Santa crawl around the world: Ho! Ho! Ho! from Gadling to you

by Jamie Rhein on

Last Saturday night, Times Square was literally a Santa free for all. I first noticed the Santa madness as I approached from the direction of the Empire State Building while walking along Broadway. Along the way, a group of five Santas passed me. Then another group of Santas strolled by. Then there was a lone Santa and a Santa with Mrs. Claus. There were also elves.

By the time I reached 42nd Street, I wondered if this was some Improv Everywhere stunt. Nope. This was the annual Santa pub crawl where people dress like Santa Claus–some better than others, and wander the streets stopping to pop into a bar now and then or indulge a tourist with a photo op.

These hundreds of jolly Santas provided a surprising night of entertainment and an unusual taste of holiday cheer. There’s nothing quite like seeing Santa Claus taking pictures of tourists who are flanked by other Santas. The guy with the fake ear locks dressed up like a Jewish Santa was my favorite version.

Here are 15 more shots of Santa’s around the world–some in surprising places. Each was taken by a traveler who happened by. From Gadling to you, here’s another version of a Santa crawl. Ho! ho! ho! and enjoy.

Just like when there are hundreds of Santa’s, when there’s only one, magic can happen. This Santa’s kiss is being delivered at a Christmas party for kids in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Evidently, Santa has more to do than listen to kid’s Christmas wishes, make presents and deliver them. This Santa, also in South Africa, is feeding the fish at UShaka Marine World in Durban.

The first time I saw Santa en mass was Christmas Eve in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Take this fellow and multiply him over several times. If I had been thinking, I’d have bought a Santa suit for a song for myself.

These Santas gathered en mass at the Tate Modern in London. Even Santa needs a culture fix.

They make Santa kinda young in Bethlehem, Israel. He has pint-sized Santa pals in Vietnam. Santa suits are plentiful in kids sizes there as well.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina this Santa was witness to a travel related scavenger hunt put on by Midnight Soret, that aims to give people an unique way to see the country. The woman with the paper is a contestant who was able to snap, along with her group of fellow travelers, 66 of the 100 required photos.

This Santa and sidekick Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) are scaling a building in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Zwarte Piet is a version of Santa’s elves. According to the photo’s description, Zwarte Pete arrives in The Netherlands via steamboat from Spain with the aim to deliver presents to children. This building stunt looks like a swell task option for the Amazing Race.

This Santa Claus in Turkey talked turkey with the photographer about how he is concerned about children who suffer in the world and his job is to make them smile.

These Santas are high fiving in Tokyo, Japan.

Santa in Seattle, Washington at the Northgate Mall does not look like a happy fellow even though he wears the suit like it was made for him. Too many naughty kids? Not enough time off between Christmas Eves?

Sometimes Santa’s tasks wander into hawking Santa goods. This fellow is wandering the streets in Azerbaijan. This mostly Muslim country does have Russian traditions in some parts like celebrating the Russian Christmas on December 6.

This Santa is in Russia where he travels with a bear. I wonder if the station wagon in the background is his ride?

This Santa’s “Ho, ho, ho’s” are being delivered at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. The only thing that looks like the visit with Santa at the light up at the zoo in Columbus, Ohio where my son visits Santa is the guy in the red suit and the tinsel garland.

Even Santa has to do the laundry. These duds are line drying in Copenhagen, Denmark. I wonder which bicycle is Santa’s? Maybe the one with the attached carrying case? Santa needs a place for those presents, you know.

Also taken in Denmark, this photo has that warm, cozy feeling of peace. Something one hopes every Santa around the world is bringing along with him–or her–whichever the case may be.

South African safari lion reminds people to lock their doors

by Scott Carmichael on

Imagine this – instead of sitting in your car, slowly driving through the Lion Safari Park in Johannesburg, one of the cast members decides to pay you a personal visit.

The 300lb lion was able to open the rear door with his teeth, and right as he was about to climb aboard for lunch, the driver hit the gas and drove off.

A car behind the vehicle was able to catch the incident with his camera, and as you can see above, the lion was pretty close to getting into the car.

The car sped off, with the lion chasing it, obviously annoyed that his delicious snack was leaving him. A park warden was able to hold the lion back by throwing stones at it.

Lesson learned: lock your car doors whenever you are surrounded by wild animals. According to the park, all animals are well fed, and it is “unlikely” that they’d attack any tourists. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not take that chance.
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(Photo from The Telegraph/KETTS)

Man accidently ejects himself from plane

by Jamie Rhein on

This is a what NOT to do story if you’re ever in a Pilatus PC-7 Mk II. Do not, I repeat, do not, use the black and yellow handle located between your legs to steady yourself. Not even if you’re pretending to be Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun. Pull on that handle and you’ll find yourself out of the plane before you can say, “Ooops, I shouldn’t have done that.”

That handle is what the pilots and passengers can use to activate the ejector seat in order to shoot out from the plane in case of an emergency.

In the case of this recent mishap, the passenger was on a joy ride with an expert pilot of South Africa’s Silver Falcons air display team when he pulled the lever during one of the maneuvers.

And whoosh!, there he went–the two rockets attached to the back of his chair catapulting him right out of the plane 100m up into the wide open sky.

Luckily, the ejector seat is designed to release a parachute so the man safely floated back to solid ground near the Langebaanweg airfield not far from Cape Town, South Africa.

If one could be assured that you’d land as safely as this guy did, you have to admit this does sound like it would be a blast in more ways than one.

I wonder if pilots will now post a sign in front of the passenger seat saying, “DO NOT pull the yellow and black lever. DON”T EVEN TOUCH IT. Ever.” [news.com.au]

*The Pilatus PC-7 in the photo is from the Royal Netherlands Air Force

African wildlife safaris: Bad for Africans?

by Aaron Hotfelder on

That’s the question addressed in a new Slate piece by Brendan Borrell, a journalist who recently went on safari in South Africa’s popular Kruger National Park. The park itself, Borrell notes, was created and has flourished partially because South Africans, mostly black, have been evicted from their land and denied resources like water and firewood.

Although the official policy of denying blacks entrance to South Africa’s national parks ended with apartheid, Borrell finds that few blacks actually visit it due to rampant poverty, which has often been exacerbated, not alleviated, by Kruger, the country’s only profitable national park. Writes Borrell:

“The Kruger tourist dollars aren’t doing much to lift blacks out of poverty, either. More than 15 years after apartheid, the most profitable tour companies, lodges, and private game reserves surrounding the park are owned and operated by whites. Some displaced tribes are now getting a sliver of those profits, but the less fortunate farmers who live nearby must deal with rampaging elephants and roaming hyenas.”

Head on over to the full Slate article to learn more about this little-discussed side effect of wildlife safaris.

Gadlinks for Friday 7.24.09

by Brenda Yun on


Happy Friday, Gadling! There are all kinds of great travel reads (and a contest!) out there on the world wide web today. Here are a few…

‘Til Monday, have a great weekend!

More Gadlinks HERE.