Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge’s motto is “playing with time, working with nature”. Owners, Eric and Carolina Poncon, say playing with time invites you to shift into reverse and drive away from the modern day hassles of itineraries, meetings, cellular phones and agendas while resetting your biological clock to countless sunrises and sunsets. The ecolodge is a 15-bungalow hideaway on a mile-long picturesque sandy beach, frequented year-round by nesting sea turtles.

By Jessica Frei

Bandhavgarh National Park, nestled in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh in Central India, is a popular destination whose assortment of wildlife and scenic beauty lures sightseers to the park. A wildlife viewing trip to Bandhavgarh National Park is surely a stress buster for folks bored with frenzied daily routines, providing the chance to uncover the real, energetic side of life.

By Angie Aspinall

Our main reason for visiting Mauritius was to learn about the nature conservation being carried out on the island. It was, therefore, with a great deal of excitement that we learned we had been granted special permission to visit the conservation areas of the Frederica Nature Reserve in Bel Ombre: areas which are not open to tourists, but are the preserve of conservationists – and rare bird species.

By Jonnalyn Pascual

Thinking of Israel in terms of visits and tours one will usually think of cities like Jerusalem or Tel Aviv or even trips like Taglit-Birthright Israel, but most forget something truly impressive that Israel has to offer: the lush green hills of the North! With plenty of sights and eco-friendly places to visit, the North is truly the destination of choice.

Something not to be missed during your visit to South Carolina is Beaufort Kayak Tours’ Hunting Island trip, where you can learn about salt marsh organisms and their lifestyle, paddle through the beautiful palm-tree studded lagoon where movies such as “Forest Gump” were filmed, take an interpretive beach walk to learn about ocean creatures and barrier island geology, and perhaps even have a swim in the inlet. If you’re attending the ESTC this September, you can join one of the special post-conference tours offered by Beaufort Kayak Tours.

Although not widely discovered yet, Estonia is ideal country for observing one of the most spectacular natural shows – massive bird migration. This smallest and northernmost Baltic country lies on the crossroad of the Eastern Atlantic migratory flyway: Estonia is locked between the Finnish Gulf, eastern coast of Baltic Sea and Lake Peipsi near the Russian border. In this respect, geographically the Estonian waters and coastline are the natural stepping-stones, the most natural flyway between breeding and wintering areas for millions of Arctic waterbirds.

By Mart Reimann
Estonia is a diverse country with short distances. A short one-hour drive from Tallinn, and you can get a glimpse Estonian countryside and experience the coastal region and forest areas. Travelling east from Tallinn, your trip will start in some of the oldest fields in Estonia and you’ll see fishermen villages on Northern Estonia’s islands, beautiful coastal landscapes, and large forests and protected areas.

Between one of the driest deserts on Earth – the Sonoran Desert – and one of the richest seas – the Gulf of California – lie the estuaries of the Northern Gulf of California, areas unique in their great beauty and extraordinary biodiversity. Morúa Estuary, near Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, is a prime example of an ecosystem vital to the biology and socio-economics of this region.

Historically residents of Mangalajodi village posed a threat to bird life. Many families turned the lucrative poaching trade and it wasn’t long before bird numbers hit an all-time low. A local conservation organization Wild Orissa meet with the villagers a decade ago and has been instrumental in guiding their transformation ever since. Poachers developed an intricate knowledge of bird habitats, breeding cycles and migration patterns. The challenge was to utilise this knowledge and their existing skill-set for conservation.

Boasting a species list of over 1,800, including over 120 endemic species, Peru either is or should be on anybody’s destination list who is even vaguely interested in birds. From coastal deserts to high Andes mountains, to the cloud forest, to the extensive lowland Amazon that covers 60% of the country, the range of habitats is immense. Each ecozone in Peru is home to unique birds, and nowhere are the numbers of birds greater than in the lowland Amazon rainforests.