Ajungo, the new social network platform just for travelers

by Jessica Festa on

Sick of searching through advice sites and hearing reviews from who only knows? Wish you could connect with other travelers about past or upcoming trips and events? Love social networking but wish you could interact with others in your travel niche? Then there is a brand new social media website just for travelers that brings together all of these platforms into one site.

Ajungo, created by Ben Barton and Steve Shea, is a brand new networking site that allows travelers to connect before, during, and after a trip. Here is how it works:

1) Create a profile and link all of your social networking sites. What this does is allows the site to funnel through your social networking platforms to pull information and funnel it around specific
destinations.

2) Find others who have been to your destination of choice and look through their posted trip or ask them for advice. Or, you can find others who will be in your destination of choice and plan to meet up or travel together.

3) Create your trip canvas, which consists of enabling the sites real-time travel guide feature so that the site can pull your photos and updates while you’re on your trip. This allows other travelers to learn from your experience as well as acts like a blog or trip journal by keeping your trip memories organized and sharing them with friends.

The goal of the site is to make travel more social as well as more comfortable for people going to new destinations. And, if there is any information that you do not want shared, the site will not post it without your permission.

Make connections with travelers, view their trips, find travel buddies, or just interact with others in the travel community. It is all possible on Ajungo.

British Airways offers North American flight discount to entice US travelers

by McLean Robbins on

Many of us have been yearning to visit our neighbor across the pond since The Royal Wedding (capitalization intended). Great Britain is in celebration mode, there’s no doubt. They’ve capitalized on the trend and embarked upon a four year multi-million dollar marketing campaign to their most valuable overseas market – the US, just in time for 2012, a year when

Britain is hosting the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, World Pride and hundreds of festivals that will make up the Cultural Olympiad.

To celebrate, British Airways is offering savings of up to $150 when flying from any North American gateway to anywhere in the UK in British Airways’ World Traveller Plus, its premium economy class. The offer is available for tickets purchased by October 31, 2011 and is valid for travel until March 31, 2012.

We’re sure they’ll be offering many additional similar promotions, so we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.

[Flickr via BriYYZ]

The World Rafting Championship is underway in Costa Rica

by Kraig Becker on

The World Rafting Championship begins tomorrow in Turrialba, Costa Rica, where teams from 35 countries are already busy preparing to compete against one another in a variety of races. Both male and female competitors will challenge each other, not to mention some of the wildest whitewater on the planet, over four days of events that will culminate with a new champion being crowned next Monday.

Over the past few days the teams have been arriving in Turrialba, a small jungle town located not far from San Jose that is a popular destination for whitewater adventures. They’ll spend some time getting acquainted with the course, and tomorrow’s opening ceremony will officially kick-off the event, with the races beginning on Friday. Those races consist of the Sprint, Head-to-Head, the Slalom, and the Downriver, with each team earning points based on their placement in those individual competitions. At the end of the Championship, the team with the highest score will take home the trophy.

The rafting competition takes place on the Pacuare River, a fast-running and pristine waterway that has its origins on nearby Mt. Chirripo. The stretch of river that the teams will be running includes Class IV+ rapids that pass through a lush jungle environment that is home to a variety of wildlife, including monkeys and jaguars, as well as an amazing array of colorful birds.

By all accounts, Turrialba and the Pacuare are an adventure traveler’s paradise, with plenty to offer visitors. I’m looking forward to seeing it for myself, as I’ll be attending the Rafting Championship for a few days, and will get the opportunity to experience it first hand. Look for updates not only on the event, but also the amazing destination that is hosting it, very soon.

Inside Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual Chile Pepper Fiesta

by Jessica Festa on

Last Saturday, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden held their annual Chile Pepper Fiesta, a mix of music, dancing, beer, chocolate, and, best of all, chile peppers. Being a hot sauce junky myself, I was really excited for my quest around the numerous kimchee and spicy pickle stalls to try to find something that would really make my throat burn.

While the event hosted various educational lectures on green living, gardening, and cooking, the real fun here was the samples. Various spicy dips, vegetables, condiments, salsa’s and more were dispersed around the gardens, allowing for a picturesque setting while you (willingly) set your mouth on fire. Although I can honestly say that there was nothing I didn’t enjoy trying, my top pick for tasty and spicy sauces was Grace Foods. They sell a line of Caribbean-style products, and their Grace Jerk Hot Seasoning, which has hot peppers from Jamaica as well as Scotch Bonnet peppers, was flavorful while creating that intense but enjoyable spice that creeps up on you at the end. Karma Sauce also had an array of sauce flavors to sample, including Good, Bad, Curry, Smokey, and Catsup. The Bad was actually really Good, tasting like a sweet red pepper and then slowly bringing on the heat. I was definitely thankful for the live bands at the event and the beer tent to be able to relax and reset my palate.

While sampling the savory sauces, drinking pumpkin beer, and watching Caribbean dancers made for a great day, the real highlight was in Osbourne Garden, which had been transformed into a Chile Chocolate Wonderland. While I always put hot sauce and peppers on my meals, the concept of mixing chiles with desert was new to me. However, after sampling the various spicy cookies, chile-infused chocolate bars, and pepper-flavored truffles, I was instantly addicted. I also learned there is a demand for spicy chocolate in Brooklyn, New York, as there were tons of chile-chocolate connoisseurs at the event. My absolute favorite treat in this area was, without a doubt, Tumbador Chocolate’s Hot Hot Chocolate. For $1 you could buy a small Dixie cup of the stuff, which was thick and creamy and, of course, spicy.

If you’re in Brooklyn, New York, and want to sample some spicy chocolate of your own, here is a list of excellent places to try:

Tumbador Chocolate
34 34th St., Brooklyn
(718) 788 0200

nunu chocolates
529 Atlantic Ave., between 3rd and 4th Ave., Brooklyn
(917) 776 7102

The Chocolate Room
86 Fifth Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn
(718) 783 2900

269 Court St.,Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
(718) 246 2600

Liddabit Sweets
Check out the Brooklyn Flea Market on Saturdays for their stall at 45 Main St., Brooklyn
info@liddabitsweets.com

Mast Brother’s Chocolate
105A North 3rd St., Brooklyn
(718) 388 2625

Interesting indoor spaces around the world

by Laurel Miller on

I love the outdoors, to the extent that I tend to bypass or overlook exceptional indoor spaces when I’m traveling or recounting a great trip. Fortunately, Lonely Planet author/former Gadling contributor Leif Pettersen’s recent list on LP’s website has reminded me that—as many a grandmother has said—beauty is on the inside.

Pettersen says only in recent years has he developed a special appreciation for the indoors. He had ample time to contemplate his new interest “during two sadistically cold weeks last winter when I voluntarily confined myself to the Minneapolis Skyway System as a livability experiment for an article I was working on.”

He’s since started a list of “singular, practical” indoor spaces (traveloguebookdealforthewin!) of note, including (obviously) Minneapolis’ Skyway System (“The largest contiguous skyway system in the world, connecting what may be the largest contiguous indoor space anywhere.”); Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar; Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure; NYC’s Grand Central Terminal (aka Grand Central Station); St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, and the Queen Mary 2. Here’s to keeping warm indoors this winter.

[Photo credit: Flickr user davedehetre]