Go Green: Eco Travel 101
Go green, you say?
Why, yes, of course. In this day and age there’s no reason not to go green by choosing eco-friendly options when you are planning your next trip or vacation. It’s easy to do the right thing while seeing the world if you know what to look for in terms of offsetting carbon emissions for air miles, booking green hotels and rental homes, and patronizing tour operators and other vendors who pay attention to sustainability.
Here are some ideas about where to go next while keeping a clean, green conscience…
Made in Maui
As agri-tourism and “locavore” movements boom, Eastern Maui in the Hawaiian islands offers multiple temptations for tourists and locals alike.
Ski the Sustainable Slopes
This year, ski areas were issued a challenge: Could they reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and help to undo some of the global warming damage that would inevitably be their downfall? They didn’t have to go it alone. The National Ski Area Association’s Sustainable Slopes program teamed up with Clif Bar & Company, the Natural […]
Turtle People
Tagging loggerheads and patrolling Wassaw’s beaches during nesting season are just part of what the Georgia-based Caretta Research Project does…
Journey to the End of the Earth
In Patagonia, Chile, you’ll meet the winds’ many moods, come in close contact with rugged mountains & piercing blue waters & let the sun provide the warmth.
Eco-Friendly Trips: Seeing the World Without Trashing It
Eco-friendly trips are marked by travellers bringing less stuff and contributing to the local economy and off-setting emissions created getting there…
Lava Land
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is a fascinating and humbling up-close look at the earth’s underbelly, plus you have the big island’s rainforests and beaches at your beck and call…
A Climb to Remember
Recreational tree climbing is taking root in the ecotourism industry, and it’s sending guys like Tim Kovar to far off reaches of the globe.
At the Ocean’s Edge
The late spring and early fall "off season" are lovely times to visit Cape Cod, whether you stay at a large hotel, a bed and breakfast, or one of the many (but pricey) rental properties.
Bamboo Chic
Eighty miles northeast of Guangzhou, Crosswaters Ecolodge & Spa — China’s first eco lodge — is a fusion of five-star comfort and eco-ambience…
Segway Safaris
One of the first distributors of Segway Human Transporters (HTs), Amelia’s Wheels at Amelia Island Plantation Resort in Florida has offered guided tours and rentals since 2004. The option to rent Segways is relatively new for the resort, but a tradition of environmental integrity is not. Development of the property was restricted in 1971. Now, the site has been transformed into a destination that has harmony with nature in mind.
Gorillas of the Missed
Traveling with a Cause in a Dangerous World The Congo and its neighboring mountains were never a travel destination for the faint of heart, but the chance to see gorillas in their native mists has long been a powerful lure. Visitors flooded into neighboring Uganda until this past March, when 14 tourists were abducted and […]
Manatee Mania
Is Florida Loving Its Endangered Marine Mammals to Death?
Florida, Naturally
There are still many ways to immerse yourself in unspoiled beauty in Florida, and there are many people working hard to preserve what’s left of this lush paradise.
Riding the Green Coaster
Theme parks have come a long way & a couple of eco-themed parks are even in the works, boasting environmental literacy centers & conservation programs.
Great Expeditions with Ground Truth Trekking
Great Expeditions: Documenting the Changing Ice-Scape on Alaska’s Lost Coast—With the Kids—Thanks to Ground Truth Trekking…
Overtourism Antidote: Indulge At Least Visited National Parks
Overtourism is an issue affecting many of our national parks, but you can avoid the crowds by visiting some of the lesser known and more remote parks.
A Green Getaway
The Virgin Islands" Maho Bay puts conservation first.
India Diary
November 28-29, 1999. Our delegation of journalists, winners of the annual Population Institute reporting awards, arrives in New Delhi in the middle of the night and drives through nearly deserted streets to our hotel. The 4 a.m. calm is deceptive: at first light, the streets fill with belching diesel taxis and two-stroke motorcycle-based rickshaws, colorfully […]
Treading More Lightly
The Mojave Desert is a literal ecotourism hotspot.
Backcountry Solitude
Dedicated downhill racers around the country have moved their skis from the basement to the garage, ready to hit the slopes at the first sign of flurries…
A Trip Through the Tundra
Canoeing in Canada’s Barrenlands.
The Chalalan Example
Visiting the homespun Chalalan Ecolodge in Bolivia.As we sped up the Tuichi River in a motorized canoe, scarlet macaws squawked by overhead; capybaras at the water’s edge defied my perceptions of rodents; and tapir’s footprints blemished the spotless sands. This was going to be no ordinary visit to the Amazon.
Stewardship and Recreation
Ogden, Utah is poised to become a popular year-round tourist destination for outdoorsy types who seek an alternative to Colorado’s saturated ski resorts and sky-high tourist towns. It features miles of hiking and mountain biking trails and two ski resorts, tucked into the valley of the Wasatch Mountains. But Ogden faces the same challenge as many nature-centered towns—how to best enjoy the natural world without exploiting it.
Flora, Fauna and the Deep Blue Sea: Bermuda Works to Recreate its Natural Past
It is peaceful on Nonsuch Island, a 14-acre nature preserve at the eastern entrance to Bermuda’s Castle Harbor. Migratory songbirds flit through canopy trees, their calls disturbed only by the distant and distinctly incongruous whine from a motorcycle track on the mainland. With its Bermuda palmetto, olivewood and cedar forests, scuttling Sally Lightfoot crabs and nesting Bermuda petrel seabirds just offshore, the island represents a rare opportunity to experience Bermuda as its first visitors saw it.
The New Eco-Apres
Ski Lodges Go Eco-Luxe
Touring Light
The Ecotourism Society Sets the Standards.
Banking on the Bahamas
Andros Island, the least-developed and largest of the 700 islands and cays that make up the Bahamas, is just a 10-minute plane ride away from the mega-resorts, golf courses and party vibe of tourist-oriented New Providence Island. Andros supplies fresh water and workers to its high-profile neighbor, but has retained most of its natural resources and beauty.
Last Chance to See ANWR?
Far off America’s beaten path—with no trails, roads or development, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) consists of 19 million acres of mountain, tundra and coastal plain in Alaska’s northeast corner. For lovers of teeming wildlife, vast open spaces and snowy vistas, a visit to the Arctic Refuge could be the trip of a lifetime. And given recent political sentiment to exploit the oil reserves below the Refuge, this coming summer may provide a final opportunity to visit the area while it’s still in pristine condition.
Finding Grace in Dominica
The lush, tropical Jungle Bay Resort on the Caribbean island of Dominica offers a natural retreat of the highest order…
Aruba: An Island Full of Green
Sunny and tropical Aruba’s parks, reefs and wind turbines are a sight to behold whether or not you’re an environmentalist….