Family Package at Naples, FL Ritz makes luxury attainable

by Tom Johansmeyer on

I love the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. I spent a weekend down there just shy of a year ago, and it’s become my mission in life to get back there. Until that happens, though, you may ant to see it for yourself. Even if you don’t play golf (personally, I hate the game), there is plenty to enjoy.

The Family Summer Package, which starts at $239 a night, is available from the first day of May to the last of October this year, and it comes with enough perks to make that seem like pocket change. In addition to the roof over your head, you’ll get breakfast for four, a free kids’ menu meal with each adult entrée you purchase, a $50 resort credit and a $50 gift card which is good at the resort’s retail shops. A similar packages is available at the golf resort’s sister property (which is on the beach) for $299 a night.

I know … free meal offers make me skeptical, too. What do you get? At the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, you’ll have breakfast at Lemonia, which, I assure you, is outstanding. Also, make sure you get over to the spa at the beach resort. I received the best massage of my life there as part of the Elements treatment. Don’t miss it.

While you hit the links (36 holes in total), your kids can take advantage of the Nature’s Wonders program, which is on the beach resort property. It’s an environmentally-focused program that is conducted by a team of certified Master Naturalists who can give some great insights on Florida wildlife. The Ritz-Carlton does take its environmental seriously, as I found while participating in the “Giveback Getaway” program last summer.

If you need to dash off for a few days this summer, the Family Summer Package gives you an affordable option to have an upscale experience. My only hope is that I get back there before you do (I miss the place).

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Roadmonkey Combines Adventure with Volunteer Opportunities

by Kraig Becker on

Travel company Roadmonkey has created unique travel experiences that combine the thrill of adventure travel with the satisfaction that comes with making a difference in the places we visit. The goal is to offer phsycially demanding outdoor adventures with deeply gratifyng volunteer opportunities to create what they term as “Adventure Philanthropy”.

Currently the compnay has two expeditions in the works for 2009. The first is a climb of Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, scheduled to take place this June. Travelers will spend the first seven days of the trip climbing to the summit of Kili before venturing overland to a small village near Dar Es Salaam. Once there, they’ll spend an additional four days building a clean water system and painting classrooms in a school for children orphaned by AIDS.

If climbing a mountain doesn’t sound like much of a vacation, then perhaps Roadmonkey’s other planned expedition is more your speed. This November they’ll take their second cycling trip through Vietnam, leading a team of 11 adventurous travelers as they mountain bike through the rugged hill country to the northwest of Hanoi. In 2008, the team stopped in a village along the way to build a playground at an orphanage, and a similar volunteer opportunity is planned for the 2009 expedition as well.

Volunteer travel is a growing trend in the industry, and when combined with adventure travel, it provides the opportunity for very unique and satifiying experiences on a cultural, physical, and intellectual level. Roadmonkey is offering just those kinds of journeys.

Adventure travel in India: Rafting

by Jamie Rhein on

One could say that any travel in India is an adventure and that could be accurate–even if you have loads of cash and are sticking close to swank establishments. If you head out of the mainstream, adventure is guaranteed. One option to add some thrills into your trip is to take in a rafting trip.

Arthur Max’s article published in The Columbus Dispatch gives details about his six-day rafting trip on the Kameng River. The river passes through the rain forest of the Valley of the Hornbills and through bamboo villages of the Nishi ethnic group. For anyone thinking of taking such a trip, Max’s article is a terrific place. Along with describing the experience, he gives the how-tos, the cost and what to expect. There’s also a handy sidebar of other options and rafting companies. One detail to note, is what a travel bargain such a trip can be compared to what you might pay elsewhere.

When we lived in India, the timing stunk for me to go rafting. While my husband headed down the Ganges above Rishikesh with our nine-year-old daughter, I waited for them at the take-out point. At seven-months pregnant, I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of a possible spill into the Ganges. I was having my own adventure.

What I can say is that the water was gorgeous, and my husband, daughter and the other friends they were with had a wonderful time. Theirs was a half-day trip that they hooked up with thanks to the staff at The Glass House, one of the Neemrana Hotels where we stayed for a three-day weekend, also above Rishikesh.

World’s Top Eco-Lodges

by Kraig Becker on

Outside Magazine has put together a great list of the top eco-lodges from around the world, with seven amazing escapes that not only offer plenty of luxury, but do so in an eco-friendly way. Each of the resorts is given a rating on the “Green-O-Meter” and for its accessibility, and the selection of locations spans the globe, offering a destination no matter which direction you’re headed.

For instance, if you’re traveling to Africa, Outside recommends Azura’s at Gabriel’s, on Benguerra Island, off Mozambique. The small resort has just 15 villas, but each has its own private pool, to compliment the amazing white sand beaches. World class SCUBA diving and deep-sea fishing are amongst the top activities, and Azura earns its green rating by using its gray water for irrigation and doing its own composting on site. The lodge is also moving forward with plans to buy wind credits to go completely carbon neutral and is contributing to the local economy by ensuring that 90% of the staff are Mozambican.

If Belize is more your style, then the Machaca Hill Lodge is the recommended place to stay. This lodge was once a fishing community that has been transformed into an eco-friendly resort that includes an 11,000-acre nature reserve that surrounds the 12 cabanas, and isolates them from the outside world. Machaca Hill is lauded for the fact that it generates most of its power via solar panels and has an organic farm on site that provides most of the lodge’s food.

There are five other great eco-lodges on the list as well, each with a unique setting and a unique approach to sustainable tourism. Any one of them will proved an amazing experience, and not make you feel guilty about your travels.

Afghan wildlife refuge: no hand grenade fishing

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Afghanistan is going green. The war-torn country has declared Band-e-Amir its first conservation area. While it may be premature to book your trip to this spectacle, at least there’s hope that you’ll get to enjoy it someday.

Band-e-Amir, like the rest of Afghanistan, has had a rough run over the past 30 years. Let’s face it: that’s how long the country’s been engaged in one war or another. The region’s snow leopards fell victim to the conflict between Soviet troops and mujahideen in the 1980s. Of course, the great Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

The fighting is reportedly in other parts of the country, these days, which the locals will attract foreign visitors. The lakes are the major draw, assuming you’re willing to subject yourself to a brutal daylong drive from Kabul. The destination may be billed as safe, but the journey certainly isn’t. Head into Afghanistan at your own risk.

For now, local merchants have their fingers crossed for Afghan tourists. Westerners, one would assume, would come much later.

If you do throw caution to the wind, be sure to follow the rules. Fishing with hand grenades is no longer allowed.
Among the local practices that are now banned: no more fishing with hand grenades. If you role the dice, don’t worry. The rangers tasked with enforcement are paid less than $60 a month and can be on duty for up to 24 hours at a time.