El Yunque is the name for Puerto Rico’s National Rain Forest, and where,
according to Taino Indian legend, the spirit Yuquiyu sits atop a mountaintop throne, protecting Puerto Rico and its
people. The rain forest is also the site of some fine hiking, as
this article suggests, saying
too, that one can venture to the park’s “other” side, where the waterfall mist cools the air and giant ferns make you
think you’ve just walked onto the set of Jurassic Park. For those interested in heading there, the northern half of the
park is easily accessible from San Juan.
Team Building in China
We’ve all been there, those awful team-building exercises that are so popular among American corporations. Usually
they take place at “off-sites” near company headquarters where all the company employees go to play cooperative games
(catch me as I fall!) and get into the corporate spirit.
But did you know that some of these team building efforts also take place in far-flung places like China? Well, one
such place is Yangshuo, a small town in southeastern
China’s Guangxi Province. What has for years been a popular tourist haunt, a backpacker haven now attracts everyone
from expats to corporate groups.
To see what I’m talking about, read Katherine
Tanko’s take on Yangshuo and maybe talk your CEO into flying the company there next year.
Kevin Kelly’s Asia Photos
Most folks who know Kevin Kelly know him from the fact that he was a co-founder of
Wired Magazine or from when he edited the Whole Earth Review. Or perhaps you follow
his blog on technology or read
one of his books. I know him from all of these things.
The fact is, the man has been around. He’s been to lots of places, in fact, and spent many years in Asia, during which
time he shot some very impressive photography. That photography has been published in a book called
Asia Grace. Great stuff.
Really, check out out. In fact, all of the pictures in the book are also
available online.
Travel Writing 4U
Another course offered by Media Bistro in San
Francisco is happening for all you aspiring travel writers out there. This one is for travel writer journalists, that
is people who are making a living at journalism, but want to expand their technique and portfolio to include travel
work. The seminar is an intensive, 3-hour class taught by Jay Cooke, and will
“reveal the inner workings of the travel publishing world and provide road-tested ways to successfully expand into the
field.”
I’m game. If was in SF I might give it a go.
Paddling Canyonlands
Tom Bol reminded me a bit of myself as I read his piece on paddling
Canyonlands. He used to live out of the back of his truck, guided kayakers from Alaska to Baja and lived the
vagabond’s lifestyle. Then, he got hitched, a house and had kids. I’m not quite that settled down yet, but I
sympathized nonetheless with the feelings that the old life was great, and that there might be a way to give the new
life some of that old life shimmer.
Bol decides to take the kids paddling in Canyonlands, Utah, one of our finest,
most beautiful Natinal Parks. The kids take to the surroundings immediately. The first thing they want to do when they
get beneath the gaping sky is scream. Peals of joy. And having been there myself, on an open river, feeling completely
away from everything, I know how they feel.