Jan 8, 2008
The Mexican equivalent to Maho Bay is a somewhat similar tented community on the Mayan Riviera
I'm a sucker for a Caribbean tent. On my very first visit to those tropics, emerging from the plane into 90-plus degrees, I asked myself: "Why am I staying at a hotel? Why doesn't some entrepreneur place tents, or simply scatter cots, along a beach (and maybe hang a canvas awning over the cots to protect from rain)? With heat like this, why do I have to spend big money for a hotel?"The first person to take advantage of those natural conditions was Stanley Selengut, who proceeded to construct simple, cheap, canvas-sided "huts" alongside a hill overlooking the sea on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Maho Bay, as it's called, has been a stunning success ever since.
Another such canvas-sided colony -- called "Cesiak," for Centro Ecologica Sian Ka'an -- has just come to my attention, thanks to a reader of this blog. This time, your lodgings are simple tents placed atop wooden platforms facing the sea, in the midst of a gigantic (1.3 million acres) "biosphere reserve" (protected area) of the Mexican Caribbean, alongside the so-called Mayan Riviera near Tulum. A tent accommodating two persons costs $90 a night ($45 a person) during high season (mid-January to the end of April) -- and that's a good price for the winter Caribbean. As Cesiak describes its tents, "they offer spectacular views from their private patios as well as plenty of shade and cooling breezes. Raised on platforms to allow ecological and hyrological processes to continue, the spacious tents come fully furnished. Shared bathrooms are always clean and also have stunning views over water."
I haven't been there myself (I have vacationed at Maho Bay), but a look at the illustrations in the organization's website -- www.cesiak.org -- should give you the confidence to try what may be a promising new discovery off Mexico's Caribbean coast.
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Dec 12, 2007
How you can snare a place on the Sierra Club's most popular volunteer vacations
Friday, December 14, is the first day that the Sierra Club's 90-odd volunteer vacations (or service trips) will be announced for 2008. These once-in-a-lifetime journeys include opportunities for participants to help scientists, researchers, and rangers at parks around the world -- they're as much immersive educational experiences as they are vacations on which you can make a difference. Friday is the day you'll get a jump on all the other tourists and cherry-pick spaces in the best options.
Other organizations are also rolling out their 2008 schedules now, and booking early is the key to snagging the most interesting deals. Here's a sampling of some of the choicest tours that are sure to go first. (All rates include equipment and overnight accommodations at 3- and 4-star hotels; they are the lowest prices available at this time, but they may rise in the very peak of summer or according to availability.)
First, of course, are the outstanding programs of The Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org, and click on "get outdoors"). Almost all these prestigious outings cost from $500- 600 for a week, including food and rustic accommodation. Some run for 10 days for slightly more money.
Finally, GORP (www.gorp.com), like Bike Tours Direct, is a place where many different small tour operators gather together to market and sell their tours:
Other organizations are also rolling out their 2008 schedules now, and booking early is the key to snagging the most interesting deals. Here's a sampling of some of the choicest tours that are sure to go first. (All rates include equipment and overnight accommodations at 3- and 4-star hotels; they are the lowest prices available at this time, but they may rise in the very peak of summer or according to availability.)
First, of course, are the outstanding programs of The Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org, and click on "get outdoors"). Almost all these prestigious outings cost from $500- 600 for a week, including food and rustic accommodation. Some run for 10 days for slightly more money.
- The Club reports that the "Service in Mesa Verde National Park" trip in September, on which participants help park archaeologists with restoration, is particularly popular.
- Most of the Sierra Club's 2008 Costa Rica trips are already sold out, but to meet demand, the group just added an additional "Family Fun in Paradise" trip from July 7 to 16 ($2,135 for 10 days). Naturally, this departure is expected to book up quickly, too.
- A spokesman for the Sierra Club also reports that its Alaska "sampler" trips sell fast, but at this point, there's still space. Those ramble Alaska by van and spend nights camping and in lodges, with plenty of of hiking in between. Some trips include glacier walks, kayaking, and bear watching. For summer 2008, the trips are: "Glaciers, Grizzlies and Ghost Towns (May 18-28) and "Spring Fever: Discover Denali and Beyond" (May 25-31).
- Turkish South Coast by Boat and Bike: seven nights, guided, from Marmaris (a short ferry ride from Rhodes, Greece) to Fethiye, sleeping each night on a classic Turkish boat, €980 including meals
- Danube Bike Path: seven nights, self-guided from Passau, Germany to Vienna, Austria, alongside the Danube river. €515
- Medieval Villages of Catalonia, Spain: six nights, self-guided from Girona to the Dali Museum at Figueres, along the established Baix Emporda Cycle Network, €790 (or guided for €1,190)
Finally, GORP (www.gorp.com), like Bike Tours Direct, is a place where many different small tour operators gather together to market and sell their tours:
- Kids in Kayaks Family Holidays: seven nights, easy-level sea kayaking among the flat seas of Croatia's Elafiti Islands near Dubrovnik, $920
- Kayaking the Okeefenokee Swamp in Georgia: six nights, $975
Labels: cycling, outdoor, parks, volunteer
Oct 11, 2007
You can learn more about the great outdoors at your local retail camping store -- and usually for free
An adult scoutmaster recently told me that he frequently takes the boys to a nearby REI store for free clinics in such outdoors skills as backpacking, mountain bike maintenance, winter camping, and wilderness first aid. REI, as you may know, is a travel and outdoors cooperative with 99 stores in 27 states. Its programs, and those of other similar stores, include one- or two-day trips developing the skills of hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, fly fishing, photography, GPS navigation and geocaching.
Many of the classes are free. Others -- especially the hands-on ones where you bike or kayak for a full day -- might run anywhere from $20 to $90 (sometimes a bit more for advanced courses). Individual REI stores also post numerous opportunities to join in local walkathons, bike-athons, runs, and hikes. For more information, go to its Web site (www.rei.com) and click on "Stores & Events" -- the section labeled "REI Adventures" takes you to the company's multi-day active vacations, not the short, inexpensive-to-free classes and clinics.
Another top-rated chain, LL. Bean (www.llbean.com) -- with nine stores along the East Coast, from the famous flagship in Freeport, ME to one in Tyson's Corner, VA -- offers "Outdoor Discovery Schools" in fly fishing, kayaking, bike tours, and outdoor skills such as first aid. Most of the more involved trips take place in Maine and Maryland, though every store does offer shorter "Walk-On" adventures from May through early October. These cost $15, including round-trip shuttle bus from the store, for 1½ to 2½ hours of introductory kayaking or fly casting clinics (the Maine store also does archery and clay pigeon shooting).
EMS (www.ems.com), with 80 stores throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, conducts its programs -- kayaking, rock climbing, and winter sports (Telemark, backcountry, and ski mountaineering plus avalanche courses) -- at a dozen of its locations throughout New England and New York (plus, for climbers, Pennsylvania and New Jersey).
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Many of the classes are free. Others -- especially the hands-on ones where you bike or kayak for a full day -- might run anywhere from $20 to $90 (sometimes a bit more for advanced courses). Individual REI stores also post numerous opportunities to join in local walkathons, bike-athons, runs, and hikes. For more information, go to its Web site (www.rei.com) and click on "Stores & Events" -- the section labeled "REI Adventures" takes you to the company's multi-day active vacations, not the short, inexpensive-to-free classes and clinics.
Another top-rated chain, LL. Bean (www.llbean.com) -- with nine stores along the East Coast, from the famous flagship in Freeport, ME to one in Tyson's Corner, VA -- offers "Outdoor Discovery Schools" in fly fishing, kayaking, bike tours, and outdoor skills such as first aid. Most of the more involved trips take place in Maine and Maryland, though every store does offer shorter "Walk-On" adventures from May through early October. These cost $15, including round-trip shuttle bus from the store, for 1½ to 2½ hours of introductory kayaking or fly casting clinics (the Maine store also does archery and clay pigeon shooting).
EMS (www.ems.com), with 80 stores throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, conducts its programs -- kayaking, rock climbing, and winter sports (Telemark, backcountry, and ski mountaineering plus avalanche courses) -- at a dozen of its locations throughout New England and New York (plus, for climbers, Pennsylvania and New Jersey).
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Aug 8, 2007
By popular demand: a cheaper scuba-diving week on Roatan Island, Honduras
Aghast that I could recommend paying $1,699 for a week-long air-and-dive-package to Roatan, one of the "Bay Islands" of Honduras, a number of users of this blog have asked whether Capricorn Leisure (the chief specialist to Honduras) has a cheaper alternative. I defend myself by pointing out that Capricorn's $1,699 package includes not simply airfare, seven nights at Anthony's Key Resort, airport-to-hotel transfers, three meals daily, and numerous extras, but also a complete week-long "dive package" (tanks, belt weights, boats twice daily, and all else), and is therefore cheap at the price. But Capricorn, when contacted by me, made the point that it does charge a cheaper $1,309 per person for all of the above features, but with accommodations at the beach-side Fantasy Island Resort in Roatan. Again, you receive all three meals and every element of equipment, transport, and dive accessories for a week spent under the sea (in twice-daily dives). Unlike Anthony's Key Resort, which consists of many individual bungalows much prized by scuba divers, Fantasy Island Resort is a one-building hotel, but one that apparently has a good reputation and many satisfied clients. Again, contact the 30-year-old Capricorn Leisure at tel. 800/426-6544, or www.capricorn.net.
Does anyone dispute that $1,309 for a complete, weeklong dive package, as well as accommodations, transfers, three meals daily and round-trip air from the States, is a deal-and-a-half for such a prized location?
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Does anyone dispute that $1,309 for a complete, weeklong dive package, as well as accommodations, transfers, three meals daily and round-trip air from the States, is a deal-and-a-half for such a prized location?
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Jul 31, 2007
"Co-operative camping" is an often-overlooked method of enjoying a memorable, and very inexpensive, trip through the U.S. or abroad
Cooperative camping is a cheap and sensible travel method for people who haven't the energy, funds, or commitment to buy and then transport their own camping equipment and/or camping vehicle to regions out-of-town or overseas. Operators of cooperative camping tours, like TrekAmerica (tel. 800/221-0596; www.trekamerica.com), schedule departures and then round up as many as 14 scattered persons for each such departure.
When the group arrives at the jumping-off point, and the individuals on it meet each other, they then board a 14-passenger van furnished by the tour operator and driven by a professional guide -- the only paid employee on the trip. The vehicle is already supplied with eight, state-of-the-art tents, elaborate cooking utensils, and (sometimes) sleeping bags -- although most companies require that you provide the latter. On the first day of the trip, participants vote to establish a "food kitty" and then rotate the shopping for groceries and the actual preparation of meals. The driver drives. Since the group carries its own accommodations (the tents) and needn't adhere to hotel reservations, the group is able to make broad deviations from the itinerary and travel through areas where standard hotels aren't found.
The entire trip is unstructured and fun, close to nature and informal, adventurous, instructive -- and cheap. The average cooperative camping tour costs around $40 a day, plus air fare, and plus about $6 per person per day in contributions to the kitty.
Most of the programs operated by Trek America are designed for youthful people 18 to 35; but a parallel "Footloose" program featured on the website is meant for people of all ages, and heavily booked by persons in their middle age. Try it!
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When the group arrives at the jumping-off point, and the individuals on it meet each other, they then board a 14-passenger van furnished by the tour operator and driven by a professional guide -- the only paid employee on the trip. The vehicle is already supplied with eight, state-of-the-art tents, elaborate cooking utensils, and (sometimes) sleeping bags -- although most companies require that you provide the latter. On the first day of the trip, participants vote to establish a "food kitty" and then rotate the shopping for groceries and the actual preparation of meals. The driver drives. Since the group carries its own accommodations (the tents) and needn't adhere to hotel reservations, the group is able to make broad deviations from the itinerary and travel through areas where standard hotels aren't found.
The entire trip is unstructured and fun, close to nature and informal, adventurous, instructive -- and cheap. The average cooperative camping tour costs around $40 a day, plus air fare, and plus about $6 per person per day in contributions to the kitty.
Most of the programs operated by Trek America are designed for youthful people 18 to 35; but a parallel "Footloose" program featured on the website is meant for people of all ages, and heavily booked by persons in their middle age. Try it!
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Jun 26, 2007
A horse and you
The dude ranch season in Colorado is now in high gear (most ranches open in May), and close to 30 of these cowboy-staffed resorts offer reasonable all-inclusive rates (except for airfare to Denver or Grand Junction) for six nights in a rustic lodge, all three meals (including campfire cookouts) daily, and your own steed for the entire time. If you've never been to a Colorado ranch, you're missing an exhilarating experience (riding instruction, trail riding, outdoor barbecues, songfests). For a list of the properties that go down to as low as $1,295-$1,595 per person in summer for adults, $995 for children 5 to 12 (see the properties listed as "$$" -- they number nine out of the 30 members of the dude ranch association), log on to www.coloradoranch.com or contact the Colorado Dude Ranch Association, P.O.Box D, Shawnee, CO 80475, phone 970/641-4701.
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Labels: american west, outdoor
Jun 4, 2007
Bargain of the day: REI Adventures
Where: The great outdoors
When: Throughout the year.
Imagine kayaking the San Juan Islands or hiking Death Valley for $1,099 to $1,299. These are sample, six-day mini-vacations (not including airfare) from REI Adventures, run by America's greatest co-op chain of outdoors gear stores. They cover all seven continents but offer a far greater variety of domestic adventures than most outfitters. Though REI tends to be pricier than most, it has impeccable credentials, and is ideal for those for whom being active is as important as the destination.
Contact: tel. 800/622-2236; www.reiadventures.com
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When: Throughout the year.
Imagine kayaking the San Juan Islands or hiking Death Valley for $1,099 to $1,299. These are sample, six-day mini-vacations (not including airfare) from REI Adventures, run by America's greatest co-op chain of outdoors gear stores. They cover all seven continents but offer a far greater variety of domestic adventures than most outfitters. Though REI tends to be pricier than most, it has impeccable credentials, and is ideal for those for whom being active is as important as the destination.
Contact: tel. 800/622-2236; www.reiadventures.com
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May 23, 2007
The decision to request a Yellowstone Association guide is particularly smart
She didn't wear the Stetson hat and distinctive green-and-brown uniform of a park Ranger. Her only I.D. was a metal name tag pinned to her jacket. But the guide from the Yellowstone Association (www.yellowstoneassociation.org) who met us for breakfast at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, and then spent the entire day escorting us by van and on foot through a vast swath of the Yellowstone wilderness, was as highly motivated, well-informed, and delightful, as any member of the National Parks Service. Nearly every major U.S. National Park has a non-profit "association" which assists in the education of park visitors. Yosemite, for instance, has one, and Yellowstone has a particularly impressive one offering a wide range of "Lodging and Learning" programs -- "Trails through Yellowstone," "Yellowstone for Families," "Springtime in Wonderland," "Autumn in Wonderland," and several more -- that combine three or four nights of lodging and meals, in-park transportation by van, and expert instruction by naturalists, biologists and geologists, who can bring about understanding of the complex wildlife, geysers and hot springs in America's oldest national park.
Their full-time services, and the room and board you also receive in park cabins with private bath, can run as low as $150 a day per adult and $90 a day per child.
On our recent trip to Yellowstone, my wife Roberta and I opted for one of the Yelllowstone Association's one-day "Ed-Ventures" -- an intense eight hours spent wildlife-watching and hiking/walking among the thermal geology and unique scenery of this American wonderland in Wyoming. The "Ed-Venture" charge is $395 for up to seven people, and if you are lucky enough to have several others scheduled for the day of your "Ed-Venture", the entire experience -- including transportation and the constant services and lecture-commentary of a Yellowstone Association guide -- can amount to less than $60 a person.
There are, of course, numerous free-of-charge walking tours of 45 minutes or so that park Rangers also offer at different sites in Yellowstone, and we greatly enjoyed these quick interludes operated by idealistic park service employees. And there are some Ranger-led tours of up to six hours, for a modest fee. But the ability of the Rangers to conduct longer tours using transport has been severely reduced in recent years by cut-backs in appropriations mandated by Congress. And what once was free, no longer is. Fortunately, the Yellowstone Association, staffed in part by former Rangers, has taken up the challenge. Call 307/344-5566 to register for "Lodging & Learning"; call 307/344-2294 to register for a personal Ed-Venture. And for more elaborate group programs, operated by the Association, call 307/344-2591.
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Labels: outdoor, parks, yellowstone
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
