Intelligent Travel

Tour Guide: Carb-Free Costa Rica

Beloved Traveler senior researcher Meg is in the midst of planning her honeymoon—she's thinking warm, English- or Spanish-speaking (her fiancé is Salvadorian), and on a budget. She thought Costa Rica would be nice, but found that hotels were either super-luxe (and out of her budget), or very rustic. "I'd like to have hot water," she confesses. "And I want to see the sloths in the trees, but not be in the trees with the sloths." It is her honeymoon, after all.

So the Traveler research team was put to the test, and we think we might have found something that works. Travel company NatureVacations has created a 100% carbon-neutral Costa Rica vacation. That means every pound of carbon emissions their customers use on their seven-day/six-night journey is offset in some way. And travelers like Meg won't have to worry about hot water—the accommodations are definitely eco-chic.

How exactly does this carbon-neutral vacation work? Upon arriving in San Jose, all vehicle transfers from the airport to Finca Rosa Blanca for the first night's stay are carbon-neutral certified and use bio-diesel fuel. The next day, travelers are again transported by the same eco-friendly vehicles to Tobias Bolanos Airport where they will fly (on carbon-neutral airline NatureAir, pictured right) to Lapa Rios Ecolodge (above), located on 1,000 acres of private nature reserve. During the next five days at Lapa Rios, visitors will get to: plant a tree, take a sustainability tour of the lodge, learn about traditional Indian medicines of the rain forest, go on an environmental walking tours of the reserve, and eat organic, sustainable cuisine.

Of course, I couldn't find any information on how the flight from the States to Costa Rica is offset... it looks like that is up to the traveler's own prerogative.

For other eco-conscious tour operators, don't miss our Tours of a Lifetime in the May/June issue of Traveler.

Photos: Lapa Rios Ecolodge (above) NatureVacations (above right)

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Promise and Peril: Baja, Mexico

In the Destination Watch column in our May/June issue, "Promise and Peril," Traveler's Geotourism editor Jonathan Tourtellot's tells us that travelers should put a value on authenticity, and make "intelligent choices" when you visit a place. "When you seek authenticity, and pay for it, you're not only sending a message, you're helping protect a local asset," he writes. He mentions IT editor Janelle Nanos's recent trip to Cabo San Lucas as an example of a place on the cusp of tourism overload. Nanos offers her full story here.

Yachts crowd the harbor in downtown Cabo San Lucas

Settling into my flight home from Cabo San Lucas, I struck up a conversation with my sunburnt seatmate. Our trips, we both agreed, were tremendous, but we quickly realized they were also very different. He'd spent much of his time sipping margaritas at his all-inclusive resort, and spoke of tallying up a $500 tab at the bars following an afternoon booze cruise. I too swilled a few margaritas, but I also wandered up to the artist community of Todos Santos, explored Pacific coast beaches, and stumbled upon a local semi-pro soccer game. He’d gone to relax and get away. I went to experience the place, but had to wander outside its tourist precincts to find a true sense of local culture.

It’s been a long time since Cabo San Lucas resembled the Baja of Steinbeck’s novels. Now it’s most commonly referred to as the “next Cancun.” Timeshare hucksters shill “beautiful” condos that have yet to be built, and driving the corridor from Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo is like watching time-lapse photography of construction.  Grabbing my ocean kayak from JT Water Sports, on the tip of Playa el Médano, I gawked at the eight-million-dollar Hacienda condos rising from the shoreline like monstrous sand castles. None of the hotels and bars that lined the beach were there 15 years ago.

TV or Not TV?

Hotel Central Editor Susan O'Keefe wants your take on televisions in hotel rooms. Is bigger really better?

Travel Agent Central recently reported that Sandy Lane, the luxury resort located in St. James, Barbados, where celebrity guests have included Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra, and Jackie Kennedy, will close on August 31 and reopen on October 3, to undergo a $6-million makeover. Renovations to the hotel will include new outdoor patio furniture, new guest room bedding and drapes, and TVs—all 112 rooms and suites will upgrade from huge 55-inch TVs to 70-inch monsters.

Reader, I don't know about you, but if I'm going to the Caribbean, I'm not really planning on spending much time in my room, let alone flipping through channels with a remote. Have we gotten so caught up in bigger being better when it comes to flat-screens and plasmas, that 15 inches will really make a difference, especially in a bedroom?

Don't get me wrong, I like my TV when I'm traveling for business and sitting in my characterless room eating bland food from room service. And I like giant TV screens during events like the Super Bowl, when I can leave the family room to refill the chip bowl and still see the game from my kitchen. But the Caribbean is a getaway. It's where you go to dig your toes in the sand, plunge into the crystal-clear water, and lounge beachside for long periods of time with a fruity drink and a good book. At Sandy Lane, outdoor recreation includes kayaking, sailing, state-of-the-art golf courses, tennis, and swimming with Hawksbill turtles that play and feed along the inshore reef. So, tuck the TV remote in a drawer and get outside. But I wonder, what amenity must you have in a hotel room? Mini bar? Stationery with the hotel's logo? Slippers? Q-tips? We'd like to know what you can't live without, whether you're at a resort in the Caribbean or a motel on the side of the road.

Escape to Green Jamaica

It's still a bit cold here in D.C. (oh springtime, where art thou?), and I can't think of a better way to escape the rainy weather than by heading to the beach.

Half Moon resort in Jamaica has some great green options for travelers wanting a bit of sustainable luxury. Located on Jamaica's northern coast on a two-mile stretch of private beach, Half Moon is the first hotel to be listed in the Caribbean Hotel Association’s Green Hotel Hall of Fame, and for good reason. The resort uses nontoxic laundry detergents and fresh, local ingredients in products at its 68,000-square-foot Fern Tree Spa, and its staff is trained to ensure awareness of environmentally friendly practices. The restaurant has its own herb and vegetable garden (as well as fresh mangoes, lemons, and bananas), there's a "plant a tree" program for newlyweds, and the hotel has an extensive water treatment plant.

One of the unique things about the resort is its solid waste management program. Half Moon's own upholstery shop takes fabric scraps from old cushions, drapes, and furniture and makes them into dolls for the resort's Anancy Children's Village or into bedding for the Equestrian Centre.

I'll be on the next flight to Jamaica, and will bring my eco-friendly sunscreen, of course.

Photo: Half Moon Resort

Introducing the Stay List

Equally as important as answering the question, "Where should I go on my next vacation?" is "Where should I stay on my next vacation?" Where you sleep can make or break any holiday, be it a long weekend away from the office, a family trip with the kids, or a romantic getaway for two. Sure, Motel 6 is cheap, and places like Holiday Inn have frequent-sleeper rewards, but nights spent at these stays tend to be forgettable (not to offend you, Motel 6: I can't count the times I've been on a road trip pleading to the highway gods for the next exit sign to read "Motel 6, next right").

But for those who are looking for a hotel that incorporates the destination's history, culture, and community, Traveler's got the ultimate guide to authentic getaways in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean: The Stay List.

We sent detailed surveys to some 600 properties and, thanks to our hardworking research staff, narrowed down the list to the top 150 hotels. These Stay List-worthy hotels embrace authenticity, location-inspired architecture, eco-stewardship, and giving back to their community. While I can't obviously feature all 150 hotels in this post alone (you'll have to check out the April 2008 issue for that), I'd like to highlight a few of my favorites.

Frolicking with Fruit

Friend of IT Roger Hamilton isn't afraid to dribble fruit juice down his chin in the name of research...

OK, it’s not one of tourism’s top ten. Still, Honduras’ Bay of Tela looked great in the aerial shot, a crescent-shaped tropical paradise anchored at both ends by national parks. But on the ground, I quickly tired of seeing dead and diseased coconut palms and hearing the roar of bulldozers carving out a sprawling golf and condo community. Land prices were soaring and squatters were laying claim to beach frontage even as the native Garinagu were happily selling their quaint communities out from under their feet.

So I turned my back on the beach, and a short taxi ride later, joined four workers and scientists eating dusky red passion fruit and spitting the seeds in a plastic pot.

Seed collecting not your taste? There’s more to the Lancetilla Botanical Garden than wiping passion-fruit juice off your chin. It’s the second largest collection of tropical plants in the world, with some 1,200 species. A botanist with the United Fruit Company started it in the 1920s with a collection of banana plants. From that humble start, the garden grew and grew, along with United's success in creating banana republics. Governments rose and fell, banana workers struck and rioted, but through all the commotion, the garden kept on photosynthesizing.

Been There: Becoming a Fan

I'm just back from a blissful trip to Baja Mexico, where I got to check off many of items on the Cabo must-see list: getting a glimpse of gray whales, soaking up some sun, and exploring the many deserted beaches along the Pacific coast. But one of my favorite nights was spent in the bleachers in San Jose del Cabo, the smaller, artsy town to the east of Cabo San Lucas, where my boyfriend, Tim (a soccer obsessee), and I took in a local semi-pro game. We watched as the blue-and-white clad Los Cabos Delfines home team took on Guadaljara Chivas, a national favorite with a huge fan base, clearly represented by the blue-and-red bedecked fans crowding the stadium. (For the record, that would be the Dolphins vs. the Goats for those of you heavily into mascots, and you can see pics from the game here).

Tucked in between Mexican families banging their inflated clackers, we stepped outside of our tourist identities for a while and became simply fans. I have to admit I spent as much time taking in the crowd as I did the game (though I was usually called back to attention when the crowds chanted "Burro!" at the goalies). It felt foreign yet familiar at the same time—particularly when a man showed up as the sun was setting to begin selling light sabres to kids in the crowd.

When Tim studied abroad in Europe, he always tried to take in a soccer game in whatever city he visited, usually buying the scarf of the home team to help him blend in with the locals (which often have a tendency of getting rowdy with fans from opposing teams). And for a long time I attributed his soccer stops merely to his tenacity as a fan. But as I watched the crowd leap to their feet as the Delfines won the game, I realized that it's a tremendous way to get a glimpse of authentic culture. From the food at the concession stands to the chatter of the crowds, it's a quick way to feel like you belong, no matter where you are.

Do you plan your trips around baseball season? Run marathons on different continents? How do sports factor into your travels? Let us know in the comments below.

Photos: Above, Delfines de Los Cabos Futbol Club; below, Janelle Nanos

Dominica Changes Course

We were glad to hear the news that Dominica's government has decided to put a temporary halt to their plans to construct an oil refinery on the island. The slated $80-million development, funded by Venezuela, had been met with opposition from the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association, who argued that the refinery would dissuade visitors and hurt the reputation of Dominica as the "Nature Isle" of the Caribbean.  Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit deferred to the DHTA, saying on a local radio station that he believed "fundamentally that the concerns raised by the DHTA cannot be overlooked" and that an environmental assessment would follow.

Dominica's score of 77 placed it among the "Best Rated" destinations on our Destinations Rated: Islands survey (Nov/Dec 2007). One of our expert panelists said at the time:

The Nature Isle is aptly named—awesome power and incredible beauty of nature unspoiled. Its lush mountains, indigenous population, art, craft, agro-based products, and small-scale accommodation facilities all add to the opportunity for sustainable tourism development.

But another noted that the state of projects, like the oil refinery, keep the fate of the island hanging in the balance:

A serious dichotomy [exists] between lip service to preserving and protecting its wilderness, which is the major product, and the soliciting of more cruise ships, the proposed oil refinery, and support for Japan on the whaling issue.

"If this decision sticks, it will help Dominica retain its excellent but insecure score on the Destination Stewardship Index," says Jonathan Tourtellot, director of National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations, which conducts the survey for Traveler. Dominica tied with the Grenadines as the two most unspoiled places in the Caribbean. "Given the island's eco-oriented visitors and active geology," Tourtellot speculates, "a geothermal-energy plant might suit the 'Nature Isle' image a lot better than oil."

Here's hoping that this helps tip the scales toward more sustainable practices in the future from Dominica.

Photo: Jeff Clow via Flickr

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Guana Cay Residents Fight Development

The name “Great Guana Cay” is ironic, because the tiny northern Bahamian island is only about a quarter-mile wide and six miles long. But the island is large enough to become mired in a controversy that is helping to define the irony of modern "sustainable development" issues in eco-destinations.

The island's inhabitants are employed in fishing and cottage industry tourism. Its coral reef is one of the most intact surviving elkhorn/staghorn coral communities in the world, and divers consider it one of the most beautiful in the Bahamas. 

So when the residents of Great Guana Cay found out that a golf mega-development had been green-lit by a distant federal government in Nassau without their consent, they banded together and formed a grassroots effort to derail the plans.

Since then, coral reef scientists and marine ecologists have come to their aid to try to stop the Baker's Bay Golf & Ocean Club (Discovery Land Company) from realizing completion. While coral bleaching is on every coral scientist’s mind, the widespread decline of coral reefs in the West Indies is not only attributed to climate change, but a history of unsustainable coastal development. Coral reefs require their environment to be nutrient-poor in order to survive. And golf courses and marinas, rich in nutrients and pollutants, are a recipe for disaster. Residents worry that the chemicals needed to fertilize the club's 595 acres will seep into the reef.

Hotel Confidential: For the Kids

Associate editor Susan O'Keefe shares her favorite kid-friendly hotel activities and amenities. Got any she needs to know about?

Anyone who has young ones knows that when traveling with children it's all about the hotel pool, at least that's the case with my three children. And, if there is a pool (especially one with slides or waves) you can often leverage some off-property time for exploring the area just as long as you build in plenty of time for swimming. Other amenities like kids' clubs are hit or miss, depending on what types of activities and programs are offered. Hotels are beginning to heed the parents' call that one-room kids' clubs with a few video and board games are not the answer to recreation nor experiential travel, even if it may allow more reading time for mom and dad. We all want to feel good about vacationing and part of that is exposing ourselves to experiences and trying new things. Same goes for the kiddies.

Ritz-Carlton Naples, Florida, has just launched Nature's Wonders, an environmentally-focused program for guests who want to connect with nature. Off-resort activities include naturalist-led Back Bay walks, mangrove visits, and even a trip to a hospital for recovering sea life. At the heart of the program is the new Nature's Wonders sanctuary where budding marine biologists can hold turtles and starfish and view aquariums hosting sharks, eel, Florida's spiny lobsters, and grouper. When I visited, four new baby alligators had just arrived and two iguanas were showing off. A small lab invites kids to explore slides and petri dishes with pint-size microscopes. And a Nature Vision Theater features the finest, ahem, nature flicks from National Geographic and Discovery. Nature's Wonder charges a daily fee for its programs (full- and half-day), but it hosts a daily open house for guests—adults and kids alike—who want to check out the aquariums and reef life.

Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica, located in the country's northwest Guanacaste province, offers complimentary kids' adventures through their Kids for All Seasons program. Young guests get to hunt local insects, reptiles, plants, and hermit crabs or make art with treasures collected from the beach. Teens will dig their own hang-out pad called Taunis, outfitted bright-colored furniture and surfboards, where they can dock their iPods or play video games. But the coolest factor by far is in the activities: kids can sign up for hip-hop yoga, hang gliding, and zip-lining through treetops.

Been There: Navigating and Negotiating Baja

Welcome to "Been There" a new feature here at IT where we spotlight the lesson's you've learned on the road – the indispensable tidbits that you wish you had known before you left. IT friend Eric Wolff, who calls San Diego home and is a writer for City Beat, kicks us off with a handy how-to on negotiating your way down the Baja peninsula.

Right now, in Puerto Nuevo, Baja California, it’s langostino season, a time when a young gringo’s heart turns to delicious, delicious, clawless lobsters. Fresh caught, then fried and served with warm burritos and avocados, it's quite possibly the perfect meal, preferably if brought to a table with a view of the Pacific Ocean. Good stuff, and not the sort of thing one should miss because a few ne'er do wells are making off with some surfers’ gear, or because of rumors about corrupt cops. The rumors are true, of course, they’re just not a good reason to miss langostino season. Tourists just need to be careful and know the rules of the game.

Actually, there’s only one rule when it comes to the cops: pay the bribe. The going rate is $20, no more, no less. Here’s a textbook case of how to manage the corrupt officers of Tijuana and Baja, drawn from real-life experience – the very day, in fact, I first enjoyed tasty langostinos. My sister and I were driving through the labyrinth of downtown Tijuana after a day spent at CECUT and along Avenida Revolucion, trying to locate an entrance to the road to Baja. I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw the flashing lights of a police car. I pulled over. The cop ambled to the window and asked for my license and registration, which I gave him. Then he pulled out a piece of paper with a computer-printed table of moving violations and fines. He said the fine for whatever I did wrong (one downside of corrupt law enforcement is they’re so darn vague) would be $60, and I should follow him to the station. Fortunately, I knew the rule. I looked at him and said – and this is key – “I heard it was $20 if I pay right here and now, instead of going to the station.” He took the money, and even led me through a construction zone that put me on the highway. It’s nice to know that once you buy a cop, you get full service.

Anyway, where were we? Ah yes, langostinos. In Puerto Nuevo. Go for it.

What lessons have you learned on your travels? We want to hear them. Email us your story with "Been There" in the subject line, and we'll feature your tales from the road on IT.

Photo: [ ••> jeriko1kenobi <•• ] via Flickr

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Trouble in Paradise: Bleaching the Reef

We've all heard the buzz around global warming and glaciers. And while most of us aren't trekking around on uninhabited Arctic tundra, here's a heads up if you’re planning that vacation to escape the chilly work commute. Climate change is not affecting only the cold, desolate reaches of this planet. It’s also starting to impact paradise.

In a story aired on NPR last week, experts described the effects of an event known as "bleaching" on Jamaica's coral reefs. When the water heats up too much, stressed coral releases the algae that it needs to survive from its stomach cells, which leaves the coral looking white—or bleached—and in many cases, dead.

If trends continue, says the report, "severe coral bleaching in the Caribbean could be an annual event." Like glaciers, coral reefs are important indicators of climate change. Because they are some of the most biodiverse spots on the planet—perhaps even more so than rain forests—reefs are being studied by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to gauge climate change. NOAA has called reefs the "canary in the mine shaft" for the world’s oceans.

And one more warning to vacationers: Go a little easier when slathering on that sunscreen. It turns out that the lotion we use to protect ourselves from UV rays is actually damaging the reef.

Gaga for the Grenadines

It's cold as anything here in the nation's capital and we're dreaming of unspoiled Caribbean beaches, so we'd like to give a shout out to the Grenadines. While some sustainable-tourism panelists argued that cruise culture is taking its toll on the island chain, the Grenadines scored a decent 77 on our Destinations Rated: Islands survey, putting it in the top 20 best islands and tied with Dominica for the top Caribbean island.

So where are they and how soon can we get there?

The Grenadine chain includes 600 islands (many uninhabited) covering about 60 miles in the West Indies, namely St. Vincent, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, and Union Island. In the north, the islands are part of the nation known as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, while southern islands such as Carriacou are incorporated into Grenada.

And now for the goods. Our sustainable tourism experts said:

Beautiful destination for yachting and high-end tourists. Water is scarce so resources must be carefully managed. Good environmental awareness among the local population, who guard their islands zealously. Yachting discharge into the ocean is a problem. Given their fragility, there is need for strict development controls. Otherwise, attractive, friendly people, and good quality of life.

Another panelist bemoaned the behavior exhibited by visitors, especially cruisers:

Visitors are not sensitive to their impact on the environment, especially marine. Many yachties do not see themselves as being 'on' the destination, and is even truer of cruise ships, which boost arrival numbers while doing little for the islands' economies.

Ouch! But, to end on a happier note, another expert added:

One of the last, best hopes of the Caribbean. Bequia is a gem and the Tobago Cays, though overrun with boats, remain the best place to snorkel in the region. The only inauthentic place is Mustique and the two private resort islands.

Ever been? What's your take?

Photo: junksnowgirl via Flickr

Belizean Musician Andy Palacio: A Remembrance

World music enthusiasts around the globe are mourning the unexpected death of Andy Palacio, Belizean musician and leader of the international movement to preserve Garifuna language and culture.  Palacio’s latest album Wátina (“I called out”), released in 2007, propelled him onto the international stage and sparked a cultural revival in his home nation of Belize. 

In November 2007, Traveler’s Susanne Hackett had the fortune to meet “Andy P,” as he is affectionately known in Belize, and travel the country’s Garifuna coast with him and his band, camcorder in hand.  The trip was a homecoming for Andy, who had just finished a whirlwind international tour, during which he won the prestigious world music WOMEX award and the UNESCO Artist for Peace award. His arrival also happened to coincide with the annual Garifuna Settlement Day celebrations, where Andy was the headliner and received a hometown hero’s welcome. 

The video below is a compilation of the footage gathered on this trip.

Cozumel's Cruise Ships Go Eco

We were heartened to hear last week that Cozumel had signed a groundbreaking partnership to help support eco-friendly practices in the popular cruise ship destination. Over the past year, Conservation International has worked with Mexico's tourism board, the city's local government, and 17 cruise ship industry leaders to hammer out the details of an initiative that will promote sustainable practices in the region. IT Editor Janelle Nanos spoke with Seleni Matus, Conservation International's advisor to the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative, just a few hours after she returned from Cozumel. Still a bit tired from her hectic week (and an overnight flight) she was kind enough to fill us in on what's in store for the initiative.

What are some of the big issues that you're looking to tackle with this initiative?

One issue in particular was to improve or enhance the awareness of cruise ship visitors about Cozumel's natural heritage. We also recognized that [tour providers] themselves needed to work more diligently to promote the importance of protecting their natural assets.

What are some of the ways that you plan to do this?

We've developed a 30-second video that we've negotiated to have shown on all the major cruise lines destination channels. It's a message from the Cozumel community to tourists showing the highlights of their natural heritage and inviting them to protect it by leaving a light footprint. It's already being aired on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Celebrity cruise lines. We also plan to create "passeos"–interpretive corridors that will serve as a passageway to the cruise terminal and airports. They’re transforming open areas into passageways containing targeted conservation messages and powerful images. And all tour operators decided to tackle waste management issues, working with municipal government to create onboard recycling programs for tour boats and marine sites. That extends to training the staff, installing the bins, and incorporating the [recycling] message into the message they give visitors. Now that they have started these small projects, they're motivated to tackle the larger issues.

This is a big step for Mexico, as no initiative of its kind has ever been signed before now. Can you give us a sense of the feelings you saw down there?

I think at the event, when they saw the breadth of the work that they had all done...on a local level, they were all frozen. They could see people stunned and inspired at themselves when they took at step back and really understood what they had accomplished at the event itself. For the cruise industry in Cozumel, they feel they have broken down the barriers that have kept them working in their respective silos. The private sector and government tend to have very divergent views on what the problems are, it's hard to find a common ground. It was pretty inspiring actually.

Read More: Check out IT's coverage of Mexico, the Carribean, and Central America. Catch up on several recent posts which look at the cruise industry's best and worst practices.

Photo: courtesy Conservation International

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Tour Guide: UN Guide to Guides

Here's a useful tool: Friends of World Heritage has a list of community tour operators in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America that have been approved by the UN World Heritage Foundation.

Tour operators include the Shampole Community Trust in Kenya (offering eco-friendly, luxury accommodations which we wrote about here), the Talamanca Initiative in Costa Rica (a biodiversity conservation group that focuses on reducing poverty) and the Bunaken National Marine Park Management Advisory Board in Indonesia (which offers homestays and eco-friendly lodging on Bunaken Island).

One hundred percent of funds raised through the Friends of the World Heritage Fund will go to World Heritage projects. Likewise, Expedia and the UN Foundation frequently match and triple the amount already raised.

Leave Your Heart in Guatemala

I've always been enchanted by Central America, so when two of my friends returned from Lake Atitlán raving about the magic it held, I knew it was a place I had to check out.

Traveler's assistant photo editor Krista Rossow and I headed to San Marcos La Laguna, a serene village in Guatemala's Highlands populated by indigenous Mayans and New Age hippies. For just $5 apiece, we were whisked out of Antigua, a European-esque town about a half-hour drive from Guatemala City, and dropped off in the dark four hours later. "Oh, just follow that path to your hotel," said our driver, pointing us down a winding dirt road. So Krista with her rolling suitcase and I with my backpack started off down the path with no flashlight and a lot of wild dogs. We arrived at our hotel white-knuckled and ready for an evening of sleep.

Waking up in our gorgeous, treehouse-like Hotel Aaculaax the next day, we felt rewarded for our efforts. The hotel is just a short stroll to Lake Atitlán's shores and is built into the living rock of the hillside using adobe, recycled glass and plastic. Off our room was a flower-lined terrace, perfect for watching the sun rise over one of Atitlán's three volcanoes.

Mexico Works to Protect Monarch Migration

Every year like clockwork, monarch butterflies in Canada pack their bags in September and head to Mexico for their winter break. The annual migration is a huge tourist attraction, and Mexico is working to further support it by expanding their nesting areas and curbing illegal logging in the region. The AP reported:

President Felipe Calderón pledged 4.6 million U.S. dollars toward advertising and equipment for the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, which covers a 124,000-acre (50,000-hectare) swathe of trees and mountains that for thousands of years has served as the winter nesting ground to millions of orange-and-black-winged monarch butterflies.

Calderón said the plan would encourage tourism to an impoverished area where illegal logging has been rampant.

The logging has depleted the foliage where insects – a.k.a. butterfly food – reside. Fortunately, a staff of rangers "equipped with assault rifles and body armor," have been searching for gangs of lumber thieves, and their work has helped decrease logging in the area by 48 percent.

We at IT are glad to hear that tourism was the trigger that inspired Calderón to protect the forests - and the butterflies as a result.

Tour Guide: Eco-Lodges in Belize

We all want to be green these days, and some companies are making it even easier for us to travel that way. Manaca, Inc. offers eco-tours in more than 20 countries, from Nepal to New Zealand to Namibia. The company selects local operators, guides, and eco-lodges and asks them to sign Manaca's Responsible Tourism Pledge to ensure authenticity and sustainability.

Book an eco-tour to Belize and you'll experience the ruins, rain forests, and coral reefs that make Belize's environment unique. After touring the ancient Mayan ruins with Manaca's hand-picked guides, you might stay at DuPlooy's Jungle Lodge, located next to the 45-acre Belize Botanic Gardens. Or you could stay at the Chaa Creek, the first jungle lodge in Belize, which sits on a 365-acre reserve and employs more than 70 local staff. You can see butterfly farms and a medicinal rain forest trail, and have plenty of time to enjoy horseback riding, hiking, bird watching, canoeing, and the spa facilities offered by Chaa Creek.

Macaca's Eco-Assessment rates lodges based on what each does for community, conservation, and education. All of the lodges are tested by Manaca staff members, and while Manaca claims some lodges "vary in rusticity," they promise that "they are all quite clean and pleasingly comfortable."

Manaca's rating system makes life a bit easier when it comes to choosing what tours to go on, so they get a definite plus in our Tour Guide book.

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Beautiful Boquete

While Costa Rica has emerged in recent years as an eco-tourism destination, tucked in the Chiriqui Highlands near the Baru volcano is another eco-hot-spot waiting to erupt.

The town of Boquete, Panama, is quaint—mom-and-pop shops line the streets, offering a more Southern California feel than a Central American one. But life around Boquete is vibrant—abundant wildlife and rich rivers and forests make bird watching, hiking, climbing, and white-water rafting all readily available in Panama’s vibrant environment. And better yet—the town’s 3,000-foot elevation means it is regularly ten degrees cooler than other Panama towns.

While you’re there, be sure to check out Boquete Tree Trek, a half-day zip-lining trip through 3 km (1.86 miles) of jungle canopy. On a hot day, go to Chiriqui River Rafting for white-water rafting trips with one of the region’s oldest outfitters. For those who want an energy boost without the adrenaline rush, take a coffee plantation tour with Coffee Adventures. Visitors can hike through fields of coffee trees, meet the pickers, and get a caffeine fix in the brewer’s "cupping" room.

Boquete is a seven-hour drive from Panama City, or 45 minutes from David.

Photos: Magda Wojtyra (top); Juan Antonio Villegas (right)

Tour Guide: Peru

IT friend Lolly recently went on a tour in Peru. She raved about her guide Devon Graham (biologist and tour company owner) so much that we just had to look into the tour operator ourselves.

Margarita Tours organizes private eco-expeditions in the Amazon. While most of their tours are riverboat-based, they also have three working field stations, like the one pictured above, where many of their tours will stop for the night. (The stations are owned and operated by Project Amazonas, a non-profit conservation organization that fosters biological, medical, and environmental research in the Peruvian Amazon.)

Library Ghouls

In our continuing coverage of all things mystic, spooky, and supernatural, we wanted to share a finding from our all-star researcher Marilyn Terrell. She uncovered a list of international libraries where spooks can be found in between the stacks.

Morelia Public Library, Michoacán, Mexico. Library staff say that a “nun in blue” has haunted the 16th-century premises for many years. Director Rigoberto Cornejo said in Monterrey’s El Norte newspaper, “When I leave the building, I feel the sensation of someone following me. In fact, I can even hear the footsteps.”

State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. This massive structure dates from 1856 and hosts many specters. The ghost of a female librarian named Grace keeps an eye on the children’s books in the Arts Collection, and a mustachioed gentleman protects the music stacks and piano. Poltergeist phenomena have been reported in the newspaper room. Glowing balls of light appear on the stairs. Security guards witness many of these antics after the library is closed.

 

Bonaire’s Winds of Change

Oft-overlooked Bonaire, a tiny “flapjack flat” island ringed by coral reefs in the Dutch Caribbean, revealed plans earlier this year to climb aboard the eco-mania bandwagon and become a carbon-neutral island. And they're not just blowing hot air: The substance behind Bonaire’s claims stem from a new wind/diesel project designed to provide the entire island with wind-powered electricity by the end of 2008.

The project is a collaboration of Bonaire’s local energy company and EcoPower Bonaire BV. Construction of a new wind turbine is already underway and will be installed on Bonaire's southeast coast, an area with favorable climate conditions where a defunct turbine currently stands.

Introducing: Tour Guide

Introducing "Tour Guide": IT's picks for great ways to get away. Check back in every Tuesday for new posts!

We here at Traveler love to go off the beaten track to obtain a true sense of place, but we also know that traveling can take its toll on the environment. So of course we're thrilled to find that more and more tour companies are offsetting their carbon footprints, donating to conservations efforts, and overall, becoming more eco-conscious. From Madagascar to Mexico, here are some eco-adventures that make us travel happy.

The Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance (MEA), which offers trekking tours into Mexico’s 300,000-acre El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, recently joined with Trees, Water & People (TWP) to offset all of its itineraries. MEA calculates the carbon footprint for each itinerary and then makes a corresponding financial contribution to TWP, who then re-invests the money into reforestation projects, solar heaters, or fuel-efficient stoves.

CC Africa provides refuge to nearly 90 black rhinos near five of its lodges. The conservation group has raised over 5.5 million dollars in the past 15 years to fund animal conservation projects, as well as to community development projects (they have built more than 120 schools and trained 250 teachers and 4,500 students in environmental awareness) in six African countries.

This Little Piggy Saved the Planet

IT loves green hotels. IT loves animals. So what could be better than putting animals to use to help sustain eco-lodges? Not a whole lot. EndangeredPlaces.com recently reported on one Costa Rican eco-lodge that is doing just that.

Lapa Rios Ecolodge is nestled on a 1,000-acre private nature reserve in Costa Rica’s last remaining lowland tropical rain forest. Its owners, John and Karen Lewis, are going above and beyond the forest canopy to make sure that their eco-lodgings are sustainable: They've installed solar panels; only hire local workers (currently they employ more than 50 people); and help fund the Carbonera School, which provides educational facilities in a very rural area that previously had little sense of community. Their lodge serves as a protective barrier to the flora- and fauna-rich Corcovado National Park (it raises money to fund park rangers to patrol the park), they only use biodegradable products for guests and employees, and renewable materials were used (about 70%) to build the bungalows. But perhaps most intriguingly, they have an extensive waste management system that employs its pigs to make renewable energy.

Tree-mendous Oaxaca City

IT’s love affair with trees is no secret, so it’s only natural that we swooned a bit when we discovered Mexican artist Francisco Verástegui’s tree map. As the 2007 winner of Planeta.com’s Colibri Ecotourism Award, Verástegui’s Árboles Históricos y Notables is the first city map to navigate historic and notable trees in leafy Oaxaca City.

The honor was especially cheery news for Oaxaca, which endured a five-month-long siege by political protestors in 2006 that frankly left it feeling more riotous jungle than tree-hugger’s paradise. The area’s tourism industry was nearly uprooted: Indigenous artisans in nearby craft villages suffered huge losses, and the three-star hotel on the main square, the Marques del Valle, was forced to close during the crisis.

But these days, Oaxaca seems to be on the upswing due to a growing ecotourism sector. An annual ecotourism fair, sponsored by Planeta.com, promotes projects that include ecotourism, adventure tourism, and rural tourism. According to Treehugger, Oaxaca is home to 19 collectives, 30 private companies, seven sustainable agriculture farms, and five eco-coffee farms.

WWOOF-ing ’Round the World

We here at IT know it all too well, but let's face it - traveling is an expensive hobby. From plane tickets and lodging to food and extracurriculars, wanting to see the world can put a big hole in your pocket.  But in 1971, organic farm supporter Sue Coppard got sick of not being able to afford to see the countryside, so she started a work-exchange program that has been going strong - and saving travelers money - ever since.

Originally called "Working Weekends on Organic Farms," WWOOF began as a weekend-long program in the U.K., allowing WWOOF members to work on organic farms for a couple of days in exchange for free room and board. After WWOOFers (as these volunteers are officially called) decided a weekend was not nearly long enough to suit their travel needs, the organization became "Willing Workers on Organic Farms" and eventually, expanding beyond the U.K., "World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms."

Buggin' IT with Butterflies

Summer’s not quite over yet, but as IT melts in the D.C. heat, we’re already thinking ahead to autumn, when East Coast foliage turns to a sea of russet and orange and parts of the country are witness to their own wave of black and orange: the annual monarch migration.

Beginning late August and ending in November, millions of monarchs make their way from Canada to the California coast and the Transvolcanic Range in Mexico. No one’s quite sure how they do it— monarchs are the only butterfly to migrate so far over several generations, which means none ever makes the more than 2,000-mile trek more than once—fascinating both butterfly enthusiasts and scientists alike.

Buy by Chapter

Nothing screams “seasoned traveler” louder than pulling a tattered guidebook out of your messenger bag. Even so, who hasn’t bemoaned shelling out $20 (at least) and dragging around an extra few pounds of wasted paper for a guidebook to South America when really you just needed the section on the Southern elephant seals that inhabit the islands off East Falkland?

Enter Lonely Planet’s new service, Pick & Mix. The Australian-based guidebook publisher is digitally chopping apart its books, giving consumers the chance to save paper (not to mention cash) by purchasing separate chapters as PDFs. So far, you can mix-and-match chapters from guidebooks on South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Starting at $2 a crack, the tree-saving stunt appeals to IT’s wallet and eco-conscience.