Actively seeking relaxation? Unwind in Kosterhavet Marine National Park

Anyone who visits Sweden’s west coast can’t help but be struck by its uncluttered beauty. Everything sits so well together it’s a real pleasure to just look out, casting your eye over the smooth rocks emerging from the sea, scattered islands dotted with wooden houses, and behind them leafy swathes of green set against a deep blue Swedish sky. But it’s not long before you want to get active and get closer to it all and one of the best places to do so is Kosterhavet Marine National Park, centred around the Koster Islands, near Strömstad and the border with Norway.

Typically idyllic, the islands and waters of this new national park, which opened in September 2009, are unique in Sweden. Kosterhavet contains Sweden’s highest level of marine biodiversity and, with a deep fissure known as Koster-Väderö Fjord between the Koster Islands and the mainland, it is connected to an oceanic environment. Such deep water leads to a valuable range of marine species, including cold water coral. While Kosterhavet protects an area of 450 sq km, it is by no means off limits to visitors: through careful management a balance is struck to enable people to appreciate the area to the full.

The Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences’ station at Tjärnö (formerly the Tjärnö Marine Biological Laboratory) not only carries out important research into Kosterhavet’s biodiversity but its staff enable visitors to get a fascinating insight into the park’s marine life by leading several guided tours. Taking to the waves, it’s possible to join an excursion on board a research ship, from which a remote controlled underwater vessel will beam back images to a screen. On foot, visitors can accompany a marine biologist to collect and examine creatures found on the Koster Island beaches. Walking is a wonderful way to get to know the Kosters and there is a great range of routes, across meadows and along cliffs and beaches, to try. Guided walks, available during the spring and summer, vary in length. Alternatively, just go for a ramble yourself and climb your way to the top of the Koster’s mini-mountain, at 45 metres, and drink in the far reaching views across the rocky outcrops and to the mainland.

The clear waters lapping at the edges of the Kosters are ideal for exploration by sea kayak and there are plenty of opportunities to paddle around. Whether for a morning, weekend or longer, the gneiss rock islands and islets throw up an almost endless range of routes to zigzag among them, looking out for sunbathing seals and passing birds on the way. So dense is the archipelago that in places only kayaks can pass between the islands, with pleasure boats avoiding them.

Seal safaris, to see the resident colony by boat; scuba diving; snorkelling and fishing are all part of the outdoor activities on offer in the Kosters. For a particularly tasty fishing trip, join a local fisherman in search of crayfish and help harvest the pots before returning to land and tasting your freshly cooked catch. For a different perspective, see Kosterhavet from two wheels. The car-free Kosters are ideal territory for cycling with a network of paths to pedal. Breathing in the sea air as you wind your way around the edges of South Koster, and making tracks into the green centre among the trees, is a relaxing way to soak up the natural beauty, peace and tranquillity of the island. Pull out your picnic supplies from a backpack and bask on rocks as you munch through them, or head to Sydkoster Hotel Ekenäs for a hearty meal. The family-run hotel’s Taste of West Sweden accredited restaurant offers a true taste of the west coast, with plenty of seafood on the menu. A comfortable place to stay, many of its rooms come with irresistible views of the seascape.

How to get there:

Most overseas visitors to West Sweden arrive at the coastal city of Gothenburg, and Kosterhavet is easy to get to from there. Hire a car, or take a train, and drive two hours north to Strömstad, from where a passenger ferry to the Koster Islands takes just 45 minutes.

Where to stay:

A range of accommodation awaits on the Koster Islands and in Strömstad such as Sydkoster Hotel Ekenäs on south Koster. On surrounding islands and in Strömstrad choose from hotels, cabins and campsites. For more information about visiting Kosterhavet go to www.westsweden.com.

Surrender Yourself to the Charms of Saimaa, Finland

Summer Tour with the Charms of Saimaa

The Charms of Saimaa is a cooperation of 15 enchanting destinations around the Saimaa region. The variety of services offered includes distinctive hotel and farm accommodation possibilities, charming, high-class restaurants, delightful boutiques, and atmospheric steamboat cruises. Pick and choose destinations from the multitude to create the perfect Saimaa holiday just for you.

Next Hotel Satulinna is an early 20th century manor, which serves as a hotel, restaurant, conference venue, as well as sauna and spa village. At Satulinna, you have the possibility to enjoy the nature of southern Savo, bathe in a traditional Finnish smoke sauna, swim in the clear blue waters of Lake Puulavesi, and indulge yourself with a variety of beauty treatments. The former barn of the manor now serves as a restaurant in the summer time, serving food prepared using all-organic ingredients.

To combine your overnight visit with a true culinary experience, try Tertti Manor. In Mikkeli In this delightful manor hotel and gourmet haven in southern Savo, the charms of the past meet modern comfort. The manor dates all the way back to the 1500s and has been run by the same family for over a century. Tertti is known for its high-class cuisine. In 2010 The Finnish Gastronomic Society acknowledged Tertti’s achievements in consistently promoting high-quality gastronomy, as well as sustaining the authentic manor house atmosphere. One of the secrets behind Tertti’s cuisine is their passion for local and organic produce. The restaurant serves rye bread based on a 100-year-old dough root from local suppliers, partridge and other game hunted from the manor’s own forests, and salads and herbs grown in Tertti’s own garden.

Continue to delight your taste buds at the Ollinmäki Wine Farm in Anttola. Ollinmäki is a producer of award-winning wines made from Finnish berries and fruits. At Ollinmäki, a Central European wine-making technique – with a healthy dose of Finnish pioneering spirit – is used to turn the berries into wine. In addition to the berries, the names of all the wines come from Finland as well, from an old collection of songs and hymns called Kanteletar.

For getting around Saimaa, leave your car ashore and travel back centuries on a nostalgic steamship cruise. Sightseeing cruises on the traditional handmade Finnish steamships S/S Paul Wahl or S/S Punkaharju offer an insight into the history of the Finnish inland lake. The tour takes you around the Saimaa Lake district and Savonlinna’s famous medieval Olavinlinna castle, home to the world-famous opera festival held at the height of summer each year. Daily cruises in the Savonlinna archipelago 1 June–31 August 2010, at noon, and at 2, 4 and 6 p.m. on the S/S Paul Wahl, and at 11 a.m. and 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. on the S/S Punkaharju.

These are only a few examples of the Saimaa region’s charming possibilities. For more information about the Charms of Saimaa, visit www.saimaancharmantit.fi.

For a complete six-day Charms of Saimaa Summer tour, check the Savonlinna travel website at www.savonlinnatravel.com.

For more information about tourism in Finland, go to www.visitfinland.com.

Kingo’s Ultimate Survival is Pinned on Sustainable Tourism

By Leslie Nevison, Director, Mama Tembo Tours

Kingo, a 300 pound (140 kilogram) Western lowland gorilla silverback, and his six wives and children, live in the protected rainforest of Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the northern Republic of Congo near its border with the Central African Republic. Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) began habituating Kingo fifteen years ago. At the time, gorilla research had been restricted to Rwanda’s and Uganda’s mountain gorillas, and very little was known about lowland gorilla behavior in the wild.

Compared to their mountain kin, lowland gorillas occupy remote and swampy forests and are hard to find. Wary by nature, they disappear in an instant at the first hint of danger. As unhindered observation is crucial to any wildlife study, habituation is a necessary scientific tool. With Kingo, habituation took ten years. Yet, creating this bond of trust with Kingo leaves him vulnerable to a human encroacher with violent intentions.

Just outside of Kingo’s Kingdom, a mere 16 square kilometer forested triangle, the surrounding forests are crisscrossed with logging roads. Logging, unless practiced responsibly, results in habitat loss. Logging roads also allow access to commercial poachers. Gorilla meat is highly prized in Central Africa in the misguided belief that it brings status and power. On a less critical note, any forest bush meat – gorilla, chimpanzee, mangabey, and antelope – is the means for growing human populations living on the shrinking boundaries of Central Africa’s forests to subsist.

Diseases such as ebola, habitat loss, and the bush meat trade are the leading threats to the remaining numbers of lowland gorillas in Central Africa. The good news is that the WCS released new findings in 2009 that put the number of lowland gorillas in Central Africa as higher than was thought. Gorillas make simple sleeping nests in the crowns of trees every night. Working from a morning count of these nests, scientists believe (and hope) that over 100,000 gorillas are holding on in the forests of Northern Congo. Even if this number is optimistic, it supports the need to push forward with conservation plans.

Kingo’s ultimate survival is pinned on sustainable tourism. When science is complete, visitors, only two at a time, will be (and must be) Kingo’s primary means of support. Kingo was first introduced to the world, fully habituated, in 2007, and since then he has become famous in writing, news reporting, photography, and nature film making circles. A great many of his guests have come from among these professions. But 2010 brings change. Although science will continue for years to come, WCS has established formal tourism guidelines and improved infrastructure and Congo Wildlife Adventures was launched by MTT Inc as the first ever ground operation in Brazzaville to facilitate visits for everyone to Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, and beyond to Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the neighboring Central African Republic.

Undeniably, Kingo is Nouabale’s showcase.

David Attenborough has said “There is more meaning in exchanging glances with a gorilla than with any other animal I know.”

But there is much more to this travel experience too. The forests of the Congo Basin comprise the world’s largest rainforests after those of the Amazon Basin. They are therefore among the last of their kind on the planet, and of remarkable biodiversity. Kingo shares his kingdom with elephants, buffaloes, leopards, chimpanzees, birds, and ten species of monkey. And while it remains adventurous travel to get to the forests, they are now accessible.

Travel here means to walk in pristine forest of towering hardwoods amid whining cicadas; to pole a pirogue along tributaries and streams of the Congo River; to observe wild gorillas at forest clearings; and to spend time with the Ba’Aka, the indigenous pygmies who have been the foundation of Central Africa’s conservation programs from the beginning, for without their preternatural relationship with and their knowledge of the forest and its wildlife, habituating the timid Western lowland gorillas would never have happened. There is a poignancy to the traveler’s encounter with the Ba’Aka because these men once hunted gorillas or tracked gorillas for others to hunt. Now they work as trackers for scientists and forest guides for tourists. It is easier to keep wildlife alive if men who hunted in the past for their livelihood earn a salary guiding you through the forest.

Beyond Nouabale’s forests, construction of a new road under a Chinese contractor is in progress which will link the north of the country and Nouabale’s once isolated forests to its capital Brazzaville. There is the worry that the road will serve as a conduit for the movement of contraband forest products. WCS worries how little time they have to establish a viable sustainable tourism program (perhaps no more than five years) in light of the enormous pressures from outside business interests. With so few roads in the Republic of Congo, and where internal air travel is costly and unreliable, improved infrastructure is a positive development. This road can certainly ease the way for Nouabale’s tourism, becoming another way that travelers can more easily travel back and forth to Kingo.

You can be a part of Nouabale’s new beginnings in sustainable tourism. You can be among the first to arrive.

Tirol’s Eagle Walk: Make Way for Emotions

What a wonderfully walkable country!

If walking is your great love, you’ll meet your match on Tirol’s Eagle Walk.

“Those who walk a lot know their way around,” the German poet and aphorist Peter Sirius (1858-1913) once said. And right he is. Hiking is the best way to experience, enjoy and appreciate a country and its people, to discover its charm and character. Hiking in Tirol’s mountains allows you to discover the country’s soul. Those who do the Eagle Walk truly explore Tirol’s beauty. Consisting of 126 stages over a distance of 1480 kilometers with a total elevation gain of 87,000 meters, this walk of a lifetime takes you to Austria’s nooks and crannies, it’s most beautiful spots and most valuable cultural treasures.

Osttirol has joined the Eagle Walk!

Since 2007 Osttirol also boasts its own small Eagle Walk. One part of Osttirol’s Eagle Walk takes you to the foot of Austria’s highest mountain, the Grossglockner. Grossglockner is centrally located on the trails that lead from Matrei in an easterly direction towards the famous Kals region, and has always held a special allure for hikers and mountaineers. The other part of the Eagle Walk leads from the National Park town of Matrei in a westerly direction to Virgental and the magnificent Umbal Falls, where the water of the Isel River cascades down the rocks. Leisure walkers can stick to the trails in the valley while more experienced hikers will prefer the hut-to-hut walks high above Virgental and near the ice world of the Venediger group.

The Eagle Walk trail is finished!

With the opening of the regional routes in the southern valleys of the Inntal in the summer of 2007 the Eagle Walk is now complete and it has been a great success since its opening.

You can now find Eagle Walks in Paznaun, Kaunertal, Pitztal, Ötztal, Stubaital, Zillertal and Tannheimer Tal. Other routes give access to Kaiserwinkel, the Kitzbühel Alps, the Tuxer Alps and Osttirol. The nice thing about the Eagle Walk is that it is as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. Both the young and old, the fit and not so fit can enjoy hiking as it is a joyful, healthy and an invigorating activity.

The Eagle Walk Stamp Card

Join in the hiking fun: no matter where in Tirol you are you will be near an access point to the Eagle Walk!  In order to earn the popular Eagle Walk Pin you need to collect a minimum of 5 stamps (= 5 Eagle Walk stages) in your stamp book. Every year, enthusiastic

Eagle Walkers have the chance to win one of 100 short break stays in the Heart of the Alps which are raffled off by Tirol’s hiking specialists, the Tirolean Hiking Hotels.

The Eagle Walk Folder of the Tirol Tourist Board

The Tirol Tourist Board published a new 87-page Eagle Walk brochure which provides detailed information on the hikes and includes a foldable map with data on the individual stages, the stamp card for the quiz of the Tirolean Hiking Hotels and a short description of each hike. The “Eagle Walk – Hiking in the Realm of the Eagle” brochure leads you to all the wonders and treasures Tirol has to offer and whets your appetite for hiking. Information: www.adlerweg.tirol.at

Off the beaten track in New Zealand

New Zealand isn’t exactly world-famous for many things. In fact, if you ask your average person to locate it on a world map, they’re likely to point somewhere in Europe or Africa (hint: it’s down near Australia). However, this little island nation is world-renowned for one thing – hiking.

This little pocket-sized paradise is home to some of the most amazing walks you’re ever likely to see, stuff that’ll knock the socks off even the most well travelled toes, with the most famous trails like the Milford and Routeburn drawing throngs of people from across the globe.

Among the visitors have been writers from lofty publications like the New York Times and National Geographic Adventure, who’ve penned superlatives like, “jaw-dropping”, “primordial” and “breathtaking” to describe their experiences.

However, what they and most other hiking visitors to New Zealand don’t realise is that the “great walks”, as these famous trails are known, are just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond their well-beaten paths there’s a whole world of adventure hidden away in the mountains. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look.

Over the last 14 years, the guides at Active New Zealand have explored almost every nook and cranny of the Kiwi backcountry. Here are some of their suggestions of where to begin your search for the ultimate off-the-beaten-track experience:

Siberia Valley

If you’re looking to get into the wilderness but don’t have much time to spare, then a trip into the Siberia Valley is a great way to go. Thanks to a grass airstrip installed by deer cullers in the 1960s, this amazing spot can be accessed by light aircraft, getting you into the heart of Mount Aspiring National Park in swift and thrilling style.

Once on the ground you can relax and explore around Siberia Hut, take a day-trip to the iceberg-filled Lake Crucible, or for the more intrepid, set off on the three-day Gillespie Pass Circuit.

Whichever way you choose to go, when it comes time to return to civilization, the locals have devised an equally adrenalin-charged exit from the wilderness, thanks to a regular jet boat service on the Wilkin River.

Hump Ridge Track

This track on the south coast of the South Island started life as an idea at a 1988 Tuatapere Promotions Committee meeting, aimed to bring visitors to this forgotten corner of the South Island (apparently the little town’s existing hook; “New Zealand’s sausage capital” just wasn’t working). Ten years later the Hump Ridge Track was a reality – and what a stroke of genius it’s proven to be.

The Hump Ridge follows historic logging and forestry trails through towering native conifer forest, alpine wetlands and windswept beaches. At times the going can be quite challenging – requiring six to seven hours of hiking each day, but the rewards are more than worth it.

If you’d like to make things a little easier on yourself, then for a fee, you can have a bag of gear delivered by helicopter to the next hut each night. This means you hike with a tiny pack of essentials, but have all the creature comforts waiting for you at the end of the day – sheer luxury!

Angelus Circuit

Tucked away in the Nelson Lakes National Park, this trail is a brilliant introduction to tramping in New Zealand, with enough facilities to be user-friendly without losing the million-miles-from-anywhere feeling that makes the region so special.

Over three days you’ll experience Tolkienesque beech forests along the shores of Lake Rotoiti, pristine mountain streams, alpine meadows and the stunning alpine amphitheatre of Lake Angelus, a spectacular location for one of the route’s huts… and a “refreshing” spot for a swim if you’re feeling bold.

On a clear day, the Robert Ridge, between Angelus Hut and St Arnaud, can deliver some of the most spectacular ridge walking the country has to offer. This section of trail tiptoes along a moonscape ridge, past alpine tarns and rocky outcrops, all overlooking two glacier-carved lakes. Keep the camera handy here – it doesn’t get much better than this.

Cascade Saddle Route

Be warned, this trip is not for the faint of heart. However, if you’re well prepared and reasonably fit then the Cascade Saddle is a must.

From a trailhead near Wanaka, this route leads you through the picturesque Matukituki Valley to the historic Aspiring Hut, before taking a sharp – and steep – left hand turn towards Glenorchy, climbing for more than a vertical kilometre to the trail’s high point.

The view from here is truly jaw-dropping; with Aspiring Hut barely visible below, Mt Tyndall and Plunket Dome risi from either side of the saddle, beckoning you to try for their summits -  while in the distance the shattered ice of the Dart Glacier creeps towards the valley floor.

On the far side of the valley, Mt Aspiring dominates the skyline. Draped in a flowing white gown of snow and ice, the peak seems close enough to touch, close enough that on a quiet day you could probably hear the chattering teeth of climbers on the summit.

Before you go

If an adventure in the mountains of New Zealand sounds appealing, here are a few websites worth checking out before you go.

Active New Zealand – These guys lead hiking, biking and kayaking tours throughout the country. Their guides offer a wealth of information on the New Zealand backcountry and were integral in writing this featured destination.

The official website of the Tuatapere Humpridge Track – containing all the information you could possibly want to know about this spectacular South Coast trail.

Southern Alps Air – The only way to fly when you’re in Mount Aspiring National Park. Actually there are a few others, but these guys are the best by a long shot.

The New Zealand Department of Conservation. The body charged with the immense task of maintaining all these trails and backcountry huts – Also a great source of information on safety in the New Zealand bush.

Endangered Places to See Now

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

Thinking about visiting an area hard-hit by global warming? Far-flung or nearby, many landscapes are in flux. Here are some important U.S. locations. For more ideas, read Frommer’s 500 Places to See Before They Disappear by Holly Hughes (Wiley, 2009).

Death Valley, Calif.: The vegetation that holds the desert soil and dunes in place is being threatened by heat and drought.

The Redwoods, Calif.: The giant, 2,000-year-old trees are at risk from forest fires.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore, N.C.: Severe storms and rising sea levels have caused beach erosion and loss of flora and fauna.

Nachusa Grasslands, Ill.: One of the last surviving prairies, this area is being protected from encroaching development.

Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Keys: This low-lying island is threatened by rising seas, reef bleaching and hurricanes.

The Everglades, Fla.: The marshy landscape and bird species are threatened by dwindling water, pollution and urban development.

Glacier National Park, Mont.: The namesake glaciers are melting and could be gone by 2030.

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska: Rising sea tides and glacial melting are changing the face of these mountains.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

Disappearing Destinations

Many of the world’s most spectacular landscapes are vanishing because of climate change, spurring concerned visitors to experience and protect them before it’s too late.

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

What would an autumn cycling trip in New England be without colorful maples? What’s a ski vacation without fresh snow? Or an outing to the shore where the beach has eroded? These scenarios are unimaginable for many, yet global warming threatens to make them a reality as species extinctions, severe storms, flooding, drought, melting icecaps, and warmer, more acidic ocean water transform the outdoor environments we love. 

People are responding to the threat by rushing to destinations hard-hit by climate change before they disappear. They want to climb Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro before its fabled snows melt forever, or paddle Florida’s Everglades before its grassy swamps dry up. The see-it-before-it’s-gone philosophy has launched an entirely new form of tourism: climate-change sightseeing.

While the trend has spurred a rise in expensive once-in-a-lifetime trips, you don’t have to visit far-flung continents or invest your life savings to witness global warming’s destruction — and get inspired to do your part to help ward it off. 

“People think of climate change as happening somewhere else in the world, but the issue is right in our backyard,” says Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of legendary oceanic explorer Jacques Cousteau and the founder of Blue Legacy International, which works to tell the story of our water-based planet and to inspire people to take action on critical water issues. 

Indeed, in the United States, global warming threatens everything from the redwood forests (succumbing to fires) to the Gulf Stream waters (ravaged by hurricanes). In Montana’s Glacier National Park, record high temperatures have caused the namesake glaciers to recede. In the western United States, the death rates of trees in old-growth forests have doubled in the last two to three decades due to droughts caused by longer, hotter summers, according to a recent study published in Science. 

From Tourist to Advocate 

Awareness about the causes and consequences of climate change inspires our commitment to preserve wild areas — rivers, oceans, mountains, forests — which also happen to be great places for rafting, snorkeling and backpacking. By visiting a threatened destination, you may become one of its champions. (For more on athletes and outdoor enthusiasts preserving their outdoor playgrounds, read “Back to the Land” in the April 2005 archives at experiencelifemag.com.)

For example, melting polar ice receives much media attention, but few people brave the frozen regions, so eyewitness accounts are critical. “The Arctic is white, desolate, remote and dynamically beautiful like nowhere else on the planet,” says Keith Heger, a guide for PolarExplorers (www­.polarexplorers.com), which leads ski and dogsled expeditions to the North Pole, Antarctica and Greenland. “Those who go to the effort to spend 24 hours a day in minus-30-degree weather are forever connected to the North Pole. They become its ambassadors.”

That’s exactly how Brian S. Jones, a Fredericton, New Brunswick, investment adviser felt after joining PolarExplorers’ 12-day North Pole Last Degree Expedition. Jones, 37, trained six months to be fit enough to ski and pull a sled 10 hours a day. Despite the constant challenges and risks of spending time in the frigid Arctic environment — the threat of frost injuries, lack of nearby emergency facilities, and cooking and sleeping in tents — he and the seven other skiers in his group gained a deep appreciation for the fragile terrain. 

In fact, traveling over the huge ice floes inspired Jones to start Ski for Green (www­.skiforgreen.com), which promotes climate-change education. “I’m one of very few people who’s skied to the North Pole,” Jones says. “Based on the melting ice, I doubt there will be many more.” 

Like many outfitters, PolarExplorers offsets all the carbon emissions created by its operations and flights. The company also follows Leave No Trace principles by packing out all supplies and waste.

Rescuing Reefs 

Rising ocean temperatures and CO2-related acidity are straining coral reefs worldwide, but don’t hang up your fins just yet: Breathtaking undersea life still remains. Bonaire, a Caribbean island just 50 miles north of the Venezuelan coast, boasts a well-managed marine park that protects coral from careless divers and boat anchorage. 

Unfortunately, the park can’t shield its reef from global warming. “There’s been a huge change in the underwater world I love,” laments Francine Hammer, 57, of Naperville, Ill., who has visited Bonaire regularly since 1979. “I was shocked to find bleached and algae-covered reefs. That distracted me from seeing all the beauty that’s still there.” 

Over the years, Hammer has done her part to keep Bonaire’s magic alive by participating in garbage-pickup dives and helping to create moorings to keep boats from anchoring on fragile coral. The prospect of losing her undersea view of parrotfish, seahorses and octopus has Hammer “thinking about global warming and going green.” 

Conscientious tourism is critical, says Cousteau. “There’s a surge in people who want to see endangered environments, but they need to be cautious they’re not making the problem worse,” she says. 

If you plan to explore any region at risk from climate change, stay at an eco-lodge or environmentally conscious hotel, Cousteau advises (many mega-hotels are notorious for practices that cause pollution and excess waste), and be sure to minimize your impact while you’re there. For snorkelers or divers, that means never touching coral (it harms the organisms). Likewise, wilderness campers shouldn’t bring their own firewood. Just one log infested by elm bark beetle, ash borer or mountain pine beetle could kill an entire forest. 

Indeed, air travel itself can contribute to the problem. Diving Australia’s endangered Great Barrier Reef might awaken your dormant environmentalist, but flying there from New York City spews out 2.2 tons of CO2 per person. Is the trip worth emitting this much greenhouse gas? 

“If everyone flew as avidly as Americans, we’d have a much bigger greenhouse problem,” admits Robert Henson,  meteorologist and author of The Rough Guide to Climate Change (Rough Guides, 2008). “Yet if everyone stayed home, it would be a bleaker world. What matters is how smart you travel and that you conserve energy in everyday life.”

Exploring Solutions 

If you’re more interested in fighting global warming than witnessing it, a volunteer vacation may be the climate-change trip for you. On these getaways, participants lend a hand with conservation projects led by environmental organizations.   

Warren Stortroen, 76, of St. Paul, Minn., frequently volunteers for research projects with the Earthwatch Institute, a nonprofit that lets you join scientists doing field research. He chose a 14-day Mammals of Nova Scotia trip where principal investigator, Christina Buesching, PhD, was studying how climate change affects woodland animals, from moose to mice. On the trip, the volunteers — who were provided with accommodations and meals as part of the volunteer package — gathered population data on small rodents, deer, fox and snowshoe hare. 

“It’s a rewarding vacation that matters,” says Stortroen. “It sounds insignificant, but catching and studying white-footed deer mice is as exciting as working with a large moose — which we never found.” 

Buesching appreciates the dedication of volunteers who help her piece together these clues. For instance, missing moose are linked to shorter, milder winters. “Moose are equipped to bulldoze through deep snow, but the daintier deer (who aren’t native to Nova Scotia) can’t,” she says. Harsh winters normally control the deer, but without heavy snow, they overpopulate and spread disease to the moose. “The white-tailed deer carry a parasitic nematode, the brain worm, that when spread to the moose, kills them by destroying their brains,” Buesching says. 

Stortroen worries that some animals won’t survive human-made shifts in the climate. “That’s why I’m so eager to see the world and help out more,” he says. 

His vacation has broader ramifications, too. Stortroen’s slice of climate-change research creates a ripple effect: Buesching shares her findings with other scientists, who may themselves go on to help reverse climate change. 

What will an expedition to a calving glacier or a sailing vacation among the whales in Baja inspire in you? You’ll never know if you don’t head out and see.

In writer Laurel Kallenbach’s home state of Colorado, winter temperatures are no longer cold enough to freeze mountain pine beetles, which are destroying forests.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

Earth-Friendly Forays

Outdoor excursions restore and rejuvenate your body, but if you travel with the environment in mind, your vacation can also help restore some of the world’s most pristine wilderness.

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

On a Galápagos Island beach, two sea lion pups are playing king-of-the-hill on a flat-topped rock. With each wave that washes over the rock, the two-week-old pups lose their balance and tumble head-over-flippers onto the sand. I’m standing 10 feet away, snapping photos and laughing at their antics.

After a week of hiking and snorkeling in the Galápagos Islands with Ecoventura, an environmentally responsible tour company, I’ve grown used to seeing wild animals in their natural habitat. In this paradise, 500-pound Galápagos tortoises lumber about munching on leaves. Some are so old they might have been hatchlings when scientist and evolution theorist Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835. Here, I’ve also had a front-row seat to see a flightless cormorant mother peck and squawk at a marine iguana sunning himself too close to her chick. Both the bird and reptile live nowhere else on the planet besides these 13 isolated, volcanic islands in the Pacific.

 

I’m on an “eco-adventure” – a vacation option that lets people head into the wilderness without destroying it. Responsible, low-impact tourism sustains natural places and encourages locals to be good stewards of the land and waters. With natural ecosystems worldwide increasingly threatened by development and climate change, eco-adventures are an important antidote to conventional mass tourism, which contributes to pollution and erosion, disturbs wildlife, and brings unwelcome influences to once-isolated cultures. 

My Ecoventura trip, for example, has been recognized by the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartVoyager, a sustainable tourism certification program. It accommodates visitors aboard yachts that carefully manage fuel and augment their water supply with desalinated ocean water. When we disembark to explore an island, we’re careful to take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints. Our naturalist guides instruct us not to touch or feed the animals that live in this desert landscape – not even the Galápagos mockingbirds, which thirstily eye our water bottles.

On board the boats, we’re conservation-minded, too: We dump no waste into the ocean, and we take hasty, water-saving showers using biodegradable soap and shampoo. A portion of our food is grown locally with few or no pesticides. To help fight global warming, Ecoventura purchases carbon-dioxide offsets for all its voyages, so tourists know their vacation has less impact on climate change. 

The Conscientious Adventurer 

“Avid, active people tend to appreciate natural areas and want to protect the places they’ve come to love,” says Peter Krahenbuhl, cofounder and vice president of Sustainable Travel International (STI), a nonprofit that promotes responsible tourism. Eco-adventurers are also more likely to explore remote wilderness areas for an ecological experience – even when it means forgoing posh accommodations. 

Ecotourism isn’t on every traveler’s radar quite yet, but it’s definitely an emerging trend. In 2004, ecotourism/ nature tourism grew three times faster worldwide than the tourism industry as a whole, according to the World Tourism Organization. 

Is your Maine-coast sailboat idyll or Himalayan trek an eco-adventure? Some people define ecotourism as any vacation in the outdoors, but industry leaders such as Krahenbuhl agree that ecologically savvy people go the distance to lighten their impact on nature – including sometimes paying a bit more. Like any travel, ecotourism prices run the gamut – from backpacker accommodations to luxury eco-lodges. In general, what you pay for on eco-adventures is access to pristine outdoor settings, lower-impact accommodations and a closer, more beneficial working relationship with local communities. At eco-lodges, you’ll often find “rustic luxury” – clean, comfortable rooms furnished in accordance with the local environment. You’re likely to get great food and excellent service from local people, and nature or activity guides who are financially vested in the business. What you won’t be paying for are TVs, phones, computer access, casinos or nightlife. The more remote the destination, the higher the cost, but that’s also true of remote or exclusive locales that aren’t ecologically oriented. Prices at eco-lodges may be slightly higher, but are, in general, comparable to similarly scaled conventional lodges in the same region. 

One way to travel ecologically (and economically) is to explore closer to home. You might be surprised at the natural beauty within a short journey, and less driving and flying means fewer carbon-dioxide emissions. Better yet, skip the fossil fuels altogether and use muscle power – paddling, pedaling, walking – to reach your destination. 

If, however, your heart is set on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, you can offset the climate damage created during your airplane flight to Africa by investing in renewable-energy and energy-efficiency projects that reduce carbon emissions, a process called “carbon offsetting.” 

For my Galápagos trip, I logged onto the STI Web site (www­.sustainabletravel.com), where I learned I had created 2.5 tons (!) of carbon dioxide on my roundtrip flight to Ecuador. It cost just $45 to assuage my eco-guilt. 

The idea behind carbon offsetting, explains Krahenbuhl, is that if you produce carbon dioxide in one place, “you reduce an equal amount somewhere else.” It’s not an exact science, clearly. But it’s a start. 

Arriving ecologically at your adventure destination is a first step; the next is calculating who profits from your excursion. The travel and tourism industry generates $1.3 trillion in the United States alone, reports the Travel Industry Association of America, but most of that money goes to giant corporations that own hotel chains and cruise lines. 

“True ecotourism provides economic benefits to local communities who then have more incentive to preserve their wildlife, land, ecosystems and indigenous culture,” Krahenbuhl explains. 

He has firsthand experience. In graduate school, he worked on a conservation project in the Ecuadorian cloud forest. “We helped the people establish small-scale ecotourism so they had a viable economic alternative for putting food on their tables without cutting down trees.”

The Power of Preservation

Can going to a place actually help preserve it? Unfortunately, tourism is paradoxical. When too many people flock to beloved wildernesses, nature suffers. For instance, as many as 4 million people visit California’s popular Yosemite National Park annually, and their vehicles spew so much pollution that vistas are often clouded by a brown haze. On the other hand, if a beautiful place goes unnoticed and unappreciated by tourists, it’s more likely to be developed or exploited for its natural resources. 

Take Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which has been the source of a perennial debate over oil drilling. On a backpacking trip there, Janet Cerretani, a Boulder, Colo., advertising art director, realized the value of its remoteness. “ANWR is one of the last truly wild places left in our country,” she says. “You hike for days without seeing anything man-made. From the air, it looks somewhat barren, but if you land your plane and get out, you’ll see it’s a beautiful, thriving, untouched place. It’s been the same for thousands of years.” 

Inspired by this unspoiled land – a vital habitat for gray wolves, grizzly bears, caribou, Dall sheep, migratory birds and arctic flowers – Cerretani is working to raise public awareness by documenting ANWR through photography and by using her advertising and marketing skills to support environmental issues. “I like the idea that there’s somewhere left in this country where animals can live undisturbed,” she says. “ANWR is definitely worth preserving – even if 99.9 percent of Americans never see it.” 

Surfing for Solutions

People who appreciate the outdoors – by canoe, on skis or while hang-gliding – can support their favorite places by joining local efforts or donating to environmental and conservation causes. 

Over the years, surfer Rick Erkeneff has watched many prime surf spots in Southern California deteriorate. “Mini-malls, beach parking lots and multimillion-dollar coastal developments shore up the sand. Surf conditions are dependent on the shifting sandbars, and less sand means less-than-ideal waves,” says the Dana Point resident.

The Surfrider Foundation enlists boarders to help protect beaches and oceans. Erkeneff got involved with the group when he realized the beaches weren’t clean or safe for his two young daughters. Surfers nowadays contract ear, sinus and throat infections because contaminants such as fertilizer, pet waste, agricultural chemicals and spilled motor oil wash into the water.

With Surfrider, Erkeneff coordinates litter cleanups, organizes preservation projects and helps educate beach lovers about environmental issues. He finds that beach activism is almost as satisfying as hanging 10.

“I’ve caught the ecology bug,” he admits. “Now I tell local and visiting surfers: ‘If you’re out here loving the waves, you need to get active. Every little bit helps.’”

Laurel Kallenbach is senior editor of Natural Home magazine.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

A Motto for Montana

by Dan Austin

Here’s a bet you’re bound to win – ask someone for Montana’s state motto. Even if they’ve visited recently, to climb mountains, raft rivers, bike or hike or to experience Yellowstone National Park, you can bet them ten to one and still win a bundle.

Some will smile knowingly and take your wager, thinking “Big Sky Country” is the answer. And boy does that moniker fit. Travel the state from its green eastern prairies to its western white-capped peaks (a distance of some 500 miles!) and you’ll marvel at the immensity of open space and the big blue sky. But no matter the popularity of the nickname, and even its presence on some highway signs, your bet’s still safe.

Another friend might come up with “The Last Best Place,” which has gained in popularity of late as everyone from recent college grads to the just-retired look to live where they can have an active outdoors lifestyle while still enjoying the culture and convenience of big towns and small cities. When everywhere else with all these attractions seems to be full or quickly filling up, it’s no surprise that Montana’s wide-open spaces have brought it the more recent nickname of last of the best places.

So what’s the real answer? You’re going to be surprised, for it isn’t in English, and unlike so many states’ mottoes it isn’t Latin either. It’s Spanish – Oro y Plata (“gold & silver”) – and refers to what brought non-Indians here in the first place. The Kootenai, Crow, Blackfeet, Flathead, Sioux and other tribes, descendants of those who had enjoyed the place for some 10,000 years, had only a hundred whiteskins to deal with before gold was discovered in 1860.

Think about that. More than half a century after Lewis and Clark had traipsed in both directions across the state (1805-06) and reported glowingly on what they’d discovered, it was still inhabited almost exclusively by Native Americans. Then gold was found and, a single decade later, 20,000 miners and merchants had arrived (a century and a half later Montana’s population is still under one million). Their nickname for the place? The Treasure State.

It was a treasure as well for the next batches of newcomers, for the men driving cattle, the gangs laying rail, the tough ranchers and loggers and the families who came to settle the land. That last bunch is still around in big numbers, for today agriculture is Montana’s biggest industry. Timber is the biggest “industrial activity.” The nation’s largest storehouse of coal is here, and oil, and natural gas.

But best of all, in most places the state still looks the way it did way back when. Thus Montana’s growing tourism industry, and thus those wonderful tourists who come for a week or two to get their Big Sky fix. If you’re leaning in that direction, or are still wondering where to go this summer to get away from it all, I invite you to accompany me for a few paragraphs as I describe a loop of geologic wonder and of flora and fauna beyond compare – my absolute personal favorite, and I’ve lived here going on two decades. Only a few hundred miles in length, it contains much of the best this state has to offer. Sensory overload I always call it.

We begin in Bozeman, a hip Western college town that sits in the Gallatin Valley at an elevation of almost 5,000’, with mountain ranges (the Madison, Bridger, Gallatin, Tobacco Roots…) in view in nearly every direction. Main Street is lined with attractive brick buildings which, to Eastern eyes, have a bit of the Dodge City look. It’s named for John Bozeman (who laid out the Bozeman Trail in the 1860s), and it is comfortably small – fewer than 35,000 people. But the county it sits in is larger than two states!

Our loop takes us south out of town on a winding rural highway along the Gallatin River, through a canyon the river has carved over eons as the snowmelt and summer rains from the mountains rushed to lower ground. You’ll see high peaks, lush forests, roaring rapids, and soon will come to Montana’s most famous ski resort (fun in any season) – named, of course, Big Sky. In summer you can reach the highest mountain (Lone Peak – over 11,000’) by foot or, in four minutes, by tram. But either way the views are surreal.

Whether you’re catching your breath from the hike or just enjoying the panorama, this lofty spot is perfect for thinking about how these mountains came to be. As with the rest of the Rockies, it’s believed this range was created by a tectonic smash-up of unbelievable proportion, one massive “plate” shifting into and onto (or under) another, causing that neighboring piece of the broken eggshell to rise or fall.

This rumpled part of Montana is the piece that rose skyward, and which avoided the scraping, leveling action of later glaciers which, during successive Ice Ages, planed the eastern, green- and gold-brown prairie part of the state flat. Or at least much flatter. Farther south, as we near Yellowstone, we’ll come to evidence of tremendous volcanic eruptions and resulting magma flows. Eons of erosion from wind and rain and snow carved this formerly molten rock, even as geologic uplifts fought back to form new plateaus. Understanding the terrain here takes effort, for you are looking at dramatic action frozen in time – at least for now.

Let me suggest that you spend the night at a Montana guest ranch along the Gallatin River. From your cabin porch you’ll see fishermen plying the fast-moving waters for fly-wary trout. Stop early enough in the day for a horseback ride, get back in time for a barbecue. Tough life. Then sleep soundly in the cool night air (even in summer!), and awaken to another day in something close to paradise.

As you continue heading south along the Gallatin, through national forests on both sides of the road, you’ll notice the canyon getting wider as we close in on the town of West Yellowstone. A shock to the senses after all the quiet natural beauty, it’s also (I have to admit it) – fun. Everything a tourist’s heart desires, from cotton candy to an Imax Theater, from museums and a park visitors center to backwoods survival gear, is here. Knock yourself out. For it’s another – an other – world once you turn east and enter our nation’s very first national park. OK; technically the majority of the Park is in Wyoming, Montana’s close cousin to the south, but a little creative license needed here. As you’re about to discover, it was first for a reason, and after the scores of parks I’ve visited it’s still my favorite by far.

But then, why wouldn’t it be? There are ten thousand geo-thermal wonders here, half of all that exist in the entire world, a greater single collection than anywhere. Yellowstone is “the largest sanctuary for western large mammals in the lower forty-eight states,” with two thousand buffalo, twenty thousand elk, griz and black bear and moose and bighorn sheep and…, well, you’ll have to come and see the rest yourself. It’s a zoo that’s more than twice the size of Delaware – without any cages.

Wait – there’s more. A waterfall twice as high as Niagara Falls, the largest log structure in the world (the enormous Old Faithful Inn), the largest mountain lake in all North America (Lake Yellowstone), a live Tyrannosaurus Rex…. Okay, I’m kidding about the dinosaur. But all the rest is true. As is the magma you’ll be seeing soon after you enter the park from the west, evidence of “catastrophic volcanic eruptions” which spewed out so much molten rock that it collapsed what is now the center of the park, “forming a 28- by 47-mile caldera, or basin.” It is this still-boiling cauldron just below the surface that powers the mud pots, fumaroles, hot springs and shooting geysers which we all come to see.

I don’t want to, and you won’t want to, but it’s time we continued our loop north out of the park. (Hey, you can always come back.) Once you’ve torn yourself away from the appropriately named Mammoth Hot Springs (where the elk walk calmly outside the hotel and past the stone buildings of Historic Fort Yellowstone), you’ll exit through (Theodore) Roosevelt Arch, dedicated in 1903. The wonderful words chiseled elegantly into the massive stones say it all: “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.”

But the beauty doesn’t end, for we exit into the wide, glacier-carved and again correctly named Paradise Valley, running north between the high Gallatin Mountains on your left and the lofty Absaroka range on your right. You’ll have marveled at the falls of the Yellowstone River inside the park; now you have the opportunity to raft its whitewater rapids. What a thrill!

Once back on the road you’ll see why the Hollywood hit movie “The Horse Whisperer” was filmed here. Those stunning skies, the mountain vistas, and the windblown waving fields of wheat which filled so many scenes were not computer-generated or created in a studio. That was Mother Nature at her best.

Lodging at its best, Montana-style, is here as well – at Chico Hot Springs Lodge (added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999). For more than a century visitors have been soaking in the hot-spring-fed pool, gathering in the Victorian-era lobby before and after an excellent dinner, and sitting in the porch swings wishing time would stand still, at least for a while.

But it won’t. And maybe it shouldn’t. For we still have to complete our loop back to Bozeman and begin thinking about returning next year to see another beautiful piece of this big state. Glacier National Park? Flathead Lake? Oh, the choices!

Maybe it’s time to vote on a brand new motto for Montana. Put me down for The Toughest Part is Going Home!

El Salvador: Ready to be Explored!

by Holly Jones

El Salvador is an off-the-beaten-path destination loaded with impressive mountainous, volcanic and coastal landscapes that are teeming with thousands of species of flora and fauna, more adventure sports than you can imagine, an exceptional arts and crafts scene, cultural festivals, breathtaking coffee-growing highlands, and exquisite local food bursting with flavors of the mountain and sea.  This tiny country has emerged, leaving its conflicted past behind and reinventing itself as an adventure and ecotravel destination.

Adventure Sports

Surfing the world’s best beaches at dawn, mountain biking through the narrow trails of the coffee highlands at midday and peacefully paragliding through the orange and pink sunset skies, all while taking pictures of the towering volcanoes and the Pacific Ocean right in front of you are the types of daily itineraries that make El Salvador a prime destination for thrill-seekers and outdoor lovers alike.

Over the past 10 years, the popularity of adventure sports has skyrocketed in El Salvador.  As Central America’s smallest country, measuring 21,040 sq km, or about the same size as the U.S. state of Massachusetts, it’s easy to arrange amazing multi-sport adventures every day of the year.  Other sports that have become increasingly popular include: kite surfing, hiking & trekking in the beautiful national parks, kayaking, zip lining, and rock climbing.

Not Your Typical Coastline

Scenic Coastal Drive
El Salvador’s gorgeous coastline is no secret to locals or to neighboring Guatemalans, who often make a day trip out of driving down El Salvador’s scenic coastal highway, stopping for lunch on the beach and then driving back home during the sunset. The coastal highway runs dramatically along a narrow, winding route carved out of the cliffs, high above the sparkling turquoise sea. Below are black, rocky coves and crashing waves whose white sea foam contrasts beautifully against the grey sands of the shore; inland are rugged mountains, canyons and lush vegetation.  This scenic drive has often been compared to California’s Highway 1 in miniature.

Surfer’s Paradise
Well known among the international surfing community, El Salvador is home to at least 10 world-class surfing spots that dot the entire 320 km of Pacific coastline.  If you wake up early to walk along the beach, you will be privy to the site of the silhouettes of surfers’ heads bobbing up and down in the waves as they prepare to catch the perfect wave.  Lessons and rentals are available daily and the water is warm!

Mangroves & Wildlife
For nature lovers, the beaches of Barra de Santiago are your gateway to the large, well-preserved mangrove forests that hides behind the sandy peninsula.  It is comprised of seven different mangrove species and measures approximately 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres). The inner mangrove coastline is a haven for thousands of native and migratory birds. Have your camera ready as your local guide points out iguanas, lizards, marine mammals, shellfish, sea turtles, crocodiles, blue crabs and more!  Or explore by yourself in kayak!

Nearby you will find the Santa Rita Protected Area, a semi-humid tropical forest that remains lush and green even during the dry season. This forest plays a large role in otter conservation and also serves as the refuge and breeding grounds for parrots and other tropical birds.

One of the main attractions of this protected area is Lizard Pond, located right in the middle of the forest.  Park guides can take you for a hike along the beautiful forest trail and over the wooden bridges to the lookout point.  Look down into the murky water and you’ll witness one of the biggest populations of Caiman alligators in the country, literally dozens of restless reptiles right before your eyes!

Only Volcanic Beach in Central America
One of El Salvador’s most charming beaches is Los Cóbanos, where black volcanic rocks mingle with dark coral sands and smooth, warm waves.  Geologically speaking, the beach is located in an area of approximately 160 km.2 (62 mi.2) of volcanic rock formations, a unique feature along the entire Pacific coast of Central America.

These formations are an important haven to an abundance of marine species – barracudas, manta rays, octopi, lobsters, sea urchins, moray eels and starfish—all of which you’ll be able to look for when you don your snorkel gear with local guides!  Don’t forget to look for the two shipwrecks.  These relics from the late 1800s were used to transport coffee to Europe.

From Los Cóbanos, you can set out on humpback whale watching tours, hard coral snorkeling, shipwreck diving, reef diving and coastal flora & fauna walking tours.

Coffee Highlands and Colonial Villages

The lush coffee highlands of El Salvador feature a beautiful, colorful journey through five colonial towns known as the Route of the Flowers.  This mountainous region is famous for its cool, breezy climate, natural beauty, and the slower pace of life along the narrow, winding roads. This route is home to the fertile land and shade coffee bushes that continue to produce the most award-winning coffee in the country.

Traditional colonial architecture and cobblestone streets give each village a warm, inviting feeling.  Stop to savor excellent local and international dishes in rustic, unique restaurants tucked in among the dense forests and coffee plantations.  Roadside stands sell fresh produce like strawberries and fresh cut flowers.  Gorgeous panoramic vistas of the coffee plantations, volcanoes and neighboring Guatemala’s southern mountains make El Salvador’s coffee highlands the spot you’re looking for to explore and experience the warm Salvadoran culture.

The arts & crafts scene along this route is also very impressive.  “Mom & Pop” craft stores and artisan workshops feature locally made goods such as embroidered dresses, sculptures, coffee candles and hand woven textiles.  Pedal looms are still used to this day to weave colorful bedspreads, hammocks and other garments. Wicker and reed baskets and the high quality furniture made from caña de la india (Indian shot), cedar and bay wood have earned the local artisans fame around the world.

Trips Available with EcoExperiencias El Salvador

Help these small communities and support conservation efforts with EcoExperiencias El Salvador.  Since 2007, the international and local staff has combed the countryside to create fascinating experiences that highlight the country’s unique cultural, natural and geographical qualities in the departments of Sonsonate and Ahuachapán.

EcoExperiencias El Salvador is currently featuring these exciting itineraries with international tour operators GreenSpot.travel and G.A.P Adventures.

Check out these new GreenSpot.travel itineraries:

El Salvador Volcanoes & Surf Adventure
Bet you didn’t know the little country of El Salvador had multiple volcanoes, some of the best surfing in the world, indigenous villages up in the highlands and opportunities for mountain biking and ziplining! This vacation is designed for the adventurous…read more.

Trip Length: 8 days; Activity Level: Moderate; Price: From $1,350 per person based on double occupancy. Call GreenSpot.travel anytime: 1.877.891.3539 or email:  info@greenspottravel.org

Culture & Unexplored Highlands of El Salvador
Get ready for something new all you culture junkies. This vacation is designed to let you in on some of El Salvador’s fascinating secrets. On this trip you will see a true convergence of the old and new, traditional and modern, with colonial villages, world class art museums and galleries, indigenous highland villages, mystical healing traditions and rituals…read more.

Trip Length: 9 days; Activity Level: Moderate; Price: From $1,400 per person based on double occupancy. Call GreenSpot.travel anytime 877.891.3539 or email:  info@greenspottravel.org

Coming soon at G.A.P Adventures:

Voluntourism with a Coffee Cooperative
Designed by EcoExperiencias and G.A.P Adventures, this incredible experience takes place at a picturesque coffee cooperative that extends from the high volcanic ridge to the shores of Lake Coatepeque, an ancient crater lake, nominated as one of 2008’s new Natural Wonders of the World.  Travelers will be involved in efforts to improve the coffee farmers’ quality of life, from helping to develop a new ecotourism program, building projects, assisting on the coffee farm and teaching a few simple English lessons. Throughout the stay participants will learn about the community’s efforts to improve their lives through the development of ecotourism on their property. By combining volcanic highlands tours and internationally renowned surfing beaches among other activities, this tour is an excellent opportunity to experience El Salvador’s most impressive attractions.

G.A.P. Adventures:  http://www.gapadventures.com

Explore cultural and natural wonders of El Salvador with EcoExperiencias El Salvador, while supporting local economies and biodiversity conservation in this new and exciting destination.  http://www.elsalvadorexperience.com/?lang=2

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