Submit your travel photos to be part of Wanderfly’s one-year anniversary

by Melanie Renzulli on

To celebrate its first anniversary as a travel inspiration site, Wanderfly is asking travelers to submit their best travel photos from the past year to be included in a video on WanderflyTV. “1 Year, 1 Minute” will be a stop-motion montage of travelers’ photos from around the world organized to take viewers through the seasons from fall 2010, when Wanderfly launched, to this autumn.

If Wanderfly’s anniversary video is anything like “Move,” “Eat,” and “Learn,” the recent trio of videos by STA Travel Australia, then its sure to become an Internet sensation. Don’t you want to be part of that? If the answer is yes, then head on over to Wanderfly to find out how you can contribute to “1 Year, 1 Minute.” And hurry up – Wanderfly needs your photos by October 12. “1 Year, 1 Minute” is set to air on October 19.

Tracks4Africa puts a continent at your fingertips

by Jeremy Kressmann on

A trip to Africa requires some serious preparation. Guidebooks. Vaccinations. Maps. Tourist visas. Mosquito nets. Hiring guides. For many people, the very idea of the African continent conjures images of huge steamer trunks, pith helmets and mountains of travel gear. But for the technology-inclined, the mysterious continent author Paul Theroux once dubbed “the dark star” is becoming just a little bit more accessible, thanks to Tracks4Africa.

Essentially a giant community mapping project, Tracks4Africa is a non-profit organization that maintains user-generated GPS maps of some of the more remote and “eco-sensitive” areas of Africa. Although the project originally started as a way for outdoor enthusiasts to preserve some of Africa’s most unique plant and animal life, it has since blossomed into a full blown database of “off the beaten path” sights in Africa. More than 1,400 adventure travelers have contributed data on everything from recent elephant attacks to ghost towns and covered countries ranging from Ethiopia to Mozambique. And because it’s entirely user-created, there’s a good chance users will also have access to the most current information on the ground. Take this in contrast to an Africa guidebook from Lonely Planet, which might not get updated for several years (if at all).

All you need to get started with Tracks4Africa is a compatible GPS unit and a sense of adventure. Armchair adventurers take heart – the Tracks4Africa database is also viewable through Google Earth. Now get out there and find me a nice date plantation to check out in Namibia.