Patagonia: A Must for Active Explorers

Breaking away from the common aspiration to travel in a warm and tropical destination can be difficult – but Patagonia makes it EASY. Mixing immense natural beauty, rich wildlife and satisfying activities makes Patagonia a must for active travellers.

Patagonia is located at the southern end of South America and spans over parts of Chile and Argentina. Covering roughly one third of Argentina and close to half of Chile, there is a lot of Patagonia to go around. Combine that with its low low population density and you begin to understand the vast uninhabited grandeur of this beautiful region. It is the closest landmass to Antarctica, and shares elements of its spectacular icy landscape.

The name Patagonia was coined by the great explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520 to describe the large stature of the Patagonian people. At that time, the native tribesmen of Patagonia (the Tehuelche people) are believed to have been 5’11”, quite large compared to the then average Spaniard male of 5’1”. Magellan thought he had found “giants.”

Today Patagonia is still characterized by “the gigantic” in its larger than life terrain. Traveling throughout Patagonia results in boundless vantage points of ice-tipped mountains, granite cliffs, and icebergs. Turquoise tinted glaciers, river valleys, tangled pine forests, and spongy grassland plains reward all who visit.

If you’re not already convinced, here are some more reasons why Patagonia Is A Must See.

Outdoor Activities

Patagonia is the perfect cold weather playground. With the wide range of terrain offered between Argentina and Chile, your multi-sport options are many. Hike throughout semi-arid plateaus, deep valleys and canyons. Ice trek across expanded ice fields and immense snow-covered mountain ranges. Take to the water in kayaks and canoes exploring the many blue-coloured icebergs. Biking is also an option from certain locations.

Animals

Patagonia has noticeably diverse fauna. See rich wildlife from foxes, condors and penguins to pink flamingos, rabbits, and ashy-headed geese. Guanacos, a species of lama is indigenous to the land. Unique birds include the buff-necked ibis and rheas.

Eco-Camp

Although some outdoor enthusiasts are dedicated enough to see Patagonia independently, many opt for the assistance of a seasoned tour operator. One such offering BikeHike Adventures is proud to provide is accommodation at the Eco-camp, a one-of-a-kind lodge with cozy dome shaped shelters. Due to the way it was constructed, the environmental impact of the Eco-camp’s huts is virtually none-existent. Staying here is a restful and relaxing experience in an otherwise relatively inhospitable environment.

Family Friendly

Patagonia is an ideal family vacation. Since there are no snakes or other dangerous wild animals (pumas exist, but are rarely seen), it is safe for a wide array of outdoor activities. The large and unspoiled wilderness is the perfect place for kids to build an appreciation for outdoor life and learn about the natural world.

About BikeHike Adventures

BikeHike Adventures is an adventure travel company that offers guided tours to over 30 destinations worldwide. Specializing in multi-sport vacations, BikeHike unites humans in their love for outdoor activities around the world. Catering to outdoor enthusiasts with a passion to go a little deeper, BikeHike exclusively uses highly experienced local guides who facilitate the wonder and pride of exploration. BikeHike’s passion for fostering meaningful relationships abroad is reflected in its commitment to sustainability, both environmentally and socially. If exploration is your lifestyle, BikeHike Adventures is your mentor! Follow them on twitter @bikehiketravel

BikeHike Adventures’ Most Popular Trip in Patagonia

Join BikeHike for The Best of Patagonia, an extended trek through both Chile and Argentina. See all the intoxicating natural beauty Patagonia has to offer by hiking and ice trekking on this 12-day tour. Overnight accommodations include family-run hosterias, log cabins, tents and a luxurious and sustainable Eco-Camp.

The beautiful landscapes of Oman attract more than 1.2 million travellers each year, drawn in by the expansive deserts, ancient cities, majestic mountains and beautiful coastal beaches that combine to offer an incredible range of leisure activities and exciting outdoor pursuits. From the historic capital city of Muscat, with its gorgeous gardens and ancient forts, to the nearby shores of Masirah Island (a popular nesting ground for sea turtles) and the rolling dunes of the Wahiba Sands, Omanis have plenty of national heritage of which to be justly proud.

Getting around Oman can be challenging, but booking your ground transportation ahead through Green Path Transfers is the perfect way to explore the country. Photo courtesy of Elite Travel & Tourism

A Green Path Transfers Partner

For anyone planning a trip to this beautiful country, finding reliable transportation is of course key. Long driving distances combined with regularly washed-out roads and occasionally dangerous wadi crossings all pose serious challenges for travellers. It therefore pays to consider booking at least ground transportation with a knowledgeable local taxi and transfer service.

Fortunately, the experienced professionals at Elite Travel & Tourism can provide comfortable transportation to any destination. In addition to being the whl.travel local connection in Oman, Elite is now the local partner of Green Path Transfers, the fast-growing global and eco-friendly transport service.

Through Green Path Transfers, Elite Travel & Tourism looks forward to expanding the reach of its taxi and transport business to responsible travellers from all over the globe.

“In a developing country like Oman, we have worked hard to bring professionalism and safety to this market,” explains Will Plummer, Business Director at Elite Travel & Tourism. “We believe that with our friendly staff we are ideally place to be the first introduction to those visiting Oman and reassure people of what a fantastic country it is to visit.”

Since 2004, the experienced and knowledgeable team at Elite Travel & Tourism has been helping travellers explore legendary Oman. Photo courtesy of Elite Travel & Tourism

A Local Leader

Founded in 2004 by a Omani local Amor Hardan, Elite Travel & Tourism has grown into a successful and responsible travel business that today offers transport services, as well as tailor-made tours andvacation packages throughout the country. When he decided to launch the company, Hardan, who had already enjoyed a 15-year career at the Intercontinental Hotel Muscat, was eager to show people the many stunning off-the-beaten track destinations worth visiting in his home country.

In 2009, Elite Travel & Tourism acquired another business, called Alanaka Tours, as a way to lead small-group tours and desert-camping adventures. In the same year, Amor’s wife, Karen Hardan, joined the company as general manager and, with her wealth of experience in the hospitality industry, raised the company’s overall level of professionalism.

Today, as a local tourism operator with a strong commitment to the environment and to local communities, Elite Travel & Tourism is pleased to join the Green Path Transfers’ growing global network of responsible transport partners and ground transfer operators. “Being part of the WHL Group family” – both whl.travel and Green Path Transfers are part of the WHL Group – “has already been very successful for us and it is great to be part of Green Path Transfers too,” Plummer adds.

A Greener Perspective

Elite Travel & Tourism is encouraged by the positive value of lasting partnerships with other like-minded tourism and transport businesses also part of Green Path Transfers. Like other partners committed to responsible and sustainable local travel and transportation, Elite Travel & Tourism shares the emphasis Green Path Transfers places on going green, in particular the ability to offset a full 100 percent of the carbon emissions generated by its transfers business.

In keeping with its responsible tourism philosophy, Elite Travel & Tourism is intent on helping to preserve the beautiful local environment of Oman. Photo courtesy of Elite Travel & Tourism

“We believe we can offer the services and standards that clients of Green Path Transfers expect and with our own responsible tourism policy we are very conscious of the need to offset the carbon emissions we make,” explains Plummer. “We are continually working to find new ways to make our own service more green and are exploring what we can do within the Middle East to accomplish this.”

In keeping with its own philosophy and goals, Elite Travel & Tourism hopes the new partnership will help raise consciousness in Oman around the need for more eco-friendly vehicles and transportation solutions.

Far-Reaching Service

With a 32-vehicle fleet of luxury sedans, 11-passenger minibuses and 4×4 off-road vehicles, Elite Travel & Tourism is more than capable of meeting any request for ground transportation in Oman. The majority of the company’s clients head to the beach resorts of Muscat or to the old capital of Nizwa in Oman’s northern region. A journey to Nizwa is Plummer’s top recommendation, since it can be a jumping-off point to the stunning canyon-like scenery of the Hajar Mountains. Also in the north is theMusandam Peninsula, separated from the main part of Oman by the United Arab Emirates.

Beyond this, says Plummer, “a trip to the desert is a must.” With the Wahiba Sands only two hours from Muscat, they are very accessible. For those with more time, he recommends visiting Salalah in the tropical south, a city famous for its sweet-smelling frankincense trail.

“Of course,” adds Plummer, “we offer services everywhere in between all these sites and have many guests who enjoy exploring between north and south, especially along the stunning coastline.”

To learn more about Green Path Transfers and how to be part of carbon-neutral travel arrangements that emphasise green technology in a growing number of destinations around the globe, visit www.GreenPathTransfers.com.

About the Author: Laurel Angrist

Laurel Angrist is a travel-obsessed New York City native who specializes in stories about travel, the arts and culture. She is a maniac for mountains, street food and local art, and although she’s a lousy driver she’s always up for a road trip! Visit her website: www.laurelangrist.com.

Out with a local fishermen in Sarteneja, Belize. Photo courtesy of Travel Off the Radar

“For a long time most of the villagers have made a living from fishing… they have always fished the entire coast of Belize…even those who don’t take part in the traditional lifestyle still make their income from the sea. With their close relationship to the reefs, Sartenejans quickly notice changes to the reef and fish,” says the narrator on an informative video put out by the Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development (SACD).

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System is impressive, covering 560 miles from Cancun to Honduras. In Belize, where the reef stretches for a remarkable 186 miles, Blue Ventures has taken a creative and effective approach to conservation.

Beginning in January of 2010, Blue Ventures, already in its eighth year of operation, began its project with the Belizean community of Sarteneja, the SACD and other organizations to understand the impact the local coastal communities have on the nearby reef.

Fishing and marine environments provide a huge source of income and nourishment for nearby residents, and while some are tempted to take extreme conservation measures, SACD clarifies in a video on the Blue Ventures website, “In this community, when people hear the word conservation, they think, ‘no fishing,’ that’s not what SACD wants. Conservation can allow fishing to continue but there are always better ways to do it, there are best practices to ensure the sustainable use of these natural resources.”

Manatee Rehab at Wildtracks Photo courtesy of Travel Off the Radar

For six weeks, volunteers with the Belize project are able to conduct research with Blue Ventures and their partner organization, the SACD. The mission behind the research is to eventually develop a sustainable environmental management plan for the region that not only increases the quality of life for the residents of Sarteneja, but also increases and sustains a healthy level of marine biodiversity.

Depending on schedules, volunteers undergo 7 – 15 days of their science training program, learning techniques of monitoring and identifying species. If you have not received your PADI certification, courses for PADI Advanced Open Water certification are given within two weeks of arrival.

Sign up for a spot on one of the five trips they have coming up in May, June, August, September, or November. Blue Ventures also has training and volunteer programs for their research sites in Malaysia and Madagascar. If you aren’t sure which would be the best fit for you, read about each one on their website.

About Off The Radar

By connecting passionate travelers with unusual travel opportunities, Off the Radar and Xola Consulting support adventure travel companies who provide guests with a genuine, personal experience; who believe in sustainable, environmentally sensitive travel and incorporate the local people and traditions of the destinations where they operate.

Editor’s Note: Special thanks to our friends at The Travel Word, who introduced us to this article.

By Kathrine Vogn, UCA San Ramon

In the fresh and green mountains of Northern Nicaragua lie the communities of La Pita, El Roblar, La Reyna and La Corona in San Ramón, Matagalpa. Four different communities when it comes to size, altitude and charisma, but who share a similar history.

Originally the Germans came to Nicaragua because of the promise of gold. They exploited the ground and the people. However, along the way, they found that the cooler climate in the mountains where ideal for coffee. And so began the coffee production that started with big fincas owned by foreigners but during the Sandinista period developed to cooperatives owned, run and profited by the Nicaraguans themselves.

It’s in these strong communities you have the opportunity to stay, either just for a tour around the beautiful mountains and a talk about the culture, coffee and fair trade; for a couple of nights with one of the host families where you can help out with the cooking and try your coffee picking skills or as a volunteer for a longer period of time.

It’s an extraordinary experience to meet and live with these farmers and the best way to get to know the real Nicaragua. The family will teach you about their traditions and show you, among other things, how to cook and the guides will let you in on the secrets of the land and farming. And after a day of picking coffee, you will suddenly appreciate your cup of coffee so much more because you know how long it takes to pick enough for it and how long a process it is to get the little bean sowed, harvested and roasted.

San Ramón Union of Agricultural Cooperatives

Unión de Cooperativas Agropecuarias “Augusto César Sandino” (Union of Agricultural Cooperatives), or simply UCA San Ramón, is the primary organisation in this rural community agroecotourism project. It’s an organisation that consists of 21 agricultural cooperatives in the municipality of San Ramón and works to improve the conditions and knowledge of its 1,080 farmers.

Five of the cooperatives in four communities are a part of the tourism project. It means that the guides are young people from these four communities who therefore know everything worth knowing about this part of the country: the flora, fauna, landscape and agriculture around their community in particular.

Because it’s locals who act as the guides and their family as hosts the money paid goes directly to the farmers themselves and ensures a secondary income for them. In that way you can rest surely that those who profit are those who do the work as well as it ensures the most authentic experience for the visitors.

The Coffee Crisis

In 2001 international coffee prices fell to historic levels. This of course affected the Matagalpa area severely because the main production is coffee. In order to try to strengthen the economy for the farmers the North Central Cooperatives (CECOCAFEN) and UCA San Ramón started the agroecotourism project in 2003. In this way, the producers could diversify their income and at the same time strengthen the relationship between the consumers in the North and the producers in the South.

That is the general background and aim of the agroecotourism project.

To learn more about the project, see www.agroecoturismorural.com or contact info@agroecoturismorural.com, phone +505 2772 5247 / +505 8927 9066

>> Visit UCA San Ramón’s Facebook Page