By Maureen Valentine

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With its origins in Peru’s central highlands more than 1000 years before to the rise of the Inca Empire, Quechua civilisation has an extraordinary cultural heritage of religious, musical and literary traditions. Unfortunately, a growing influx of tourism through Peru’s legendary Sacred Valley has left local indigenous villages fighting to preserve their Quechua way of life. Thankfully, an innovative local organisation aims to safeguard Andean mores by instilling confidence in the local people through education and by teaching the visiting public about their hosts’ native practices and beliefs.

The Sacred Valley of Peru, where green rolling hills meet the snow-capped Andes, is a land of breathtaking vistas. No wonder Pachamama's Path wishes to preserve the traditions of this beautiful land.

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Posted under Peru, countries, responsible organisations, responsible travel

By Maureen Valentine

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The Church of the Divine Providence in Avenue Providencia of Santiago, Chile, suffered structural damage from the tremors. This photo was taken a few hours after the earthquake. (Photo by Santiago Vanegas)

At 3:30 in the morning on Saturday, 27 February, I was sitting at my dining room table in my home in central Santiago, Chile, with friends having some drinks… when something peculiar started to happen. My house started to shake. There was a split second when I thought “Am I crazy or is the table moving?” and then I locked eyes with one of my friends with a mutual communication of “GET OUT!”

Everyone jumped up and started running toward the door, screaming as the walls continued to move for an excruciating 90 seconds. The entire neighbourhood flooded into the street for fear of their houses collapsing.

Throughout the early morning of the 27th and the rest of the day, we continued to feel aftershocks. There were so much that sometimes we couldn’t tell if it was our imagination or the ground was actually moving. Nevertheless, by midday, our electricity and internet access had been restored, which gave me the opportunity to find out exactly what had happened and if it was something my family back in North Carolina would see in the international news. I quickly discovered that the earthquake had measured 8.8 on the Richter scale and a top news story worldwide.

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Posted under Chile, General, countries, responsible traveller, whl.travel newsletter

By Paula Ferreira

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On the morning of Saturday, 20 February 2010, the south of Madeira Island was lashed by an incredible 52mm of rainfall in one hour (9:00 to 10:00). The consequence was a series of mudslides and floods that struck mainly in the capital city of Funchal, Ribeira Brava and several other smaller towns in the area.

Flood waters fill the Avenida Arriaga of Funchal, Madeira, the day after heavy rains provoked deadly mudslides

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Posted under Portugal, countries, whl.travel newsletter

On 8 February, the body of Chrystel Cancel was positively identified, nearly a month after the devastating earthquakes in Haiti levelled the Hotel Montana on top of her. She had only had just arrived in Port-au-Prince. We pay tribute to her here because she was a trusted part of our family.

Chrystel Cancel grew up in Toulouse, France. After earning both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Toulouse, Chrystel graduated from the University of Paris in 1999 with another Masters in Political Science, specialising in developing countries. A passion for travel, adventure and international development led her to Washington, DC, where she obtained a Masters in Tourism Administration from the George Washington University in 2006.

Chrystel spent the majority of her career as a dedicated sustainable tourism consultant leaving her lasting legacy on a variety of projects around the world.

We will never be able to give voice to the thousands of people Chrystel touched, both directly and indirectly. We hope that a few short remarks from some of the people with whom she worked will impart a sense of her spirit, her character… and the empty space we now feel in her absence.

See below for short tributes to Chrystel from:

• Len Cordiner, CEO of the WHL Group
• Zachary Rozga, CEO of WHL Consulting
• Simon Jones, Vice President of Solimar International
• Sandrine-Pia Casto, General Manager of Tucaya Panama

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Posted under General, opinion, responsible organisations, responsible traveller, whl.travel newsletter

By Ethan Gelber

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“The months January and February in Cusco are known for the rain,” said Raymond Scholten of Chaska Tours, an ecotourism and adventure tour operator – your whl.travel local connection – based in this famous city of southern Peru. “Everybody is prepared for the rain, but this year the amount broke all records. It rained endlessly for almost two days and nights, which caused the rise of all the rivers.”

Flooding and rainfall damaged local homes, business and roads in the Sacred Valley near Cusco, Peru

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Posted under General, Peru, countries

By Ethan Gelber

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As a follow-up to our blog post about how you can help Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake, the most urgent plea at the moment is for temporary shelter for estimated one million homeless and displaced people.

Information from people actively helping to direct donations to the right places have relayed a call made by the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Assistance for 200,000 tents. By some estimates, less than 5% of what is needed has made it to people on the ground.

To help with this effort, Partners in Health, a non-profit medical charity that has been working in Haiti for for more than 20 years to build local medical capacity, has set up a special Web page for everyone able to donate money specifically for tents and bedding (sleeping pads, blankets and lightweight sleeping bags).

Donating cash is by far and away the best way to help. Partners in Health is not able to handle in-kind donations, generous though they are.

Posted under General, Haiti, countries

By Ethan Gelber

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The devastation and tragedy are heart-wrenching following the 7.3 earthquake that leveled most of Port-au-Price, Haiti. The dispiriting pictures and tales of loss reach to the depth of our sorrow, just as the living, breathing bodies pulled from the rubble are reason for quiet celebration.

People, injured and afraid, on the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the earthquake (photo courtesy of Lambi Fund for Haiti)

I watch in horror, helpless from my distant perch (Sydney, Australia) but committed in whatever trifling ways open to me, reminded of just how thin the thread is that keeps us all safe on a sometimes merciless planet that, with a simple shrug, is able to wreak so much havoc. I was resident (albeit not present) in Sri Lanka at the time of the tsunami five years ago. I hastened home to Colombo a week later to do what I could then. What I feel today is laced with the anger and frustration of that time.

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Posted under General, Haiti, countries

Between the tsunami that ravaged the Samoa Islands, earthquakes in Sumatra and Typhoon Ketsana, the last week has been brutal in Southeast Asia

By Diane Wuthrich and Ethan Gelber

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It came as a triple whammy for which no one was prepared: Tuesday’s major undersea earthquake in the South Pacific triggered a tsunami that left hundreds dead and devastated the coastlines of Samoa and American Samoa; two pummelling tectonic shakedowns on the Indonesian island of Sumatra have produced heaps of rubble beneath which thousands are feared trapped; all while the world deplored the wind- and water-lashed aftermath of last weekend’s Typhoon Ketsana, which slammed into the Philippines and left a path of destruction across Vietnam and Cambodia as well.

Residents of Manila do their best to come to grips with life in a city left flooded by Typhoon Ketsana

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Posted under General, Philippines, countries

The news from Samoa Islands is heartbreaking. On early Tuesday morning, triggered by a powerful undersea earthquake (8.0 in magnitude), a towering tsunami struck with disastrous consequences. Three surges were reported, with waves of up to five or six metres reaching almost two metres higher than sea level.

“At this time [late afternoon on Tuesday in Samoa], there are 69 confirmed deceased, 146 injured brought to the hospitals, with several missing. To date there are only five tourists in the deceased list,” reported Nynette Sass, the whl.travel local partner in Samoa. (Read more about Nynette Sass, the right person in the right place during these difficult days.)

“Please bear with us whilst we work our way through this sad sad event. We’re working with the High Commissions in identifying and locating all the visitors from the devastated areas and trying to get through to their loved ones to let them know their respective states.”

The tragic loss of life was accompanied by significant property damage, the details of which are still emerging. “All our member properties on the south coast have been wiped out,” reported Sass. “We’re madly trying to move all our tourists from the south coast to Apia.”

The whl.travel family has already begun mobilising in support of relief efforts. “There are hundreds of families with nothing left except the clothes on the backs,” said Sass. “Used clothing, cooking utensils… perhaps if someone can coordinate from the different countries, we would appreciate it very much.”
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Posted under General, Samoa, countries