Try the Doobie-doobie Hairdo!

Interested in trying a local beauty regime next time you are visiting the Dominican Republic? Try a Doobie-doobie! While it may look like a portable antenna or a device to communicate with aliens – it is in fact the most effective way to keep your hair free of frizz in the tropical weather. Chances are you will spot a couple (if not hundreds) of women in doobie-doobie fashion around the Caribbean. Want to learn how to do one yourself? Just follow these simple steps ...

The Cayos Cochinos, Honduras

The Cayos Cochinos, a string of tropical islands off the Northern Coast of Honduras, is an often overlooked destination. But the vibrant Garifuna culture, coupled with the unspoiled marine and forest experiences make it worth the trek.  The best way to get there is to hop on a fishing boat from Sambo Creek or Nueva Armenia - you can do this through a tour operator or by heading down to the water. There’s usually a steady ...

Japan Yoga Retreat

Between September 19-22nd head to the Tranquil Ryokan in Izu, Japan for a yoga retreat led by Ange Gervan and Cameron Tukapua.  The retreat is based on the Chinese 5 Elements of Nature and the theme of “Turning Within.” It is designed to help participants understand who they are in relation to nature and other living beings, starting with their understanding of the five elements. We first met Ange on the PEPYride, where she would lead impromptu yoga every morning ...

180 Degrees South – New Film

"When your whole life is spent in the outdoors, you realise you have a sense of responsibility to these wild places." So begins the trailer for 1800 South, Conquerors of the Useless. A film that follows Jeff Johnson as he follows the legendary 1968 trip of Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins from California to Patagonia.  Jeff set out to find unclimbed mountains and un-surfed waves, but ended up being faced with the urgency of environmental disasters as well.  The film is still in post-production, but the Woodshed ...

Mexico Expands its Commitment to Sustainable Tourism

Mexico pledges once again its commitment to sustainable tourism by introducing new market-driven, economic opportunities that support conservation and community development. The Mexico Tourism Board and other Mexicans governmental tourism entities, in conjunction with the World Heritage Alliance (WHA), Expedia, Inc. and the United Nations Foundation, have initiated an educational partnership program for Expedia representatives and members of local communities in Mexico to ensure the protection of the delicate biodiversity, while empowering the rural communities through entrepreneurship. Read More

InkaFest – Huaraz

Every August, the Peruvian city of Huaraz hosts the Mountain Film Fest or InkaFest.  This year, the festival runs from the 18th-22nd of August.  Films can be entered into one of six categories (not including Best Picture and Viewer's Choice): Mountaneering, Mountain Culture, Adventure, Rock Climbing and Sports Adventure and Nature.  Besides films, the festival hosts workshops and speakers.  And of course - there are endless opportunities for adventures in Huayhuash and Cordillera Blanca, climbing, hiking, rafting or exploring nearby ruins. We wrote about Huaraz last year, click ...

Drowsy Water Ranch

Drowsy Water Ranch in Granby, CO, is a family affair.  The ranch has been owned and operated by the Fosha's since 1977, and the warmth of family seeps into every detail of operation.  The Fosha's make it easy for families to slip into the ranch like it had been your home for the past 30 years. On a dude ranch in Colorado, you get to step back in time to a way of life that has been preserved in Colorado for the last 130 years.  Granby is known for it's homesteading roots, and it's the families that ...

Interview with Katie Brow – Girl On the Rocks

Professional rock climber Katie Brown has been stunning the world with her climbing prowess since she won her first international competition in France at age 14, then took the World Championships at age 18. After an intense youth in competition, Katie took time off to attend school, then found her love of climbing again as she entered her twenties. Since then, she's been diligently working at design school, studying yoga, and traveling the world.  Katie's life has always included a lot of travel. Growing up in ...

Socialdocumentary.net

As adventure travelers we see so more much of a place beyond pretty views, inevitably, we also get involved with people and issues.  For those of you who love to "dig in" to new places, check out the new documentary videos on SocialDocumentary.net.  This month's feature videos are from Bahia, Brazil and Uganda.  See Off the Radar's picks Brazil here.

Dignity – Photography Auction and Benefit July 30th

On July 30th, 2009, be sure to join the Young Professionals for Acumen Fund for a photography auction ( featuring 30 prints donated by renowned photographers including Robert Capa Gold Medal winners Susan Meiselas and Steve McCurry, recent Dorothea Lange-Taylor Award winner Teru Kuwayama, and more) and an exhibition presented by Nuru Project.  Nuru Project’s JB Reed will be hosting an exclusive VIP preview which includes a private tour of the ...

$5,000 Matching Grant Challenge for High Atlas Foundation

The Moroccon American Cultural Center has inititated $5000 matching challenge grant for the High Atlas Foundation.  Between now and August 20th, 2009 every dollar you donate or pledge will be matched up to $5000. High Atlas Foundation was founded in 2000 by former Peace Corps Volunteer to build upon the professional relationships gained during years of service.  HAF works to establish development projects in different parts of Morocco that local communities design and manage, and that are in partnership with government and non-government agencies.  Check out their ...

Peaceful Valley Ranch

Peaceful Valley Ranch in Lyons, Colorado,  is one of the few dude ranches in the West that offers guests the opportunity to see the ranch year-round.  Nestled into the Roosevelt National Forest,  Lyons is the gateway to theRocky Mountains and just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.  It's a quick trip from Denver, but in the heart of Colorado's preserved wilderness. The list of activities is long, and it's up to you to choose.  You meet your horse on the first day, then can learn how to fly ...

Guyana’s Yupukari Village Announced as a Winner of the EcoClub EcoTourism Awards

Guyana's Yupukari village was announced as a winner of the EcoClub 2009 EcoTourism Awards.  The theme was "Their Crisis, Our Communities - Progressive Change through Social EcoTourism" and asked for "innovative projects that meet urgent needs, help create another world at the grass-roots level and improve life for all in their communities." Congratulations Yupukari! Read more about Guyana here. Photos by Kirk Smock.

More Poetry for the Adventurer….

Wander-thirst by Gerard Gould Beyond the east the sunrise; Beyond the west the sea And East and West the Wander-Thirst that will not let me be; It works in me like madness to bid me say goodbye, For the seas call, and the stars call, and oh! The call of the sky! I know not where the white road runs, nor what the blue hills are, But a man can have the sun for friend, and for his guide, a star; And there's no end to voyaging when once the voice is heard, For the rivers call, and the road calls, ...

Smith Fork Ranch: Luxury Dude Ranch

Something amazing is happening in the North Fork Valley of Colorado: local, sustainable, and organic farms are thriving.  Smith Fork Ranch in Crawford, Colorado, uses local fruits and vegetables from their own garden and surrounding organic farms, as well as lamb, beef, pheasant, and elk raised locally and sustainably, to create a delicious feast with fresh ingredients every day. The words "luxury" and "dude ranch" don't often fit together in a sentence, but that's exactly what the Hodgson family has created at the Smith Fork Ranch.  In the ...

Exhibit of Travel Photography by Adam Vaught opens in Mill Valley, CA

Off the Radar photographer Adam Vaught has an advantage over many in his field - in addition to photography, Adam also works as a consultant in adventure tourism development (with Xola Consulting, Inc.) and as a cycling guide for the up-market adventure tour operator, Backroads.  His travels for work, as well as pleasure, have offered him many chances over the years to develop an exotic portfolio of portraits - pictures of people in some of the most unusual places on earth.  In his first showing,  Portraits Across Three Continents (opens Tuesday, July 7th 2009 at 142 Throckmorton Theatre ...

July, 2009 Photo Contest

Be the first to email us at editor@travelofftheradar.com and tell us where this type of mountain house might be found - hint: a group of houses like this is called a katun. Last Month Congratulations to Grace Paulionis, a freelance trip director from Toronto Canada, for correctly identifying Peja Beer from Kosovo last month.

Watching Bonobos Deep in Equateur Province of the Congo

At Off the Radar, we usually write about trips you can book immediately – but traveling deep into Equateur Province of the Congo to visit the Lomako-Yokokala Faunal Reserve to see Bonobos in their natural habitat is not something you can do…yet. In April 2009 primatologist Jef Dupain of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), in partnership with Jengai Tours out of Cameroon, led a group of 12 adventure tourists to test out a trip that AWF hopes to begin running four times a year....

Sea Kayak the Brazilian Amazon with Rumo Norte

Rumo Norte Expeditions, out of Belem, Brazil, has a truly unusual way to experience the grandeur of the Amazon, with minimal impact: by sea kayak. Rumo Norte owner Gelderson Pinheiro’s favorite kayak trip begins in the town of Alter do Chão, “Altar of the Earth,” where a white sand island known as the Island of Love glows in the clear waters of the Tapajos River (which feeds into the Amazon River 30km to the northeast.) Paddling a sea ...