Hotel Spotlight: Saguaro Lake Ranch, Arizona
STILL LIFE: Saguaro Lake Ranch and Bulldog Cliffs, Arizona (Alistair Wearmouth)
Saguaro Lake Ranch sits in a tranquil spot just beneath the dam that holds back ten-mile-long Saguaro Lake in central Arizona. Downstream, the Salt River twists beneath the striking Bulldog Cliffs and Goldfield Mountains before flexing some mild Class I muscles on its passage toward the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area. This guest ranch has been run by the same family, the Durands, for four generations, and it shows in the hospitality and homey touches in evidence throughout the riverside property. Guests sleep in simple but comfortable "ranchettes," first built to house the workers who constructed Saguaro Lake's Stewart Mountain Dam between 1928-30. These days, however, you can also count on free property-wide WiFi, hooked up by the current owner's grandkids (but happily no phones or televisions in the rooms). Daytime activities include hiking and horseback riding along the desert trails of Tonto National Forest, kayaking and tubing on the Salt River, or special programs such as art weekends and family reunions. Meals are shared buffet-style in a communal dining room, where you'll feast on homemade treats such as BBQ chicken, biscuits, and fresh-baked cookies. It doesn't get much more relaxing than this.
Saguaro Lake Ranch is located 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix, about an hour by car. Bed and breakfast rates start at $130 for two; the ranch's American Plan includes three meals, plus lodging, and starts at $150 per person, assuming double occupancy. Activities such as trail rides or kayak rentals cost extra. Visit www.saguarolakeranch.com for full details.
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Sweden's ICEHOTEL Celebrates 20 Years
COOL PAD: Exterior walls of the ICEHOTEL, Sweden (Håkan Hjort)
Thirty-nine carefully selected artists have gathered in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, a small village north of the Arctic Circle to begin construction on this winter's version of the ICEHOTEL. In preparation for the hotel's 20th anniversary, two of these artists, Americans Andre Landeros Michel and Dennis Rolland, will have two and a half weeks to transform their winning "Gotham on Ice" design into an ICEHOTEL suite. Like the rest of the hotel, the room will be constructed solely of snis (snow and ice) and their particular room will reflect inspiration from New York City's skyline, the music of Cole Porter, and memories of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The hotel is under construction during November and December and will open for overnight guests in January. The hotel can remain open to visitors through mid-April before the summer sun begins to melt the world's first and largest hotel made of ice. Accommodations vary at the ICEHOTEL, including 62 guest rooms, one deluxe suite, three group rooms, nine snow rooms, 29 ice rooms, and 20 art suites. A night in a deluxe suite will run you around $1,000 per night. Beyond the hotel's chilly walls, visitors can stay entertained with activities including dog- and reindeer-sledding, snowshoeing, moose tours on horseback, ice driving, and dining under a grandiose starlit display put on by the Northern Lights.
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November 19, 2009
Burton Offers Free Lift Tickets and Lessons
If you've been talking about learning how to snowboard, but never actually put words into action, Burton might be able to push you over the edge. This leading snowboard company continues its "Go Snowboarding" program. Purchase one from a group of select boards and you can go online to obtain a free lift ticket and lesson, which are also transferable to other friends or family members.
Seasoned riders may also find the reason they've been looking for to get a new board. Burton's "Get Lifted" program, which applies to most boards in their line, gives you a free lift ticket to top resorts including ones in California, Utah, Alaska, Vermont, West Virginia, and throughout Canada.
So get going. You're running out of excuses.
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Celebrating Soccer (and Cultural Exchange) in Africa
How high on your travel wish list is Nigeria? So what would possess more than 500 teenage boys from across the world to trek to the heart of West Africa at the height of summer?
A) School trip?
B) Free video games?
C) International soccer competition?
If you answered C, give yourself a gold star. This past month in Nigeria, the FIFA Under-17 World Cup took place. The semi-finals saw Switzerland defeat Colombia, and Nigeria beat Spain. In the end, Switzerland took home the golden trophy, winning 1-0 in the finals on Sunday, November 15 in front of a crowd of more than 60,000 screaming fans. But it wasn't just the players who were from across the globe. I interviewed a few fanatics in the international crowd to find out what brought them to this sports-mad country.
Name: HENRY
From: Johannesburg, South Africa
What Brought You Here: I've been working for the past eight months for DSTV.
What Have You Learned From Coming to Nigeria: How diverse the cultures around Africa are.
One Thing You Can't Travel Without: My camera.
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November 18, 2009
Notes from the Field: Winter Adventures in Yellowstone National Park
Gray wolf on the prowl in Yellowstone National Park (Corel)
It's no secret that winter in Yellowstone National Park is a magical season; think silent, snow-filled meadows and slopes, packs of wolves hustling across the valley floor, plus an absolute dearth of tourists. No, the secret here lies in the fact that many visitors—in winter or summer—fail to spend enough time here to appreciate the full diversity of the country's oldest park. Which is where the Yellowstone Association Institute (YAI), and more specifically its annual Field Seminar programs, comes in.
This non-profit offers a number of well-regarded winter programs, including an overnight "Wilderness First Aid" session ($230) and a two-night "Yellowstone's Winter Serengeti" seminar ($300) that tracks resident wildlife including bison, wolves, foxes, bighorn sheep, and river otters. Participants will spend their nights out in the field in YAI's Lamar Buffalo Field Campus in shared, rustic cabins, dining on self-provided food prepared in a communal kitchen. Spots are still available for these and other 2009-10 winter programs. Other YAI options include Lodging & Learning programs in partnership with parks concessionaire Xanterra Parks & Resorts, as well as one-day private tours that can be organized for families and other small groups.
See a photo gallery of the wolves of Yellowstone National Park, first reintroduced back into the park in 1995.
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November 16, 2009
The African Renaissance Statue in Senegal
I've never had a first impression of a country quite like when I arrived in Senegal. Towering over the capital city of Dakar is the African Renaissance Monument, a 160-foot statue depicting a man rising triumphantly from a volcano with his outstretched arms wrapped around his wife and child. The monument, designed by a Senegalese artist but constructed by North Korean workers, is a symbol of Africa's rise from centuries of intolerance and racism. It is set to be officially dedicated on December 12. Apparently, I got to Senegal a month too soon.
Like the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument, this bronze statue is sure to serve as a regular background in photos of smiling tourists for decades to come. The site has exhibition, multimedia, and conference rooms, and a top-floor viewing platform. And since Dakar is the westernmost point of Africa, it's only a 7.5-hour plane ride from Washington D.C. now that South African Airways flies directly there.
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November 13, 2009
Hotel Spotlight: Ahwahnee, Yosemite
The Great Lounge in Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel (courtesy, Delaware North Companies)
The summer months draw 50 percent of Yosemite National Park's overnight visitor stays; that stat drops to less than three percent once winter rolls round. Concession lodging in the park, like the classic 123-room Ahwahnee Hotel, sees a corresponding drop in visitor nights, with overnight occupancy dropping to about a third of its summer peak throughout the park. And while the Ahwahnee, considered by many to be the country's finest national-park lodging, in one of the country's most beautiful settings, Yosemite Valley, is still relatively full and pricey (rates from as low as $265 per night), the real lure is being able to enjoy the park in its winter glory without the crowds. Go for a snowshoe trek in the glorious shadow of Half Dome, take the kids snowboarding and cross-country skiing at nearby Badger Pass (all-day adult passes only $42), or just curl up with a good book in front of a roaring fire in the lodge's Great Lounge, with floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing snow-clad Yosemite Valley.
Browse more of the country's top national park lodges in Away.com's Guide to the World's Best Resorts & Lodges.
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November 12, 2009
Notes from the Field: Track Giant Pandas in China's Sichuan Province
In April and October of next year, U.S.-and Beijing-based tour operator WildChina is offering two new weeklong itineraries to showcase the key panda-conservation area in southwestern China's mountainous Sichuan province. Starting out from the provincial capital of Chengdu, the group tours will delve into the bamboo and rhododendron thickets of Sichuan's Wanglang Nature Reserve, home to over two dozen Giant pandas. With a diverse array of habitat rising from between 7,500 and 15,000 feet in elevation, Wanglang is also home to numerous other wildlife species including Golden Snub-nosed monkeys, leopard cats, and some 165 kinds of birds.
Tour participants will follow "panda patrol" paths through the reserve in the company of local wildlife experts, learning how to spot panda tracks and helping to locate infrared cameras for recording panda behavior. Wanglang is home to a small but growing population of the world's estimated 1,600 wild pandas, all of which inhabit about 20 enclaves of isolated mountain forest in China's Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. WildChina's 2010 itinerary will also take in the alpine landscapes of Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World heritage site. Not only notable for its acclaim in high-end publications like Travel+Leisure and National Geographic Traveler, WildChina is a partner with the World Wildlife Fund to implement sustainable, environmentally-friendly tourism practices on the ground. Land-based costs for this trip start at $2,600 per person, with additional costs for domestic air transfers and optional trip extensions.
Photo credit: courtesy, WildChina
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November 11, 2009
Google Announces Free WiFi for the Holidays in Select Airports
Google announced yesterday that it's partnering with 47 airports around the U.S. to offer free WiFi to travelers during the busy holiday season, as well as on every Virgin America flight. The search-engine giant is working with Boingo, Advanced Wireless Group, Time Warner Cable, Electronic Media Systems, Lilypad, as well as numerous airports that provide wireless services themselves to power this free holiday e-giveaway. The complimentary Internet connectivity runs from November 10, 2009 through January 15, 2010 (in the airports listed below the jump). But while the Mountain View, California-based company is happy to rebrand itself as Google Ho-Ho-Ho, some commentators are criticizing this as a evidence of a sinister market-research ploy on the part of Google. Whatever the motives, expect a deluge of 140-character "My flight's delayed... again" tweets.
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November 09, 2009
Ski Resort Smackdown: Defend Your Favorite!
SICK DAY: Skier at Jackson Hole, Wyoming (courtesy, JHMR)
Based on a wide variety of attributes, input from an army of snow-a-holic freelance writers, and our own not-so-humble opinions, we’ve selected our top 10 ski resorts in North America (see below). But, the Web being a democratic place, we know our say isn’t the final word. So, if you think we missed one, let us know—DEFEND YOUR FAVORITE RESORT in 150 words or less and the snow enthusiast who makes the most convincing case will win over $400 worth of ski apparel from Outdoor Research.
Join the fray in the comments section below. Did your fave make our list? Great, then tell us how we got it right—and then some. Don't see your hill? Convince us why we're wrong. You have until midnight on Friday, November 20 to make your case. (Click here to download a copy of the official rules.)
Top North American Ski Resorts:
Alta (UT)
Arapahoe Basin (CO)
Jackson Hole (WY)
Killington (VT)
Mammoth Mountain (CA)
Sun Valley (ID)
Taos (NM)
The Canyons (UT)
Vail (CO)
Whistler-Blackcomb (British Columbia)
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