The Year of Exploration

The World’s Best Guided Trips

A campsite, with camels, in Kenya’s Samburu National Park

After Hiram Bingham rediscovered Machu Pichu, after Jane Goodall observed that chimps fashioned their own tools, after Spencel Wells used genetic data to trace the human family tree, explorers continue to extend the frontiers of geography and science. Travelers have joined the movement, pushing beyond the boundaries of mainstream tourism, exploring the planet as never before. One difference between explorers past and present is the means by which we document and share the experience. “Unlike the last century when exploration was in many ways a preserve of a small elite, in the 21^st century it’s shared, creative, open, and collaborative,” notes Daniel Raven-Ellison, a geographer and one of emerging explorers. To commemorate the occasion, we scoured the globe for the guided trips that best embody this inquisitive spirit. Exploration, after all, is not necessarily about going where no man has gone before. Says Raven-Ellison, “We all have our own frontiers to push, whether it be an expert spelunker venturing into a newly discovered cave system or a toddler dipping his toes in the Pacific for the first time. It is also an enormously powerful tool. Done in the right way it can bring knowledge, empathy, wealth, and peace to people and places.” Ready? Set? Explore.