Nepal declares 2011 year of tourism

by Kraig Becker on

The tiny Himalayan country of Nepal is making a major push to attract visitors this year, as they’ve kicked off the 2011 Tourism Year campaign hoping to lure travelers with their vast natural wonders, that include the tallest mountain in the world in Mt. Everest.

The overall goal of the program is to raise awareness in countries across the globe of everything that Nepal has to offer. The country is famous for its fantastic trekking and climbing throughout the Himalaya Mountains of course, but also offers plenty of cultural immersion, complete with a heavy Buddhist influence. For those looking to for something other than a mountain experience, there is also the Chitwan region, which offers a tropical rainforest setting and plenty of wildlife to view as well.

While Nepal has set a goal of luring more than 1 million visitors from around the world into it’s borders in 2011, the Tourism Year program is squarely aimed at neighboring India. Officials hope to draw more than 300,000 travelers from that country alone, and an organized marketing campaign is already underway in ten cities along the border between the two nations.

Nepal’s economy is highly dependent on the tourism trade, and these efforts show just how important it is to the government there. If they hope to bring in more visitors however, that government is going to have to remain stable. One of the challenges of traveling in the Himalayan country is the political unrest has, at times, made some regions unsafe, and general strikes in Kathmandu can bring that city to a halt, with travel in and out at a stand still.

Still, those issues aside, travelers who do make the journey are in for a treat. Adventure travelers will especially love hiking in the mountains and those looking for a healthy dose of culture won’t be disappointed either. Kathmandu can be noisy and chaotic, but head out into the countryside and you’ll find quaint villages, beautiful temples, and friendly people who love to welcome visitors from abroad.

Wild tiger wanders into hotel, becomes first translocated in Nepal

by Elizabeth Seward on

It all started when a curious wild tiger wandered into a hotel in the tourist-friendly town of Sauraha in Nepal. The male tiger, estimated to be one of only 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild, was hurt trying to flee the hotel during this incident last September. Conservation authorities took the tiger to a secure enclosure within Chitwan National Park so that he could properly rehabilitate.

The tiger slowly regained his strength. Meanwhile, conservationists, including the World Wildlife Fund, realized the rare opportunity they had before them with this tiger: the opportunity to translocate the tiger to a more suitable habitat and tag it with a GPS collar to track him on his mission to settle down in his new home.

This tiger has become the first in Nepal to be translocated and monitored in this way. Just in the last decade, 1,000 tigers were killed for their skins and parts. This tiger’s new home is in the Babai Valley–where anti-poaching efforts have been improving.

These efforts are necessary if we’re interested in protecting tigers and admiring their beauty… from afar or, in some cases, from our hotels. Read more about this tiger’s story at Treehugger or at World Wildlife Fund’s website, where you can see a video of the tiger receiving his GPS collar.

[photo by Elizabeth Seward]

Yellowstone’s volcano takes a breath, the park bulges

by Elizabeth Seward on

Part of what makes Yellowstone National Park so special is the supervolcano upon which it sits. Also known as the Yellowstone Caldera, the supervolcano’s major features measure about 25 by 37 miles. And so when something of that magnitude stops and takes a breath, the entire park feels it.

A substantial area of the park’s grounds has now dramatically risen due to the volcano’s activity over the last few years. Starting in 2004, scientists began to notice the ground over the caldera rising–at around 2.8 inches per year. Although this rate slowed in the last 3 years, the total increase since the beginning of the swelling is now at around 10 inches in some places.

The caldera is an ancient crater. Each time it has erupted, the eruptions have been a thousand times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Its last major blow-up was about 640,000 years ago, but about 30 smaller blasts have filled the caldera with lava and ash since then. The most recent of those smaller blasts was around 70,000 years ago.

But there’s no need to worry. Even though scientists were initially concerned that this commotion was pointing toward a soon-to-come eruption, that’s no longer a concern. Read more about the situation with the Yellowstone Caldera on National Geographic.

[photo by Elizabeth Seward]

National Geographic jumps into the adventure travel arena

by Kraig Becker on

The very name National Geographic evokes images of adventure and thoughts of exciting journeys to far away places. The iconic Society has probably done more to inspire travel than any other single entity ever. Several generations have grown up gazing at breathtaking images in the organization’s popular magazine and reading about daring explorers on those beautiful, glossy pages. Now, in what seems like a long over due move, Nat Geo is throwing its hat into the adventure travel ring, announcing 11 unique trips that will offer a compelling mix of cultural and physical activity with some of the most stunning scenery on the planet as the backdrop.

The aptly named National Geographic Adventures have itineraries that are sure to appeal to any adventure traveler. For instance, they offer a 15-day trek through the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan that takes you to the 23,997-foot Chomo Lhari – the most sacred mountain in the country. If you prefer your trips keep you closer to sea level however, then perhaps the 9-day Alaska excursion would be more to your liking. That trip features sea kayaking and whale watching in Glacier Bay National Park. Meanwhile, backpackers will likely be enthralled with the 14-day hike through Chile’s stunningly beautiful Patagonia region. Other itineraries take travelers to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, on safari in Tanzania, and across Mongolia on horseback.

Each of the itineraries has been specifically crafted with the help of a National Geographic expert, who has applied their knowledge of the various regions to create a series of trips that are unlike any other. Those trips come with an activity level rating, with easy, moderate, strenuous, and “ultimate challenge” options available. Accommodations range from luxury tents to quaint mountain lodges and inns, and the group size is capped at just 16 to ensure the best travel experience possible.

To find out more about these new adventure travel options, click here, and for the full line up of trips from Nat Geo, check out the National Geographic Expeditions website as well.

National parks announce fee free days for 2011

by Kraig Becker on

Over the past few years, it has become a tradition for the National Park Service to waive entry fees into the national parks several times a year. Those fee free days have become extremely popular with frugal travelers, who take advantage of the lack of an entry fee to enjoy some of the best natural wonders that America has to offer.

Earlier this month the Park Service announced their fee free days for 2011, giving us all a number of great opportunities to enjoy “America’s Best Idea” on the cheap. Several of those days, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday weekend, have already slipped by, but here are the remaining fee free days for the year.

• April 16-24 (National Park Week)

• June 21 (First day of summer)

• September 24 (Public Lands Day)

• November 11-13 (Veterans Day weekend)

In all, there are 14 days remaining in 2011 during which you can gain entry into more than 100 national parks for free. To see a complete list of which parks will be waiving their entry fee on those days click here.

Knowing the available dates well in advance allows us to plan ahead and select which parks we would most like to visit during the fee free days. For example, in April many of the parks are still on the cool side, but it is an excellent time to visit Big Bend in Texas, before it becomes too hot. The first day of summer seems the perfect excuse to drop into Denali, located in Alaska, while September is great for visiting Yellowstone. As for November, how about stopping by the Everglades for one last tropical escape before the winter snows start to fly across much of the country.

Whether they’re free or not, the national parks are fantastic destinations all year round. But it never hurts to get something for free!