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Amenities and even upgrades can often be purchased at a price. Time, however, is a finite and priceless resource. Here is how one company is helping its travelers maximize their vacation time, and enjoy every moment of their trips.

The boundary-breaking founder of an up-and-coming safari lodge company brings travelers closer to the natural beauty of his homeland.

Once you get past the rapids, a whitewater rafting trip down the Zambezi River becomes a rugged, floating safari.

Sometimes, these wild revelations even mirror the human world.

We caught up with Melanie Whelan to talk travel.

When it comes to solo sojourns, a new generation of apps is attempting to connect travelers faster than ever.

How Elevate Destination’s “Buy a Trip, Give a Trip” model is changing the face of voluntourism

These aren’t your typical safari experiences.

Overview

Spend four nights at safari camps in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, where elephants, leopards, and more than 400 species of birds inhabit open grasslands, stands of ebony trees, and the expansive Luangwa River system. Robin Pope Safaris, named after the guide who founded the company in 1986, has developed a strong relationship with the area’s Kunda people. The company has renovated schools in nearby communities, paid teachers’ salaries, and funded a health care clinic. Learn about the locals’ daily life during a visit to the village of Kawaza and, if you wish, dine in the home of a Kunda family. Then fly northeast to Robin Pope’s new Mkulumadzi Lodge in Malawi’s Majete National Park. Surrounded by a 175,000-acre conservation area, eight contemporary chalets front a river filled with hippos. Finish with three nights at the Pumulani resort on the quiet, sandy shores of Lake Malawi. Robin Pope Safaris, 265/(0) 177-0540. This appeared in the May/June 2011 issue.

Two caveats for anyone visiting Zambia’s best-known tourist attraction in the wet season: you won’t be alone, and you will get wet. It’s totally worth it, though, for this is one of planet’s great natural wonders. And sometimes you get a little bonus: “Double Rainbow, oh my God!”

The pure scale of the Falls is breathtaking. Even with the slower flow of water in the off season, you can just imagine...

A highlight of a popular expat hangout in Lusaka called Sugarbush Farm, this boutique is full of what the French call the chic d’Afrique. Horn bangles, wooden salad utensils, suede pouches, and vibrant textiles are among the goods, many of which are hand-crafted using bush materials. Cattle bone in particular is put to creative ends. Definitely several steps up from the shops you’ll find at lodges and (for sure) the Lusaka airport.

A great feat of engineering from the colonial era, the Tazara Railway leaves Dar Es Salaam and rattles its once-grand carriages through the vast uninhabited Selous Game Reserve, treating its passengers to spotting giraffe, antelope, elephants, and zebra. Crossing the Great Ruaha River, it winds its way through swamps and valleys before climbing into rugged mountains and crossing a remarkable bridge perched 164 feet above the Mpanga River Valley. This incredible journey ends in Kapiri-Moshi in Zambia, a staggering 1,860 kilometers later. The first-class carriages are comfortable, with pull-down beds and food served in the restaurant carriage. This is an experience that will fill you with nostalgia for years to come, and it’s absolutely not to be missed if you want to see some of the most remote areas of Tanzania.

Kamal Nawaz, a native of Zambia, married the Chilean Nathalie Raffer, whose parents lived in Africa working in copper. They met, fell in love, eloped, and had a daughter. They relocated only three years ago to Puerto Natales where Kawal sought to fuse the flavors of his homeland, Africa, with Patagonia. Afrigonia was born. The place is cozy and adorned with warm, natural tones, wood-carved masks, and animal skins. The menu focuses on local seafood, lamb, and organic produce from nearby green houses. The salmon ceviche is heaven-- laced with lime juice and coconut milk. Or try the fresh king crab salad with a kiwi and “calafate”, native berry, sauce. Diver-sized scallops from the Fjord are succulent in a sweet yet piquant curry. The seared lamb chops with mint sauce is a nod to the British tradition with a flowery note from the “coiron” grasses these creatures graze. Reservations recommended. Eberhard 343, Puerto Natales, +56 61412232