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Organization of people who live and work in Chengdu. Sichuan Quake Relief identifies the specific needs of remote communities that may not receive immediate assistance, sends out appeals, collects funds and supplies, and coordinates their delivery. Admin costs are nil.
Environmental education charity offering eco holidays that include training in ecology/traditional skills plus guided walks via woodlands, hills, bogs and lakes.
Also enjoyable local culture with traditional music, dancing, arts and drama.
Scariff, County Clare, Ireland.
www.celtnet.org (+353)61-640765
nearest station Birdhill
It's a cross between a hotel, a youth hostel and a summer school for families and adults into sustainable living. They run brilliant Family Weeks and workshop courses on environmental issues like composting, preserving, finding wild food and a few more whacky ones like Sacred Trees and Five Rhythms Dance.
Beautiful space - an amazing gothic Victorian building with great views, 11 acres of land, organic walled garden (lots of the food is grown on site) and a farm - and a really good atmosphere. It's three miles from Charmouth and Lyme Regis for seaside fossils and swimming. You can also go there as a volunteer - help out in return for free board and lodging.
www.monktonwyldcourt.org
monktonwyldcourt@btinternet.com
Tel 01297 560342
Malapascua is small island just north of Cebu. Good diving, amazing beautiful beach - much better than the world-famous, but now too spoiled, Boracay beach.
Getting there is really quite hard work. Small native pump-boats run from the end of the road, Cebu-City bus terminal, at a very small place called Maya. Many taxi drivers will be willing to take you there, direct from Cebu City, but it's so little known, that not many of the local taxi drivers really know the right way to go! The bus takes 4+ hours from Cebu City.
When you finally reach Maya, there's no pier, so expect to get your feet wet! Last pump boat leaves at 5pm. Later than that - you must pay lots for a special boat trip.(PhP1500+ or negotiate with the captain!)
Dano Beach resort is at the far end of the white beach. Bungalows cost Php 1,200 - which is not a lot UK£12 / US$25 but service was appaling. I requested a chair to sit on, on the verandah, and was bluntly told none were available. Simple plastic chairs can easily be purchased locally for less than Php200. I tore a hole in my new shorts sitting on a homemade table of nailed bamboo strips as there was nothing else to sit down on.
In the morning the resort's water pump stopped and wasn't fixed, so no way to wash; the beach resort owners just shrugged and said to wash in the sea.
A few bigger resort places on Malapasqua have better facilities at maybe double the nightly price. Try Blue Water or Cocobana if you want to stay here. Ging-gings is a good place to eat. Greedy local owners have been overbuilding on the beach (which is public, govement-owned property) and a lot of illegal constructions have been marked with big painted red Xs to signal their demolition, if less than 30 metres from the high-tide line.
Will this really go ahead, or will the often lazy and corrupt Philippine bureauracy allow one of the world's finest beaches to be destroyed by greed and over-development?
If you love elephants, animals and care about the environment then visit this wonderful elephant sanctuary.
Over 30 elephants live here free from work and they live a natural life in social groups. There is no riding but that doesn't matter because you can feed and bath them in the river. Just watching them interact with each other is really special.
They give you lots of information about elephant conservation and the whole day is great.
Highly recommended.
Great chance to record sightings of dolphins, porpoises etc with a trained observer as part of National Whale and Dolphin Watch week.
Aberystwyth Castle, for details of watch see www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk
A small eco village north of Salvador. Local bus, about an hour, up the road from Praia de Forte (Tamar turtle project) with a river running alongside the beach, which has a few barracas for cheap food and drinks. A wonderful place.
Morro de Sao Paolo is good too! Stayed in a great place on second beach. Fourth beach is the best, it's got a great Tahitian-style cafe there.
This is a weekend of learning, discovery, celebration and fun for women of all ages. This annual event takes place in late May (May 25th - 27th, 2007) to coincide with the Celtic festival of Bealtaine.
The weekend honours female energy, ancient wisdoms and has a strong environmental theme throughout. It is inspirational, life affirming and energising. Just what every women needs from time to time - a bit of self space!
There is the option to join an all-women tour of this untainted region of Northwest Ireland.
www.wisewomanireland.com
phone: 353(0)71 913 4913
Located 6 miles from the Nortwest transportation hub of Sligo and an hour from the International Airport at Knock.
The home of Eric, the infamous three-legged croc, also spider world and other aussie perils. The education officer's talks are informative yet, more importantly, entertainingly memorable - as he has a dry line in sarcasm, usually directed at kids!
Heaps more fun than Taronga zoo and cheaper. You can pet kangaroos while eating your sarnies outdoors in the picnic area. Dingos, Tasmanian Devils, koalas, mate, it's all there and it's all good!
45 minutes' drive from Sydney.
Nearest railway station - Gosford
Pacific Highway, Somersby, NSW 2250
ph +612 4340 1022
admin@reptilepark.com.au
Into Africa specialise in offering eco-friendly safaris in Kenya and Tanzania. My wife and I went on their Kenya Explorer trip last October and we were very impressed with their service. The guides and drivers were very well trained and informative and the food provided was wonderful.
www.intoafrica.co.uk/
IntoAfrica UK Ltd,
40 Huntingdon Crescent,
Sheffield,
S11 8AX,
UK.
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)114 255 5610
Having just returned from Heron Island, we can thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy an easy few days, whilst capturing some of the most amazing natural sights. It is off the coast of Gladstone, Queensland.
Between December and March, female turtles come on the island to lay their eggs. Between January and March turtle hatchlings scramble to the sea. It is a great place to enjoy great beaches, great snorkeling and diving and nature at its most natural. Go on the free talks and walks early on and learn how to behave so that you watch but don’t interfere with the natural cycles on the island. I recommend the Beach House. It’s the most expensive accommodation, but is the most comfortable and is situated on the beach. If you get travel sick, try the helicopter, a much easier way of getting to the island, although there is a cost consideration.
Heron Island was the best part of a long trip. Highly recommended for experiences you won't forget.
The Eden Project is a place where there are plants and trees from all over the world. There are three gigantic domes that the plants are kept in - my favourite one is the tropical biome where it is like a jungle. At night the Eden Project looks amazing and normally has shows on. We saw fire dancers and Indian drummers. There are soundscapes that sound real, of lions, tigers and monkeys.They have activities to smell, touch, hear and see. So don't miss it!!!
From Will Sales (age 8)
The Eden Project
Bodleva
Austell
Cornwall
PL24 2SG
Tel 01726811911
Eden is open nearly every day of the year. Opening times vary. We visited Eden in summer when it was open late in the evening. www.edenproject.com
Mitfahren is carpooling par excellence! Check out www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de and hook yourself up with very normal people travelling long distances who want to split the cost of the journey.
It's eco and wallet friendly, wíth a Munich-Berlin trip coming in at around 30€.
As this system is very established in Germany, you will almost always find someone going to your destination when you need to go. Keep it in mind!
The dolphins, lovely and wild as they are, won't hang about when 4 motorboats are roaring excitedly towards them. If you want some quality time with them, head to Kizimkazi for 2pm on a dalla-dalla bus, offer the local boys $10 - $15 for snorkel, mask and fins and time with the dolphins, just you and 1 or 2 others. The dolphins will feel more relaxed (the males seem rather non-plussed anyway) and will respond up-close and personal.
Oh, and don't buy any coral or shell souvenirs.
Across from the market in Stone town you will find all the dalla-dallas - the ubiquitous toyota minibuses - just find one with Kizimkazi on the front. Don't forget to ask what time the last dalla-dalla leaves to return to Stone town (usually between 5 - 6pm)
Support the Tamar turtle project in Brazil by visiting their turtle sites along the coast – they’ve saved hundreds of thousands of turtles over the past three decades.
An inspiring ecolodge high in the Andes, in the small village of Chugchilan, near Latacunga (about a day's journey from Quito). It's in a beautiful rural location - just getting there is an adventure. Delicious veggie food, grown organically by the lodge. Composting toilets are an experience. Great hiking, biking and horseriding nearby - the lodge give you all the info you need. All local staff and loads of benefits go to the local community. And (the unusual bit for such a great ecolodge) - totally affordable at around $30 per person per night including breakfast and dinner. It's an amazing place.
See www.blacksheepinn.com for instructions on how to get there. Local buses or private vehicles can be arranged:
tel: 593 3 - 281-4587
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
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