Getting the flavour of…
An island retreat in Zanzibar
Set on an otherwise uninhabited, kilometrelong “sliver” of an island in Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago, Chumbe Island Coral Park is a “relatively inexpensive” tropical lodge that offers “a positive model for marine rewilding in Africa”, says Sophy Roberts in the FT. The reefs here, though somewhat bleached by warmer seas, have recovered from overfishing during their 27 years as a privately run Marine Protected Area, and they make for some of the region’s best snorkelling. The island has a “dazzling” beach, and an interior dominated by “coral rug jungle”, an unusual ecosystem that survives on waterless ground. The lodge itself has seven simple beachfront guest cottages, an “ecologically sensitive” ethos, “delicious” food – including excellent curries and “farmfresh” salads – and friendly (if sometimes slow) service. From $260pp per night (chumbeisland.com).
A winter wonderland in Canada
The Yukon Territory, in the wilds of northwestern Canada, “offers the kind of heartstring-plucking wintertime that Europe just can’t muster”, says Mike MacEacheran in The Sunday Telegraph. Walking in its endless forests and snowy mountains is the perfect salve for a “scattered, post-pandemic mind”. Adventurous types might fly in a fixed-wing plane over Kluane National Park (the country’s largest wilderness), ride in dogsleds or on snowmobiles “through boreal spruce and trembling aspen”, and go canoeing at night amid the reflected galaxies on Lake Laberge, where the aurora borealis might well appear, racing above your head and wreathing your boat “in a gossamer green glow”. Or you could stay closer to the former Gold Rush settlement of Dawson City, which is like “a Wild West movie set”, with its vaudeville theatre and “rollicking” saloons. Windows on the Wild (windowsonthewild.com) has seven nights from £1,860pp, including flights.
Travelling the new Dartmoor Line
Ever since it was closed down in 1972 as part of the Beeching cuts, the railway line from Exeter to Okehampton on Dartmoor’s northern fringe has had locals campaigning for the reopening. Last month, their dream came true, said Helen Ochyra in The Times. Rebranded as the Dartmoor Line, it improves access to this section of the beautiful national park, and makes for a pleasant (though not spectacular) journey. Okehampton’s “gleaming” 1930s station is a delight, with its ivy-green paintwork, picket fences and vintage-style posters. Hire a bike there and you can cycle the rest of the old railway route to the quiet village of Lydford, for a meal at the Dartmoor Inn. For bike hire information, see adventureokehampton.com.