Ecotravel gifts this Christmas

burren-book_opt2I can’t avoid it anymore, Christmas is nearly here and, with it, the usual brain battle for gift ideas. So if you have a loved one with the ecotravel bug, here are a few of my favourite things, which might ease the pain. The best gift I was lucky enough to get this year was a Roberts eco-radio. Already a faithful camping companion, it is bright green inside and out, functions on solar powered energy and is all round DAB cool. So now that Ireland is going digital, grab one at my favourite eco-shop nigelsecostore.com £79.99 Sterling)

Travelling light is one of the secrets of being a more ethical traveller. Lighter aircraft is a good thing, and avoiding that pre-holiday shopping expedition means less packaging to dispose of when you are there. So invest in a few ethical goodies such as an Indian handwoven mohair throw from Oxfam Ireland (oxfamirelandshop.com currently on offer at €29.99), or an invaluable hemp bamboo pashmina from eco-chic Ascension, (ascensiononline.com €24.05,), and leave the jumpers and jackets at home. 

For outdoor travel gear, Patagonia is always my ‘top’ shop. They measure the carbon footprint of everything they sell, use organic cottons, make fleeces out of recycled plastic bottles, and use hemp and chlorine-free wool. Visit their shop in Exchequer St., Dublin or online at www.patagonia.com.

Camping just got camper with the solar powered baseball cap. It’s a bit gimmicky, but I love it, as do my kids.  With a solar panel on the peak, it powers LED lights to illuminate those midnightSterlingIreland for €13.50.  Mine will be top of my backpack in The Burren next Spring, where I am exploring some of the walking routes laid out in a stunning new walking guide book,  The Burren & The Aran Islands (collinspress.ie, €14.95). I can’t think of a more inspiring book to give this Christmas. Its beautiful line illustrations (by Carles Casasin),  detailed maps and superbly informative text (written by Tony Kirby, a professional walking guide) will have you leaping over the Limestone in search of that much needed New Year detox. ). ‘Rambling’ relatives will also love the BioEtic Organic Care for Light Legs, a natural oil designed to revive tired trekkers’ legs. With recyclable packaging, it’s organic, Fairtrade and available from Oxfam trips to the loo, or for nighttime reading (also from nigelsecostore.com , £29.99

 

For other books, Rough Guides’ new Clean Breaks is my number one for 09 – A worldwide guide to the greenest and greatest places to stay, and things to do, it is  thoroughly researched by green travel experts Richard Hammond (not the one off Top Gear) and Jeremy Smith (available from easons.ie , €24.69). Another exciting development in guidebooks is Writing Travellers (WritingTravellers.com), which provide free online guidebooks. A non-profit making organisation set up by two young Dutch guys, they gather information on destinations in Wiki style format, i.e keen travellers send in their contributions about places they know and love and,  after careful moderation, are then published. A bit like a Pick ‘n Mix, you choose the info you are interested in, and download it. You can also pay to have it printed in a book, although at the moment they only do printed versions of South AfricaIndia. They vary in price depending on how much information you choose. My 400 page guide to The Netherlands cost €18.58, and packed with recommendations, which I hope to try out in time for Tulip season. 

 

The best way to use one of these guides is, of course, by rail, and a European Interrail pass has to be one of the greenest tickets around (irishrail.ie). You don’t have to be a student either. Take a month discovering the superb European rail network, and get into the heart of countries in the best way possible. Prices range hugely depending on where you want to go, and for how long, but for the price of the latest Wii and a few games, you could send someone around Europe for a month for real, not just virtually. Happy days, happy travelling and happy Christmas.

 

 An edited version of this article was first published in The Irish Times, 13 December 2009 

 

Shopping strop

Moroccan beads. Photo: Catherine Mack
Moroccan beads. Photo: Catherine Mack

At the risk of biting the hand that feeds me,  Go’s ‘Shop through the drop’ article (14.11.09) about the ‘great’ return of Irish women to the New York shopping trip,

in search of a credit crunch bargain, took me on a nostalgia trip. I did exactly that in my youth, which was also back in the last century. But I thought we had all moved on a bit since then.  Consumer excess is a personal choice, I guess, but carbon excess in order to feed that frenzy is just not on anymore. I am not against flying per se, but there are limits, and chasing the SJP lifestyle in Barney’s is verging on carbon trashy these days.  

 

If you have signed up for Ireland’s 10:10 challenge (1010.ie) where people are committing to cut their personal carbon emissions by 10% in a year, you will have noticed that the first tip is ‘Fly Less, Holiday More’, encouraging us to take fewer but longer trips. The sixth tip is “Buy Good Stuff”, and think about waste and ethics on our shopping trips.

 

So if, for example, you are limiting your flights to one a year, and your Christmas shopping trip is it, use the Carbon Friendly Flight Search tool on flysmart.org, which finds the cheapest flight as well as the greenest. It does this by assessing the carbon efficiency of each fleet and whether the route is direct or not. It shows that a return flight from Dublin to New York, 10209.56 kms, emits1.25 tonnes of carbon per person.

 

For about the same price, and half the amount of carbon, you can get a real bargain in the markets of Marrakech, and keep money in the local economy, with grotto after grotto of gorgeous artisan jewellery, leather, rugs and, of course, spices.  Morocco’s argan oil, for example, has to be one of the finest beauty products, and now sought after by those in the know.  And no over-heated malls, over-packaged goods, and over-loaded plates of food either. Take a local guide around the souks, such as one recommended on tripbod.com (share the cost with a group of girls) to find all the best bargains and get your head around haggling. You will have to swap the Margharitas for mint tea though.

 

Even strolling the streets of Istanbul is half the carbon cost of fighting your way along Fifth Avenue. Choose a locally owned accommodation, treat yourself to a Turkish Bath, and bring back a load of Turkish Delight for granny. You can book a great short trip, with use of local guide, on responsibletravel.com.

 

Staying closer to home, take the boat and train to Edinburgh or Glasgow, where you can buy plenty of local crafts or produce, not only in some superb boutiques, but also at the capital’s Ethical Christmas Fair from 12-20 December (edinburghschristmas.com).You will feel as if you have walked onto a set of Sex In The City in Glasgow’s Che Chamille (checamille.com), which works with young designers directly, using ethically sourced materials. There are lots of other ways to enjoy Scotland in winter while you are there, as seen at white.visitscotland.com which has taken a whole white theme this year.

 

Or just stay at home, and support some of Ireland’s local producers. Take the train or bus to a town you don’t normally visit and stock up on local produce. The choice is endless, such as The Burren Perfumery, Sligo’s Voya seaweed products or Kenny’s Bookshop in Galway. The list is endless. Please feel free to send me all other suggestions as a comment to this article on my website, and I will add them to the list.

 

An edited version of this article was published in The Irish Times, 28 November 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Power to the people

Photo: Whale Watch Kaikoura
Photo: Whale Watch Kaikoura

 

Four years ago I watched a Maasai warrior stand up in front of a roomful of tourism executives and academics, and say, very politely, “All we want is a voice”. This was in response to endless Powerpoints on sustainable tourism, ethical policies and community empowerment strategies. The Elder was making his point that we can have all the strategies we want in the world, but it’s only through talking to the local people in tourism destinations, that we really achieve a truly responsible form of tourism. There was silence in the room. This wasn’t in anyone’s ‘script’, and noone was really able to give an adequate response or offer of support.

 

Which is why I was overjoyed to see so many indigenous communities, or organisations which are whole heartedly committed to sustaining them,  being recognised at the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009, which took place at this week’s World Travel Market in London.

 

Such as Village Ways in India (villageways.com), winner of Best Tour Operator for Cultural Engagement. This community-owned company has brought previously vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals from the Dalit community back into their society by creating positions of porters and guides, who now lead guests around sites of cultural interest.

 

In the Small Hotel category, the winner was Rivertime Resort and Ecolodge in Laos (rivertimelaos.com), a role model for many small accommodation providers, because it has signed contracts with its three local villages, setting out the responsibilities of the company to maximise benefits for the local community. Another example of inspirational community involvement was Adventure Alternative (adventurealternative.com), an adventure holiday company which provides long-term employment to local communities in Nepal, Kenya and Tanzania. According to the judges, its founder, Gavin Bate, ‘works round the clock to keep local individuals at the heart of what they do’ and,  in so doing, won  Best Personal Contribution to Responsible Tourism

 

In Mongolia, Selena Travel (selenatravel.com) has worked with the nomadic community in Tuv to found a nomadic cultural festival, which opened in 2004. The Festival now receives hundreds of visitors every year, and is recognised by the Mongolian Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism. Consequently, it was awarded the Conservation of Cultural Heritage award.  

 

However, it was the Maori communities which showed everyone how it can be done. Winner of Best in a Marine Environment as well as the Overall Winner, Whale Watch Kaikoura (whalewatch.co.nz) is a 100% Maori owned company, in the small New Zealand town of Kaikoura. Originally set up by four Maori families in 1987, it now  takes one million visitors whale watching every year. Its Chairman, Wally Stone, told me “Our own legends of the whales, which represent the migration of our ancestors, inspired us. This is my blood line, our story, and we are now able to pass it on from generation to generation”.  One of the most inspiring aspects of this community-led organisation, is that it has spread into mainstream tourism. Mr. Stone also went on to be Chairman of New Zealand Tourism and is proud that “we evolved together”.

 

I couldn’t help thinking of an Irish Tourism Board executive who recently balked at the very notion of community-based tourism at another conference I attended, saying “I just don’t want to know about it. Our job here is to make money, and community tourism just doesn’t do that”. The proof that nothing could be further from the truth was written all over this prestigious awards ceremony. Many local community tourism projects are fighting strong. Thankfully, they are no longer having to shout from the wings, but are up there with all the others now, centre stage. The difference compared to four years ago, however, is that people are really starting to listen to them.

 

For news on all other Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009 see responsibletourismawards.com.

An edited version of this article was published in The Irish Times, 14 November 2009

My Cretan Odyssey

“The water isn’t salty Mum”, my five year old son shouts joyfully as we swim back to the deserted white soft sands of Kiani Akti, He is right because the water which flows into this section of Souda Bay, on the North West corner of Crete, is from one of the mountain rivers, which gathers speed as it gushes past hillside olive and orange groves, culminating in a tumultuous surge at this tiny beach. The effect is not only the addition of yet one more shade to this already burgeoning palette of turquoise blues, but a rush of ice-cold mountain water into the otherwise temperate tide.

This mixture of currents, temperature and taste provides the perfect metaphor for our first trip to Crete, which I had always resisted for fears of the ravages of mass tourism. Until we found our little village in the mountains, Megala Chorafia, where pure mountain Cretan life fights successfully for a place among the rapids and dangerous undercurrents of concrete and plastic tourism, found elsewhere on the island.

We are staying at a villa owned by villager, Stelios Botonakis. He rents it out through Pure Crete which has a responsible tourism policy to support small rural villages, offering accommodation in traditional Cretan villas owned by local people Stelios, whose smile is as big as his generous spirit, built this house himself. A beautifully crafted white stone house, overlooking the snow-capped White Mountains and endless olive groves, is minimally furnished except for elegant simple beds, chairs and tables, all of which look like precious family heirlooms. Dark wooden shutters, beams and floorboards contrast perfectly with the white-washed walls, and Cretan hand-woven rugs and cushions throw dashes of reds and orange around the rooms.

The Botonakis family lives next door and quickly makes us feel at home, while giving us plenty of holiday ‘space’. We aren’t really ‘space’ people, however, and when Stelios arrives with a gift of his homemade wine, we invite the family in that night to help us drink it. Lucky for us it is May Day, so the whole family is around to take us up on our invitation, each arriving with a gift. Wine, cake, cheese or a traditional flower garland. We had seen many families gathering wildflowers that morning, a May Day tradition, which they make into garlands to hang on doors or on the front of their cars. With a mountain chill in the air, we light the fire in the vast stone fireplace and swap life stories, our new friends putting us to shame with their good English. Our children are in their element as they are passed from lap to lap in that genuinely affectionate way that is so endearing in Mediterranean countries. The evening reaches a touching finale when Stelios thanks us for our hospitality through music. His solo rendition of a traditional Cretan song raises the hairs on the back of my neck. Our boys immediately want to sing too, this time with a rendition of the somewhat less traditional Irish rugby anthem, proudly exalting their Celtic roots. This evening will be the long-abiding memory of this wonderful holiday. Of course we will never forget the beautiful beaches, ancient monuments, sunshine, tavernas and mountain gorges. But evenings like this are not in the guidebooks, nor can they really be captured in our photo albums.

The Pure Crete rep offers some suggestions of outings although, unlike some companies, there is no hard sell. We spend one evening at Malaxa, another mountain village, where Demitris Vamvounakis has revived his local community by creating a cooperative to produce organic food, now thriving with two shops in nearby Chania. . Dimitris has rebuilt one of the village’s stone houses into something that would have Kevin McCloud lost for words. Into this beautifully crafted contemporary home, built into the mountainside, he has incorporated two adjoining reception rooms for entertaining people in Cretan cultural evenings. Over the course of the evening, about fourteen of us drink fine local wine, eat plate after plate of superb organic traditional food, prepared by Demitris’ wife, Katerina, as they both talk about all aspects of Cretan culture.Crete, ending in 1898, when the local population was forced to add these letters, meaning ‘little’ to the end of their names. Although, at the time, this diminutive was intended as an insult, it is now a form of patriotism, allowing Cretans to spot one of their fellow islanders wherever they might meet in the world. The chat goes on late into the evening, and we feel as if we are privileged guests at the best dinner party on the island.

The evening starts gently with our very knowledgeable, charming and amusing hosts talking about local food, language, flora and fauna, and festivals. But as the local Raki kicks in, we all gain the confidence to broach heavier issues such as the still prevalent arranged marriages, dowries, macho gun culture and politics. The kids are open-mouthed hearing about the ongoing tradition of men firing endless rounds of ammunition into the air at daughters’ weddings as a sign of prosperity and pride. They also explain the origin of most Cretan names ending with “akis”. It comes from the Turkish 250-year occupation of

One of our other best trips is to Taverna Lemonia, a twenty minute drive along the twisting roads leading up into the White Mountains. This taverna has not only stunning views, but is also home to Leonidas, one of a handful of olive farmers still using traditional olive presses. We take a tour of the small olive factory in his back garden, where he uses a donkey to turn the massive stone wheels which crush the olives. We learn about the harvesting process, see how the traditional machinery works, all of which Leonidas constructed himself. This is cold-pressed olive oil, now a rarity in Crete, as heating olives allows for faster pressing, but as our purchased bottle was to prove, a less intense flavour. Our tour doesn’t finish there though, because Leonidas is also a

master craftsman, and shows us his workshop full of traditional stringed instruments which he makes, bespoke, for local musicians. We are invited into the family house for coffee and kaltsounia (traditional cheese pies), made from their own mizithra (a soft goat’s cheese) and horta, a spinach-type grass growing all over the island. As we tuck in, Leonidas casually picks up one of his lyres and plays for us and once again, music breaks down any language barrier between our two very different cultures.

One week is really not enough to take in all the heartfelt warmth extended to us in Crete. There should be more

Leonidas shows the boys how to carve a violin

companies out there like this one, which aim to not only support the local economy but also to preserve Cretan culture. Not in a way that enshrines it, but by simply keeping it alive, contemporising it. I hope the Greek government learns from other countries’ mistakes, and puts some urgent restrictions on the building of holiday rentals and second homes. Billboards, posters and shop windows advertising houses for sale are all in English. One enticed us to ‘build your new life’ but, personally, we were happy to support the lives of those who live there all year round, many of whom rely on tourism for income during the charter season.

In The Odyssey, Homer wrote, “Out in the dark blue sea there lies an island called Crete, a rich and lovely land, washed by the waves on every side, densely peopled and boasting ninety cities”. Let’s hope that it stays rich and lovely, but that it isn’t heading for another era of ninety concrete cities. But those undercurrents can be very strong.

Getting there

Catherine travelled with Pure Crete. Holiday costs from £540 per person, including accommodation and flight, with £100 discount for children. See purecrete.com for details. They also offer a variety of activity holidays such as walking, history and conservation breaks.

(Edited versions of this  article were  published in The Observer 8 June 2008  and The Irish Times 6 November 2009.  For more photos of this trip click here)