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Tags: St Lucia Field Trip / Jetblue St. Lucia Inaugural / Chocolate Travel / Ecotourism / St. Lucia Travel / Caribbean Travel / Sex Travel / Ecology / → All Tags
Investigating The Sexually Suggestive Plant Life Of Saint Lucia
In case you haven't yet noticed from our last few stories, we're kind of stuck on a tropical island right now. You see, the inaugural Jetblue flight to the island dropped us off here back on Monday, and it won't return until later today, since they're only running flights between JFK and St. Lucia's UVF airport on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays.
With the time we've had on this lush island, we've done what any castaway would: stare at the horizon and space out, go barefoot, snoop around an active volcano, and befriend the locals. But yesterday's trekking not only had us foraging for food—fresh soursap or blackcurrant cheesecake, anyone?—but also we began to take notice of exactly how lush the foliage, fruit and flowers are...and how suggestive.
Mother Nature has a dirty mind down here...The Top Three Sexually Suggestive Plants Of Saint Lucia are after the jump. It's a weird idea, we know, but just wait until you see number one!
Tags: Adventure Travel / Hawaii Travel / Quirky Travel / Water Sports / Ecotourism / Submarines / Boats / → All Tags
'Fly' Beneath The Hawaiian Waves On A Winged Submarine Jet
Adventure travel company Incredible Adventures has been letting customers pilot high-altitude fighter jets for years. Now the Florida-based company is going from soaring through the air to "flying" under the sea, teaming up with California's Sub Aviator Systems to let people navigate the oceans in company's winged submarine. The Super Aviator looks much more like a jet than it does a sub, and apparently it feels that way too. Per the website blurb, it's a "totally new dimension of flight."
To handle the unique sub you'll need to go to Hawaii this February and be able to hand over between $3,350 and $8,650. But if you're willing to do that they're willing to train you and take you beneath the waves. The Super Aviator runs on battery power but it runs fast—in contrast to a normal submersible where you can stand up and walk, zooming around in this jet requires Indy-500 style seat belts.
Tags: Travel Deals / Ecuador Travel / Ecotourism / Galapagos Island Travel / → All Tags
Spend Six Days Exploring the Galapagos for $1,399
Ever since The New York Times named the Galapagos Islands No. 3 on its "44 Places to Go in 2009," we've bumped it up on our own travel checklist. The islands, west of mainland Ecuador, inspired Charles Darwin to write The Origins of Species, so maybe the gorgeous islands will do the same for us, too. We're especially inspired by a six-night package that includes tours and airfare to the remote locale for $1,399.
The Travelzoo deal includes round-trip airfare to Ecuador from Miami (other departure cities are available for more moolah); flights between Quito, Baltra and Guayaquil; and all airport/hotel and hotel/port transfers.
Tags: Global Warming / Mount Everest / Explorers Club / North Pole / South Pole / Skiing / Eric Larsen / Ecotourism / Science / Mountain Climbing / → All Tags
Three Poles in 365 Days: Polar Explorer Plans Chilly Trip for Global Warming Awareness
A polar explorer named Eric Larsen is about to embark on an ambitious adventure that will bring him to the North Pole, South Pole, and summit of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, all within 365 days. The Save the Poles Expedition, as he's calling it, is designed to bring awareness to the problem of global warming by traveling to the most notorious frozen places on earth, reporting the latest climate data, and using the platform to advocate strategies for reducing carbon emissions.
Tags: Volunteer Travel / Ecotourism / Cancun Travel / Green Travel / → All Tags
First Lend A Hand In Cancun, Then Get Drunk And Sit On The Beach
Think a trip to Cancun is just about getting drunk and returning home with nothing more than a hangover and a sunburn? This might be true for few, but we recommend you think again. Hands Up Holidays' Yucatan Explorer Package gives travelers two weeks to explore Mexico, do a little eco-sightseeing and get a taste of volunteering.
Hands Up Holidays provide an opportunity to help people in need around the world without having to sleep on the floor or share a bathroom with dozens of college kids. Instead, all of their trips include upmarket, often luxurious accommodations. They also provide a balance between helping out and being able to enjoy a relaxing getaway.
Tags: Animal Travel / Tourism Boards / Ecotourism / Florida Keys / → All Tags
Watch Florida's Baby Turtle-Hatching Livecam, Or Go See For Yourself
The Florida Keys Tourism Council is trying to raise awareness about the endangered Sea Turtles who nest on their beaches. And what better way to get people's attention than by letting them watch cute little turtle hatchlings emerge from the nest for the first time and find the ocean all on their own?
Every summer on Big Pine Key, in the lower Florida Keys, turtles crawl ashore at night to dig nests and lay about 100 ping-pong-ball-sized eggs. After covering them with sand, the turtles return to the water. Approximately two months later, the baby turtles are born.
Tags: Ecotourism / Socotra Travel / Island Travel / UNESCO / → All Tags
The Lost Island Of Socotra
The bad part about vacationing on Socotra, a four-island archipelago off the coast of the Horn of Africa: pirates. The good part about vacationing on Socotra: now that it has an airport, the island's freaky deaky biodiversity is accessible to tourists year-round.
And freaky deaky that biodiversity is. The last time the island was attached to any mainland we didn't even have real continents. It separated from the super-continent of Gondwana tens of millions of years ago and has been ecologically isolated ever since, though it's been continuously inhabited since ancient times.
Today there are over 700 endangered plants and animals on the island, a full 1/3 of them found nowhere else in the world. The island is a UNESCO recognized world heritage site. You can check out their Conservation Programme for more background.
Tags: Marine Parks / Green Travel / Islands / Environment / Ecotourism / Atolls / → All Tags
Pacific Reefs, Trenches, Atolls, and Islands Now Protected from Us
Okay, this one's kind of out there, but I remember as a kid flipping through the dictionary in school and pausing at the miniature illustration for the word atoll. For a simple thumbnail sketch, it seemed like such a fascinating place to visit: a beautiful coral island with languid palm trees and a protected lagoon in the center. What I would have given to hop on a sailboat and explore the real-life model for the Merriam-Webster artwork. It seemed like the perfect setting for a pirate adventure.
Tags: Jungle Travel / Indigenous Tribes / Ecotourism / → All Tags
A Less-Than-Leisurely Stroll Through South America
A modern-day explorer named Ed Stafford needs your help to complete his latest mission: a walk from the source of the Amazon River in the Andes to the mouth of the river in Brazil. Stafford began the project on April 2, 2008 with a walking partner named Ed Collyer, but after three months, Collyer called it quits and headed back to England. Apparently the two didn't get along very well. Stafford is looking for another partner to complete the journey, and maybe that partner is you. Yes, gentle reader, if you're the adventurous sort, you don't mind poisonous snakes falling onto you from trees, and you can get along with a guy who may or may not be a jungle jerk, apply at Ed's website now for an opportunity to make history. After all, it's a feat that has never before been accomplished, and that many experts have said is impossible. But if you and Ed pull it off, you'll wind up in the record books and have helped indigenous people along the river's banks by studying their lifestyles and habits and preserving their traditions for prosperity. Sound good? Well, before you lace up your hiking boots and slather on the bug spray, read a little bit about what it's like to walk with Stafford in Saturday's Guardian travel section. I could handle the bugs, snakes, murky water, and general discomfort. But being accused of being a pelicara, literally, a "baby-eating monster that also steals the body fat of adults, sucks out their eyes and takes their organs," and looks just like a regular white guy? That would hurt my feelings.
[Photo: The Guardian]
Related Stories:
· Must Like Snakes ... [The Guardian]
· Walking the Amazon [Official Site]
· Jungle Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Jungle Travel / Indigenous Tribes / Uncontacted People / ecotourism / → All Tags
Uncontacted South American Tribe Unknowingly Wins Big Legal Victory
It's hard to believe there are still tribes of indigenous people in the world who have never had contact with modern society. It's even harder to believe that one of them - the Totobiegosode tribe of Paraguay - recently won a major victory against two Brazilian companies without even being aware they were waging a battle. As CNN points out, lawsuits were filed on behalf of the natives by local environmental groups against the companies that were clearing jungle land to be used for cattle ranches. The companies have already cleared 6,000 hectares of forest in the Totobiegosode and Ayoreo people's (pictured) ancestral homelands, but the ruling puts a halt to further deforestation, at least for the moment.
Tags: Electric Cars / Electric Car Tours / Ecotourism / Velib Bikes / → All Tags
Paris, Australia Plan Velib-syle Public Electric Car Networks
Electric cars seem like a great idea, but its hard to believe they'll ever really catch on with the driving public without some serious incentives. Officials in France and Australia, however, think they have it figured out: they plan to launch low-priced electric car sharing networks modeled after the wildly successful bike-sharing program Velib. Autolib will station 4,000 battery-powered electric cars in and around Paris, with users paying a monthly membership fee of between 20 and 30 euros and rental fees of between four to five euros per hour for the cars. To go along with the rollout, the city plans to install 1,400 electric charging stations, so you'll never be far from the juice you need to keep going. (After all, electric cars can only operate for an hour or two before they bonk.) A similar effort is going on in Australia, where an outfit called Better Place is working with a Renault-Nissan alliance to introduce electric cars, charging spots, battery exchanges, and renewable energy technology to the good people Down Under. When will all of this be completed? It depends on who you ask. French officials claim their system will be up by 2010 and the Aussies are predicting a 2012 launch, but it's doubtful that automakers will have fleets of acceptable vehicles ready in that time frame. But in any case, it's nice to see zero-emission vehicles get a little encouragement, and we look forward to zipping around Paris or Perth in a snazzy electric car.
[Photo: EV World]
Related Stories:
· Autolib, Paris's Public Electric Car Service [concierge.com]
· Electric Car Network Down Under [psfk.com]
· Better Place [Official Site]
· Electric Car Tours [Jaunted]
Tags: Dangerous Travel / Green Travel / Ecotourism / US State Department / Caves / → All Tags
State Department Warns Us About Belize Ecotourism
While most of the US State Department's travel warnings seem pretty obvious--Don't vacation in Sudan? No problem!--an update yesterday concerned a surprising destination: Belize. Usually considered a safe and easy intro to Central America, it seems the country's extensive ecotourism facilities are more dangerous than we'd have guessed.
Says the department's website:
Following a fatal accident at the Cave Branch Archeological Park in September 2008, the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) is implementing new regulations, effective and legally enforced beginning October 15, 2008, to improve safety at cave tubing attractions. Those policies will include an enhanced, mandatory guest-to-guide ratio of eight-to-one for all operating cave tubing tour companies in Belize.
Additional signage will be posted in each cave tubing excursion site, informing participants of park rules and current water conditions and/or warnings. Mandatory specialty training for each cave tubing guide will continue and include education on new regulations. Helmets will also be required for each cave tubing participant starting January 1, 2009.
Diving can also be dangerous, not because of intrinsic risks, but because of ill-maintained equipment or poor decisions on the part of dive operators and boat crews. If you end up left behind at the dive site, don't say Condi Rice didn't warn you!
Related Stories:
· State Department Country Specific Information [Official Site]
· Dangerous Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: kthypryn]
