GEARING UP
Wristlets are so last Tuesday, but the handlet is so tomorrow. The wallet-size Yazzy bag can be worn multiple ways – on your palm, dangling from your wrist, hanging from your fingers – but the most comfortable position is atop your hand. The nylon pocket with reflective stripes has a stretchy Velcro strap that wraps around your wrist and a small ring of fabric that loops around your middle finger. Indeed, the bag fit us like a palmless glove. The zippered pouch was roomy enough to fit our cellphone, cash and credit cards, and we could shop, sightsee or dance without worrying about pickpockets or loss. And while our hand did look a bit lumpy, we could overlook the extra curves for the ease of having our valuables at our fingertips.|$12 for the sporty model, 866-206-9067, ext. 2342, www.yasmena.net.
– The Washington Post
zoomandgo.com Made by travelers for travelers, Zoom and Go allows you to take videos and photographs of your trip and submit them to the site to be posted. You can also review hotels and other components of your travels, or as Zoom and Go suggests on the home page, make everyone want to visit your hometown by doing a travelogue of its high points. Once you become a member, anything you submit that is posted on the site earns points, including photos, videos and reviews, and booking at a member hotel earns points, all of which are convertible to cash or redeemable for hotel vouchers or other rewards. Zoom and Go also negotiates to make your travel images available for licensing, splitting the earnings with you. There’s a Travel Café chat room for hooking up with fellow travelers, and the whole video library is iPod compatible.
YOU MUST BE DREAMING
Spring may be sputtering into Colorado, but elsewhere in the world, winter continues to hold sway. Hop on a snowmobile and join an Arctic expedition in the land of the Inuit with the Great Canadian Travel Company, which offers treks departing from Churchill, Manitoba, along the shores of Canada’s vast Hudson Bay. The next one, a “Trek from Churchill to Baker Lake,” departs May 3 and runs through May 9, covering 435 miles and offering a night each in Arviat, Rankin Inlet and Baker Lake in Nunavut. Baker Lake is an Inuit village; trekkers will fish with natives and visit with local artists, as well as tour the surrounding area, which offers views of caribou and musk ox. Along the way, stay in bed-and-breakfast inns, take a photo safari to the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary and ice fish for salmon. Cost is $4,330 per person and includes guides, snowmobiles, fuel and oil, hotels and tents. Snowmobile experience is a must. Call 800-661-3830 or visit greatcanadiantravel.com.
BOOK YOUR VACATION
It would be tough to make the concept work as well for bigger destinations, but Jackson Lindsay’s travel guides, including “Best of Isla Mujeres,” “Best of Playa del Carmen” and “Best of Cozumel” ($14.95, Local Knowledge Publications) are handy-dandy for jaunts to those sections of Mexico. About 4 by 6 inches – and so easy to tuck into a pocket – they are quick references (with Lindsay’s very pointed opinions) for dining, activities, shopping, transportation, night life and services, with tiny maps and about a paragraph each for the entries. But within those briefs are all you need to know, since Lindsay assumes you are already there and not bothering with calling ahead. No phone numbers or addresses, just whether the place is worth checking out and how to find it, what’s good about it (“fresh tortillas,” “cheapest beer” or “much more to choose from here besides silver”) and a general idea of how pricey it is. Lindsay also includes offerings of what he considers the best of certain items, such as the “best tequila selection” and “best guacamole.” Sandwiched in the center are color photographs of areas around town, including beaches, wildlife and other attractions.
TRAVEL BY NUMBERS | Top local hikes in April
It’s time to get ready for summer, and what better way than with a conditioning hike? Here are a few that clear out the snow early and are easily reached this time of year.
1. Fountain Valley Trail, 2.8 miles round trip. Gains 370 feet, takes one to two hours. Get there: This Roxborough State Park loop is an easy, scenic jaunt south of Denver off U.S. 85. Exit at Titan Road and head west for about 4 miles until it turns into North Rampart Range Road (the road winds left). Go for about another 4 miles and turn left onto Roxborough Park Road and head right into the park.
2. Walker Ranch, 7.6 miles round trip. Gains 1,931 feet, takes about three hours. Get there: Gorgeous views of Boulder, medium-strenuous. From U.S. 36, go west on Baseline Road. Go to Chautauqua Park and take Flagstaff Road to second parking area for trailhead.
3. Eagle Wind Trail, 4 miles round trip. Gains about 400 feet, takes about three hours. Get there: Part of Boulder County’s Parks and Open Space, this trail offers great views of Longs Peak and the Flatirons. The trailhead is at the end of North 23rd Street off Colorado 66.
4. ELC Loop, 2.8 miles round trip. Gains 10 feet of elevation, takes less than an hour. Get there: Located at the Colorado State University Environmental Learning Center. Take Drake Road from Timberline Road for about a mile. Come to a curve and turn left on a gravel road. Follow to a dead end.
5. Evergreen Mountain Loop, 4.3 miles round trip. Gains 1,056 feet of elevation, takes about 2 and a half hours. Get there: From Evergreen, head south to this 770-acre Alderfer/Three Sisters Park on County Road 73. Go west on Buffalo Park Road for 1 mile until you see the trailhead in the parking lot.
GEOQUIZ
1. The city of Jinja, located on the northern shore of Lake Victoria, became an industrial center after Owens Falls Dam was built. Jinja is in which country?
2. The Great Stupa is a Buddhist monument located in the state of Madhya Pradesh in which country?
3. The most populous provinces in Indonesia are found on which island?
4. In 1903, a system of tunnels and canals drained Lake Texcoco to provide more land area for the rapidly growing population of one of the world’s largest cities. Name this city.
5. The Mali and Songhai Empires of the 13th to 16th centuries were located mainly along which river in West Africa?
6. Major bauxite reserves are located north of the city of Conakry in which West African country?
7. Taiwan and China both claim the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by which other country?
8. The Moche civilization was located south of the Sechura Desert along the Pacific coast of which South American country?
9. The world’s southernmost city with a metropolitan population greater than 1 million is located just north of the Bass Strait. Name this city.
10. Located about 500 miles east of the Southern Alps, the Chatham Islands belong to which country?
ANSWERS: 1. Uganda 2. India 3. Java 4. Mexico City 5. Niger River 6. Guinea 7. Japan 8. Peru 9. Melbourne 10. New Zealand
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
