Baboons; Out of the Wild and into the Backyard

Lorna Thomas, a writer for GoNOMAD.com, addresses the well-being of South African baboons, whose land is being taken away from them due to urban development, in her article Working to Save South Africa's Chacma Baboons.
"Baboons lived in Cape Town's surrounding hills and plains long before their human neighbours took up residence. Conflict escalated as urban development encroached on baboon habitat bringing them into ever closer contact with man.
Briefly, problems arise when baboons seek human food, in the process causing destruction to property.

A number of signs around the scenic Peninsula warn tourists not to feed baboons. The signs are there for a reason. It may be appealing to watch the animals eat food thrown to them, but long after tourists go home, residents - and baboons - pay the price for baboons being fed by humans. Baboons pay with life and limb.

Rather than being considered a nuisance and persecuted, the baboons with their intelligence, exuberance, mobility, structured social life with an emphasis on protecting their young should be enjoyed by the community and by tourists."

Great Tips for Frequent Flyer Miles

"The Best Frequent Flyer Advice You Will Ever Get" is a chapter in Mileage Pro: The Insider's Guide to Frequent Flyer Programs by Randy Petersen and Tim Winship. GoNOMAD excerpted this chapter so readers could find the best ways to fly for free, in their article "Mileage Pro: Getting the Most Out of Your Frequent Flyer Programs." Here are five great tips from the story that will help you travel for less:

"Registered Traveler. Don’t confuse this with the government airport security program. Almost every traveler we know has missed out on collecting bonus miles because they failed to register for a promotion. These days, loyalty programs will require you to register for a bonus rather than automatically issuing you the extra miles and points. Make sure you know when registering is a requirement.

Suck up every bonus on international travel. Travelers who hit world capitals on a regular basis are prime candidates for bonuses. One trip to Asia in the right cabin class can earn you one free domestic ticket, as long as you register to earn the bonus.

Learn how to stretch your miles. If your three-year stash is about to expire, tap a small partner such as a car rental or dining program to keep those miles active. No need to fly or stay at a hotel. Just use your knowledge of how to stay “active” for another three years.

Qualify for elite membership. Nothing is as important as earning elite status in your primary loyalty programs. Verify the number of miles needed to qualify in both your airline and hotel programs. It's well worth scheduling an extra flight or night in a hotel if that's all that stands between you and the extensive benefits of elite membership.

Building miles. You can build miles by buying a home. All major airline and hotel programs have national programs to earn you a lot of miles for mortgages. And guess what? Some if the nation’s leading mortgage lenders: Countrywide, Washington Mutual Home Loans, Chase Home Finance, CitiMortgage and Wachovia Corporate Mortgage Services participate in these programs.

Take advantage of special mileage-earning promos. Hotels and car rental companies, along with airlines, offer bonus miles. Triple miles with an airline’s car rental partners is a frequent promotion, while hotels often offer double and triple points by property. Become a real estate agent and find the hotel property that gives you the best bonus. These bonuses will be listed on the hotel program’s Web site and in their member newsletter."

Dinner with a Geisha

The bestselling novel and recent film adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha has turned a lot of attention to Kyoto, Japan. Johnny Jet describes his exploration of Kyoto and the night he met a Geisha in his article, Where's Johnny Jet: In Kyoto for Frommers.

"Kyoto is Japan's seventh largest city (with 1.4 million residents) and widely regarded as the prettiest. Kyoto welcomes 43 million tourists a year; surprisingly, only half a million of those come from outside Japan. One reason Kyoto is so popular with visitors is because it has 17 World Heritage Sites (only Rome has more).

At 7 p.m. we were dropped off in the small, famous district of Kyoto called Gion. This is the area where geishas and maikos (geisha apprentices) have lived since the 1600s. We walked down a quiet, charming street until our guide found the door she was looking for. She knocked, and immediately the door opened. I felt like I was entering someone's house, but instead it was a private banquet room.

After the hosts took our drink orders, we got the thrill of our trip. Ever so quietly a sliding door opened. There they were: a geisha and a maiko, kneeling with our drinks next to them. Their exposed skin was painted white (except for a small section of their neck); their hair and makeup were perfect, and they wore beautiful kimonos. They spoke very little English, but were almost as interested in our lives as we were with theirs.

We learned that it takes only 30 minutes to get ready for the evening, and they put their makeup on themselves. Yes, they both read the book Memoirs of a Geisha. Both agreed it was not an accurate portrayal of today's geisha life. They said, however, that maybe it was like that in the old days.

During dinner they entertained us. As the night progressed they taught us their songs, dances and games. By the end of the night we were all dancing and having a great time. Everything was so simple. There was nothing extravagant (besides their clothes). There was nothing high tech. It was just a night filled with good, old-fashioned fun and laughs."

Traveling to East Timor

Despite its recent struggles, GoNOMAD.com writer Charmaine Chew is convinced that East Timor has the potential to be a great place for vacationing. Her article East Timor: The Next Big Thing certainly makes it seem like a traveler’s dream.

“Our collective imagination of East Timor’s recent history is one littered with images of burnt out churches and widespread devastation. Four years after its people voted overwhelmingly for independence, the newest nation on earth is now opening its doors to the world. It is a unique opportunity for visitors to explore a beautiful island paradise while gaining an insight into the challenging task of rebuilding a country.

East Timor is an Asian country with the laid back feeling of small island nations and a dash of Latino spirit. It is a land of daily siestas, beaches lined with coconut trees and remnants of Portuguese culture. It is also a place where the time of day is marked not by clocks, but by the position of the sun in the sky. For a country less than a third of the size of Tasmania, it is a travel destination full of surprises and rewarding experiences, best suited to visitors with a sense of discovery and a penchant for the unexpected.

The ultimate beachside escape can be found on the island of Atauro. The island is visible from Dili and is approximately 2 hours by ferry, longer if you travel on the community fishing boat (and undoubtedly more exciting). Atauro was once used as a prison and resettlement camp. The island is now renowned for its flourishing community based eco-tourism venture. The eco-tourism site is designed to minimize the environmental impact of tourism through the use of compost toilets, solar power, local and natural materials for construction. The site contains six beautifully constructed bamboo huts, offering simple but pleasant accommodation.”

Two Parts of One Intriguing City

Kent E. St. John, senior travel editor for GoNOMAD.com, demonstrates that Budapest offers something for everyone in his article Downtime in Budapest: Teahouses, baths and Baroque.

“Budapest started out as two separate and differing cities, Buda and Pest. What one doesn't offer the other will. Numerous bridges span the mighty Danube River that once separated the two cities. Majestic Buda with its hilltop National Palace transports travelers back to the Baroque days. Pest is busy, with treasures from the turn of the century. Both have modern touches tucked in.

The hills of Buda offer a step back in time and cobblestone streets to wander. Varhegy, or Castle Hill, is Buda's most prominent feature. It is a mile long plateau filled with bastions, mansions and palaces. It can also be filled with tourists so try to make at least one pass late evening when you can share the area with residents. My favorite site on the hill is the Matyas Church, with its diamond-patterned roof and toothy spires. The interior is overwhelming with painted leafs and motifs.

Often classical concerts are performed in the main chapel. The impressive Fisherman's Bastion, a bright white rampart, studded with cloisters and turrets make it a great place to view Pest across the Danube. For a unique site head to the Labyrinth of Buda Castle. Caves formed by hot springs provided shelter for 10,000 people during the battle of Budapest in WWII.

As I sat at our hotel room at the Artotel on the Buda side of the Danube, and gazed at the Parliament building on the Pest side it was very clear to me...Budapest is an intriguing city and one that holds its secrets tight, the pleasure is in finding your own Buda or Pest. Better yet scour Budapest for a trip that fits you. It's there.”

A Different Kind of Cooking Experience

For those who appreciate cooking with freshly picked herbs and plants, or for those who simply love to cook and eat great food, there is a study retreat held in the French Countryside that offers both. Writer for GoNOMAD.com, Michelle Rogers, shares her experience as a student of Dr. Francois Couplan in the fields and in the kitchen in her article entitled, Eating the French Countryside: Collecting and Cooking Wild Herbs and Plants.

“I recently did a study retreat on cooking French cuisine with wild edible plants with a French ethnobotanist called Francois Couplan, and that was our menu. I went into this retreat thinking I was going to do an intensive study of wild edible plant collection and preparation. What I got was an amazing experience in French cuisine, culture and language.

At the end of the day, after hiking around the woods and countryside, we return to the Auberge with our collections. I’m rubbing the little welts on my fingers obtained during the collection of the stinging nettle plants while looking over the massive mounds of plants we have laid on the long table before us. There are near 20 of us in this course, so we’ve collected a LOT of items during the day.


Once the group has agreed on a plan of action and menu for the night, everyone starts moving. It’s an amazing experience for me to watch these French in the kitchen. I’m your typical American who doesn’t find cooking second nature. I’ve had to work at learning it over the years. For these people it is indeed a second nature.

Finally we put all the creations onto the dishes in an appetizing manner and the food is served. Not just one dish, but several courses of appetizers and apéritifs followed by the salad, then the main entree and then the dessert. I was stuffed, and it was all completely delicious.”

Beyond Disney: Family Vacation to Morocco

While the Arab country of Morocco in North Africa does not immediately come to mind when thinking of family vacation destinations, Cass Erikson writer for GoNOMAD.com proves that this country may be the best experience for a child in her article “Saharan Soccer: Traveling with Children in Morocco.”

“Moroccans treasure children more than any caravan gold. Children--all children--are blessings, and a foreign child is no different than any other.

Nowhere was our experience more dramatic than in the desert areas. In almost every village we explored, Oliver was invited to play soccer with the local boys while I drank tea with their mothers. During breaks, the children would ask him about American movies and demand to receive English lessons, but even with the language barrier, I would look over to find them rolling in the sand and dirt, laughing and smiling like they understood each other perfectly.

Meanwhile, the women and I compared notes about marriage, sex and childrearing, as well as our hopes for the future of our children and for ourselves. Surprisingly, we shared many of the same experiences and expectations.

But the real highlight was the three-day camel trek we took in the dunes of Erg Chebbi. Oliver had never ridden a camel before, but took to it like a real Tuareg. He was king of all he could survey from his high perch: with his turban tied around his head, he was Aladdin and Ali Baba, a powerful sheik and Lawrence of Arabia. And even when we made him wake up at dawn to watch the sunrise over the desert, he was enthusiastic and thrilled.

Our guides also taught him how to care for his camel, how to saddle her and how to milk her. They even offered to sell her to him, and I was tempted to agree!”

"You've got to love this place"

Paul Shoul, writer for GoNOMAD.com, found the best social, eating and drinking scene in Spain while out at the tapas bars in Bilbao. The delicious discovery is described in his article entitled, Eating Bilbao: A Celebration of Basque Cuisine.”
“Located in northern Spain, Bilbao is the capital of Vizcaya, one of three provinces that make up the autonomous community known as Basque country. It boasts of its own language and culture, unique to the rest of Spain.

Food is a central part of Basque life. The area is home to some innovative up-scale restaurants pushing the creative limits of international fine dining, but they all rest upon and incorporate a foundation of superior local products, historic recipes, and Basque traditions.

For me, the tapas bars were my favorite way to sample all the foods of the region, and to meet and mingle with the locals. Simply put, tapas bars are the best social, drinking, eating scene I have ever experienced.

To my delight, the entire town bar-hops. Like last call in a college town, everybody crams in together. This is an all-ages crowd and a relief compared to the age segregation of the States. All kinds of people seem to like to be near each other. After hitting four or five places, the Bilbainos move on yet again; it's time for dinner, which can last over three hours. You've got to love this place.”

Nicaragua; A Unique Vacation Destination

In recent years, whenever I would hear about Nicaragua, the Central American Country seemed wrought with political strife. It never occurred to me that Nicaragua would be a great vacation destination; fun, safe, and relatively tourist-free. Yet, after reading the article Nicaragua: Many Attractions, Few Tourists, by Janine S. Pouliot, writer for GoNOMAD.com, I was convinced otherwise.

“But the reality is that Nicaragua has been a peaceful democracy for more than ten years and has the lowest crime rate of any Latin nation. And it has something else – a surprising absence of foreign vacationers. Unlike its neighbor Costa Rica, there’s little tourist infrastructure to interfere with unconditional immersion in the culture and environment.

I arrive in Managua with no clear expectations. Information for travelers is, at best, sparse. But I hook up with my guide Jorge Hernandez Iglesias, head out of the city and get my first clue about the country. Nicaragua is a land of lush tropical forests, volcanoes, lakes, a bio-diverse river and endless miles of pristine coastline.

Nearby is another attraction for weekenders from Managua. One of Nicaragua’s nineteen crater lakes, Apoyo, is surrounded by dense foliage. The lake's bottom is the deepest geological point in Central America, at 900 feet. The warm clear water is perfect for swimming, sailing or kayaking. The lush fringe is fine for hiking or horseback riding.
At the top of the mountain is a jumble of little restaurants offering superb views, cooling breezes and so-fresh-it-just-stopped-flapping fish. Lakeside sits the Hotel Norome, an eco-lodge comprised of 133 rooms in 56 bungalows.”

Meet the New Travel Reader Writers

Welcome Sarah and Emily, who will be taking over this blog and writing about travel.

They will be moving to Japan next year to teach English.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

In an article posted on AOL.com called America Celebrates Arrival of New Year, by Desmond Butler of the AP, accompanying pictures displayed the way other countries are bringing in 2006.