The animal world is more captivating than ever. With the explosion of media, especially TV programs dedicated to animals and wildlife, and with a big help from the internet, information about animals have become readily available like never before. The most intelligent of animals, apes, are of particularly interest, as they… well, remind us so much about ourselves.

With continued research we are learning about just how intelligent they are. Recent research indicate that Orang Utans have the ability to heal themselves with self-made medication when they are sick, making concoctions of herbs and leaves they find in the forest. An interesting find indeed, as research has demonstrated that Orang Utans in the wild are healthier than those in captivity, that are more prone to ailments. Germs passed from humans are one reason to blame. The fact that Orang Utans recognize which plants to use for medication is fascinating. You can get involved by becoming a volunteer to work with these fuzzy, cuddly & friendly Man of the Forest (Malay translation of Orang Utan)!

Orang Utans by riverside in Bukit Lawang. Notice how they use their hands to drink.

Mother and baby in the jungle. Photo: Chris Bannister

Orang Utans are amongst the most endangered species in the world. Their habitats can only be found in the rainforest of Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo, the part Indonesia shares with Malaysian). If you’ve always been intrigued to get close and personal with the Orang Utan, you could choose to volunteer at an Orang Utan Rescue center in Indonesia. Organized through Eco Volunteer, that works with the Bukit Lawang Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center in North Sumatra. The project is located near Gunung Leuser National Park, the orang utans natural habitat.

Orang utan in the wild. Photo: Bukit Lawang Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center

Orang Utan with baby at Bukit Lawang Orang Utan Rehabilitation center

Bukit Lawang ranks as the best place to see these unique primates, with one of the largest strongholds of orang utan communities. Bukit Lawang situated at the eastern side of Gunung Leuser National Park, by the Bohorok river. It is estimated that there re over 5,000 orang utans in the jungles of this national park.

River crossing during jungle hike. Photo: Ivona Foitova

Mother orang utan and her baby at the Bukit Lawang Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center, North Sumatra

Although Eco Volunteer works with a different Orang Utan rehab center, it’s interesting to mention the Bohorok Orang Utan Centre at Bukit Lawang, as the pioneer center for Orang Utans. Established in 1973 by two Swiss Zoologists with funding from Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The centre’s mission is to safeguard the decreasing number of orang utans from hunting, orang utan trading, habitat destruction due to forest fires and deforestation caused by palm oil plantations and illegal logging. The rehabilitation center helps orang utans re-gain their natural habits through training and rehabilitation before being released to the wild. Once orang utans are back in the wild, the center monitors their whereabout, providing them with regular medical check-ups.

Rice field, view from the volunteer accommodation. Photo: Ivona Foitova

Volunteer accommodation. Photo: Ivona Foitova

Project accommodation is in the rice fields in the Timbang Lawan village, in a tranquil setting that sees volunteers from around the world. The center works closely with the community of this village. And in the nearby Bohorok river is Gunung Leuser National Park, one of the richest expanses of protected tropical rainforest ecosystems in Southeast Asia and where the center’s research is focused.

Boat river crossing in boat to Gunung Leuser National Park. Photo: Chris Bannister

Mother and baby in the jungle. Photo: Chris Bannister

While working with orang utans, volunteers can also help fellow-humans, through the Bukit Lawang Community Charitable Trust to help support the local Bukit Lawang community that was hit by disastrous floods in 2003, wiping out the whole of the village and killing 300 people. The Trust provides immediate aid, and set up a health clinic in the village. The Trust now helps other villages like Bukit Lawang throughout Indonesia that have been affected by natural disaster such as the tsunami and earthquakes by helping the communities to rehabilitate through water, health and education projects. 100% of funds raised go directly to projects.

Conducting reserach work in the office. Photo: Ivona Foitova

Another Mother and baby photo in the rainforest. Photo: Chris Bannister

Conducting research work on jungle floor. Photo: Chris Bannister

Trekking through the thick rainforest jungle. Photo: Chris Bannister

Source: Endangered Eden

A unique hotel stay experience awaits in the Peach State of Georgia. If you’ve always fancied a stay in a “Yurt” (Mongolian traditional tent) that is a common sight across the Mongolian steppes. This of course doesn’t come with the harsh weather conditions of the Mongolian plains, but does render a unique experience of glamping (glamorous camping). Cedar House Inn & Yurt Camp, Atlanta, Georgia.

WHAT MAKES IT GREEN: this eco friendly hotel is located in the heart of the Georgia Mountains and wine country. Embracing passive solar principles, low electrical consumption, and recycling waste the Cedar House Inn defines “green.”

Algonquin Wilderness Eco-Lodge, lies on the southern border of Algonquin Park (3 hrs from Toronto or Ottawa), is a wilderness enthusiasts’ dream! Open all year round, with plenty of activities during Summer or Winter. With over 60 km of wilderness trails inside the park, Algonquin Wilderness Eco-Lodge is ideal for cross country skiing, dog sledding, hiking, canoeing, and mountain biking. The best time to visit is in Fall when the spectacle of foliage burst into their amazing colors.

WHAT MAKES IT GREEN: beautifully secluded amidst remote Algonquin forests, with a combination of alternative energy sources, the Eco-Lodge still provides all the finer comforts. Famous for its cross-country skiing, dog sledding, hiking, canoeing, and mountain biking, the hotel promises a true wilderness experience.

A sheltered oasis in untamed Kachemak Bay State Park, the lodge lies just north of Tutka Bay and only 10 miles by boat from Homer, Alaska, the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World”. Custom-built in the mid 1970’s by owner/operator Keith Iverson and accessible only by boat, float plane, or helicopter, Sadie Cove Wilderness Lodge offers the visitor a unique opportunity to participate first hand in Alaska’s wilderness lifestyle with a true Alaskan sourdough.

Nestled between the dramatic vertical peaks of Sadie fjord are a variety of accommodations in private, hand-crafted cabins – a sauna and bath house next to a rushing creek; a communal entertainment and TV lounge; a dining hall complete with professional chef/waitress; and an Alaskan sized Barbecue/fire pit. The atmosphere is rustic elegance, a great place for a honeymoon, a holiday or a family reunion.

WHAT MAKES IT GREEN: offers the visitor a unique opportunity to participate in Alaska’s wilderness lifestyle in a genuine, year-round, Alaskan home and lodge, for example planting a new tree with each guest.

One could pretty much argue that Green is the new “Black”. At least in the hotel world. Parallel to the world’s fascination with “being green” and the “green movement”, eco hotels are popping up in all corners of the globe, like mushrooms in the monsoon season. These range from hotels that a just a tad bit green, in their building materials and use of alternative energy, to full-blown hotels with a clear mission of protecting the environment and benefiting their immediate communities. Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge in Nicaragua is one fine resort of the latter genre.

Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge is more than just a hotel or luxury resort. It is a unique and natural haven for the true traveler who is looking for a touch of luxury while enjoying the adventure and excitement of the exotic and tropical Nicaragua. But most importantly, it is a project of nature conservation, community development and reforestation offering Nicaragua Agro and Ecotourism at its best.

Enjoy the solitary companionship of one of Nicaragua’s most beautiful beaches while slipping back into your spacious private bungalow overlooking Pacific sunsets and tropical wildlife. Remind yourself how to play with time while working with nature.

The Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge is the newest of its breed in the world of green hotels, and takes full advantage of Nicaragua’s rich tropical nature, the Pacific Ocean waters and pristine beaches.

The resort forms part of a 1,000-hectares tree farming and reforestation project as well as an 800-hectare private nature reserve and large natural sanctuaries along the Pacific Coast of Central America. The beach is of fine light beige sand and is a sea turtle nesting areas are truly a sight to behold.

The conservation of this area is crucial for maintaining the habitat of the animals living in this region. During the past ten years, almost 1.5 million trees have been planted in these lands.

These reforested lands, together with the nature reserve and the estuary, host a variety of forest animals such as howler monkeys, sloths, white tail deer and numerous bird species endemic to the subtropical region. The beach is a nesting ground for sea turtles, from August to December each year. This entire property is yours to enjoy and explore with our guides.

This exclusive hotel has 15 bungalows that all face the sea and sunsets and are made of precious woods. Bungalows are designed with interior gardens and ample ventilation and light. Offering a choice of either forest- and beach- view and feature a king size bed, sofa bed and private deck. The cabins are connected to the main lodge by a 100 meter suspension bridge that crosses a forested canyon.

This is an ecological beach experience unique in Central America. There’s a myriad of leisure activities to choose from, including mountain biking, kayaking, and jungle trekking, or a simple tour of the resort’s fine facility and organic farm with all the domestic animals to enjoy and appreciate.

Morgan’s Rock has on offer tours of the immediate area to appreciate the diverse natural landscapes. As well as a tour of historic lake front Granada, the continent’s oldest European settlement.

ECOTOURISM & SUSTAINABILITY:
Ecotourism is defined as “responsible travel to natural places, which conserves the environment and sustains the well being of the local people.”

Morgan’s Rock takes its Responsible Ecotourism seriously through the following:

• Protecting endangered primary forest wilderness.
• Educating and motivating guests to become actively involved in conservation, education and forest preservation.
• Creating a sustainable development project that will help the local community by offering employment and education.
• Supporting the reforestation project on the property.
• Protecting wildlife and reintroducing nearly extinct animal species into the private reserve.
• The furniture in the rooms (beds, desks, chairs, etc.) was made by local artisans using the “leftover” wood from the bungalow construction.
• The pathways leading up to the hanging bridge and to the beach were made of wood that was damaged or split during the construction of the main lodge.
• Several trees grow through cabin roofs, allowing them to stay alive and adding that “special touch” to Morgan’s Rock.
• All buildings accommodate slopes and trees. Minimal earth movement and cutting of trees (only the ones in poor condition) was done.
• Instead of using local septic tanks for each bungalow, a centralized system for gray and black water with a bio filter system was installed. Treated water is used for irrigation.

Source: Unique Travel Destinations Blog

Husteca Secreta, a five-star eco retreat

The five-star eco retreat, Husteca Secreta

A funky truck transports the kayakers and their kayaks. Truly unforgettable.

Source: Unique Travel Destinations Blog | BC Wetcoast Blog

Let’s be frank, we all live with lists! The vast majority of us LOVE it, while others disdain it. But we all get through life – a little easier – equipped with these lists, or a variation thereof. Published Best Of~ lists, in particular, probably fascinate us the most.

The Media makes perennial compilations – print, electronic and now… viral. Everyone from Celebrity Gossip magazines to TV Gossip Shows, Yahoo and YouTube… including glossy Travel Magazines, like Condé Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure who each year anoint “what’s hot” and “what’s not”, in Hotels, Spas, Airlines, Restaurants, and Travel Destinations. Even National Geographic has their version of a hot hotel list, but focuses on what matters the most – whether or not they have a green heart. The result: 50 Top Ecolodges: The Most Earth-Friendly Retreats in the World’s Most Spectacular Wilds. Here’s a partial look at some of them, across the 5 different categories of: Island, Savanna, Jungle, Desert, and Mountain.

A decade ago, you could probably count only a handful of the world’s true eco-lodges. But today we are witnessing one of the most significant transformations in the history of modern travel. And ecolodges are at the center of this movement. Once located exclusively in the African bush and Central American jungles, these retreats now span nearly every ecosystem and every budget—and their mission has never been more vital. Sure, they offer great service and comfort in spectacular locations, but they also support local communities, connect their guests to cultures on an authentic level, create impactful conservation initiatives, and increasingly place adventure at the center of the experience. Here we present the most comprehensive ecolodge survey ever assembled, representing diverse landscapes and locales. Click on the dots below to find your green adventure.

Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa, Australia
Key Features: luxury, active adventures, local culture

Run in partnership with the local Kuku Yalanji tribe, Daintree is one of the few places where outsiders can interact with Australian Aborigines in their element. Guides offer painting workshops using ocher from the lodge’s waterfall and hiking tours (a must for fans of Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines) to see medicinal plants and ferns with 25-foot fronds. Guests stay in a series of 15 elevated tree house-like villas ensconced in thick, misty rain forest, located a mere 40-minute drive e from the Great Barrier Reef.

Chumbe Island Coral Park, Tanzania
Key Features: active adventures, wildlife, local culture, family

Welcome, Sierra Club members! Chumbe’s seven bungalows, outfitted with solar-heated showers, are fit for Robinson Crusoe. The lodge was founded in conjunction with Zanzibar’s first marine park and now trains local rangers. Spot the rare nine-pound coconut crab, the largest on land, then snorkel with dol s and hawksbill turtles.

Sukau Rainforest Lodge, Borneo
Key Features: active adventures, wildlife, family

Embrace Borneo’s clamorous jungle life at the 20-room Sukau Rainforest Lodge, a 45-minute flight from Kota Kinabalu, followed by a two-hour boat trip. The lodge offers tours in handcrafted wooden boats with ultraquiet electric motors and has a series of boardwalks with passageways for migrating elephants.

Voyages Longitude 131°, Australia
Key Features: luxury, local culture

It pays to wake up at dawn at Voyages Longitude 131°. A bedside button draws the shades of your safari-style tent to reveal an unfettered view of the sun rising over Ayers Rock, the outback’s famed monolith. By day, Aborigines lead tours around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. In the evenings, dine out in the open, quaff local wines, and listen to stargazing tutorials.

North Island, Seychelles
Key Features: luxury, active adventures, wildlife

While taking in uninterrupted views of the turquoise sea from a villa handcrafted by local Seychellois carpenters, it’s easy to mistake this as one’s own private island. It’s even harder to believe that the isle was once ravaged by invasive species. African outfitter Wilderness Safaris rehabbed the land by reintroducing endemic tortoises, birds, and plants and building 11 no-expense-spared villas, a spa, and a dive center.

Kosrae Village Ecolodge & Dive Resort, Micronesia
Key Features: active adventures, local culture, family

Located east of Palau, the jumble of steep jade mountains known as Kosrae Island is farther than most tourists venture. That’s why Kosrae Village, the island’s one and only ecolodge, feels like such an authentic slice of South Pacific life. Dive for a coral-monitoring project, learn to weave at a local village, and dine on coconut-smoked wahoo.

Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa, United Arab Emirates
Key Features: luxury, active adventures, wildlife

Though set in Arabian Desert dunes only 45 minutes from Dubai, Al Maha feels impossibly remote. Credit goes to the resort, which helped establish a 55,600-acre reserve, the country’s first. Guests can camel trek, ride purebred Arabian horses, and watch falconry displays, then bed down in decadent Bedouin-style suites with Persian rugs, antiques, and private pools.

Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Costa Rica
Key Features: luxury, active adventures, wildlife, local culture, family

Set in a thousand-acre private tropical rain forest reserve on the Osa Peninsula, Lapa Rios was Costa Rica’s first ecolodge to combine creature conservation with creature comforts. Hardly a weed was harmed in the building of the 16 thatch bungalows outfitted with locally made bamboo furniture, solar-heated showers, and hammocks overlooking the Pacific.

Wadi Feynan Ecolodge, Jordan
Key Features: active adventures, wildlife, local culture

Jordan’s Dana Biosphere Reserve covers 116 square miles, protecting rare wildlife like the sand cat and Syrian wolf. In 2005, to raise funds for the reserve and employ local Bedouins, Jordan’s Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature established this 26-room, solar-powered retreat with a mountain bike trail system. The inn, a model for Jordanian ecolodges, offers unprecedented access to Bedouin life.

Uno Eco Lodge, Mexico
Key Features: active adventures, wildlife, local culture, family

Uno Eco Lodge is perched above the Urique River on the rim of Copper Canyon—deeper than the Grand and a lot less crowded. The nine solar-powered rooms are owned by the Raramuri Indians, and your stay supports their 65,000-acre wilderness, where pumas and bobcats prowl. Trek to caves, waterfalls, and archaeological sites or skirt the canyon in a 1950s-era open-deck railcar.

Black Sheep Inn, Ecuador
Key Features: active adventures, local culture

The Black Sheep Inn, perched at 10,500 feet in the Ecuadorian highlands south of Quito, has transparent roofs to let sunlight into the indoor flower gardens, with views of the Rio Toachi Canyon. Everything else at this simple eight-room eco-retreat and bunkhouse follows in irrepressible green style. After hiking through remote Andean villages and canyons, feast on a vegetarian dinner from the organic garden, sit in the sauna, then cap it all off with a glass of Ecuadorian rum.

Wolwedans, Namibia
Key Features: active adventures, wildlife

Like many private African reserves, Wolwedans started when a Namibian businessman bought up desert farms to return them to nature. But Wolwedans, which offers four camps to suit all tastes, is anything but typical. Play Hemingway in a canvas-and-gum-pole tent or in an elegant wood-and-canvas chalet—both staffed by trained villagers—and hike through the vast quiet of the golden sand dunes, punctuated by oryx and springbok. Our advice: Splurge on hot-air ballooning at dawn.

Rosalie Forest Eco Lodge, Dominica
Key Features: active adventures, family

Instead of white sand and palms, the Caribbean isle of Dominica is covered in volcanoes and virgin jungle. A15-minute hike into the vines and heliconia, Rosalie’s tree houses and cabins feature wind-powered lights and rainwater showers. After waterfall hikes, eat an organic dinner with Brit owner Jem Winston, a London taxi driver turned sustainable-living guru.

Vumbura Plains Camp, Botswana
Key Features: luxury, wildlife

Located outside the trekkers’ capital of Pokhara, 125 miles from Kathmandu, Tiger Mountain The Okavango, encompassing thousands of square miles of floodplains, is a paradise for avian species and megafauna. Vumbura, set on the delta’s northern edge, has minimalist-chic suites with private lounges and plunge pools overlooking the plains. The lodge also offers the best way to sneak up on those wattled cranes and rare Pel’s fishing owls: the mokoro, a traditional dug-out canoe.

The Lodge at Pico Bonito, Honduras
Key Features: local adventures, wildlife, family

Travelers in little-visited Honduras often feel a unique sense of discovery. This is especially true at Pico Bonito’s secluded cabins, built with hurricane-downed timber in a remote stretch of rain forest near the eponymous national park and the Bay Islands. Horseback ride and whitewater raft one day, snorkel and visit Maya ruins the next.

Desert Rhino Camp, Namibia
Key Features: luxury, active adventures, wildlife

Thanks to the joint efforts of outfitter Wilderness Safaris and Save the Rhino Trust, Namibia’s million-acre private Palmwag Conservancy hosts the largest free-ranging population of black rhinos in Africa. Track the beasts on foot with SRT rangers and researchers across rolling hills and desert scattered with ancient welwitschia plants, then sip South African Merlot and retire to an elegant canvas-and-thatch tent overlooking red-rock badlands.

Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa
Key Features: luxury, wildlife

In just four years, entrepreneur Stephen Boler bought 34 farms in the Kalahari Desert and turned them into a 220,000-acre wilderness reserve, one of the largest private conservation projects in African history. Walk and horseback ride to view resuscitated populations of rare wild dogs, roan antelope, lions, and rhinos. Luxury cottages have private pools and sundecks overlooking watering holes.

Tiamo Resort, Bahamas
Key Features: luxury, active adventures, family

While hoteliers have jostled for elbow room on Caribbean beaches since the 1950s, remote South Andros Island has remained blissfully development free. To preserve the pristine area, Tiamo?s owners hid their 11 airy wooden bungalows in the jungle and built a field of solar panels to power them. Cast for bonefish in world-renowned flats or snorkel one of the planet?s largest reefs.

Nihiwatu, Indonesia
Key Features: luxury, active adventures, local culture

Nihiwatu has a consistent break right off its 1.5-mile beach, but this chilled-out surf nirvana attracts more than pro riders. Join the active devotees of this coconut-biodiesel-fueled resort for yoga in the thatch pavilion, find bliss in the spa, and mountain bike to remote villages. Thanks in part to the resort, thousands of villagers now have access to clean water and health clinics.

Soneva Fushi by Six Senses, Maldives
Key Features: luxury, active adventures

“No news, no shoes,” is the resident philosophy at Soneva Fushi, which is to say: Kick back. Dive or windsurf the baby blue waters, take a wine-tasting tutorial with the sommelier, or dine on your own private beach. Behind its elegant facade, this 65-suite resort has committed to zero carbon emissions by 2010 with innovations like deep-ocean water cooling.

Most travelers associate Costa Rica with verdant tropical jungles, and it’s easy to forget that the country also has a splendid coast, facing the Carribean Sea. The Mediterraneus Hotel, architectural jewel of the North Pacific coast of Costa Rica, is located just few minutes from Potrero Beach, in Guanacaste Province.


The eco-friendly Mediterraneus Hotel is a delightful resort that takes its mission seriously. The property has considered development and all environmental practices, to create a perfect ambiance where nature and people can live in harmony.

The resort’s excellent location, offers easy access to some of the best natural wonders of Costa Rica, including Santa Rosa National Park, Tamarindo Mangroves, and Rincon de la Vieja Volcano.

Guests can further appreciate Costa Rica’s great outdoors through a choice of other leisure activities, such like horseback riding on the beach, walking guided tours, river rafting excursions, ATV and bicycles rental. And then again, there’s always the beach, that most visitors forget Costa Rica is blessed with.

While the structure may resemble something out a fairy tale, the rooms and amenities are anything but. Promising all the modern comforts of an eco-lodge from which you could venture out and enjoy the beautiful outdoors in Chile’s leading nature reserves.

The hotel is decorated in a natural and cozy mountain style with local wood and stone. Windows, walls, doors and stairs are all carved out of the local rustic woods. Large windows of the hotel add warm tones to the wood. Each nine room is named for a different local species of bird and all of them have private well-equipped bathrooms.

The major attraction here is hot Tubs in the Forest, made of huge trunks of trees. They are filled with hot water and are set on a platform overlooking the forest. This is really a place to take a very good glass wine and relax.

The hotel facilities include: a restaurant with local specialties, bar, sauna, mini-golf court and internet access. Mountain Area’s Activities: hiking, trekking, horseback riding, rafting and mountain biking.

Source: Wayfaring