“Now just remember what Huey Long said—that every man’s a king—and I’m the king around here and don’t you forget it.”

—A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951

Our prop plane climbs away from Tahiti and heads north over the whitecapped Pacific. Leveling off at a few thousand feet, the French pilot turns from the cockpit and flashes a thumbs-up to me, my wife, Anne, and the handful of other passengers in the half-empty cabin. Twenty minutes later, we glimpse our destination through the tiny window: a pristine atoll consisting of 12 islets—or motu—arranged in a circle, like a necklace of emeralds laid upon the sea.

The effect is jaw-dropping as we dip through the clouds. A bloom of surf breaking along the reef. Then a golden ring of submerged coral; then a turquoise band of shallow water, followed by a blinding sliver of beach. Jungles of waxy green—breadfruit and ironwood, pandanus and palm. All told it adds up to about 1,600 acres of South Seas paradise, nodding in the ocean breeze.

You’d never know that on one of those motu lies one of the poshest hotels in all of Polynesia, its clusters of blond-wood buildings and 35 thatch-roofed villas so unobtrusively tucked into their environment that we don’t see a thing until we fly right over it. There are none of those annoying over­water bungalows that have become a cliché of French Polynesia, the romantic architecture honeymooners supposedly love.

We bank above the stunning inner lagoon, which has been called the Billionaire’s Bathtub. It’s the flooded caldera of a volcano that sank into the sea eons ago. There are said to be 32 shades of blue in the lagoon, but who’s counting? Cerulean. Azure. Robin’s egg. Delphinium. Cobalt. Indigo. Ultra­marine. Aquamarine. Teal. I’ve heard it described as “ludicrous” blue, “electric” blue, and “Hockney” blue; none of these seem hyperbolic.

Our puddle-jumper lands on a small airstrip lined with solar panels. Stepping off, we hear the thrum of a ukulele and are saluted by a regal-looking Polynesian man. Standing nearby is a phalanx of staff dressed in white linen shorts and white leather loafers. It feels like the whole island has been waiting for us, eager to deliver miracles.

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Starting on June 17, Brazil will join the ranks of countries that don’t require a tourist visa from Americans. This will save travelers from having to track down one of only ten Brazilian consulates in the U.S. and pay the $40 fee (which we recommend putting toward post-swim caipirinhas, the country’s tart national cocktail).

The change in policy has been a long time coming. For the past several years, Brazil has experimented with streamlining entry requirements for citizens of the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Japan, four countries deemed a significant source of tourism revenue.

Brazil’s Ministry of Tourism first tested the waters with visa waivers during the 2016 Rio Games. Then in January 2018, it introduced an electronic visa program for the four countries mentioned above and slashed the fee to a quarter of its original cost, from $160 to $40. The move paid off, helping contribute to a  in travelers compared to 2017. Now you’ll be able to enter and stay for up to 90 days—with the possibility to extend to 180 days total—without having to do any paperwork.

“This is one of the most important achievements of the Brazilian tourism industry in the last 15 years,” said Marcelo Alvaro Antônio, the country’s minister of tourism, in a . “We are confident that it will be extremely beneficial to the country.”

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for this kind of hassle-free international adventure, you’re not limited to Brazil. Americans have long been able to visit our closest allies, like Canada and the European Union, with only a valid passport, and globally there’s a fairly even split between nations that require visas and ones that don’t. Here are six other outdoor meccas for Americans that don’t require a visa in advance.  

Thailand

Want to deep-water solo this Southeast Asian nation’s ? You’re in luck. You can vacation in Thailand for up to 30 days without a visa—plenty of time to climb in the famed Railay Beach area, then hightail it to the country’s southern islands to dive world-class coral gardens among angelfish, manta rays, and whale sharks. Just ensure you have a passport that’s valid for at least six months past your date of entry, as recommended by the U.S. State Department.  

Guatemala

While this is not the only Central American country that lets you duck the red tape—the whole region is pretty much fair game—it’s a rising hub for mountain biking and a longtime surf mecca. As long as you have a return ticket booked, you’re free to ride its jungle singletrack and catch consistent surf at at El Paredón for up to 90 days.

New Zealand

It may take 12 hours or more on a plane to get there, but trust us—it’s worth it. New Zealand’s jaw-dropping scenery provides an epic backdrop for hiking, biking, and backpacking, and from the famous Milford Track in the South Island’s Fiordland National Park to the rugged Tongariro Alpine Crossing up north, adventuring in Kiwi country is unlike anywhere else. And you’ll have 90 days to play as long as your passport is valid for three months after your date of departure.

Morocco

This North African nation is famous for its Atlantic coast, which is lined with year-round surf spots in places like Taghazout and Imsouane. Morocco has great climbing, too. Head inland to the , a 1,300-foot-tall rift between the High Atlas Mountains and the Sahara, to send . There’s a 90-day limit on your stay, and you’ll need a passport that’s valid for six months and has one empty page.

Japan

If you get depressed scrolling through the proliferation of posts on Instagram every winter, know that a quick trip to Hokkaido is actually pretty easy—excluding the international flight. Lift tickets often cost less than elsewhere in the world, too. Once you’re there, you can stay for three months sans visa. Just make sure there’s at least one blank page in your passport for the entry stamp before packing your bags.

Tahiti

Voyaging to French Polynesia may seem like a pipe dream, but it’s relatively easy to get there these days. Not only is there the standard 90 days of visa-free travel, but with the introduction of a new direct route to Tahiti from San Francisco, courtesy of the budget airline  (from $329 one-way), a direct last-minute trip is within the realm of possibility.

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Never mind the surfing for the moment—just take in his physical presence. At 21, Kelly Slater looked as if he’d been cloned from a bead of Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock sweat. Today, at 46, he can out-handsome Jason Statham. At 70, he will be three-quarters Paul Newman and (sun damage taking its bitter toll) one-quarter Iggy Pop. 

We looked at Slater a lot in 2017, as he says it will be his . And as we looked, we pondered many Slater-related stats and metrics, ranging from the wondrous to the surreal, beginning with his 11 world titles spread across a 29-year run as a professional. Then there are his 55 World Tour wins, seven Pipeline Masters victories, and 19 Surfer Poll Awards. The list goes on. Break Slater’s career into two pieces, right around the year 2000, and he’d be both the first and second winningest surfer on the tour. Or try this. When ­Slater made his pro debut in 1990, current world champ John John Florence was negative two years old. Florence today gets the kind of rave reviews Slater did in his unbeatable prime. Still, ­Slater holds an eight to five advantage in head-to-head matches against his young rival. In August 2016, when the two met in a final, in coral-­grinding barrels at Tea­hupoo, Tahiti, Slater did everything but take Florence over his knee for a fatherly spanking on the way to an easy win.

Meanwhile, with the  and its machine-made, pool-spawned, endlessly replicable perfect surf, Slater has performed the wave rider’s equivalent of solving cold fusion while simultaneously driving the sport into its first existential crisis. The rarity of good waves, and the eternal chess game a surfer must play to be in the right place at the right time to catch them, has ­always defined surfing, shaped it, given it character. The pursuit is 98 percent longing, 2 per­cent fulfillment. To surf is to suffer. Thus, on December 18, 2015, when Slater dropped a surprise video debut of his freakishly perfect wave, located in the manure-scented flats of Lemoore, California, the surf world froze on its axis. Wave scarcity is over. Or it will be at some now visible point in the future. 

. Watch it again. There’s Slater at daybreak, looking like a million bucks in a winter jacket and wool cap, breathing steam, standing at the foot of his pool, waiting to get a look at his machine operating at full strength. The wave comes, but we don’t see it. The camera stays tight on ­Slater as his eyes go wide, his mouth breaks into a huge, shocked grin, and he lifts his arms, saying “Oh, my God!” It’s a joyous moment. And maybe a little chilling. Slater jumps up and down and starts laughing the laugh of a man who has changed his sport forever.

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What, no on-board rock climbing walls and ice skating for you? No all-you-can-eat buffets? No nightcaps on the Lido Deck with Captain Stubing and Julie? I’ve got you covered, Mike. These four cozy cruising options (two in the South Pacific, two in other wildlife hot spots) are more about letting you experience what’s around the ship than what’s on it. Just one tip on the snorkeling: bring your own gear.

The underwater world of Papua new Guinea

The underwater world of Papua new Guinea

, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
This 90-passenger, 237-foot-long ship takes blue-footed booby-gazing amateur wildlife watchers on three-, four-, and seven-night cruises through the Galapagos Islands. Along the way, there are Zodiac cruises, hiking, swimming, and of course, snorkeling. The Santa Cruz participates in Ecuador’s sustainable Smart Voyage program, aimed at protecting the pristine delicate environment of the area that inspired Charles Darwin to come up with that whole evolution thing. Starts at $1500 per person for three nights.

Oceanic Discoverer, Papua New Guinea
A 16-day cruise on the edge of one of the world’s most exotic places on this 68-passenger, 207-foot-long ship (complete with hot tub) is a once-in-a-lifetime experience—mostly because you’d never be able to afford to do it twice. But the trip, organized by and National Geographic provides an authentic cultural and natural experience. You’ll swim and snorkel among coral reefs, be greeted by locals paddling outrigger canoes, explore hidden rivers, hike to quiet mountain villages, visit remote volcanic islands—and be accompanied by a biologist and naturalist. Starts at $17,690 per person.

MV Orion, Thailand and Malaysia
You want snorkeling? How about kicking your flippers through the crystal waters of the South China Sea, which brims with exotic aquatic life? The Gulf of Siam Explorer cruise aboard the 337-foot, 106-passenger MV Orion takes you to a greatest hits list of paradisiacal outposts off the coast of Thailand and Malaysia like Ko Samui, Ko Kut, and Tioman Island. The seven-night trip is organized by the boutique adventure outfit Orion . Starts at $4,850.

, Tahiti and Society Islands
Take sea safari snorkeling tours in Bora Bora, a lagoon and beach exploration on the island of Moorea next to Tahiti, and on your final day, a remote reef swim on the tiny Taha’a atoll. These are a tiny sample of the many excursions offered aboard the MS Paul Gauguin on its seven-night Tahiti and Society Islands trip. At 513 feet long, and with a capacity of 330 guests, the ship feels more like a small, traditional luxury liner—down to the on-board WiFi access—but its cruises are aimed specifically at active travelers, not buffet-eating shuffleboard players. Starts at $4,147 per person.

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The short answer is: Nothing, really. Backpacks really kind of suck in warm, humid weather. Ones that are waterproof are even worse.

The Z45

The Z45

‘s Jade 40 ($189) — a women’s pack that is similar to their Z45, which I’ve worn in hot (but dry) weather — is one such option. It’s a good long-weekend pack if you pack carefully, with 2,500 cubic inches of space. It’s a top-loader, with a big pouch/pocket in pack and a largish top lid. And it’s designed so the load-carrying part of the pack sort of curves away from the back, creating a bit of a wind tunnel. That works well on the Z45, as the load is not pressed against your back. I imagine the Jade 40 feels much the same.

‘s Aura 50 ($200) is just a touch larger, and has an all-mesh back panel that does a lot to keep your back as cool as possible. Excellent suspension, and lots of storage options for things you want close at hand.

Your best option for rain protection probably will be a pack cover. That way, you’ll retain some breathability across the back while protecting your pack contents. ‘s 40-liter Duck Back Rain Cover ($23) is about the right size for the packs described above. It’s made from polyurethane-coated nylon for complete waterproofness.

Alternatively, simply take a large garbage sack and use it as a liner for the pack. Stuff everything in there.

Where does one buy outdoor gear in Tahiti?

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Anderson Cooper

Eyewitness
[42, NEW YORK CITY]
You were in Port-au-Prince less than 24 hours after the quake. With a tragedy of this scale, where do you start?
You just turn the camera on and open your eyes. No matter what direction you move, you keep the camera rolling. It's all happening in real time and goes on for days like that. Each morning you go out and think, OK, I'm going to look for a rescue, or, I'm going to go to a cemetery, but invariably you never get there, because so much comes across your path.

Do you sleep?
The first couple of days, you really don't. You shoot all day, and spend the nighttime editing and writing. But frankly, you don't think about that stuff, because it's so overwhelming.

Watching your reports, it seemed like anger might have become the dominant emotion among Haitians.
I think first there's the shock and horror of it all, and then you see how things play out. It doesn't get better, and the local government is completely not meeting the needs of its citizens, so there are a lot of things that anger people. Those are the people we talk to all day long. It's not so much what I think about it; it's more what I'm hearing from people. Why are people dying stupid deaths? A child doesn't need to die from an infection from a broken leg.

Is part of your role to broadcast that rage?
It's not so much that I'm broadcasting rage. I'm there to bear witness to what's happening. There's really nothing sadder than a child dying and no one knowing the suffering and pain of the loved ones left behind. And I think there's value in documenting that and giving voice to it.

There's been criticism directed at you and some of your CNN colleagues for overstepping your roles as objective journalists and getting involved in the story. At one point, you jumped into a crowd of looters to pull out an injured boy.
To be in places before relief workers are there: That presents some unique challenges. You suddenly find yourself in a situation where, say, you're a doctor—what do you do? There are some journalism purists who say that you do nothing, that you just go watch and report, and I certainly understand that. But in the case of the little boy [in Haiti] who got hit in the head with a cement block, no one was helping him. He couldn't get up. He'd try to get up and collapse. Blood was pouring from his head…It was a split-second decision to take him out of the situation. I think anyone would have done the same thing if they had the opportunity.

What kinds of stories make you want leave the studio and jump on a plane?
I tend to be drawn to stories that aren't on people's radar. When I was a kid, I used to look at old maps with unexplored regions. I find it interesting that with all the technology we have today, there are still places that don't make headlines. The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one I've traveled to report on a lot. There are six million people who have died in the Congo in the past ten years. It's the deadliest conflict since World War II, but very few people know much about it. It's truly horrific.

We ran a piece recently by Nicholas D. Kristof, arguing for the need to find hopeful stories within a tragedy to get people's attention. Is that something you try to do?
I believe in telling the reality of what's happening. And some nights there isn't much to be hopeful for. But even the first day after the quake in Haiti, before the rescue crews got there, [we filmed] people rescue a little girl. That was a positive thing.

What effect do the things you witness have on you personally? Is it traumatic?
There was a time when I first started, when I made a fake press pass and borrowed a camera and headed into wars, and for three years that was the only kind of story I was interested in doing. It definitely takes a toll. You have to be very conscious of its effects and try to take a break when you need to.

There's also the inherent danger you're dealing with for prolonged periods.
I'm far more acutely aware of my surroundings than my friends who have regular jobs. I'm acutely aware of who's around and what the possibilities are. It changes the way you see your surroundings. But I don't seek out dangerous situations. I'm pretty much a chicken. Truly, I don't believe [my team has] taken any risks.

What about when you were younger?
My first three years, I can't believe some of the things I did. The idea of going to Somalia alone, not having a place to stay or security. I was 23 or 24. There was fighting between different clans in the city. I literally landed on the airstrip and had no idea about the town. A truckload of gunmen approached me, and I ended up hiring them as my gunmen, and we went around to the burial grounds where all these bodies were being dumped, and there were all these empty pits. I was thinking, They could just shoot me and put me in a pit and no one would ever know.

Were you just naive?
I don't think I was naive; I just didn't allow fear to stop me from going to a place. I don't believe you should be ruled by fear in anything in your life. I don't like anything that scares me, and I prefer to face it head-on and get over it. Anyone who says they're not scared is a fool or a liar or both. I just don't want that fear in my stomach to be part of my life, so I work to eliminate it.

Some of the athletes we talk to seem to crave the adrenaline that goes with fear.
I think it's a little different. I have no interest in jumping out of an airplane, or any of the things people do for thrills to push their limits and all that. To me, that seems foolish, and there's no point. If people are suffering in a place, to me, it's not a question of whether I'm going to go or not, it's a question of how fast can I get there?

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Ivan Watson

Chaos Correspondent

[34, ISTANBUL]
Cooper isn't the only guy in a tight T-shirt reporting live from Haiti these days. CNN recently poached Ivan Watson from National Public Radio. Here's his take on the crisis in Haiti:”You don't have someone you can be angry at in Haiti. There's little more you can do than shake your fist at the sky. This is real 'wrath of God' stuff. Yesterday they gave me a mandatory day off. I wasn't allowed to work. You go at a sprint for five days, and then your body starts to deteriorate. I've never covered anything this big—the amount of human suffering, the loss. It was so overwhelming that I couldn't process it at first. But then it became clear that it was a duty to get some word out about this place. The only way I could deal with the bodies stacked up was to put on the journalistic lens. The scale of the damage was so huge that I couldn't pretend to pitch in. There was a girl who was in trouble, and I didn't drop everything to help. We reported on her and we were running from one place to another. I checked up on her later and didn't expect this little girl to die. If it had happened three days later, and I had been capable of understanding what the hell was going on, I would have tried to do everything to save this trapped girl but…didn't. It will haunt me forever.”

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Sonnie Trotter

Rock Star

Sonnie Trotter

[30, SQUAMISH, B.C.]
A lot of climbers drill permanent safety bolts into the rock every six or seven feet, but we're going back and doing trad routes the way they would've been done back in the seventies. We've nicknamed it “retro-trad.” Some outstanding climbs would've never been bolted if they weren't 5.14. Only now, climbing that hard on trad gear—stoppers, cams, and nuts that are placed into cracks and then removed—is relatively normal. So that's what we're doing. When I was 16, I saw footage of Peter Croft doing a climb like this in Yosemite. It was a 5.13 finger crack, and it had bolts on it. He ignored them. It just seemed to make sense to me. You can turn a lot of sport climbs into really dangerous trad climbs, but I'm looking for lines with big, bold features—the ones that scream out from across the valley. Maybe they have history. These I find worthy of the challenge. And, of course, they help me hone my skills for my own first ascents.

Trotter, who's climbed trad routes as hard as 5.14c, spent March establishing new routes on Mexico's 2,500-foot El Gigante.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Lynsey Dyer

Huck Doll

[28, JACKSON HOLE]
The more skiing becomes a job, the less you get to ski for fun. I used to feel like I had to prove myself all the time. It was kind of like “Hold my beer. Watch this.” It's always good to stomp those giant airs, but the skiing part has become underappreciated. A lot of the time, just getting to the cliff is the burliest part of the line, the part that shows whether you're a legit skier. When you watch somebody ski fluidly from top to bottom, that's what makes you want to go do it. Most of the big lines I've skied so far have been around Jackson. But there's nothing like Alaska. I've put a lot of time in up there but still haven't gotten my dream opportunity. All the guys are champing to get up there. They have seniority and dictate what's going on—whether you get on a helicopter that's going to the best places. I just want to keep putting my time in, so when I get the call I'm ready. When women are given a chance, you'll be impressed.

Dyer, a former Junior Olympic gold medalist, left racing to ski the biggest cliffs and steepest faces for the cameras of Warren Miller and Teton Gravity Research. She's the co-founder of , which aims to increase female participation in sports.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Reid Stowe

Marathon Mariner

Reid Stowe

[58, ADRIFT]
There are many reasons I decided to do this voyage, but they've changed a lot since I first conceived of it, in 1986, and left land in 2007. I've been at sail for more than a thousand days now—the longest sea voyage without resupply in history. But I still have months and months to go, so I can't celebrate. I'm trying not to look ahead, but right now it seems as if I don't have a home. This boat is the only home I have, and it's been beaten up in every way. At the beginning of the voyage, I was hit by a ship on autopilot, so I've sailed this whole time with a partially disabled boat. I capsized at one point, but I kept going. In a way, I succeeded through the power of love, because if you truly love what you're doing, you can succeed at whatever you do. I've learned a lot about myself by being separated from society for so long. I've learned that we as humans must explore. We must see and discover new things or we degenerate. My hope is that this voyage will inspire people to overcome their fears and follow their dreams—to explore. I kept going because I had to. What else could I do?

Stowe was on day 1,003 at sea when we reached him via sat phone. He'd been sailing back and forth between the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. He plans on docking his 70-foot schooner, Anne, at New York City this June.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Lewis Gordon Pugh

Sea Lion

[40, LONDON]
I started out wanting to swim in places where nobody had swum before: Antarctica, the Arctic, all the bloody-cold places. I wanted to be a pioneer, a descendent of Scott and Amundsen, except an explorer of the oceans. I think I was born to swim, but standing on the ice edge at the North Pole in just a Speedo and goggles, I was terrified. You dive in and the water's 28 degrees—colder than what killed the Titanic's passengers—and it's like a death zone. It feels like somebody punched you in the stomach. You cannot breathe. Your skin is on fire. But doing this also gives me an opportunity to shake the lapels of world leaders who aren't taking the environment seriously. In 2008, I swam north of Spitsbergen and was so shocked by how thin the sea ice had become I called Gordon Brown on my satellite phone. We had a long chat. Shortly after, he appointed a climate-change minister in Britain.

In May, Pugh will attempt a one-kilometer swim through the near-freezing waters of an unnamed lake, at about 18,000 feet at the foot of Everest.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Maya Gabeira

Giant Rider

[23, OAHU]
The first time I saw a really big wave was at Waimea, at the Eddie Aikau invitational. I was 17 and had just moved to Hawaii from Brazil. I wanted to live on my own. I wanted to figure out who I was and what I really wanted in life. I knew that day that I wanted to surf those waves. After a year of sitting in the lineup with the boys, I caught my first big one—maybe 15 feet—and everything just felt right. I was so focused and in the moment. I loved it. Soon enough I was surfing big waves all over the world. I ended up at Teahupoo, in Tahiti. I was really nervous. I took two big wipeouts, either of which could have ended my career. But it didn't feel right to sit on my board and look stupid, to give up. So my partner, Carlos Burle, towed me out again, and I caught one. People criticized me for taking those risks, for getting in over my head. And, yes, in the beginning I did take a lot of risks, but in the beginning you have to take those risks. How else do you make it? How else do you realize your dreams?

Last August, Gabeira surfed a 45-footer at Dungeons, South Africa, the largest wave ever ridden by a woman—which makes her a shoo-in for her third consecutive Billabong XXL title.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Cody Townsend

Water…Skier

[26, SANTA CRUZ]
A little over a year ago, Mike Douglas and I came up with the idea to ski on waves. We're both longtime surfers and professional skiers, so the idea came naturally. Very few people knew about the project when we arrived in Maui. We were sure we'd get blasted out of there as kooks if locals heard about some haoles trying to ski on waves, but everyone was supportive. The technology is pretty far behind. It's like skiing on hickory skis 50 years ago. We used alpine ski boots and super-fat wake skis. After one ride, a wave sucked me down and gave me the worst hold-down of my life. I was standing on a reef below the surface. Even with a life jacket on, I couldn't get up. My skis felt like 200-pound weights on each leg. But we also got up to 25-second rides on some big waves with 20-foot faces. It felt like skiing on top of a slow, wet avalanche. It'd be the easiest way ever to get barreled. On a surfboard, you often get spit out, but on skis you can stall out in the tube. By the end of the trip we knew exactly what equipment we'd have to design to make it better.

Townsend is a professional skier, surfer, and watersports innovator.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Nikki Kimball

Endurance Predator

[38, BOZEMAN, MONTANA]
Fun? The race? Fun? Yeah, there were parts of it that were fun. One time, five of us were running along the singletrack and saw this wasp nest, and there was nothing we could do but run through it. (You can't go off-trail, because the jungle's too thick.) These hornets were as long as your little finger—huge. You just heard swearing in five different languages. It was hilarious in a warped kind of way. It's not always painful. I was 27 when I started entering trail races. I'm a slow runner, but I can run for a really long time. It's like hiking at a faster pace. You get to see so much more country, and race organizers are always holding these things in amazing places. It's very social for me. I never took the racing seriously until the press noticed that I had a six-year winning streak. I think each person has a finite number of world-class performances in them.

Starting in 1999, Kimball went seven consecutive years without losing an ultramarathon, including the U.S. national championships. She just returned from winning Brazil's 150-mile Jungle Marathon.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Teresa MacPherson and Banks

Guiding Lights

Teresa MacPherson

Teresa MacPherson and Banks

[57 and 6, FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA]
I went to Port-au-Prince with the second wave of people from our task force with Banks, my 65-pound black Labrador, who is trained to find living people. The rubble went on for miles and miles. Helicopters were continually overhead. Rescue teams were everywhere. We used the dogs to discover people trapped in difficult-to-reach places. Banks crawled into voids, tunneling through an unstable environment where no human could go. He barked when he detected the scent of a living person. It could be seven days before an extrication was complete. The doctors said the victims were probably able to survive because they were used to subsisting on so little. The best canine story in Haiti was about a dog that ran out of its search area and began barking at a wall. They bored a hole in it and stared into the face of a three-year-old, dehydrated but alive. That was a 100 percent dog find. I often wondered if our training would be good enough for a disaster of this magnitude. Would the dogs just go, Are you kidding me? But Banks totally did his job. Our group made 16 rescues, a new record for us. Thankfully, we made a difference.

Virginia Task Force One canine search specialist Teresa MacPherson manages FEMA's disaster dog program. She and her Labs have worked in the aftermaths of the Oklahoma City bombing and hurricanes Ike and Katrina.

This article originally appeared as Parting Shot in ���ϳԹ���'s April 2010 issue.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Rolando Garibotti

Silent Master

[39, JACKSON HOLE]
Am I media shy? I don't make sponsorship money or apply for grants. I make a living as a guide, and that works well enough. I don't object to media after the fact, but I'm always surprised when people promote a climb before doing it, because it's difficult to deal with the pressure of those expectations. The Torre Traverse [Patagonia's Cerro Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger, and Cerro Torre] took me almost three years. I dedicated all of my time to it. The reason Colin Haley and I pulled it off is because we're very good at planning, not because we're particularly good climbers. We had barely enough food and were barely warm enough. We asked to withdraw the climb from the Piolet d'Or [mountaineering's highest award] in early 2009. That was the second time I'd done that. The first was for a new route on Cerro Torre, in 2005. I just thought the idea that somebody would win this Piolet d'Or was ridiculous. I'm down here with Haley, again. We have an idea, but I don't know if we'll pull it off this year, so I think I'll keep it to myself.

Garibotti has held the record for the Grand Traverse—climbing ten Teton peaks—since 2000, with a time of 6:49.

���ϳԹ��� Icon: Trip Jennings

River Lover

[27, PORTLAND, OREGON]
There's no road map that shows you how to make a living as a kayaker and filmmaker, but last December I knew I had done it when I paid my cell-phone bill on time. The idea behind my first film, Bigger Than Rodeo, was to blend environmental activism and cutting-edge whitewater. I drove around the country in a '96 Subaru Impreza and maxed out three credit cards while showing footage of a paddler running a 105-foot waterfall. It took three more films and two more credit cards to figure out a combination of adventure and activism that worked. You don't get an interesting job by filling out an application; you commit to your dream the same way you do a waterfall: pick your line and dive headfirst. I'm glad I did it. In the past two years, my filming expeditions to Papua New Guinea, China, the Congo, Bolivia, Canada, and Brazil have been paid for through a partnership with National Geographic and the International League of Conservation Photographers. In the next six months I'm scheduled to shoot one film about elephant poaching in the Congo and another about kayaking in Laos. I created my dream job. It all started because I spent a year living out of a moldy Subaru and poaching continental breakfasts at cheap motels.

In 2008, Jennings led a team down the rebel-infested lower Congo, the last of the world's great unrun rivers. His films for National Geographic TV use kayaks to access Class V rivers in the service of science.

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IF YOU’VE SEEN PHOTOS or YouTube clips of Tahiti’s Teahupoo surf break, you’ve seen a slab wave. Though Teahupoo might be the best-known slab, surfers are now hunting them down around the world. They can be found in the Pacific Northwest, in Scotland, and, most notably, at Shipstern’s Bluff, in the Southern Ocean off Tasmania: a boiling 50-footer.

Traditional surfing waves roll toward shore, slow down as they rise up, and break cleanly to one or both sides. A slab wave moves fast, through deep water, and hits a shallow reef at full speed. It lifts out of nowhere within seconds, sucks the water out of the shallows in front of it, and then slams shut in a violent thump. The power and danger of a slab come as much from the thickness as the height. For a surfer, riding one of these beasts is like escaping from a collapsing parking garage.

“Short, hollow slabs are some of the most difficult, intricate, and intimidating waves to surf,” says Greg Long, the California-based big-wave phenom who regularly surfs Teahupoo.

Over the past two decades, while traditional big waves like Maverick’s and Jaws hogged the spotlight, slabs were mainly seen as unsurfable freaks. That started to change in 2000, when Laird Hamilton rode a monster at Teahupoo that was at least ten feet thick and 40 feet tall. Now, slabs consistently produce the most dramatic rides of the year.

1. THE TAKEOFF: Slab takeoffs are extremely fast and vertical. A Jet Ski is a must at many slabs.

2. THE HOLE: The trough of the wave hits the reef first, sucking water seaward and into a hole or pit. The wave forms as a backless wall—rather than a crest—behind the hole.

3. OBSTACLES: Bumps or cuts in the reef can throw boils into the wave face. On a normal wave, boils are difficult. With the nearly vertical face of a slab, they kick surfers high into the air.

4. SHALLOW REEF: Waves roll out of deep water with all their open-ocean energy intact. That energy gets focused as the depth suddenly decreases.

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LUXURY HAS FINALLY LANDED on one of the earth’s most isolated spots. With the recent introduction of Casas Rapa Nui, on Easter Island—a 64-square-mile volcanic speck midway between Chile and Tahiti in the South Pacific—visitors can finally enjoy this outpost in upscale digs. Run by Explora, well known for its beautiful lodges in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park and the Atacama Desert, Casas Rapa Nui uses the same winning formula of adventure by day (Easter Island guests explore hundreds of the 15-ton moai statues that the island is famous for) and pisco sours and plush down comforters by night.

The lodge has nine spacious rooms with rattan-and-wood furnishings, and its dining room and adjacent bar serve up fresh-caught swordfish and tuna accompanied by ever flowing Chilean wine. But all this ambience is just a stopgap: By 2007, Explora will have completed a 30-room lodge with a wellness area, swimming pool, and terrace restaurant offering South Pacific views. The real reason to go, of course, is to investigate the stone monoliths and the vanished culture that built them. Explora organizes a dozen guided excursions, like trekking along cliffs honeycombed with abandoned dwellings and caves, biking the trails hugging the island’s southern coast, and swimming at the sandy beach where Captain James Cook once waded ashore. After a few days of soaking up the island’s mysterious vibe, when your tattooed local guide tells you that his ancestors levitated the statues with nothing but mana (Polynesian magic), you just might believe it.

The best time to go is during the carnival atmosphere of the Tapati Rapa Nui Festival, which this year runs February 2 to 18. LAN Airlines (866-435-9526, ) flies round-trip to Easter Island from Santiago for about $700. Three to seven nights at Casas Rapa Nui from $1,230 per person, all-inclusive based on double occupancy; 011-56-2-2066060, .

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REEF MADNESS Mix your altruistic nature with your hedonistic urges. Help gather data assessing coral bleaching, growth, and reproductive cycles while scuba diving the soft corals at Rainbow Reef, off the Fijian island of Taveuni—all for only $1,795 for a seven-night package. Work with the nonprofit group Reef Check and stay at the oceanfront Garden Island Resort. The rooms are a bit motel-like, but the rate includes airfare from Los Angeles, two dives a day for five days, lodging—plus the front desk can organize horseback rides when you’re not “working.” Contact: Aqua-Trek, 800-541-4334, .

DEALS TO DIVE FOR Bilikiki Cruises Ltd. (800-663-5363, www.bilikiki.com) is offering a 16 percent discount on its all-inclusive, seven-day April scuba diving cruise in the Solomon Islands. For only $1,757 (normally about $2,100), live aboard a 20-passenger, 120-foot ship, which cruises Florida Island, the Russell Islands, and the Marovo Lagoon, stopping for dives at precipitous walls, WWII wrecks, and clusters of hard and soft corals.

Castaway Adentures

Explore

Kayaking for Calories

On Explorers’ Corner’s 13-day sea-kayaking trip through the Rangiroa atoll (200 miles north of Tahiti), you’ll live like a castaway and eat like a king. (Sample fare: poisson cru, fresh reef fish mixed with lime, onion, and coconut milk.) Feast away. You’ll need the calories as you sea- kayak among the Tuamotus’ 78 isolated atolls, camp on untouched sand, prowl the reefs like a shark, and bushwhack across uninhabited islands. Cost: $3,950. Contact: Explorers’ Corner, 510-559-8099, www.explorerscorner.com. Dates: April 12-25, July 19-August 2, October 18-31.


Savasana and Then Some

Indian ascetics may have invented yoga, but you won’t have to renounce a thing on this yoga-centric multisport trip to the Fijian island of Beqa. For ten days, stay steps from the beach in one of Lalati Resort’s five hutlike bures, with wraparound lanais, and wake up to “power” yoga classes with Rusty Wells, a popular San FranciscoÐbased teacher. Spend the rest of the day diving, snorkeling, river rafting, surfing, hiking, or kayaking; spend the evenings enjoying local traditions, such as watching skin sizzle at a Fijian fire-walking ceremony. Cost: $1,985. Contact: Zolo Trips, 800-657-2694, www.zolotrips.com. Dates: January 16-25.


Take Me Out to the Boneyard

Be the first to stalk little-plundered populations of bonefish in the remote Tuamotu Archipelago, which sprawls over 1,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean. The volcanic atolls off the Tuamotus are mostly uninhabited, so you’ll live on a 58-foot sailing catamaran for seven days and walk onto the flats with expert guides. The bonefishing may be catch-and-release, but the gourmet chef and his staff will serve up fresh-caught mahi mahi. Cost: $4,400. Contact: Orvis Travel, 800-547-4322, www.orvis.com/travel. Dates: January 25-February 1, February 22-March 1, March 1-8, March 15-22.

Castaway Adentures

Relax

Relax
HOME NOW When you’re swinging from a hammock and grilling shrimp on a private deck tucked into a forest of banyan trees and kentia palms, it’s hard to imagine life beyond Lord Howe Island. In 2002, the Arajilla Retreat renovated 12 rooms, turning them into sophisticated Asian-influenced suites, each with complimentary use of snorkeling gear, fishing tackle, and backpacks. Cost: Suites start at $145 per night. Contact: Arajilla Retreat, 011-61-2-6563-2002, .

THE NEW LAGOON One look at the island of Aitutaki’s lagoon—30 miles in circumference, 15 feet deep, and ringed by islets—and you’ll see why the designers of Pacific Resort Aitutaki placed this retreat on 17 beachside acres. Some 145 miles north of the Cook Islands, this cluster of 28 palm-roofed villas and bungalows, set in hibiscus gardens, just opened in October 2002. Cost: $350 per night. Contact: Pacific Resort Aitutaki, 011-68-2-20427, .

News
Free Flipper Help researchers observe 11 Pacific bottle-nosed dolphins at one-year-old Dolphins Pacific—the world’s largest natural habitat for dolphin research—on Ngeruktabel Island in Palau. These ocean mammals are free to roam a 200-million-gallon roped-off lagoon, while visitors swim and scuba dive to learn more about dolphin behavior and ways to protect them in the wild. Reach the lagoon via a five-minute boat journey from the town of Koror. Cost: $80 per swim, $120 per scuba dive. Contact: Dolphins Pacific, 011-680-488-8582, . Dates: year-round.

The Shipping News

Oceania personified: Micronesia’s Truck Lagoon

Cargo ships crisscross Oceania like 18-wheelers do American interstates, offering cheap access to the South Pacific’s island oases. Keep in mind, however, that these ships stay true to the spirit of adventure: Prices, boats, and itineraries often change.


The Marquesas: Twice a month, the 250-foot Taporo 4 makes a 15-day voyage to these craggy islands 800 miles northeast of Tahiti, stopping at seven atolls en route. Private cabins aren’t available, but there’s decent cafeteria food. Cost: round-trip fare, $450 for deck passage. Contact: 011-689-42-63-93.


The Tuamotus: To travel to these 80 small specks 200 miles north of Tahiti, track down the Mareva Nui in Papeete’s harbor. More primitive than the Taporo 4, this 180-foot freighter makes four-day round-trip excursions to Rangiroa and its immense lagoon. Cost: $139. Contact: 011-689-42-2553.


The Tokelaus: Every two months, a ship chartered by the Office for Tokelau Affairs makes the 800-mile, seven-to-eight-day round-trip voyage from Western Samoa north to this lonely atoll. The ship stops at each of the Tokelaus’ three reef-bound islands: Fakaofo, Nukunonu, and Atafu. Cost: Cabin fare runs about $200, deck fare about half that. Contact: To make reservations, write to the Office for Tokelau Affairs, Apia, Western Samoa. They’ll answer. Really.


Micronesia: The 300-foot Micro Glory, operated out of Pohnpei by the Federated States of Micronesia, travels southwest on an 11-day, 900-mile round-trip voyage to some of the most remote islands in the world—Mokil, Pingelap, Sapwuahfik, Nukuoro, and Kapingamarangi. Cost: about $250 for a cabin and all meals. Contact: Call 011-691-320-2235 or write to the Public Affairs Office, Pohnpei State Government, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.


The Solomon Islands: Try the four-day trip to Gizo, in the Western Provinces, about 200 miles northwest of Honiara, aboard the 200-foot Luminao. She makes 11 stops at tiny island villages and provides first-class cabins, a small refrigerator, a cold shower, and a toilet. No food is served, so stock up before you depart. Cost: $90 round-trip. Contact: Wings Shipping Co., P.O. Box 9, Honiara, Solomon Islands.

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