Charitable Traveller Magazine - January/February 2022- Issue 8

50% travel, 50% charity, 100% meaningful

50% travel, 50% charity, 100% meaning January/February 2022 ISSUE 8

Take a fresh look Get inspired to visit Australia in 2022 and find out how to make your air miles count by travelling for good

MUSICAL JOURNEYS

Four note-perfect destinations in the USA's Deep South

BUCKET LIST ADVENTURES 10 ways to have adventure and 30 places to choose from

COMMUNITY MATTERS

Tour operators helping to give back to the places they visit

The WONDER Remains

ORLANDO

Welcomes You Back At long last, international travel to the U.S. has reopened, which means there is nothing stopping you from enjoying the Orlando holiday you deserve! We have missed you and cannot wait for you to enjoy all the incredible experiences we have for you — including theme parks and attractions, al fresco dining and shopping, expansive resorts with incredible pools and recreational activities, and much more.

Book your holiday travel today!

Begin

AGAIN FROM THE EDITOR

Laura Gelder

This time last year we were all hoping for a year of unfettered freedom and the chance to travel far and wide after months of being locked down. Well... whatever you say about 2021, it was definitely an improvement on 2020!

Having recently got back from the Netherlands, I can attest to challenges of travel in a pandemic but also to its worth. Walking the deserted streets of Amsterdam after 8pm (thanks to a partial lockdown), it was sad to see so many bars and restaurants denied paying customers but great to have the windswept canals to myself for an eerie but beautiful photo shoot.

I think 2022 is going to be all about making every trip count, for ourselves and for the world. In this issue we look at how to do that in Australia, from finding eco-friendly lodgings to making sure you support Aboriginal communities, and we share five expedition cruise lines that are leading in sustainability and letting guests help too.

I think 2022 is going to be all about making every trip count, for ourselves and for the world If you’re planning big adventures in 2022 we have got you covered, with a feature exploring ten ways to have one and three choices of destination for each. You can hike a historic road in Japan, cycle through French vineyards or learn to sail in the Solent here in the UK. Read on, too, for inspiring interviews with an ambassador for epilepsy sufferers, the founder of a charity helping refugees to be entrepreneurs and a flying doctor in the Midlands.

Happy New Year and happy travels.

©CHARITABLE TRAVEL 2022. CHARITABLE TRAVELLER is part of CHARITABLE TRAVEL, Fundraising Futures Community Interest Company, Contingent Works, Broadway Buildings, Elmfield Road, Bromley, BR1 1LW, UK. Putting our profit to work supporting the work of charitable causes. T: 020 3092 1288 E: bookings@charitable.travel W: charitable.travel Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, CHARITABLE TRAVEL cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. FRONT COVER: Tiwi Islands, NT. Credit: Tourism Australia. ICONS: thenounproject.com. CEO: Melissa Tilling; MARKETING: Rosie Buddell, Ally Ware & Adam Pedley; SALES: Ali Nicholls; MAGAZINE EDITOR: Laura Gelder; MAGAZINE DESIGNER: Louisa Horton (louisacreative@outlook.com)

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Get the Picture Armchair Travel Adventure: Ideas for global adventure travel in all forms Five... small charities fighting cancer A day in the life of... a doctor for Midlands Air Ambulance Four views of... Botswana Community Tourism: Travel companies giving back

32 In numbers: Education inequality 34 Q&A: The Entrepreneurial

Refugee Network 38 USA Musical Cities: Deep

South towns with heritage 47 Opinion: Mark Bibby

Jackson on Swiss trains 48 Five... expedition cruises

doing good 50 Postcard from: Lake

Titicaca

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Why I donate... to The Voice for Epilepsy 72 hours in... Tyrol Valley Australia: Travel for good Postcard from: The Wye Valley Global Good News

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picture

Paradise Awaits in Puerto Rico

With winter in full swing here in the UK, it’s easy to forget what sunnier climes feel like. But if you’re hankering after a spot of escapism, the warm embrace of the Caribbean sun, perhaps, a trip to Puerto Rico could be just the ticket. Boasting the highest vaccination rates in the U.S., this idyllic outpost of America offers colourful latin charm in the cobbled streets of Old San Juan, pristine beaches lapped by turquoise waters and lush rainforests hiding exotic creatures and ancient petroglyphs. Book your 2022 Puerto Rico holiday here: charitable.travel/puerto-rico

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Get the picture

Georgia’s creative cities

This November UNESCO recognised a further 49 ‘Creative Cities’ and Georgia was one of the countries which had two on the list. The Creative Cities Network was devised to recognise cities that have creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. Batumi in Georgia was recognised for its music scene and Tbilisi (pictured) for its Media Arts. UNESCO said of the latter: “The face of Tbilisi is rapidly changing. With art venues, coworking spaces and museums lining the streets, festivals filling the calendar, and architects and graffiti artists reimagining this medieval city, the appetite for creativity is palpable.”

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Get the picture

Finland shows its true colours

Colour company Pantone recently released a palette inspired by Finland.

Working with a Helsinki creative agency, Pantone analysed 4,000 everyday photos which Finns had shared of their home country through Instagram in response to the ‘True Colors of Finland’ campaign, and produced a palette of pastels, greys, blues and greens, alongside mineral black and a soft rose peach to evoke the beauty of Finland.

Laura Pressman, Vice President of Pantone Color Institute called it: “A palette of nonconfrontational colours that conveys a message of steadfast resilience, as well as unity and sustainability.

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DEATH ON THE NILE

This much-delayed re-worked classic finally has a release date for February 2022. Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, as Agatha Christie’s shrewd but unfailingly polite French detective, Hercule Poirot, the film is set on a glamorous river steamer exploring Egypt’s River Nile. The lavish period tale sees an idyllic honeymoon shattered by violent deaths, as obsessive love and its murderous consequences play out against a backdrop of romantic desert landscapes and ancient tombs and temples. The film also stars Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Gal Gadot and Sophie Okonedo.

Film

JOURNEYS TO IMPOSSIBLE PLACES: IN LIFE AND EVERY ADVENTURE

By Simon Reeve

Following on from his first autobiography, Step

by Step, TV presenter Simon Reeve shares more adventures in a love letter to the power of travel.

Covering a plethora of beautiful and dangerous places, the author also shares what his experiences in travel and life have taught him, sharing his struggles with fertility and mental health and the joys of fatherhood and dogs. His message is to battle fear and negativity and embrace life, risk, opportunities and our glorious world.

Book

ARMCHAIR

travel time

An Aussie thriller, the ultimate travel guide for 2022, reflections on life and travel from a TV globetrotter & a classic tale in a timeless setting

LONELY PLANET’S BEST IN TRAVEL 2022

Book

This annual tome ranks the planet’s must-visit countries, cities and regions and it’s no different for 2022.

In this instance though, Lonely Planet has drawn on the knowledge of its global community of experts to curate a collection of experiences that will inspire readers to reconnect with the world with a new appreciation for what a privilege and responsibility travel is. The book also reveals how travellers can have a positive impact when they holiday, with practical advice and tips on making sustainable travel choices, supporting local communities and celebrating inclusivity wherever you are.

THE TOURIST BBC One

This three-part drama first airs on New Year’s Day and stars Jamie Dornan as a British man in a bit of a pickle abroad. It throws viewers straight into the action in the vivid Australian outback, where he’s being chased by a vast tanker truck that is trying to run him off the road. An epic cat and mouse chase leaves the man waking up in hospital, alive but with no idea who he is. Will he be able to unlock the secrets of his identify before his pursuers find him and kill him?

This thriller will have you planning an Aussie road trip.

TV

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Sponsored

Get to know the

COOK ISLANDS

Icon from the thenounproject.com - Beach by James Gordon; Flower by Tippawan Sookruay; Quad Bike

by ProSymbols; Turtle by Eucalyp; Serving Dish by emma mitchell; Coconut Tree by Christine Komatsu

What’s it all about?

Take it easy

The 15 islands of the Cooks lie between New Zealand and Hawaii in the sparkling South Pacific. Rarotonga is the main island, home to the international airport, but even the biggest island is just 20 miles in circumference so nothing is more than 20 minutes away. Public transport is simple too, there are two buses an hour, one going clockwise and one anticlockwise, and there’s no need for bus stops – just flag the driver down when you see them coming!

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands have miles of uninterrupted public beaches where you can lay your towel wherever you want and take a dip in the invitingly warm sea. Beaches range from the lively Muri on Rarotonga, home to many cafes, bars and restaurants, to Aitutaki’s Honeymoon Island, known for its pure white coral sandbar that juts out into the sea like a catwalk from the palmcovered islet.

Island night

Cook Islanders are rightly proud of their Polynesian heritage and want to share it with visitors. Make sure you book in for an authentic island night, where you’ll be treated to a traditional Umu (underground oven) feast and dazzling displays of traditional dance with colourful costumes.

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AITUTAKI

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Experience PARADISE in the Cook Islands

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Timing is everything...

HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME Between July and September you can spot migrating hump back whales from the beach.

PARTY TIME The cultural festival of Te Maeva Nui showcases local music, dance, arts, crafts and food in Rarotonga from the end of July to the start of August.

FLOWER FEST Te Mire Tiare is a flower show, held in November in Rarotonga, featuring parades with flower-covered floats.

PADDLE POWER Also in November in Rarotonga, Vaka Eiva is a series of exciting canoe races.

Work up a sweat

There’s plenty to keep active types happy in the Cook Islands. On the water you can explore on a sailing boat, kayak or stand-up paddleboard.

But don’t forget to head inland too, you’ll find pristine volcanic interiors with verdant rainforest and waterfalls.

Head off on a self-guided hike or tour with a local to learn about local medicinal plants and fauna. You can also jump in a jeep or on a quad bike if you have a need for speed!

Blue lagoon

Aitutaki is home to one of the most idyllic lagoons in the world, just a 45-minute flight from Rarotonga. Discover what paradise really looks like as you swim in turquoise water ringed by tiny desert islands called motus, where you can laze in the shade of a palm. Under the sea snorkellers and divers have crystal clear views of a vibrant world home to vivid giant clams, swooping turtles, reams of multi-coloured fish and the quicksilver flash of giant trevally.

There are no big chain hotels here, all hotels are owneroperated so hospitality is authentic and personal

Eat your heart out

With almost 100 restaurants and bars on Rarotonga you’ll be sure to eat well – freshly-caught seafood is a speciality – and at prices that you’ll find surprisingly good value. To see what the locals eat, a visit to Rarotonga’s Punanganui Market on Saturday morning is a must. It’s also a great place to bag a bargain, take colourful pictures and meet up with all the new friends you’ve made during your stay.

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10 Bucket list adventures

way an a

cycling in Alsace

1

GO ON A BIKE RIDE

Go hard: Biking around the verdant amphitheatre that is Peru’s Sacred Valley will test your mettle thanks to the altitude (3,000 metres-plus).

But you’ll be distracted by the spectacular landscape carved by ancient civilisations, well-dressed alpacas and bustling Andean towns bursting with colourful textiles, ancient ruins and Spanish architecture.

Go soft: Cycling France’s oldest wine route, the Alsace Route du Vin, is less about pedal power and more about staying power if you’re stopping to try its renowned Riesling. Meander past sloping vineyards, red-roofed villages and the Alsatian wine capital of Colmar with its cobbled streets, canals and gingerbread houses.

Go home: The rugged green patchwork of the Peak District is a cyclist’s dream. Try the High Peak Trail, an old railway line that cuts through dramatic limestone peaks.

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Bucket list adventures

ys to have adventure

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TAKE A HIKE

Go hard: Tasmania’s Overland Track is a 40-mile hike over six days that travels through the Australian island state’s wildest reaches. Trek past alpine moors with grazing wombats, through forests of eucalyptus and over the summit of craggy Cradle Mountain.

Go soft: The Nakasendo Trail was a feudal highway between Kyoto and Tokyo. Today you can walk sections of it through valleys and forests of bamboo and cedar. At night, stop in evocatively-preserved old Japanese post towns with traditional wooden inns and hot springs to sooth tired feet.

Go home: Scotland’s West Highland Way stretches 96 miles past stunning lochs and windswept moors and glens.

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Bucket list adventures

3

GET PADDLING

Saracino

Go hard: Extreme humidity and being the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist are two reasons why a kayaking trip in Florida’s Everglades is no picnic. You’ll be rewarded by deserted waterways lined with whispering grass, floating lilies, twisted mangrove forest and 10,000 islands. Less toothy wildlife includes white tailed deer and pink spoonbills birds.

Go soft: The fjord-like ‘khors’ of Oman’s Musandam Peninsula (closer to Dubai than Muscat) are perfect for exploring by kayak. The region points into the Straits of Hormuz, with a coastline of arid, jagged cliffs and deep blue dolphin-filled waters. Tours leave from the bustling harbour at Khasab, watched over by a blue-domed mosque and an imposing castle.

Go home: Take a stand-up paddleboard tour of Cornwall’s rugged Lizard Peninsula to discover hidden coves, sandy bays and cute fishing villages.

“Young Women’s Trust changed my life. Within 2 years, from undecided and unemployed to a successful career.”

Iulia @youngwomenstrust Search: Young Women’s Trust

The only place in the world where alligators & crocodiles coexist, the Everglades are lined with whispering grass, floating lilies, twisted mangrove forest and 10,000 islands BOOKINGS@CHARITABLE.TRAVEL / RESERVATIONS: 020 3092 1288

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Wyoming’s wild slopes Bucket list adventures

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STRAP ON SOME SKIS

Go hard: Jackson Hole in Wyoming is a beacon for advanced skiers and boarders. They welcome the steep ungroomed pistes of deep powder balancing between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges, about half of which are classed as black or double black diamond.

Go soft: The Swiss village of Grindelwald is looked over by the north face of the Eiger but in the valley it’s a chocolate box scene of icing sugared wooden chalets, skiing for all abilities and Europe’s longest sledge run.

Go home: Head to Scotland’s Cairngorms for the UK’s most reliable skiing – you can even take a funicular up the mountain to get there.

Visit Prescott, Arizona for True West. Real Adventure.

CHARITABLE.TRAVEL/PRESCOTT

Alber ta’s Icefield’s Parkway Bucket list adventures

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TAKE A DRIVE

Go hard: The Canning Stock Route through Western Australia’s stark red outback is one of the world’s most remote road trips, running for 1,150 miles between the dusty towns of Wiluna and Hall’s Creek. Along the old livestock drover’s trail are aboriginal rock art sites thousands of years old and sand dunes higher than a three-storey building.

Go soft: Linking two of Canada’s famous national parks, in Banff and Jasper, the Icefields Parkway is a corridor through the majestic Rocky Mountains, passing turquoise lakes, snow-capped peaks and the Athabasca Glacier.

Go home: Motor through the Cotswolds’ villages of honey-stone cottages and rolling countryside.

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JUMP ON A TRAIN

Go hard: The Trans-Siberian Railway may only traverse one country but the 5,772-mile track runs from the European capital of Moscow to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan. Over 15 days you’ll pass through seven time zones, cross the endless Siberian tundra and pass the world’s largest and deepest freshwater lake, Baikal.

Go soft: Trundle between South Africa’s capital city Pretoria and Cape Town in the lap of luxury on the iconic Blue Train. You can enjoy fine dining or laze in your bath tub as you cut nearly 1,000 miles through South Africa’s mountains and bush, stopping at Kimberly’s ‘Big Hole’ diamond mine in between.

Go home: The Northern Belle steam train chugs along the spectacular 72-mile Settle to Carlisle line across the picturesque North Pennine moors and Yorkshire Dales.

The Trans-Siberian Railway runs 5,772 miles from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan, across seven time zones 18

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Bucket list adventures

SET SAIL

Go hard: You can’t get more extreme than Antarctica, the most remote place on earth.

Cruises cross the notoriously rough Drake Passage from South America before arriving at the sparkling continent to see crowds of penguins, slick orcas and dancing humpback whales.

Go soft: Croatia’s Adriatic is ideal for a sailing trip. Board a yacht to island hop the Dalmatian coast between the historic cities of Dubrovnik and Spilt. Discover Korcula’s vineyards and olive groves, the green wilds of Mljet and the lavender fields and terracotta-roofed towns of Hvar.

Go home: The Solent, between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, is one of the busiest waterways in the world but also a renowned place to learn to sail.

Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

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GO ON SAFARI

Go hard: In Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest there’s a 90% chance of seeing a gorilla but you’ll work for it as you trek through this steep tropical jungle. Once spotted, you’ll have the privilege of being able to observe these powerful but playful giants for an hour, safe in their natural habitat.

Go soft: It’s easy to spot wildlife in Costa Rica, even if you’re as lazy as the sloths dangling from the trees. There’s turtles on the Caribbean beaches, howler monkeys and red-eyed tree frogs in the rainforest and toucans flitting in the highlands.

Go home: Knepp is a 3,500 acre estate and a pioneering rewilding project in West Sussex.

Take a safari to see what untamed England looks like and spot rare turtle doves, purple emperor butterflies and the first nesting storks in the UK for 600 years.

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Bucket list adventures

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LOOK UNDERWATER

Go hard: The Galapagos Islands are not for beginner scuba divers. Colder water, strong currents and often low visibility are challenging but it’s worth the effort for its truly unique sights.

The islands are famous for huge schools of hammerhead sharks and marine iguanas.

Even snorkellers can spy sea lions and penguins, graceful in their underwater realm.

Go soft: The Bahamas’ balmy 700 islands and cays span 100,000 square miles and offer sublime diving and snorkelling with incredible visibility. At Peterson Cay National Park barracuda and manta rays flit above a pristine reef of vivid purple and yellow coral.

Go home: Off Devon’s Lundy Island you can snorkel with attention-seeking Atlantic seals.

Did you know that 771 million people globally don’t have access to safe water?

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BOOK BY 13th FEBRUARY 2022

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ANY EU BREAKS QUOTE JG22EB40

020 3092 1288 or visit our website charitable.travel

Book now with Charitable Travel on

*Discounts are only valid on new bookings made on or after 29th December 2021 and on or before 13th February 2022. Discounts are per person and may only be used on any breaks of 3 days or more as stated. Offer is non-transferable and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

All tours offered subject to availability and government guidelines. Terms and conditions apply. Errors and omissions excepted.

Prices shown are per person and based on two people sharing a double/twin room.

Bucket list adventures

10 K awarau Bridge

TAKE FLIGHT

Go hard: New Zealand was where the modern bungy jump was invented so there’s no better place to hop into the abyss. The original bungy at Kawarau Bridge in adventure capital Queenstown might not be the highest but views are stunning and you get a complimentary dip in the river.

Go soft: Step aboard a hot air balloon for a bird’s eye view of Jordan’s beautiful desert at Wadi Rum. You’ll fly at sunrise to drift silently on a cool breeze above the red sand and dramatic rocky outcrops, before the day’s heat begins to build.

Go home: Book an exhilarating paragliding experience with an instructor, flying over Dorset’s dramatic Jurassic Coast.

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Small charities

FIGHTING CANCER One in two of us will get cancer in our life time so it’s no wonder there are so many charities dedicated to fighting it. Here are five small charities that you can make a big difference to

SOLVING KIDS’ CANCER

Icons from the thenounproject.com

HOPE AGAINST CANCER

Established in 2003, this Leicestershire and Rutlandbased cancer research charity aimed to bring cutting-edge research to the area and make clinical trials available to local people. Since then it has raised more than £6 million and funded over 60 research projects tackling many forms of cancer. The charity continues to offer new medicines and therapies at its clinical trial unit at Leicester Infirmary and help train the next generation of cancer researchers by funding postgraduates and cancer clinicians pursuing a career in cancer research – an area for which funding is being cut. hopeagainst cancer.org.uk

This charity is focused on neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer that affects around 100 children in the UK each year, over 90% under five years old. Treatment for neuroblastoma is incredibly gruelling – including chemotherapy – and even those who do go into remission face severe and lifelong health problems due to its toxic nature. Solving Kids’ Cancer funds family support, clinical research to find effective and less toxic treatment options, access to treatment even if it’s not available on the NHS and campaigning to raise awareness. solvingkidscancer.org.uk

TOGETHER AGAINST CANCER

This charity offers advice to prevent cancer and support for people who have had a diagnosis. It gives counselling to cancer patients who have suffered from aggressive treatments or are experiencing end of life care, plus support for carers and educational workshops and complementary therapies ranging from reiki to tai chi. It also supports those who have experienced financial hardship because of a cancer diagnosis, which is four out of five people. togetheragainstcancer.org.uk

UCARE

Urology Cancer Research and Education (UCARE) is an Oxford-based charity founded by doctors and patients who were alarmed by how under-funded research into urological cancers (those of the kidney, bladder, prostate and testes) were, despite the fact that they represent 20% of all newly-diagnosed cancers. The charity supports research into the causes, prevention and treatment of these cancers. ucare.oxford.org.uk

THE NIGHTINGALE CANCER SUPPORT CENTRE Supporting adults affected by cancer, this Enfieldbased charity works alongside local health facilities to ensure that cancer patients and their family and friends receive emotional, psychological and practical support. The charity offers counselling, group meetings, complementary therapies like mindfulness and practical support like home visits and educational groups led by nurse specialists.

It supports around 600 clients a year. nightingalesupport. org.uk

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THE LIFE OF...

Dr Richard Fawcett, a specialist in emergency

medicine and pre-hospital care who flies life-saving missions with Midlands Air Ambulance I started flying for Midlands Air Ambulance in 2012, alongside my job as an A&E Consultant at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, one of the UK’s biggest and busiest major trauma hospitals.

I’m also in the Army Reserves and I’ve done three tours of Afghanistan. On the last tour I was in a team flying out to battlefields on a Chinook helicopter to take wounded soldiers to a trauma hospital - that was good training!

A typical day...

...starts at 7am and the shift is 12 hours. The team consists of a pilot, a senior doctor and a critical care paramedic. We check our kit is in good order and we’re stocked with drugs and get a brief from the pilot on the weather. If we don’t need to leave we do some simulations paramedics with any complex case. to prep, catch up on paperwork or The area we cover is huge and we could review cases to see if we can learn be landing on the M6 or a mountain.

Midlands Air Ambulance gets anything. A typical shift has one to no government funding and is four jobs taking one to five hours. solely reliant on donations. Each life-

Did you know?

Icons from the thenounproject.com - First Aid Kit by Gregor Cresnar; Alert by Adrien Coquet; Health heart by Alice Design; Medical stethoscope by Drishya

We deal with...

...major incidents like a terrorist attack, fire or building collapse, and individual incidents like knife crime, road traffic accidents and cardiac arrests. We help

saving mission costs about £2,500 so every penny counts. midlandsairambulance.com

The hardest thing...

… is when no matter how hard you try and how well you work as a team, you just can’t save someone. Having to face the family and tell them that is difficult. But when we do save someone it’s incredibly rewarding. Most of the fundraisers we meet are ex-patients or close to one.

I can honestly say...

...The team makes a real difference, not only to life and death situations but also by reducing suffering and improving recovery and quality of life. We take A&E to the patient, very quickly, to start damage control resuscitation at the earliest possible moment and optimise patient care and survivability. We can deliver more advanced drugs and painkillers, put patients in medically induced comas and perform life saving surgery. It can be the difference between someone walking out of a hospital or going into care.

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OKAVANGO DELTA

Swelling three times in size between March and August, this delta floods into the savannah instead of the sea, creating one of the richest environments on earth. Wildlife drawn to this labyrinth of papyrus-fringed waterways, serene lagoons and wild islands includes rare fish eating owls, big cats, African wild dogs and rhinos.

KGALAGADI

Shared between Botswana and South Africa, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is an arid, sparsely vegetated area with rolling red sand dunes.

This unforgiving environment is patrolled by blackmaned lions while cheetahs hunt along river beds, leopards lounge in trees, meerkats keep watch and raptors soar above.

Four views of BOTSWANA

MAKGADIKGADI

An area roughly the size of Portugal, Makgadikgadi is mostly uninhabited by humans. A series of flat, featureless salt pans are fringed by grasslands and dotted with huge gnarled baobab trees, creating a dramatic backdrop against the sunset. In the wet season water appears and herds of zebra and wildebeest gather as well as giraffes, elephants and rare brown hyenas.

One of Africa’s most ecologically diverse countries, Botswana is a haven for precious flora and fauna

CHOBE

Chobe National Park has some of the highest game density of any place in Africa.

The Chobe River trails through sandy terrain, lush floodplains and dense forests of cathedral mopane trees. Thousands of elephant and buffalo trek from Zimbabwe to drink at the river along with lions, baboons and zebras, while hippos and crocodiles lurk.

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Community tourism

It takes a village

Tourism can be a wrecking ball or a golden chalice when it touches a community, and while the actions of the individual tourist are important, the tour operator is key to making a positive impact, says

Laura Gelder

T

ourism has a huge effect on the communities that it touches. At the positive end of the scale it creates jobs, brings much-needed sources of income and creates meaningful connections between people of different cultures who might not otherwise meet.

But the companies who operate tours are often criticised for the negative impact they have too, accused of sweeping through communities, dropping bus-loads of tourists off without worrying if there is an infrastructure to cope with them, not contributing to the local economy or interacting with local people in any significant way, and then bustling out again with little thought to the rubbish or other ill effects they leave in their wake.

Luckily there are many tour operators who are conscious about how they operate in the communities they visit, and some who are actively trying to make a positive, culturally sensitive impact.

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“Sustainability isn’t only about carbon emissions, social sustainability is also vitally important,” tour operater Intrepid Travel’s EMEA Managing Director, Zina Bencheikh says. “Millions of communities around the world rely on tourism for their income and using a local tour guide, eating in the best local restaurants, even hopping on public transport, are all fantastic ways to have a positive impact on a place you visit, as well as get under the skin of a destination.”

Intrepid is certified as a B-Corp, an official designation given to businesses that balance purpose with profit and make decisions to create a positive impact for communities, as well as their workers, customers, suppliers and the environment. The tour operator also has a non-profit arm, the Intrepid Foundation, which aims to accelerate community-led sustainable development through tourism and has contributed more than 12 million Australian dollars to

Ex plore's One Bik project in Tanzani

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Community tourism

a women's weaving co-operative in Peru

Sustainability isn't only about carbon emissions, social sustainability is also vitally important. Millions of people around the world rely on tourism for their income over 130 community organisations across the world since 2002.

SHINING A LIGHT

The Globus Family of brands, including tour operator Cosmos and river cruise operator Avalon Waterways, is highlighting its work with communities through the Lighthouse Project. As well as supporting various charities – Landmine Design, UNICEF, Childsafe Network, Rural Aid and Foundation Galapagos – it supports worthy organisations and communities via a combination of visits on tours and donations.

Beneficaries range from the KOTO Hospitality Training Centre in Vietnam, a social enterprise that empowers at-risk and disadvantaged youth through its holistic hospitality training programme, to Indigenous Amazon communities via lodge

stays in Ecuador and Peru.

“We are acutely conscious that the places we go to need to remain in their best state so that we can continue to take our guests there for years to come,” says Giles Hawke, CEO of Globus.

By working with communities and local partners Intrepid has supported the development of

rural villages don't always benefit from tourism

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Community tourism

SIMPLE CHANGES

Cosmos supports worthy causes via its Lighthouse Project

Communities in crisis

The Charitable Travel Fund is supporting two communities, in Cambodia and Guinea, who are suffering from the drop in tourism due to Covid-19. charitabletravel.org

A G Adventures project in Zimbabwe

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many new community-based tourism experiences in off-thebeaten-track destinations that otherwise wouldn’t see the benefits of tourism.

“An example of this is in Nepal’s Madi Valley,” Bencheikh says. “The wild animals that live in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park cause huge issues for the surrounding villages in the valley, like Shivadwar. Local farmers are reliant on their crops for food and income and animals wandering in from the park can cause huge damage. We teamed up with Nepal’s World Wildlife Fund (WWF Nepal) to create a villagerun community of homestays and activities for international travellers and this has not only created jobs and generated income, it has empowered the locals, particularly women, socially and personally.

And for visitors? “It’s a chance to experience a different way of life,” says Bencheikh. “You’ll learn about local customs, eat home-cooked traditional dishes and enjoy the countryside. You’ll see the benefit of tourism right in front of your eyes: a new fence that rings the community and stops unwanted wildlife, paid for by tourism dollars.”

One of tour operator Explore Worldwide's most impactful community projects was started by a member of its regional staff.

Hillary Matemu was working in the Kilimanjaro region when he started the One Bike scheme, which works with local teens to teach them how to repair bicycles. One Bike has gone on to run 're-cycling' litter-picking bike rides, with staff and locals collecting rubbish to be recycled.

“Explore's donation was used to buy bikes and spare parts for the apprentices to use, with Hillary starting the training himself,” explains Ben Ittensohn, Director of Global Sales at Explore. “Bikes are a main source of transport in the area, so learning to repair them gives young people the required skills for a lifelong income. Our guests can see it in action on our Kilimanjaro Lemosho Trek trip.”

G Adventures is another tour operator with a non-profit arm – Planeterra works with community tourism enterprises led by women, youth, Indigenous and rural communities. The company supports over 100 community tourism projects around the world.

“Our trips are designed in such a way that all travellers have to do is go away, have a great time, and the money they spend will directly benefit the local communities and economy that they visit,” says Brian Young, Managing Director of the adventure tour operator.

Young thinks that responsible travel and adventure tourism have always gone hand-in-hand. “The nature of our off-the-beaten-track tours allows us to distribute wealth and have meaningful interactions with local communities, without the damage caused by mass tourism,” he explains.

G Adventures has audited over 600 of its tours using its own ‘Ripple Score’, which shows the percentage of money spent in destination on a trip that goes directly to locallyowned businesses. It has declared an average score of 93 across all its trips, meaning 93% of all money spent on those tours goes into the pockets of the local people.

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Community tourism

KEEPING TRADITIONS ALIVE

In Peru, an incredibly popular destination for G Adventures, it employs a number of local people to support its Inca Trail tours, from guides to porters and horsemen, who benefit from the tourism brought to the region. This isn’t unusual. But in addition to this G Adventures has helped to support a number of community tourism projects, such as a women’s weaving cooperative in the Sacred Valley.

“Travellers visiting the women help to preserve the ancient weaving techniques of the Indigenous communities while also offering income opportunities to the women,” says Young.

Explore also supports Indigenous women’s weaving, but in rural China. Visiting a remote village in the Sanjiang region on Explore’s China on a Shoestring tour, guests stay in a local guesthouse and immerse themselves in the culture

of the Dong people, an ethnic minority. The money the tours has bought to the village has helped to facilitate the purchase of looms and materials and means the women have income and economic independence.

Back in Peru, G Adventures guests also have the opportunity to visit the Parwa community restaurant in Peru, which benefits over 1,000 locals, and visit Parque de la Papa to learn about life in a rural Andean agricultural community. The park is in the highlands of the Sacred Valley and made up of five communities – 7,000 Indigenous people working together to preserve around 1,300 varieties of native potato as well as the ancient teaching related to their cultivation.

CLOSE TO HOME

“Travel brings income to some of the world’s poorest

protecting communities protects nature too

Community tourism

Greece via its Self-Guided Andros Trail tour. “We have provided funding to keep island trails maintained for our hiking trip, Ittensohn explains. “By reusing the old walkways of Andros that connected the villages scattered across the island we are reviving and preserving them as well as helping to regenerate villages that have suffered from de-population and economic decline. Guests even receive a welcome pack at their hotel with a small pruner and gloves, so they can help the voluntary organisation Andros Routes to keep the trails trim.”

Wherever you go on holiday in 2022, look at the impact your presence will have on the communities you visit and ask yourself, is it positive? As Hawk from Cosmos says: “Communities need to benefit from us going there and the places need to be left in as good a state, if not better, than before you visited.”

d a ho Fin li

countries, but tourism can have a hugely positive impact on more developed regions too, says Young. “In Europe, for example, G Adventures works with projects in Naples and Rome which offer city tours led by migrants. They offer amazing cultural experiences for travellers, while celebrating the beauty created by the melting pot of cultures in these regions.”

Also recognising European communities in need, Explore awarded £1,000 of its Start Up Fund to the Guest House Museum in Pellumbas Village, Albania in 2019.

“The museum was created by the Duqi family from an abandoned village house,” explains Ittensohn. “They were building accommodation to showcase traditional Albanian life to visitors and we’ve donated money for them to expand it in to a larger building.

Our Highlights of Albania groups now visit here."

Explore also supports a project in

rs te

at y th mat da

Intrepid has changed Nepali women's lives

Excellent Development work with in-country partners to help vulnerable dryland communities to build sand dams; a sustainable, cost-effective rainwater harvesting technology that can capture up to 40 million litres of water, replenishing every rainy season. That water is stored safe from disease and evaporation within the sand. Extractable via pipework connected to hand-pumps and taps, one sand dam can provide enough year-round water for over 1,000 people.

Sand dams play a significant role in mitigating the effects of climate change, including reversing land degradation. They raise groundwater levels through capturing rainwater and slowing down the rate of water run-off, while allowing most water to continue downstream. Water infiltrates soil, resulting in vegetation recovery, reduced erosion and regenerated degraded environments, enabling people to grow more food to eat, store and sell.

Help more communities to build sand dams and transform their own lives and land here: charitable.travel/excellent-development/

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Visit www.charitable.travel/cosmos Book a 2022 Cosmos or Globus Italian vacation and receive return flights free of charge. Booking must be made, under deposit between 13 Dec 21 and 28 Feb 22 for travel between 1 Jan 22 through 31 Dec 22. Applies to new 2022 bookings only. Offer reliant on space availability and can be withdrawn at any time. Free flights applicable on round-trip, economy flights from London Heathrow, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham or Newcastle, subject to airline availability and route operations.

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EDUCATION INEQUALITY

in numbers

Action Tutoring provides high-quality maths and English tuition programmes to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Experienced and knowledgable volunteer tutors - including university students and retired professionals - meet pupils weekly for one hour sessions.

51%

Pupils who don’t achieve GCSEs are more likely to become NEET* at age 16+ * (not in education, employment or training)

20%

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of pupils on free school meals had no access to a computer at home during lockdown.

And 40% from lowincome backgrounds did not have a quiet study space.

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INDIVIDUALS CLASSED AS ‘NEET’ COST THE ECONOMY APPROXIMATELY THIS AMOUNT ACROSS THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFETIME...

£120,000

Clockwise from left: Icons from the thenounproject.com - Writing tools by Putu Kharismayadi; Performace chart and cog

by Alice Design; Mortarboard study book by IconPai; Presenting by Joy Thomas; Time clock by BomSymbols; Lightbulb; Trophy by Gregor Cresnar; Money by Adrien Coquet; Study desk by Andrejs Kirma; Cross test clipboard by Anil

...OF PRIMARY PUPILS FROM LOWINCOME BACKGROUNDS MEET EXPECTED STANDARDS IN THEIR MATHS, READING AND WRITING SATS EXAMS, IN COMPARISON TO 71% OF NON-DISADVANTAGED PUPILS

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The hours put in by over 2,700 volunteer tutors, who delivered tutoring to 5,528 disadvantaged pupils for Action Tutoring

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33

JUST

the job Charlie Fraser is co-founder of a social enterprise called The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN), helping refugees to thrive

WHAT DOES TERN DO?

We help refugees to turn great ideas into dynamic businesses. Initially we were looking to simply fund refugee start-ups but then we discovered there was no targeted business support for the refugee community, so that’s when we switched course and decided to provide just that.

We’ve put just over 450 refugees through our business support programme in the last five years.

Icons from the thenounproject.com - Love Home by MOHAMMED SALIM

WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM?

I am one of four founders and we’ve all had experiences with the refugee diaspora and were interested in the reality that refugees face when it comes to obtaining a livelihood in the UK. We felt that the philanthropic focus was too often on the crisis element of the refugee situation, and while this was triggering an amazing humanitarian response, it was creating a backlash too, with others seeing refugees as a danger and/or a

34

burden to the economy. We wanted to re-frame the refugee community as a population with potential.

HOW DOES YOUR PROGRAMME WORK?

It has three elements. The first stage is a pre-incubator. A lot of refugees are very experienced in business – about 70% have started or managed businesses outside of the UK – but when they come to us many are exploring if self-employment is the right route for them to take in the UK. The pre-incubator aims to help them to make an informed decision. It’s an intensive programme and every refugee is paired with a mentor and offered employment too.

About two thirds of entrepreneurs go onto the second stage, the Business Incubator, which takes five to six months and is focused on them launching a business and trading sustainably. At this point they have an idea they want to take to market. We give them information on business

finance, customer service, building a brand and a website and all the other fundamentals they will need in place to get a business off the ground.

The last stage of our support is called On-Demand and comprises flexible one-on-one business advice focused on solving problems. It takes a long time to build a business so we need to be able to provide sustained support and connection.

All our business support is free and funded primarily from corporate partnerships. The remaining third of funding comes from grants and donations, including the EU’s Asylum Migration and Integration fund Our pre-incubator has scaled into four cities in three countries with the help of other entrepreneur training organisations, who we support with our training content and materials.

HOW DO REFUGEES FIND YOU?

At the start we reached out to organisations already working with

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D

over m isc o

great caus

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and bags from Two Leaves Studio by IAtefeh and Niloo from Iran.

WHAT’S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE?

refugees to create channels for referral. Nowadays about 30% of our referrals come from the refugee community itself.

We work with about 50 nationalities.

Before the current Afghan crisis we only had eight Afghans on our programme but we are expecting that to increase. Syrians make up about 25% of the community but we also help people from Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Albania and a few Chinese refugees.

WHAT KIND OF BUSINESSES HAS TERN HELPED TO LAUNCH?

Amazingly, 15% of the refugees we work with have started charities or social enterprises, but almost 90% are looking at business models that have some form of social impact – hiring refugees, for instance, or providing discounted services for them.

Businesses launched via TERN cover around 20 different industries. The most common are food and beverage (making up 20%), not-for-profits (15%) and tech-based start-ups (10%).

mental health problems and unemployment. She now supports 150 youths, primarily refugees and asylum seekers, and has just launched a second business selling ‘handbags for risk takers’, all while being a young mum. It goes to show that when you empower leaders from disadvantaged communities, they create mobility and solve social issues for their own community.

Another entrepreneur is Usman Khalid, a Pakistani man who was in a detention centre before he gained his status and started a coffee shop in London, training refugees as baristas.

You can read more stories on Anqa (anqacollective.org) an online marketplace for refugees which we launched. Here you can buy honey from Bees and Refugees by Ali Alzein from Syria, Nana Nokki’s sauce from Nigerian refugee Chineze MaxOnyeukwu and cushions, wall art

The hardest thing was building revenue at the start. As you build momentum it becomes easier to sustain cash flow but we worked for nothing for the first 18 months. This means there is a huge barrier to people from more disadvantaged backgrounds starting a social enterprise. We have to find a way to enable people to have a personal income as they start out, because not everyone is privileged enough to be able to work for free.

AND YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT?

This year we had an event to celebrate our five-year birthday and invited some entrepreneurs. They spoke so powerfully about what it meant for them to have a community that was theirs, a space to create and innovate. It’s also been amazing to see our famous partner Ben and Jerry’s launch ice cream flavours in support of refugee entrepreneurs.

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE

One inspiring graduate is Yeukai Taruvinga, a Zimbabwean woman who arrived in the UK aged 19 and was in limbo for nine years, fighting to gain her status to work. She set up a charity called Active Horizons, focused on supporting disadvantaged youths in London facing issues around marginalisation, such as isolation,

Shopping that supports refugees

Anqa is an online marketplace which connects you to a range of amazing products made by refugee entrepreneurs anqacollective.org

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retro treats

shopping heaven

All-

AMERICAN Heading to the U.S. in 2022? Make it count by visiting Atlantic City for all-American attractions, funky nightlife, great shopping and beautiful beaches

the Steel Pier

A

lively beach resort renowned for offering good old-fashioned seaside fun as well as lively nightlife, Atlantic City is packed full of quirky attractions and memorable events all year round.

The action in Atlantic City – or AC – is centred around its four-milelong boardwalk. Just steps from this atmospheric stretch you’ll find shops, five-star resorts, casinos (there are nine impressive casino resorts in AC, six of them looking over the glistening Atlantic Ocean), fairground-style attractions and entertainment all at hand.

Built in the 1870s, the boardwalk is an Americana icon which evokes a sense of nostalgia as sweet as the famous saltwater taffy which is sold all along it. Thanks to a new open container law you can now walk along the Boardwalk with a cocktail in hand, taking in the sights and sounds as you sip.

PIER PRESSURE

Branching off the boardwalk, the beloved Steel Pier is packed with old-fashioned amusement rides and carnival games. Ride the retro ferris wheel (the U.S.’s third largest), or board the Slingshot if you’re looking for thrills. You can also take off on a helicopter ride from here.

There’s lots of treats to be had, from candy floss (or cotton candy as it’s known here) to funnel cakes (made from batter).

UNIQUE LANDMARKS

You’ll also need a head for heights if you visit Absecon Lighthouse, which has 228 steps to transport

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Sponsored feature

visitors 171 feet high in the sky.

The views are the biggest perk, of course, but inside a history museum sheds light on the area’s heritage too.

AC’s quirkiest landmark sits about five miles southwest of AC, but it’s worth the trip to see a six-storey tall, 90-tonne elephant. Built in 1881 to attract homebuyers to the area, Lucy is now a National Historic Landmark. You can even climb up to the platform on her back where you can enjoy great ocean vistas, or take a tour of the elephant’s insides, which was once one of the world’s most bizarre hotels!

music venues, coffee shops, yoga studios and more – collectively its certainly more entertaining than the famous board game.

If you fancy a drink you’re in the right place. Check out the Little Water Distillery, AC’s first and only craft distillery to produce whiskey, rum, vodka and gin. Next door is The Seed: A Living Beer Project, where you can tour a brewery and taste its fruits in the taproom.

You’ll find a huge choice of tipples at Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall, over a hundred craft beers as well as unique dishes like lobster tator tots. Other great dining spots on

The Quar ter

learn to surf, try kayaking, or take a bike ride along the Boardwalk.

Boat tours take you out on the ocean to spot dolphins or round the back bays to admire AC’s impressive skyline.

SHOP UNTIL YOU DROP

From designer boutiques to factory outlets, AC is full of shopping options and it’s tax-free for clothing and shoes.

AC’s Tanger Outlets Find out more about Atlantic hosts a collection City and the surrounding area of over 60 retail of New Jersey, which is home outlets with big to vineyards, retro resorts and many more beautiful beaches. names like Nike, charitable.travel/ American Eagle, atlantic-city Pandora and Kate Spade New York. The Quarter at Tropicana offers more one-of-a-kind shopping in places like Zephyr Gallery and The Old Farmer’s Almanac General Store.

Book it

Atlantic City’s boardwalk is an Americana icon which evokes a sense of nostalgia as sweet as the famous saltwater taffy which is sold all along it LAND ON THE ORANGE LOOP

Just steps from AC’s Boardwalk is its famous Orange Loop. Borrowing its name from Monopoly, the Orange Loop starts with the beach block of Tennessee Avenue and expands into St. James Place and New York Avenue, with oneof-a-kind restaurants, bars, live

the Orange Loop include Cuzzie’s Pizzeria Kitchen, a traditional Italian American pizzeria which pushes culinary boundaries.

HIT THE BEACH

There are seven miles of sand in AC, and a plethora of seaside activities to enjoy if you tire of relaxing on the beach. You can

LET AC ENTERTAIN YOU

The Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall was built in 1929 to host conventions but its 137-foothigh vaulted ceiling went on to host legends like Elton John, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Today its two venues, with a combined capacity of nearly 18,000, still host world-class events ranging from concerts to boxing matches.

You can also stop here to see the largest musical instrument on earth – the hall’s incredible pipe organ is more powerful than a dozen orchestras – or visit the Atlantic City Experience for a fascinating history lesson.

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Musical journeys in the Deep South

e th Face c i s u m

The birthplace of rock and roll, blues, jazz and so much more, the U.S.'s Deep South is a place where everyone can find their rhythm, says

A

few years ago I was travelling along the Mississippi River and I attended an African American Baptist church service in Helena, Arkansas. The choir had assembled at what seemed like an ungodly hour to sing for us; worship duly started, and the music began. The sound produced was like a wall of solid concrete, powerful beyond description and overwhelming. I was mesmerised and craved more.

Gospel is just one type of music that developed near the Mississippi River, the great connector for goods, people and ideas. Music travelled up and down this vast waterway, which slices the country in two, and jazz was one of the first to set afloat.

Jazz showed up in the late 19th century after fermenting in the brothels of New Orleans; migrated on steam paddle-boats and ended up in Chicago. Musicians used whatever was available to play this and other styles: military band brass instruments, harmonicas, West African akonting and xalam Nashville (precursors to banjos), Spanish acoustic guitars and, of course, pianos.

Tunes travelled upriver, but also moved inland, Muscle incorporating the singing on plantations. Those Shoals working the cotton fields sang a’cappella in an ancient musical form known as call and response. Their expression came from the depths of bondage and tragedy yet it simultaneously expressed religious fervour and hope. It became known as the blues.

Lynn Houghton

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Mississipp

Clarkdale

Tennessee

i

Memphis

Alabama

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Musical journeys in the Deep South

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Chris Granger

Musical journeys in the Deep South

The Deep South is steeped in rich musical tradition – it's a place where you can’t fail to listen to something which stirs your soul or makes you sway – but some towns are magical when it comes to music...

MUSCLE SHOALS, ALABAMA

Hit the jukebox at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame

There is a cluster of small towns on the Tennessee River in northern Alabama that have made a big name for themselves in the music industry.

The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio at 3614 Jackson Hwy technically lies in Sheffield rather than Muscle Shoals and is a legendary place where acts such as the Staple Singers and Linda Ronstadt sang and recorded.

Its most famous output is the four tracks the Rolling Stones laid down in 1971 for their album Sticky Fingers.

It was the efforts of back-up band The Swampers: Barry Beckett, Jimmy Johnson, David Hood and Roger Hawkins, that put this breakaway studio on the map and they were

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Musical journeys in the Deep South

Art Meripol

Take a sel fie and discover the Muscle Shoals sound

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soon producing the likes of Bob Seger, Paul Simons, Lynyrd Skynyrd and George Michael.

However, all this has its origins above a humble drugstore in the town of Florence in the 1950s. The slow pace of life, humidity and the sweet smell of camellias formed the backdrop for the birth of a distinctive and unique sound. The success of the upstart recording studio here, known as FAME, was likely because of the drive and ambition of musician and entrepreneur, Rick Hall. After early success in writing Achin’ Breakin’ Heart for George Jones, he turned his hand to producing. Mentoring from his friend and Florence native Sam Phillips, who was credited with discovering Elvis, is considered key to his success.

Hall found an old tobacco warehouse to move FAME to and worked tirelessly getting the right sound. This meant laying tile instead of carpet to give the microphones a brighter tone and using burlap to create baffles

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Musical journeys in the Deep South trip to t

ok a mus i

Bo

.

U.S

which minimised reverberation. The first recording here was You Better Move On

by Arthur Alexander in 1961. After some time, artists like Aretha Franklin showed up and Never Loved a Man Like I Loved You was released, while Clarence Carter sang Snatch It Back. In the 1980s, Hall also produced country music hits for the Osmonds and Mac Davis.

Today you can find out more about the Father of the Muscle Shoals sound and other local legends in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, visit the aforementioned studios and see the birthplace of W. C. Handy, dubbed the father of the blues, all in the Shoals area of Alabama.

h e

l ca

Ready to record at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Art Meripol

The amount of music being written and produced in Nashville is, quite simply, astonishing. It includes country, blues, rhythm n’ blues, rockabilly and rock n’ roll. In the recent past the city languished behind Memphis in population and music production but that’s all changed now with Nashville’s live music output, recording studios, artist roster and auditoriums increasing every year.

The lively venues along Honky Tonk

GROUND ZERO

CLUB, CLARKS DA

LE

Above a drugstore in 1950s Florence, Alabama, the slow pace of life, humidity and the sweet smell of camellias formed the backdrop for the birth of a unique sound Row pump out live music from 10am to 3am every day of the week, making it the perfect location for music lovers.

But there’s more, including museums celebrating popular music of every stripe.

The latest to open is the National Museum of African American Music on Broadway, near the old Ryman Auditorium (or Grand Ole Opry as it's still known by many). Starting with the history of slavery it follows the development of African American music through to now with interactive displays. Visitors use wrist tags to download songs which they can then add to their own Spotify accounts.

There is also the vast Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, featuring artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Roy Rogers, Ray Charles and Emmylou Harris. At 32,500

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Nashville street ar t

CHARITABLE TRAVELLER

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Musical journeys in the Deep South

Where many-a legend recorded

square metres, it is the world's largest repository of country music artifacts. In addition to the galleries, the museum owns the historic RCA Studio B on Music Row, where Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and many other stars recorded.

Another new venue is the Gibson Garage in the Gulch neighbourhood. Akin to an adult theme park for guitars, there is not only a vast selection of shiny Gibson and Epiphone guitars, but an enormous array of accessories and exhibits. One room is dedicated to acoustic guitars but also has ukuleles and early harp-guitar hybrids. For a significant sum of money you can have a custom-made Gibson guitar created, choosing everything from the body to the strings.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

Beale Street in Memphis still has many of its original 19th century buildings, including the elegant Peabody Hotel built in 1869.

This city of mega-artists and hits, lit up with neon signs and billboards, retains much of the energy that would have exuded from its juke joints, booming nightclubs and bars over a century ago.

Back then it was unique for having black businesses and clubs frequented by both white and African American

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revellers. By the 1920s and up to the 1940s, with the arrival of artists such as Muddy Waters, W.C. Handy, B.B. King and Louis Armstrong, it gained the moniker Blues City and was the centre of the universe as far as popular music was concerned.

Just around the corner on Union Street, the hugely successful Sun Studio started life in 1950 and still has the microphone that Elvis used for recording downstairs. Set up and run by Sam Phillips of Muscle Shoals, it’s where Presley was discovered. With Sam away on business, an 18 year old Elvis came to sing for his secretary, Marion. At her insistence,

City of mega-artists and hits, lit up with neon signs, Memphis retains much of the energy that would have exuded from its juke joints over a century ago the owner signed him immediately. Not long after the Million Dollar Quartet jam session took place, with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and the King being secretly recorded by Phillips. Since its glory days, Sun Records has been through many incarnations, including being a laundry, but little has changed and the original recording booth is a fascinating time warp.

Presley’s sprawling country manor, Graceland, continues to draw tourists and is a pilgrimage for fans of the performer and movie star. His media room, which had three channels of news playing at all times, is decorated in white leather with

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Musical journeys in the Deep South

Visit Graceland to see Elvis' Cadillac

yellow and black accessories. His family are all buried here, made more poignant by the fact that Elvis died so young.

CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI

At the intersection of Highway 61 and 49 just outside Clarksdale, folklore claims that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for learning to play blues guitar – at least that’s what some folks from around there believe.

Through the outskirts of downtown runs the Sunflower River, which skirts around the town’s police department and some dilapidated buildings. It might have a gritty appearance, but this town has kept an authentic vibe.

In the early 20th century, what was happening over on the Stovall Plantation only a few miles from the crossroads was a much more interesting proposition than what Satan offered. 'Ole man Stovall' liked his music and would hire locals to provide entertainment at shindigs.

One of those musicians was Muddy

The world’s first international dark sky city.

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Musical journeys in the Deep South

Br idge over the Mississippi near Memphis

Waters, immortalised in Clarkdale’s Delta Blues Museum. Muddy Waters – or McKinley Morganfield – became a sensation in Chicago with songs such as Hoochie Coochie Man. He went on to influence the formation of rock n’ roll and stars such as the Rolling Stones, who were huge fans.

Another massive artist from the area was B.B. King. Born in Indianola, where there is a museum dedicated to him, he became a stalwart of the chitlin’ circuit of segregated venues and cafes for African Americans of the south. King would take Lucille, his black Gibson guitar, with him wherever he performed.

In 1980 Gibson produced a B.B. King model which anyone could purchase.

If you want to get a sense of the not so distant past, stroll on over to Red’s Juke Joint on the other side of the railroad tracks from Morgan Freeman’s nightclub Ground Zero. It’s a bit rundown but the atmosphere is electric.

And if you’re lucky you might get to catch contemporary local artist Lucius Spiller playing his guitar.

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Swiss Tourism

Travel talk

Go Swisstainable THIS WINTER

Mark Bibby Jackson extolls the virtues of Switzerland for a sustainable holiday by rail and foot With the amber list scrapped it’s now green for go when it comes to most countries so a winter escape to foreign climes is within reach.

While many of you will be craving some winter sun – and there’s nothing wrong with that – some of you may wish to embrace the cold, and if that’s the case I think Switzerland is the perfect place.

I was fortunate enough to travel around Switzerland by train this year and I can confirm that they really do run like clockwork, as well as offering a green, guilt-free way to see the Swiss Alps in all their lofty glory.

I rode the oldest mountain railway in Europe, which has been celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, up Mount Rigi. This old steam locomotive chugged sedately up to the summit which is 1,762 metres above the sea level, with Lake Lucerne glistening in the sun below.

You can take a cog wheel train to the summit of Rochers-de-Naye,

climbing up an impressive 1,600 metres from Montreux on the banks of Lake Geneva. From there I enjoyed panoramic views which stretched far as the Eiger, which popped its head through a window seemingly carved in the clouds.

Alternatively, if you prefer an open-air experience, you can take a funicular train and the world’s first Cabrio open deck cable car from Stans near Lake Lucerne to Stanserhorn, with its unique revolving self-service restaurant Rondorama offering 360-degree mountain views as you eat.

Back down to earth, I was fortunate enough to walk along the Aletsch Glacier, which at 23km long is the largest in Europe, although really it is the convergence of three glaciers.

This was my first glacier walk and I was relieved to discover that the crampons attached to my boots made my cumbersome steps more secure than they initially felt.

Our experienced guide, Martin, calmed any lingering trepidation and explained the science behind climate change being used here, demonstrating how wooden poles are used to measure how much the glacier is receding through holes drilled in the ice. Sadly it is shrinking by around 50 metres each year, and at this rate the glacier will have melted away by the next century.

Fortunately, I had travelled to the glacier first by gondola to Moosfluh and then by foot, so my conscience was as clear as the spectacular views.

Switzerland has developed its own Swisstainable sustainable tourism brand and website and I recommend you check out its handy tips for keeping your carbon footprint light. charitable.travel/ travel-begins-at-40

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VIKING EXPEDITIONS

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A partnership with the University of Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (whose scientists and ornithologists are regularly onboard)means Viking furthers scientific research in the remote regions it visits. Collaborative science is an important aspect of the guest experience and fieldwork you can get involved in includes capturing photos of whales to help track individuals across the world’s oceans.

AURORA EXPEDITIONS

expedition cruises

DOING GOOD Expedition cruises offer guests privileged access to remote regions but some are also trying to lessen their impact on fragile places and aid scientific research...

Launching soon, Aurora Expeditions’ new ship Sylvia Earle will operate with low energy consumption, high fuel-efficiency, a streamlined design for lower emissions and can hold its position using GPS, steering technology, propellers and thrusters, thereby protecting the sea floor from anchor damage. Guests can take part in citizen science programmes including seabird surveys in the Southern Ocean.

Guided by ornithologists onboard, you’ll help spot birds at sea, count them ashore and record data on species, ages and more.

HURTIGRUTEN

The Norwegian company’s pioneering hybrid vessels, MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen, offer a more sustainable way to explore polar regions and the ships’ Science Centers are core to the experience. Packed with state-of-the-art technology, they feature lecture spaces, a library and areas for workshops on biology. Hurtigruten invites guests to participate in science activities including a sea leopard project in Antarctica and studying phytoplankton to understand how they respond to water temperature changes.

A carbon neutral company, Lindblad has raised more than $19 million from travellers since 1997, using it to help protect the ocean, conserve wildlife, bolster local communities and enable scientific research. Sail with Lindblad and you can get involved in BioBlitz surveys, where you are tasked with finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time, working with others to get a snapshot of its biodiversity to inform scientists.

PONANT

The French cruise line’s new ship, Le Commandant-Charcot, is the first hybrid electric polar exploration vessel powered by liquified natural gas and its onboard laboratory will provide scientists with a platform for observation, research and analysis of polar regions. Guests can also participate, helping to gather data on water, ice and biodiversity, alongside kayaking, hiking and ice fishing.

Or you can just relax in the outdoor pool which is heated by the engine!

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LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS

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Lady of the lake

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The intensely blue waters of Lake Titicaca, bounded by rugged Andean peaks, evoke both awe and serenity. It’s easy to see why the Incas saw this lake – the largest in South America – as the birthplace of the sun.

Titicaca’s beauty is particularly stark against the bleak landscape of the antiplano (high plateau).

We set off from Puno, on the Peruvian side of the lake, for a tour of the Islas Uros: floating reed islands which look as though they belong in the pages of a fantasy novel.

The Uros people originally constructed these strange, springy isles by weaving layers of totora reeds, and their lives are still interwoven with the grasses, which also form their homes and fishing craft. Floating serenely in an ornate balsa boat I felt like an explorer from the past.

Although it is true that tourism keeps many of these families afloat (excuse the pun), we were anxious not to be an intrusion – especially when visiting Amantani. The least visited island on Lake Titicaca offers homestays with local

families on a rota basis.

At 3,812 metres above sea level, the nights are fiercely cold, despite the scorching daytime sun, so we were glad of down sleeping bags in our adobe hut.

It was a privilege to be welcomed into community life and we were even invited to a local dance, where we donned

Islas Uros

Plan your trip around one of the region’s colourful festivals to see vibrant traditional dances

Staying overnight with a local family on one of Titicaca’s islands means sampling delicious home-cooked Bolivian cuisine 50

traditional party dress.

Clad in the many layers of petticoats and bright, heavy woven overskirts, I realised the local women’s rotund silhouettes were deceiving!

Nice style

In Taquile, famous for its textiles which are recognised as masterpieces

by UNESCO, we discover it’s the men of the island who set the fashion – and knit religiously. Their chullo (hat) reveals everything from their marital status (redand-white for a singleton, red or pink for a married man) to their aspirations and even, depending on how it is worn, their mood.

From what I saw, it appears that living on these floating isles puts most people in a jaunty mood!

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WHY I

donate...

An ambassador for The Voice for Epilepsy, Jade-Kelsie Wolfenden inspires other sufferers to live without limits and raises awareness of epilepsy I had my first serious seizure on my learn to live with it and not feel alone.

21st birthday when I was out in town.

I would like epilepsy to be as well I lost consciousness and started understood and supported as cancer. convulsing but people thought I was There needs to be more research just very drunk and some people into treatment too. There are lots of even ignored it and stepped over me. side effects from the medication and I didn’t take the diagnosis very well some days it’s hard for me to string a and just carried on with my normal life sentence together, I can get tremors in but because it takes a long time for my hands or feel very tired. medication to get it under control (up It’s important to educate people so to two years) I kept having seizures. that they understand what epilepsy It was absolutely awful and I had two looks like and how to deal with it. One bad ones where my heart stopped and time I was out with my partner and I had to be defibrillated. At one point I people thought he’d hit me because was in ICU with tubes down my throat.

I dropped to the floor in front of The diagnosis itself is a lot to take in. him. People don’t realise but My driving license was taken off me there are over 40 different and I was told I couldn’t be alone so, types of seizure, ranging from after five years of being independent, convulsive ones to absence I had to move in with my mum. I was seizures, where it looks working at a gym and as a personal like you’re daydreaming trainer, as well as being a body builder, or ignoring someone. but I was told I couldn’t teach classes I actually ignored my and banned from personal training. seizures for a while, often Suddenly my hours were cut from assuming that I’d fainted.

40 a week to eight. It felt like I’d been stripped of all my independence.

Epilepsy can also be embarrassing, as you have no control over your body, including bowel movements sometimes. You More than half a million don’t want people to see people in the UK have epilepsy you like that but you have and it can affect anyone, at any time of life. Find out more here: to tell yourself it’s not your thevoiceforepilepsy.co.uk fault. I actually have hearing loss because I’ve banged my head so many times while having a seizure.

When you get diagnosed with epilepsy you just get told what you can’t do. Voice for Epilepsy helps people to understand the diagnosis,

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Did you know?

If you think someone is having a seizure you need to time it and call the ambulance if it lasts more than five minutes. You should make sure the area around them is clear and if possible get something soft under their head but don’t touch them.

When they come round they may be disorientated. I often don’t know who my partner is, my name or where I am. I once hit a paramedic and tried to run away.

After I had a bad seizure at the gym I set up a YouTube channel to talk about having epilepsy and how it effects training, and I’m now proud to be an ambassador for The Voice for Epilepsy.

After I came round from a seizure once a paramedic said to me: “I’m so proud that you’re able to live your life because my sister won’t leave the house because of epilepsy,” and that’s always stuck with me. I am a different person to who I was before I was diagnosed, but I’m doing really well. I can drive and I compete in bodybuilding as well as owning my own gym – I’m even working towards competing in the Olympia, the biggest body building competition in the world!

I’m also looking forward to doing more fund- and awareness-raising on behalf of The Voice for Epilepsy.

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Jurgen Groenwals

a room at the Malis Gar ten

72 HOURS IN

Tyrol Valley Though famous for its winter sports, Austria’s Tyrol Valley offers adventures galore in summer too, and it’s the perfect setting to relax and reset with fantastic food and stunning views, says

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Icons from the thenounproject.com - Mountains by Andrey Vasiliev; Map by Yazmin Alanis; Sauna by Adrien Coquet; Spa flower by shashank singh; Phone photo by Lagot Design; Picnic basket by Arie Ichwan Nurdin

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Fresh and ready to go, you are in the mountains so a hike is first on the list. You can book a guided hike, meaning you don’t need to worry about map reading, catching the last cable car back or planning at all. Many hotels can do this for you and hikes are adapted to fit your needs so just choose the level of walk you would prefer.

All four of Ziller Seasons’ luxury properties offer a hike that takes you up Gerlosstein, an epic mountain which reaches 2,166 metres high in the sky and has panoramic views of the valley and, if you’re lucky, the Italian Alps to the south.

The group hike will take up most of the day but afterwards it’s time to relax and unwind.

At Mountain Chalet Refugium HochLeger (a Ziller Seasons hotel with four alpine chalets and three hip TreeLofts), there are pine saunas, a natural (no Free to join, this a chlorine) un-heated pool, and a hot club and travel conci women to dream, p tub, all with a mountain views to die holidays that can’t be for. You can even stay for a rustic and experts, Girl About i traditional Austrian three-course meal.

Friday afternoon

As soon as you arrive in The Tyrol Valley, head to Zell am Ziller in the heart of the Zillertal Valley and pick up your Zillertal Activcard from the Zillertal Arena. This gets you free or discounted access to gondolas, buses, tourist attractions and restaurants and is absolutely worth the cost (from €69.50 for adults).

From the Arena you can head up into the mountains for hiking, zip wiring or a ride on an alpine coaster – a toboggan which twists and turns down a single rail and reaches up to 40km an hour. The hiking up from the Zillertal Arena is also spectacular and there are ideal trails for all ages and abilities.

The Malis Garten is one of four hot properties owned by the Ziller Seasons hotel group.

The five-star, eco-friendly resort boasts open modern architecture that combines the indoors with the outdoors, as well as a herbal spa. Start your trip with a bang and eat at its HeLeni Restaurant, a fine-dining establishment serving beautifully presented dishes that are crafted from top-quality local produce.

Saturday morning

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Teresa-Arias

find balance in the Tyrol Valley

Sunday morning

If you’re a yoga fan a sunrise stretch might seem a little extreme on a holiday but it’s totally worth it for the views – and how smug you’ll feel afterwards. A number of resorts and hotels offer yoga retreats or just a quick class, including Alpen resort Schwartz, which also has a wellness area and spa, and one of the alpine huts in Wildschönau, where you can book sunset yoga session or a yoga and lunch combination to balance the healthy with a little bit of indulgence.

Sunday afternoon

You cannot come to the Tyrol Valley without visiting the Krimml Waterfalls, the highest in Austria. The Krimmler Ache river plunges down in three tiers, surrounded by tall evergreens and with drops of up to 140 metres. Getting there is easy with your Zillertal Activcard, which you can use to catch a bus. You can walk the trails which surround it, which are accessible to all the family and take in 360-degree all-female members’ views. The misty spray of the waterfall ierge service empowers plan and book amazing creates a soft green carpet of moss, e googled. Run by travel lichen and ferns which makes for a is a network of women fairytale setting.

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Alternatively, make your way to the Top of Tyrol viewing platfrom, 3,210 metres high and with views over The Stubai Alps to Italy’s jagged Dolomites. Aside from the viewing platform, those with a head for heights have the option to try climbing, or traversing the mountain on its Via Ferratta (a series of metal rungs).

Head back to Zell am Ziller and Pizza Ristorante Quattro, right in the centre of town. This popular spot will not disappoint hungry hikers.

Monday morning

The Tyrol Valley contains a number of reservoirs which feed the drinking water for the valley and beyond. Durlassboden Reservoir is around 20 minutes from Zell am Ziller and here you can walk, cycle, swim, SUP and more. The whole reservoir can be walked around in three and a half hours or cycled in less and there’s plenty of places to stop for a picnic or rest and admire the pristine blue waters.

The only thing left to do is make sure you stop at an Alpine hut for kaiserschmarn. The WestAustrian delicacy consists of hearty, doughy pancake nuggets sprinkled with icing sugar and dipped in apple sauce - delicious!

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Australia

Aussie with no worries As Australia prepares to finally open up to tourism, looks at how you can make sure a trip Down Under really counts by having a positive impact

All images: Tourism Australia / tourism.australia.com

Debbie Ward

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Australia

whale shar k, ningaloo reef

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Top Didj Purnululu Ningaloo Reef Coffs Harbour Sydney Kangaroo Island

hy did I choose an echidna when I could have had a plant?’ I ask myself as I look with dread at the multiple spines down its back. It’s not my choice of a pet, but of an art subject that’s troubling me.

It wouldn’t be so tricky if I were not painting with a piece of grass.

The porcupine-like creature’s spines, my Aboriginal teacher Manuel has just told me, will need to be detailed with the finest of the ‘brushes’ he has prepared which, at its tip, looks no wider than a hair. Trying hard to keep the grass from bending and smearing the paint, I’m learning just what patience it took for Aboriginals living out in the outback to create their distinctive art.

At Top Didj, near Katherine in the Northern Territory, my fellow travellers and I have already needed plenty of patience to, under Manuel’s guidance, coax a fire from nothing but a thin stick, a piece of wood and many minutes of careful friction. He grew up living off the land, and it feels a privilege to learn first hand what that was like, down to how

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Mar ia Island

Read this

In remote Indigenous communities books are scarce and literacy levels low. This charity gifts appropriate books and helps aboriginal people to get published. indigenous literacyfoundation.org.au

Australia

he hunted his favourite food – wallabies. As the site is also a wildlife sanctuary, he reassures us that those hopping around with bandaged feet, accepting slices of sweet potato from our hands are very much off limits.

My visit to Top Didj is a reminder that Australia is home to both the oldest living culture on earth and to many animals that are found nowhere else on the planet.

It's a long flight which creates a lot of carbon to get to Australia, which means it is all the more important to make a trip count. In the last two years Australia has been ravaged by bush fires and seen one of the world's longest lockdowns due to Covid-19. When borders open in 2022 Australia's tourism industry

will be looking to create maximum benefit with minimum impact.

Luckily there are lots of ways that travellers can help achieve this.

ECO TOURING

With so many fabulous landscapes to explore, few visitors to Australia stay in one place. When choosing transport and guiding, look out for Ecotourism Australia accreditation, which covers more than 500 local tour operators who tread more lightly.

Heading into the outback, it’s best to join companies who are particularly careful with their water consumption and impact on the fragile eco systems, like Australian Walking Holidays, which uses camps with water-

Be sure your visit to Queensland's Great Barrier Reef helps to make it thrive by booking a tour with a company that supports coral replanting schemes

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wild north Queensland

free loos and solar lighting. In the Red Centre, carbon neutral Uluru Camel Tours even bags its animals’ waste to sell as organic fertiliser or for use in paper production.

Most people holidaying in Australia will want to see Queensland’s spectacular Great Barrier Reef but it's even better if you can use your visit to help it thrive. Coral replanting schemes like the one run by boat tour company Passions of Paradise incorporate the replanting of broken pieces of coral during snorkelling and diving adventures. Artists and scientists behind the reef’s submerged sculpture park, the Museum of Underwater Art, also invite visitors to support coral replanting.

There are fantastic hiking opportunities through the national parks of Australia but look out for responsible outfits like Tasmania’s Maria Island Walk, which uses camps that treat their own wastewater, run on solar power and

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eco retreat on Bremer Island

Australia

are raised above the ground.

The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, are a popular walkers’ day trip, meaning they’re at risk of overtourism. As its name suggests, Tread Lightly EcoTours lessens the impact of visits by using low emission vehicles and varying itineraries to reduce the erosion of trails.

In the city you can keep your tours emissions-free by choosing foot or pedal power. Or look out for guides who will take the strain for you, like those of Adelaide’s EcoCaddy, which transports guests on rickshaws powered by renewable electricity.

ABORIGINAL CULTURE While there are many chances across Australia to buy aboriginal art or watch boomerang demonstrations, it’s far better to seek out projects that directly

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Australia

Wukalina Walk c & lu xur y Sal Sa amp lis employ indigenous people and share their culture on a deeper level. In Western Australia’s spectacular Kimberley region you can explore the canyons and striped beehive-shaped rocks of the Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) in the company of the traditional custodians of the area who are employed by Kingfisher Tours.

Four days walking Tasmania’s scenic Bay of Fires can similarly be made more meaningful with interpretation from a local Palawa guide from Wukalina Walks.

Arkaba Conservatory in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges is home to a successful rewilding project that has turned a former sheep station into a nature reserve. Guests at the lodge can

take a two-hour walk with a local aboriginal woman to hear how her ancestors lived off the land.

At Coffs Harbour in New South Wales the Gumbaynggirr people are descended from what could be the world’s first stand up paddlers.

You can join them on a SUP tour with a difference, working your way through the Solitary Islands Marine Park on a communitysupporting Wajaana Yaam Gumbaynggirr Adventure Tour.

Even simply strolling around Sydney you can get a nonEuropean perspective on the area through The Rocks Aboriginal Dreaming Tour.

BEACH ECO RETREATS

There are some really special retreats Down Under, which have sustainability at heart. The Luxury Lodges of Australia group includes many good examples, often in wilderness settings. But it’s not only in the bush you can

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Australia

Night stop on the Ar kaba Walk

enjoy an eco stay. At tented Sal Salis, for instance, you can camp close to the underwater delights of Western Australia’s Ningaloo Reef. Almost all the camp’s power is solar generated and each bathroom has a 'nature loo'.

Banubanu, on an island off the tip of Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land, is another solar-powered glamping site where guests can dine on chefprepared bush tucker and watch the local birdlife, while The Tanja Lagoon

Put out fires

The World Wildlife Fund helps to provide urgent care for injured wildlife and restore habitats ravaged by bush fires in Australia, planting trees that will home koalas. wwf.org.uk

camel touring near Uluru

Camp in New South Wales is set amid a 17-hectare rewilding project.

Don’t fancy sleeping under canvas?

New on famous touring route the Great Ocean Road, is the chance to sleep in a SkyPod – a freestanding sustainable cabin with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the cliff at Cape Otway. The larger Ocean view Eco Villas on wildlife rich Kangaroo Island, meanwhile, are powered off-grid, built from recycled timber and even furnished with mats made from recycled fishing nets.

SUSTAINABLE VINEYARDS If relaxing days spent touring vineyards and tasting their wares sounds enticing, check out the many now championing sustainability, particularly in South Australia’s McLaren Vale, about 40 minutes from Adelaide.

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Australia

You can learn about the vineyards’ efforts on a Small Batch Wine Tours sustainability-themed day trip, or, if you’re self-driving, stay over on site.

Family-owned Gemtree not only produces organic and biodynamic wines but also has off-grid accommodation.

Two self-contained cabins have recently been added with luxuries like king beds, private saunas and sunken baths, with some of the profits from guests’ stays helping to fund tree planting. You can also sleep at Old Chaff Mill Retreat, another organic and biodynamic winery, which added two suites among the Shiraz vines this year, or at Hillenvale from Hither & Yon, which in February became South Australia’s first certified carbon-neutral wine brand.

WILDFIRE RECOVERY

The sight of the 2020/21 Australian wildfires, when so many homes and wildlife habitats were lost, moved us all. Wildfires are a natural part

Eco Villas on wildlife-rich Kangaroo Island are powered off-grid, built from recycled timber and even furnished with mats made from recycled fishing nets

Join an Abor iginal cultural tour 60

of the continent’s regeneration but these were dangerously intense. If you’d like to do your bit to help, there are some great opportunities to volunteer with the recovery effort in the worst hit areas as part of your holiday.

Exceptional Kangaroo Island is incorporating wildlife surveys into its tours, some using infrared cameras.

Participants will also be able to learn about the amazing natural regeneration of the area. A similar ‘citizen science’ project on the Eyre Peninsula, new from Australian Coastal Safaris, will take you e-biking to record koalas, echidnas and goanna lizards.

While touring the Eyre Peninsula and Flinders Ranges with Untamed Escapes you could not only have the chance to camp, surf and swim with sea lions but also spend half a

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Cathedral Gorge in the Bungle Bungles day planting trees or removing weeds to maintain koala habitats. There’s further koala-friendly tree planting action at You Yangs, near Melbourne, thanks to guests on wildlife trips with Echidna Walkabout Tours.

With so many thoughtful ways to enjoy Australia these days you don’t have to be good at tricky artwork or relaxed about compost loos to make your trip count. And the extra special bonus is that besides helping to preserve culture and nurture nature, the sustainablyled decisions you make when you book will often lead to deeper, more memorable holiday experiences.

exhilarating.

With three world-class resorts and 300+ days of sunshine a year, clearly, the south shore of Lake Tahoe is the ultimate winter wonderland.

Plan your winter vacation at charitable.travel/lake-tahoe

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Boo k

Postcard from

a

UK

break

WYE VALLEY Border patrol

Icons from the thenounproject.com

The River Wye is born in the rugged mountains of mid-Wales and flows south for about 150 miles before meeting the River Severn, but just before that it meanders along the rural border of England and Wales, past dramatic gorges, dense forest and historic castles.

For my trip to the Wye Valley I stayed in a tiny whitewashed cottage in Symonds Yat, a village that comes in two parts since it straddles the river. To get from my cottage in Symonds Yat West to the Saracens Head Pub in Symonds Yat East, I had the choice of a threemile walk via the nearest bridge or the hand ferry.

The captain of this open boat stood up to grab the wire above, pulled us across the fast flowing river and delivered us safely in time for a hearty lunch.

From here it was a short but extremely steep walk up through the woods to Yat Rock for the area’s most famous view. On the way we passed the distinctive red and white Scandinavian-looking house featured in the TV

show Sex Education, which is filmed all around here.

Finding peace by the river

Cross countries view Bursting out of the tree line, gasping for breath, I reached a natural stone podium and gazed down upon the Wye as it painted a vast horseshoe shape through the landscape. On the other side, green fields

Find King Arthur’s Cave, a limestone hollow hidden in the forest near Symonds Yat

Tintern Abbey looking over to the Saracens Head

The Devil’s Pulpit is a rock viewpoint which juts out of the forest, high above Tintern Abbey

with grazing cattle sloped right down to the river where a group of kayakers paddled slowly around the bend. The forest stretched for miles in every direction and the river flowed towards patchwork fields melting into the distance.

From the other side of the rock I saw my cottage, part of a toy village below.

Because it forms the border between England and Wales, the Wye is lined with several forts and castles, but probably its most famous monument is Tintern Abbey, which lies in ruins on the Welsh side.

The soaring arches and columns still stand firm 900 years after it was built but the lichen-covered grey skeleton is now open to the elements, transformed into a cathedral to nature.

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good news ECUADOR’S HIGH COURT HAS RULED THAT MINING METAL IN A PROTECTED

Book a ho

GLOBAL

for 202 ay 2 lid

community tourism

Support local businesses in Mauritius Veranda Tamarin Hotel in Mauritius has a new Explorer Programme for guests which supports local businesses as well as showcasing the island’s culture and beauty. The hotel gives each guest staying more than four nights an experience credit which can be used to

CLOUD FOREST

undertake a range of experiences guided by local professionals

‘VIOLATES THE

receive a £97 experience credit. Options for spending them include

RIGHTS OF NATURE’,

famous, trekking to the Black River Gorges or an electric bike tour.

who employ eco-friendly practices. For a seven-night stay guests a street food tour to discover the small dishes that make Mauritius

REVOKING PERMITS FROM A NATIONAL MINING COMPANY

conservation

New cruise line sends strong message Ambassador Cruise Line, the first new British cruise line since 2010, has announced a partnership with marine conservation charity ORCA. The cruise line’s ship is due to set sail in April from London Tilbury to destinations including Russia, Canada and Iceland. It has pledged not to include oceanariums on Icons from the thenounproject.com

its itineraries, will host ORCA ocean conservationists on various sailings and its CEO has written to the Faroese Prime Minister to threaten stopping cruises to the Faroe Islands if its dolphin hunting continues.

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Global good news

Christmas joy

Good to know...

sustainability

Study looks into greener air travel Easyjet and Rolls Royce will team up to embark on a two-year study into alternative energy and power solutions for aircraft this January. Looking into low carbon and zeroemission technologies, the study will include

protected places

analysis of electric and hydrogen propulsion.

NEW MARINE RESERVE

charity

of the largest marine protected area in

Airline supports vaccine equality This December Virgin Atlantic supported the World Health Organisation Foundation’s Go Give One campaign by giving

Portugal has announced the creation Europe. The new reserve surrounds the Selvagens Islands, an Atlantic archipelago between the Canary Islands and Madeira, and is approximately 1,034 square miles.

The volcanic islands are largely uninhabited by humans but host the world’s largest colony

£50,000 and committing

of Cory’s Shearwater seabirds, while its reefs

its onboard donations to

are home to some 51 species of fish which will

the cause. The campaign

now be protected from unsustainable fishing.

funds Covid-19 vaccines for middle and lower-income

Sandals Resorts’ charity, The Sandals Foundation, delivered more than 600 care packages of groceries, food vouchers and hot meals to families and over 10,000 educational toys to disadvantaged children in the Caribbean this Christmas, helped by donations from its guests.

countries to help close the global vaccine equity gap. Individuals are asked to donate £4, which is the cost of a single vaccine

best practice

biodiversity

A greener london The London Mayor Sadiq Kahn

Canadian hotel sets an example

has announced £600,000 will

Opening early 2022,

projects across the capital,

Gros Morne Inn in

with the aim of improving

Newfoundland and Labrador is a registered B-Corp and has also become an Oceanwisecertified business, offering only sustainable seafood.

It sits at the foot of the Tableland Mountains with a dark sky viewing patio looking over the sea.

be given to fund re-wilding

biodiversity and giving people better access to nature. The money will finance green roof installations, river restoration projects and rewilding to boost native species such as water voles and stag beetles.

It will also help people from minority backgrounds to develop vital green skills.

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Global good news

community

The United Nations’ World Tourism Organization has announced a list of ‘Best Tourism Villages’ for 2021, with 44 villages from 32 countries celebrated for embracing tourism to drive sustainable development.

sustainability

MALDIVES HOTEL GETS GREEN RECOGNITION Amila Maldives Resort and Residences has achieved a silver certification from the environment benchmarking programme, EarthCheck.

Initiatives introduced by the resort since the start of the pandemic include rainwater collection, energy and waste reduction projects, and producing and bottling desalinated, mineralised water.

The resort has also teamed up with the Manta Trust, an NGO dedicated to protecting manta rays and the ecosystems that support them.

GBL Centre

GBL Lodges

Inspiring and Supporting young people seriously injured through sport.

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Find out more at: www.matthampsonfoundation.org

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D REAM IN C AYMAN charitable.travel/cayman-islands

MAKE IT COUNT IN

2022

Book a holiday with a difference with Charitable Travel Whether you’re longing for a beach break to build amazing memories with your family, a romantic escape with your loved one, or want to don your backpack and venture back into the great unknown, our team of travel experts can help you plan and book the holiday you deserve.

Plus, when you book with Charitable Travel you can donate 5% of your holiday cost to a charity of your choice… completely free!

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#TRAVELFORGOOD WITH CHARITABLE TRAVEL charitable.travel / 020 3092 1288 / bookings@charitable.travel Putting our profit to work supporting the work of charitable causes Fundraising Futures Community Interest Company, Contingent Works, Broadway Buildings, Elmfield Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 1LW ALL PACKAGE HOLIDAYS ARE ATOL AND TRUST PROTECTED.