Tag: Nature Travel

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Skip the Zip Lines for the Aerial Tram in Panama

Where: Gamboa, Panama
February 7, 2012 at 12:20 PM | by | Comment (1)

One of the highlights of a trip to Panama can be a day trip out to the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, which is about a 40-minute drive from Panama City. Set along the Chagres River, all the rooms here have stunning views of the rainforest, plus a spa and nice outdoor pool area to lounge around like a cocodrilo in the midday sun.

Guests are kept busy with a list of outdoor activities, guided tours and excursions; you name it (fishing, bird-watching, kayaking, night safaris), they've got it. So it was with much joy that we booked ourselves for a ride on the resort's own Swiss-engineered aerial tram, which runs smoothly up a 1.2 km stretch of pretty dense rainforest.

From there, there's the option to then climb an eleven-story observation tower (also built by the hotel), until you reach...the top of Soberania National Park!

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Hanging Out at Singapore's Changi Airport: So Many Gardens

February 7, 2012 at 10:24 AM | by | Comments (0)

There's a reason Singapore-Changi International Airport consistently wins awards; it's because the place is ah-may-zing. After spending much time at the three main terminals earlier this week, we're sharing with you our favorite, can't-miss bits of this massive travel hub.

Today: The variety of indoor and outdoor gardens in Terminals 1 and 2

So a weird thing happened while we were at Changi. Well, we were chilling in a cactus garden watching a Qantas 747 taxi around the tarmac when it suddenly began raining in a soaking downpour that nearly ruined our passport. What's odd about this isn't the raining on the cacti, but the fact that all this was happening in an airport.

Changi is a massive airport of four terminals, but only three are worth talking about (the fourth is a tiny terminal for budget, regional airlines). The main three are packed with all kinds of shops, all kinds of eateries, a flume slide, a pool and lovely, lovely gardens:

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'Big Miracle' Beefs Up Big Interest in Alaska Whale-Watching

February 3, 2012 at 3:31 PM | by | Comments (0)

Today, Big Miracle opens in theaters across the country and the timing couldn't be better with Alaska's whale-watching season right around the corner.

The film, starring Drew Barrymore, is based on the real-life rescue of several gray whales near Barrow, Alaska in 1988. Barrymore plays a Greenpeace volunteer who, along with her reporter ex-boyfriend (John Krasinski), convinces rival world superpowers to come together and help save the whales.

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Over the River and Through the Woods, to Costa Rica's Massive Arenal Volcano

Where: Costa Rica
January 17, 2012 at 11:05 AM | by | Comments (2)

You know Kai. Last week he detailed how he made his surfing adventure happen. Today, he drops some intel on the famous Arenal volcano in Costa Rica...

Volcanoes are cool—giant mountain things with a hole that goes to the bottom of the earth, full of boiling hot lava and belching smoke and soot into the air. There's something very prehistoric and intimidating about them. Oh, and every now and then they explode and turn lethal. Both cool and a bit scary then.

My typical vacations are usually by the water (not many volcanos there) or at ski hills (likewise), so I'd never had the opportunity to see a volcano up close and personal. Then, on my recent surf trip to Costa Rica, I decided to take a couple of days away from the water and go check out the volcano Arenal, one of the ten most active in the world. It last erupted as recently as 1968, when it destroyed three small villages, killing 87 people in the process. Arenal is the real deal; it's most definitely not a Disney volcano.

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National Parks are Free for All This Weekend

January 12, 2012 at 9:01 AM | by | Comments (0)

In the way long ago past of 2011, we may have mentioned that there were some free entry days coming to National Parks across the United states in 2012. Well the future is here—this weekend—so pack up the minivan, Prius, or station wagon and visit your favorite national park on the house.

Uncle Sam is opening the gates to all his parks as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, so it might be a good idea to do something nice—like donating your time or money—rather than just freeloading a free hike. The admission fees are waived January 14-16.

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Froggies and Fumaroles: Hiking Costa Rica's Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park

December 22, 2011 at 3:55 PM | by | Comments (0)

Have you got a spare three or four hours? If you were in Costa Rica right now, those could be spent hiking around a volcano and petting frogs. Sure, everyone knows the giant Arenal volcano towards the center of the Central American country, but Costa Rica has six other active volcanoes, one of which is Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, located in the Guanacaste province and within its own National Park.

Rincón de la Vieja is serious business as far as volcanoes go. Heading up to its top rim and caldera is no longer allowed (too risky!) but local, experienced guides can easily lead you on a several-hour hike to spot fumaroles (steam vents), bubbly muddy water cauldrons, cute froggies and waterfalls so clear and cool you'd think it was Norway instead.

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Three US Zoos for Spotting Baby Animals This Holiday Season

December 2, 2011 at 3:40 PM | by | Comments (0)

'Tis the season for happiness and fuzziness, and there are few things happier or fuzzier than baby animals. Since we're all about enhancing holiday travel,, here are three zoos—each drawn from a different region of the country—where you can see recently born cute things:

· Following up an adorable litter of Giant River Otters from January, the Miami Zoo announced a few weeks ago that they had two more live pups to show off. The pups are about a foot long and weigh just under a pound, and are scheduled to go on exhibit sooner rather than later. While you're at the zoo you should visit Juanpur, our favorite escaping Indian rhino.

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And Now, Your Moment of Zen (from the Wilds of Costa Rica)

Where: Costa Rica
December 2, 2011 at 12:40 PM | by | Comments (0)

Deep breaths. It's Friday. The day after today is Saturday. Are you traveling this weekend? That's awesome. Are you doing something more local? Equally awesome, because you're out there doing, discovering, deciding to be anything but stagnant.

Let's have a moment, hmm? Recently we found ourselves sitting in knee-high, naturally heated water at the Rio Negro hot springs in Costa Rica's Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park. Above us was a swinging rope bridge we had crossed to reach this spot. Below us, the rushing crystal clear waters of the Rio Negro, and all around a saturation of green. Ahh nature.

That is a happy place, the type you sometimes come across in the world and which you attempt to burn into your memory to mentally escape from future stressful situation far, far away.

A video:

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Forget Ziplining; Costa Rica is All About Canyoneering Next to a Volcano

November 30, 2011 at 11:25 AM | by | Comments (0)

Canopying goes hand-in-hand with Costa Rica. Maybe it's the allure of the seven volcanoes and the lush flora and fauna they support or the desire to get down and dirty, but visitors to the country often have communing with nature on their minds and we're no different.

Instead of ziplining through the trees and crossing swing bridges on the Caribbean/rainforesty side of the country, however, we were able to go whole hog on the Pacific/dry forest side in the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park of the Guanacaste region, where canopying combines with ziplining, rappeling, rock climbing, canyoneering and—yes, swing bridges—to make an experience simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. There's no one word to describe it, but for now "adventure" will just have to do.

It begins easily enough. The lower half of your body is jimmied into harnesses and a helmet buckled onto your head, where nervous sweat is already starting to bead. From base at the Hacienda Guachipelin's Adventure Tours HQ, it's only a 2-minute walk to the first platform, from which you will take the plunge to zoom the longest of 12 ziplines.

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Uncle Sam Names the National Park Access Free Days for 2012

October 25, 2011 at 9:21 AM | by | Comments (0)

The outdoor season might be winding down for 2011—it’s getting chilly—but that just means it’s time to start looking forward to 2012. Sure there’s plenty of stuff to do in the winter, but it won’t take many blizzards or snowpocalypses before we’re dreaming of spring at national parks across the country.

Even better than a visit to a slice of the country’s backyard is a free visit, and thankfully the National Park Service has already released its freebie days for next year. Start planning your trips now, as we’re sure the RVs and pop-up trailers will be swarming the entrance gates.

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Go Visit The Bronx Zoo's New Baby Giraffe While He's Still a Baby

October 21, 2011 at 2:40 PM | by | Comments (0)

New Yorkers have—at best—only a couple more weeks before winter ends the possibility of outdoor fun. It's already too cold to contemplate sunbathing or anything of the sort, but there's still just barely enough time for generic outdoorsy type outings. Conveniently the Bronx Zoo choose this week to debut their one-month old baby giraffe James Marjani, who had been off-exhibit bonding with his mother until now.

The 6-foot, 100-pound baby was born on September 14, 2001, and he won't remain a baby for very long. Giraffes spend 14 months in the womb, then they drop six feet at birth, they they start walking within an hour, and then they immediately begin adding inches and pounds. Within four years James Marjani will go from his current 100 pounds to something closer to 4,000 pounds, and from his current 6 feet to somewhere around 17 feet.

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Iceland Was Made for Time-Lapse Videos

Where: Iceland
October 21, 2011 at 10:13 AM | by | Comments (0)

With the threat of winter also comes the drop of tourism to Iceland, unless you enjoy having only several hours of a sunlight each day. In New York, Iceland Tourism is plastering the interior of subway cars with ads attempting to attract travelers to come spot the Northern Lights, but we're not fooled; it's going to be dark and cold the rest of the day too! Thus, in a sort of ode to the change in seasons, we're enjoying this time-lapse video of one traveler's three-month-long driving trip around the country.

In it, there's the standard panning across breathtaking views, but also a few surprises, which causes it to stand out; he time-lapses his own packing (1:05) and setting up his tent waterfall-side (5:00), plus other tourists enjoying the sights (see especially around 2:00 for that).

This may perhaps be the last chance to smile at the beauty of Iceland, since another of the country's volcanoes may erupt and cause what's becoming an annual international travel meltdown. So...yeah. Enjoy!

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