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Friday, December 24, 2010

A Rare Cruise to Melanesia

Discover war canoes, exploding volcanoes, and more on the remote island outposts of Melanesia.

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Sanctuaries In India Check out The most effective Locations

Author : Paul KlaussIndia boasts of a wealthy wildlife reserve and also the wildlife Sanctuaries in India are its ideal showcase The diverse assortment of wildlife in India, ranging from the majestic tigers, lovely peacocks as well as the mammoth elephants find a secure asylum within the wildlife sanctuaries in India There's no dearth of Indian wildlife sanctuaries Almost all of the main Indian states have them and some are also involved in the commendable process of conserving and preserving the endangered animal species Should you be an excessive amount of into details and figures, then it will enable you to to understand that you will discover 80 National Parks, 441 sanctuaries and 23 tiger reserves that have been set up across India using the active assistance and direct involvement of the Government of India For those who have a suppressed want to embark on India Wildlife tours and are wondering exactly where to hunt for the authentic inputs, then wildlife tour operators in India will serve as a ready support

If you're a person driven by an adrenalin rush, then the Wildlife sanctuaries in India will offer you the substantially sought-after thrill and excitement The sanctuaries not only present a fascinating diversity of flora and fauna but you might also be left speechless by the diversity in the topography Wildlife in India is varied and also the ideal places to appreciate this diversity are the wildlife sanctuaries in India These sanctuaries not merely rank high as the perfect getaways for the wildlife enthusiasts but are veritable lures for the nature lovers as well Kerala, in certain, boasts of a great amount of sanctuaries amongst which mention should be created of Idukki Wildlife Sanctuaury, Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Wayanad Bird Sanctuary along with the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary The Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary impresses with its incredible array of wild animals that comprise of Elephants, Bison, Sambhar, Deer, Wild Dogs, Jungle Cats, Tiger, Wild Boar and reptiles for instance Cobra, Viper and Krait Among the birds, you could spot such varieties as the Jungle Fowl, Myna, Bulbul, Kingfisher and Woodpecker A mix of the tropical, a mixture of deciduous, semi-evergreen, and evergreen trees, the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary for the overwhelming presence of mammals, birds, reptiles, ambhibians, fishes and birds

Karnataka ought to ideally be the next in option when it comes to the very best Indian wildlife sanctuaries The very best component concerning the wildlife sanctuaries here is that they're in perfect harmony using the unspoilt beauty of Nature You will find sanctuaries that serve as secure havens for wide ranging mammals, whereas others, like the Nagarhole National Park, are reputed for the Cobras, crocodiles, kraits, pythons, vipers, and quite a few species of lizards that they shelter Should you be a lot more inclined towards bird viewing then you may just have to grab hold of a binocular to spot bird species like widespread babbler, bee-eater, bulbul, dove, crested serpent, hornbill, Malabar pied, alexandrine, peacock, woodpecker, warbler, wonderful Indian reed, eagle, crested hawk, golden-back parakeet, along with the southern tree pie Paul writes not just about wonderful places all around the world, but also pays attention to entertaining his readers and write reviews of popular tv shows like Leverage Season 3 Episode 15 or Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 1 Episode 10.

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Skiinfo.co: Still Snowing!

..... Andermatt, Switzerland (Ski Press)-Skiinfo.co.uk reports that new snow over the Easter holidays has given a great powder base for many of the resorts still open in the Alps, while across the Atlantic the latest round of huge snowfalls on the west of the North American continent has left more resorts extending their seasons with waist-deep April powder.Conditions remain good in Scotland and Scandinavia too. There were heavy snowfalls in the German speaking areas of the Alps over Easter with Andermatt seeing over a foot (35cm) of new snow.� This was part of a total one meter (40 inch) fall in the past seven days, the largest in Switzerland. The Andermatt-Gotthard region also reports the biggest snow depth in the country at present with 3.5m (nearly 12 feet) on upper slopes. St. Moritz also reported 15cm (six inches) of fresh snow on Sunday. Martin Berthod, the resort's sports and events manager, said, "The snow conditions are still excellent all over the Engadin." The 4 Valleys has also reported good snowfall in the past week, with 75cm (2.5 feet) of new snow and Laax has had yet another 60cm (two feet) taking its snow depth to 220cm (7.3 feet). Glacier ski areas currently have some of Switerland?s deepest snow with Engelberg reporting three meters (ten feet) and Saas Fee a few centimeters/inches less with 289cm.�� The snow depth in the French Alps is very good for the end of season with 183.6cm (6.2 feet) average on the top of the slopes in the Northern Alps and 229.6cm (7.6 feet) average for the Southern Alps. It has snowed a lot the last week in the French Alps with Skiinfo posting 24 Powderalarms for snowfalls in excess of 20cm (8 inches) in 24 hours in Sunday. Serre Chevalier reported 65cm (2.2 feet) of fresh snow and Puy St Vincent 40cm (16 inches) just on the one day. In Austria sunny weather is forecast for the next few days and on many Austrian slopes there is still lots of snow - so conditions for spring skiing are fine. S�lden, for example, got fresh snow again and issued a powder alarm for more than 20cm (8 inches) of new snow on Monday.� 31 of the ski resort's lifts are still running and the sky there is cloudless. It received 40cm (16 inches) in total through the last week and currently has a snow depth of 251cm (8.3 feet). Lech Z�rs am Arlberg has had 35cm (14 inches) of new snow in the past week. There are a dozen Austrian resorts with two meters or more of snow on their slopes.� The M�lltal glacier has the biggest snow depth of 390cm (13 feet), Hintertux has more than three meters (10 feet), too. In Germany to the north the Zugspitze got lots of fresh snow again with 20cm (8 inches) more on Monday and 35cm (14 inches) on Good Friday.� Feldberg in the Black Forest also received another 20cm (eight inch) fall in the past week. Many French ski resorts are still open during April and six will remain open into May. Chamonix currently has the top snow depth with 405cm (13.5 feet), La Clusaz has 310cm (10.3 feet) and Alpe d'Huez and La Grave 300cm (10 feet).�Serre Chevalier is just behind on 290cm (9.6 feet). Italy has topped the table in Europe for the most snow in the past seven days with Madesimo reporting 1.2m (four feet) of new Spring powder. Arabba and the Marmolada Glacier was second on the continent withy another meter (3.3) feet and there was about 60cm (two feet) more in Val Gardena in the Dolomites and Monterosa in the alps. North America and particularly California and Utah in Western USA have seen the biggest snowfalls of the past week, with particularly huge accumulations reported at Brighton in Utah with 228cm (7.6 feet) in seven days.� Snowbird, Alta and Solitude have also reported more than two meter (6.7 feet) accumulations. To the north Whistler Blackcomb has announced the decision to extend skiing and riding on Whistler Mountain by one week. Whistler Mountain?s last day of operations will be Sunday, April 25 while Blackcomb Mountain?s last day of operations will be Monday, May 24.

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Where's Andrew? Photo Clue #17

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Goodwill hunting in Spain

Christmas can put a strain on relationships. Can a course in Spain on being more understanding bring comfort and joy?How about this for an auspicious start to the festive season? My husband of 19 years ? partner for 24 and father of my two children ? told me that he wished he was married to a different kind of woman.I was shocked and outraged. I had no intention of becoming a different type of woman. What was required, it was clear to me, was that he become a different type of man ? one who appreciated his wife!So I was off. But not to the divorce lawyer. I was flying away to southern Spain, to the Alpujarra valley in Andaluc�a, for a course called the Power of Connection. Having already done a few courses with the organisers, a self-help charity called More to Life, I'd learned that holding my tongue has its benefits and that there was perhaps a different solution.I first heard about More To Life from my sister, who said she'd moved on more during a weekend course with them than she had in five years of therapy. I had chosen this particular course for its promise to make me a "more caring friend, more loving partner, more successful parent, and a more fulfilled individual" ? all particularly valuable at Christmas time.I was met at Malaga airport by Alan, one half of Alan and Tina, More to Life veterans who moved to the Alpujarras, south of the Sierra Nevada, two-and-a-half years ago. They helped the teacher, Louise Smith, convert what has hitherto been taught as a three-day course at locations all over Britain into a week-long holiday.A stunning two-hour drive along the coast and into the winding Alpujarra valley brought us to the far side of Orgiva, a town of Spanish families and middle-aged hippies.A couple of miles off the main road was La Cuesta del Almendral (the Almond Grove), our delightful home for the week, with six terracotta-floored bedrooms. Mine had a balcony overlooking a bougainvillea-edged garden, the swimming pool beyond and a heart-stopping mountain backdrop. Welcome dinner was in Tina and Alan's house next door, Cortijo Caliz, where we feasted on chicken casserole, figs from their garden in syrup and a light spongy goat's cheese.Over the next six days, the six of us on the course, plus Louise and her helper, Jane, alternated between days in the "classroom" ? a large, oval, airy, wooden yoga hut ? and days "off". In the first session, Louise talked about different realities and I came to see how I express my "reality" (my thoughts, feelings, desires) very freely ? dogmatically, some would say ? while my husband expresses his quietly ? or manipulatively, as I have been known to view it. I vowed to try harder to tune in to his reality.At the next session, Louise showed us how to do this, using "playback" and "reflect back", techniques whereby the listener repeats exactly the words the other person is using and thinks about what they might be feeling. I tried it on my husband that evening on the phone and, remarkably, he didn't spot it or ask why I was parroting him. He said things at home had been pretty stressful: he wasn't feeling well, he'd been late to work several mornings because of getting the children ready and he'd had to sort out extra childcare because our daughter's school closed early.Instead of raising my eyebrows in a "now you know what I have to deal with" kind of way, or getting defensive about the fact I'd swanned off to Spain for a week, I listened attentively and repeated back to him what he'd just said to me. Actually, he continued, although it was stressful, he was feeling more in touch with the children than he did when I was around. Wow! (I didn't say that though; I simply repeated his words back to him again.)Finally, he said, he realised that when I was there he abdicated responsibility for them to me. I'm ashamed to say that hallelujahs rang out loudly in my mind.Triumphalism, of course, has no part in improving relationships. It's a form of judgment which, along with demands, wreaks havoc in communication, as we came to see later in the week when we wrote down our thoughts. I wrote that my husband should want to be with me, be home for the family meal on time, be more loving and respect the things that matter to me. If he doesn't do these things, he is unloving, uncaring, not devoted, the wrong person for me.On paper, these statements glared back at me. As Louise pointed out, our "shoulds" turn us into dictators, and when we decide that other people are or are not something, as if this is the absolute truth about them, we are condemning them, playing God.My feelings alternate between anger and sadness when I have these thoughts. And distinguishing thoughts and beliefs from feelings is, I learn, key to improving our emotional health. Thoughts and beliefs go on in our minds and are often wrong or unverifiable, while feelings happen in our bodies and are always real. It's a revelation to me ? somebody who lives pretty much in her head ? and a relief to get in touch with my feelings.I did a fair bit of crying in that yoga hut ? something I would once have been embarrassed to admit to but now regard as a mark of my progress in self-awareness. I can't really remember exactly what Louise did or said that carried me gently down this route, but witnessing her do it with others was mesmerising. Permitting your feelings while challenging your thinking is central to the More to Life experience, a blend of western psychotherapy and eastern spiritual traditions.I had intended, on free days, to yomp off into the Alpujarras, but the wisdom on offer around the pool, cradled as it was by the mountain scenery, was the greater lure.Most of us sprawled on sunbeds with our course files, doing our homework exercises or retreating to nooks and crannies in the grounds in pairs to practise our new communication techniques. Louise and Jane were among us, chatting and guiding, lightly or in-depth, whatever the mood required. Jane sat with one participant for several hours. And from time to time, the absurdity of some thoughts became a source of entertainment.One participant, who wanted to form a closer relationship with her sister, was doing an exercise writing down all the things she resented her for. She suddenly burst out laughing then read out, as best she could, mid-hilarity: "I resent my sister for crying when she was a baby when I put her little finger in a pencil sharpener and turned it."I was one of only three people to put my hand up for a midweek trip to the Alhambra ? an hour away by bus ? but was not massively disappointed to hear it was fully booked. Instead, most of us headed into Orgiva and sat outside a bar watching a busy market and listening to each other's life stories. Nobody seemed to want to get away from the group.As the week went on, I became aware of how peaceful I felt. And I knew it wasn't just the beautiful scenery and warm sunshine. I'd never met most of the people there before but I was listening, really listening, to what they had to say. Without judgments and without demands. And they were listening to me. The urge I usually have to butt in with my thoughts and opinions ? and, worse, summary and analysis ? evaporated. This was connection ? with their reality. And I was connecting to something in myself, my humanity perhaps.Maybe my husband will get his wish, for I definitely feel I returned home a different kind of woman: one ready to embrace not just his reality but those of the whole family ? realities which, for many, explode into catastrophic conflict at Christmas.? The Power of Connection one-week course runs in Spain from 23 April and 24 September 2011. It costs �995, including seven nights full-board and transfers, but not flights. More information at consciouschange.co.uk/change/2011-schedule/connect-in-spain, or from Louise Smith on 07767 484102. Information on other More to Life courses from 020-7431 0922, moretolife.org. EasyJet (easyjet.com) flies to Malaga from Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted from �26 return SpainAndaluciaHealth and fitnessRelationshipsChristmas and New Yearguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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It Ain?t Over ? Utah Gets Rocked!

..... Snowbird, Utah (Ski Press)-While many ski areas are shutting down after the Easter weekend, it looks like Utah is only just getting started on the ?deep? season. April showers have resulted in ample powder at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, which has received four-and-a-half feet in the last week, pushing the season total to 440 inches with a mid-mountain base depth of 127 inches. With an additional 30-40 inches forecasted in the coming days, the mountain is in mid-winter form and skiers are raving about the spring storms. ?Just like last year, April is providing some of the best conditions we?ve seen all year,? said resort president Bob Bonar. ?With this deep snowpack we expect to offer skiing and riding well into May, continuing our tradition of offering the longest season in Utah.? And at Solitude (from whence we received a photo collection of nothing but over the head faceshots yesterday ? Thanks a lot Joe and Nick), 58? of snow last week brings the YTD total to 438?!!

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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Expedia demotes American Airlines, airline booking war gets HOT

Filed under: North America, United States, Airlines

Could the battle between airlines and online travel agencies have gotten any more intense? This week, American Airlines got the green light in court to yank its fares from Orbitz, and Delta announced that it was pulling out of several smaller sites - CheapOair, OneTravel and BookIt. Travel industry experts are saying it's about time, but that doesn't lessen the shock to the business, especially with the rapid succession. Well, if you didn't think it couldn't get any crazier, brace yourself: the online travel agency community is fighting back.

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Expedia is changing the way it shows American Airlines flights on its site, making it "extremely difficult" for users to find them, according to ABC News. Is it a show of solidarity, as Scott Mayerowitz of ABC puts it, or could it be an early form of risk management? By reducing its reliance on the American Airlines relationship, Expedia can mitigate the impact of an American withdrawal from its own site.

And let's not underestimate the financial damage involved: the move by American with Orbitz could cause a nine-figure loss. For the first three quarters of 2010, the sale of American flights was worth approximately $800 million to the latter.

Mayerowitz confirms what I wrote several weeks ago, that a "full out war," as he puts it, is at hand.Continue reading Expedia demotes American Airlines, airline booking war gets HOTExpedia demotes American Airlines, airline booking war gets HOT originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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