Controversy over Condé Nast Traveler’s World Savers Awards

by Sean McLachlan on

The popular magazine Condé Nast Traveler hosts the annual World Savers Awards to recognize the efforts of hotels, airlines, tour and cruise companies that give something back through their environmental or social programs. But one recipient of the 2010 award is attracting controversy over its actions.

Wilderness Safaris won this year’s award in the Health Initiatives category for its HIV/AIDS program, which includes the construction of clinics in South Africa, Zambia, and Malawi. Now Survival International, which supports the rights of indigenous peoples, says Wilderness Safaris falls short of its image as positive force in the community.

It points to its new luxury lodge, the Kalahari Plains Camp, set on the traditional lands of the Bushmen in Botswana. The lodge boasts a bar and swimming pool while the Bushmen have to walk for miles to get water. The local people used to have a well, but the government capped it when it kicked the Bushmen off the land in 2002. Survival International and the Bushmen went to court and won the right for the Bushmen to return to their lands, but the government still won’t allow them to reopen the well.

Wilderness Safaris says providing water isn’t their responsibility, but Survival International points out that they constructed a well near one of their resorts in Zimbabwe in order to attract more wildlife.

How much responsibility does a resort have to the local community? Tell us what you think in the comments section.

[Photo courtesy Ian Beatty]

Photo of the Day (10.14.2010)

by Catherine Bodry on
This shot looks like it could be a still from a sweeping epic. Out of the frame there could be a colonial settler, a rugged man with a breeze blowing through his dark hair…. Maybe he has a lady far away that he’s thinking of – perhaps she’s back in Europe? Or was she lost to malaria? Yes, I think that’s it. Maybe this handsome young man was all set to shoot an elephant, but then he remembered his fair lady who succumbed to malarial fever and it struck a soft part in his heart, and he’s decided to simply let the elephant family wander off. He’ll head back to his plantation or wherever and hang up his rifle for good.

Ahem. And there I go, romanticizing colonialism. Let’s start over. What a beautiful shot, eh? Nice contrasting colors, gorgeous animals, a huge sky. This photo was taken by Flickr user ahpook667 in Kenya.

Have any photos that stir up epic fantasies remind us of the kind of awe the natural world inspires? Upload them to Gadling’s Flilckr pool and we just might choose one for our Photo of the Day feature.

Poachers kill last female white rhino in South African reserve

by Kraig Becker on

Poaching has long been a problem in Africa, even as the countries there have taken steps to preserve their natural resources and protect endangered species. Despite their best efforts however, the illegal slaughter of animals seems to be on the rise, particularly in South Africa, where poachers recently killed off the last female white rhino in a popular game preserve in order to claim the animal’s much coveted horn.

The incident took place last week in the Krugersdorp game reserve, located not far from Johannesburg. The park attracts around 200,000 visitors annually, with many coming with the hopes of catching a glimpse of the exotic wildlife that roams there, including the elusive white rhino. A nearby private airport shuttles in visitors who don’t want to make the drive, and investigators believe that airport may have been used by the poachers as well.

Commonly, these illegal hunters use a helicopter to stalk their prey from the sky, then use a tranquillizer to knock them out. While they are unconscious, they’ll land, saw off the rhino horn, and be gone in a matter of minutes. Because of the size of the parks, the rangers usually don’t even know that they’ve come and gone, and the animal often ends up bleeding to death or dying of an overdose of the tranquillizer.

The demand for rhino horn has been on the rise in Asia as the economy there has continued to expand. Many traditional medicines in that part of the world use keratin fibers as one of their main ingredients, and rhino horns are made up almost entirely of the fine, compressed hair-like substance. In 2009, 129 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa alone. This year, that number is already at 136. Prior to 2005, the average number of rhinos killed was just 36. Meanwhile, the number of black and white rhinos living in Africa has fallen to an estimated 18,000 animals.

South Africa has begun to crack down harder on these crimes, with stiffer sentences for those who are caught. For instance, a Vietnamese poacher was recently put behind bars for 10 years for trying to smuggle horns out of the country, and there are plenty more cases to be heard in the near future. Hopefully these efforts will help stem the tide of these brutal attacks, but many fear that while demand remains high, there will always be those willing to risk the consequences.

[Photo credit: Princess.Tilly via WikiMedia Commons]

Travel + Leisure picks the best tour operators and safari outfitters

by Kraig Becker on

A few days back we told you about Travel + Leisure magazine’s picks for the world’s best hotels, which are part of their annual World’s Best Awards in which T+L readers select the very best in travel from around the globe. Other categories in the survey include selections for best cities, islands, airlines, and more.

Of particular interest to adventurous travelers are the magazine’s selections for the Top 20 Tour Operators and Safari Outfitters which shines the spotlight on some of the best adventure travel companies in the world. The selections are a result of readers ranking the various companies in six unique criteria including staff/guides, itineraries/destinations, activities, accommodations, food, and value. Respondents to the survey were asked to rate the the characteristics from 1 to 5, with 5 representing an “excellent” rating and a 1 delivering a “poor” score. The averages of the component ratings were then used to assign each of the tour operators a ranking on the Travel + Leisure list.

The best tour operators and safari outfitters in the world, according to the readers of Travel + Leisure are:

  1. Micato Safaris
  2. Austin-Lehman Adventures
  3. Butterfield & Robinson
  4. VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations
  5. Wilderness Travel
  6. Ker & Downey
  7. Tauck World Discovery
  8. Backroads
  9. Wilderness Safaris
  10. International Expeditions
  11. Country Walkers
  12. Classic Journeys
  13. Linblad Expeditions TOUR
  14. Abercrombie & Kent TOUR
  15. Overseas Adventure Travel
  16. Insight Vacations
  17. Viking Tours
  18. Grand Circle Travel
  19. Globus
  20. Collette Vacations

Each of those are excellent adventure travel companies with a wide variety of options, allowing travelers to visit remote and spectacular places around the world.

Wildebeest migration one of the natural wonders of the world

by Sean McLachlan on

Every year during this season, millions of wildebeest migrate northwards from Serengeti in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya. It’s part of their annual cycle of looking for green pastures and plentiful waters. Zebras, antelopes, and other animals come along too, with predators like lions and cheetahs hanging on the edges of the herds hoping to catch the slow or the weak.

The Maasai Mara Game Reserve and Serengeti National Park are the two most popular places to see the migration, and the Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation reports hotels are already full, with even the Kenyan tourism minister saying he couldn’t find a room.

The annual migration is like a dream safari intensified, with the plains blackened by the herds. This National Geographic video shows just how big this mass movement of animals is. So if you want to see what ABC News has dubbed one of the new wonders of the world, you better book early for next year so you don’t get caught out. Sadly, there’s another reason to act soon. Observer Science Editor Robin McKie includes the migration in his list of ten natural wonders we can no longer take for granted due to global warming. McKie points out that if current trends continue, the plains will dry up and there won’t be enough pasture for the herds.


Image courtesy user Haplochromis via Wikimedia Commons.