La Mamounia in Marrakech now open

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The only way to experience Marrakech is in luxury surroundings, especially after a day of wandering the medina. A new hotel promises to make this better than ever.

After three years of renovation, La Mamounia is open to guests. This property’s unique collection of amenities and activities allows the guest experience to be tailored, so you can make your trip to Marrakech exactly what you want it to be. La Mamounia is celebrating its reopening with a five-night program that includes a spa treatment upon arrival and several others during the stay, airport transportation, aromatherapy turndown service and several meals, including dinners at L’Italien par Don Alfonso, Le Pavillon de la Piscine and Le Français.

The culinary and spa experiences are supplemented with an array of touring alternatives, including a guided tour of Marrakech with a professional photographer (trust me, both parts of this are very useful), a “Flavors of Marrakech” tour and a Moroccan wine tasting with the hotel’s sommelier. Also, you can take a full day trip out to the Atlas Mountains.

Should a medical exam be required before a major trek?

by Kraig Becker on

Physicians and politicians in Australia are calling for mandatory physicals for any trekkers preparing to hike the Kokoda Track according to Aussie newspaper The Age. The Kokoda is a difficult and remote trail in Papua New Guinea, which has claimed the lives of three hikers this year alone. The track runs 60 miles in length through a region where the Australian military fought a pitched battle with the Japanese during WWII, and it has become a popular tourist attraction in recent years.

The latest person to die on the Kokoda was a 38 year old man named Paul Bradfield who was hiking the trail as part of a fund raising effort for a children’s charity. Before the hike he was believed to have been in good health and spent weeks training for trip. The exact cause of his death is still unknown, but it is believed that he suffered a heart attack while hiking. The other two people to die on the trail this year were also quite young as well. One was a 26 year old man, and the other a 36 year old woman.

This story brings up an interesting debate. Should a physical be required before embarking on any major trek? At what point does a government begin enforcing such requirements and how exactly do they do so? At the moment, Australia has no requirements of the trekking companies that operate on the Kokoda, but they are developing a “code of conduct” for those hiking the trail, and are now strongly considering the requirement of a medical check as well.
While three deaths is certainly something to be concerned about, it is also a very small number when you consider that 6000 people take on the Kokoda each year. Similarly, on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, roughly ten people die in a given year as well, usually due to altitude sickness. But that too is a small number when you consider the thousands that climb the mountain each year. Should these relatively minuscule numbers of deaths cause a change in policy that will effect all the trekkers that go to these places? And would a mandatory health check have saved these three hikers to begin with?

On the other hand, there is a certain inherent danger to these kinds of trips, and obviously anyone can be at risk, no matter what condition they’re in. Wouldn’t a responsible traveler want to ensure their safety by having a physical anyway? Don’t they owe it to themselves and their families?

If Australia does institute a change, it’ll probably require the tour operators to be the ones that have to enforce it by requiring all hikers to show proof of a medical examination before they join the trek. The question is should they make this change, and if so, should other major treks around the world follow suit?

Paraplegic Athlete Climbing Kilimanjaro

by Kraig Becker on

Paraplegic athlete Chris Waddell is in the process of doing something spectacular. He is attempting to become the first person to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro without the use of his legs, and as of this writing he is camped at 18,000 feet, and preparing for the final push up to the summit.

Back in 1988, Waddell suffered a terrible skiing accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. But he was determined to get back on the slopes, and less than a year later he did, using a monoski to return to his passion. Two years later he was named to the U.S. Disabled Ski team, and he has since gone on to win 12 medals over four Paralympic games, making him the most decorated male skier in the event’s history.

Not content to just ski down the mountains however, Chris wants to climb them as well. To do so, he has devised a specially designed hand cart lovingly called the Bomba, which can maneuver over large obstacles while Waddell uses his arms to “pedal” it up hill. The Bomba is a unique, one of a kind, vehicle built to put Chris on top of Kilimanjaro, which at 19,340 feet, is the tallest mountain in Africa.

Chris is hoping that, through his climb, he can remind the world of all the amazing things that the disabled are capable of. He hopes to, once again, demonstrate that just because someone is “para” that it doesn’t mean that they have to lead a disabled life, and he is sending that message not only to those of us who can walk, but to the 21 million paraplegics in the world as well.

If everything goes as planned, Waddell and his team should reach the summit of Kilimanjaro sometime today. Keep an eye on his blog for updates from the summit. That last 1300 feet will be incredibly challenging for him, with a difficult route to the top, mixed with some snow, and the effects of altitude, but Chris has proven time and again that he can defy the odds when his goal is in sight.

Good luck today Chris!

Wild animal travel: Where the hunter becomes the hunted

by Katie Hammel on

There’s nothing quite like seeing a wild animal in its natural habitat. It’s why people go on safari in South Africa to see lions and elephants, trek through the jungles of Borneo in search of monkeys, and submerge themselves in steel cages off the coast of Baja California to swim with Great White sharks. But it’s important to remember that despite the precautions taken by tour guides and rangers, these are still wild animals and getting close to them in nature carries some risks. In other words: there’s a reason that safari guide carries a gun.

Forbes Traveler has put together a list of “10 Places Where Animals Eat You”, a collection of destinations where the danger of visiting wild animals in nature is greater. Among the spots that made the list are Khao Sok National Park in Thailand, where cobras kill several hundred people per year; South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, where aggressive hippos have been known to flip boats and even eat people; and Ranthambhore Bagh, India, where around 100 people are attacked by tigers each year.

The article goes on to detail other encounters with wild animals, like when the girlfriend of a Tanzanian guide had her sleeping bag dragged 30 yards by a lion, while she was sound asleep in it. It seems animal attacks can happen almost anywhere though, and the danger certainly won’t stop most people from visiting these areas to see wild animals up close. You may just want to think twice about wandering too far away from your guide.

Safaris in Kenya hurt by drought

by Sean McLachlan on

Safaris in Kenya are being impacted by a three year drought that has dessicated the landscape and killed many animals.

In Samburu National Reserve, elephants are dying for lack of food and other species such a zebra and crocodiles are also suffering. Some are moving out of the area and away from visitor’s eyes in search of water. Local herders are hurting too as they have to search harder to find forage for their herds. This has led to increased poaching as locals struggle to feed their families.

The arid grassland of Samburu National Reserve does not have sufficient ground water to handle a long-term drought and much of the land has dried up and become sand. As one of Kenya’s lesser-known reserves, it usually offers abundant wildlife and a less crowded safari experience. Safaris are still taking place, but visitors will be getting a hard lesson in the fragility of the environment along with their pictures of beautiful animals.