South America is a paradise for meat lovers. Argentina is a main player in the restaurants offering great quality meat, but some would argue that Brazil plays in the same league as a serious contestant. David Rousseau is one who sides with Brazil…
“One huge difference lies in the service, not the quality of service but in the way the meat is offered to the ravenous customers. While Argentinean restaurants would offer a traditional service (order your meat from the menu, wait for it, eat… smile), the Brazilians came up with: Rodizio or the ‘Art of Rodizio‘.
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When you come away from a lovely dinner with our Russian hosts it won’t only be your full belly and the vodka nips that give you a warm glow. Intrepid’s Boris ‘Bob’ Golodets explains why a home-cooked meal and meeting the lady of the house are always a highlight…
“She is one of our superstars. I know tonight our Russia Highlights group will go to Lena’s house for dinner and they will love her and have a wonderful evening. She lives in old town Suzdal on so called ‘Grape Street’ – one of the oldest and most famous in the city. Lena can show you the book with photos of her grandfather standing in front of their house with fanciful decorations on its facade.
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Intrepid Japan trips are now running as normal and our return to the country is helping local people get back on their feet. There are still many challenges for the northern regions and sincere thanks to Intrepid Express readers for supporting our appeal to bring light to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami.
Along with Intrepid’s donation of 200 solar lamps, an estimated 50 units were donated by Intrepid Express readers and all up 350 lamps (valued at US$5,250) were sent via Virgin Atlantic to Tokyo. Once arriving in Tokyo, the lights were then delivered to a local not-for-profit collection office, NPO, who form part of the coordinated Japanese response for supplies and equipment being sent to families in affected areas. NPO operates closely with the people most affected and managed to get the solar lights delivered as quickly as possible into the hands of people in need.
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Ask travellers to Costa Rica what they love most about the country and 9 times out of 10 they say the diversity. Elly Athey couldn’t agree more and her trip highlights were worlds apart…
“There have been two things I have always wanted to do – take a surf lesson, in waters so warm that I didn’t need a wet suit, and walk at the base of live Volcano! Two extremes I agree, but those two activities were what drew me to Costa Rica.
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When Intrepid’s Graham Stanley gets to spend some extra time in Beijing, the first thing he loves to do is get on a bike and discover new corners of the city…
“Bicycles are generally available for hire from most hotels, but if not there are a few bike hire places around town. Or if you have any local friends they’ll be glad to loan you their bicycle. Needless to say – there are a lot of bicycles in Beijing. Some of my best adventures in the city have been while slightly lost on a bike.
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Intrepid aimed to be carbon neutral in 2010 and we did it! We know that travel can leave a very heavy carbon footprint, so to take responsibility for our actions we currently offset the carbon produced by our trips, offices and flights. Intrepid invests in three internationally accredited Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) compliant projects based in some of our most popular destinations…
- Brazil: Biomass Utilisation project focuses on a ceramics plant ceasing the use of native wood by switching to renewable biomass use, e.g. sawdust, sugar cane bagasse and peanut shells. Previously the factory consumed about 24,000 tonnes of native wood per year, which was adding to the significant deforestation problem in Brazil.
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There’s a common responsible travel saying “leave only footprints, take only photographs”, but actually leaving photos can also prompt some precious experiences, as Emily Hogan discovered in Nepal…
“In the back streets of Kathmandu, a thin, weathered, elderly lady sits on the side of the road with a handful of newly-picked flowers to thread and sell to passers by. She is but one of many selling the same thing to the same type of people, all for a few rupees at the end of the day.
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In the trip notes of Intrepid’s Mongolia adventures you’ll see the message to bring along anti fungal and chicken pox creams. This isn’t because we anticipate an outbreak on the trip, but because you’ll have the chance to visit a place that is close to the heart of Intrepid’s Denis Sobnakov…
“Working with Intrepid means a lot to us leaders. One of the things I admire in our travel philosophy is that we contribute in some way to all the societies we visit and they pay us back with positive energy. I humbly believe that support, however small, makes a huge difference. Take Mongolia for example. Mongolia is beautiful and wonderful land, yet sadly it also has social issues and one of the biggest problems is the high rate of abandoned kids.
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Intrepid is absolutely thrilled to be awarded the Global Tourism Business Award for the 2011 Tourism for Tomorrow awards and delighted to receive this recognition.
When Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester started Intrepid in 1989, it was of the utmost importance to them that local people would benefit from Intrepid travellers visiting their communities. This philosophy continues to play a pivotal role in our responsible travel policy and 22 years on we are still able to engage local people in our operations and ‘do the right thing’ by them and our travellers.
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