Touring Light
The Ecotourism Society Sets the Standards.
Going Green
Beautiful Belize
It is possible to stand in the midst of a rainforest in Belize, surrounded by dripping trees and the cries of howler monkeys, and think that you’re in a particularly unspoiled corner of Costa Rica. Or maybe Brazil, before that country’s air was choked with smoke from burning trees and the ugly scars of clear-cuts. Possibly because of its small population of 200,000 scattered among 8,876 square miles of coastline, mountains and dense forests, Belize has escaped the headlong development that has marred so much of Latin America’s natural beauty. Even its largest metropolis, Belize City, is home to no more than 60,000 people.
Peace in the Poconos
Poconos Vacation with environmental twist
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.
Vegetarianism Hits the Road
Finding Respite–and a Real Meal–While on Vacation For a growing number of travelers, the Sweet Onion Inn is a sweet site indeed. The white-shingled structure nestles along Route 100 in Hancock, Vermont, a rustic spot between unbroken expanses of Green Mountain forest and winding White River. The front walk of the inn rustles with fallen […]
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 […]
Amazon Adventure
Imagine a lone fisherman quietly and gracefully paddling his dugout canoe through the submerged grasses of an Amazonian lake. He is there today, following a centuries-old tradition of nourishing his family with the many species of fish which once proliferated in the world’s largest river basin. A few years ago, however, his future was not […]
Thundering Wildlife
Zimbabwe Emerges as the Newest Eco-Destination Coasting along fiery-red African waters, with the bellowing of hippos drawing attention from the pristine quietness of sunset, Zimbabwe’s Zambezi River offers an ideal way to get in touch with an unspoiled ecosystem. On one bank, five elephants stroll single-file to the water’s edge, where they snatch up lilac-plumed […]
Manatee Mania
Is Florida Loving Its Endangered Marine Mammals to Death?
Undiscovered Florida
Think Florida vacation and the mind turns inevitably to Disney World, which takes up 47 square miles of prime Orlando real estate and is as big as San Francisco. But there’s another side of Florida, one that places you amid some of the nicest white sand beaches anywhere, and within shouting distance of the state’s unique and sporadically protected wildlife.