In September, small group tour outfitter G Adventures partnered with National Geographic to create 70 tours that make research and sustainable tourism accessible to the public. With those tours now available to book, we caught up with G’s founder and CEO, Bruce Poon Tip, and National Geographic’s Executive Vice President, Travel and Licensing, Lynn Cutter, to find out more about the partnership and the trips being offered.
Both Cutter and Poon Tip stressed the importance of research initiatives and positive community impact in travel. The tours that came out of their partnership directly interact with local communities through research and awareness. Many of the trips feature sites and activities that are otherwise unavailable to the public and other tour companies, making each of these trips a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Here are Cutter and Poon Tip’s favorite trips from National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures.
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Discover Sri Lanka
Cutter is excited about this trip because it focuses on having genuine experiences with locals. Some of the highlights include learning the history of healing with a local practitioner, exploring Nalanda Gedige archaeological site, understanding the "seed-to-shelf" business at a local farm, going to the sacred city Anuradhapura (a UNESCO World Heritage site), and seeing leopards in Wilpattu National Park with a forest ranger while learning about conservation efforts.
Trip Details: 11 days, Colombo to Marawila, from $2,299.
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(Photo: Terry Feuerborn via flickr/CC Attribution)
Discover Sri Lanka
Cutter is excited about this trip because it focuses on having genuine experiences with locals. Some of the highlights include learning the history of healing with a local practitioner, exploring Nalanda Gedige archaeological site, understanding the "seed-to-shelf" business at a local farm, going to the sacred city Anuradhapura (a UNESCO World Heritage site), and seeing leopards in Wilpattu National Park with a forest ranger while learning about conservation efforts.
Trip Details: 11 days, Colombo to Marawila, from $2,299.
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(Photo: Terry Feuerborn via flickr/CC Attribution)
Explore Machu Picchu
Some of the trips at the top of Poon Tip's list are the ones that include Peru and Machu Picchu. National Geographic helped fund the excursions that led to the modern discovery of Machu Picchu, and this founding role in one of the new "seven wonders of the world" gives the National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures Peru trips a unique perspective.
Trip Details: 8 days, from $1,519 . Or view all National Geographic Journeys with G Adventure trips that include Machu Picchu.
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RELATED: Machu Picchu: How to Plan a Perfect Trip to the Lost City of the Incas
(Photo: G Adventures)
Explore Kruger National Park
Both Poon Tip and Cutter are excited about the trips offered in Africa. Many of them include access to researchers supported by National Geographic, and the trip to Kruger National Park includes a meeting with researchers from the Carnivore Conservation Programme—a program that is part of the National Geographic Society's Big Cats Initiative headed by grantee Kelly Marnewick. This trip starts in Johannesburg and takes you inside Kruger National Park as well as to a G Adventures-supported Children's Day School. Other highlights include camping, a visit to a private nature reserve, multiple safari game drives, and bush walks.
Trip Details: 7 days, from $1,999
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RELATED: I Went on an African Photo Safari — Here's What It Was Like
(Photo: Jan Michael Pfeiffer via flickr/CC Attribution)
Explore Costa Rica
Cutter is also excited about this option as it samples everything the country has to offer. Some of the highlights include a visit to a G Adventures-supported coffee cooperative, a visit to a National Geographic-supported reforestation project in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, water repelling, zip lining in the rainforest, and a visit to the Sea Turtle Conservancy program (co-founded by a National Geographic society grantee).
Trip Details: 14 days from $2,099
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RELATED: 10 Best Places to Go in Costa Rica
(Photo: happy.apple via flickr/CC Attribution)
Brazil Journey
With Rio de Janeiro hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics, it's one of our 2016 destinations to watch. This trip makes Cutter's list because it visits both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of Iguassu Falls with a lecture from a local biologist/botanist. Other trip highlights include going to the city of Sao Paulo, Partay Island, and time in Rio.
Trip Details: 9 days, Iguassu Falls to Rio de Janeiro, from $2,699
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More from SmarterTravel:
- 12 Destinations That Should Be on Your Radar in 2016
- The Ultimate Packing List
- World's Best Destinations for Every Kind of Personality
Ashley Rossi is always ready for her next trip. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram for more advice on travel hacks and destination ideas.
(Photo: Rodrigo Soldon via flickr/CC Attribution)
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