This week's TravelWatch column profiles an English walking tour company that leads clients along age-old pilgrim paths, farm tracks, and hunting trails in Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. The sustainable tourism prizewinner provides authentic experiences not found on package tours.
Satellite pictures taken last summer of Mount Ararat in Turkey may reveal the final resting place of Noah's ark, according to Daniel McGivern, the businessman and Christian activist behind a planned summer 2004 expedition to investigate the site.
In Arizona lies a nondescript ranch house that is no less than one of the most famous bird-watching sites in the world. Birding columnist Mathew Tekulsky reports from Marion Paton's backyard.
Last month, an aircraft with a largely oxygen-fueled engine hit a velocity of 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) an hour—more than seven times the speed of sound. But one thing was missing during the milestone: the pilot. (A related story airs Wednesday on our U.S. cable TV program Dangerous Jobs.)
Never mind its chilly name—as a travel destination, Iceland is hot.
Visitors to the North Atlantic island, known as Europe's "land of fire and ice," topped 300,000 last year, more than Iceland's entire population.
Archaeologists working in Guatemala's rain forest under the protection of armed guards say they have unearthed one of the greatest Maya art masterpieces ever found. The excavation's co-leader, meanwhile, said he has received death threats tied to an upcoming trial of alleged Maya antiquities thieves.
Flea-sized crustaceans with seven sets of legs, four moving mouth parts, and a voracious appetite for wood-borne bacteria could cause the edge of downtown Seattle, Washington, to slip into the Puget Sound.
Sacred Planet, a new giant-screen movie that pays homage to nature's harmony and indigenous cultures around the world, opens today, Earth Day. The film's director says he wanted to raise public awareness about the environment by focusing not on Earth's destruction, but on its splendor.
How might the emergence of billions of cicadas in mid-May affect U.S. wedding plans? Outdoor weddings could experience dive-bombing cicadas looking for mates, guests flailing their arms at the flying insects, and vows lost in the cacophony of "singing" males.
An upstart Los Angeles-based limo service has earned rave reviews from the rich, eco-friendly Hollywood set for its fleet of "green" SUVs. The swanky rides feature bars stocked with organic snacks and soy vodka and, perhaps better still, engines powered by natural gas.
Fancy a dish of poisonous fugu fish? How about ram-testicle pâté? Or if it's an aphrodisiac you seek—why not try a carefully prepared bull penis? All of these foods are delicacies on menus around the world. A related story airs Thursday on our U.S. cable television program Taboo: Delicacies.
Cicada mania is breaking out in a large part of the United States. In the great tradition of U.S. entrepreneurship, restaurants, bars, hotels, and others are preparing for the tourists who will swarm to see the insects. National Geographic Traveler magazine reports on the best things to see and do during the great cicada invasion.
In North America, avalanches have claimed the lives of at least 29 skiers, snowboarders, and other backcountry users this year. In an interview with National Geographic News, avalanche expert Janet Kellam describes the risks posed by snow slides—and recalls her own near miss.
This June National Geographic Traveler and Conservation International will present the World Legacy Awards in sustainable tourism. Today's TravelWatch profiles last year's Nature Travel category winner, an African safari outfitter that works to support local communities while protecting natural and cultural resources.
For hundreds of years, Nepalese men in the Himalayan foothills have risked life and limb to harvest the honey of a native, cliff-dwelling bee. Now a team of scientists is racing to keep the bees and the honey hunter's traditional livelihood alive.
