Nine, brand-new itineraries have been added to Intrepid Travel’s tour offerings, set to depart in 2018 and 2019.

The Expeditions introduce two new Expedition destinations to the company’s product range, Paraguay and Vanuatu, and include visits to untapped cities within well-visited countries such as India, Argentina and South Africa, including:

- Embarking on “Russia Expedition - Winter Trans-Siberian Adventure” via the great Trans-Siberian Railway with stops at the ‘Old Believers Village,’ which has seen little change since the 1800s

- Encountering the world’s largest group of western lowland gorillas on “Republic of Congo Expedition - Gorilla Trek,” led by expert trackers

- Wandering through the Ima Keithal, a market run solely by women and the largest of its kind in Asia, on “India Expedition - Tea & Tribes”

- Venturing to where few visitors to South Africa go—the northern corners of Kruger National Park—to spot cheetahs, lions and elephants by foot on “South Africa Expedition - Kruger Walking Safari”

- Trekking unspoiled Patagonian landscapes and sleeping under the stars on the homestead of a 200-year old Andean mountain house on “Patagonia Expedition - Andean Crossing”

“We created the Expeditions to innovate and test new product in the continuously growing adventure travel sector,” said Leigh Barnes, Intrepid Travel’s director of North America. “As adventure travel has become increasingly popular, we find our limited-edition Expedition trips continuously sell-out as people are wanting to have cultural experiences in destinations few have had the opportunity to explore, for travellers these trips are the ultimate bucket-list items.”

The Expeditions speak to the evolving term “adventure”, going beyond adrenaline-pumping travel and including cultural immersion, according to the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). Led by local leaders, the new trips offer insider information on the destinations and access to interactions with community members like staying in Paraguay’s San Rafael National Park with the family who runs the conservation organization, Pro Cosara. They will add to travellers’ favourite Expeditions like Morocco Expedition – Walking with Berber Nomads and Russia Expedition – Footsteps of the Reindeer Herders.

“With travel being more accessible than ever and travellers increasingly seeking trips that go beyond the brochure, we have seen places like Africa become one of our fastest-growing regions with 40 per cent growth in 2017,” said Barnes. “When creating the Expeditions, we appeal to this growing demand by leveraging our on-the-ground teams to provide insight on the destinations that are waiting to be discovered.”