The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has been a hot-button
environmental issue for over a decade. The sprawling expanse of tundra is regarded by environmentalists as the American
Serengeti. But how many people have actually gone to ANWR? It’s not an easy place to reach, and vast herds of Caribou
notwithstanding, there’s really not a great deal there. That doesn’t make it any less important as a place to protect
from oil development, but I have been wondering what the place is actually like. And so
here’s a piece in Audubon magazine about ANWR. As
one might suppose, the Audubon piece is bullish on the allure of the plain, but I thought this was a fine article, and
one worth reading if the ANWR debate at all interests you.
While on the Topic of Teaching…
What about traveling and teaching English in Japan? This is
probably this most common way to live and work abroad. Teaching English (as my earlier entry suggests) can be a pain in
the A$$. You are working hard, pay is low and the language barrier can be rough. But it can also be a great way to hang
in a country, making enough (usually) to get by. Not to mention, demand for English-speakers has never been higher in
places like China and other parts of Asia.
So take a look at this site which helps foreign language teachers and
students find each other anywhere in Japan, and to do so without going through a language school. You can sign up
for free. The site is NOT a language school, per se, but functions as a nationwide network of private teachers who run
their own classes or schools.
Quake/Tsunami Stuff
Travelers and locals in Asia where the tsunamis hit have been posting their
accounts of the devastation wrought by the 40 foot waves and the subsequent problems with health and sanitation.
Wikipedia also is posting an amazing round up
of up-to-date information that will keep you posted on what countries and cities were affected as well as the state of
the relief effort. These are great resources.
Save Some Turtles on Vacation
Spend a holiday making a difference.
Devoted to preserving Costa Rica’s Leatherback, Green, and Hawksbill Turtles, Asociación
Salvemos Las Tortugas de Parismina works out of the hamlet of Parismina,
on the northern Caribbean coast. Costa Rica is one of the largest Leatherback nesting sites in the world, and the
turtles nest on Parismina’s beach from the beginning of March through June. The Leatherback is the largest living
reptile in the world, measuring up to eight feet in length and weighing between 1000 and 1800 pounds.
The largest hard-shelled sea turtle in the world, the Green Sea Turtle is often killed for its meat and shell. As a
result, only about 200,000 females are alive today. Between July and October, many come to Parismina’s beaches to lay
their eggs.
While the female Hawksbill Turtle lays up to 160 eggs at one time, Hawksbills are on the endangered species list
because people use their shells for jewelry and ornaments.
Every year hundreds of Leatherback, Green, and Hawksbill turtles lay their eggs on Parismina’s beach. Staff and
volunteers from the hatchery patrol the beach at night to watch for poachers, collect the turtle eggs, relocate them to
the association’s hatchery, and return hatchlings to the sea. Volunteers learn to identify turtle tracks, find nesting
turtles, and help with both the relocation of the eggs to the hatchery and the hatchlings’ release into the
ocean.
Volunteers can stay anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, but shorter visits can also be arranged. wht a great way
to spend a holiday.
Enjoy: But Don’t Break or Take Anything
How would you feel if you were in your office, on the phone to a client and a group of tourists
came through snapping photos as you’re closing a deal? “Look, Mommy” a child says, pointing at you. “What are those
things around their necks?”
“That’s called a tie, dear. The guidebook says they wear them when they work. How interesting.”
“Honey, get a photo, will you?”
Sounds like a Monty Python skit, doesn’t it? But if you think about it, this is basically what happens every single
day in villages and towns around the world as tourists descend on them with their cameras and guide books and endless
enthusiasm for places and people that are different.
Well, the Christian Science Monitor runs a piece
about the nascent ethical tourism movement. There seems to be some confusion whether ethical tourism is the same as
eco-tourism, which has older roots and applies to a more of a “pack in what you pack out ” ethic. But this
notion of ethical tourism is something we all ought to consider as we head out on our globe-trotting expeditions.
Travel is wonderful. But try not to mess anything up when you go. Because you never know, with the rise of China and
the decline of the dollar, there just might be tourists in your cube in years to come, snapping pictures of you and
your “primitive ways”. Then you’ll know how it feels.