Zephyr Blog

We’re delighted to announce our new website which has been many months in the planning. We hope that you enjoy the new site and that you find it easy and fun to navigate. We have added many new features we think you’ll enjoy! Needless to say, over the next few days there are bound to be a few problems. We ask you to bear with us as we put the final touches to our new site. It’s only to be expected that one or two things don’t work quite as expected. What do you think? How does it compare to our old site? What are your first impressions? Post your comments & feedback we would love to hear from you!

Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa, has a new sign at the summit: That compares to the old one, which is pictured here with long-time Zephyr travelers Rick and Tony: I have to admit: I sort of like the old, battered sign! It's weather-beaten look seems appropriate for hard climb that gets one to the "roof of Africa". However, I am sure the new sign will grow on me.  I look forward to standing underneath it on our next tour to Tanzania when we'll have the chance to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro!

(Note: this blog post is written by Kris Thomas, Zephyr Adventures’ Customer Care Czar, Tour Operations Specialist, and Veteran Guide.) I am by no means an expert (yet) on wine, but I know what I like! And I like South American wines, particularly Carmeneres and Malbecs, more than wines from anywhere else in the world! Malbec is a Bordeaux grape that produces an intense wine that resembles most closely a Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. Although it is produced elsewhere in the world, it is quickly becoming Argentina's "signature" wine. On the most recent trip I guided (our Chile & Argentina Wine & Multisport Adventure in November) I was given an early Christmas present by our Mendoza, Argentina-based guides, Lorena and Luis: a list of their favorite Mendoza…

In February 2011, I traveled to Africa and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. The climb stands as both one of the highlights of my travel experiences and one of the most fun and memorable moments of my life. Reaching the highest point on the African Continent, by foot, was not only rewarding to me personally, but also a fantastic embodiment of what a Zephyr Adventure Tour truly is! I love that working for Zephyr and I’m looking forward to guiding their Kilimanjaro and Safari Adventure in July 2012! Tanzania is an amazing country and I look forward to sharing this experience with you next year. So, without further adieu, here are a few lessons I learned while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro: 1. You Can Accomplish Things That You Think are Beyond Your Grasp It has been a life long goal…

Zephyr Adventures has offered guided Active Wine Tours for many years both here in the United States and abroad. During this time we have gained a global understanding and comparison from the experiences we have shared with the wineries and wine regions we visit. We have also learned a lot from our guests, the wine tourists. This November we hosted America’s first Wine Tourism Conference. Two hundred leaders in the wine tourism industry attended to share and learn more about wine tourism. Needless to say, we learned a lot about the subject from these experts. Here in the U.S. and to a certain degree in Australia, Wine Tourism is driven mostly by wineries that invite tourists into their winery with the goal of gaining a loyal customer who will buy wine directly from them then and in…

By Elle Potter As logistics director for Zephyr's numerous conferences, I was in Napa last week for our first ever Wine Tourism Conference and was able to participate in a little pre-conference excursion with a handful of the conference attendees at Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate in Sonoma. I had never been to Napa or Sonoma Valley, and was completely enchanted by the unexpected vibrancy of the autumn colors. When was the last time you saw anything more than just the tasting room of a winery? If you have never seen the beautiful expanse of vineyards other than from your car, it's time you get yourself to the beautiful Sonoma valley. I had my first winery vineyard wine-tasting experience earlier this year in the St. Ynez Valley. The drive was beautiful and sunny, and many of…

An adventure may be worn as a muddy spot or it may be worn as a proud insignia. It is the woman wearing it who makes it the one thing or the other. --Norma Shearer There are two ways to travel: be incredibly prepared or don’t. I am rather infamous for being perfectly content to wander around for hours on my own in new and unfamiliar places. This makes me an easy out-of-town visitor, as my friends can keep up with their work schedule and I can keep myself happily entertained. Earlier this year, I spent two weeks in Bologna, Italy with a friend of mine who was there on business. Each day, I ate breakfast (twice) and would then begin my carefree meandering around the city while he went off to work for ten hours. I had my fill of the city after the first week and began…

There are hundreds of active European adventures you could choose to do on your vacation. At Zephyr Adventures, we have run active tours in a total of 11 different locations in Europe, although we don't run every trip every year. If you are an active traveler, how do you decide which Zephyr European tour you would like to join? Below I'll discuss the five European trips we have on our 2012 schedule, guiding you to the best fit for you. Mosel River Barge & Skate Tour, Germany : Do you inline skate? If so, then definitely consider our annual European inline skating tour. Inline skating, when you have the skill down, produces a rhythm and beauty that keeps our skate tour participants in perpetual happiness. In recent years we have run one European inline skating tour, in…

We are extremely excited to be offering a new six-day bicycle adventure in Puglia, May 2-7 next year. Puglia (pronounced without the "g") is the heel of the boot of Italy. Although it is considered southern Italy, you can tell from the map on the left it is actually southeast Italy, bordered on the east by the Adriatic Sea and on the south by the Ionian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean. It is this proximity to the Mediterranean that gives Puglia a very different feel from northern Italy or from the beloved provinces of Tuscany and Umbria where we have been running biking and hiking tours for years. Puglia is sunny, with frequent blue skies and few clouds. It is maritime, with big influences from the Adriatic Sea where we spend one night on our tour. It feels more like Greece…

Beer tourism is not a very established segment of the travel market and active beer tourism even less so. We are hoping to change that. Beer tourism does exist. Search for the term on Google - in quotes - and you will get over 34,000 results. For the most part, I would identify beer tourism as what happens when someone visits another city or country and decides to seek out a local brewery in that area. The beer tourism is sort of tangential to the travel already taking place. One step up in the beer tourism ladder is when someone plans a vacation centered around visiting breweries. A further step up from that is when a company organizes a beer tour to an area, in which participants visit a number of breweries. Tours like this do exist - Belgium is a popular destination.…