Articles tagged “adventure travel”

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Help Nat. Geo. pick the Adventurer of the Year!

by Kraig Becker on

National Geographic Adventure’s annual “Best of Adventure” issue has become an end of the year tradition, highlighting some of the most daring, inspiring, and down right audacious adventures from the previous 12 months. In a magazine that celebrates bold initiatives, this issue, more than any other, salutes those on the cutting edge of exploration.

This year, the magazine is taking a little different approach in their selection process, allowing all of us to have a say in who ultimately wins. The list of nominees has been narrowed down to ten very worthy candidates, each with their own personal profiles that includes photos and videos that explain why they have made the short list. We’re asked to rate each of the adventurers on a scale of one to ten, using our own personal criteria as to how worthy they are of being named Adventurer of the Year.

The list of finalists is a diverse group and includes such nominees as BASE jumper Dean Potter, who leapt off the Eiger earlier this year, sailing safely to the ground in a wing suit, and adventure travelers Stephen Bouey and Steven Shoppman, who racked up 77,000 miles circling the globe, passing through 69 countries in the process. Other potential winners include scientist Katey Walter who is studying global warming in Siberia, and Marc Hoffmeister, who led a team of injured vets to the summit of Denali.

Adventure also took the opportunity to induct Geoff Tabin into its Hall of Fame. Tabin is a doctor and mountaineer who organized the largest eye surgery camp in the history of Africa, and as a result, more than 800 people had their sight restored. The camp was set-up in a remote region of Ethiopia, where malnutrition and poor health care of taken their toll on the people there. Tabin has established similar medical camps in a variety of locations in the Himalaya as well.

And if that wasn’t enough, the magazine also made their selection for must have gear, a list of great new tents, sleeping bags, mountain bikes, and more. All of this drool worthy equipment is perfect for outdoor adventures in your own back yard or the far corners of the globe.

So head on over to the Adventurer of the Year website and weigh in with your own thoughts on who should take home the top honors for 2009.

Sacred mountain added to World Heritage List

by Sean McLachlan on

UNESCO has just made the latest addition to its World Heritage List–Suleiman Mountain in the Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan.

This is Kyrgyzstan’s first World Heritage Site. The mountain has been a holy spot for thousands of years. Prehistoric rock art shows it was sacred long before Islam came to the region. When the new faith took over it became a focus for Muslim pilgrims. Sick people sit in the caves on the mountainside hoping to be cured, and there’s a natural rock slide that women use to promote fertility. Kids slide down it too, supposedly to make them grow up healthy, but judging from this video it looks like they’re having too much fun to think about that. There’s an interesting slide show of the mountain here.

There are seventeen places of worship on the mountain, including a reconstruction of a medieval mosque. The original was destroyed by the Soviets in an effort to stamp out religion in the region. Judging from the thousands of pilgrims who go to Suleiman Mountain every year, they didn’t achieve much.

The mountain is right next to the 3,000 year-old city of Osh, a stop on the old Silk Road, so adventure travelers following this increasingly popular route will want to stop off and see this.

Antarctic dome to be decommissioned

by Kraig Becker on

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been conducting research in Antarctica for more than 50 years, and it has been the southernmost continually inhabited place on Earth over that period. For more than 30 of those years, the iconic image of the place has been that of a giant geodesic dome towering more than five stories above the ice. But now, the dome has been decommissioned, and is scheduled for demolition soon, which has spawned calls from former residents of the station to save what has been called an important piece of American history.

According to this story in the New York Times, a portion of the dome is set to be disassembled and sent back to the States as part of a museum that is currently under construction in California. But most of the structure will be cut into pieces and scrapped. But critics of the plan say that the entire dome should be brought home and rebuilt as a monument to U.S. exploration in Antarctica. To do so would require each piece to be disassembled by hand, bolt by bolt, and shipped stateside to be reassembled, at an estimated cost of more than $500,000, far beyond the budget allowed for the operation.
The dome was rendered obsolete two years back when a new station was built to take its place. In its prime however, it was home to more than 200 scientists and support crew during the busy Antarctic summer. That number dropped below 50 during the winter, but the station remained occupied and in operation at all times, conducting all kinds of experiments and recording data on everything from changing weather conditions to the levels of x-ray bombardments from outer space.

At this point, it seems unlikely that the dome will survive the scrapyard. But for 30 years it has been a symbol of exploration and research in Antarctica, and while its time may have has passed, its contribution to the science is undeniable. It is safe to say, the dome will be missed.

Hot air ballons take flight once again over Luxor, Egypt

by Kraig Becker on

Taking a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt has become a “must do” for travelers visiting the ancient temples and tombs of that region. The morning skies have often been filled with the colorful balloons as they drift slowly over the desert landscapes below. But that all changed back in April, when a balloon crashed, and the government was forced to put a halt to all flights.

The crash occurred when a pilot set off in less than ideal weather conditions and without permission from the control tower. High winds pushed the balloon off course, and it ended up colliding with a cell phone tower, before slamming to the ground, injuring the 16 passengers on board, and forcing the Egyptian Tourism Board to ground all flights pending an investigation.

This week, after six months on the ground, the balloons once again took to the air. The pilots have all gone through extensive safety training and each of the companies operating the balloons were required to introduce new safety measures as well. Furthermore, the world’s first hot air balloon airport was created not far from town, and all flights take off from that spot now.

Egypt is notoriously protective of their tourism industry, and with good reason. Much of the country’s income is based on travelers feeling safe and comfortable, and any threat to that safety can harm the industry as a whole. As a result, the government is quick to step in and enforce regulations when necessary, as was once again demonstrated here.

[via Daily Mail]

Tahitian truck treats: the finest fare in town

by Andrew Evans on

Long before “fusion” pulled its hit and run on the foodie fashion world, Tahiti was mixing foreign flavors into her own pot and getting goose bumps all over. Their verdict: Chinese plus French plus Polynesian equals a little bit weird and a whole lot of yummy.

Thankfully, this cross-cultural cuisine isn’t catering to the Condé Nast crowd since the very best Tahitian eats are served from the side of a truck. Come eventide in Papeete, “Les Roulottes” roll on down to the harbor and park themselves in several neat little rows on La Place Vaiete. Collapsible, stackable plastic tables and stools quickly turns every white, open-sided van into a late-night café that smells like grilled meat and melted sugar.

The mood is convivial, decadent, blithe. Hundreds and hundreds of people gather without anyone feeling crowded-packs of friends, families with young children, a few unassuming tourists-everyone chows down together in peace in the shadow of six-story private yachts. In a city with London prices, a full meal costs a lowly 1,500 Polynesian Francs-about $20 US.

Order what you will, but to be absolutely local, go with the giant plastic plates of steak frites. Parisian by birth, the Tahitian version comes as a cooked-to-order piece of beef the size of a laptop, heaped on top of pile of hot blonde fries. The giant glob of herbed garlic butter is an essential condiment, as is the bowl of spicy sweet hot barbecue sauce. Dig in after shouts of Tamaa Maitai (“Bon Appetit”) and then come back the following night to try the same with bona fide Roquefort sauce.For lighter fare, try the Polynesian poisson cru: raw pink tuna, chopped into cubes, marinated in coconut milk and lemon juice, then tossed with onion, carrot, peppers. Calling it Tahitian ceviche comes up short-this version is both light and meaty with sharp tangy flavors. The tuna sashimi is equally awesome-fresh, pink fish laid out like stained glass and served with a bowl of special sauce that could only be invented by Chinese people feeding Polynesians with a developed French palate. And… if you’ve still got room after all that, finish with one of the hundred-or-so variety of crepes (Nutella always guarantees the goods) or the local ice cream concoctions.

Tahitian truck cuisine is found across the vast spread of French Polynesia but probably varies a bit from island to island. My favorite find thus far was a Lo Mein sandwich-one half of a soft French baguette split down the middle and stuffed with chicken chow mein, cabbage, chopped noodles, and dribbled with soy sauce. That’s one small step for carb-loading and one giant leap for comfort food.

So, ignore all that CDC and State Department advice about not eating street food. This is France, so that veal turning on a spit out in the street is EU regulated and the raw fish is practically still swimming. Yes, Les Roulottes is all about feeding the masses out of trucks-but these masses are discerning…and French.