Mar 25th, 2012 at 6:00PM:
Flickr user Max Waugh Photography was on a nature excursion in the Peruvian Amazon when he came upon this unique species of giant otter, popping its head above the glassy water surface. I love the photo's close up details - the animal's elongated neck, wiry whiskers and curious stare. With great nature shots like this one, it's particularly important to get as close (as is safe) or zoomed in ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
rainforest posts
Photo of the Day: giant otter
Mar 25th, 2012 at 6:00PM:
Flickr user Max Waugh Photography was on a nature excursion in the Peruvian Amazon when he came upon this unique species of giant otter, popping its head above the glassy water surface. I love the photo's close up details - the animal's elongated neck, wiry whiskers and curious stare. With great nature shots like this one, it's particularly important to get as close (as is safe) or zoomed in ...Adventure vacation Guide 2012: Ecuador
Jan 3rd, 2012 at 9:30AM:
Most Norteamericanos are hard-pressed to locate Ecuador on the map. Those familiar with this South American country the size of Colorado usually associate it with the (admittedly) spectacular Galapagos Islands. Yet Ecuador has so much more offer besides the Galapagos, and 2012 is the year to get your hardcore on. Why? Because the country's adventure travel industry is blowing up--but it's ...Visit the world's largest indoor rainforest resort
Dec 2nd, 2011 at 1:00PM: While Europe isn't typically known for it's tropical rainforests, a visit to the Tropical Islands in Germany can show you that they do indeed exist on the continent. In fact, the world's largest indoor rainforest is located right outside of Berlin in the town of Krausnick.
Located inside of a giant, 22,000 square foot dome, the indoor tropical resort is about the size of eight football fields ...Japan wins World Rafting Championship
Oct 12th, 2011 at 2:30PM: As we mentioned last week, the World Rafting Championship took place in Costa Rica over the weekend, with 48 teams (29 men, 19 women) competing against one another on a wild stretch of the Pacuare River. The competition, which began on Friday and finished on Monday, consisted of a variety of events that rewarded teams for their speed, agility, and endurance on the water.
After four very long ...Uncontacted tribe discovered in the Amazon
Jun 23rd, 2011 at 8:00AM: Officials from Brazil's National Indian Foundation (Funai) have announced the discovery of another uncontacted tribe living deep inside the Amazon Jungle. The tribe is estimated to have a population of about 200 people who have continued to live in the same natural manner for centuries, untouched by the modern world.
Evidence of the tribe first surfaced when researchers spotted a small clearing ...Five places to see shrunken heads
Jun 17th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
Call me sick, but I've always been fascinated with shrunken heads.
"OK, you're sick!"
Fine, but you're still reading this, aren't you?
Throughout history many cultures took heads as trophies, including the ancestors of many Gadling readers--the Celts. Celtic warriors used to cut the heads off of enemies and attach them to their chariots to look extra intimidating in battle. Japanese ...Ancient Mayan city discovered in Guatemala
Apr 30th, 2011 at 8:00AM: Archaeologists have used modern technology to uncover an ancient Mayan city buried deep in the jungles of Guatemala. More than two millennia ago, the city was home to 2000 people, but in the centuries since it was abandoned, it has been reclaimed by the jungle, and now sits beneath several feet of dirt and plant life. It is for that reason that it has remained undiscovered for so long.
The ...Rwanda pledges to save the environment
Mar 12th, 2011 at 8:00AM: The United Nations has declared 2011 as the "Year of the Forests" as it continues to work to encourage nations across the globe to take sustainable actions to protect the planet's woodlands. One of the first countries to answer the call to action is Rwanda, which has laid out an ambitious plan to protect its jungles, even as it struggles to develop economically.
As most people know, Rwanda was ...New photos released of remote Brazilian rainforest tribe
Feb 1st, 2011 at 4:30PM:
Survival International, a UK-based rights group dedicated to protecting indigenous communities worldwide, has just released new photographs of an "uncontacted" group of indigenous people living on the Brazilian-Peruvian border. This is only the second time in two years photos of the isolated Indians have ever been released.
FoxNews reports the photos were taken by Brazil's Indian Affairs ...Chiloe: Chilean Patagonia's emerald islands offer eco- and agritourism
Sep 30th, 2010 at 3:00PM: I can't remember who first told me about Chiloe, but I do recall that it was just a few weeks before my first trip to Chilean Patagonia. For a year I'd been planning an itinerary around my personal Holy Grail: rafting the thunderous Futaleufu River.
Located across the Chacao Channel from the bustling town of Puerto Montt in northern Patagonia, Chiloe is a 41-island archipelago. The largest of ...Sole survivor of Amazon tribe is most isolated man on Earth
Aug 24th, 2010 at 11:30AM: He's the last of his kind.
Nobody knows his name, nobody knows his tribe's name, and nobody knows what happened to the rest of his people. The last man of an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon is now being protected from the outside world by the Brazilian government.
Officials have created a 31 square-mile exclusion zone in his patch of rain forest to keep out loggers, something local logging ...UNESCO adds Everglades, Madagascar rain forests to endangered list
Aug 4th, 2010 at 8:00AM: Yesterday we told you how the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, aka UNESCO, had granted several new sites "World Heritage" status at their recent meeting held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. That same group also moved two other sites to their endangered list in a move that typically serves as a warning about the future health of those ...Ghost Forest brings attention to rainforest threat
Jul 12th, 2010 at 4:30PM:
A Ghost Forest is stalking Europe.
Giant trees from Ghana have appeared in Copenhagen, Trafalgar Square in London, and now Oxford. It's called the Ghost Forest Art Project, and it's an innovative way to bring the plight of the world's rainforests to public attention.
Artist Angela Palmer wanted to share her concern with the public about tropical rainforests, which are disappearing fast. An ...Daily Pampering: Go bobsledding in the rainforest
Mar 23rd, 2010 at 5:30PM: Did you enjoy watching the bobsledding in Vancouver this year? Well, why not make the bobsled part of your next island vacation?
Rainforest Bobsled Jamaica at Mystic Mountain in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, should be high on your list. You don't need snow to bobsled, and they've got the 3,280-foot track to prove it. Not only will your need for speed be satisfied, but you also get to ride the SkyExplorer ...Racy ad campaign raises eyebrows down under
Feb 7th, 2010 at 9:00AM: A new ad campaign is causing quite a stir down under. Billboards have recently begun appearing along roadsides in Queensland, Australia inviting travelers to "Get High", Get Wet", and "Get Laid" in Mission Beach, a town that appeals to adventurous travelers looking to go kayaking or scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Traditionally, Mission Beach isn't seen as a destination where backpackers ...Coming Attractions: Panama
Dec 9th, 2009 at 10:00AM: Watch out world, 'cuz here comes Panama--that skinny little land-bridge of a country that's famous for straw hats, yellow-fever infestations and American meddling.
Just how skinny a country is it? From the time the pilot lowers the landing gear to the time your flight actually lands in Panama City, that's how much. One minute you're looking down at the turquoise Caribbean and exactly four and a ...Top 7 adventure activities near Arenal, Costa Rica
Nov 10th, 2009 at 11:30AM:
For travelers in search of a little adrenaline, the Arenal region of Costa Rica serves up adventure any way you like it.
The area around the Arenal volcano in Costa Rica, about 80 miles north of San Jose in the center of the narrow country, is known as the adventure capital of Costa Rica. With a diverse landscape that features erupting volcanoes, rainforests full of life, and cascading ...The Spice Isle: Grenada moves on past Hurricane Ivan
Nov 5th, 2009 at 1:00PM:
I didn't know a lot about Grenada before visiting recently, but one name was familiar to me: Ivan -- the hurricane that came through with force in 2004. So once I got there, I wanted to find out two things: what's it like during a hurricane? And how does the country look now, five years later? You first have to realize -- the hurricane was a fluke. The reason some residents were actually ...The Spice Isle: Where trails are paved with nutmeg shells
Nov 4th, 2009 at 1:30PM:
"You can use it for tea" he says after picking the small leaf and handing it to me to smell. There doesn't seem to be anything that Telfor Bedeau doesn't know about Grenada's plants. In the past 50 yards alone, he's pointed out trees that would've gone unnoticed as anything other than anonymous tropical trees. But now they're recognized as some of my favorite things in the world: guava, mango, ...Wonders of the Kapalua Rainforest
Sep 21st, 2009 at 12:00PM: I recently went on a "Maunalei Magic Hike" at the Kapalua Maunalei Arboretum Rainforest in Hawaii, and if you think you have to leave the United States to find rich, tropical biodiversity and exotic plant life you've never heard of, think again. The Maunalei Arboretum, just below Pu'u Kukui Watershed Preserve, is home to an endless supply of plants thriving in the volcanic soil -- some local, ...
