4 Generations: A Water Buffalo in China

by Justin Glow on

Last month, blogger Philip Greenspun wondered aloud on the morality of charitable organization Heifer International’s questionable “Helping Hooves” program, designed to give an Asian farmer a much needed water buffalo for a $250 donation. A good idea perhaps, but upon reading the fine print, Philip found out that no actual water buffalo is delivered to an Asian farmer. Instead, “the money simply gets dumped into the common fund at the charity.”

Enter Robert Thompson, a musician living in China who, after reading Philip’s blog post, set out to purchase an actual water buffalo (in financial collaboration with Philip and Craig MacFarlane) and give it to a real farming family in need. Robert — video camera in hand — recorded the process of searching out a young water buffalo, finding a family, and delivering the animal. What follows is a beautiful 7 minute video of the entire process, from conception to delivery.

What a great story.

Click on the image below to view the video in a new window:

[via Kottke]

Nat Geo’s Six Places to Go

by Erik Olsen on

National Geographic Adventure is probably my favorite among outdoors magazines. Outside comes in a close second, and can often be better than NGA, but overall, I like the range of stories in the sister glossy to the famous yellow bordered geographic mag. If you haven’t checked out the December 2006/January 2007 issue, you should.

The editors provide an interesting list of countries that you should visit NOW. Among them are China, South Africa (especially the Samara Private Game Reserve), Morocco (I’ve done Marrakesh and think it’s a wonderful place to visit) and Canada (yes, you heard it, Canuck country). For the latter, they pitch an 11-day Canoe Arctic trip in the Barren Lands that, I confess, sounds absolutely killer. Actually, as always the whole issue is good, but to start off the new year, the list here is a great place to start.

Rudeness in China Now Against the Law

by Neil Woodburn on

One of the most remarkable things about traveling through a communist country, or a recent post-communist country, is how unbelievably rude shopkeepers can be. “Service with a smile” is a completely foreign concept in these parts. Instead, you get scowls, poor service, and a surly wait staff.

The Chinese city of Beijing is no exception, according to a recent article in The Boston Globe. I saw a little bit of this when I visited 12 years ago, but apparently the service industry has gotten much worse in recent years. It has become so notorious, in fact, that Beijing’s municipal government has now passed legislation requiring better service from the city’s shopkeepers and wait staff. Those who glare angrily at customers, make sarcastic comments, or simply do not smile are at risk of breaking the law.

The catalyst for such legal action is the upcoming 2008 Olympics. Beijing is the host city and officials want its citizens to live up to the traditional obligations one normally expects from a host.

Now if they can only stop people from spitting on the sidewalks…

Travel Photo Tours

by Erik Olsen on

I switched to digital photography years ago, having purchased one of the old Nikon CoolPix cameras and I have since upgraded to one of the superb Nikon D70 XLRs. As happy as I am with this camera and its 6 megapixel images, the newest Nikons shoot in 10 megapixels and more. What can you do? Well, I suppose one thing you can do is improve your shooting overall. Even ten-plus megapixel images don’t do you any good if they suck. So why not consider a trip dedicated entirely to learning how to shoot.

I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do this. While I have shot my share of photos from all over the world, I know that there is plenty of room for improvement in my own travel photography skill repertoire. And so I was looking around for Photography Expeditions, trips where you go out and get the hands-on knowledge and skill from a bona-fide professional photographer. Turns out, there are LOTS of trips and packages available.

Travelimages.com for example, offers a selection of U.S. based and international tours in 2007 including destinations like the Galapagos, Scotland, the European Alps, New Zealand, Venice, Yellowstone and Vermont (where I am now!). Another possibility is Joe Englander’s Landscape and Travel Photography Workshops and Tours. With Englander, you’ll head to far-off places like Bhutan, Norway, Tibet and Burma. Along the way, professional photographers will take a look at your work and critique your composition and technique. It ain’t cheap, however. The trip runs $3,000, but would be the perfect way to kick your shutterbug skills up to professional levels. And who knows, if you take enough great shots, you might be able to sell them to magazines and cover your costs. .

(via Frommers)

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of December 31

by Adrienne Wilson on

With so many interesting stories coming out and into the New Year it made selecting this week’s five a bit difficult, yet I think I’ve gathered a well-rounded batch for you to review.

5. Think Before You Click:
Here is the sad tale of a German tourist who accidentally booked a ticket and flew into Sidney, Montana when he actually wanted to go to Sydney, Australia. The lucky fellow was able to make it to his intended destination with the help of family and friends, but talk about a costly mistake! Ouch.

4. Ask The Pilot:
Looking for the answer to all your flying questions? Why not “Ask the Pilot” or pick up the book to see if your question happens to make the selection of commonly pondered questions.

3. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum:
When a former president is no longer with us it is a big deal to say the least and many feel the need to pay some sort of tribute. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is just one place to start or perhaps you can think and thank him on your way from the ATM as he was the dude that made it legal to pull money from a machine. Not as grand as a trip to the museum, but its just a thought.

2. Paddling Baja Dispatch: Day 2:
After another great trip, Erik returns to share with us the details of paddling Baja. In this dispatch he talks about his guide Carlos, jagged coastlines, incredible rock formations, Mexican food, and rum and of course he does the favor of including some very cool photos from the affair. There is more to come, but in the meanwhile catch up on this if you already haven’t.

1. Chinese Shish Kabobs:
Death-wish or delicious? I don’t know about the food found in the pictures from Neil’s pal Pete, but I do know they make my skin crawl to the point where these Chinese shish kabob would be staying far from the taste-buds and only close enough for photo ops. Do proceed with caution.