Eco Holidays

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 16

Why not celebrate something special as your annual holiday?

More and more these days, you see that people are celebrating everything big. No longer is turning 50 just an excuse for a friend to hang a huge embarrassing bed sheet on a local roundabout with your name on it.

Now we want a massive celebration to say that we have done virtually anything from leaving school, to losing weight, to turning almost any age, and even getting a new pet!

Aren’t we just over celebrating for the sake of it – using valuable resources for bunting, balloons, non-recycleable party novelties and just too much junk food?

photo credit: havankevin

Turn It Around:
If you do want to celebrate virtually anything – why not make it an eco friendly adventure instead?

Rather than having all these little parties and having everyone fill their evening with repeated driving to and from various venues over the year – why not focus it all on one great big event?

Imagine your family and friends renting a huge house in the countryside for a week or two. With enough of you sharing, you could hire out a mansion, part of a castle or a whole farmhouse.

And when you are sharing with 10 people that £2000 a week doesn’t sound to bad – just £200 a person for 7 nights accomodation in an amazing property that you just couldn’t experience by yourself.

Added Bonus:
And with this great big event occuring you can roll all those smaller things into one great big one – and it will probably be cheaper for everyone – and more memorable.

Added to this is the eco bonus that there will be less waste across this one eco holiday – and if it becomes a regular thing – then people might take less holidays abroad as this will count as their 2-week break.

Also, if you are all going to the same place, doing the same things and eating the same foods – you can share cars, buy bulk goods and cook large amounts of the same helathy and local/organic food for everyone rather than buying trashy nibbles and party cakes.

And there needn’t be a party balloon or any bunting in sight!

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 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 Jan 23

Nothing beats actually doing something – so book yourself on a course.

If you are one of those people who says ‘oh, I’ve always wanted to do that…’ then you need to start doing them!

Sometimes they are such simple things, like going to a local castle, walking along a certain coast, climbing a certain mountain – all of which are usually free, but we never seem to fit them in, even though they are so simple to do.

Other things people might not get round to are new skills – or improving existing skills – where courses can be free, or the cost going to a great cause.

You will never learn how to identify fungi unless you get out there and actually search for them; learning bird calls is impossible without listening to the birds themselves and you certainly can’t learn how to manage a woodland, divert a stream or grow your own food from just reading a book!

Local Courses:
So, by booking yourself on to a course with a local agency, charity or organisation, you will finally get around to achieving something outdoorsy and eco friendly – and have a great time learning!

Build You Own Bug House

Here I have listed some courses and talks that I have found available in local advertisings – things that you could easily do:

Sustainable Building Talk – Local Permaculture Group:
Spend the morning listening to a talk by a leading local expert with a Q&A session – and then have a tour of an existing sustainably built and run eco house and get to see what is working where inside and outside.

Make Your Landscape Photography Come Alive – Local Wildlife Trust:
An intensive 1-day course for landscape photography for beginners and improvers. A few hours in the class room first thing to cover the basic settings, composition and equipment – then out in the field to experiment with emotion, light and adding your own style.

Basic Bushkraft – Local Independant Adult Ed Centre
Covering an array of outdoor skills – you will spend the day with adults all experimenting with basic survival skills. These skills include; green wood-working, shelter building, fire lighting, knots and cooking.

A Weekend With A View – Local Youth Hostels
Stay for 2 days at a local Youth Hostel in a picturesque location – with activites and walks planned throughout. Explore the local area and landscapes with your guide before settling down for group dinner and stories in the evening. Wake up to fresh air and a great breakfast and then head off on more adventures till hometime!

There Is Something For Everyone:
Even if none of those sound like your kettle of fish, then hunt around for other adventures to get you outside and exploring – and hopefully learning a new skill along the way.

Whether its an evening with badgers or bats, woodland or heathland ecology, an introduction to beekeeping or butterflies, or maybe rock pools, painting, basketry and bryophytes! You can always find something you like.

So, no more excuses – do what you have always wanted to do!

posted by Catherine on Jan 6

Your empty car could cause charities to lose money and reduce visitor numbers!

Thinking about what your car can do when you aren’t using it is one of the first step towards eco friendly living and the right attitude.

Anything that limits the chances of other people enjoying their day or makes them have to try twice as hard to get to where they want to go – isn’t very eco friendly.

And in the case of your car – your decisions can make all the difference.

Let’s say that you parked your car in a local viewpoint car park – but you only noticed that you were taking up just over 1 space after you had got out the car. There weren’t many other people in the car park, so would you leave it there or would you move it?

If you aren’t going to be there long, you might be inclined to leave it there – but how do you know what might happen while you are away? What if you are longer than expected or it suddenly fills up. You are preventing someone else from parking where you are.

photo credit: Blyzz

You might be having a lovely walk out there – or a delightful picnic with friends – but there could be a whole family wanting to do the same – but instead they are left in the car park staring at three-quarters of a parking space and no doubt a little bit annoyed as well!

Long Term Effects:
Yeah, that might only be a one off for you as you live close by and go there all the time – but what if that person you prevented from parking had come a long way to see your local coastline or woodlands – and they never got to see it because of your actions.

What if they were going to spend their holiday money in the area – your area? But instead they drove off to a town further down the way and spent it there. Their loss or yours?

What if the car park was a pay and display car park funding the very location you love to visit – and you just lost them some money as well – paying once but using 2 spaces and driving of another customer to boot!

And do you think those people would recommend your viewpoint to their friends back home who are planning a road trip or will they just say ‘there wasn’t enough parking’. How can they tell them about the beautiful countryside near you if they didn’t get to see it – they will just have to say how wonderful the other place they went to was instead.

Your loss again I think!

posted by Catherine on Dec 10

Have you ever seen your local woodland or riverbanks coated in the morning frost?

We all love walking in the woods, on the Downs, through the valleys, on the moors, along the coast and beside the rivers – but have you done it first thing on a winters morning?

There are some scenes you just won’t see in the normal run of things out with the kids or walking the dog – you need to make the effort to get out there really early for a people-free, wildlife-filled and weather dependant great view.

Being first up on top of a frosty hillside and seeing the low clouds rolling over the sides is priceless.  And watching herons feed in the misty waters first thing could make you see your local walk in a new light.

Local Tours:
There are always local organisations and charities offering winter walks at this time of year – and many of them are themed so you can choose the one that most appeals. 

For example some are about the wildlife, some about the landscapes and some about the history surrounding us – some are even one-offs like a festive wreath walk, where you get to cut your own holly and ivy etc, and then are helped to create your own designs for your home!

And needless to say, these walks are great in 2 main respects; the first being that they are run by an expert.  You won’t just be wandering around the usual footpaths with a group of people aimlessly – you will be led to all the main features and given specific information about plants, animals, people and the past.

These guides will be well aware of everything in local area and will be able to answer most of your questions there and then as they would have a passion for it – otherwise they wouldn’t offer to do the walk in the first place!

photo credit: maxim off

Secondly, they will be able to take you to places that you might not have been to before – such as on to private land, through farms and fields that the general public don’t have access to.  For example, there are huge areas of land that are owned by wildlife trusts which are kept free from the everyday general public as essential work is carried out or sensitive areas where animals are being surveyed/preserved/introduced.

Taking a tour with these charities or groups that have agreements with local landowners and farmers can allow you a new view of the same landscape - or access to rare or protected habitats.

Feel Encouraged:
Of course, noone really wants to get up in the dark on your day off – but if you have signed up to one of these walks or are aware of it – then you are more likely to get up and out.

The photo opportunities on these walks are huge as well as the possible wildlife sightings.  I mean you may well be there before all the morning dog walkers – so you are more likely to see some of the more shy native wildlife – and even hungry owls hunting for those few extra hours in the cold.

If you are a duvet diva – make sure you arrange to get a lift off someone or pick someone else up on your way - that way you can’t talk yourself out of it when the alarm goes off!

posted by Catherine on Nov 26

Should you use your waste cardboard and string for kids art sessions?

You often see people giving their kids all the waste packaging from their home to then glue together into ‘only a mother could love’ monsters, castles and flowers, covering them in glitter and ribbon along the way.

But this highlights a serious conflict between the 3 eco R’s.

There is also the enjoyment of your kids to consider, as they no doubt enjoy creating all sorts of things from nothing – and of course spending time with their parents and friends as a part of that.

But should their eco adventures be less wasteful?

ReUse:
Lets kick off with the reusing aspect of this.  Yes, it’s great that out of used boxes, birthday cards, toys, clothes and all – kids can create something that they like and want to give to their parents.

Rather than just throwing them out – your kids can have a go at creating something truly unique.  Maybe making a dress for your teddy out of an old T-shirt would be 1 of the better choices for a creative session, but it is more likely to end up just making a total mess of your dining table, with bits of paper, string, cloth and various pom-poms all over the place and a nasty looking piece of ‘art’ that you will leave on the fridge for a few weeks.

Recycle:
Now, how can you recycle all that perfectly recyclable paper, plastic, string and clothing when it’s all covered in glue, ink, ribbon and glitter?

You can’t.  You will have to throw it all away instead.

Unfortunately once you have added glue and glitter to paper and cardboard etc, you can no longer recycle them – and I doubt they would go down too well in the compost heap either?

They will have become landfill goods.

photo credit: nicksarebi

Reduce:
If you are trying to buy products with less packaging in the first place, then why would you be trying to save enough packaging to make creative monsters?

And why would you be keeping hold of loads of clutter in the home waiting for a creative day.  Why would you have too many old clothes or plastic bottles sitting around.

You could, I suppose, reduce the need for more practical things by designing new things out of old that actually have a practical use like a clothes peg bag from an old tea-towel.  Making a funny-shaped vegetable id peg out of old bottles, birthday cards out of old cards, or creating a brightly coloured draught excluder out of old socks and stuff.

As then it is helping to prevent you buying something new, rather than creating useless – but pretty – novelty!

It might sound a bit harsh to say kids can’t do these things – but just think about making something useful instead.  It can be just as fun designing something that is actually of use as it is to create something to be thrown away!

posted by Catherine on Oct 20

Skiing can be a great eco holiday choice if you go to the right places!

Obviously, if you have a ski resort close to your home – then it will be a far better eco holiday choice than one in the sun on the other side of the world!

It’s far better to go to a ski center that is only a drive away rather than a flight; such as an Oregon ski trip for those in the States.  Rather than travel all those carbon miles to Europe or Chile – stay home! 

An eco adventure in the snow is also more likely, as there are animals and birds that you might not see if you travel to warmer climates – or travel to other continents even.

The Wildlife:
Some wildlife species that live in colder climates or up at high altitudes don’t get so many visitors and admirers as say dolphins and turtles – but they are equally important for biodiversity and the environment.

By visiting these areas on your vacation – you can be indirectly helping to make sure that they stay there. And this goes for plants and trees too!

There are certain plants and trees in and around ski resorts that are necessary to actually create the ski resort in the first place! Without certain land formations, plant cover and wildlife habits – the snow may lay differently, not settle on mountain sides – or be trampled before you get on the slopes.

And the fresh snow is great for finding animal footsteps!

photo credit: razvan.orendovici

The Resorts:
Some ski resorts do get a bit of bad press about the stresses that they put on the local area – but other smaller or less ‘tourist hotspots’ locations can give you equally great skiing – but without the eco disaster trail!

By searching for local ski centres, as well as discount ski vacations in your area (as new or expanding companies like to offer promotions), you could find a real gem of a resort or location – that is under-crowded!

Also, they may well be only just starting to make their business eco friendly – and you could help them with that! By making suggestions and acting responsibly – you could help shape their policies with regards to their eco activities.

By asking about their waste and recycling facilities, and showing a keen interest in the local landscape and nature – you could infact encourage them to offer certain services in the the future.

I mean if you ask then to show you the local geysers/mountains/forests/wolves/bears/waterfalls/etc are – then they will know that this is an area where they could improve the customer services they offer in an eco sense. And to offer a wildlife service – you need to make sure that the wildlife is there!

Needless to say – if you offer a whale watching tour you want all the whales to be healthy to make a living – so you might make sure that the water isn’t polluted and no new mines or factories open up in the area. The same can go for all wildlife – people keep an eye on them to make sure that they are OK!

The Equipment:
And finally – all that ski equipment you need. Well most great ski resorts – like in Oregon – have plenty of ski shops – crammed full with different equipment.

Whether you want to buy your own eco-label goods when you arrive, or whether you want to hire the larger items (to save the hassle of transporting them to site) – you can.

Obviously there are plenty of other services available at these resorts – and you can be as eco friendly as you want to be while you are there.

Whether you try to eat only the local foods and fresh caught game or whether you plumb for self catering and supply all your own foods is entirely up to you. Heated rooms by flame or by electricity – again – it’s all down to you.

Just remember that a holiday close to home is already more eco friendly than any other holiday – regardless of what environment you are in.

posted by Catherine on Oct 12

Would you rather donate a few pounds now – or be left at sea?

Did you know that UK lifeguards are not paid staff? Did you also know that they receive no Government funding at all?

And, did you know that they offer their services to people in need absolutely voluntarily? 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!

As a result, they can only buy, run and maintain their lifesaving equipment with funds raised from public and private donation.

Your Eco Adventures:
Now it’s not just people on boats who might need the services of the coastguard – they help rescue all sorts of people from all sorts of places.  I mean you don’t even need to be in the water!

Day trippers on the beach might get caught out by a fast incoming tide, pets and people can sometimes slip over the top of a low cliff and get caught on a ledge, rock pool dippers might slip and twist their ankle or people might just happen to get ill while out on a pier.

If the land-based emergency services can’t get their transport to you – then the coastguard gets called in!

Now – we all take our ambulances for granted.  If we get ill when we are out and about, we just assume that a paramedic will get to us in just a few short minutes.  But when you are in a place with no roads near by – they just can’t come.

So if your eco adventures could take you off the beaten track and anywhere near the coast, harbours, large rivers or out to sea – then you need to think about your health and safety.

photo credit: Reiner Schubert

Make It Safe:
Obviously, there are plenty of things you can do to make sure that you avoid having problems in the first place by planning ahead and learning how to maintain your boat or other equipment – but there is more:

1) Make sure that you have had training in using all the equipment you are going to need for your adventure that day.

2) Make sure that all your equipment is correctly fitted for you.  If you are borrowing someone else life belt/boat/ropes etc – make sure that you have checked them before you leave to fit you personally.  You move the mirrors and seat when you borrow someone else car – so check that everything else you borrow fits before you start out.

3) Make sure that someone on land knows where you are going that day.  Not only when you are leaving, who with, where from and with what – but also how long you will be, where you will end up and how they can contact you if they need to.

4) Plan to be back on dry land or away from the water/coast before the tide comes in or it gets dark.  If you don’t know exactly what time it gets dark, or exactly what time the tide changes – then don’t go!

5) Make sure you take all precautions necessary – don’t forget that something you might think is ‘fun’ could end up dragging over 30 rescue workers out to sea to come help you – when you could have just planned to do that next time when you had more planning.  Spontaneity at sea or on cliffs is plain stupid!

See Into The Future:
Know how to guess things in advance!  Now I know that all accidents that the coast guards attend are not always through direct human error – but there are signs when something is about to go wrong.

If someone on your boat starts to become ill, feels unwell (other than sea sick), the weather changes, you notice a small problem with the boat, a friend isn’t quite as good at navigation or boatmanship as they told you – head for home.

Regardless of whether you think you will be fine – think of the worse case scenario.  Could that person become really ill soon and you are even further from safety?  Is that small problem your emergency back-up?  So what happens if the main part fails now?  Your friend took you too far to the right or left, or too close to that shingle bank or cliff edge.

You have all seen programs on TV and in the movies where you can see whats about to happen, but everyone just wants to have fun – no body wants to be the person who turns home early on – but no doubt, they have never had to call out the coastguard!

Your Eco Friendly Insurance Policy:
When you go abroad, you take out an insurance policy to make sure that paramedics will come a help you if you get injured.

When you drive a car – you take out insurance and get a recovery policy to make sure that someone can come a fix your car if you get in an accident.

So why not pay out for a coastguard policy if you like to have fun around water or the coast?  If you donate a few pounds (or more) a year – then you are helping to guarantee that there are always men and women around the country who will drop everything – even in pitch black and bad storms – to come and help you out.

And all for free!

It’s all well and good thanking them after they save you, and raising money as a ‘Thank You’ – but if we don’t support them BEFORE we need them – they might not be there anymore!

If they don’t raise more in donations than the cost of keeping their boats on the water and helicopters in the air – then the boats will have to go, and it will take them longer to respond to your 999 call – and longer to get you to safety.

So how long do you want to be floating in the cold sea – Or clinging to that steep ledge?