Whole Travel Blog

If you are looking for an African adventure, Whole Travel would like to suggest the Saadani Safari Lodge.  The Saadani Safari Lodge is located in the Saadani National Park.  The Saadani National Park is an extraordinary mix of ecosystems that combines beach, bush, and river.

Saadani Safari Lodge is small and intimate, with just nine individual tented cottages set along the beach, cooled by soft ocean breezes and shaded by casherina trees.  Come to Saadani Safari Lodge for a chance to see elephants, hippos, or just to get away from it all.

photo from www.saadanilodge.com

Brian Brawley and his Green RV

A recent article in the New York Times travel section caught my attention. It’s about a family has been progressively downsizing their lives over the last few years. They started in a 1600 square foot home, moved into a smaller apartment, and now live in an RV (fueled by vegetable oil, of course) while they travel the country. They don’t have room for much, so they aren’t the world’s largest consumers, but they do see a lot of the country and are spreading the word about sustainability as they travel. It’s an out-of-the-box way to promote green awareness, that’s for sure, but we’re excited to see them on the road and inspiring people to live greener lives. You can read the entire article here.

It was your classic love story - boy meets girl, girl falls in love with boy, together they live happily ever after.  But in the case of Mick and Lucy Fleming, it took place via canoe and horseback deep in the jungle of Belize.  It was there they fell in love with each other, and also the land around them.  Together, they created the lodge at Chaa Creek and now help preserve 365 acres of land while maintaining the first class resort. [More]

Find out more about Whole Travel Foundation here.

The popularity of sushi has soared over the past years and along with it, its availability. Sushi connoisseurs can visit their local grocery store to grab a quick rainbow roll on the go or can enjoy the full experience at a sushi bar or a high-end restaurant. The fact is, sushi has become mainstream food and is no longer in the same rare “delicacy” category as say escargots or frogs legs.

As a result, fishermen have had to accommodate our increasing appetite for raw fish and experts say that if unsustainable fishing practices continue, commercial fisheries could collapse in as few as 40 years. Fortunately, however, sustainable fishing methods, such as the quota system, in which fisherman are guaranteed a certain share of the catch, do exist and are on the rise.

What can we, as consumers, do? The biggest contribution we can make is eat and buy fish that has been sustainably caught. Blue Ocean Institute offers an Online Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood as well as the Fishphone, a sustainable seafood text messaging service.

India has become an even more attractive travel destination lately with the recent surge in the value of the dollar. If you’re looking for a relaxing getaway, Ashiyana Goa might be the perfect place. A tropical retreat located on the beautiful and unspoiled Mandrem Beach, it boasts accommodations in the form of luxury eco-lodges, tree-houses and stone-built houses set amidst lush tropical gardens.

Alternatively, if you want to dive into the cultural and historical wonders of India, consider staying at Krishna Prakash Heritage Haveli which is located at the foot of Mehrangarh Fort.

Gaia Napa Valley Hotel & Spa is the world’s first and only Gold LEED Certified Hotel.  What did it take to earn this certification?  Low VOC paints used throughout, carpet containing post consumer recycled material, recycled tiles and granite, low flush toilets and low flow showers, solar panels, and locally grown food provided at the restaurant; to name some of the many efforts that went in to what is today Gaia.

With 131 “green” rooms situated on four acres in American Canyon, just south of Napa, there is even a real-time display in the lobby showing how much energy is being used and saved at the hotel moment by moment.  Gaia is the first of its kind, but hopefully just one in a long list to come. [More]

Find out more about Whole Travel Foundation here.

Committed to doing their part to fight global warming and reduce green house gas emissions, airplane manufacturers are vowing to become less oil dependent and transition to a 30% biofuel blend in the next three to five years. Boeing spokesperson Andrew Davis declared that, “the industry has signed up to a pledge of trying to gain carbon neutral growth, which we don’t claim at any point is an easy target to make but we have to have that kind of goal.”

The great news is that the planes won’t have to be rebuilt or altered in any way in order to use biofuels. However, the big challenge lies in fulfilling the huge demand of biofuel that’s needed to get planes green.

According to Boeing’s environmental expert, Darrin Morgan, “fueling the world’s 13,000 commercial planes with soya bean-based fuel, would require setting aside the equivalent of the entire land mass of Europe for soya bean production.”

Via The Guardian.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the best travel deals this winter are to Hawaii, Morocco, and India; Europe still being too expensive because of the strong euro as well as expensive flights.

Hawaii has become more attractive as a result of decreased tourism and the attempt to make up for this with airfare and hotel packaged deals. A 10 day excursion in Morocco will cost travelers less than $700, excluding airfare. And India has become one of the cheapest getaways with the dollar to rupee exchange having improved by 25%.

Find out more here.

When thinking about Beijing, images of the recent Olympics, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall come to mind. However, there’s a completely different kind of China to discover on the outskirts of Beijing.

This week’s New York Times Travel section explores the hiking opportunities that abound in the lush, mountainous regions surrounding Beijing and declares fall the perfect time to visit. Read more about it here.

Snow and pleasant air travel hardly go hand in hand. That is, unless you’re New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, Japan which, come 2010 will start converting the mounds of annual winter snowfall into air-conditioning for the summer months.

Known for its icy winters where temperatures drop to well below freezing, Hokkaido will begin utilizing the abundance of snow to replace 30% of the airport’s cooling energy needs. This translates into a reduction of 2,100 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

What other natural resources can airports harness to reduce their carbon emissions?