Responsible travel is all about leaving a positive impact on any place you visit. You can do this by respecting cultures and being careful to leave a place exactly as you found it. The popular mantra 'take only photos and leave only footprints' is a great one to stand by. If you really want to make a difference, though, you can take a more … [Read more...]
A Single Day Visit to the Chiang Mai Elephant Nature Park
Meeting elephants should be a part of everyone's trip to northern Thailand. Numbers of these majestic giants are dwindling at an alarming rate and it's a privilege to have the chance to get close to them. The first question you have to ask yourself when visiting Chiang Mai is 'Is riding elephants ok?' If you decide the answer is 'no' (hint: well … [Read more...]
Is Riding Elephants in Chiang Mai Ethical?
Without a doubt, one of the most popular activities in northern Thailand is riding elephants. Outfitters in places like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Pai offer elephant treks, usually combined with other activities. One-day or multi-day treks involve hiking, rafting (white water or bamboo depending on the season) and visits to local hill tribe … [Read more...]
Help Save the Cenotes: Share Their Story
I went cenote diving in Mexico (the Mayan Riviera to be exact) to discover a unique underground system of water-filled caves and caverns. What I hadn’t expected to find was an environmental issue of huge concern that doesn’t seem to have penetrated the world media to much of an extent or concerned protective bodies such as UNESCO. We need to save … [Read more...]
Conserving the Great Barrier Reef
The focus of a new project run by Contiki is to raise awareness of the threats to endangered sea turtles in the beautiful Central American country of Costa Rica. In doing so - and to pass on the message of conservation in general, they asked some bloggers to share their work in addition to writing about an environmental issue they've encountered on … [Read more...]
