National Geographic ADVENTURE

Meet the Adventurers of the Year: Astronaut John Grunsfeld

2009-11-24T10:46:00-05:00

Voice from Outer Space: Astronaut John Grunsfeld Around NASA, he’s known as “the Hubble Repairman.” And last May, on his third visit to the orbiting space telescope, John Grunsfeld pulled off the repair to end all repairs. Working at zero gravity some 350 miles above the surface of the Earth, the astronaut restored sight to a half-blind Hubble—called the greatest scientific instrument ever invented—and ensured that it will continue to send back the stunning images and mind-boggling data that have transformed our understanding of the universe. Having just turned 51, Grunsfeld has spent his career championing manned space exploration. At a time when astronaut-led programs are being called into question, ADVENTURE tracked down Grunsfeld at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to learn about his May mission and why going manned matters. Read the story and view images >> *** Two weeks ago we announced the 2009 Adventurers of the...

Best New Trips in the World: Hiking California's Sierra High Route

2009-11-24T10:00:00-05:00

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present California. The world's far corners are now well within reach. CALIFORNIA: Thru-Hike the Sierra “What makes the Sierra High Route so unique,” says Ian Elman, owner of Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides, “is that it’s not a trail, it’s a concept.” That concept—invented in the 1970s by a guy named Steve Roper, who wrote The Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country—is to trace the highest points across the Sierra while staying above tree line and away from other hikers. The thing is, it’s exceedingly difficult to execute this concept on your own: Only a handful of people complete it each year. Lucky for you, Andrew Skurka will lead the inaugural Sierra High Route outfitted crossing for Southern Yosemite Mountain...

Best New Trips in the World: Sea Kayak, Snorkel, and Swim with Whales in Tonga

2009-11-23T10:00:00-05:00

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present Tonga. The world's far corners are now well within reach. TONGA: Whale World Each June, some 450 humpback whales arrive in the shallow waters off Tonga’s Ha’apai Islands to mate and calf, transforming the archipelago into an oversize nursery until September. The Ha’apai are one of the only places in the world where you can snorkel with the 50-foot-long mammals—and starting next year, Wilderness Travel will be the only tour operator to bring clients here to do it. “They’re really curious and let you get very close,” says the outfitter’s Barbara Banks. Just don’t expect a Sea World encounter. “It’s done with the absolute strictest guidelines about behavior around the whales,” adds Banks. “There is no contact.” Click...

Gear Crush: Nikon's Coolpix Projector Camera

2009-11-20T15:32:38-05:00

With all due respect to Facebook, the most rewarding way to share trip photos is the old-school method: in person. And Nikon’s Coolpix S1000pj lets you do just that. Easily. The world’s first camera with a built-in projector, it turns any white backdrop into an impromptu slide show. Projections are clear up to 3 x 4 feet—surprisingly good for a pocket-size device. The camera itself isn’t bad either, with 12.1MP and Nikon’s Best Shot Selector, which takes up to ten frames per click and keeps the sharpest ($430; nikonusa.com). —Catharine Livingston

Best New Trips in the World: Shadowing Rick Ridgeway's Journey Through Tanzania and Kenya, From Kilimanjaro to the Indian Ocean

2009-11-20T10:00:00-05:00

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present Tanzania and Kenya. The world's far corners are now well within reach. TANZANIA + KENYA: Beyond Kili In the ’70s and ’80s, Rick Ridgeway was on a tear: He became one of the first Americans to summit K2, joined the second U.S. expedition to conquer Everest, and dragged a 250-pound handcart across a Tibetan plateau. But perhaps his most outlandish idea was to climb Mount Kilimanjaro . . . and keep walking all the way to the Indian Ocean. In 1997 he did just that, publishing an account of his journey, The Shadow of Kilimanjaro. Since Ridgeway’s feat—which included the first west-east crossing of 11,000-square-mile Tsavo West and East National Parks—Tropical Ice Limited has been retracing portions of...

Meet the Adventurers of the Year: Ultra Runner Diane Van Deren

2009-11-19T13:39:23-05:00

Going the Distance: Ultra Runner Diane Van Deren On February 15, 2009, a dozen runners toed the starting line of the Yukon Arctic Ultra, a 430-miler across frozen tundra in the dead of winter. With 30-below temperatures and seven-hour windows of daylight, it’s said to be the toughest race in the world. Not a single woman had ever completed it. But, then, there is no woman like Diane Van Deren. Twelve years ago Van Deren, a former pro tennis player, had a kiwi-size chunk of her brain removed to treat epileptic seizures. The lobectomy was successful, but since then she has noticed a strange side effect: She can run without pause for hours. Read the story and view images >> *** Last week we announced the 2009 Adventurers of the Year, selected for their extraordinary achievements in exploration, conservation, action sports, and humanitarian work. Now, for the first time ever,...

Best New Trips in the World: Surf, Hike, and Mountain Bike Pristine Sri Lanka

2009-11-19T10:00:00-05:00

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present Sri Lanka. The world's far corners are now well within reach. SRI LANKA: MIA No More After the tsunami of 2004 and the resolution of a decades-long civil war, Sri Lanka is finally starting to look like its old self: a peaceful destination where surf lineups are nonexistent despite world-class waves and centuries-old tea estates are lined with mountain bike–ready trails. “The silver lining of the civil war is that the land and wildlife have remained untouched,” says Lisa Bolger, trip coordinator for Access Trips, one of the very few outfitters leading excursions to the Indian Ocean island this coming year. Access’s new itinerary combines surfing at Hikkaduwa (Sri Lanka’s answer to Costa Rica’s Tamarindo—minus the tourists), hiking...

Meet the Adventurers of the Year: Educator Khadija Bahram

2009-11-18T13:22:25-05:00

Last week we announced the 2009 Adventurers of the Year, selected for their extraordinary achievements in exploration, conservation, action sports, and humanitarian work. Now, for the first time ever, you can vote for the Readers' Choice Adventurer of the Year. To help you get to know them, we are going to highlight a different adventurer daily. You can only vote once, so make sure to check out each adventurers' profile, video, and photo gallery, before firing up our voting machine. Face of HopeThe gunmen came from the center of the village, each carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle. They looked at the vehicle, a dusty SUV with the battered logo of an aid organization: IRC (International Rescue Committee). Inside, three women sat with their driver. The group had just arrived from Gardez in eastern Afghanistan, where they were working to establish a project to aid disabled children. The gunmen knew this,...

Win a Trip to the 2010 Winter Olympics

2009-11-18T13:07:42-05:00

The winter Olympics are close to home this year, and its not too late to plan a trip to Vancouver to witness the festivities. And if you enter Tourism Vancouver's 2010 Winter Games Sweepstakes, you'll have a shot at the "Gold" prize package, an all-inclusive three-night stay at a swanky Vancouver hotel, plus tickets to select alpine and hockey events and the closing ceremony. But a trip to the games doesn't have to mean sitting on the sidelines: Only 10 percent of Whistler Blackcomb's slopes will be strictly for Olympians—that leaves 7,500 acres for your own skiing enjoyment. If your other costs are covered (the Gold prize is worth almost 10,000 bucks!), you can spring for a few lift tickets. Enter here. —Greer Schott

Best New Trips in the World: Tracking Wildlife in Slovakia

2009-11-18T10:00:00-05:00

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present Slovakia. The world's far corners are now well within reach. SLOVAKIA: Tracking a Wild Pack Thirteen years ago, British biologist Robin Rigg ventured into Slovakia’s Carpathian Mountains to study wolves, and he never left. During the course of his research, he has published multiple studies on the canids, founded the Slovakia Wolf Census Program, and, on several occasions, crept to within 15 feet of his carnivorous subjects. Now Rigg is looking to the Carpathians’ Tatra Range, whose 8,000-foot-plus peaks are host to what is becoming a serious hunting problem. “Hunters tend to greatly exaggerate the numbers of wolves and lynx,” says Rigg, “which leads to unjustified persecution.” His plan is to take stock of the wildlife with the...