Eco Holidays

posted by Catherine on Feb 18

March 27th 2010 will be the 4th Earth Hour across the globe - and you can get involved in something big!

After the reportedly pointless Copenhagen meeting last year, we need to try a different tack - and I think the Earth Hour is certainly getting results.

Not only is it so easy for you to get involved and make it even more of a success than last year, but it is also an opportunity for you to learn more about the tireless and endless work of the World Wide Fund for Nature (the WWF) and to keep up-to-date with global wildlife news and activities.

The Challenge:
Earth Hour is as simple as turning off your lights for an hour - that really is all you need to do to be a part of this global movement. 

Of course, you sitting in the dark for 60 minutes isn’t much fun and it only involves you - so why not make a night of it with your friends and family.  The more people that are at your event the bigger the impact:

• If they are with you then they don’t have their lights on at home either.
• They will know more about Earth Hour so can pass on the word.
• They will know more about Climate Change and so could lower their impact.
• They will have so much fun that they might organise their own event next year, inviting more people!

There are also massive events being organised across the world and in major towns and cities that you could become a part of too.  And there is even a video competition for Earth Hour this year - you need to create a short video that the WWF can use to promote Earth Hour on the website - and you could win £1000 for your efforts as well!

The Results:
Although turning off your lights for an hour at 8.30pm local time will help visually show the cause - you should really Sign Up on the official WWF page so that your numbers can be counted towards the global targets and be used in official figures.

The numbers of people involved has been steadily rising - and this year they are aiming for 1 billion to join in!  So make your actions count, and be a part of this.

Only 37 days left to sign up - so get organising!!!

Read a related article from WWF’s 2009’s Earth Hour.

posted by Catherine on Jan 16

Take a break in the countryside and leave the car at home - 4 legs is all you need!

There are thousands of places across the globe that specialise in horse riding holidays where you turn up and saddle up!

Some are only a few days long and others can last a week or two.  Others just keep coming back to the same place every night, and others trek across vast wildernesses like Patagonia, Canada and Mongolia.

You can do it for pleasure, to learn a new skill or to raise money for charity - but you can do it!

Eco Friendly Transport!
You can cover more distance on a horse when you want to explore and they don’t churn out dangerous emissions and use up valuable gas!

Once you have arrived at the farm or ranch, you can relax and slip into a different world for your vacation.

Instead of sight-seeing in a town or city where you have to drive around to get to anything, you can just walk outside of your lodge and meet your partner.

Even if you want to travel many miles, it will only cost you a few swigs of water to get you there and back!

Reach Those Difficult Places:
Also on horseback you will be able to travel to those places where 4 heels just can’t fit, like up a mountain pass to see a magnificent sunset, or down steep valley sides to get to the isolated waterfall.

And being high up offers you views you might not see on your own 2 feet!

Horse trails use up far less land than car trails - and no trees need to be pulled down to make a road, or habitats destroyed to cater for wider vehicles.

Riding through the landscape therefore has much less of an impact than other forms of transport and it gives you the opportunity to enjoy the whole experience more - as you don’t need to watch your step - the horse does that!

You can watch the landscape change colour in the sunlight, observe the colourful wildlife and birds pass you by - even if they are behind you.  Just hold on to the saddle and enjoy the ride!

Next Holiday?
So next time you are thinking of taking a short break close to home, or farther afield - why not consider a horseback one?

You don’t need to be an experienced rider either - unless you are hoping to ride up an active volcano - there are plenty of riding centers that take on complete beginners right up to regular riders.  Just make sure the school know your real level before you book.

I once went on a ride for the day and when we started galloping along the beach the chap behind me started making a lot of noise!  When we all stopped to find out what happened he said he had only ever walked on a horse before.  He put down that he was ‘experienced’ because he had ridden a horse that was walking loads of times!  He wasn’t experienced in the right sense - and it nearly lost him his saddle!

So, Tally-Ho I say!

posted by Catherine on Dec 14

This is the story of an amazing 20-month journey around the world without flying!

Nick Tuppin and Holly Gee decided that they were going to travel the world together, but not by buying a round-the-world plane ticket and bouncing across the globe in 6 months!

They wanted adventure - and they wanted it to be an eco adventure.  Whether it’s walking, cycling, buses, trains, or freighters - they will use it!  Talk about inspiring!

And they wanted to give back to the communities they were visiting as well, so they volunteered and worked their way around as well. Working in a school and helping to set up a website are just some of the things that they became involved in along the way.

The Route:
Starting out in France in September 2008, they passed through Spain and across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.  On from there to Columbia and up through Central America, the States and finally out the top through Canada and Alaska in September 2009 to Korea, China and ending up in Nepal for The New Year.

In 2010, the journey will continue across Mongolia and Russia, then down south to Turkey and up across eastern Europe on the Danube river, then hopefully home for May 2010.

So far they are right on track and their latest blog posts show them in Kathmandu.  The articles are certainly detailed and shows how they are getting by - including an impromptu job interview!  It also details about the attempts of locals to get into the British Gurkha Army and their participation in a house blessing ceremony!

They have included some great photos of their journey - every step of the way.  They include maps and historic images along the way too - making you feel like you are part of the journey with them.

Although they do have a history of travel - they are just two ordinary people who had normal jobs and just wanted to make a difference.  So they got up and did something about it!

That could be you!

posted by Catherine on Dec 8

Responsible Travel in association with Virgin Holidays have announced the winners for 2009!

As always, r:travel magazine is being distributed to everyone to let us know which travel companies are exceeding the standards for eco holidays, eco tours and responsible tourism.  Helping you choose a better holiday - and making sure that those companies that make a difference are recognised!

Here is a sneak peak at some of the winners - or go to their own website for more details:

Best In A Marine Environment: Whale Watch Kaikoura - New Zealand:
Offering some of the best whale watching tours - totally staff and owned by the native Maori population.  Not only have they grown this company from nothing for themselves, but the tours are all low impact, and the money has allowed them to purchase some of their ancestral land!

Best Low Carbon Transport And Technology - Alcatraz Cruises - USA:
This small company are really striving to make their tour boats as eco friendly as they can, investing in new technology to reduce nitrogen and carbon emissions - and they have created the worlds first hybrid ferry boat which uses solar energy for power!

Best Volunteering Organisation - People And Places - UK:
Rather than a large scale operation for everyone to choose where they want to go for their volunteering, this smaller company match up your skills to where they are most needed and will be most useful. 

This ensures that your time is well spent doing things that you enjoy and are good at - and you get the results for the community that they desperately need as you are a perfect match!

Best Destination - Cape Town - South Africa:
This destination has been chosen as the best overall location for eco friendly travel and tourism.  Building up for the 2010 World Cup has seen many companies and organisations here investing in huge eco improvements and schemes with support from the Cape Town Responsible Tourism Policy & Action Plan.  Making sure that important eco policies are adopted from the start of projects through to the end.

Hope it helps you choose your next eco holiday!

posted by Catherine on Jun 2

Seriously - think of you favorite wild animal - and then ask yourself the question: What am I doing to keep them alive?

Many people love pandas, tigers, penguins or even great white sharks - but many of us don’t really make a difference to their fight for life on this planet.

What Can I Do From Home?
Watching a documentary about them on TV does actually help believe it or not. If the TV ratings for a show on African Hunting Dogs gets top ratings - they see money they are making and go out and make another one. But to film these creatures, they need to make sure that they are healthy and their habitat is kept safe.

Buying specialist magazines or books can also make larger companies aware of an interest in certain wildlife or habitats so that they focus more on them and possibly invest more money in research and/or protection.

Similarly, you can join a charity or wildlife group that is helping to educate local people to live with dangerous species (as with the lynx), train specialists to protect endangered animals (as with gorillas) or just stop people chopping down their home (as with orangutans)!

Some charity organisations also sell ‘gift’ packs for certain animals or habitats - such as the WWF. This allows you to buy a gift for a friends birthday/wedding/event that actually sends fund directly to your chosen destination!

Your friends get a cuddly toy, information and magazines all about the dolphin or turtle or whatever - and they get to help protect the wildlife! Rather than buying some consumer gifts and throwing away loads of packaging and sticky tape to haunt future generations - your gift will be keeping those habitats alive for future generations (and yourself) to enjoy!

What Can I Do Abroad?
Obviously joining a charity vacation abroad to actually work with the animals or local communities involved will be a great help. You will be there first hand to help protect your favourite creatures - and learn so much more about them.

You could even just take a vacation to the country that they live in and just support that nation in terms of tourism - maybe booking a tour specifically to see those animals in their habitat. By telling your local hosts and native tour guides that these animals and this habitat were the only reasons for you trip here will make sure that they are aware of the importance of preserving that.

If you went to India and didn’t pay to go see the tigers - why would they bother to help keep them there? Tourism runs like a business - if the tea plantation makes more money than the tiger reserve - guess what might happen? The reserve is taken over by tea!

Make sure that you also tell tour companies the reason for your holiday - I mean if you (and 100’s of other vacationers were asking for a whale-watching holiday in Mexico and they didn’t offer one - I’m sure they would start looking into it!

You must be active in telling companies why you are or are not booking with them. If they don’t know what their potential customers are wanting - they can’t offer it. Don’t just leave them to guess - make the choice for them - make them support your cause.

It may even have a multiplying effect as some people who aren’t so active may book an alternate holiday instead - but if they saw a new wildlife trip on offer in the brochure - they may book it themselves, sending even more funds and interested people to your favorite location or to see your favorite animals!

Basically - you need to get active and show your support for the things you like. Just like you favorite store: if you don’t support it - you could lose it!

posted by Catherine on May 23

Trying to turn over a new leaf in terms of your travel habits? Here are some great ideas for train travel around Europe and The United States.

There is the InterRail Pass for all 30 countries in Europe and the Amtrak USA Rail Pass for all the mainland states (with possible extension into Canada). Both of which are very flexible and just waiting for your adventure to begin.

How Do They Work?
Well you can choose from a selection of options available for each pass type depending on how long or how far you want to travel.  For example do you want unlimited travel for the whole month, or do you just want to get from east to west coast and back again?

Once you have decided on this you can see which of the packages will best suit your needs.  If you are hoping to visit several cities on your trip, then you could focus on the number of journeys included in the ticket rather than the time-scale, but if you want to just go all over whenever you fancy, then the time scale becomes more important.

What Does InterRail Offer?
Interrail offers both types of tickets, so basically you can either have so many journeys within a set period of time - like 5 days travels out of a 10 day period, or 10 days travel over a 22 day period.  Alternatively you can have 22 consecutive days of travel in your package so you are not limited to catching a train to the next town for the day and back if you like a certain hotel. 

Interrail is only available to Europeans - (and you cannot travel in your own country on your ticket) but covers travel to 30 countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, The UK, Spain, Romania, Turkey and Serbia! So, in 10 days you could have covered 15 or more countries!

There are also other deals that you can link to these passes, including local transport networks like the Swiss Pass (allowing you unlimited travel on their network) and of course free or reduced entry to museums or historical sites like with the Great British Heritage Pass.

Alternatively, you can just choose one country to travel in - for example - if you have booked a cheap holiday to Turkey and want to see more without paying the high fees of your tour operator! You can pay as little as £110 for 8 days train travel within a period of a month (you don’t have to be in the country for the whole month) and take day trips to wherever you want from your hotel base! Great stuff!!

The Amtrak Alternative:
The USA Travel Pass allows a slightly different service where it sells you passes with a number of ’segments’ included. These ’segments’ are legs of a journey and count as one segment per single get on-get off journey. So if you just travel 10 minutes down the road on your Rail Pass - you use up a whole segment!

As with the Interrail Pass, you do have the option to just buy a normal train or bus ticket locally for shorter journeys so you don’t waste your money on these little bits so to speak!

However, there are many long distance trains that can make this more worth while if you were looking for a coast-to-coast experience! For example you could make it from New York to San Diego in 3 segments (although on is a long long long old journey), or from New York to Miami on one all-day journey!

Both types of tickets are readily available online or through agents - who can help you choose the best package and also give you great tips - from £110 up to £582 for Europe (kids under 3 are free)and from $389 to $749 for the US Pass (kids under 2 are free). Students can get great discounts too!

So where are you going?

posted by Catherine on May 11

Why not experience the true wilds of the US - and escape the hectic city life!

There are currently 58 designated National Parks in the US, with the most northerly mainland park being Kobuk Valley, Alaska; and the most southerly being Dry Tortugas in the Florida Keys. There are 2 in Hawaii as well - but not really somewhere you can drive to!

So, Why A National Park?
Well, they are truly a site to behold and they are eco friendly in terms of local, vacations!  No more long-haul flights, no more feeding your money into the hands of other countries and multi-nationals!  Why not buy US products, pay for US services and support your very own country and promote their beautiful sites. 

After all, if things don’t get used - they get lost!  If people don’t visit these great, protected sites - it won’t be worth keeping them, and they will no longer be protected.

However, there is no reason not to visit them! The landscapes in these places are amazing, and even the townies among you can’t fail to be made speechless by the sheer size, majesty and wildlife in these places.

By their very criteria, the National Parks Trust have made sure that these areas of wilderness really are untouched and as natural as they come. And with 34,000,000 hectares land under their belt so far - they are saving all these areas for the future.

The US had the first National Park EVER in the entire world with Yellowstone National Park in 1872, and it is still going strong!

There are also 1,822,155 hectares of ocean, lake and reservoir to explore as well as 136,873 kms of river to kayak down (or up depending on your type of vacation!)

What Else?
National Parks also include 68,561 archaeological sites and 27,000 historic structures for visitors to hunt out amongst the woodlands, mountains and valleys! 16 out of the 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites are also managed by the National Park Service.

And don’t think it’s all mud and trees when you get there! The National Park Service maintain over 27,000 kms of trails, all have clear sign posts with easy to understand pictogram’s.

And, there are also 16,000 kms of roads as part of the sites. This way, you can still enjoy the beauty of these sites on your way to the campsite - and again on your way home!

Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and Virginia is the most visited US site! It gets around 16,300,000 visitors a year!

Plenty of people are making a longer trip of it these days and overnight stays top 13.8 million people - and are headed up by RV campers now, whereas last year the most popular accommodation was in Lodges!

Most of the sites are towards the Pacific coast and across the Rockies, including Death Valley and Yosemite, Crater Lake. Glacier & Yellowstone! Several in the east include Arcadia in Maine, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and Great Smokey Mountains National Park in N. Carolina & Tennessee.

Which ones have you been to?

posted by Catherine on May 2

It’s not just in the tropics that disease can spread and be debilitating!

The Northern Hemisphere has it’s ‘bug’ that can ruin your eco holidays, andit is found in woodlands all over the US and Europe.

It’s called Lyme’s Disease and is now classified as an emerging infectious disease as it is becoming more widespread over the past 10-20 years.  It is not yet as bad as some diseases, but if you have plans to go camping, trekking or hiking - then give this a quick ‘Heads Up’.

What Is Lyme Disease?
This is currently the most common tick-borne disease affecting humans north of the equator.

Ticks are the main vector, and having fed on an infected host like a woodland deer, they fall off onto the floor until they are hungry again.  They then sit and wait for the next warm body to come past to hop on for dinner!  That could be you.

Once on you, it will search for direct contact with the skin - bite through - and then start feeding.  This prolonged contact with your blood allows the infection to pass into your system.

Think you would pick it off before it bit you?  Well, no.  It is usually the nymph stage of the ticks life cycle that carries the disease, and they are a lot harder to see than the adults!  And - they have materials in their saliva that prevent you from feeling pain where they are feeding.

Therefore, making sure that you are well covered in clothing or natural tick repellent is a must.  Especially from May through September as this is when the nymph stages are most active.

What Are The Symptoms of Lyme Disease?
There are currently 3 distinct stages of Lyme Disease, but not all stages have symptoms and symptoms can vary immensely from person to person, so these are only a guide.

Stage 1: Local Infection.
Well, you may well get a large rash at the wound site within a few days or up to a month, looking a bit like a ‘bulls-eye’.  However, not all people get the rash and it is generally painless.

You could also experience flu-like symptoms, including headaches, tiredness, muscle soreness and a fever.  But you could get no noticeable symptoms at all at this stage.

Stage 2: Spreading Infection.
After the initial localised rash, the infection starts to spread around the body in the bloodstream and it is possible to get more rashes anywhere across the body.

Others include a purple lump appearing on the earlobe or other extremities, heart palpitations and muscle, joint and tendon pain.  If Stage 1 was left untreated, symptoms can be worse - and include meningitis and facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy).  Also shooting pains throughout the body and swelling on the brain have been noted as well as mood changes!

Stage 3: Late Persistent Infection.
This is usually only found in untreated patients - and is reason enough to prevent tick bites in the first place!

Many patients go on to develop severe (short term) or chronic (long-term) symptoms including many important organs: brain and heart, as well as nerves, eyes and joints - and can be disabling.  In severe cases it can even be fatal!

And Your Pets?
Dogs, cats, horses and even cattle can get Lyme Disease too from infected tick bites - although the symptoms and time scale are different.  It has even been identified in other small mammals.

How To Prevent Infection:
So, when you are planning a summer trip to the woods - make sure you have adequate protection for your skin - either with clothes or natural and organic repellent sprays.

May is actually Lyme Disease Awareness Month, to raise the profile of the problems surrounding this little known but growing infection.  Although it is not transmitted people-to-people, it is still important not to get infected in the first place, and to avoid the symptoms.

Don’t let this put you off having a great eco adventure in the forest - but just be aware that we have nasty little bugs too!

posted by Catherine on Apr 9

Would You Buy A Tiger Cub?

The trade in live animals and animal parts is one of the most active in the world - and only people like you can stop it by refusing to buy any animal parts or any live animals - and by reporting anything you see that is suspicious to the WWF

Live Animals:
Even if it is legal to import live animals into your home country - why would you do so?

They will no doubt be live caught (with parents and siblings often killed to collect them) and will have been badly handled and possibly smuggled in tiny spaces to you or your seller. The rates of survival on these journeys are very low, so for every animal that arrives, huge numbers could have died along the way.

As the animal is not endemic to your country, it may well need imported foods or specific diets and nutrients that you may be unaware of, equipment to maintain the correct humidity and temperature (which you might not even know yourself) and no doubt any illness or disease it has already got or may pick up from your end may not be treatable by a local vet as they have no experience or the veterinary equipment and medications to treat it.

And most obviously, if you brought one, then someone else might want one therefore creating or increasing the numbers caught and traded. You are perpetuating the cycle of death and destruction of species and habitat.

Stuffed Animals:
For the same reason - be wary of buying stuffed animals that are endangered species.

We all know that the rarer something becomes - the more it is worth, so by buying even a really old stuffed animal that has since become endangered you are letting that vendor know that there is a demand for whatever it was. It may well encourage him to find someone to supply him with another one……

Traditional Medicines:
There is no scientific proof that traditional medicines are effective against disease or can increase your fertility. It’s like your bank manager telling you how to make loads of money with shares and investments - when if he knew how to make loads of money - why is he still working in a bank rather than in a big mansion on a desert island?

However, most traditional medicines are made with animal parts - and many of these animals - like tigers - are endangered. There is no need for you to try any of these treatments as you are very likely encouraging illegal poaching and trapping.

And as with most ‘natural’ remedies that sound to good to be true - they probably are. Surely if there really was a part of an animal that really did prevent disease almost 100% of the time - do you not think that medicine would be available worldwide rather than in some tiny backstreet store outside of town??

Any Unidentified Animal Parts:
If you really want to do everything you can to avoid encouraging illegal wildlife poaching, then avoid buying anything made of or by any animal.

Just as the sale of leather from cows is a by-product of the beef and dairy industry, so the sale of teeth, bones and fur, feathers and quills can be the by-products of other trades.

It is a minefield out there, so you need to be quite broad with your shopping choices no matter how pretty or ‘amazing’ that souvenir is - because it would look a lot better if it was still alive!

And remember no matter how bad the trade is - if you buy it - they will make more. Just look at McDonalds!!!

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posted by Catherine on Apr 5

We continue on with more ‘not to buy’ souvenirs below - including endangered sealife and caviar.

Tortoiseshell Products:
Now, even I didn’t know that this ‘name’ was actually representing turtle shells!  I just used to think it was the name of the ‘print’ or ‘design’, but real tortoiseshell products are generally derived from marine turtle shells - mainly the Hawksbill turtle: critically endangered since 1973!

It was mainly found as accessories like sunglasses and hair clips, which were very common in tourist resorts, hotels and airports.  A man-made alternative was developed - but still buy with care - or not at all!  Unfortunately, unless they are clearly made of plastic such products should be avoided to be sure they are not affecting wild populations of turtles.

Seahorses:
These can be brought dried or alive - but obviously neither is recommended! 

Import and export of all seahorses is controlled by CITES under Appendix II, although Indonesis, Japan, Norway and South Korea have opted out of these trade rules!

Captive-bred seahorses are now becoming popular as wild caught specimens usually don’t live very long once captured.  This obviously lowers the threats to wild populations, but should be thoroughly checked before purchase to make sure of their true origins.

Corals:
The colors and shapes of corals have attracted buyers for years, although obviously has been taking it’s toll on marine environments.

Corals are very slow-growing and damage to a reef can take decades to recover - that is why diving guidelines have been changing to help prevent further damage.

Islands like the Maldives have ‘coral sand’ which is made up of dead and eroded coral and sometimes contains large chunks or material - however this coral is what makes the beach!  If coral offshore is destroyed for sale and large pieces of dead coral are collected from the beaches - there will be nothing left to protect the islands from eroding away!

Coral reefs are extremely diverse marine ecosystems - home to a whole host of exotic marine fish that can suvive nowhere else - so destrying their home will be destroying their chances of survival.

Seashells:
Mainly for the same reason as above - the discarded sea shells make up the beaches in most tropical destinations, helping to create the ’sandy’ beaches and protect the land.

Depending on the shell type it is also possible that the live creature was captured and killed to alow the shell to be cleaned and polished for tourists to buy - not a good thing!

Also, many shells are used as homes for hermit crabs, and the more shells we take of of beaches, means that competition for new homes becomes fierce and ‘homeless’ crabs will be unprotected and likely prey.

Caviar:
A more unusual problem as it is not to everyones taste, but never-the-less sturgeon populations are in dramatic decline due to over-fishing and illegal fishing activities.

Since 1995, one species of sturgeon in Europe has been reduced by 40%, and around 12 tonnes of illegal caviar were seized in the European Union alone.  Governing bodies are working with CITES to create a labelling system to identify legal caviar.

Things aren’t always so easy to identify, so just think twice about your purchase.

Join us for Part 3 next - which covers live animals and animal parts…..

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