Inca Kola: Peru’s tasty soda

by Sean McLachlan on

One fun aspect of travel is discovering cool local brands. When I visited Peru back in 1998 I first learned of Inca Kola, a neon-yellow soda produced there. I was curious so I ordered some at a cafe. The waiter was surprised and delighted that I chose his nation’s drink over Coca-Cola and told me proudly that it was the only local soda that had a bigger market share in its home country than Coke.

He brought me my Inca Kola and I took a sip. It was wonderful, an ultrasweet bubblegum flavor that my girlfriend couldn’t stand but I immediately fell in love with. I brought two liters back with me on the plane and served it to all my friends.

Peruvians are pretty proud of this soda, and that’s reflected by its advertising, with lines like La bebida del Perú (“The drink of Peru”) and ¡Es nuestra! (“It’s ours”). Sadly, the Coca-Cola corporation got its global tentacles wrapped around Inca Kola in 1999 and it’s no longer a completely independent company. Several Peruvian-owned rival brands have since taken up the banner.

I haven’t seen Inca Kola much outside of Peru. Some Latino shops in the U.S. stock it under the name Golden Kola, but it can be hard to find. Today I discovered it here in Santander, Spain, under its own name. The local long-distance phone bank, where people use Skype for a small fee rather than racking up huge phone bills to South America, had it for sale. Strangely, the shop is owned by Pakistanis. Santander is pretty cosmopolitan for such a small city!

After I bought some I went next door to a Chinese-owned convenience store, generally called Chinos here because most convenience stores are owned by the Chinese. As I picked up some beer the owner asked me how much I paid for my Inca Kola. Turns out he sells it for five centimos less. Live and learn.

In many ways the world is getting smaller, and that can be a good thing.

New travel alert tool helps passengers get the seats they want, even on sold out flights

by Jessica Festa on

Expertflyer, a company that gives travelers information so that they can get the best possible airline tickets, is offering a free feature to travelers who want to change their seat or who are trying to get onto a sold out flight. To take advantage of the tool, called “Seat Alerts”, travelers create a free account on the ExpertFlyer website where they can setup an alert to be notified when the seat they want becomes available. This can be helpful for passengers who find themselves stuck with a ticket for the dreaded “middle seat” or who are having trouble getting onto a sold out flight.

Usually, airlines require flyers to have a ticket and will only change a passenger’s seat to another “unoccupied” seat. Travelers also usually have to wait until boarding time to find out if the seat they want becomes available. With “Seat Alerts”, travelers no longer have to wait and can switch their seat online once they receive a notification via text or e-mail.

The free feature allows travelers to maintain one active Seat Alert at a time. Additional alerts can be purchased for $0.99, and ExpertFlyer paid subscribers will be able to post several alerts at one time.

For more information, click here.

Rails To Trails makes progress, wants more

by Chris Owen on

The Rails To Trails Conservancy (RTC) is a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors, building healthier places for healthier people.

Back in July, Gadling reported there are 19,000 miles of rail trails reconnecting America, up from 100 miles when Rails-to-Trails was founded in 1986 but 9,000 miles of potential rail-trails are waiting to be built.

“Railroads had such a pivotal role in the development of the country, especially in the opening of the West. Many communities’ identity sprang up around the railroads, so [preserving rail trails] preserves an important piece of American history” said Laura Cohen, the Western regional director of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy at the time.

Earlier this week, the RTC went a step further, heading to congress as the U.S. Senate began work on the nation’s next multi-year surface transportation bill. The RTC wants a focus that provides balanced transportation choices for Americans. Critical to such balance is dedicated investment in active transportation to ensure that walking and bicycling, the most cost-effective, affordable and healthy types of transportation, can continue to grow in communities across the country.
“For a tiny sliver of transportation funds-less than 2 percent– these programs have provided affordable, healthy transportation options, generated jobs and economic development, and preserved historic and environmental assets that provide the quality of life that Americans want and deserve,” said Kevin Mills, vice president of program at RTC. “Transportation Enhancements are the unmitigated success story of federal transportation policy for the past 20 years,” added RTC President Keith Laughlin.

RTC has applauded a dedicated level of funding for walking and bicycling investment in the past and encourages Congress to move forward with a balanced re-authorization bill.

Rails-To-Trails invites us to get involved in a number of ways.

  • A donation will help build, protect and enhance the rail-trail movement.
  • Register to be a member and get periodic e-mail updates and alerts on important legislative issues and RTC-related news. This is an ideal opportunity to become directly involved in RTC’s mission of providing communities with the multi-faceted benefits rail-trails provide.
  • They also put out a monthly newsletter we can sign up for and offer cycling gear, athletic apparel, gifts and more on their website.

Rails-to-Trails knows the value of today’s networking too and invites us to follow them on Twitter (@railstotrails) and Facebook.

Flickr photo by cassicat4


Remembering the fallen

by Sean McLachlan on


Today is Veterans Day, also known as Remembrance Day and Armistice Day because in 1918, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, World War One ended.

For four years the nations of the world had torn each other apart. The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, the Ottoman Empire was mortally wounded, Germany’s Kaiser’s fell and so did Russia’s Czar. The world changed forever and 20 million people were dead.

There are countless monuments honoring those killed. The most powerful, I think, is this one. It’s called The Grieving Parents and was erected in 1932 by Käthe Kollwitz, a German artist. Kollwitz’s youngest son Peter was killed while serving in the German army. The monument is in the cemetery at Vladslo, Belgium, where he’s buried. The faces of the parents are those of Käthe and her husband. Her husband looks at Peter’s grave while Käthe bends over in grief. So many young men are buried in this cemetery that Peter’s name shares a tombstone with nineteen others.

Whether you’re on the road or staying at home today, there’s probably a war memorial near you where people are remembering the fallen. Take a moment to visit it, even if it’s for the “other side.” After all this time that doesn’t really matter.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Black rhino declared extinct in West Africa

by Kraig Becker on

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has published an update to its “Red List” of threatened animals, and the news was grim for a number of species across the planet – especially the rhinoceros. The organization has declared the wild black rhino extinct in West Africa, and says that a number of other subspecies of rhinos may already be gone as well.

IUCN officials say that poaching is to blame for the loss of the black rhino, whose horn is seen as highly valuable in traditional medicines and remedies across parts of Asia. Demand for those horns on the black market is so high, that poachers are willing to face stiff jail terms, or even death, in order to acquire them. As a result, this particular subspecies has been hunted to extinction in West Africa, where there are few security measures in place to protect the creatures.

The Red List also warns of the potential loss of the northern white rhino, which calls central Africa home. The IUCN believes that it is also on the brink of extinction, as is the Javan rhino, which is no longer found outside of Java as well.

According to the organization, 25% of the world’s mammal species are now in danger of becoming extinct, despite conservation efforts across the planet. They also warn that 40% of Madagascar’s reptiles are at risk, although new conservation zones there have helped to ease a possible impending disaster there.

All is not lost however, as the latest IUCN report also cites the success of the re-introduction of the Przewalski’s horse into the wild. The animal was also declared extinct outside of captivity back in 1996, but careful management has allowed the creature to be reintroduced to their natural habitat along the steppes of China and Mongolia. The herds are now believed to have grown to more than 300 in number.

The hope is that a similar program could eventually be used to bring the rhino back to its home as well. Before that can happen however, the threat of poaching needs to be quashed once and for all.