National Geographic rates best (and worst) islands

by Grant Martin on

National Geographic has just published their newest list of island destinations, both in their Nov/Dec Traveler magazine and abridged online.

Among the top contenders are

  • Faroe Islands, Denmark
  • Azores, Portugal
  • Lofoten, Norway
  • Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK
  • Chiloe, Chile

Ever been to any of them? Me neither. That’s probably what makes them a cut above the rest though — they are as yet unspoiled by tourists like you and me.

What I find interesting is the number of winners that stipulate the beauty with “as long as the cruise ships don’t keep coming.” As one who has experienced the tidal wave of headphone-wearing-flag-following cruise herds first hand though, I can sort of see why they’re saying this. We just need to get there before they do.

Is global warming dimming fall’s leaf show?

by Catherine Bodry on

It appears as though the usual spectacular autumn show in the Northeast has gotten somewhat dull recently. Where some trees would explode in vibrant reds, orange, and yellows they now go from summer’s green to winter’s dull rust.

Tom Vogelmann, a plant biologist at the University of Vermont, says that autumn has become too warm to elicit New England’s richest colors. The bright fall colors that have made New England autumns so famous are the result of broken down green chlorophyll, and trees need cold nights in order to break the chlorophyll down. Warmer nights mean less broken-down chlorophyll and thus less color. Additionally, warmer weather has contributed to a spread of fungi that attack red and sugar maples, the trees that produce the brightest fall displays.

The potential for non-spectacular autumns has some New England tour operators worried. The business of leaf-peeping brings in hundreds of millions of dollars, and Northeast hotels and tours book up nearly two years in advance.

[via LA Times]

One for the Road: Whatever You Do, Don’t Run

by Kelly Amabile on

Australian Peter Allison is a safari guide who has spent much of the last twelve years leading eco-tourism trips in Africa. This past summer, The Lyons Press published his memoir, a collection of hilarious True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide: Whatever You Do, Don’t Run recounts Allison’s stories of “…face-to-face encounters with big cats, angry elephants and the world’s most unpredictable animals — herds of untamed tourists and foolhardy guides.”

Allison set off for Africa at the age of nineteen and had originally planned to stay for only a year. After six months he was broke, but found work tending bar at a game reserve. He eventually became a guide and taught others how to do the same. More than a dozen years later he’s still leading tours and educating folks about life in the bush. Allison’s book shares insight about the difficulties of keeping tours minimally invasive for the animals, as well as humorous tales of tourists gone wild. Read with caution and remember — only food runs!

The Toilet Hotel

by Jamie Rhein on

If eating out of a toilet doesn’t sound edgy enough–grand enough, how about a night in a house that looks like one? Might sound odd, but don’t be hasty. The Toilet House may not be so weird. The guy who had it built, Seoul, Korea’s, Sim Jae-Duck, is the founder of The World Toilet Association and wants to make sure that people have clean toilets to use. By this, I don’t mean toilet hygiene, per se, but toilets that are clean to use–meaning people have a place to go do their business without creating a health hazard. If you’ve ever lived in an African village, you understand the need for a good latrine that’s far enough away from the village well.

If you pay the $50,000 a night to stay in this house, you’ll be adding money towards Jae-Duck’s work to make sure that people in the world can get rid of their bodily waste without the danger of making people sick. Not a bad idea. Plus, the house does look funky. Again, thanks to Tom Barlow from BloggingStocks for sending this treasure my way.

Up-and-coming Mexican beaches

by Neil Woodburn on

Mexico has a way of slowly revealing beach towns as though one is peeling back layers of an onion. And, with each layer, the world discovers a new playground in which luxury hotels sprout like fields of agave.

Like other beachcombers, I’m always keeping Mexico on my radar, filing away stories and suggestions I’ve heard from friends so that when it comes time for a Mexican getaway, I have a few places lined up ready to explore.

And that is why I was excited to come across an article in Travel and Leisure exploring “the next great beach towns along Mexico’s Pacific Coast.” La Nueva Riviera also discusses how the Mexican coast has been impacted by Hollywood movies and how they’ve transformed quiet fishing villages into popular tourist destinations–such as how the 1964 film, Night of the Iguana transformed relatively unknown Puerto Vallarta into the tourist Mecca it is today.

Writer Christopher Petkanas apparently intends to do the same with his suggestions of undiscovered beach towns such as Yelapa, a small coastal town of just 1,500 that is “accessible only by boat, by mountain bike, or on foot.”

Sounds like my kind of place! I think I’ll file this one away for the future.