Intelligent Travel

The Genuine Article: Brazilian Lace

Traveler's Shopping Guide columnist Laura Morelli is off to Brazil this month to learn about renda di bilros, the craft of bobbin lace. Explaining its history, she writes:

[It] came to Brazil along with Portuguese colonists who claimed its beautiful northeastern coastline as their own in the 17th century. Portugal already counted a rich tradition of lacemaking, and colonists continued the practice in the New World. Mostly the province of women, lacemaking was passed down from mothers to daughters, who learned by watching and repeating their motions.

Crafting lace is tedious, requiring as many as 50 bobbins pinned to a firm pillow, the workspace for the lacemaker.

Lacemakers complete the pattern by winding and overlapping the threads from the bobbins to create a distinctive weave. Experienced lacemakers work at a rapid pace that, on the surface, seems effortless. Their wooden bobbins click together as they render circles, stars, rosettes, and more complex motifs like scrolls, animals, leaves, and flowers.

To learn more about Brazilian lace, check out this month's Shopping Guide column, and don't miss other shopping tips from Rajasthan, India, to Paris, France. To learn more about Brazil, check out the March 2008 issue of Traveler.

Photo: Imagebroker/Alamy

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Global Eye: Arequipa, Peru

"Swoosh" Plaza de Armas, Arequipa, Peru

Photographer: Nick Amis, London, UK

Getting the shot: I was in Arequipa, Peru, and had spent the afternoon looking around the city. My companions and I then went to the main plaza, ordered a beer in a nearby café, and waited until the light became golden and perfect for photography. I was taking shots of the cathedral from the center of the plaza when someone disturbed a huge flock of pigeons: I immediately swung my camera up (I use a Nikon D80 and, on this trip, a Tamron 17-50mm lens) and took about five shots; this one had the best composition.

The details: Arequipa is one of the oldest cities in Peru, from both the native inhabitants' and the settlers' perspective, and its well-preserved old city has been named a World Heritage site. Arequipa is also fortunate to have one of the best climates in Peru. Warm sunny days combine with the picturesque streets to make it a treat for photographers. The Plaza de Armas, where I took the photo, is in the very center of the old city and even pigeon-haters (I was traveling with one) agree that it is one of the loveliest public spaces they've seen. The Arequipeños are immensely proud of their city and kept asking me whether I liked it, so I'm pleased to have an opportunity to show it off and tell people how lovely it is!

Apparently, here at IT we have a thing for pigeons. But that doesn't change the fact that this is quite a lovely shot indeed.

Wanna see your photo on our website? Add your best travel pics to our Flickr pool.

Photo: Nick Amis via Flickr

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Galapagos Sea Lions Mysteriously Killed

We never like to hear about animal cruelty, but we were very distressed to hear about the mysterious death of 53 sea lions in the Galapagos Islands, as the BBC reported last Tuesday. The dead animals: 13 pups, 25 young sea lions, nine males, and six females, were all found with signs that they'd received a blow to the head, yet their bodies otherwise remained intact, leading the park officials to believe that poaching was not the motive. The BBC reported:

The animals were found in a state of decomposition on Pinta island, part of the archipelago which lies about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The Galapagos sea lions have no natural predators on land and generally do not fear humans.

Sea lions are a vital part of the island's ecosystem, park official Victor Carrion told the Agence France-Presse news agency. At this time, no other dead animals have been found, and park officials have increased their patrols of the areas.

This news comes as another example of the islands' vulnerability, along with last year's announcement by the UN Environment, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) that the region was "in danger."

NatureAir: The Zero Emissions Airline

NatureAir dubs itself as the world's first and only zero emissions airline. Carbon neutral since 2004, the Costa Rican airline combats deforestation by paying local landowners to preserve threatened portions of the jungle. In the past four years, the company says they've offset 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide by saving about 500 acres in the country's lush Osa Peninsula.

This year they flew more than 150,000 passengers on their seven dual-engine, fuel-efficient de Havilland Twin Otters. With more than 70 flights daily between Costa Rica, Nicaragua,and Panama, more than 90 percent of the planes run on time, a phenomenon that's "simply unheard of in this region," according to their site.

NatureAir also recently joined the World Heritage Alliance as its only airline member. The alliance, co-founded in 2005 by the UN Foundation and Expedia, strives to bring a conscience to the travel industry. As a full partner, NatureAir will be supporting community development around World Heritage sites as well as educating its staff and passengers about the importance of heritage preservation and sustainable travel.

IT is thrilled that NatureAir has found a way to thrive by transporting visitors to some of South America's most beautiful and pristine sites while promoting sustainable tourism and giving back to the local community.

Photo: NatureAir

 

Tour Guide: Foodies in Argentina

Since IT loves food and travel, a recent Washington Times article tempted our taste buds. They featured one culinary tour company in particular, and it sounded so delicious we just had to spread the word.

Culinaria was founded by Omar and Roxana Gonzalez, a Floridian couple with roots in Honduras, France, and Argentina. They currently offer three culinary tours to Argentina. In Buenos Aires, enjoy grilled beef at "one of the best places in town" and get cooking lessons at Manos de la Tierra (Hands of the Earth; chefs pictured, right). Or, visit the vineyards of Mendoza to enjoy a glass of local wine at the famous Bodega Escorihuela and get a private lesson with Federico Ziegler, chef of La Bourgogne Restaurant at Finca & Bodega Vistalba de Carlos Pulenta (pictured, above) with a view of the Andean mountains. Those who want even more fresh air might enjoy a tour in Salta, where guests visit wineries 7,546 feet (2,300 meters) above sea level.

The website also has a detailed page that describes Argentinian food, such as choripan (grilled sausage in a baguette), gnocchi de papa (potato dumplings), and provoleta, "an inch-thick slice of provolone cheese grilled (until soft) as if it were a steak and seasoned with oregano and other spices.  So simple and so good you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it." Yum!

Culinaria is adding tours to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Patagonia, so check back soon for details.

Photos: Culinaria

Tour Guide: Amazon Adventure

Boldly go where no man has gone before. Well, go where few have gone before, anyway. Brazil-based Amazon Nature Tours offers a new boat tour that, by our calculations journeys farther up the Rio Negro than any other tour company.

Impressed? It gets better: Amazon Nature Tours began as a lumber company in the 1980s, but soon realized the importance of rain forest conservation. They began their eco-tour operations in 1989, employing locals and finding other ways to help support local communities. Amazon Nature Tours explains that for many of their crew members, their children are the very first in their families to attend school. So they're no longer harvesting lumber, but cultivating economic development instead.

Explora New Place

The tour outfitter explora has crafted a series of remote yet luxurious lodges in Chile's inspired places that get IT feeling dreamy: you can sleep among the Atacama oases or alongside a placid lake in Patagonia. This December, they'll add another to their roster when they open a property on Easter Island.

The newest lodge will be the Posada de Mike Rapu (named for the company’s co-owner), and is the first LEED-certified hotel in South America. (This of course is a tad ironic, seeing as how Easter Island is located 2,360 miles from the continent, but it's a start.) The lodge’s eco-friendly design and architectural attributes include passive energy designs, thermal retention for energy storage, low-flow water fixtures, renewable building materials, and a commitment to being a low-waste resort.

Peruvian Knitting Quest

As the East Coast temperatures begin to drop, IT staffers want nothing more than to sip hot tea by a roaring fire and bundle up with warm wool sweaters and scarves. Our yearning for yarn sparked an interest in one knitting blogger who recently traveled to Peru to learn more about the country’s ancient textile traditions.

Lauren “Lolly” Weinhold (pictured) author of Lolly Knitting Around, blogs about her recent Peruvian adventure in “A Way of Life.” She writes,

"Before traveling to Peru, I did not completely understand how the fiber arts could play such a large role in a culture—not as a hobby—but more as a livelihood and a deep-rooted tradition. I knew about the Peruvian weaving techniques, the knits and the crochet, and a little about the spinning. Reading about these things in glossy travel magazines is one thing; yet seeing the fiber arts in action is definitely another thing all together."

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."

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.