Sunday, November 28, 2010

5 wild ways to spend the December holiday season

Fancy a break from the usual December festivities of egg nog and fruit cake? If you want to tackle something more adventurous than braving those Christmas sales, we’ve got 5 fantastic alternatives (whether you’ve got a weekend or 2 weeks), taken from A Year of Adventures. Starting planning now.


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DO: Swim with orcas in Tysfjord, Norway
TYPE OF ACTIVITY: Snorkelling/wildlife watching
FITNESS/EXPERTISE LEVEL: Cold blood an asset.
WHY NOW? Orcas generally arrive in late October and leave in January.

Mid-autumn signals the arrival of migrating herring and, behind them, hundreds of orcas into Norway’s Tysfjord, around 250km north of the Arctic Circle. For three months the killer whales stay, chasing herring while rugged-up wildlife watchers chase them. You can remain in the trawler or Zodiac for a surface view, or seize the rare (if chilly) opportunity to snorkel among these sleek giants. Sea eagles also have an appetite for Tysfjord herring, picking off the shoals as they’re chased to the surface by the orcas. Lift your eyes from the fjord and you’re also likely to be treated to the Northern Lights stellar spectacular.
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DO: Hike at Torres del Paine, Chile
TYPE OF ACTIVITY: Hiking
FITNESS/EXPERTISE LEVEL: Good fitness required.
WHY NOW? The shoulder summer season of December is one of the best trekking times

Soaring more than 2000m above the Patagonian steppe, the Torres del Paine (Towers of Paine) are spectacular granite pillars that dominate the landscape of what is arguably South America’s finest national park, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. For hikers, this 181-sq-km park is an unequalled destination, with a well-developed trail network and refugios (mountain huts) and camping grounds at strategic spots. For most trekkers the question is whether to circuit or to ‘W’. Circuiting takes around eight days, while the popular W trek, named for the route’s in-and-out shape, takes around five. Walking the complete Torres del Paine circuit takes in the W plus the more remote back side of the massif. There are eight refugios for trekkers in the park, and the availability of hired camping equipment at all refugios.


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DO: Zorb in Rotorua, New Zealand
TYPE OF ACTIVITY: Zorbing
FITNESS/EXPERTISE LEVEL: Not required
WHY NOW? Decent weather and Rotorua’s holiday crowds are a week or two from arriving.

Zorbing is simple in theory: wriggle inside a large plastic ball and roll down a hill at speeds of up to 50 km/h. A cushion of air protects you from the hard bumps, while the centrifugal force pins your body to the ball in the manner of a gravity-defying show ride. It’s dizzying and disorienting, but it wouldn’t be a New Zealand adventure if there wasn’t a way to spice up the activity even further. In this case, the evil sister is Zydro, where a bucket of water is poured into the Zorb, drenching you (and up to two other people inside the Zorb with you) as you scream your way downhill. Cold water or warm water, it’s your choice.

DO: Canopy tours at Santa Elena, Costa Rica
TYPE OF ACTIVITY: Zip line (flying fox)
FITNESS/EXPERTISE LEVEL: Not required.
WHY NOW? Zip through the rainforest at about the driest time of year.

In green and clean Costa Rica, the term ‘canopy tour’ might sound like a sedate peek into the foliage of a cloud forest but that would be a lie. Think instead of being strapped into a harness, hooked on to a cable-and-pulley system and sailing through the rainforest at high speeds รก la George of the Jungle. Operators sell this as a great way to see nature, though the only way you’re going to see a quetzal on one of these things is as you speed past it. There are now around 80 zip lines throughout Costa Rica. You’ll still find many of them in Santa Elena and the neighbouring Quaker settlement of Monteverde.

DO: Plymouth-Banjul Rally, England, France, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia
TYPE OF ACTIVITY: Motoring rally
FITNESS/EXPERTISE LEVEL: Not required.
WHY NOW? Cars leave from Plymouth through December.

Like the look of the Paris–Dakar Rally but haven’t the necessary money or the speed? Perhaps the Plymouth–Banjul Rally is the event for you. To take part in this annual, noncompetitive rally, your vehicle must have cost less than £100 (Ladas are a favourite) and you must have spent no more than £15 on preparing the car. Then all you have to do is nurse the thing across six countries and 6000km into the Gambian capital of Banjul, where your car will be auctioned in aid of local charities. There’s no fixed departure date and it’ll probably take you around three weeks – you can take even longer if you want to look around a bit as you drive.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Dubai’s first national park

Oil, shopping malls and skyscrapers long ago upstaged the vast Arabian Desert from which the city of Dubai grows. Recently though, a conservation movement – headed by the sheik himself – has seen the development of the country’s first national park, a fragile ecosystem every bit as awe-inspiring as the towering metropolis.

The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve located an hour’s drive inland from Dubai, was once a vast camel farm. Inspired by South African game reserves, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum purchased all 87 square miles (225 square kilometers) in 1997, evicted the camels and had the entire area (roughly 5% of the country) fenced off to protect indigenous species.

Since then over 6000 trees have been planted (camels have a habit of eating or stomping on everything) and the vital ecosystem of grasses and shrubs has regenerated. Wildlife has followed: residents of the reserve include the statuesque Arabian gazelle, its cousin the San Gazelle and a plethora of other unusual fauna like the Ethiopian hedgehog, side-winding vipers, Rueppell’s fox and curious sand cats.

Invigorated by new foliage, the desert itself is returning to its natural (and remarkably varied) state. The austere beauty of rocky plains is a stark contrast to the shifting sand dunes, whose ever-changing form make it impossible for all but local Bedouin to navigate. Fortunately a team of field guides are at hand to ensure visitors never end up as fodder for the ghoulishly named leper-faced vultures, their morbid visages surrounded by a buzzing mist of flies.

One of the guides, Jorg Shaffler, explains that while Arabian fauna may look similar to their African cousins, there are some key differences. In Dubai, temperatures routinely reach 120°F (49°C) and, as a result, the animals have evolved to be especially drought resistant. ‘The African Oryx would die if you brought it here. They’re not the same animal as the Arabian Oryx,’ Shaffler explains.

Though the national park is new, it has actually been famous for wildlife for millennia. ‘This is where Julius Caesar collected his lions to fight the Christians in the Coliseum,’ says Shaffler. ‘Arabian lions were only about the size of a Saint Bernard so, if you were a really big guy, you might have a had a chance at winning.’ Sadly the lion is no more but there have been some encouraging success stories. Even before the park was built, the population of Arabian oryx was teetering on the verge of extinction. The Sheik’s father made the drastic move of shipping the last remaining population to the US in order to breed them in secure conditions. When the reserve was formed a few years later, he brought them back where their numbers have now tripled. It’s an unprecedented recovery that has helped make Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve the pride of the United Arab Emirates – and even more crucially, given this ancient desert a new lease on life.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

tra

To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.-

Aldous Huxley

To society, enticing young people to travel and see the world should be a priority. These are our future leaders, after all.

Youth are resilient, resourceful, and looking to leave home in order to build relationships with others like them. They can make perfect travelers. While we old fogies muddle along on our bus tours, admiring the scenery and appreciating the architecture and the foie gras, young folks are interacting with the culture, often by necessity, one more wrap of tape on that battered horn.

Without the wealth that brings isolation in a luxury hotel, they're living abroad communally in hostels and sleeping in trains. Along the way they're experiencing and debating the social controls and problem solving within a society having different politics and a different history; they're looking into the guts of an unfamiliar culture and acquiring a true and rounded education, skirting the perceived "dangers" by becoming fully informed through their social interactions.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Why travel....?

A recent article posted on CNN.com reports that experiences, in the long run, “make people happier than possessions.” But why? In part, it’s because the thrill of purchasing new “things” (a couch, for example) fades over time. Sure, the first few hours spent snuggled up on a spotless new sofa may bring you some joy, but the moment you get over the newness, the excitement wanes. Experiences, on the other hand, create memories – and often happy ones – that stick around long after the event has occurred.

Experiences, CNN adds, also provide a “sense of relatedness to others.” Sure, sitting on the couch may make you feel “close” to your special someone, but not the way a shared adventure can bring you closer to friends and family.

Experiences also offer a greater sense of vitality – of “being alive.” Think back to an event that’s made an impression – one that’s stuck with you over the years. Whatever kind it was – heart-thumping, rejuvenating, relaxing, inspiring, enlightening – we’d be willing to bet you’re smiling right now, just reminiscing about it. Now think about that new couch. Not quite as uplifting, huh?














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