AP Photo

* "Like, boo! dude!": GridSkipper's guides to haunted Los Angeles and spooky San Francisco
* ...while Jaunted.com hits the small town haunts
* Never mispronounce anything again.  Awesome language website, with audio.
* Comforting that some still think big. Bring on sports in space (NYT)
* Roadside political art:  Homemade Obama signs.

The future of security scanning?
AP Photo

by Sara Tucker

Invasion of the body scanners!

Digital penetration!

The TSA wants to see you naked!

Such were the warnings when scanners that bare all began cropping up in the nation's airports last year, starting in Phoenix. "Are you up for this?" Slate asked its readers as JFK and LAX stood in line to receive the equipment. "Are you ready to get naked for your country?"

Then came this year's rollout and another spate of headlines. "Body-scanning machines that show images of people underneath their clothing are being installed in 10 of the nation's busiest airports," announced USA Today in June, calling the proliferation "one of the biggest public uses of security devices that reveal intimate body parts."

But apart from the media and the ACLU, nobody seemed to care. Instead of an invasion of privacy or an Orwellian threat to their personhood, most passengers caught in the bovine shuffle through airport security perceived the glass booths as just another boring obstacle in the long, dull slog to their departure gates. That's because they "have no idea how graphic the images are," contends the ACLU's Barry Steinhardt.

"In a nation infamous for its loud and litigious protesters, the silence, the absolute and utter silence on this issue is screaming," fumed a reader at Slashdot.

Gwen Stefani on her kind of runway.
AP Photo

by Beata Loyfman

Have you noticed that more and more designers are getting into the travel game? A few examples: The Vera Wang Suite at the Halekulani in Waikiki; Diane Von Furstenberg's luggage; Kathy Griffin's D-List suite at the Hotel Triton; Gwen Stefani's uniforms for W hotels; and Francis Ford Coppola's Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

The latest travel accessory comes courtesy of Alexander McQueen's Boarding Bag for Samsonite. I've been allowed to look at one here at the office (but no touching), and let me tell you, it's the coolest thing your lap top will ever travel in. It's gorgeous, roomy, lined with a zebra pattern, and so unique that you won't have to worry about anyone accidentally walking away with your carry-on again.

Celebs who walked the red carpet of our Readers' Choice Awards gala went home with one of these bags filled to the brim with awesome airplane-sized goodies: mini Burt's Bees products, Oakley's sunglasses, black chocolate, Kinerase cream, Bee MD throat drops, and many others. Lucky ducks. But if you can't swing McQueen's $615 price tag (and who can these days?), Samsonite has plenty of wallet-friendly options. Any of them will make your carry-on the envy of the cockpit.

Further reading:
* Condé Nast Traveler's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards
* Boldface

AP Photo

by Barbara S. Peterson

Back in early 2001, Senator Chuck Schumer warned of a wave of "monster airlines" as lumbering legacy lines like United and TWA rushed to find merger partners. It took a few years, but the era of air behemoths may finally be upon us. Yesterday the Justice Department (DOJ) gave its blessing to the union of Delta and Northwest. With 75,000 workers, nearly 800 planes and 375 destinations around the globe, it'll be the world's largest airline, leapfrogging American, which has 675 jets (thanks in part to its own merger with TWA eight years ago). 

Delta today took out full-page ads in major newspapers and sent emails to SkyMiles members  trumpeting the creation of a "premier global airline" and promised&well, not a lot, except business as usual at both airlines as they figure out how to combine forces. In the short term you probably won't notice much of a change. The airlines say it'll take from one to two years to integrate their operations fully; in the meantime, they'll maintain separate Web sites, reservation lines and frequent flier programs.  Elite status and membership at airport clubs is "secure," said Delta. Both carriers are members of the Skyteam Alliance, which includes KLM and Air France.

But there's a lot to sort out, and if the past is any guide, we may all be in for a bumpy ride.  Mergers are typically followed by a rash of operational snafus and labor strife as airlines attempt to mesh separate workforces with different cultures and rules. Indeed, Delta is largely non-union, except for their pilots, while Northwest is highly unionized--and its unions have already vowed to add Delta's workers to their rolls. Consumer groups and organizations such as the Business Travel Coalition predict that the combo could bring higher fares and service cuts.  There's also speculation that hubs like Northwest's at Memphis and Delta's at Cincinnati may be scaled back.

Bathroom with a view.
Photo: Kwandwe Private Game Reserve

Every May, Condé Nast Traveler releases its Hot List, a collection of the best new hotels, spas, restaurants, and nightspots. Below, a post from this year's Hot Hotels list.

Melton Manor, a villa with accommodations for eight, is the latest addition to Kwandwe, a privately owned game reserve spanning 62,000 acres in the malaria-free Eastern Cape. Like the other three lodges on the reserve, the CC Africa-managed Melton Manor has stellar service from a staff who seem to have a telepathic ability to delight guests. Because you have Melton Manor all to yourself, you can plan everything down to the smallest detail, from setting departure times for the twice-daily game drives to placing a standing order for waffles at breakfast. Architecturally, the property is a contemporary take on a traditional frontier farmhouse, with high ceilings and deep verandas overlooking a central courtyard and an infinity-edge pool. Decor is witty and nostalgic--imagine antique claw-foot furniture painted dark pink and Granny's crocheted blankets reworked in funky colors. An open kitchen gives you license to interact with (or even assist) the chef as he prepares a constant round of delicious meals, snacks, and afternoon teas. There is a misconception that game viewing here doesn't have the wow factor of other reserves farther north, but lion prides, black and white rhino, buffalo, cheetahs, and many other wild animals are prolific. The reserve is also a sanctuary for numerous bird species, not least the endangered blue crane after which the reserve is named.

When to go: Winter months (May-August), for spectacular displays of flowering aloes.
Which room to book: One of the two farthest from the lounge, dining, and kitchen areas, for peace and quiet and the best views of the towering cliffs along this stretch of the Great Fish River.

Further reading:
* Melton Manor
* Hot List 2008
* The best African resorts from our 2008 Readers' Choice Awards
* South Africa Guide
* Hot List on the DT

Techno Issa strikes a pose.
Photo: Six Degrees Records

by John Oseid

My head is swaying like a bobble-head dog's and my feet are tapping like I have a bad case of restless leg syndrome. I pull out my headphones, open my eyes, and realize that I am sitting on a packed subway car. Uh, awkward. I blame my chagrin on Issa Bagayogo and his thrilling new album Mali Koura. Bagayogo may play a traditional six-stringed harp called a kamele n'goni, but they don't call him "Techno Issa" for nothing back home in Mali--his latest release is jammed with funky Western and African flavors.

I've had Mali on my mind since James Truman wrote "Where the Music Lives" for the November issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Mali produces high-quality music at the rate Michigan used to pump out cars and James captured beautifully the world of griot story-tellers/singers and the astonishing diversity of Malian sounds.

Bagayogo's label Six Degrees is offering a free download of his opening tune "Sebero" on its Web site. Log on now and you'll thank me. The rest of the album is filled with electronica beats hovering behind his bass voice and strings. Horns and flutes on "Filaw" and "Tcheni Tchekman" add jazzy inflections, while the piano and guitar on "Dunu Kan" put you right in a swinging nightclub. I could swear the dulcet female voice on "Poyo" and the balafon (gourd xylophone)-enhanced "Ahe Sira Bila" were calling to me.

The back story to Bagayogo's success is that he went through years of tough times before arriving on the world's top stages like the Kennedy Center. Not bad for a one-time bus driver with a drug problem. Expect to hear from Techno-Issa for years.

View Larger Map

This year 32,633 Condé Nast Traveler readers voted on their favorite hotels, resorts, islands, cities, and modes of transportation, with the end result being perhaps the most varied and highly ranked group of properties and locations ever. Not bad! Thank you, readers, for your participation. Check out our interactive Google Map of the Top 100 properties.

Further reading:
* Our award winners' dream trips
* Celebrity guests at this year's awards ceremony
* The complete list of this year's winners

"Playground time" with the elephants.
Photo: Cathy Esibill

Voluntourism--taking a vacation that includes some charity work--is a travel idea whose time has come. In our May 2008 issue, Condé Nast Traveler held the World Savers Contest, asking readers to report on their good deeds with an essay and photo documenting a recent voluntourism trip. Last week, we posted Beverly Orthwein's winning entry. This week, another one of our favorite contest entries.

by Cathy Esibill

Partly due to my fascination with all animals, my husband and I decided to spend part of our last trip abroad volunteering on an elephant park in northwestern Thailand. The Elephant Nature Park was founded by Sangduen "Lek" Chailert, a petite Thai women with a massive capacity for love. She has dedicated her life to the plight of the Asian elephants, which suffer ill-treatment and misunderstanding--with little protection from the Thai government.

The park is situated 60 kilometers north of Chiang Mai and is currently home to 31 elephants. Lek's goal is to provide a natural sanctuary for the animals while raising awareness about the traditional--and abusive--domesticating practices that still persist today. Volunteering at the park was a wonderful and fulfilling experience. During the day we participated in various tasks that included (but were not limited to) cleaning up after the elephants and other farm animals, preparing their food, planting crops like corn, building wheelbarrows, tables, and benches, and--my favorite--making treats called "banana balls." Our reward was elephant feeding and bathing time. Two times each day, we happily fed them their fill of bananas, pineapples, cucumbers, and watermelon. Afterward, we followed the elephants and their mahouts to the river. Once there, the elephants would lie down in the stream as we scrubbed them clean with buckets and brushes.

Kimpton hotels wants you on the train.
Photo: Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

by Brook Wilkinson

Taking the train instead of flying saves a bundle in fossil fuels. But if you check into a Kimpton hotel, it'll save you a bundle of money too. As the DT reported Monday, a number of Kimpton-branded properties from San Francisco to Boston are offering 20 percent off their best available rates to any guests who show up with a train ticket in hand. You can find the full list of hotels that will honor this deal from now through December on Kimpton's Web site. At the Hotel Monaco in Portland, Oregon for example, you can reserve a deluxe room for $151, 20 percent less than the regular rate of $190--and the hotel will throw in free cab fare back to the train station. Such a good deal, we had to mention it again. So click over to Amtrak and consider riding the rails to your next vacation.

Every May, Condé Nast Traveler releases its Hot List, a collection of the best new hotels, spas, restaurants, and nightspots. Below, a post from this year's Hot Spas list.

Minimalist and modern, this unexpected oasis of simplicity sits amid the Belle Epoque glamour of the Alvear Palace Hotel. Treatments hew to old-school Euro pampering ways with Swiss La Prairie products, used in the Pressure Relief Treatment ($203), a 90-minute facial and body massage designed to induce maximum relaxation. Post-massage, shed some toxins in the sauna and then soak in the whirlpool, the spa's highlight. Be sure to move around in the pool--there's a circuit of submerged jets aimed to stimulate different pressure points (massages, $115).

Thiam's version of yassa ginaar.
Photo: Yolele!
Recipes from the Heart of Senegal

by John Oseid

Set inside an old warehouse in New York's trendy Chelsea district, the Rush Arts Gallery was an incongruous setting for restaurateur Pierre Thiam's celebration of the publication of his cookbook, Yolele! Recipes from the Heart of Senegal. The party, hosted last week by artist and curator Danny Simmons, attracted more than just food fans--there were culture vultures who dig the gallery's collection of emerging artists, plus music lovers who trek to Thiam's Clinton Hill restaurant, Dakar, for the live shows. A traditional ngoni (lute) player was on hand, and there were endless platters of Senegalese hors d'oeuvres. We're always excited to try delicious new recipes, and Thiam's cookbook is full of them. After the jump, he shares his recipe for Senegal's most famous dish--and our new favorite. 

Click here for Amanda's photo album.
Photo: Sacha Brown

The four-time Olympian swimmer, wildlife spokesperson, and occasional swimsuit model jumps into the waters off Bonaire a second time.

by Amanda Beard

Bonaire, one of the many beautiful volcanic islands in the Caribbean, sits on extremely rugged porous rock, carving out a coastline similar to the arid side of Hawaii's Big Island. The scenery here is mostly cactus-covered cliffs with ocean access via stairways or paths. I think of it as Tucson meets Kona.

Like Kona, there's no sand to drag your heavy dive gear through. Less sand also translates to better visibility in the water: "Viz," as divers call it, can easily reach 100 feet, and when mixed with 85-degree water, a couple of shipwrecks, and a double reef system bustling with psychedelic-colored fish, you get world-class diving. Sometimes you can just jump in, drift with the invisible current and plodding turtles, and climb out when you've run out of air. Other times it's best to wait until dusk, break out your dive lights, swim to the reef's edge, and take in the unfiltered colors of the nightlife--all the while being followed by a pack of six-foot tarpon. No matter when, it's difficult to have anything less than an amazing dive in Bonaire.

Photo: Dorothy's Gallery

by Bryan Pirolli

Barack Obama's visit to Paris in July was one of the biggest events of the summer: Even before asking for a financial guarantee, my new landlord asked me if I had been following the Obama-Sarkozy meeting. I hadn't, but apparently all of France had.

Now, just in time for the election, Dorothy's Gallery in the Bastille neighborhood is exhibiting both French and American renderings of the candidate in a show entitled "Barack Obama in Paris." The show features work from 14 artists and includes sculpture, paintings, cartoons, collages, and a video installation, all assembled by the gallery's American owner Dorothy Polley.

Themes touch on all aspects of Obama's historic nomination. Race issues are apparent in works exploring American racism, and one cartoon even puts Obama next to a KKK member with a caption in French that essentially says, "This is how I'll get the white vote." Many pieces in the first of three rooms are homages to the candidate, heavily relying on the word "change" and red, white, and blue motifs. Utterly American, or French, depending on how you look at it.

Of course, there is one requisite Sarah Palin illustration, featuring the Alaska governor seated on a bear pelt looking like Bam Bam from the Flintstones--club included. Open through November 17.

Further reading:
* Germany's Got a Crush on Obama (Daily Traveler)

Tepee time at Eco Retreats.
Photo: Eco Retreats

by Ondine Cohane

My latest travel obsession is with luxury camping: I like being close to nature but having plenty of comforts, too, and it seems I am not the only one. At Condé Nast Traveler's Reader's Choice Awards last week, India Beat's Bertie Dyer (one of Wendy Perrin's  travel specialists) told me about the new Surya Serai in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, which launches this spring. Twenty huge tents (and even huger beds) will sit in the desert with panoramic vistas of some of India's most beautiful countryside. There is even a spa in one of the canvas structures so you can get relaxing treatments after camel trekking or exploring nearby villages. The property is poised to be one of the big openings of 2009; you can book a trip through Remote Lands or through Bertie himself.

I also just read about Eco Retreats, an encampment of tepees on a 1,300-acre organic farm in Wales. It's close to both the forest and the beach, so eco-chic types can commune with the land but come home to luxurious bed linen, organic food, and holistic spa treatments. I am now thinking about how cool it would be to have something similar along the Italian coastline or to at least live part-time in a stylish tent in the woods--not such an outlandish idea if the markets keep going the way they are.

Speaking of which, as promised, here's my weekly recession special: The Kimpton Group is offering 20 percent off the best available rate to travelers who arrive by train--good economics and carbon footprint reduction in one offer. Participating cities include Alexandria, Arlington, Boston, Cambridge, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C.

Matt Damon with members of
The African Children's Choir.
Photo: Jeff Chiu/AP Photo 

by Dorinda Elliott

Talk about the power of travel and celebrity. At the third fund-raiser for OneXOne, in San Francisco last night, actor Matt Damon, hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean, rock star Carlos Santana, singer Josh Groban, director David Arquette, and the African Children's Choir came together to raise money to fight poverty and improve the lives of children in the U.S. and around the world. The key beneficiaries: Damon's H2O Africa, which funds water projects in Africa; Water Partners, with water projects around the world; Yele Haiti, which supports development in Haiti; and Feeding America, which runs food programs across the U.S.

What's the travel connection? Damon's interest in water issues stems from a trip he took two years ago to southern Africa, where he saw the opportunities that water wells can offer people. He has also become involved in fighting poverty in Haiti. Damon traveled there with Wyclef Jean after Hurricane Ike hit, and helped distribute food. What Damon saw in Haiti--the city of Gonaive submerged in water, people desperate for food, "the smell of death"--was "something I have never, ever seen before," Damon said. "Clef looked at said, 'This is not human. No one should have to live like this.'"

Eat your veggies before they
eat you.
Photo: Till Nowak 

* Horrid, horrid vegetables and other surreal stuff by artist Till Nowak.

* The touring exhibit that does not die.  Gunther von Hagens's cadavers come to London.

* What not to do with a pumpkin: Demented Halloween behavior.

* The Mexican Underground is jaw-dropping.

* Spooky staycations?  Consult the Web site of abandoned places. 

Pumped up.
Photo: Essdras M Suarez/Boston.com

by Sara Tucker

"In the world of competitive pumpkin growing, this is Super Bowl time," announced Bloomberg.com in early October. That's when growers began trucking this year's crop of giants to official weigh stations across North America.

For anyone who hasn't already been swept up in the trend: This is a sport that has made huge strides in recent years. "Just two decades ago, 400 pound pumpkins were looked at in wonder, but these days, even a 1,000 pound pumpkin looks like a pipsqueak to competitive pumpkin growers," notes Todayshow.com.

Last year's world champion topped 1,600 pounds, raising the specter of a one-ton pumpkin in the very near future. "During the past 10 years, the world record has fallen every year and the weight of the heaviest pumpkin has tripled. Thousand-pound pumpkins, once the pride of the patch, are now laughingstocks at major competitions" (Boston.com).

Naturally, bigger pumpkins attract bigger crowds: "Growing giant pumpkins has become all the rage," reports the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, likening the appeal to that of baseball: "It's a competitive sport. Traditional. It requires hard work, determination, discipline, attentiveness, patience and the ability to anticipate. It's grown in appreciation, not just in this country, but internationally. Fall is the time of final defeat for most and victory for a lucky few."

As the October weigh-offs began, the pumpkin to watch was the 'Beast from the East,' a leviathan 16 feet around, raised by Steve Connolly, a mechanical engineer from Sharon, Rhode Island. "The epic girth of Connolly's pumpkin has electrified" even pumpkin insiders, said Boston.com, and rival producers were "making pilgrimages to behold Connolly's creation," widely forecast to become the next world champion--barring a last-minute catastrophe.

"Connolly grew five pumpkins in his patch this year, and four of them have exploded," NPR cautioned. "Two pumpkins burst just days before a major competition."

Come sail away with Heather Headley.
Photo: Tina Fineberg/AP

by Beata Loyfman

Does the current market insanity have you singing the blues? Well, you're in luck. Now you can channel those blues and have a fabulous vacation at the same time. 

How? Here's the gist: After quitting the corporate music grind, former RCA Records CEO Bob Jamieson decided to combine his love of smooth sounds and his industry pull to organize a unique annual event: the Smooth Music Cruise.  From January 31 to February 5 guests aboard the luxe Celebrity Century will get to hang with their favorite musicians, attend panels and jam sessions, and meet other jazz enthusiasts all while sailing the Caribbean. The ship departs from Miami, stopping off at Key West, Nassau, and the private Bahamian island of Coco Cay.

What would you pay to hang with the likes of Heather Headley, Boney James, and Norman Brown? Put away that mortgage calculator. Spots aboard the Smooth Music Cruise begin at $1,399, including meals, a private beach party, and artist encounters.

Call it the recession special.

by Barbara S. Peterson

Thirty years ago this Friday, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the airline deregulation act of 1978, ending a half century of tight government regulation. The law's supporters, a surprisingly bipartisan crowd ranging from Ted Kennedy to Milton Friedman, promised that it would lead to lower air fares and better service, and that a new generation of consumer-friendly upstart airlines would rise to take on the "dinosaur" airlines that had been protected from competition for years (the same "legacy" airlines that still dominate most of the business, minus a Pan Am or TWA here or there).

Not exactly how the flying public sees it these days.

Mention the D-word and it conjures up not just the sorry state of air service but debacles ranging from Enron to the current calamity on Wall Street. 

"Clef" rocks out to promote the
Sundance channel's Iconoclasts series.
Photo: Bill Davilla/Star Tracks

by John Oseid

I wandered over to Restaurant Row in Midtown Manhattan recently, but this time pre-theater dinner wasn't on my agenda. Music star Wyclef Jean's state-of-the-art recording studio Platinum Sound happens to be on the block, and I popped in to talk to "Clef" about Yéle, his development foundation in Haiti. (You can read the Forum interview in this month's issue of Condé Nast Traveler.)

Long before Clef turned to social activism, the Fugees co-founder gained fame as one of the most original musicians and producers of his generation. When he's not banging out global hits like "Hips Don't Lie" with Shakira, his production skills are in great demand among music stars from the Middle East to Bollywood.

I asked Clef what Haitian music he recommends and he named two hip-hop artists, Jimmy O and Black Alex, whom he's grooming for his own production company Sak Pasé Records. Clef is a soft-spoken person, but I like his swagger; the man knows how to promote. It's this quiet swagger that likely enables him to persuade stars like Matt Damon, Brad, and Angelina to visit his foundation in beleaguered Haiti.

I could go on and on about Clef's own recent album, Carnival II (Memoirs of an Immigrant). It's a masterful amalgam of styles and stars: He's joined by Mary J. Blige, Norah Jones, Shakira, and many more. "Fast Car" with Paul Simon is a lovely ballad. "Touch Your Button Carnival Jam" is a 13-minute spin around carnival music styles from Brazil to Trinidad that will have you jumping around the house. "Sweetest Girl" with Akon and Lil Wayne and "Slowdown" with T.I. are bona fide hits.

While you're on the Clef bender, pick up his 1997 Carnival album. Here's the fine video to the beautiful ballad "Gone Till November" to whet your appetite. Bob Dylan makes a cameo.

Pumpkin patching in Red Hook.
Photo: Mollie Chen

by Mollie Chen

While I'm loath to use the word the staycation, the topsy-turvy state of the economy is a compelling reason to explore your own backyard. This weekend I staged my own New York recession adventure, biking to the far corner of Brooklyn for Added Value's annual Red Hook Harvest Festival. This fantastic organization has colonized a 2.75-acre plot into a verdant community farm where local teens and volunteers grow everything from lettuce to pumpkins--despite being in the shadow of Ikea's newest mega-store. It also runs two weekly farmers' markets.

At Saturday's event, there were lectures on seed-saving and canning, African dance performances, live music, and animal petting booths. I had signed up to volunteer and was assigned to the pumpkin-carving station, where I spent a few hours being schooled by precocious kids in the art of jack-o-lanterns (Groucho Marx-like mustaches and eyelashes are in vogue). Here at the magazine we've been focusing on voluntourism and sustainable travel, both of which are fantastic trends with no signs of abating. But for those of us without the means to hop on a plane, there's no reason why you can't go on mini-adventures at home, preferably ones that include outdoor activities and community involvement. And by all means, wrap things up with a delicious treat. After shaking pumpkin seeds out of my hair, I headed to Red Hook's hipsterific Baked for one of their oatmeal, peanut butter, and M&M  "Monster" cookies. 

Further reading:
* The New York Times talks about Added Value
* Dorinda Elliott defines voluntourism
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference

Sucking Katrina out of Antoine's
Restaurant in New Orleans.
Photo: Rick Blount

by Guy Martin

Like rogue elephants, or directors of sub-prime mortgage companies, hurricanes don't really give a damn about you. 401k down 40 percent in the last two weeks? Tough luck, Dude. If you get in the way of a hurricane, you still have to pay for being in the way of a hurricane.   
The official hurricane season has another five weeks to run until November 30, so the storms are just now tapping the keg of their mid-term Oktoberfest. Last week, Hurricane Omar nipped at the eastern Caribbean and curled back east over the Atlantic to Africa.

Point is: Even when hurricanes go, they stay. As Houston, Galveston, and southwest Louisiana pick up the pieces from Gustav and Ike--having suffered $15 billion and $27 billion in damages, respectively--it's instructive to examine the process of hurricane recovery, as exemplified by one legendary cultural institution in New Orleans. Because Big Momma Katrina is the hurricane that truly keeps on giving.

Antoine's Restaurant began 168 years ago as a small pension by Antoine Alciatore, a young genius of the kitchen who emigrated to New Orleans from Marseilles. Antoine's is owned today by his fourth- and fifth-generation descendants. Antoine's son, Jules Alciatore, invented Oysters Rockefeller in this restaurant's kitchen, on St. Louis Street in the French Quarter. Generations of the great and near-great have dined there--FDR, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Pope John Paul II, Tennessee Williams, not to mention the kings and courts of the Mardi Gras krewes of Rex, Comus, Proteus, Twelfth Night Revelers, and Hermes. Antoine's was--and is--the spine of Creole New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina cared for none of this. "Well, she ripped the top wall down on the Royal Street side," says Rick Blount, Antoine Alciatore's great-great-grandson and the restaurant's CEO. "You could see floor joists poking out where the wall used to be. So, my first priorities were to shore up the building, and to find our people, meaning our waiters and cooks. That's the soul of our restaurant."

World Savers Contest winner Beverly Orthwein on location in Kenya.

Voluntourism--taking a vacation that includes some charity work--is a travel idea whose time has come. In our May 2008 issue, Condé Nast Traveler held the World Savers Contest, asking readers to report on their good deeds with an essay and photo documenting a recent voluntourism trip. Our winner, Beverly Orthwein of Greenwich, Connecticut, displayed that passion and commitment we were looking for. Read her winning entry below, and stay tuned to the Daily Traveler to read more of our favorite contest entries.

It all began in November 2005, standing at the edge of the Milgis Lugga, around a roaring campfire at dawn, having coffee and admiring the Southern Cross setting over the Ndoto Mountains. My first trip to Kenya, and as with many, I had fallen madly in love with this country from first footfall. Our group was trekking on camel safari with Samburu warriors, led by the famous Helen Douglas-Dufresne and her partner Pete Ilsley. They had worked with this magnificent tribe for years, during which Helen had become their champion supporter. She helped formed the Milgis Trust (named after the region's major river), which works with local Samburu chiefs and elders to support the wildlife, habitat, and way of life of this pastoral tribe of northern Kenya.

Pete told me about a charity out of England called MEAK (Medical and Educational Aid to Kenya), which treated Samburu with severe eye problems the previous spring. Blindness is ten times more prevalent in Kenya than in the Western world, and this charity holds clinics around Kenya to help address the issue. Lack of vitamin A, dry and dusty conditions, improper hygiene, lack of available medical treatment--all of these are things that contribute to a high rate of blindness.

by Brook Wilkinson

If you, like me, are a fan of the road trip, you'll be pleased to know that a new online car rental aggregator, Vroom Vroom Vroom, is now offsetting the emissions of its customers' rentals--at no cost to you. Searching for a rental car on Vroom Vroom Vroom is like surfing seven sites all at once: You'll find the best rates from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Thrifty. For every rental you book through Vroom Vroom Vroom, the company will purchase carbon credits from The Carbon Neutral Company, with the money going to hydropower, waste reduction, and other green products. It's no solution for the impending climate crisis, but it is a simple way to minimize our damaging effects on the planet.

Further reading:
* Hertz wins a Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Award
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference

If you are a subscriber of Condé Nast Traveler* you may have noticed a small quiz relating to our Top 100 on the November cover.  Below, the answers.

Question: What U.S. city has had the country's top-rated hotel for three years running?
Answer: Chicago with The Peninsula (in 2008 and 2006) and the Ritz Carlton (2007)

Question: What two Mexican resorts tie for the top rating in all of Latin America?
Answer: The One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos and The Tides in Rivera Maya.  Both resorts scored 94.7

Question: Which Caribbean island is home to a Top 100 hotel?
Answer: St. Barts is home to the Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France

Question: Which two African nations have all eight of the continent's Top 100 resorts?
Answer: Botswana and South Africa

Question: Which country has the most Top 100 hotels in Europe?
Answer: With nine hotels, France edges out Italy's eight hotels

Question: Which tented camp in Asia is the world's best resort this year?
Answer: The Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai not only beat out the other resorts, but it's 98.5 score was enough to merit its place as the highest rated property in the Top 100

Question: What is the only cruise line among the Top 100?
Answer: Crystal Cruises

* Shameless plug: And if you are not a subscriber, why not take the chance?  $12 gets you a full year of the best in travel plus the 2008 Cruise Guide.  Subscribe today.

Further reading:
* The 2008 Readers' Choice Awards
* The Top 100 properties on Google Maps