Tag: Outdoors
Recession Hiking on the Appalachian Trail
by Michael Yessis | 06.29.09 | 10:57 AM ET
NPR’s Thomas Pierce set out to find out whether the recession has influenced who’s hiking the Appalachian Trail this season, and fell in with “Pusher” and “The Duder.” Maybe Pierce will return soon and find out if there’s also a Sanford effect out there.
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Yahoo! BuzzWhen (So-Called) Eco-Travelers Sin
by Joanna Kakissis | 06.11.09 | 4:24 PM ET
Photo by stevendepolo via Flickr (Creative Commons)
When I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Last American Man a few years ago, I was struck by an exchange between the nature-embracing mountain man Eustace Conway and an acolyte whose idea of life-changing sustainability was to turn off the water when she was brushing her teeth.
I wonder if some so-called “eco-travelers” operate the same way. Maybe they book a “life-changing” holiday at an eco-resort in Costa Rica and declare themselves sustainable travelers. But what if they take their unsustainable bad habits with them?
Kilauea’s Hot Summit
by Pam Mandel | 06.09.09 | 12:48 PM ET
It used to be that you had to go to the end of the winding Chain of Craters road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park if you wanted to get a look at hot melted planet. I’ve never done it—once the road was closed due to excessive volcanic activity, and once there wasn’t time and once ... Oh, my excuses are endless.
But if you’re on the Big Island right now, you don’t have to make that trip. According to the L.A. Times, Kilauea is “glowing brightly as molten lava swirls 300 feet below its crater’s floor, bubbling near the surface after years of spewing from the volcano’s side.”
Martigny, Switzerland
by World Hum | 06.05.09 | 10:26 AM ET
A traveler from Vietnam poses with Saint Bernard Salsa, at the Great Saint Bernard mountain pass.
Chaitén, Chile: Life After the Eruption
by Nicholas Gill | 05.29.09 | 10:39 AM ET
Photo by Nicholas Gill A year after a volcano began ravaging the Patagonian town, Nicholas Gill looks back at the destruction
See the full photo slideshow »
Lessons From The Dancing Chickens
by Sophia Dembling | 05.14.09 | 1:44 PM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling When I heard about the Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival in Woodward, Okla., my mind went directly to funnel cakes, face painting, and maybe a parade with a Lesser Prairie Chicken Queen. Sign me up, I said! I love small-town fests.
I’m kind of a moron sometimes. It wasn’t until I had my trip planned that I fully understood that a bird festival is where bird watchers gather to watch birds—in this case, lesser prairie chickens. Not only was funnel cake not part of the event, but the centerpiece of the weekend involved waking before dawn to spend three hours in a field watching chickens dance.
Maui vs. the Moorhen
by Pam Mandel | 05.13.09 | 10:20 AM ET
The fluffy little chick paddling in the pond at Waimea Valley didn’t look like much of a keeper of fire. She was all black fuzz and pathetic peeping. The endangered ’Alae ’Ula chick—or Hawaiian Moorhen—was the last of a brood of three that hatched this spring. There are only about 300 of the birds left, according to a State of Hawaii fact sheet.
Can Eco-Travelers Save the World’s Rainforests?
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.08.09 | 2:19 PM ET
I’ve been thinking about this question since I saw a public awareness video released on YouTube by Prince Charles’s Rainforests Project. His Royal Highness rightly points out that climate change is the “greatest threat facing mankind” and that deforestation worsens global warming. (Burning trees releases their stored CO2.) At home, we can buy coffee tables and cabinetry made from sustainable wood. But what can we do when we travel?
America the Accessible
by Jenna Schnuer | 04.23.09 | 3:48 PM ET
Fifteen years ago, when nobody else was really servicing the community, writer Candy Harrington ditched traditional travel writing and launched Emerging Horizons, a travel magazine for people with disabilities.
“Back then most of my friends and colleagues thought I was a few fries short of a happy meal for making such a drastic change,” says Harrington. Silly colleagues. Other travel magazines come and go but Emerging Horizons is still running strong, and Harrington also writes books, articles for magazines and websites, and a blog on the subject.
We checked in with her to find out about the state of accessible travel in America—and some of her favorite accessible travel adventures around the 50.
Name That Cactus!
by Sophia Dembling | 04.21.09 | 1:37 PM ET
Scottsdale is all very hip and happening, with fancy hotels, great golf courses (allegedly—I’m no golfer) and highly rated restaurants. But during my visit last year, I was mesmerized by the cacti. So many varieties, so many personalities. I snapped umpteen photos—see my brief slideshow after the jump and read about a contest that could win you a trip to the booming desert city.
The Altered States of Sedona
by Laurie Gough | 04.14.09 | 10:07 AM ET
iStockPhoto Laurie Gough looks Arizona's New Age mecca in the vortexes and says, "Sacred energy of the Earth, come and get me."
Saving ‘Cleopatra’s Beach’ and a Jewel of the Aegean
by Joanna Kakissis | 04.03.09 | 11:15 AM ET
I’m not surprised that the beautiful Gulf of Gökova off the southwestern coast of Turkey has practically been loved to death. The Aegean blue water and soft beach sand (which Mark Antony allegedly imported to Gökova from Egypt for Cleopatra) is the stuff of sea-loving tourists’ dreams.
Over the years, yacht tours polluted the bay, illegal fishing depleted its marine life, and all those sunbathers started eroding that queenly beach sand. The European-funded Gökova Integrated Coastal Management program banned the sunbathers from the beach in 2007 and is now working to support sustainable fishing, protect the bay’s natural flora and fauna, and keep the Gökova waters clean. (Via Treehugger)
The Deep-Sea Discoveries of Papahanaumokuakea
by Pam Mandel | 04.02.09 | 2:32 PM ET
The submersible plunged into the deep waters of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in 2007, but it’s only recently that we’re learning about what was found there. Seven new species of bamboo coral have been identified in the protected area northwest of Hawaii’s main islands. Researchers also located a coral graveyard that might have died a million years ago. The NOAA site has some pictures of the coral, the submersible used for exploration at depths of over 5,000 feet and, whoa, cool, that’s a robot arm poking a sponge. And, uh, a milk crate? Whatever is best for science, I guess.
The ‘Golden Age’ of Green Travel
by Joanna Kakissis | 04.01.09 | 12:07 PM ET
That would be right now, despite the economic recession, says National Geographic Adventure’s eco tourism expert Costas Christ. Consider the evidence: Airlines are testing clean biofuels, top tourism organizations are battling climate change and defining sustainability standards and the Marriott Corporation is leading the charge to protect some 1.4 million acres of Amazon rain forest. Most notably for the humble traveler, the small outfitters and family-owned lodges of the early years of eco tourism are regaining their influence over the “$500-a-night jungle resorts” that have put eco travel out of financial reach for many, Christ says.
Kenyan Eco-Tourism Camp Draws on the ‘Obama Magic’
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.30.09 | 11:20 AM ET
In 2006, then-Senator Barack Obama stayed in a room at Basecamp Explorer, which is set on 40 acres at the edge of the Masai Mara National Game Reserve. Now that he’s President Obama, the room where he stayed is already popular with visitors, camp general manager Annette Bulman told Business Daily Africa.
The so-called “Obama room” is spare, with a bed, two African stools and a table with a framed photo of Obama and some Basecamp employees. Its wooden porch has a hammock and overlooks the Talek River. Basecamp Explorer is already one of the top eco-tourism facilities in Kenya. Could the “Obama room” also make it one of the most popular in Africa?
Mixing Birding and Business Where Others Don’t Care to Go
by Sophia Dembling | 03.26.09 | 3:01 PM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling I love the idea of bird-watching.
I love birds, I love being out in nature, I love having something to do while I’m out in nature. Too bad I’m really bad at bird-watching. I can spot only the most obvious birds, I can identify only the most easily identifiable. Subtleties escape me. (What color are their feet? Are you kidding me?) If I’m with real bird-watchers and they do the spotting and identifying, I am capable of watching. That’s about it.
I love it anyway.
No Heart-Shaped Jacuzzis for Couples at the Frog Hotel
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.24.09 | 3:34 PM ET
Because even amphibians need a place to get away from it all. The Frog Hotel in Edinburgh is more like the Bates hotel in “Psycho” than some smooth-lovin’ honeymoon inn soundtracked by Barry White, said Robert Henderson, Scottish coordinator for the Community Service Volunteers’ Action Earth campaign. But dark, dirt-scented ambience, complete with a compost cafe full of bugs and and a tiny ramp leading to a sleeping area, is just what gets frogs in the mood to schmooze.
Henderson’s group is encouraging people to put Frog Hotels in their gardens and yards in the hopes of preserving biodiversity in urban areas. It could work out really well for the frogs unless one of the hotels ends up next to a chef fond of cuisses de grenouille.
Hawaii’s Endangered Birds: Wake Up, Already!
by Pam Mandel | 03.23.09 | 11:00 AM ET
I’m as surprised as anyone to find myself turning into a bird watcher—it’s a short walk from where I am to high-waisted cargo pants, a vest full of pockets and a pair of binoculars that will allow me to see well into the next county. (I kid, I kid. Bird watchers come in all shapes, sizes and victims of fashion.) My affection for all things avian is why I was saddened to read the report on Hawaii’s failing bird population.
From the AP
One-third of the nation’s endangered birds are in Hawaii, said the report issued Thursday by the Interior Department. Thirty-one Hawaiian bird species are listed as endangered, more than anywhere else in the country.
Birds are a critical part of any visit to Hawaii—the moment the sun pops over the horizon, the birds go off, alarm clock style, making all kinds of racket until they are sure you are good and awake, settling down to spend their days in a less disruptive way once you’ve given up the earplugs, found a cup of coffee and admitted defeat. Maybe they know you have to be on the pier, pronto, to catch that snorkel boat or whale-watching tour, and they are not going to let you miss it, not if they have anything to say about it.
North Curl Curl Beach, Australia
by World Hum | 03.20.09 | 10:15 AM ET
REUTERS/Daniel Munoz North, a Little Penguin, looks back as it is pushed into the sea by veterinarian Amy Twentyman of the Taronga Zoo at North Curl Curl beach in Sydney. The zoo released back into the ocean two adult Little Penguins after they had rested and been cared for at Taronga's Wildlife hospital.
Volcano Erupts Off Tonga
by Julia Ross | 03.19.09 | 3:30 PM ET
This gets my vote for photos of the day. Check out this spectacular slideshow of an undersea volcano currently erupting off the Tongan coast. The volcano reportedly poses no threat to the human population in the area, though the rocks it’s throwing off are expected to wash up on the beaches of Fiji. For now, behold the power of nature.
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