Eco Holidays

posted by Catherine on Oct 22

If you are going to travel across continents – then why not make the most of it?

Having travelled regularly myself – I know that there is a huge distinction between going it alone based on guide books and actually taking a reputable escorted tour or longer guided trip.

Now, I won’t say that all of my ‘go-it-alone’ holidays have been rubbish – far from it!  I loved every minute of my trips from home otherwise I wouldn’t do it so often – but there is more to see than just what’ in the guidebooks – and it’s great!

People In The Know:
A friend of mine recently travelled to the Canadian Rockies for a vacation, and it was going to be just the 2 of them in various log cabins looking at a few things here and there – but I encouraged them otherwise.

I feel that if you are going to clock up the energy costs of travel in the first place, you should really cram as much into them as you can so that it is still enjoyable; but that you come away with a big grin on your face which hangs around for several months afterwards.

So I suggested that they look at some escorted tours Canada to get a real insight into the place before they headed off on their own.

photo credit: savillent

It Changes Your View:
Having signed up for a guided tour myself in this area – I know how much the experience can offer.  Not only does it allow you to learn a lot more about the history and the workings of the area, it also highlights wildlife patterns, tips on getting the most out of it and safety regarding the larger mammals in the woods!

Discovering that some beautiful birds flock to certain trees early in the morning is indispensible; locating an idylic mountain stream and waterfall is another ‘perfect’ moment; and finding out from a local how to act if a pack of wolves cross your path really helps to settle your nerves!

And hopefully a great guide on your tour will be able to fill you with enthusiasm about the whole region as well as the smaller things.  They will make sure that they add a bit a magic to your vacation.

There is no point getting home and feeling like you didn’t see everything or that you need to go back to see more sights – you’ll want to go back because you loved it so much the first time!

posted by Catherine on Sep 22

If your kids are always asking how long until we get home – think on your feet!

There is plenty going on in the countryside even when it all looks a bit bleak – maybe not noticable to us adults who are just thinking about the weather and the route back to the car.

But to the kids; the autumn cold weather and wildlife is nothing but one huge adventure!

So here are a few things that might inspire you to think about the fun side of things. Maybe walk less distance and do more things – that way you can keep the kids happy rather than constantly making them catch you up!

Don’t Leave The Leaves:
Plan to gather up all the leaves you can find that have fallen from trees into one great big pile – and then run through them kicking them up in the air! This game is so easy to play over and over again!

Autumn Gathering:
Why not use the opportunity to search the woodland floor for branches and twigs to build a secret den? There are no wildflowers in the way; just leaves, moss and building materials!

photo credit: Steve-h

Counting Conkers:
Depending on the woods – there should be plenty of conkers for you to collect – still in their spikey shells! Once you have a winner (and some string) you can set up your own tournament!

Searching For Seeds:
It’s not just conkers you will find – there are hazelnuts, acorns, berries and even helicopters! Why not try to guess which ones need to be eaten by animals and which ones float in the wind!

Puddles And Painting:
Find some different coloured berries, grasses and muds and mix up your own paint pot to make your own autumn scene – using real leaves and twigs if you want!

Get Lost!
Why not set up a treaure trail using chalk marks, wooden arrows and leaf designs. Follow the clues through the woods to the treasure – hopefully a nice picnic!

And – it doesn’t cost a penny or require any great planning!

posted by Catherine on Jul 21

Why buy one car to suit all your needs – chop and change whenever you can!

Just like buying that house with a spare room just incase a friend comes to stay, or keeping that extensive wine cellar just incase you throw a party – or even buying that hat for just one wedding – why do we need to buy something so short term?

To help save resources and to make sure that you always have exactly what you need only when you need it – hire it instead – and that is a very eco friendly choice, wouldn’t you say?

Well, the same can be said of cars; why have a variety of vehicles for the family that you have to use for everything that you need, when you could hire a more suitable car when you need it.

Flexible Hire Cars:
We all still need our family car for shopping and school runs, but do we need the spare ‘nice’ car when we want something less ‘family’. And why compromise on a more economical vehicle in luie of those odd holidays; I mean why drive around in a spacious 7-seater every day just so that during the school holidays you can get the scooters and suitcases in the boot!

Hiring cars is no longer such a hoo-haa, and there are varying prices, vehicles and hire periods these days that can help you make the most of different vehicles for your changing needs.

So if you are looking for long term car hire – why not consider all the options – and get the exact car you need whenever you need one.

Why Change?
Well, a sports car doesn’t do the same thing as a camper van. One is perfect for that romantic fast-paced get-a-way but isn’t really suitable for pulling over in a field and making a bacon sandwich! However the other is perfect for that impromtu lunch and life at a slower pace.

Yet you wouldn’t want both sitting on your drive all year waiting for that break!

So just like hiring your wedding dress, a holiday cottage or even a carpet cleaner – hiring a car to suit your needs is the perfect eco friendly alternative – and why not?

photo credit: Land Rover Our Planet

We can’t all afford a minibus, 2-seater or off-roader – yet these might be the perfect vehicle for our short-term needs. And if driven properly and to full capacity, they could be the most eco friendly choice for your needs.

So if you need a vehicle for more than a month and for a specific purpose – consider a hire vehicle which fits the bill perfectly and make the most of your trip or business needs.

No need to stretch your family car to the limit doing something it’s not suited to!

posted by Catherine on Jun 22

What is the fun in making a whole load of rules about the countryside?

The Countryside code is something that people rarely ever read – and this is for 2 main reasons. Either the people being shown the information are too rude and selfish to consider what might be best for the countryside itself and everyone else sharing in it’s beauty, so they have no interest in being ‘told what to do’.

Or they already know the code inside-out as it is all common sense to the the eco thinker!

I mean how more obvious could it be to anyone that dropping litter isn’t a great way to keep the countryside healthy! If you drop litter here today – what do you expect it to look like tomorrow?

The basic principles of the Countryside code are really just the exact same things as we see everywhere else in our lives – but maybe with sheep instead of hamsters, and oaks instead of rose bushes.

Would you leave the door to your friends hamster cage open after you put something inside? Would you start pulling roses off your neighbours bushes because you wanted a closer look at the leaves? Would you hit your dog waste under a hedge with a stick and into the school playground? While looking around a shop, would you start opening all the doors just to see what’s on the other side?

Strange. Because that is just what people expect to be able to do in the countryside.

How Are They The Same?
Unfortunately, because the countryside (and beaches and woodlands and mountains, moors and marshes) are all free to visit – some people assume that they have no value. And so they treat them as such.

For example, Family A travel to a small village for a visit and decide to wander off up a footpath as it is sunny. As they have not ‘done this before’ they may well ‘lose’ their way, find the path turning the ‘wrong’ way or come across a huge muddy puddle.

photo credit: robertsharp

Rather than thinking that the footpath goes another way for a reason or that the place they want to go might be private anyway – they say to themselves: ‘Well, we can see where we want to go – so if we just jump this fence, we can walk across this dry field and get there anyway’.

Now if you went around your friends house for a visit, walked to the end of their garden and saw a beautiful lake across someone else’s garden – you wouldn’t just bunk over your friends fence and trample your family across somone else’s garden to get to the private lake, would you?

So what makes it OK when it is just a farmers field?

All Are Welcome:
The countryside is usually ‘free’ to enter as many charities and private owners alike want people to experience to wonder and amazing character of the open countryside.

They do this by opening up for private business, extending their existing footpath and bridleway network to allow great freedom of the visitors and by making their land as easy to access and walk through as possible.

However, at any time they can revert to the bare minimum of access for walkers and riders. And repreated trespassing and vandalism will only bring this about sooner.

For example, shops that find large numbers of children encourage thefts restrict the number of children they allow in to their stores. Private Houses and Gardens open to the public often put barriers around precious items, flower beds and lawns and even close of certain rooms – usually due to past visitors damaging or breaking something with their carelessness.

The same could be true for your favourite areas of the countryside.

Imagine if all footpaths were fenced in; Open Access land was restricted back to the by-ways and gardens and houses were closed of?

Imagine also that due to the cost of repairs and alterations due to damage by visitors was placed on future visitors.

I remember a whole host of places that used to have ‘free parking’ or ‘free entry’ all year round – and churches that were left open all day.

That is not always the case anymore. More and more landowners, farmers, clergymen and charities are finding that unquestioning hospitality and generosity just are not traits that keep things ticking over.

Times are changing, but hopefully people can too!

Please pass on the Countryside Code to whoever you take out with you on your eco adventures. Pass on the reasons – not the rules – and hopefully you can change a few yourself.

posted by Catherine on May 31

Why take your safari in the same place as everybody else if you don’t have to?

Kenya, South Africa and Botswana get all the coverage with the big names for Safaris – but there is plenty to see in less visited countries – so don’t overlook places like Uganda and Rwanda too fast.

Not to name drop but you would be missing out on Bwindi Inpenetrable National Park and it’s mountain gorillas; both the Congo and the Nile rivers; the Great Rift Valley; and Lake Victoria.

When you are choosing an African adventure, make sure you give the less well known companies and countries their fair share of your attention and subsequently your funding. If we want to show countries that it is worth them keeping something – then we have to pay them in return.

And that is what your eco friendly travel plans should consider – what benefit does your vacation have on the people you spend it with – and those people you don’t spend it with?

So, here is a little bit of information on these 2 countries to show that there is plenty of Africa to see without sitting in a coach filled with 30 other tourists all looking at the same sleeping lion or baby elephant!

Uganda:
Home to an estimated 50% of the World’s mountain gorillas as well as chimpanzees, 120 species of mammals, 250+ species of butterflies and 360 species of birds in the Bwindi alone – making this site one of the richest and most diverse wildlife site in East Africa (beating Kenya hands down!).

photo credit: Kabacchi

It also has over 200 species of tree, 100+ ferns and 86 species of orchid! A plant lovers dream location too then!

In total there are 9 National Parks in Uganda – so you won’t be short of a wildlife adventure or two for your efforts.

There are a variety of habitats including wetlands, marshes, mountains and cloud forests to explore as well as 40 different languages to discover amongst the 4 main areas of the country.

And due to its high altitude and rings of mountains it is cooler than other countries on the equator – as well as being less prone to tropical diseases than many of it’s neighbours – always a bonus for the traveller!

Rwanda:
After being in the news for everything but it’s wildlife and culture – why not take a look at the eco adventures on offer in this less visited country. After all, gorilla safaris are this countries leading tourist attraction!

There are habitats here ranging from active volcanos in the Virunga mountains, through rolling hills, savannah, plains and swamps as well as all the lakes that fill this part of the Great Rift Valley.

There are only 3 National Parks here – but you won’t be disappointed with the wildlife: gorillas, giraffes, forest elephants, 14 species of primate and over 700 species of bird.

The people of Rwanda all belong to one ethnic group and so share a common history and culture, including dance, music and story-telling – as well as shared and local arts and crafts.

Eco Adventures:
These 2 countries border each other (as well as Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo) so you could easily travel between them all on an overland tour – either with an organised group or independently depending on your needs (overland tour buses don’t usually have toilets!).

So when you are planning your Safari Holidays - don’t look to the same old same old – think of something new and you might just have the best safari ever!

Following your heart – not the tour bus rules……

posted by Catherine on May 24

As part of the ‘Making Wildlife Watching Easy’ series: Swifts, Swallows and Martins

These summer arrivals in Northern Europe offer a great aerial spectacle! Hardly landing anywhere, they glide, swoop and screech over our heads across the summer sky picking out all the little insects floating past!

But with them so high in the sky – usually in silhouette as the sun shines in your face added to their fast flying – how can you tell them apart?

Well the answer is ‘easily if you know what to look for’.

So, what is the difference between swifts, swallows and martins? It’s all down to the shape of their wings and tail to start, then you can use their colour if you are close enough.

The pictures in this article aren’t the best – but this shows how tricky they are a catch a glimpse of visually – that’s why their key features and their flying habits are so important.

The most easy to spot in the sky without any problems is the swift with its long curved-back wings – so it looks a bit like it has a boomerang strapped to it’s back!

photo credit: Michael Woodruff

Once you can spot this – that is the swift out of the way – then it’s down to the swallow and the different martins.

Visually, there are key things to look out for and can easily be seen on a photo – but in flight, this is easier said than done!

If we start with the swallow, then at least we can eliminate it from the list early on with 1 key feature: long tail ‘ribbons’.

In flight, these birds have a clear pair of much longer tail feathers coming off each fork of their tail. These aren’t so clear from a distance or in juvenile swallows – but if you can see them – then you know you have a swallow not a martin or swift!

photo credit: Mostly Dans

Swallows also have a white body in flight – as do the martins – but if they are close enough to you or perched, you can clearly see their reddish chin and blue neck-band.

However, the 2 most common martins in Europe are the sand and house – and are a bit tricky to tell apart in flight unless they obligingly fly close by you and you can see their colouring clearly: the house martin is blue with a noticable white rump (as shown below); and the sand martin is brown without the white rump.

photo credit: ahisgett

I know this sound obvious in writing, but observing it as the birds flip and flap around the swarm of insects they are feeding on is a little tricky!

But saying that – house martins nest on houses and sand martins nest in banks of sand – usually in large groups and on tall banks of around 5-10 meters in height. So if it flies up into the eaves of your roof it won’t be a sand martin, and if it is flying around a steep-sided river bank in groups it probably is a sand martin!

photo credit: zakwitnij

And if you aren’t sure – take a load of pictures; as even if they are distant or blurry you will still be able to see which they are on closer inspection!

Especially true if you are in southern Europe or elsewhere around the globe – as there are around 83 species of birds in this ‘family’ that it could be!

Another days bird-watching done!

posted by Catherine on May 14

Rather than recite facts to your kids out on a walk – let them find it out themselves.

Why not spend a while at home creating a wildlife, tree or plant id guide yourself – specific to your local woods, park or open downland. Maybe even specific to the season!

Most field guides contain ‘all the plants in Britain’ or the ‘Birds of Europe’ – when all you need is the small number of common plants or animals living near to you at that time.

When searching through a field guide, you will have to sift through hundreds of species that will never grow where you live, or in winter – but they are still hindering you in the book – taking up valuable pages.

photo credit: kasthor

Also, you might think you have seen a certain species, only to find out that it is only found in the remote snowy highlands or on volcanic rock only – and you are in a city park!

Be Specific – But Not Fussy:
Find the most common species to where you are and focus on them – there is nothing more dissapointing to an amateur wildlife detective than not finding in your guide – the very thing you are looking at on the ground.

I have done it many times myself, only to then have to resort to reading about all the most likely alternatives to see if they ‘could’ be the one – or taking a photo to show someone more in the know than me! Very frustrating!

So, save the kids the trouble of being stumped by another yellow flower or brown bird and only show those you know are found here – or settle for the family or genus rather than the actual species. For example knowing that a plant is a violet is good enough for the kids – they don’t want to get bogged down with the fact that there are actually around 500 species of it around the world!

And a ‘warbler’ is good enough for basic bird id – considering even regualr bird-watchers can’t always tell them apart without scopes, songs and the bird to sit still for about 30 minutes on a noticable branch with the sun shining on it!

Make It Special:
Also, rather than prattling on about it’s distribution, egg size and mating ritual; focus on its benefits to the environment or the landscape.

Why is it there, not somewhere else? Did we plant it or are we trying to get rid of it? Is it edible or useful around the home? Do butterflies feed on it, does it attract bees or is it poisonous!

All of these things are far more interesting to a child who is new to the world of wildlife and nature. You don’t want to bore them with charts and maps – you want to inspire them with ideas and let them feel like they have achieved something in the process.

You never know where it might lead them in the future!

posted by Catherine on Apr 27

Would you know what to do if you found an unconscious person while out on a walk?

How about if a friend of yours just suddenly fainted, cut themselves, feels unwell, or had a burn? If you said no – or aren’t sure, then you should think about going on an Emergency First Aid course.

Many people only do a First Aid course because they ‘have to’ for work or volunteering – but why should we be forced to do it? Why haven’t you thought about saving your family and friends in an emergency rather than having to help a random person who happened to visit your shop or office?

Why do we wait to be asked to learn such and important skill – we should be climbing over each other to get on a course!

And it isn’t about what to do with the casualty either – it is about assessing your needs as well as those of the patient. And your actions also affect the emergency services and complete strangers who could be 30 miles away from you.

How? Well think of the larger picture as well as just your little part in it.

Just You:
Before helping anyone in an emergency situation – you should check that you are safe to help in the first place – there is no point you getting injured, electrocuted, trapped, burned or drowned as well as the casualty! And if you do get hurt – who will be there to help you?

Don’t forget that 999/911/122 calls will get routed through to the emergency services even if you are in an area with no mobile coverage – so if in doubt about your safety – call them first for advice.

The Casualty:
If you can get to them safely – then you need to assess them before you call the emergency services – as you will need to know a bit more about them. For example, if they are not breathing at all – then those first few minutes could be vital to their survival, so don’t waste them trying to make a phone call!

And you might find that they are not that seriously hurt or were just sleeping! Needless to say that if you do call out a helicopter or ambulance for someone who ends up telling you that they were just sleeping or drunk – you have wasted a lot of peoples time and resources.

photo credit: Artotem

The Complete Stranger:
He was just in his garden at home when he started getting chest pains – they didn’t go away when he laid down so he struggled to the phone to call an ambulance as he thought he was having a heart attack.

He speaks to the emergency staff and they tell him that they will be there as soon as they can – but they know that their last ambulance is on its way to that collapsed casualty in the woods 15 miles away.

Your casualty turns out to be hung-over while that complete stranger is getting worse! There are a limited number of emergency vehicles in any one area – so make sure that you don’t waste their resources by calling them for a non-emergency.

The Emergency Services:
Obviously if you find an unconscious person anywhere who is not responding to your loud voice or a firm shoulder pat (as they could be deaf) – then you should clear their airways and make sure that they are breathing and then call the emergency services for advice.

However, you must assess their situation first to be of most help to them. They have been trained to save lives and have the equipment to do so – but if they are 20 miles away from the casualty then they can’t do their job.

There are also alternative emergency advice solutions – particularly if the casualty is conscious and not in a life-threatening situation. Taking them to one of the many minor injuries or illness clinics is a great first option, calling NHS Direct (UK only) can answer many of your questions and advise you of the best course of action.

But nothing beats getting your own skills in Emergency First Aid – that way you can help your friends and family immediately – and offer the correct help to others in need.

You’ll never regret taking the course – only not taking it.

posted by Catherine on Apr 10

Throw out that traditional ‘city’ guidebook – write your own eco adventure guide!

We all try to make sure that we see the oldest church, tallest tower, biggest fountain or a giant shoe – but what about the landscapes surrounding us? Do you find out where the local wildlife lives? Where the local people go and relax or where the more remote landscapes off the tourist trail are?

If not – then you aren’t having an eco adventure – you are having the same ‘adventure’ as a thousand other tourists who passed by.

By finding out a bit more about your destination first, you can discover so much more when you are travelling – and will have a better eco holiday that you ever imagined.

The Landscapes:
It might sound boring to research the rock types and weather patterns of your holiday destination – but by finding out things like whether the rock is ‘hard’ (granite) or ‘soft’ (limestone) you would know whether there would be a lot a water on the surface, the likelihood of caves and what plants and animals you could see.

photo credit: DaveBleasdale

For example softer more porous rock types like chalk and limestones don’t hold water so will be reasonably dry landscapes and any water features will usually be seasonal or man-made. And this affects the wildlife and plants you will find.

Other rock types might produce totally different effects and environmental diversity – which could make for some very interesting places to visit on your vacation.

The Locations:
By looking at the niche habitats and weather patterns – you could find out where the most pleasant places to visit are.

You may well avoid India in the monsoon, and the Caribbean during the hurricane season – so why visit a desert at the hottest time of day, or a tropical coastal location before the afternoon sea breezes come in?

Locals know all the secrets to making the most of the day – so if the locals don’t go out until the afternoon – you know to copy them! What do they do instead and where do they do it?

I remember when I first went to Malta I was back in my flat by 6pm and stayed in all night as I was totally knackered from all that sun. But 1 night I needed something important, so popped back out to the shop and found the entire local population out on the boulevard socialising!

Kids on bikes, couples, babies in strollers and games of chess all going on – there wasn’t a single seat free for about 2 miles of promenade! I had wondered why the prom was so wide with so many benches when I hardly ever saw anyone there – but of course it was too hot during the day to sit in the sun!

Learning a bit more about somewhere isn’t so hard – and then you could find you get a lot more from the experience.

posted by Catherine on Apr 3

As part of the ‘Making Wildlife Watching Easy’ series, here’s a nice simple wildbird guide: How to tell the difference between Rooks and Crows.

These 2 large black (and noisy) birds can be seen in both town and countryside. They are both quite heavy-looking and are often seen in groups – usually in trees. But although they look virtually identical from a distance, they have some very different features when you look more closely.

So, what are the key features to help tell them apart?

Well, the main differences are with the beaks, the legs and their habits – the easiest to spot is that the beak of the rook is larger, has 2 colours on it (black tip and cream toward the cheeks) and looks a bit scarier!

photo credit: foxypar4

Once you can spot this – all the other differences aren’t important. However saying that, I still have a bit of trouble getting them to stand still so I can have a look!

And although pictures of them side by side can clearly show you the differences, when they are flapping about or up in the air – it really isn’t that easy first few times, so this is where you can use their behaviour to help you. Rooks are nearly always in large groups and rarely ever alone, whereas crows will often be solitary or in a small family group.

Visually, these are the main differences – and I have written them down only if they are clear differences rather than ‘a slightly rounder tail’, etc. These things should be clearly noticable with or without binoculars:

Rook – Pointy beak that has black tip and is exposed right to the eye.
Rook – Ruffled looking all over with noticable spikey head and untidy leg feathers.

photo credit: foxypar4

Crow – Shorter, more curved beak which stops at the face and with feathers on top.
Crow – Neat rounded head feathers, with neat little ‘trousers’ at the top of the leg.

photo credit: dustpuppy

Obviously there are natural variations to both birds that you can only tell through experience – for example juvenile rooks are lacking the fully exposed beak and therefore they resemble a crow from a distance.

Jackdaws and Ravens are also black and really shouldn’t be confused with crows or rooks! Both are completely different sizes and it won’t take much looking to tell them apart.

Jackdaws are considerably smaller and have an almost silver sheen to their feathers and a clear black forehead that is easy to see when they land. They also have really bright yellow eyes! They are often seen with flocks of rooks so you can compare their size.

photo credit: Maxwell Hamilton

Ravens on the other hand are huge! If you saw a raven on the ground without any scale – it would look just like a crow – however, if seen next to known plants or other birds you won’t mistake them.

They are about the size of a herring gull where as crows aren’t much bigger than a magpie! They have over a meter wingspan in flight and an obvious wedge shape to the tail too.