Jordan Harvey, a South America specialist, plans treks in the Andes passing alpaca- and llama-filled pastures. Te more unpredict- able our natural and political land- scapes become, the more we feel the urge to visit places untouched by the news cycle. So, as we continue to support and keep a close watch on those areas hit hardest by a rash of hurri- canes, fires, and foreign- policy blunders, we’re craving the kind of life- and perspec- tive-changing travel that’s made all the more magical when planned by the pros—no matter how fearless and self- sufcient we some- times feel. Because surviving in, say, the Bolivian jungle one day and meeting with the hottest artists in Lima the next re- quires both grit and access—to say nothing of a netork of on-the-ground 2017 know-how that you quite literally can’t live without in some T R AVEL SPECIALISTS places. Here are the experts, fixers, and experience makers you’ll want in your foxhole. JérômeGalland Photographby 46 Condé Nast Traveler / 12.17 by PAUL BRADY and CHRISTINE CANTERA TRAVEL SPECIALISTS Forces officers, Ryan Hilton archaeologists, chefs, AuthentEscapes AFRICA AND THE and other insiders. He’s planned photogra- phy workshops in the MIDDLE EAST MOROCCO Michael Diamond bush, connected travel- Cobblestone Private ers with antipoaching Travel teams, and coordinated His travelers meet with a 10-day, 62-mile walk- women’s rights NGOs ing safari through raw in the Ourika Valley, get wilderness. CENTR AL, EASTER N, the best rooms at Teresa Sullivan AND SOUTHER N AFR ICA in-demand riads in Mango African Safaris Cherri Briggs Marrakech, and do tast- Sullivan knows which Explore, Inc. ing tours through Fès. routes, camps, and Briggs has spent more game reserves are best than two decades Mike Korn Heritage Tours suited to families, and planning trips to she’s coordinated mul- Africa, and her latest If you want to try dune boarding in the Sahara tiday walks in the focus is lesser-known Kenyan bush. but awe-inspiring or see the blue-walled places like Cameroon, city of Chefchaouen, go Phoebe Weinberg the Central African with Korn. He’s also Greatways Travel Republic, and Zambia. got great guides in Fès Weinberg can and Marrakech. get you the best rooms Michael Lorentz (like No. 6 at Singita Passage to Africa OMAN Sean Nelson Lebombo Lodge or No. 1 Lorentz shines at back- at Vumbura Plains), of-beyond trips Oman Expeditions He knows the best plus over-the-top to Ethiopia and mobile extras like helicopter safaris in Botswana, climbing and canyon- eering routes; the flights above the where you’ll spot Okavango Delta. meerkat, hyena, and most exhilarating dune- other wildlife. bashing and quad- biking spots; and the Henrietta Loyd perfect stretches Cazenove + Loyd of coast for surfing, She’ll arrange art tours diving, and sailing. ASIA in Cape Town, meet- ings with politicos in SOUTHERN AFRICA Ethiopia, and safaris Dan Achber through tribal regions Trufflepig of Kenya. Achber knows Botswana particularly Mark Nolting well—he’s organized The Africa Adventure BHUTAN multiday paddles Brent Olson Company on the Selinda Spillway GeoEx For off-the-map safaris and game counts Sean Nelson, an Oman specialist, knows his way around the Hajar Mountains. Olson knows where led by researchers with zebra researchers to stay (Amankora, in places like the rarely working in the Zhiwa Ling Heritage) visited Mabuasehube family safaris, and she’s including the three experience in North Makgadikgadi Pans. Game Reserve, Nolting and how to duck also expert at gorilla major pyramids and Africa and the Deborah Calmeyer is our guy. crowds, and can tracking in Rwanda. the Sphinx. Middle East, and has Roar Africa arrange meditation Nina Wennersten and fixers who can speak Wil Smith and ETHIOPIA With her far-reaching retreats with Daniel Saperstein Karen Zulauf Will Jones to everything from network that includes Buddhist monks. Hippo Creek Safaris Deeper Africa Journeys by Design ancient ruins to con- some of the region’s This duo pulls off spec- temporary politics. BHUTAN, INDIA, AND They take walking A native of Africa, savviest guides, she can NEPAL tacular trips in Kenya safaris seriously, pair- Jones has been work- ISRAEL get you into private Antonia “Toni” Neubauer (to the Segera Retreat, ing you up with leading ing in safaris since Susan Weissberg homes, gardens, and Myths and Mountains for example), South researchers, game 1994, managing camps, Wyllys Professional art collections you Her trips go way off the Africa (where they’ll wardens, antipoaching guiding trips, and Travel can’t otherwise see. beaten track into arrange private teams, and guides planning way-out-there She knows the Julian Harrison villages for homestays wine tastings), and for itineraries in Kenya, expeditions into contemporary art that give you an unvar- Tanzania (where Premier Tours Tanzania, Uganda, and tribal villages and scene in Jaffa He’s arranged nished look at real they recommend beyond. stretches of untouched and the right guides trips with wildlife film- life in the countryside. Roving Bushtops). wilderness. for a deep dive EGYPT makers Dereck CAMBODIA into Jewish history. EASTERN AFRICA Rami Girgis IRAN AND TUNISIA and Beverly Joubert, Andy Booth Linda Friedman Abercrombie & Kent Jerry Sorkin Joe Yudin as well as with lion AboutAsia Custom Safaris Girgis can get you pri- Iconic Journeys Touring Israel and rhino researchers. Booth is particularly She’s planned lots of vate access to the Worldwide Yudin can connect you handy around Tonlé multigenerational entire Giza Plateau, He’s got decades of with Israel Defense Sap Lake, where his Murray + Paola Photographby 48 Condé Nast Traveler / 12.17 TRAVEL SPECIALISTS guests can watch wild- Bertie and Victoria Dyer MYANMAR tours; in Vietnam, they FIJI AND PAPUA life and navigate floating Tyler Dillon introduce travelers NEW GUINEA India Beat Lynette Wilson villages aboard a pri- The Jaipur-based Trufflepig to veterans of the war AUSTRALIA Destination World vate wooden boat. He’s couple has organized He’s constructed pop- for a local perspective AND THE She’s the ultimate go- also figured out the elephant-tracking up hotels along on the conflict. SOUTH PACIFIC to in the region for best times to visit trips, visits to polo remote hiking routes G. W. “Sandy” Ferguson scuba diving, water- ancient complexes like matches, and and planned street- Asia Desk view villas, and Angkor Thom to avoid gallery tours led by food tours. Dillon He can make intros off-the-grid hiking. jostling with crowds. curators at spots can also set up meet- to artists in Thailand, like Delhi’s National ings with activists conservationists in NEW ZEALAND CENTRAL ASIA Donna Thomas Zulya Rajabova Handicrafts and and officials for time- Siem Reap, archaeolo- ly briefings on the New Zealand Travel Silk Road Treasure Tours Handlooms Museum. gists in Angkor, AUSTRALIA She plans hikes Rajabova knows the top country’s political and monks in Luang Drew Kluska INDIA AND PAKISTAN with the best guide in guides at the incredi- Jonny Bealby landscape. Prabang. The Tailor the Papamoa Hills, ble Gur-e-Amir complex Wild Frontiers Maximilian Horsley Kluska’s roster of Catherine Heald evenings with Maori in Samarkand (a sort Bealby is a logistics Arakan Travel winemakers, fashion Remote Lands elders, and wine of Silk Road Taj Mahal) mastermind who He takes travelers insiders, and Olympic Heald is at her best tastings at the coun- and the best hotels has planned expedi- deep into the country- medalists adds next- with multi country Asia try’s top vineyards. across the region. tions through side for market tours, trips, coordinating level insights to trips. Trevor Thomas the Hindu Kush and monastery visits, drivers, guides, and Pedro O’Connor CHINA Southern Crossings Gerald Hatherly Kashmir. and encounters with private tours, Epic Private Journeys Thomas scours his Abercrombie & Kent hill tribes and with whether you’re going He’s planned INDONESIA home country for new Thanks to decades Diane Embree insiders who can con- to remote villages in private-jet adventures lodges, camps, and spent on the ground Bali Barong Tours textualize the coun- Myanmar, the that hopscotch the villas (like the suites at here (and his perfect Think Bali is overtour- try’s ongoing internal Borobudur Buddhist country and led scuba Mahu Whenua), and Mandarin), Hatherly isted? She’ll guide conflicts. temple on Java, divers to the adventures like boating can pull off seemingly you to spots that don’t or on rain forest treks Great Barrier Reef. SOUTHEAST ASIA through fords. impossible access even appear on April Cole and through Borneo. Stuart Rigg to the Forbidden City maps and set you up Andrea Ross Southern Crossings SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS VIETNAM Kleon Howe and Xi’an’s Terracotta at luxury hotels Journeys Within Tour Nathan Lane Go behind the scenes The Art of Travel Army site. almost nobody’s heard Company Butterfield & Robinson at some of Australia’s Howe knows every inch Mei Zhang about. This pair is well- Lane is a pro at pulling most famous of the islands : which WildChina connected across the together cycling vineyards, charter JAPAN resorts are worth book- She’s a Chinese-food Nancy Craft region: In Cambodia, trips through villages yachts to the Great ing (Vahine Island and expert, plotting Esprit Travel & Tours they can make your in the Red River Barrier Reef, and the Hotel Kia Ora), which quests for prosciutto- She helps open Angkor Wat excursion Delta, Vespa tours in explore the wild, raw Saturday farmers’ like ham in Yunnan doors to artists, chefs, pop; in Thailand, they Saigon, and sails Northern Territory market is worth a detour and fiery mapo tofu in craftspeople, musi- arrange street-food off the coast of Hoi An.