Today marks the final day of National Parks Week, during which time visitors received free entry into each of the parks in the U.S. system. But if you found that the week went by way too fast, and you didn’t have time to visit one of parks to celebrate, than perhaps it is time to start planning your own vacation to one of the iconic destinations for the summer ahead. With that idea in mind, Xanterra Parks & Resorts is hoping that they can lure you to Yellowstone with a trio of multi-day tours designed to entice travelers of all types.
All three of the tours include four or five nights stay in the park, meals, transportation through Yellowstone, complete with an experienced and knowledgeable guide, and a variety of adventurous activities to help visitors to get the most out of their stay.
The three tours include the Couples Adventure Package which offers five nights at the Old Faithful Inn, and a host of guided hikes throughout the park. The Classic Yellowstone offering is four nights in length, with stays at a variety of inns, and features a scenic cruise on Lake Yellowstone along with comprehensive driving tours of the diverse regions of the park, including the wildlife rich Lamar Valley. And the Total Yellowstone Tour, which gives visitors the whole experience, includes a cruise on the lake, a tour of the Mammoth Terraces on horseback, a ride on a stagecoach, and a visit to some of the more unique regions of the world’s first national park. That tour is spread out over five days and stays in a variety of inns as well.
Each of these tours is available beginning in June and running weekly through October. The itineraries are specially designed to give visitors a thorough look at one of the most spectacular wilderness settings in the world, complete with snow capped peaks, abundant wildlife, and unique geological wonders that are unlike anything else on Earth.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of Yellowstone, and think that it offers the quintessential national park experience. The scenery there is breathtaking and the diversity of the animals that live in the park is unmatched anywhere else in the lower 48 states. It is a perfect setting for hikers, backpackers, families, and nearly every other type of traveler as well. It is simply a magical place for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.
82-year old Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya of Nepal is planning to climb Mt. Everest this spring in an attempt to show that even octogenarians can still be physically fit enough to accomplish such goals. If successful, he’ll become the oldest person to reach the summit of the highest mountain on the planet.
Earlier this week, Upadhayaya set out from Kathmandu on the trek to Everest Base Camp. He is expected to arrive there next week, where he’ll begin the acclimatization process that will prepare him for his high altitude adventure. Once that process is completed, he hopes to make his attempt on the summit sometime in late May or early June, depending on the weather conditions on the mountain. Adding to the challenge is the fact that Upadhayaya, who is a former Nepali Foreign Minister, has little climbing experience
The current record for the oldest person to summit Everest is held by another Nepalese man by the name of Min Bahadur Sherchan. He conquered the mountain back in 2008 at the age of 76. If he is successful, Upadhayaya would best that mark by six years.
Climbing Everest is no easy task at 42, let alone 82. To attempt it with little to no experience seems to be asking for trouble. While it would be a great story to see him make it to the summit, hopefully he will know when to call it quits if things aren’t going well and conditions aren’t right. That said, I hope I’m still as active and adventurous as he is when I reach that age.
National Geographic Traveler magazine has announced its annual list of their picks for Tours of a Lifetime, selecting 50 fantastic journeys to the far flung corners of the globe. For each of the past six years, Traveler has examined thousands of tours in a variety of categories, including volunteer vacations, family friendly trips, small-ship voyages, and adventure travel. From all of those itineraries, they’ve narrow down their choices to this select group, which represent the absolute best in travel, offering amazing cultural experiences, unique activities, and a commitment to sustainability.
On their website, Traveler has broken down the selected tours into six regions of the world, including Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and Oceania. By clicking on one of those options, readers are presented with the magazine’s recommendations for the very best tours operating in that area, complete with a brief description, links to the tour operator’s website, and price, which can vary wildly depending on the destination and options.
Amongst the selections for this year’s Tours of a Lifetime are Serengeti bush treks, whitewater paddling in Siberia, and a journey deep into the interior of Guyana. There is a journey along the Inca Trail on horseback and cycling tours of Italy and France, as well an expedition to the South Pole on skis. In short, there is a little something for everyone, depending on their interests and budget.
Since all of these trips are researched and vetted by National Geographic, you can rest assured that all of the tour operators are not only legitimate, but also top tier. These trips were specifically selected because they offer something that is a little out of the norm. Something unique that you can’t generally get anywhere else. I’m pretty sure, even if you think you’ve been everywhere and done everything, you’ll still find something to appeal to you on this list.
His books have inspired millions with their tales of generosity, both given and received, but following a scathing 60 Minutes segment that aired this past weekend, author and philanthropist Greg Mortenson finds himself at the center of a controversy. The investigative piece put together by the staff at CBS alleges that Mortenson has fabricated key parts of his stories and profited from his charitable organization, the Central Asia Institute.
For those not familiar with Mortenson’s story, back in 1993 he was climbing in the Karakoram mountain range of Pakistan. After a failed attempt to climb K2, he found himself lost, and wandering in a remote region of the country. Mortenson says that at one point he stumbled into the village of Korphe, where the villagers welcomed him warmly, sharing their food and water, and helping him to regain his bearings so he could find his way home. The mountaineer was so moved by their generosity that he vowed to repay their kindness by building them a school.
Fast forward a decade and Mortenson would write his bestselling book Three Cups of Tea, which shared the details of his story with the world. He would follow it up with another bestseller, Stones into Schools, and then building CAI into a $20 million a year non-profit organization. The charity is credited with building a number of schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan, enriching the lives many children in both countries. Mortenson has been lauded for his work the world over, and many people donate to his organization based on the stories they are told in his books.
But what if those stories weren’t exactly true? What if elements of them were exaggerated to enhance their dramatic value? What if the author too major liberties with his own exploits?That’s exactly what 60 Minutesalleges in their story. So does bestselling author, Jon Krakauer of Into Thin Air fame, who says of Mortenson’s tale “It’s a beautiful story. And it’s a lie.” Krakauer says that at first he supported Mortenson and bought into his amazing story, even donating some of his own money to CAI. But the more he got to know him, the more he began to question Mortenson’s recollection of events. Krakauer would later speak to other mountaineers who were with Mortenson on his 1993 expedition, and they say that much of what is described in Three Cups of Tea never took place, and that Mortenson didn’t even visit Korphe until several years later.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg however, as the 60 Minutes story goes on to say that other elements of Mortenson’s tale don’t add up either. For instance, the author says that he was once kidnapped by the Taliban, and even offered up a photograph of himself with gun toting men as evidence. But the investigative reporters at CBS discovered that that wasn’t true at all. In fact, the armed men who were seen in the photograph, were actually his security detail charged with protecting him while traveling in Pakistan.
Worse yet, there are lingering questions about how the Central Asia Institute spends the funds that are donated by fans of Mortenson and his books. The organization isn’t very fourthcoming with details on their operations, but it seems that they spent more money last year on promoting Mortenson than they did on building schools. 60 Minutes had a look at the financials and found hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on travel on private jets alone.
The laundry list of charges doesn’t end there however. There are some indications that the charitable organization has built far fewer schools than it claims, and that Mortenson uses it as vehicle for making money for himself.
Krakauer does say that Mortenson has done a lot of great work in Pakistan, and it is undeniable that he has helped hundreds, if not thousands, of children get an education there. But the fear is that all of that philanthropic work could come tumbling down because the author has been less than honest about his own story and has taken liberties with the funding of his organization. Krakauer seems baffled as to why Mortenson would feel the need to enhance his stories when he has done so much good in the public eye.
While Mortenson has enjoyed a lot of mainstream success and garnered a lot of fans from his inspiring tales, the questions about his background have been a not-so-well-kept secret in the mountaineering community for some time. While he is respected for the work he does in the Himalaya, his tall tales about his own exploits are taken with a large grain of salt. The question is, should the fact that Mortenson has taken liberties with his story over shadow the great things he has done for people in Pakistan and Afghanistan? The man has dedicated a good portion of his life to building schools and medical facilities for the poor mountain villages in the land he loves. A noble pursuit indeed.
Personally, I still respect Mortenson for those wonderful charitable acts and I hope these allegations to over shadow those deeds. But I also can’t help but wonder about some of his other motivations. Motivations that have brought him a great deal of fame and money.
What do you think? Check out the 60 Minutes segment by clicking here, and post your thoughts below.
The hyenas come just after dusk. We’ve been sitting in Yusuf’s modest farmhouse on the outskirts of Harar talking about them when we hear their familiar yipping laugh. Yusuf picks up a big bucket of mule and camel meat, shoos away his well-fed cat, and strolls outside to meet them.
Yusuf is Harar’s biggest celebrity, the famous “hyena man” whom everyone who has heard anything about Harar has heard about. He’s not Harari, though, his parents were Oromo and Somali, and he lives outside Harar’s medieval walls next to the town dump, a favorite hangout for hyenas.
Yusuf calls out into the darkness, and I spot a few hulking, dark shapes beyond the clearing in front of his house. He sets the meat down and whistles, like you’d do with a pet dog. One by one, the hyenas emerge from the shadows, giant canine shapes like Rottweilers on steroids. At first they seem uncertain, creeping closer and backing away again as Yusuf pulls out ribbons of raw flesh from the bucket.
I sit down to watch.
I’ve come with Marcus Baynes-Rock, an Australian graduate student who’s doing his Ph.D. thesis on the interaction between people and hyenas in Harar, and keeps a fascinating blog about Harar hyenas. As Yusuf puts a strip of meat on the end of a stick and holds it out to the lead hyena, Marcus tells me about the strange and unique coexistence that’s sprung up between humans and hyenas in this region of East Africa.
%Gallery-120767%Hyenas are deeply rooted in Harari and Ethiopian folklore. Blacksmiths and the Argobba people and supposed to be werehyenas, turning into the animals at night. The Jews do too, but most of them left for Israel during the last civil war. Hyenas are also supposed to gobble up djinn, evil spirits, and so are useful to have around.
“I met one young guy from Djibouti who had been possessed by djinn and came all the way to Harar to feed the hyenas and have them take the djinn away,” Marcus tells me.
It’s not just the Hararis who have stories about hyenas. The Somalis tell a tale of the Habercha’alow clan, which tried to drive the hyenas out of their territory by killing a bunch of them. The hyenas took revenge, picking off lone Habercha’alow.
“If a Habercha’alow and two men from other clans were sleeping by a fire, they’d take the Habercha’alow and leave the others untouched,” a Somali friend told me.
After suffering heavy losses, the Habercha’alow wanted to make peace. As mediators they hired the Idagalle, a clan well-known for their ability to talk with hyenas. They met in the desert. Delegates from the Habercha’alow sat to one side, delegates from the hyenas sat to the other, and the Idagalle mediators sat in the middle. They communicated, so I’m told, by mental telepathy. The Habercha’alow agreed to pay blood money to the hyenas in the form of a large number of slaughtered camels. And thus the war stopped.
Despite their size, hyenas are timid creatures, as I can see by the amount of coaxing Yusuf has to do to get the first hyenas of the evening to feed from his hand.
“They’re really scared of people,” Marcus says, “Dogs too. They don’t realize their jaws can break us in two.”
As if to emphasize his point a loud snap cuts through the night. A hyena has taken some meat. Yusuf fishes in his bucket for another piece as the hyenas, more confident now, crowd around.
Yusuf tells me he learned from his uncle, a farmer who started feeding the hyenas back in the 1950s. His uncle started feeding the hyenas partially to keep them away from his livestock, and partially because he liked them. While many cultures hate the hyenas and try to kill them, or shut their doors in fear, the Hararis are at peace with them. Low doorways in the city wall allow them to come and go at night, eating garbage and taking away djinn. When a Harari passes one in an alleyway, he’ll often greet it by saying darmasheikh (“young wise man”). I tried this myself one night and the hyena looked at me curiously for a moment before padding into the darkness.
But it’s not all peaceful. Yusuf’s feeding is not just out of friendliness, but also to placate the hyenas. As scavengers, they’ll sometimes root out freshly buried corpses and even snatch away small children. A beggar woman sleeping outside Selassie church had her baby taken from her one night a couple of years ago, and there have been other incidents too. When this happens the Hararis say the hyena was rabid or not from Harar. Yusuf himself was bitten by one when he was two years old.
“At that time I didn’t know the difference between a hyena and a dog so I never developed a fear,” he explains.
Yusuf has a large group of hyenas around him now. More come out of the shadows. Fights break out between the powerful beasts for the best scraps, and Yusuf shouts at them and even shoves one away like a misbehaving dog. One wanders into his compound to look around his house.
“Yusuf feeds them inside sometimes,” Marcus says.
Yusuf hands me the stick with a strip of meat hanging from the end. A moment later it’s nearly torn from my grasp as powerful jaws clamp down on it.
By now some tourists have shown up. Yusuf is a celebrity, after all. These are Ethiopian tourists, a middle-class family from Addis Ababa. One man holds his toddler son and I eye them nervously. Yusuf greets them and hands the stick to the most nervous one in the group. As a hyena hurries forward to get the meat this guy literally falls on his ass trying to get away. I think I catch a mischievous gleam in Yusuf’s eye. The man’s wife, unimpressed by her husband’s performance, offers to go next. She feeds it several times and even pets it.
“Not bad,” I say to Marcus, “Maybe you can use her as an assistant.”
Marcus likes to pet the hyenas, even though it means all the dogs in town can smell hyena on him and bark as he passes by. Not that’s he’s out in the daytime much. Usually he only comes out at night to follow the hyenas around town to see where they go.
We’re sitting on a low step in front of a Muslim shrine. Yusuf is next to me, the stick in his teeth as he feeds the hyenas from mouth to mouth. Suddenly a big furry form pushes between us. A hyena has gotten onto the platform behind us and reaches over our shoulders. He grabs a strip of camel meat and jerks it off the stick, slapping me across the face with it as he runs off.
“Would you like some toilet paper?” Yusuf asks, again with that gleam in his eye.
“No thanks, I brought some,” I say as I wipe my face.
It’s just another night feeding the hyenas.
To see the hyena man in action, check out the video below. It’s not mine, unfortunately. Upload a video on Ethiopian dialup? Yeah, right!