Endangered tourism: the Galapagos Islands

by Grant Martin on








This article is part of a continuing feature on sustainable travel, where we’ll be discussing endangered destinations as well as those reconstructed and beyond hope.

Today’s focus: The Galapagos Islands. These small, diverse islands have come a long way since since Darwin landed the HMS Beagle on their shores in the early 1800s. In recent years the tourism industry has boomed, spurning unhindered commercial growth and reckless expansion into the country’s infrastructure. Combined with poor management by the Ecuadorian government, the Galapagos are edging closer to their breaking point.

As I mentioned in the parent article, Graham Watkins and Felipe Cruz released a paper earlier this year reviewing the wealth of ecological and socioeconomic data that have recently become available on the islands. What they find is rather striking; the volume of invasive species, the greatest threat to the Galapagos’ ecosystem, has exponentially grown in the past years. As they plainly state, “The number of registered introduced species in the archipelago in 2007 is 1,321, 10 times more than the 112 species registered in 1900.” Yikes.
So what can we do about it? I won’t tell you to not go to the islands, but think hard about how and why you want to go. If you decide to visit, try to frame your journey from an ecological and socioeconomically beneficial standpoint. Support the community. Visit, learn about and preserve the fragile ecosystem that is shrinking every day. Don’t go because you want to go hang gliding or base jumping in an exotic destination; supporting that type of tourism in such a fragile location only fuels irresponsible growth, competition and detriment in the economy.

As they are, the Galapagos Islands are one of the last remaining ecological destinations in the world. You’ll see creatures and plants unlike anything you’ve ever seen when you visit – fish in colors and shapes that you can’t imagine, trees that climb up, over and around the landscape. Someday, lets hope that some day our grandchildren and great grandchildren can enjoy their beauty as well.

Valley of the Geysers not entirely destroyed

by Neil Woodburn on

Last June we reported the sad news that a landslide wiped out one of Russia’s most outstanding natural attractions: the Valley of the Geysers.

Although hardly known outside of Russia, this amazing valley, located in the heart of Kamchatka, was home to more than 90 active geysers before a mile-wide mudslide buried it forever–or so the reports at the time led us to believe.

Visitors to the scene–accessible only by helicopter–are now reporting that parts of the valley and its heralded geysers have actually survived. Thanks to a very detailed report by Spanishflyer on LiveJournal.com, we can now see for ourselves what was destroyed and what was spared by Mother Nature’s wrath. A combination of satellite and aerial photos as well as digital imagery clearly shows the path of the mudslide, the geysers destroyed, and the flooding which occurred when the nearby river was dammed by the mud.

The result is a severely damaged Valley of the Geysers that looks like it is still an amazing place to visit–albeit extraordinarily expensive to do so.

If you have the time, be sure to check out the website for a depressing feel for how fickle and temporal our natural world can be.

Long weekends: Penang, Malaysia, perfect for a three to four day jaunt

by Jamie Rhein on

One of the great things about living in Singapore is how easy it is to travel from there to other places. When I lived there, one of the first things we would do each August at the start of the Singapore American School school year was figure out where we wanted to go on school holidays. There were several three-day weekends sprinkled throughout the year. Planning early meant getting a flight to where we wanted to go. On holidays, everyone scrambles to get out.

One place we headed to on a three nights, four day vacation was to the island of Penang on the north-western coast of Malaysia. This trip was before kids, but everything we did was kid-friendly. It was also dad-friendly. My father went along with us on this particular long weekend away.

Penang is a perfect mix of history, beaches, nature and terrific food. Not too touristy, unlike what has happened to several beach areas of Thailand, but touristy enough that the hotels know what travelers might like and you can find a variety of interesting things to do. We went here based on recommendations of a few different teacher friends of ours.

Although we did hang out on the beach a little, we’re not exactly beach people, so we spent more of our time at other Penang offerings. George Town, the state capital has historic buildings which have not lost their flavor for what life was like here in the 19th and early 20th century. There is an interesting mix of temples, museums, shop houses and hotels that can easily take up an afternoon of sightseeing. We did take a day tour with a guide that made getting around to various sites simple and easy. (When traveling with family members, almost always choose simple and easy. It’s a sanity saver.)

Another place we went was The Butterfly Farm. According the Penang Web site, this was the first butterfly farm set up in the world. I remember it as being utterly gorgeous and fascinating. The ride through the island countryside was part of the allure.

Here’s another travel hint. Stay at a modest hotel and splurge on a brunch buffet at a swankier place. We stayed at the Lone Pine Hotel in Batu Ferringhi and had brunch next door at the Shangri-La. We also took over a few of the Shangri-La’s beach chairs and no one seemed to notice.

Dubai looking to go greener

by Abha Malpani on

It’s hard to remember that Dubai is actually a desert. Even though it has a coastline, the interior has always been an arid desert.

Of the sick amount of money that Dubai spends on having the tallest, biggest, best stuff, it also spends quite a bit on making the city green. (NB: I am going to try to write this without delving into the general environmental disaster that Dubai is nurturing).

There are numerous palm trees — that are fully grown in a greenhouse and replanted into the ground; lush green grass beautifying the main roads, and about 5 full fledge parks. All these are maintained by 24-hour underground water supply (desalinated water), and continuous automated sprinklers.

The trees are so identical (they probably have the same number of leaves), and the grass is so green and well-manicured that you cannot imagine that Dubai once used to be entirely a desert.

Dubai Municipality has just announced a plan to build 30 new parks in Dubai in order to raise the percentage of open green space from 1.4% to 8%.

How they do that will probably do more environmental damage than good, but it’s the best investment of resources I have heard of in Dubai for a long time.

[Via AMEinfo.com]

Photo of the Day (11-18-07)

by Catherine Bodry on


As a bona fide tree-hugger, I love the way the center tree seems to radiate with its own inner light. Misha Logvinov captured this photo in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, and titled it “‘Controlled’ Burn in Big Basin State Park.” Indeed the bright leaves at the top left of the middle tree seem as if they are ablaze.

If you’d like to have your photos considered for our Photo of the Day post, start uploading at Gadling’s Flickr Pool.