Not sure how many gadling readers out there are outdoor/wildlife photo fans, but I’m going to throw this one out there anyway. Frans Lanting is one of the world’s foremost wildlife photographers, so much so that it is extremely likely you’ve seen one of his photos at some time or another. He even his his own Wiki entry. You can go and visit his site here to see the wide array of shots he’s published over the years, but suffice it to say he’s shot on every continent from Antarctica to Africa. He’s also shot little micro-animals like diatoms as well as large big-eared animals like elephants. Oh yes, Lanting loves animals. He loves them so much, in fact ,that he’s got a new book and exhibit out showing off some of his best work. To get a feel for both the photos and what the exhibit offers (the actual exhibit appears to be in the Netherlands, so unless you’re Dutch….or visiting…well, you probably won’t catch it.. BUT you MUST check out this Web site, which does a wonderful job showing off his photos on the Web. And the book, well that might make a very fine gift.
South America
Travel through South America by country:
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
Travel through South America by popular city:
Bogota, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
Travel through South America by popular things to do:
Adventures in the Amazon, Falkland Islands, Iguazu Falls, Tierra del Fuego
Word for the Travel Wise (10/26/06)
Long ago, way, way back earlier this year I mentioned a travel piece found in VIBE on their 2006 hot spots. One of those spots was surprisingly the tiny South American country known as Suriname, but is it really all that surprising? If you’re trying to escape tourist crowded Brazil or Venezuela, Suriname comes in as a close much quieter fit – tropical temps, Afro-Dutch culture and delicious food to be found all over the island country. I’ve never been, but I imagine the food to be mouth-watering. Anyhow, we don’t talk much about Suriname here, but as I mentioned before check out the VIBE piece or this one by Erik on Suriname and neighboring country Guyana.
Today’s word is a Dutch word used in Suriname:
mooi – beautiful
I used AltaVista’s Babel Fish Translation service for this word, so I pray it is correct. In other words don’t blame me if there is a glitch in their translation services.
Dutch is a Western Germanic language spoken by some 22 million people mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is also spoken in Suriname, eastern Guyana, Aruba, South Africa and Indonesia. Check out additional information on Wikipedia. To learn Dutch online start with BBC Quick Fix which gives you the travel basics with full clear audio. LearnDutch.org offers distance-learning classes which they note as being used by people in 115 countries. All Free Dictionaries has a generator much like Babel Fish where you can type in a word or two and have it translated instantly. If you’re hitting the road soon and need a guide for the backpack Rough Guides offers a Dutch Phrasebook which can be purchased on Amazon for a decent price. Click here to find schools abroad to further your knowledge of the Dutch lingo. With this language there are many resources online, but you’ll have to sift through many to find the best one for you.
Study Before Studying Abroad
During my college days I never took the opportunity to do a semester abroad and I always wished I had. Not so much to learn about how the world operates outside of my own backyard, I was a military brat so I’d been a good handful of places, but I know studying abroad probably could have helped me pick up a foreign language ten times faster than being here in the States. Boo-hoo for me though. Those days have come and past and opportunities to do it the way it should have, could have and would have been done are gone.
Anyhow, enough with my boring sob stories. CNN has a piece from Budget Travel Online about some things to consider before taking off for your first semester abroad. It’s very basic, but I imagine it could come in super handy for the college student who has never been outside of say, Walla Walla, Washington. Questions on whether credits will be transferred, what the living conditions will be like and if you’ll need a visa or not are included along with others. Like always you’ll probably have to seek counsel from someone at your university for the specifics, but this is should get you off and running at least half-way. Just be sure you do your research!
As always, good luck!
Lowell Thomas Awards Announced
You might call them the Oscars of Travel Writing…but without the flowing gowns and/or long acceptance speeches. Oh, and the awards were held in Santiago this year, not Los Angeles. But despite their relative low-key nature, for travel writers, The Lowell Thomas (pictured) Awards are a big deal. This year’s selections came out of 1,392 entries, and consist of the very best travel writing that was published on dead trees or on the internet over the course of last year. The biggest award given is probably the one for Travel Journalist of the Year, and 2006’s awards went to the following:
Gold: Jane Wooldridge, The Miami Herald
Silver: Carol Pucci, The Seattle Times
Bronze: Millie Ball, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans
Someday, we assure you, we’ll be at least runners up. But for now, we content ourselves with congratulating the winners, and trying to soothe our festering envy with thoughts of upcoming trips.
Jails, Homeless Shelters, & Soup Kitchens Turned Hotels
Call it coincidence, but in this month’s edition of concierge.com they’ve listed 10 hotels across the globe with a spooky past. (Coughs, can we say perfect timing for Halloween, hmm?) After going through each one, I noticed the history of some were creepier than others depending on what you tend to get spooked by. Shack up in a past crime den, nun’s cell, jail or my personal favorite an old soup kitchen. From the photos featured one might not ever know that these places have a tale to tell, but don’t let the looks deceive you. When you’re at rest in bed the howling you hear isn’t coming from the outside. It’s the cry of the mentally unhinged resident that stayed there before you. (Insert: horror laughter.) I’m only kidding – sort of.
Check out the Poor House: Hopper Hotel Et Cetera in Cologne, Germany which now sits as a cheap-chic boutique hotel, but was once a homeless shelter and soup kitchen. Heading to Puerto Rico? Stay at the old Carmelite convent, now one of San Juans’ most luxurious hotels was once home to 11 nuns that moved out in 1903. If you’re in need of prison time look at their picks out of Turkey and the U.K., just don’t say I didn’t try to warn you of their bone-chilling ambience.