Kids help Jumeirah release 101 rehabilitated sea turtles

by Libby Zay on

Over 100 rehabilitated sea turtles tasted freedom last Thursday when they were released into the Arabian Gulf. The hawksbill turtles were set free just outside of the Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah hotels in time for World Sea Turtle Day. Both hotels serve as rehabilitation locations for the turtles in the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project.

For the big release, 101 children – including competition winners, pupils from a local school and even some hotel guests – released the turtles from the beach of Madinat Jumeirah, with the Burj Al Arab in the background. The Jumeirah group says the event was designed to raise awareness of the importance of the program, as well as issues facing turtles. The hawksbill turtle population has seen an 87 percent decline in its population over the last three decades.

Watch the cute little turtles crawl their way to the ocean to the delight of all the onlookers on the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project’s Facebook page.

[Photo courtesy Jumeirah]

Summer hotel bargains from AccorHotels

by Kraig Becker on

Travelers looking to save some cash this summer travel season may want to check out the major sale going on at AccorHotels.com at the moment. The site is offering up to 50% off nearly 1000 hotels in popular destinations across Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. The online only bargains are good for travel between July 8th and September 4th of this year, and extend across the Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Suite Novotel, Mercure and Adagio line of hotels.

Using the online search tool, I picked a few random destinations and found some excellent deals on hotels in a variety of places across the globe. The tool allows you to select your country and city of choice, and then presents you with a multitude of options on where you can stay. Those that are offering the discount were always at the top of the list in the searches I ran, making it even easier to find the best deals for your summer getaway.

The sale actually began on Friday, but only runs through June 22nd, so hurry and book your accommodations quickly. At these prices, many of these hotels are sure to fill-up fast.

Win a trip to anywhere!

by Kraig Becker on

Creative, socially responsible travelers have the opportunity to win a trip to anywhere they choose, thanks to a new contest that is being run by the non-profit organization travel2change. The contest, which is accepting submissions through July 10th, seeks to identify and fund the best proposals for the sustainable use of water in any destination on the planet, with the aim of funding those projects to generate a positive impact on local communities in the places we travel to.

Entries to the contest can be for any travel destination, in any country in the world. Submissions are being accepted in four categories, including: Health, Environment, Education, and Sport. The submissions will be posted on the travel2change website, where the community can comment and discuss the projects as well. The most valuable participant in those discussions will also be allowed to join the trip to one of the four selected destinations too.

The idea is to show that travel can have a positive, lasting impact on the local communities that we visit in our journeys and to encourage more interaction with the people that live there. In this case, they are encouraging us to consider the sustainable use of water in the projects that we propose. Those proposals will be evaluated on the basis of creativity, effectiveness, impact, feasibility and sustainability.

Do you have a great idea that fits the description above? Submit your proposal, and you may be off on a journey to the destination of your choice later this year.

Travel services for this project are being handled by Kuoni Travel.

Riddle of pyramid’s secret hieroglyphs solved

by Sean McLachlan on


Last month we reported on some secret writing discovered in the Pyramid of Cheops at Giza, near Cairo. A robot with a camera went down a mysterious passage only eight inches wide and found some hieroglyphs daubed with red paint onto the floor of a secret chamber at the end of the tunnel.

Egyptologist Luca Miatello has deciphered the writing and says they’re engineering marks. They make the number 121, which corresponds to the length in cubits of the so-called Queen’s Chamber of the pyramid.

The numbers are written in hieratic. Ancient Egyptian writing had three forms. Proper hieroglyphs were the most formal style and the one we usually associate with ancient Egypt. Hieratic was a cursive style that was quicker and easier to write. It was usually used for religious texts but since a royal tomb was a highly sacred place, it’s no surprise to find it here. Demotic was derived from hieratic and was used much later, after Egypt had lost most of its power and glory. All three styles are often termed “hieroglyphs”.

The numbers in the pyramid are sloppy, as if written by some foreman who wasn’t completely literate. Because of this, new interpretations of the writing will probably be published in the future.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Volunteers needed to excavate Lawrence of Arabia’s battles

by Sean McLachlan on

A team of British archaeologists working in Jordan is tracing the military campaign of Lawrence of Arabia, and they need your help.

T.E. Lawrence was an English archaeologist turned soldier who capture the public imagination during World War One when he helped the Arabs rebel against the Ottoman Empire. After its disastrous defeat at Gallipoli at the hands of the Ottomans, the British Empire needed some good news from the Middle Eastern front.

The ten-year project started in 2006 and has already studied Ottoman fortifications, the Hijaz Railway (a favorite target of the Arab rebels), and an Arab army base. Besides traditional archaeology, the team is also recording oral histories of communities living near the battlefields. While all veterans of the campaign are dead, Arab culture is very much an oral one and many war stories have been passed down.

The project, run by the University of Bristol, is looking for volunteers for this year. Volunteers will work from November 14-28 in southern Jordan. The cost for participating is a hefty £2,450 ($4,017) but that includes airfare, food, and a three-star hotel.

For more information, check out the project’s website and blog.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]