Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 27

Yep.  Right in the heart of the Bronx is an exciting and beautiful park, woodland and deep gorge to explore.

We all know the Bronx Zoo, but how many of us have spent time wandering along the many paths and trails of the the Bronx Park?

The sheer size of the Bronx park and the variety of flora and fauna found here make this natural area one of the real hidden gems of New York – well worth a visit.

A Natural Secret?
The Botanical Gardens here also holds a historic secret – a 50 acre woodland.  Not so exciting? 

Well, what if I told you it was the exact woodland that was here when the land was first brought in 1891?  So it has been undisturbed for over 130 years!

It was part of the continuous woodlands that covered the whole of the the area when the European migrants first came over in the 17th century. And when you stand among these giants in the peace and quiet – can you imagine the whole of New York city covered in it? 

Water World And More:
There is the Bronx River running through the centre of the park and it is the perfect place for water sports.  There are several launch points for kayaking and canoes.

The river runs through a deep gorge with waterside walks and some amazing plants and trees lining the way.

There are also basketball courts, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, cycle routes and skate parks to name a few of the extensive facilities supplies to the parks users.

There are also dog runs for those with pets, and playgrounds for those with kids!

And, of course, a zoo full of tigers!

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 22

Every Year there is a massive influx of millions of Monarch butterflies to certain towns in Mexico – and you could see it for yourself.

By visiting the Mexican state of Michoacan to the west of Mexico City towards the end of February, you could witness around 120 million Monarch butterflies take to the skies as they start to become active after the colder winter months.

The sky around you literally turns orange with millions of tiny wings fluttering past you in search of a tasty breakfast!

Why Here?
Every year in North America, the Monarchs react to the wetter colder climates by moving south with the sun from about August onwards, they stop over in California and Florida around October before flying to Mexico for the winter.  After a few months of inactivity in the cooler weather, they start to head back north around February/March, through the southern states for late spring, then reaching their destination in summer.

However, this migration is amazing as no one butterfly will ever make the whole round trip – only it’s offspring or even the generation after that which returns to the northern states and Canada the following summer!

Butterflies need warmth to grow and fly as they are not warm-blooded like ourselves, so if these Monarchs are going to be adults throughout the year they need to follow the sunshine to stay active – hence the migration south towards the tropics.  After all – we travel there for warmth too!

Why Visit?
Apart from the amazing sight of all these animals in the same place – their awakening coincides with the calving of Grey whales in Baja California just a bit further west again.

There are many stories of the mothers bringing their calves over to small boat so they can be petted and scratched by humans!  Strange really considering that we humans virtually wiped them out over 100 years ago!

There are hundreds of Grey whales around at this time including wandering males too!  San Ignacio Lagoon is fast becoming the best site to find ‘friendly’ whales, and offers many boat trips throughout the season specifically for this phenomenon!

Further events in Mexico include:

1st – Constitution Day – A celebration of past events – Nationwide
2nd – Candlemas – To celebrate the end of Christmas – Nationwide
10th to the 16th – Carnival – Not quite as grand as Brazil – but a great event none-the-less – Nationwide

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 16

Have you made any travel plans for this year?

Well, maybe it’s time you did to make sure that you have the best time this year doing what you love- and getting extra holiday days from your boss without having to take unpaid leave – can a 18 day vacation only cost you 10 days holiday?  You bet.  But you need to plan ahead.

By taking advantage of what already there can make all the difference between wasting a few days off by staying home, and travelling across the world to some far flung destination!  I know which I would prefer!

Plan Your Days Off
We all know that not everyone takes all their holiday entitlement from work – so make sure that you do.  Plan your days off around any normal days off you get – for example if you only work 5 days a week, then make sure that you stretch out your vacation time to add these in rather than ‘lose’ them. 

By this I mean that you must plan your time off to coincide with existing ‘free’ days off.  So say you wanted to plan a 10 day holiday – you could get 18 days straight off work if you plan it right!  So you would need to have the Saturday and Sunday off of week one as your normal days, and the Monday and Tuesday off as normal days off in week 2, then add 5 days holiday to get you to the end of week 2.  Take your other 5 days holiday for the start of week 3 followed by your 2 normal days off, then add your 2 normal days off for week 4.

• Week 1: 2 days off (2 normal days off)
• Week 2: 7 days off (2 normal days off + 5 days paid holiday)
• Week 3: 7 days off (2 normal days off + 5 days paid holiday)
• Week 4: 2 days off (2 normal days off)

This gives you a grand total of 18 days straight off work – time enough to get to Asia, Australia or South America and tour a few sights with time to spare!

Start At The Weekend:
You also need to work out the best 2 normal days off to use as if you use them mid-week, you get less days off in a row for you holiday.  Starting your 10 day holiday on a week day (rather than the Saturday used for the above example) will only give you 16 days straight for your 10 days paid!

That’s 2 days earlier you will have to fly home and be back at work!

Happy Holidays!

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 10

Welcome indeed to 2010 – and I hope you have made lots of travel plans already for the year ahead.

I have a friend setting off for a 6 month trip around South America with a group of his friends, another who is planning to cycle from London to Paris for charity and yet another hoping to drive across Mongolia towards the end of fall.

I have many ideas too, but first lets see what our contributors this month have to offer.

Lets start up with a short one about taking your kids skiing – and lets be honest, there isn’t really a shortage of snow at the moment!  So, Skier lets us in on 5 Tips to Take Your Child Skiing.

The next 2 are really arty and rather personal articles about how you can give your child (and yourself) something that you can treasure forever.  First off Dan gives s some great advice and tips on creating your very own home movie compilation of your baby’s first holiday with his article: A Truly Priceless Gift for Your Child – DIY 1st Year Baby Video.  Obviously you can use any footage you want – and it doesn’t have to be the 1st year only.  You could set about making one every year for your kids as they are so simple to make.

Then we hop over to Gloria Daniels, who gives some great ideas for putting together a more decorative scrapbook of your kids vacations.  This way you can include entry tickets, snap shots and postcards of the trip in a way you can’t do on video.  So take a look at her article: Creating a Kid’s Travel Journal and see which you prefer.

Or instead of taking the kids yourself – let them head of alone! Marjorie Morgan tells an amazing tale of a young girl Jessica Watson – solo sailor on her lone sailing voyage.  Take a look at what she has achieved at such a young age.

See you next month!

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 1

Due to some great solar activity at the moment – the Aurora Borealis should put on a great show for your January holidays!

Anywhere in the North could have the chance of seeing these eerie green or red wavy Northern Lights filling the night sky, although popular sites in Iceland, Canada, Norway and Russia tend to publicise their displays more.

They occur throughout the year, but you cannot really see them when the sun is in the sky, so winter is the best time – and some of the winter scenes are the best for photography.  However, anytime up until March should still offer you a glimpse of these mysterious celestial light shows!

They can occur in short bursts several times throughout the night, or can last for several hours depending on a host of other factors – with viewings around midnight resulting in the best shows!

What Are They?
As with most things awe inspiring, they have quite a boring origin.  The lights are created by particles in the ionosphere that become ‘excited’ by solar energy in close proximity to the Earth magnetic fields.

The same phenomenon occurs in the southern hemisphere – creating the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights – and there have also been auroras on other planets!  However, a vacation for this January sort of rules that last one out!

Anyway – it doesn’t matter how they get there – you just need to see them for yourself, they truly are amazing.  Just search online for some images of them then imagine how much better it would be to be standing under then yourself!

Where To Stay?
Taber Holidays in Scandinavia offer trips into the Arctic Circle to see the northern lights.  They offer more than 10 different January holidays to see the displays including boat trips that also visit whales, icebergs and even include dog-sledding!

Or look at the trips to Iceland and Lapland that Discover the World offer this winter.  They offer a choice of 3 day trips to a variety of lodges and hotels.  Simply choose your destination for a virtually guaranteed light show!

Or visit with a little niche company in Canada: Alta-Can Aurora Tours.  They offer inside viewing of the northern lights for your comfort with professional photographers, toilets and hot drinks – as well as a whole host of additional experiences you can become involved with during the daylight hours.

This is obviously only a taster of what you can experience – so get looking at the pictures, then think about visiting the arctic circle yourself – but wrap up warm!