Travel for a Great Cause - Friends of Orphans: Nicaragua

Often people take trips to see new worlds, seek adventure, search for relief from stress, or just to get away. To do this, they often visit countries that are poor, devasted, or suffering. Yet where they "vacation", they avoid that situation either on purpose or most likely without any knowledge at all that those situations even exist.
Well to remedy that, I the travel beggar, will do my best to promote travels that provide an alternative adventure - the chance to do something good adventure. Now these "adventures", while supporting a good cause, often don't lack fun, new experiences, or times to relax.
For the Travel Beggar's first "Travel for a Great Cause", we are strongly recommending you look into the Friends of the Orphans: Nicaragua trip. They are embarking to Nicaragua: August 18 - 23, 2008. Nicaragua is an exciting place with interesting politics, friendly & outgoing people, and an interesting terrain with mountains, volcanoes, Lake Nicaragua & open fields. So what will you do with the Friends of the Orphans? The trip will include:
• Tour Casa Asis on the shore of Lake Nicaragua & Casa Santiago on Ometepe Island.
• See the property on the mainland where construction has begun on the new permanent home.
• Spend time with the children & meet NPH staff & volunteers.
• Sightsee & shop in Rivas, one of the most popular beach towns of Nicaragua.
• Relax & enjoy the accommodations at a lovely hotel.
There will be an interest meeting on Monday, June 2, 2008. The time & location are to be announced. If you are interested, please contact the trip coordinator for reservations & more information:Alina Fleury at (703) 848-2072. Tell her that Eric the Travel Beggar sent you!
Learn more about the Friends of the Orphans by clicking on their name or CLICKING HERE!

Travel Pic of the Week

Although this maybe a bit more crass than I may want to see on the side of the interstate....the Sentiment is often soooooo true! Do you Think that government should ban cell phones while driving?

What Kind of Traveller are You?

There is this really cool blog site where they offer quizes and random mutterings called Blogthings. Anyways, I came accross one of their quizes that asked me what my Travel Personality is. Well after taking the quiz my results are:

Your Travel Personality Is: The Adventurer

For you, travel is how you learn about the world. And you like to learn the stuff that's not in guidebooks. You truly have wanderlust. When you're not traveling, you're dreaming about where you'll go next. And your travels are truly legendary - they leave you with stories you'll be telling for the rest of your life!

Click here to see What's Your Travel Personality?

I found it a bit eerie cause the results are right on for this Travel Beggar. So what Kind of Traveller are you? Take the quiz and come back and leave a comment of what type of traveller you are.

Would You Swim with Thousands of JellyFish?

Everyday, people embark on a steep hike up and over a rocky limestone path to JellyFish Lake in the Beaufitul Republic of Palau. Apparently this was brought to the limelight when it was featured in the Survivor Palau season.

The Palau Visitor's Authority claims that its an attraction most can only dream of doing. This daring and unusual phenomena, Jellyfish Lake, departs radically from convention; for it is an enclosed body of water wherein - over the course of a millennia - resident jellyfish have completely lost their sting because they have not had to fight off predators. Instead, they spend their days in privileged leisure, pulsating gently from one side of the lake to the other while catching the sun's rays and farming their own food supply of algae.

Now when I researched it, I figured that people were wearing tough wetsuits. But NOOOOO, they were snorkeling around in their normal swimsuits, like it was nothing. This is too cool & definately a great adventure that I have added to my list. I thought it was the greatest thing ever when I went to the Cayman Islands & swam with the sting rays, so I can't imagine how awesome this will be.

Now the Republic of Palau is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles (800 km) east of the Philippines and 2000 miles (3200 km) south of Tokyo. The 16 state Island Nation enjoys a tropical climate all year round with an annual mean temperature of 82 °F (27 °C). Rainfall can occur throughout the year, averaging a total of 150 inches (3,800 mm). The average humidity over the course of the year is 82%, and although rain falls more frequently between July and October, there is still much sunshine. Typhoons are rare, as Palau is outside the main typhoon zone. Palau was ranked and listed by CEDAM International as the ranking Number 1 Underwater Wonder of the World out of the seven underwater wonders. By looking at the photo below, its obvious why.

Bomb Scare at Armstrong International Airport

Airport determined safe after Northwest flight searched
by The Times-Picayune
Monday May 12, 2008, 7:55 AM
Activity at the Armstrong International Airport has returned back to normal after an early morning bomb scare that caused passengers to be pulled off a Northwest flight.
Airport spokeswoman Michelle Wilcut said the airport received the bomb threat by telephone at 6 a.m.After searching the plane and the terminal, security officers determined the area was safe, she said.
Passengers were rescreened, then boarded once again and the airplane departed around 8 a.m. for Memphis, Wilcut said.
The delay initially caused long lines in the screening area at Concourse A, but everything was back to normal by 8:20 a.m., she said.

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So with this news, my family discussed how bat it is being trapped on the plane on the runway for several hours, if this happens. One person said that she puts her trust in the airlines. "If the airlines think that I am safer sitting on the plane several hours while they figure out the problem...find the bomb....deal with a situation....or whatever, then I am content with sitting on the airplane for several hours. She assumed that she would be compensated & at least she was safe. I told her that I don't think that she would be compesated at all.

After some research, I found that most airlines don't ever let you off even after 5 HOURS!!! In fact, this Imprisonment has been so bad recently, that Congress has gotten involved. Senators Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, and Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, have introduced a bill that would require that passengers be provided with adequate food and water and sanitary bathrooms while delayed on the ground and be allowed to leave the plane after three hours. Representative Mike Thompson, also a California Democrat, will introduce a bill that would also require airlines to update passengers frequently on the cause and timing of delays. Both proposals would be strengthened if they required the Transportation Department to impose suitable fines or passenger compensation should an airline fail to comply.

So, how long have you ever waited on a plane? If you have waited long, did you receive any compensation for your imprisonment? Do you feel like the girl who will wait patiently entrusting that the airline has her best intrest at heart? What do you think about congress' new introductions? Let me know!!!

World's Largest Pool!!!

If you like doing laps in the swimming pool, you might want to stock up on the energy drinks before diving in to this one. It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, had a 115ft deep end and holds 66 million gallons of water. Yesterday the Guinness Book of Records named the vast pool beside the sea in Chile as the biggest in the world. But if you fancy splashing out on one of your own - and you have the space to accommodate it - then beware: This one took five years to build, cost nearly £1billion and the annual maintenance bill will be £2million. The man-made saltwater lagoon has been attracting huge crowds to the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, on Chile 's southern coast, since it opened last month. Its turquoise waters are so crystal clear that you can see the bottom even in the deep end. It dwarfs the world's second biggest pool, the Orthlieb - nicknamed the Big Splash - in Morocco , which is a mere 150 yards long and 100 yards wide. An Olympic size pool measures some 50 yards by 25 yards. Chile 's monster pool uses a computer- controlled suction and filtration system to keep fresh seawater in permanent circulation, drawing it in from the ocean at one end and pumping it out at the other. The sun warms the water to 26c, nine degrees warmer than the adjoining sea. Chilean biochemist Fernando Fischmann, whose Crystal Lagoons Corporation designed the pool, said advanced engineering meant his company could build "an impressive artificial paradise" even in inhospitable areas."As long as we have access to unlimited seawater, we can make it work, and it causes no damage to the ocean."