Pampered in Paradise

One Christmas Day, during a bumpy bus ride over potholed roads in a small village in the southern state of Kerala, India, our bus slowed down as it approached an agitated crowd. We’d stopped once before that week, when we witnessed a crowd forming around a dancing, trance-induced woman who, our driver told us, had been possessed by spirits. This time, on this surreal day that Saddam Hussein had been executed, protesters began pounding our windshield, as a few slapped flyers on it about American imperialism.

So many things about this trip were surreal, not least of which was that we were criss-crossing a state famous for tea and tourism but that also displayed a strange juxtaposition of extremes – mainly those of poverty and luxury. We’d crammed in a variety of sightseeing on our trip, staying in incredible resorts and guest houses sprinkled across the state, one on a cardamom plantation with lovely thatch-roofed cottages, another with a view of the famed tea plantations spread out across hills like a rolling emerald carpet, and yet another on an air-conditioned houseboat on the famed backwaters of the Malabar Coast.

Always, the landscapes were stunning, but the infrastructure of the country’s only communist state, the one with the developing world’s highest literacy rate, was a shock. We drove through much of the state, urban and rural, mountain and seaside, yet not a single one was a smooth ride. Why had I presumed high literacy corresponded with affluence? Quite the opposite – I don’t think I’ve witnessed the kind of poverty I’d seen in Kerala anywhere else. It’s said that Kerala has some of the country’s best education, health, and social services, but it was hard to tell as we visited local villages skirting the fancy resorts.

And yet this was the same state that I’d always seen – still see, in fact – on the covers of glossy travel magazines as having some of the world’s best spas. The ones combining holistic treatments that soothe mind, body, and soul, through massage, yoga, meditation, and other relaxation methods. And indeed, check out some of the options.

• The Maya Spa in Kumarakom has two wings – one dedicated to ayurvedic treatments, the other to those from Europe and other parts of Asia, such as reflexology and Shiatsu. For the ultimate in relaxation, sign up for the Cloud 9 massage, where you’ll receive a head massage as you float on an enveloping water bed. Can’t beat that, right?

• At the Taj Malabar Jiva Spa in Cochin, the Narikela scrub uses coconut, one of the state’s most abundant resources. (You’ll be hard pressed to have a meal without some form of coconut in Kerala).

• The Thapovan Heritage Home serves only pure, organic vegetarian food (in keeping with its own ayurvedic practices). At the spa, you’ll enjoy oils and powders extracted from the hotel’s herb garden. Other services (according to the hotel web site) include treatments for “various ailments like arthritis, paralysis, hemiplegia, sexual weakness, mental distress, and nervous disorders.” (Tall order?)

You’d think Kerala's main source of revenue would come from tourism, including its spas and medicinal (ayurvedic) tourism. Half a million foreign tourists alone visit annually, and even a chunk of the state's agricultural revenues are tied to tourism. Surprisingly, however, the biggest source of income comes from expats who send money back home to relatives.

Regardless, I'll never forget my trip to Kerala with all its magnificent scenic wonders, but the contrast between natural beauty and economic hardship will stay with me a long time.

Our Fleeting Past

A little over a year ago, an 85-year-old woman named Boa Sr died on a remote chain of islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Not just any woman. Boa Sr’s passing marked the death of one of the world’s oldest tribes and one of the world’s earliest languages.

In fact, Boa Sr was the last surviving member of the Great Andamanese, one of a group of 10 tribes believed to be the first descendents of early humans who migrated from Africa 70,000 years ago and arrived on the Andaman Islands around 65,000 years ago. Other groups migrated on to Australia and Indonesia, but in part because of their isolation, the handful of ancient tribes of the Andamans for the most part retained their way of life better than some.

Though they are part of Indian territory,
the Andaman and Nicobar islands are
geographically closer to Indonesia.

The cluster of 306 islands that make up the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar islands northwest of the Indonesian island of Sumatra has a fascinating history.

Back in 1857, the British housed a penal colony there to imprison Indian freedom fighters. The native tribesmen weren’t too happy about their new neighborhood prison. Within the first 10 months of its use, the natives killed a third of the convicts with arrows. At least 70 escaped prisoners disappeared without a trace. Later, with the help of friendly tribal guides, the British government used Indian prisoners from the mainland to clear forests. There were reports of violence, arson, and an exchange of gunfire and arrows from encounters with resisting tribes.

Fast forward 150 years, and this chain of gorgeous, remote islands is a microcosm of the extremes of our modern world. On the one hand, the Andaman and Nicobar islands have become a major source of ecotourism for the Indian government, with their stunning unspoiled beaches, majestic coral reefs, and tropical rainforests. Estimated to be less than a third of today’s local population, the tribes that remain are slowly becoming more open to contact with outsiders and new settlers to the islands. The Andamanese hunt and forage part of the time and come into the new settlements at others, learning a bit of the local Hindi dialect so they're able to communicate with the newcomers and eating rice and dal as they do.

The population of Andamanese and Nicobarese are diminishing though. The ones living on the reserves rely on wild pigs and potatoes, for example, but these resources are dwindling because of all the encroachment, some from the poor migrants from the coastal parts of India and mainly from the large, popular resorts that attract flocks of international tourists. The trend began much earlier though, most rampantly in the 19th century, when the natives began dying off after contracting diseases from the outsiders.

Today, there are only five remaining primitive tribes on these islands, with a combined population of fewer than 500. Of these, about half, from the Onge and Shompen tribes, live on island reserves and have started to open up to outsiders, even receiving government welfare.

The Indian government tried to befriend another tribe, the Jarawas, from the 1970s through the 1990s, with mixed results. They sent boatloads of “gifts” to initiate contact. Literally boatloads: they got as close as they could to the island by ship then pushed boats filled with bananas, coconuts, strips of cloth, metal pots, and nails in the direction of the Jarawas who came out to watch from the shore. The Jarawas accepted the gifts but just didn’t want to be friends. Their hostility towards outsiders has only recently started to lift. (According to one report, there hasn’t been a “random” killing in almost a year.)

The Sentinelese, on the other hand, are probably the world’s only Paleolithic people surviving today without contact from any outside group, including the other native tribes. The Sentinelese are very hostile and never leave their island. Following the 2004 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia and the ensuing devastating tsunamis, an Indian Coast Guard helicopter flew over as part of a reconnaissance mission and released this famous picture, at left, of the Sentinelese preparing to shoot arrows at it.

The Great Andamanese, from which Boa Sr hailed, was once thought to have the largest population of all of these tribes. When first discovered around 1789, they numbered about 10,000. By 1857, when the British built its prison, the tribesmen had dwindled to about 5,000, with about 10 distinct groups speaking their own languages. By 1970, the Indian government moved the remaining 24 Great Andamanese to a reserve on the tiny Strait Island near Port Blair. They multiplied to a whopping 41 by by 1999, and today, there are about 56.

While that sounds like an upward swing, consider Boa Sr. When the chief of her particular tribe died in 2005, she was one of only a few remaining elders, including her husband. Soon, she was the sole survivor of that tribe. And now, no speakers of the Bo language remain.

Here’s a recordingof Boa Sr speaking this now-lost language:

Off The Beaten Track: An Eco-Holiday in Fairytale Romania

The Maramures Mountains (Inner Eastern Carpathians)
in northern Romania (Photo by Joadl)

Here’s a suggestion for this summer’s vacation: a stay at an eco-friendly guest house set in the fairytale lands of Romania.

Fresh air, a friendly boarding house, hospitable people, meals cooked with vegetables from their hosts’ own gardens, and lots of hiking. That’s how a typical day looks for tourists who choose an eco-boarding house (guest house) hidden in the small mountain villages. The number of such destinations is growing each year, as more and more people turn to environmentally friendly lifestyles and want to enjoy them even on vacation.

Romania is a land of paradoxes. Although it has tremendous tourist potential, the number of tourists who come here falls each year. Many are discouraged by the lack of infrastructure, inadequate housing conditions, or high charges. In some cases, they’re right, but we compensate with breathtaking landscapes and welcoming people.

A shepherd in the Făgăraş Mountains (Photo by friend of Darwinek)

The mountain villages, for example, are a perfect getaway destination. In some boarding houses in the countryside, you can enjoy real farm life, surrounded by Carpathian Shepard dogs, rabbits, peacocks, and quails. And you can taste the goodies cooked from the freshest ingredients.

Rolling hill leading into Piatra Craiului National Park
(Photo by Horla Varlan)

In Piatra Craiului National Park, in the picturesque village of Magura (170 km from Bucharest), you can experience life in the countryside. During your stay, you are invited to assist in household, daily chores. You can milk the cow, collect the eggs from the nest, or dig around the vegetable garden. If you would like to see the harvest of this year, you will be invited into the pantry usually full of vegetables, zacusca (a Romanian vegetable spread), tomato sauce bottles, and jars filled with fruit jam.

If you haven’t yet visited the magical realms of Bucovina, you’re missing out. It’s 450 km from Bucharest to village Vama, in the Suceava County, roughly 5-8 hours on the road, depending on your means of transportation (car or train). But it’s worth the effort! 

A panoramic view of Campulung Moldovenesc in Suceava County

Here, you will find green meadows and cheerful boarding houses. Carriage rides give you a tour of the hills. When you return from the carriage ride, you can sit in the yard, shaded by old linden trees, and taste an exceptional menu cooked by the farm’s hosts, who use old and unique recipes, flavors you will not forget. If you would like to learn the secrets of Romanian traditional courses during your stay, you can take cooking lessons. Everything you will use in the kitchen is 100 percent natural, purchased from the most trusted sources: the local gardens.

 

If you’re a gourmand, and you would like a taste of the best Romania has to offer, you should visit Turda (30 km away from Cluj-Napoca, a popular hotspot in Transylvania, and 350 km away from Bucharest) and surroundings, in the heart of Transylvania.

Look for “Turda steak” on local menus. It’s a course that became popular in the 1930s. It is cooked from pork soaked in milk until it becomes tender, seasoned with coarse salt from the nearby salt mine, then roasted in lard. It’s typically served with a choice of pickled cucumbers or sauerkraut, and best enjoyed with a bottle of Chardonnay. All restaurants in Turda serve this steak, but the locals would recommend you try the best at the Printul Vanator Restaurant (The Hunter Prince Restaurant), where you can also enjoy your meal in a lovely, rustic setting. For dessert, try the honey and cinnamon gingerbread, a century-old recipe. Gingerbread in Turda is famous for its presentation, because it is cut in a bone shape. Among other regional goodies are the palinka (booze made from plums) and the red onions from Aries, which you can buy in long ropes from the locals.

Children choosing from a bounty of healthy choices.
(Photo by the Turda Slow Food Association)

Those interested in healthy food will find a heaven of organic food in the Turda region. The Turda Slow Food Association supports the promotion of these foods: delicious, organic, and locally grown ingredients for a healthy meal. The Association organizes activities to which both local producers and tourists are invited.

"You could go to Turda during the Children’s Cooking Festival, which will be held for the first time this year in August, and you will be able to admire the little chefs making fun cooking demonstrations," explains Marta Pozsonyi, the president of Slow Food Turda. You can even visit the school gardens where you will find organic products, grown and tended by pupils from schools in the region, who thus learn to choose natural foods.

Locals from Aries braiding ropes of onions after harvest

 (Photo by Turda Slow Food Association)

Those who want to sample local delicacies should visit Romanian villages and mountain roads. Slow Food Turda recommends a visit to the local cheese makers, who welcome tourists into their sheepfolds to see sheep-milking demonstrations and taste different types of cheese.

Kirchenburg in Viscri (Photo by Wissenskanon)

If none of these arguments have persuaded you so far, the next one might make you choose Transylvania as a holiday destination. Prince Charles fell in love with these lands, and he considers this area as the greatest treasure of Romania. He liked Transylvania so much, that after spending several vacations here, he bought two holiday homes. One is in Viscri, not far away from the medieval town of Sighisoara (280 km away from Bucharest). It is a small and ordinary house. In fact, Prince Charles invested large sums of money in renovating several houses in the village, homes open to tourists. Since his first visit in Romania, in 1993, the British royal heir visits at least once a year and enjoys life in the Romanian countryside. During his last visit, in May 2011, he learned to mow the lawn, and he wanted to take a scythe back home with him.

Feel Free In A Tree

Wiki defines ecotourism as responsible travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strive to be low impact and often an alternative to mass tourism. The purpose of eco-travel is to educate the traveler and hopefully provide funds for ecological conservation.

There are common misconceptions about ecotourism. A luxury hotel placed in a spectacular landscape or a chic resort constructed on a pristine island do not signify eco-lodging. To the contrary, more often than not those newly erected edifices defy eco-travel because they ruin natural habitats, cause deforestation, and pollute the land. A snorkeling trip in a gorgeous blue lagoon can be an antithesis of everything eco, especially if you end up walking or touching coral reefs.

A few years ago the world watched in awe as Dubai towers rose on the edge of the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile the earth activists screamed about the coral reefs being destroyed and the entire marine ecosystem being decimated. Dubai architects built artificial islands – one in a form of a palm, another in the shape of a world map. The dredged up sand not only mudded the typically crystalline waters of the gulf of Dubai but buried the oyster beds and coral reefs in sediment. The Dubai miracle was also short-lived: originally intended to host custom-made hotel complexes and villas of the riches, the islands began to sink into the sea. The sands eroded and the navigational channels between them silted up.

There are some promising eco-travel sights. Time will tell whether the new Sweden Treehotel is indeed as eco-conscious as it appears to be. Located in Harads about 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the Treehotel is exactly what it stands for - a series of tree houses, or Mirrorcubes. A Mirrorcube is a lightweight aluminum box hung around a tree trunk and clad in mirrored glass so that the exterior reflects the woods, creating a camouflaged refuge. The windows give a 360-degree view of the surroundings, allowing the guests an unparalleled wildlife experience. The cube has everything a hotel can offer – a bathroom, a bedroom and a living room, and even a roof terrace. There’s no elevator to whisk you up though – the access is by a rope bridge. The marketing motto is: “Feel free in a tree.”

I hope it is as eco-friendly as it sounds. 

Just look into those blue eyes!

Eco-Capital in the U.S. Capitol

Let’s face it – travel is not really the most environmentally friendly hobby you can choose. And where I live, in the Washington, D.C., metro area, we’re not particularly known for our eco-friendly ways. But say you’re one of the 15 million tourists visiting the nation’s capital, and you want to limit your impact on the environment. What are your options?

You can start by choosing an eco-friendly place to stay. According to Frommer travel guides, “Washington, D.C., was the first major city to require developers to adhere to guidelines established by the U.S. Green Building Council.” Many hotels go the extra step of using eco-friendly practices or even "adopting" parks that they then maintain. The Willard Intercontinental, for instance, relies only on renewable energy.

The Kimpton chain of hotels has 140 hotels in the country’s most visited tourist spots, with 11 of them in the D.C. area. They take their impact on the environmental very seriously. They use only organic and/or recycled products – from their cleaning supplies, to the ink in their printers, to the stationary and soaps they stock in your room. They donate old towels, linens, plastic bottles, TVs, mugs – even partially used shampoos and conditioners – to local charities. They recycle everything, and whenever possible, use only recycled products. They don’t even keep telephone directories or maps in their rooms; you have to access those online.

Likewise, with their restaurants. Their menus feature local, organic, and sustainable foods, and the company’s a stickler, right down to not offering condiment packets. I’d love to go and on about this awesome company, but if you’re interested, you can read more about them here.

(Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid)

The nation’s capital also boasts the much-lauded Restaurant Nora, the country’s first certified organic restaurant, which according to its web site, is one of only four U.S. restaurants with that certification. The famed restaurant takes its name from its Austrian owner, Nora Pouillon, whose menus feature a list of produce currently in season at the top and a list of farmers and growers from which she gets her ingredients on page two. (Notice I didn’t say distributors; Nora uses only locally grown and farmed ingredients.) If you like her food or can’t make it to D.C. in the near future, check out her book, Cooking with Nora, a Julia Child Cookbook Award finalist.

D.C. boasts a variety of other eclectic and award-winning eco-eateries: seafood restaurant, Hook, was named by Bon Appetit magazine as one of the country’s top 10 eco-friendly restaurants. Equinox, where Michelle Obama celebrated her birthday, uses ingredients grown within 100 miles of the restaurant.

Java Green and Café Green, Sticky Fingers Bakery, Science Club, and Blue Duck Tavern are other eco-friendly places to eat. Check out their links too – they tell some interesting stories. (For example, Java Green uses wind power; one of Sticky Fingers’ female founders left to front a rock band known as the Iron Maidens; the Science Club got its name because it looks like a laboratory; and Blue Duck features all hand-crafted furniture plus a wood-burning oven.) 

So now you’re staying in an eco-friendly place and eating eco-friendly food. How do you get around? Washington, D.C., is infinitely walkable with great public transit (that in itself is trying to become more eco-friendly, with many Metro buses now running on compressed natural gas instead of diesel). If you’re over 16, you can take in the city’s great national treasures using segways, which are pretty ubiquitous these days. If you need to trek farther out, an enviroCAB hybrid taxi can get you there. Or consider renting a bike to get around -- we have an abundance of trails and bike paths.

Great Falls, along the Potomac River, is a state park of both
Virginia and Maryland, about 15 miles from D.C.

In addition to some of the country's finest cultural and historical offerings, you might be surprised by all the lovely greenery that D.C. has to offer. The same city planner who designed Versailles, Pierre L'Enfant, designed this city full of parks, roundabouts, and gardens, preserving and highlighting all of its best natural elements. Of course, this was well before cars came along, so his careful design from during the horse-and-buggy days, along with the population explosion since then, has had a not-so-friendly byproduct – lots of traffic congestion.

Still, it's one of the most livable metropolises in the world. At least, we think so.

Leaving Footprints, Taking Memories

High Camp. Mera Peak, Nepal

During the 90’s and the 00’s, I worked in the tourism industry, specializing in trekking and mountaineering around the world. The two companies I worked for were forerunners in eco-tourism—they turned their office practices from paper files to electronic ones before it was commonplace, and they made sure every staff member in the office and out in the field, adhered to a strict code of ethics regarding low-impact tourism. 

This method of conducting business now seems standard with adventure tour companies around the world. Sure, there are a few that disgrace the industry, but I can happily say, most of the companies I’ve dealt with have embraced the philosophy of looking after the pristine environments people pay big bucks to visit. A quick search of the web will reveal a wealth of companies all stating they are eco-friendly, offer low-impact tourism, and so on, but how does one distinguish the truth from the sales pitch? 

Here’s a list of points to consider when deciding which company to book with next time you want to undertake adventure travel in the wilderness:

Does the travel company have a responsible tourism policy? Every company will have a different policy, but the types of things a company should do is make sure the natural and cultural values of the host region are not compromised. A lot of responsible companies work closely with conservation and rehabilitation groups to ensure the area travelled to is not under any threat from outsiders. If you ask for details, the company should be able to provide them for you.

What is the company’s level of engagement with the locals? Companies should employ local staff, services, and suppliers where possible. This approach assists in sustaining local business, bringing income to the local communities, and growing the region overall. It also reduces the carbon footprint by ensuring people and goods are not brought into the region when they’re not necessarily needed. 

Is a cultural exchange encouraged? The travel company should encourage and provide opportunities for the locals and visitors to interact and get to know each other.

What contributions does the company make to the host community? Some companies have special projects in which their employees and/or travelers, spend time in disadvantaged communities to help upgrade facilities such as education, water access, and health. You should also check if the company funnels money into the community for projects such as educating the locals about conservation or health. This information is usually easy to find as most travel companies are happy to promote their involvement, and it’s not uncommon for well-respected companies to have endorsements from organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, or to have been nominated for awards because of their eco-tourism practices.

Uros Islands, Peru

Does the company offer cultural guidelines? Because some parts of the world have strict religious or cultural rules, a responsible company should provide all travelers with a list of what is and isn’t acceptable, in travelling to those regions. The tour guide should ensure that every traveler adheres to these guidelines.

How frequent are the tours and how big are the groups? Check to see if the company runs trips that have small numbers of participants, and how often the tours are. If the company runs trips on a weekly basis and the groups are large, chances are, they’re not considering the impact of tourism on the environment. For example, the growth of the trekking industry in Nepal has resulted in some regions being trashed because of too many trekkers. Eco-friendly companies have gone in to help clean up the mess, and a lot have banded together to petition the government to limit the amount of trekkers a region can have per year. 

Online forums: These are the perfect place to garner information from people who have been there and done that. People on these forums are usually happy to share their experiences, and by asking detailed questions, you’ll quickly learn if the company you’re considering is eco-friendly. Beware of review sites, though, as people who frequent those are usually disgruntled customers who may have a slightly skewed view. It’s usually easy to tell who is complaining because they can, or if someone has a genuine reason. The secret is to ask lots of questions to lots of people so you can get a good idea as to how a particular company fares when it comes to eco-friendliness.

Alli and guide near Aswan, Egypt

When I lived in Peru years ago, the Inca Trail was choc-a-bloc year round. There were no restrictions, and people could go it alone or travel with a local tour company. Some of these companies were dodgy and you could tell they’d been through the area by the amount of rubbish left behind. But the government finally wised up a few years back and put restrictions as to how many people can walk the trail at one time. Now it’s limited to 500 trekkers for the multi-day hike and permits need to be booked months in advance, whereas before 2002, anyone could rock up the day before and get a permit. The only way to trek the Inca Trail these days is by booking with a licensed tour company or employing a registered guide. The hard-core travelers have complained for years about it, but after witnessing the destruction of non-monitored trekking, I agree with the government. As always with life, it only takes a few inconsiderate people to destroy it for everyone else.

So next time you’re considering a trip into the wilds, do some research, ask lots of questions, and enjoy your adventure, happy in the knowledge you’re doing your bit to preserve the culture and nature of your chosen destination.

Hug a Redwood

I’ve always been a tree hugger. As a kid, I loved to roam the New England woods behind my house and visit my tall, silent friends: maples with their hand-shaped leaves and the ability to deliver sweet sap in the spring, oaks that turned a fiery red in autumn like the quintessential Burning Bush, black birches whose twigs tasted like toothpaste and made my mouth feel fresh and clean. There were pines with soft needles and balsam firs that made nicely scented Christmas trees when snow blanketed the ground. But none of these excursions into the eastern forests of my youth prepared me for my first sight of a California redwood.

These majestic giants grow all over the coastal mountains near my home (there’s even one here in the city, towering over my neighbor’s backyard). Redwoods stand in groves with tall, straight trunks and dense canopies clustered at the top. Wandering among them is a truly mystical experience, and there is nothing quite as mesmerizing as sunlight filtering through the high branches, misty rays slanting to the ground.

Two hundred years ago, old-growth redwoods covered two million acres of California terrain. But logging and development decimated ninety percent of these trees. We have the park service to thank for preserving the remaining stands of redwoods in national, state, and regional parks; it’s now illegal to cut down a redwood on California’s public lands.

Although we talk about redwoods as though they were all one species, there are actually two kinds. Giant sequoias (Sequoia gigantea) are the most massive living things on earth. They grow mainly in the Sierra Nevada mountains on the eastern border of the state, and the really old ones can measure as much as 30 feet in diameter.

The coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempirvirens) are the variety that thrives in the cool, foggy climate that dominates my corner of the state. These trees grow all along the Pacific coast from Oregon down to central California. Although coastal redwoods can’t match their giant cousins in girth, they boast a different world record by being the tallest living things on earth (close to 400 feet, compared to 300 feet for the giant sequoia). All redwoods have a potential life span of 3,000 years. Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?

Here are some of the best places to view California redwoods:

Yosemite National Park: One of the oldest wilderness parks in the United States, Yosemite is best known for its waterfalls, glaciers, and unique cliff formations (El Capitan and Half Dome). But Mariposa Grove at the southern end of the park has 500 mature giant sequoias.

General Sherman redwood

Sequoia National Park: Located south of Yosemite, this is the best place to see giant sequoias. Check out the Giant Forest, where you will find the world’s largest specimen, which goes by the name General Sherman. This part of the park also has easy hiking trails that wind through the redwoods for a better view.

To see some of the world’s tallest trees, you’ll have to head northwest to the Redwood National Park (which is also a World Heritage Site) in Humboldt County, near the Oregon border. The current record holder is a coastal redwood named Hyperion (379 feet tall), which unfortunately stands in an undisclosed location and is therefore not available for public viewing. During your visit to this park, you can also tour the Avenue of the Giants along Highway 101 and drive your car through a tunnel in a single redwood tree.

Muir Woods: This is my least favorite place to see redwoods, mainly because it is right across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and its proximity to the city means that the paths are often crowded. But if you're planning a trip to San Francisco and don’t have time for explorations farther afield, Muir Woods will satisfy your redwood fix very nicely.

Henry Cowell State Park

So where do I go when I get a yen for a relaxing stroll under the peaceful giants? Henry Cowell State Park, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains (near Felton). This park has hiking trails, a campground, and a picnic area, but I head straight for the 1-mile loop that passes beneath some of the prettiest redwoods anywhere in California. I like to set out early in the morning when the air is still crisp and the light muted. I’ll sit on a bench under the trees, close my eyes and empty my mind until my senses fill with the piney scent of the redwood needles, the light touch of a breeze on my cheek, and the soft sounds of small animals going about their daily routines.

Stop by some day and I’ll take you there.

Preserving Adventure

(credit wribs)

If you want to experience a taste of Rudyard Kipling’s India, the land of tigers and elephants, you should trek to the country’s first national park, which some say is also its best.

The Jim Corbett National Park, based at the foothills of the Himalayas in the state of Uttarakhand, is a wildlife reserve and sanctuary, established in 1936 to protect India’s endangered tigers and its prey. It’s also a wildlife- and nature-lover’s bonanza, with 50 kinds of mammals, 580 species of birds, 110 types of trees (including many varieties of bamboo alone), 27 species of reptiles, and abundant species of fish and plants. The 522-kilometer park also features beautiful rolling hills, valleys, swamps, ravines, meadows, rivers, and lakes.

Jim Corbett, for whom the park is named, was an Indian-born British hunter, conservationist, and naturalist, famous for his experience in tracking and shooting the ferocious tigers and leopards claiming human lives in nearby Kumaon in the 1920s and 1930s. (He was also a colonel in the British Indian Army.) His book about these experiences, Man-eaters of Kumaon, published in 1944, was a sensation, offering a fact-based look into the Indian jungles that Kipling’s fictional Jungle Books had popularized.

Although a hunter, Corbett was outspoken about not killing these predators unless they posed a threat to man or cattle. He advocated the need to protect India’s natural habitats, forests, and their wildlife. As such, he is considered one of India’s forefathers of conservation and played a key role in establishing the park that was eventually named after him. In 1973, the Indian government, with the help of the World Wildlife Fund, established Project Tiger at the park, making it one the first such tiger reserves in the country.

(credit wribs)

Originally a hunting ground for the British colonizers, the park now has an explosion of lodges and resorts as well as tour operators taking visitors on a variety of jungle safaris to see the elephants, tigers, and other wildlife and to go fishing and angling, mountain climbing, or bird watching.

The market town of Ramnagar lies between a rich farm belt and on the fringes of forest and serves as a launching-off point for a number of these safaris and fishing camps. Buses take visitors into the savannah grasslands to check out the wildlife, but two-hour jeep tours are most popular.

The Crested Kingfisher (credit Vndas)

If you’re planning a visit, the Jim Corbett National Park is within a four- to five-hour drive from India’s most famous landmark, the Taj Mahal in Agra. In and around the park itself is the nearby hill station of Ranikhet, with spectacular views of the Himalayas; the lovely Garjia temple, about 15 kilometers from the park; and the Kalagarh Dam, one of the best places for bird watching, particularly in the winter when numerous waterfowl migrate there.

(credit netlancer2006)

The park is famous for its focus on eco-tourism. Parts of it are closed off to protect the ecosystem. Park guides receive training in natural history and tourism management. There’s even a film for tourists, Wild Saga of Corbett, on how to help the park’s conservation efforts, including tips on trash disposal, soil erosion, and noise levels and history of the encroachment, poaching, and exploitation of natural resources. Tourists can trek around outside the park area but inside they must be accompanied by a trekking guide.

The single best experience at Corbett park, though, has to be the elephant safari. Riding atop this majestic vehicle, you’ll feel like a royal sweeping into the grasslands and jungles in search of tigers. Who knows, maybe you’ll even come across little Mogli.