2012 PHOTO CONTEST RESULTS

Of thousands of great images from Knowmad travelers, check out the winning shots in the categories of Action & Adventure, Landscape & Scenery, Culture, Wildlife, and Portrait. Thanks so much to you all for your keen photography and for a fantastic year!

ACTION & ADVENTURE

1st Prize: Big Views in a Big World by Brianna Bromstad

Brianna snapped this photo while summiting Huayna Picchu Mountain. Climbing this peak sacred to the Inca allows for incredible views over the Machu Picchu Citadel and isn't for the faint of heart!

Runner Up: Geared up by Tom Suszynki

This photo shows how the indigenous people surrounding Lake Titicaca make even a post-kayaking-on-the-world's-highest-lake boat ride almost as interesting of an adventure as the kayaking itself.

LANDSCAPE & SCENERY

1st Prize: Paine Massif by Mike Gelinas

A great shot showing the juxtaposition of the tranquil and sleepy with the rugged and extreme that characterizes so much of Patagonia and Torres del Paine National Park.

Runner Up: Inca Lands by Amy Bowman

Culture, scenery, and seemingly limitless expanses make the Sacred Valley of the Inca in Peru a special place.

CULTURE

1st Prize: Pachamama by Brett Williams

Brett snapped this shot of a village leader giving thanks to Pachamama, the Goddess of Mother Earth (or literally translated at "Mother World"), in the Amaru village Knowmad works closely with high in the hills of the Sacred Valley of the Inca.

Runner Up: Dressed for Town by Tom Suszynski
This classic street scene from Cusco, Peru is exemplary of the indigenous textiles and dress characteristic of certain offshoots of the Quechua people.

Runner Up: Climbing by Mike Gelinas
Bohemian, eclectic, vibrant, real, salty, beautiful, and most of all, Valparaiso, Chile is colorful. Murals and brightly colored World Heritage buildings are scattered amongst the hills above the sea which is where Nobel-laureate poet Pablo Neruda said the town gets its unique soul. The colored stairs say, "Dignity, Perseverance, Faith and Happiness, and Hope" and above them is a poem. We think that says it all.

WILDLIFE

1st Prize: Solitude by Jamie Yeh
Jamie and friends enjoyed adventure by day and luxury by night while staying at one of Patagonia's spectacular new lodges The Singular which offers hiking, glacier visits, wildlife safaris, horseback riding, biking, kayaking and more. During one of her days hiking in Torres del Paine she spotted this lone guanaco atop a hill.

Runner Up: Penguin Pals by Jamie Yeh
Another great shot from Jamie during her adventures in Southern Patagonia and Torres del Paine National Park.

PORTRAIT
A new category this year so that travelers send us more photos of their smiling faces and not just the beautiful sights along the way!

1st Prize: It Takes a Village by guide, submitted by Amy Bowman

A great shot of the AdventureHer crew getting to know the women of the village from the Peru Active Explorer Itinerary.

Runner Up: Bliss by Michael Stewart

Hannah Banana, a close friend of Knowmad, looking elated at Machu Picchu.

Runner Up: Family Fun by guide, submitted by Barbara Mamola

When the family of a Grand Prix motorcycle champion plans a family trip, it's not all Mai Tai's and books by the pool; rather it's a dash of hiking the Inca Trail, a sprinkle of mountain biking the Sacred Valley, a pinch of kayaking on the world's highest lake, add a birthday celebration with remote indigenous people, shake, stir and serve!

TIERRA PATAGONIA IN TRAVEL + LEISURE

Travel and Leisure recently named Tierra Patagonia, a lodge located on the edge of Chile's Torres Del Paine National Park, Best Resort in the T + L 2013 Design Awards. Being a design junkie myself, I wholeheartedly agree with T + L's perspective that good design makes better travel (and better everything really). Knowmad, upon its creation, has been sending happy travelers to Tierra Patagonia's sister lodge in the northern Chilean Desert, Tierra Atacama, and was thrilled to hear of plans to build a lodge that would no doubt just as seamlessly live and blend into its natural surroundings.

We were so excited, in fact, that we've decided to hop a flight down to Chile in a couple weeks to check it out. Stay tuned for the next issue of the Knowmad Travel Journal for our thoughts on this and other lodges in both Patagonia and the Atacama Desert.

Un Beso, Tara

PARTING SHOTS

Lisa Kellenberger, both Tara's sister and Knowmad's Social Media Guru, spent a semester studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina last spring. Without a moment's hesitation (not that anybody needs any real valid excuse in this family to go exploring) parents Greg and Dana started dreaming up a trip with Knowmad to get down there. Greg had been to Machu Picchu before when Tara spent her summer after college backpacking around South America and couldn't wait to see it again, this time with his wife and third daughter. So after a couple of days exploring Argentina's capital, they flew from  Buenos Aires to Lima and then to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon for a stay at Inkaterra's Reserva Amazonica. Next they flew to Cuzco to embark on a custom version of the Classic Machu Picchu itinerary. Thanks for sharing these wonderful shots Kellenbergers!

ABOUT.COM FEATURES KNOWMAD ADVENTURES

Knowmad is thrilled to be spotlighted in the article Custom Adventure Travel in South America with Knowmad Adventures on About.com.

The author Louis Friedland, a big adventurer herself, outlines that Knowmad is a "U.S. based (company) and owned by an American husband and wife team who believe 'Travel brings us closer to Earth's natural wonders and diverse cultures, as well as to ourselves.'" She says that their "approach to creating trips reflects that philosophy."

The article also highlights some of our sought-after adventure itineraries:

 

NORTHERN PATAGONIA ODYSSEY

Discover the magic and traditional cultures of Chiloe, visit the lakeside town of Puerto Varas, and explore temperate rainforest and emerald rivers on a historic trail linking Chile to Argentina. Stay in a palafito boutique hotel perched on stilts above the tides, a riverside cottage, and a cozy homesteaders cabin as you travel from the Chilean coast through southern towns and on to the Andean highlands.

FROM $2,170 (9 DAYS IN CHILE)

 

PERU ACTIVE EXPLORER

A more active approach to the Incan lands of Peru, on this trip you’ll find yourself day hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, downhill mountain biking through Andean villages, exploring and unwinding in the Sacred Valley with options to horseback ride or whitewater raft, and discovering Cusco and Machu Picchu with time for independent explorations.

FROM $1,740 (9 DAYS IN PERU)

AMAZON TO ANDES ODYSSEY
An adventuresome and comfortable foray into the Amazon combined with a more active approach to the Incan lands of Peru in just nine days makes this a traveler favorite. Find yourself spotting endangered giant otters and macaws in the Amazon, day hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, downhill mountain biking or horseback riding through Andean villages, relaxing in the Sacred Valley, and discovering Cusco and Machu Picchu with the perfect blend of guided and independent travel.

FROM $1,945 (9 DAYS IN PERU)

To learn more about these itineraries or others contact your travel specialist at 1-877-616-8747 or email travel@knowmadadventures.com

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR MILES

Alright, I'll admit it. I'm a hoarder. But, no, I don't have some weird collection of dolls or cats. I hoard miles and I'm here to give you a couple tips on how to do the same.

First off, don't let one single flight go by without collecting your miles for it. You earned them! I keep track of my miles with a simple spreadsheet that you can download here. This sheet helps me keep track of my usernames, passwords, and mileage for each airline. 

HOW TO CREATE YOUR MILES CHART
1. Prioritize your airlines: This list will depend on your location. I live in Minneapolis, and so fly Delta most often. Keep the airlines you use the most at the top of the list and try to fly with them when you can to get the miles. Also include any credit card rewards programs you're a member of. Towards the bottom of the list record that random carrier you flew with to visit that second cousin three years ago - if that airline doesn't take part in any alliances, you can still buy magazines or gift cards with those miles before they expire.

2. Sign up for airlines' online access: There is no way I'm going to lie about it - this step can be a huge pain! A lot of times you're given an account number associated with your name the first time you fly with an airline. If you've managed to keep this somewhere, you're ahead of the game. Otherwise you'll have to call, wait on hold forever, and track it down. Sometimes navigating through their site can be the easiest way. All said and done, what you need to end up with is a list of usernames, account numbers and passwords to record on your miles chart.

HOW TO RECORD YOUR MILES
1. Know your alliances: Good 'ol Wikipedia is a great resource for this and in my experience stays pretty up to date. Alliances do change, and that's why I had you make your list based on airlines instead. Like I mentioned before, try to fly with the main airlines you use most often. If there was that ticket out there on some other airline that was $100 cheaper than all the rest and you just couldn't resist, don't worry. Check and see if it's in alliance with any of your main airlines and you can most likely get that ticket credited to your account there.

2. Check your ticket: Make sure your flyer number is recorded on your airline ticket. If not, ask your gate attendant to add it (now you'll have that nifty miles chart to help you keep track of those account numbers!).

3. Save your ticket stubs and check back: Set a reminder on your calendar for about a month after your trip. Look up your account online - if you don't see your miles registered call in and get credit for them using your old ticket stubs. Keep following up until you see them registered.

4. Use them before they expire: Periodically go through your miles chart and take stock of how many miles you've got and when they expire. Like I mentioned before, if you don't have enough miles for a flight, at least use the miles for magazines before they expire.

THE BEST WAY TO REDEEM YOUR MILES
1. Evaluate: Now that you've got your miles all organized, use them! Make sure it's worth it though - you might want to spend $200 on a domestic flight if that means you can save 25,000 miles for an international flight (to South America?) down the road. And when it comes to transferring miles (ie. from your husband to yourself), if you can do it for free like with US Bank’s Flexperks, it’s a no brainer. If you have to pay to transfer the miles though, take time to do the calculation. Sometimes transferring the miles can cost more than the actual ticket would have.

2. Search online: If you've got fairly flexible dates, use a site like kayak.com (my favorite) to figure out when the cheapest days to fly are. Even though you're using miles, you'll often be charged less miles on a day that's cheaper to travel on.

3. Purchase your flight: Return to your airline's reward center online access and make the purchase. Now you're on your way!   

Un Beso, Tara

LAST CALL FOR PHOTOS!

The closing date for our annual photo contest is quickly approaching! We've been pulling our hair out trying to decide on winners for the categories of Action Adventure, Culture, Wildlife and Landscape or Scenery. If you've traveled with us in 2012 and have been holding onto a shot, please send it our way to Travel@KnowmadAdventures.com

ALL ENTRIES DUE BY JANUARY 31ST - WINNERS ANNOUNCED IN NEXT NEWSLETTER