The new outdoor performance space at the Tujatane Trust School, donated by a guest of the Tongabezi Lodge.
Photo: Ryan Damm

by Brook Wilkinson

After a safari in Zimbabwe's Matetsi Private Game Reserve (which I raved about in last week's post), I headed to Livingstone, Zambia, for a few days of R and R near Victoria Falls. Although I stayed at an inexpensive hostel in town, I took the opportunity to check out a few of the more luxurious properties in the Vic Falls area. My scouting took me to Tongabezi Lodge, where the rooms are beautiful and the views over the Zambezi River are stunning. Most impressive, though, was the school started by Vanessa Parker (the wife of Tongabezi's founder) 13 years ago, which is just about to see one of its first graduates off to college in the United States.

Vanessa started the Tujatane Trust School in 1996, intending to fill a few classes with her employees' children. But the demand from the nearby villages was so high that Tujatane now has more than 160 students, and classes from preschool up to seventh grade. The school, which is run entirely on donations, has some of the highest test scores for the area, and it has excelled in national competitions for traditional dance, poetry, and drama (I got to watch a rehearsal when I visited, as Tongabezi guests are welcome to do). 

Most of the students live in mud huts without running water or electricity. Education is their best chance to improve their situations in life, and the meals they receive at school are often the best nutrition they get for the entire day.

A typical game drive scene at the Matetsi Private Game Reserve in Zimbabwe: When the big game's scarce, check out the tiny ant lion's traps.

by Brook Wilkinson

At this time a week ago, I was waking up for a game drive in the Zambezi National Park, on the Zimbabwean side of that great central African river. My home base for this e-mail-free vacation was the Matetsi Water Lodge, a luxurious safari camp owned by &Beyond Africa (formerly known as CCAfrica). I'm usually trying to pinch pennies when not on assignment for Condé Nast Traveler--indeed, I spent the second half of my trip at the Fawlty Towers hostel (no, not that one!) in nearby Livingstone, Zambia, for $25 per night--but Matetsi was hardly a splurge. Zimbabwe has had a hard time attracting tourists for years (something about political unrest and astronomical inflation seemed to turn people off from this once-popular tourist destination), and the recent economic slump certainly hasn't helped. But that's good news for travelers: Rates at Matetsi are as low as $255 per person per night, including all safari activities and full board (which turns out to be roughly seven meals a day, by my calculations: tea and coffee before sunrise, more hot beverages and biscuits on the morning game drive, a full hot breakfast and lunch back at the lodge, tea and cake before the afternoon game drive, sundowners midway through, and a three-course dinner back at camp). And if you travel before June 30, you can get six nights for the price of four--that's less than $350 per night for all your activities, meals, and accommodations.

Distant Mount Kailash is one of the highest mountains in the world never to have been climbed, due to its religious significance.
Photo: Geographic Expeditions

by Brook Wilkinson

I love the idea of volunteer vacations (you can read about my own experience in Cambodia here). So when tour operator Geographic Expeditions' Pilgrimage and Service Trip to Mount Kailash in Tibet came across my desk, I had to spread the word.

Mount Kailash is considered the center of the universe by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists; every year thousands of them make the trip there to walk around the mountain, an act meant to bring good fortune. But these pilgrims leave behind piles of trash, so Geographic Expeditions has organized a trip to pick up some of this detritus. What I really like about this trip is that GeoEx doesn't boast that its clients' efforts will save the world in one fell swoop. In fact, it states clearly in its brochure that the trip's "progress will only make a small and temporary dent in the enormous task of truly 'cleaning up,' but the goal is to inspire others and set a precedent for environmental stewardship in this region." That's a much more realistic promise than you'll hear from many voluntourism companies. When people care enough about the environment to fly halfway around the world to pick up garbage, you can bet the locals notice. (GeoEx also promises that its guides will help clients differentiate the pilgrims' offerings from everyday rubbish.)

The 24-day trip--July 22 to August 14--includes six full days of picking up garbage around Mount Kailash, after which you'll have finished your own circuit of the mountain, plus time in Lhasa and Kathmandu. If you're looking to do some good on your next trip, I highly recommend this thoughtful, fascinating itinerary.

Yes we can!

This being Earth Day, we thought that we would bring to your attention the Condé Nast Traveler Challenge: Globe-trotting for Good, an international competition for travelers and members of the travel industry to share their ideas for promoting global citizenship.  If you believe in the power of travel to do good, by all means participate. The winning ideas will be promoted in the September 2009 "Power of Travel" issue of Condé Nast Traveler.

Further reading:
* In 1963, writer Paul Theroux joined the Peace Corps, shaping both its future and his view of the world. (Cue President Obama's new appeal to public service.) Read "The Lesson of My Life" to find out how his life changed after becoming a teacher in Africa.
* You don't have to wear a hair shirt and dig a well to give back when you travel. Here are eight great trips that connect you with the world.
* Make a difference: Travel right, do good.

Looks green so far...
Photo: GJC1 on Flickr
using Creative Commons

by Brook Wilkinson

At first I thought it must be an April Fool's joke. A green round-the-world trip by private jet? But Safari Air, the company behind this supposedly eco-friendly venture, is serious. They think that by simply offsetting the carbon emissions of the flights, their passengers' consciences will be clear. Think again.

Responsible travel is about a light footprint. A trip by private jet is anything but. The eight passengers who will fit on board Safari Air's Gulfstream IV would do much better to book economy-class tickets on a commercial airline: The more bodies you pack onto a plane, the fewer the harmful emissions per passenger. I also wish Safari Air's itinerary involved a little more time at each destination; as is, tour participants will jump from one iconic sight to the next (the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids) in just three weeks, as if these were merely items on a to-do list. Will they witness the gut-wrenching poverty just outside the gates of the Taj Mahal, or will they be whisked from their five-star hotel to the Taj's back entrance in an air-conditioned Mercedes, every beggar kept more than arm's reach away?

The only thing green about Safari Air's round-the-world trip is the price tag: $144,500 per person. For that kind of money, you could take a completely comfortable and much more green trip with one of the honorees in Condé Nast Traveler's World Savers Awards . . . and still have enough left over to build a school in Tanzania or a medical clinic in Indonesia.

Further reading:
* Carbon offset kiosks are coming to SFO
* Join the Condé Nast Traveler Challenge and tell us how travelers can contribute meaningfully to the lives of local people
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference
 

Il Buco's main dining room.

by Brook Wilkinson

I've seen plenty of restaurant deals drop into my inbox, but this one's a cut above: New York's Il Buco is reducing diners' lunch tabs by 15 percent for one week, and donating that 15 percent to the International Union for Conservation of Nature from its own coffers. So if you spend $100 on lunch you'll only have to pay $85, and the East Village restaurant will donate $15 to the IUCN's Amazon rainforest conservation projects. This fundraiser will apply to all lunches from April 21-25, in honor of Earth Day next Wednesday, the 22nd. Just don't ask for Evian--the restaurant has been serving its own filtered water instead of the bottled stuff for a decade.

Riders at the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, where you can get a good deal this summer.
Photo: Brook Wilkinson

by Brook Wilkinson

Looking to let out your inner cowboy or cowgirl this summer? One great place to do so is the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, which I visited late last summer while on assignment for an upcoming Condé Nast Traveler article (it'll be part of our Iconic Itinerary series). Mountain Sky is usually booked well in advance by repeat guests, but this year is a horse of a different color. Which means a good deal for you: on selected weeks, you can get either 10 percent off the usual weekly rate or a shorter 5-night stay during the height of the summer season, when guests typically must book for an entire week. These deals are currently available for the weeks of June 7, July 12, and July 19.

Mountain Sky is a rare, Wild West dude ranch that combines rugged luxury and authenticity. It's a working ranch with a herd of black Angus cattle, but also a spa, tennis court, and yoga classes. There are horses suited to riders of every ability level, from complete beginners to advanced riders who are comfortable at a gallop. You can also take a day trip into Yellowstone National Park, just 30 minutes away.

Rates range from $3,325 to $3,895 per week (not including taxes), and include accommodation, all meals, and all on-ranch activities and facilities. To get the 10 percent off or the prorated 5-night deal, call Caroline Wood, a travel agent based in Montana, and one of Wendy Perrin's favorite travel specialists. Wood can just book you a short getaway to Mountain Sky, or an all-inclusive itinerary including the nearby national parks.

Volunteer work earns you two weeks' free accommodations at the Soneva Fushi in the Maldives.
Photo: Six Senses Resorts & Spas

by Brook Wilkinson

Pink slip got you down? Here's a novel way to make the most of your new-found free time: Spend a month in the Maldives, but pay for just two weeks. The only catch? You have to fit at least four days of volunteer work into your month-long sojourn. This deal is being offered by the Six Senses hotel chain, which has a longstanding record of corporate good works--it donates 0.5 percent of its entire revenue to the Social and Environmental Responsibility Fund, which pays for projects like an anti-shark fishing campaign and computer education in rural parts of the country.

Okay, so there's one other catch: Room rates at Six Senses' Soneva Fushi (the cheaper of the chain's two Maldives resorts) start at just under $600 per night. Still, 28 nights for the price of 14 is the kind of offer that only comes around once in a lifetime. You must book at least three months in advance, so that the hotel can customize a volunteer program that will fit your interests and make the most of your skills. Examples of possible volunteering opportunities include teaching at a local school, planting trees, turning food waste into biogas, working on a local farm, or even lending a hand at the local hospital. If you're curious about the new phenomenon of voluntourism, click on the word and read about my experience teaching English in Cambodia, and writing articles for the Journeys Within Our Community's newsletters. And if the Six Senses deal sounds enticing, I strongly recommend that you book it through Lindsey Wallace, the Maldives specialist on Wendy Perrin's annual list of the world's best travel agents. As if two weeks free weren't already enough, he can get you all sorts of other enticements and insider access.

Click the image for Earth Hour's Google map of locations to go dark around the world Saturday.
Photo: EarthHour.org

by Dorinda Elliott

From the looks of her, you would never imagine Jorie Butler Kent as a firebrand. In her button-down pastel cardigan, the white-haired, blue-eyed Vice Chair of high-end outfitter Abercrombie & Kent looks like she might even be ready for a ladies' tea. But sitting in my office not long ago, Butler Kent was speaking with passion about her company's efforts to get emergency relief to Burma after the cyclone hit in 2008. With people on the ground, A&K was one of the few organizations able to get aid out--A&K raised $540,000--to ravaged villages, reaching 17,500 people in the first three weeks.

With Earth Hour coming up this Saturday, March 28, the unlikely, polite-spoken activist is out organizing again--hoping to get us all to turn off our lights. The World Wildlife Fund launched Earth Hour in Sydney in 2007, aiming to draw attention to climate change issues by having people around the world go dark for an hour. This year, hundreds of cities--54 national capitals, including Washington, D.C.--have agreed to turn the lights off from 8:30-9:30 p.m. local time.

Butler Kent has not only signed up her own company--62 offices around the world and 13 camps in Africa, as well as cruise ships in Egypt and the Galapagos--to turn off the lights on Saturday night. Through A&K bookings, she has also helped persuade hundreds of other companies, including Four Seasons, Hilton Hotels, Fairmont Hotels, Intercontinental Group, Radisson Group and Sheraton Hotels, to join the cause. "If we don't save what we have left," Butler Kent told me, "there won't even be an A&K any more. We just won't be around."

Butler Kent has been doing philanthropy work for almost 30 years. She heads Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy, a foundation that funds 31 programs, from a biogas plant and schools in East Africa to wells in Cambodia and a girls school in Jordan. "Travelers are more and more engaged these days. This is what our travelers want," Butler Kent said. "Our guests like to know that we are doing what we can in a very hands-on way in conservation, and philanthropic endeavors."

That said, budgets are tight this year. "We have held back this year. I'd rather do 31 projects beautifully than launch 36 that we can't support," she said. "But we simply can't afford not to do this."

Further reading:
* More on Earth Hour 2009 from Responsible Traveler's Brook Wilkinson
* Dorinda sits down with Anwar Ibrahim
* Make a Difference: Resources for caring travelers

Earth Hour practice session.

by Brook Wilkinson

Spread the word to all your city-dwelling, stargazing friends: On Saturday night, the ambient light from more than 100 U.S. metropolitan areas will go dim for one hour, starting around the world at 8:30 p.m. local time. The Empire State Building will fade to black. So will the Vegas strip, the Sears Tower, the St. Louis Arch, even the Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt (thanks, Abercrombie & Kent), the Eiffel Tower, and the Sydney Opera House.

Earth Hour is an initiative introduced by the World Wildlife Fund back in 2007. It's not meant to produce a real reduction in our carbon footprint--we'll have to do a lot more than turn out the lights for 60 minutes to accomplish that--but as a symbolic act that unites millions of people across the globe.

And many hotels are participating. The Conrad Centennial Singapore will have a fleet of hybrid taxis available for guests. Bushmans Kloof, a wildlife reserve in South Africa, will serve dinner by candlelight. At last count, the list of chains pledging to turn off all the (non-essential) lights included Fairmont, Hilton, InterContinental, Langham, Loews, Radisson, and Starwood. So if you're heading into Ducca at the San Francisco Westin for a late dinner on Saturday night and the lights go dim, don't blame it on a breakdown of the country's 19th-century power grid (Obama's got it handled--check out the cover story in the current issue of Wired.)

More than 2,400 cities in 82 countries have pledged to turn the lights off this Saturday. You can do the same at earthhourus.org.

The Rosewood Sand Hill is still weeks from opening, but the trees are in and the pool is full.

by Brook Wilkinson

Sand Hill Road, one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most illustrious addresses, is about to have a brand-new luxury hotel. The Rosewood Sand Hill (built by the same group that manages Las Ventanas and Little Dix Bay) is set to open on April 2, just down the street from the world's highest concentration of venture capitalists.

To celebrate the hotel's opening, Rosewood is offering special rates, and donating 5 percent of the package price to Canopy and Trees for Menlo--two organizations dedicated to planting trees nearby. The "Help Us Celebrate" package is available through April 30, and costs $295 on weekdays and $225 on weekends (regular weekday rates will start around $355). Naturally, with a location in the heart of Silicon Valley, Rosewood Sand Hill is expecting to attract a business crowd. But there are plenty of hiking trails nearby (I explored the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve just this past weekend), as well as a full-service spa, to keep weekenders occupied.

The lobby of the new Hutton Hotel in Nashville.

by Brook Wilkinson

The newest hotel in Nashville is also the city's greenest. The Hutton Hotel opened in mid-February, and counts among its eco-friendly attributes bamboo flooring, reclaimed wood furnishings, and card readers that turn off lights when guests leave their rooms. The hotel is green enough for Al Gore--a Tennessean himself--who will be holding his Climate Project annual meeting there in May. But if you beat Al to Nashville, you can take advantage of a special opening package at the Hutton: two nights in one of the hotel's suites, breakfast delivered to your room, Champagne upon arrival, and one dinner at the Hutton's 1808 Grille--including a Sustainable Sexy Martini, made with organic ice wine, organic vodka, and green grape purée--plus a $5 gift certificate from Amazon.com, all for $479. The package is good for Fridays through Sundays from now until April 30.

If you drop by the hotel, please let me know what you think!

One of the ways PSI reaches youth with
messages of HIV prevention is through
sports. Here, Anna holds a Pante jersey
given to her from the captain of the
Pante women's volleyball team.
Pante is PSI's male condom brand.

A number of you have expressed appreciation for Kevin Doyle's posts on his trip to Haiti with Population Services International and PSI spokesperson (and former international tennis sensation) Anna Kournikova.  To keep PSI's work in Haiti and throughout the world front and center, Anna was kind enough to allow the Daily Traveler to re-publish reportage which originally appeared on her Web site. Read day one of Anna's dispatch here. Below, Anna's second day in Haiti:

by Anna Kournikova

Sixty percent of the Haitian population is under the age of 24, and 16 percent of Haitian youth have lost a parent to AIDS, so dealing with the dangers of sexual contact and reproductive health is a big problem. It's very difficult to get even basic education for these kids, so daily sports activities are not even an option.

PSI does what it can to persuade kids to come to their educational meetings, by playing music for them, hosting volleyball games, whatever they can do to keep their attention and educate them about the prevention of STDs and AIDS. These programs also branch out to try to help the commercial sex worker industry. PSI connects with them by going into brothels and teaching the women how to use protection, trying to teach them how to persuade the customers to use protection. It was especially moving to see these women that have no other choice but to sell their bodies to make money, but probably 99 percent of them hide their job from their families. It was heart wrenching to listen to their personal stories and to hear what they have to do just to make $5 a day, which they have to use to support their children and their parents. Five dollars a day to support a whole family, can you imagine?

Want to visit the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet? Don't count on it this month.

by Brook Wilkinson

In case you haven't heard (and chances are good you haven't), the Chinese government has closed the doors to Tibet. The announcement garnered little notice in the U.S. media--it was reported by the AP on February 12, and merited a small item in the New York Times last week. I heard about it myself during a phone call with Sanjay Saxena of Destination Himalaya, a tour operator that frequently runs trips to Tibet and a top travel specialist on Wendy Perrin's list for six years running.

Those who are familiar with the area speculate that this is a move to avoid a repeat of last year's bloody protests on the March 10 anniversary of the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule--or at least to prevent any Western eyes from seeing such protests, as well as the Chinese response. Meanwhile, the government in Beijing has released a white paper positing that China has had a positive influence on Tibet. Tell that to the monk who set himself on fire last week to protest Chinese rule. China's human-rights record in Tibet has been abysmal, but sadly the U.S. government has so far seemed more concerned about damaging its relationship with this economic superpower. During her recent tour of Asia, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said in reference to the human rights abuses, "Our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis, and the security crisis." All those topics are no doubt important. But we also can't let China continue to hide the struggle for independence going on in Tibet.

Further reading:
* BBC News reports Chinese assertion that the West "uses Tibet to attack China"
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference

Anna with children in the rural village of Cabaret.

A number of you have expressed appreciation for Kevin Doyle's posts on his trip to Haiti with Population Services International and PSI spokesperson (and former international tennis sensation) Anna Kournikova.  To keep PSI's work in Haiti and throughout the world front and center, Anna was kind enough to allow the Daily Traveler to re-publish reportage which originally appeared on her Web site. Read day one of Anna's dispatch below:

by Anna Kournikova

I want to tell you all about my trip to Haiti, as it was such a moving and life-changing experience for me. My trip was with PSI (Population Services International), and their Five and Alive/Youth AIDS programs which help to improve the lives of kids around the world, ages five and under, by educating and helping their families to prevent causes of death such as AIDS, malaria, malnutrition and diarrhea (caused by unsafe drinking water).

Anna Kournikova with some new friends.

by Kevin Doyle

Recently Condé Nast Traveler's Kevin Doyle visited Haiti with representatives from Population Services International (PSI), a nonprofit group that's waging a global war against malaria, HIV, and child mortality.

Earlier this week I shared with you my experience filming Anna Kournikova buying condoms in Haiti.  The video quickly became popular for all the wrong reasons.  Yet if it can help generate publicity for efforts made to help this troubled country, than I'm sure that Anna, who was in Haiti as a representative for Population Services International, is fine with the "false advertising." 

And yes, there are signs of hope.  I met two HIV-positive women who are both doing well on antiretroviral medications and making $400 a month--a fortune in local terms--packaging contraceptives for PSI. "When I learned that I had HIV I wanted to abandon my children because I thought I was going to die," one told me. "But I know now that I can live a normal life and I encourage others to be tested so they can be treated and won't infect their partners the way I was infected."

More stories of hope and photos after the jump.

by Kevin Doyle

What is Anna Kournikova doing in Haiti buying condoms?  And how was I lucky enough to live out a fantasy shared by millions of young men around the world?  Find out after the jump.

A Masai part-owner of Campi ya Kanzi leads a game walk in the Chyulu Hills.
Photo: Luca Safari Ltd.

by Brook Wilkinson

Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Award winner Campi ya Kanzi has just announced some great savings available for safaris this year. This Kenyan camp, a partnership between an Italian entrepreneur and the local Masai people, garnered a spot on our World Savers list last year for its innovative model of community development. Its Web site says it all: "A community ecotourism lodge, built, owned, run by a Maasai community, for the benefit of the local people."

At $550 per person per night, Campi ya Kanzi, isn't cheap--as you'd expect for a place that calls Hollywood star Edward Norton a frequent visitor. But to offset the effects of the economic crisis, Campi ya Kanzi is offering some substantial savings: Stay three nights and get a fourth for free, or stay five nights and get two more free. (You'll still be responsible for the $100/person/day conservation fee, which goes directly to the local community.) The private Kanzi House, which is normally reserved for guests who want to make a substantial donation to the community, has lowered its conservation fee from $2,000/day to $1,000/day. The five-bedroom house can fit up to six adults and four children, and has its own swimming pool and hot tub. Kanzi House guests can also redeem the free-night deals mentioned above.

Now that's a deal we can all feel good about.

Further reading:
* World Savers Congress 2008
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference

Australia's Bunyip State Forest burns on February 7, 2009
Photo: AAP

by Brook Wilkinson

Do-gooder travel company G.A.P. Adventures has put out a call for donations to the victims of the bushfires that have raged across Australia in the past few weeks. More than 1,800 homes have been destroyed and 7,500 people displaced by flames that raced across the landscape. The death toll has now reached 200. G.A.P. will match every dollar donated to its Australian Bushfire Appeal and send the total to the Australian Red Cross, which has already set up 20 evacuation centers to provide first aid, food, and shelter to victims.

It's not that Australia is the company's bread and butter--only three of the 903 upcoming trips you'll find on its Web site are to the land down under. And it's not that the fires hit close to home--G.A.P. is based in Toronto (though one of their five brick and mortar "concept stores" is in Melbourne, close to the inferno's ground zero). This is a travel company that has long had an ethic of giving back, even before Condé Nast Traveler named it to our Green List back in 2006. G.A.P. had founded the Planeterra Foundation three years earlier to support local communities, particularly in areas that their clients visited.

Even in lean times like these, every dollar makes a difference.

Further reading:
* Planeterra Foundation
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference

Go here to bid on a vacation at the Arenas del Mar hotel in Costa Rica, pictured above.

by Brook Wilkinson

Taking a page from popular travel auction sites Luxury Link and SkyAuction, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) has debuted a new monthly feature that lets supporters bid on travel packages. First up: Costa Rica. From now through February 28, you can bid on 13 different hotel and tour packages in Costa Rica, all provided by TIES members. Most of the proceeds go to TIES, a non-profit that supports ecotourism initiatives around the world, with 5 percent going to a community-based organization in the featured country. This month that money will benefit the Yorkin community, which has established an ecotourism program to help them recover financially from devastating floods that hit last November.

I've been to three of the hotels offering auction packages this month--Lapa Rios, Finca Rosa Blanca, and Arenas del Mar--during a trip I wrote about in our August 2008 issue, so I can promise that you won't go wrong by bidding on any of those packages. Lapa Rios is a lovely jungle lodge on the Osa Peninsula, and is the only property in the world to be named to both Condé Nast Traveler's Green List and Gold List. Finca Rosa Blanca is a charming coffee plantation outside San Jose, a great place to start or end your trip, and Arenas del Mar is a beach resort by the same owner, which earned a place on our 2008 Hot List.

Right now, you can still bid well below market value for all three of these packages, and ten others. It's a great way to support a worthy organization, and get a green vacation out of the deal.

Further reading:
* Gold List 2009
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference

 

by Kevin Doyle

Buried in all of the gloomy economic news this week was a New York Times story out of western Cambodia reporting that the most deadly form of malaria is slowly becoming resistant to the only drug that effectively treats it. Though this development could potentially threaten the lives of countless millions of people throughout the developing world, it probably won't score very high on the scale of pressing concerns of most Americans, who at the moment are more focused on keeping their jobs and their homes than they are on a mutation of an insect-borne illness in some remote Asian outpost. Which is why I think it's important to note that malaria kills more than a million people each year--nearly all of them children--even though it's easily prevented through the use of mosquito nets. One net can protect a family of four from malaria for up to five years. The only problem is, the people most at risk are also the least able to afford the $5 to $10 it costs to buy a net.

That's where you--and we--can make a big difference (I cringe knowing this sounds like one of those late-night television appeals, but this really is a life-and-death issue). In 2007 we partnered with Population Services International to launch the Condé Nast Traveler Five & Alive Fund, which raises money to provide clean water, medications, and mosquito netting to help children in developing regions--many of them top travel destinations--survive to adulthood. We're certainly not alone: other organizations that are working to fight malaria are Nothing but Nets, which distributes mosquito nets throughout Africa, and the Cambodia Daily, an English-language paper in Cambodia, which buys nets with donor contributions and distributes them throughout the country. I know money's in short supply for many people, but if you're able to make a $5 or $10 donation, that money could save four lives, no matter what defenses malaria marshals.

Photo: Cathrine Wessel
for Condé Nast Traveler

by Brook Wilkinson

One of my favorite tour operators, Natural Habitat Adventures, is offering a great deal to keep people traveling to Africa during the economic downturn. Simply by filling out a short survey about your travel habits and booking a 2009 African safari, you'll receive $1,000 off per person on your trip, or 50 percent off a Galapagos Islands trip. Why? As Nat Hab president Ben Bressler says, "For the people, places, and wild things around the planet that directly rely on tourism to survive, travel is not a mere luxury." Small safari camp owners are worried that, if African communities and governments can't make enough money through tourism to maintain conservation efforts, parks and private reserves will lose their special status and the animals will be driven out in favor of more lucrative but ecologically devastating pursuits.

Natural Habitat Adventures earned a spot on Condé Nast Traveler's 2006 Green List for its social and environmental good works--the organization's Boulder, Colorado, home office runs entirely on alternative energy, for instance. Nat Hab has also impressed the World Wildlife Fund enough that it runs all trips for the NGO. If you're at all tempted to take advantage of the enticing travel deals out there right now and book a trip to Africa--I've already got tickets to Zambia myself--check out Nat Hab's offer.

Further reading:
* Day by day, wildlife habitats are increasingly threatened by mankind. These companies are finding innovative ways to protect and reintroduce, one creature at a time.
* Applications for the 2009 World Savers Awards are due Monday, February 16.
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference.

Condé Nast Traveler reader Beverly
Orthwein volunteering at an eye
clinic in Kenya.

by Dinda Elliott

So here's the $64 million question: How much do you, as travelers, care about whether your hotel is trying to improve surrounding communities? Here's why I ask: This week, on the very same day, Bill Gates and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, two of the world's most generous philanthropists, reasserted their commitment to increase their giving, not decrease it, in light of the current economic downturn. This comes just at a time when we editors at Condé Nast Traveler are worrying about the future of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects in the travel industry, a topic that has appeared regularly in the pages of our magazine--particularly in our annual World Savers feature. Travel industry heavies recently weighed in on this at an off-the-record brown bag lunch in the Condé Nast Traveler conference room. To find out what they said, read on. . .

Save some cash and help the planet.

by Brook Wilkinson

Itching to plan a late-winter ski getaway? Check out some fantastic deals from Vail Resorts, a winner of Condé Nast Traveler's 2008 World Savers Awards. (The company offsets all of its electricity use with wind power credits, and contributes $1 from every season pass, room stay, and lift ticket purchased online to the National Forest Foundation.)

Breckenridge: Ski for three days and nights, and get your fourth day and night free, plus a bottle of organic Bonterra wine and a $50 resort voucher. This deal is good through February 15th. Or if you've only got a weekend, save 20 percent on all Breckenridge lodging through April.

Vail: Buy three nights at the Lodge at Vail, and get a fourth night free plus a $150 spa credit. This one's good on certain dates through mid-April.

Keystone: Pay just $99 for a room at the Inn at Keystone, Slopeside Studios, Gateway Mountain Lodge, Lakeside Village, or the Ski Tip Bed & Breakfast if you book by January 31.

Further reading:
* Top Ski Resorts and Hotels
* We are now accepting applications for the 2009 World Savers Awards
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference

Airplot is Greenpeace's
scheme to prevent a
third runway at Heathrow.

by Brook Wilkinson

Last week, Greenpeace announced that it had bought up a plot of land intended for Heathrow's proposed third runway, which was recently approved by Parliament. The environmental group intends to distribute ownership of the field among thousands of its supporters (including actress Emma Thompson) in an attempt to stymie Heathrow's expansion--you can sign up online to claim "beneficial ownership" yourself. Greenpeace argues that the added air travel will raise the U.K.'s greenhouse emissions to unacceptable levels. The planned runway would also require the bulldozing of the entire village of Sipson. The British government argues that the expansion will create much-needed jobs, but a study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund found that the project would in fact lead to a $7 billion loss.

If you were traveling through Heathrow around noon last Saturday, you likely ran into masses of demonstrators wearing bright red "STOP Airport Expansion" T-shirts. This flash mob was also the work of Greenpeace U.K.

And if you have indeed been through Heathrow lately, you no doubt have encountered its infamous delays. We at Condé Nast Traveler do whatever we can to fly through an alternate European hub (I'm a fan of Amsterdam's Schiphol, personally). But a third runway is likely only to increase congestion, and according to the World Development Movement, it will produce the same amount of greenhouse gases annually as does the entire nation of Kenya. Sounds like some poor planning to me.

Further reading:
* Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon and Emma Thompson fall out over the third runway
* Responsible Traveler: Making a difference