Travelrific® Travel Journal
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Life on the Farm
By Linda Tancs
Is a farmer’s life for you? Here’s one way to find out: choose a Swedish farmstay. With over 300 participating farms, you can choose your length and type of accommodation, like a quaint B&B on an organic farm, for instance. Don’t worry, you needn’t milk the cows. There’s ample opportunity for horseback riding, hiking, swimming, fishing–or just enjoy the fertile farmlands of a district like Skåne.
The Grand Staircase
By Linda Tancs
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has the distinction of being the first monument overseen by the Bureau of Land Management rather than the National Park Service. Holding court in southern Utah at an expansive 1.7 million acres (slightly larger in area than the State of Delaware), this world class geologic and paleontological site comprises not only the Grand Staircase but also the Kaiparowits Plateau and the Canyons of the Escalante. A staircase of cliffs and terraces, the Grand Staircase’s multi-hued formations represent 200 million years of Earth’s history, featuring fossils of fish and early dinosaurs from the Triassic Period (the vermilion cliffs) as well as Jurassic sand dunes (the white cliffs). An ancient freshwater lake deposited the siltstone comprising the pink cliffs at the top of the Grand Staircase. Nearly one thousand miles of roads provide access to what may arguably be one of the greatest shows on Earth.
The Gannets of St. Lawrence
By Linda Tancs
St. Lawrence River is one of the world’s longest rivers, dissecting Québec at its southern latitudes. Along the river are many island pearls, not the least of which is Île Bonaventure. Located at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, the island hosts the largest colony of northern gannets in North America. A haven for ecotourists, the island’s national park (one of 27 in Québec) features a five-million-ton monolith shaped by nature’s fury that is accessible at low tide.
Riding the Circuit in Patagonia
By Linda Tancs
Torres del Paine National Park is a UNESCO biosphere reserve in Chilean Patagonia. Rich with mountains (particularly the iconic Paine massif), glaciers, lakes and rivers, small wonder the area offers a plethora of activities like fishing, climbing, ice trekking, whitewater kayaking, environmental education and wildlife observation. The park offers a number of trails, or circuits, for day or overnight trekking. Those include the Pingo Zapata, Dickson and Grey Glacier circuits (leading to glaciers), the Paine Circuit (no pun intended–an arduous trail requiring seven to 10 days of walking), and Las Torres circuit (leading to the base of Torres del Paine). Get there via Santiago to Punta Arenas by air or via Puerto Natales overground.
Celebrate At a Refuge Near You
By Linda Tancs
It’s National Wildlife Refuge Week, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service wants you to celebrate at a refuge near you. You’ll find an open house this week at the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on the Big Island in Hawaii. Take a guided bird hike or a tour of the greenhouse where native plants are being propagated. Among the lower 48, why not join the staff at New Jersey’s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge for a sunset nature walk to view the migrating ducks. As the poet William Wordsworth so aptly put it, “Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher.”
The Jungle of the Mirrors
By Linda Tancs
The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve (2,080,000 hectares), the largest reserve in Peru, is located 183 kilometers from Iquitos and is home to numerous endangered species, like the charapa river turtle, the giant river otter, the black caiman, and the river dolphin. Sometimes referred to as the jungle of the mirrors, the area is rife with activities for nature lovers, such as birdwatching, canoe rides, piranha fishing, and excursions to a watching tower to observe the birth of the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón and Ucayali rivers. Couple that with a stay at the Pacaya Samiria Amazon Lodge at the Marañón River’s bank and you’ve got an idyllic holiday.
Birder’s Paradise in the Bahamas
By Linda Tancs
The flamingo is the national bird of the Bahamas. You can see 80,000 of them on Great Inagua Island at Inagua National Park, which houses one of the largest colonies of this graceful bird in the world. Other resident exotic birds include parrots, pelicans, herons, egrets, and Bahama pintail ducks. You might think that birding is the primary feature of Inagua. Although delightful, the island’s main industry is salt. Morton Salt produces about a million pounds of salt per year here—the second largest saline operation in North America. Kind of gives new meaning to the term “salt of the earth.”
Trash Into Treasure
By Linda Tancs
As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s particularly true at Glass Beach, a beach in MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg, California that is abundant in sea glass created from years of dumping garbage over the cliffs into what became a public dump. Over many decades the sea and surf has molded an array of household garbage (including obviously lots of glass) into curious colorful trinkets. Tread carefully.
Ziptrekking Through Queensland
By Linda Tancs
For those wanting a bird’s eye view on their next journey, one option is a treehouse. Another option is the Kea Tour, a three-hour zipline eco-adventure in Queenstown, New Zealand that includes a stunning 20-minute guided trek along an ancient native beech forest. Best of all, you’ll be promoting sustainability in a unique mode of travel that has no footfall or industrial noise. Just like nature intended.
100 Years of Green in Israel
By Linda Tancs
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism website says that “Israel is one of two countries on earth that has more trees today than it did 100 years ago.” That may seem surprising to those familiar with the Jerusalem hills, populated with natural forests, terraced hillsides and ancient agricultural settlements. Yet four centuries of Ottoman rule resulted in millions of trees cut down because property taxes were calculated by the number of trees owned by landowners. Now Israel celebrates its greening by promoting a host of eco-tourism activities. Visiting a Kibbutz is a classic way to experience the earliest impetus towards green living. Another highlight of green Israel is The Ariel Sharon Ayalon Park, a metropolitan park boasting tropical gardens located just outside of Tel Aviv, formerly the 2,000-acre Hiriya garbage dump. You can explore the city’s tree-lined boulevards by bicycle (another eco-friendly act) or camel trek through the wilderness to a quiet evening in a goat-hair Bedouin tent. Whatever you decide, a carbon-reduced date with history awaits you.
