Up-market travel agency Abercrombie & Kent offers destinations where you’re completely off-grid — no phones, no mains electricity, no fax, no Internet, not even running water.
The company offers packages to all these places, with starting prices ranging from $850 U.S. a day for the Argentina trip to $9,995 for a 14-day trip to Antarctica. See www.abercrombiekent.com or call 1-800-554-7094 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-554-7094 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
Los Glaciares, Argentina
“To truly understand Argentina and its proud rural traditions, travel to the vast steppe lands of Patagonia where ice shelves and glaciers give way to beech forests and remote plains. El Calafate is the jumping off point for adventure and remote Eolo Lodge offers heart-stopping views and home-cooked meals.
Ride across the pampas to find flamingos in a turquoise lagoon, hike on glaciers or relax in the sauna with a glass of Malbec.”
Galapagos Islands
“About 1,000 kilometres from the nearest landfall, this archipelago in the Pacific off the coast of Ecuador is a wildlife paradise,” says a release from Abercrombie & Kent. “Thirteen islands and countless islets are home to an extraordinary array of wildlife including the giant Galapagos tortoise, marine and land iguana, Galapagos penguin, sea lion and shark.”
Antarctica
“When you land on the Antarctic Peninsula, you are more than 1,200 kilometres from the southern tip of South America, surrounded by glaciers, icebergs and wildlife.”
Cataract Canyon, Utah
“Red cliff walls tower 600 metres overhead as you float through Canyonlands National Park and 300 million years of geologic history. Exciting whitewater alternates with slower, easier stretches. At the end of the day, a delicious evening meal awaits, along with comfortable dome tents equipped with cots, pillows and sleeping bags.”
South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
“This is wild Africa at its finest, focused on the Zambezi River and the ox bow lagoons where the concentration of wildlife is among the greatest on the continent. Seven spacious tented pavilions at Sanctuary Puku Ridge offer breathtaking views over the floodplains.”
The Sahara, Morocco
“There is no better place to dream under star-laden skies than in the midst of the vast Erg Chebbi sand dunes on the edge of the Sahara, 645 kilometres from Marrakech. Overnight at Abercrombie & Kent’s exclusive desert camp, sleeping in handcrafted caidale-style tents. Originally an accessory in Moroccan palaces, these tents welcomed visiting dignitaries and are now used for religious and cultural celebrations. Artisans in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains construct them using methods unchanged for centuries.”
Kakadu National Park, Northern Territories, Australia
“Until recently an overnight stay in this wilderness was rough going. But that changed with the opening of Bamurru Plains and its nine open-plan suites built on timber platforms just outside the park’s western border.”
The Road to Mandalay, Myanmar
“A beguilingly beautiful region lost to the world. The warm welcome of the Burmese people sharpens the contrast between ancient and modern, rural and city, recluse and world-nation.
Travel back through time along the Ayeyarwady River aboard the newly renovated Road to Mandalay river cruiser.”