taseer, as well as three other professional wanderers, to devise a list of the 25 most extraordinary travel experiences, which should make for an excellent starting point for your big trip. Had I been on that panel (I joined the magazine the following year), I would’ve lobbied to add one more destination to the list: Rwanda. For me, the most memorable trips, the ones that “reverberate inside of me,” as Iyer said in that article, are to places that have experienced recent devastating upheaval yet convey a tremendous sense of optimism. Rwanda, a small East-Central African country with epic mountain landscapes, is a prime example, having famously rehabilitated itself after the 1994 genocide in which some 800,000 people were killed, thanks in part to tourism. Today, it’s a sparkling conference hub and a luxury tourist destination. The main draw for visitors are the gorilla treks — hikes into the forests of Volcanoes National Park to see some of the last remaining mountain gorillas left in the wild (the park is home to about 360 habituated gorillas, about a third of the world’s total population). And while those encounters are undeniably thrilling, the hiking permits are pricey ($1,500 per person per day), as are many of the mountain lodges, though one of my favorites, Amakoro Songa Lodge, set in an immaculate garden, is a particularly good value (from $2,300 a night for two, including meals). To save money, you could skip the gorilla trek and go in search of golden monkeys instead ($100 per permit).
You’ll also want to spend time in the capital, Kigali, with its art galleries, open-air restaurants and craft shops. The museum at the Kigali Genocide Memorial is alone worth the trip. For hotels there, Heaven (from about $125 a night) and its upscale sister property, the Retreat (from about $570 a night), offer abundant charm and city tours. If you’d like help organizing the entire trip (and a guide and driver), try Custom Safaris or Micato Safaris. They’ll likely exceed your budget but both companies are longtime supporters of various community projects, including schools and scholarships. I can think of no better splurge.
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