It is my New Year’s Eve tradition to reflect upon the past 364 days and consider successes, failures and just relive some fond memories. Two personal highlights, not just for the year, but for a lifetime: being a judge at the Women’s Chicken Calling Contest at the Iowa State Fair this summer (truly) and being brought into the O.A.R.S. crew. These are adventurous, fun, professional folks! It was a monumental year for O.A.R.S. and we are honored and humbled by our successes. National Geographic Adventure Magazine honored O.A.R.S. as “The Best River & Sea Outfitter on Earth for 2008”. This award was based on our reputation for outstanding customer service, sustainable practices and our adventures that emphasize heightened attentiveness to human impact on the environment.

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James Rodger, one of our Galápagos trip guides extraordinaire, wanted me to relay this message to guests heading south: “Be sure to keep your boarding passes because the luggage tickets will be attached to the back. In order to get out of the airport you need to present them with your bags.” James said it is sea turtle mating season so there is quite a bit of action in the water. I’m not sure exactly what he means by “quite a bit of action”, but more details will be dutifully reported here. One of his groups recently spotted three Hawksbill turtles in Los Tunelos, which apparently is a very rare sighting. The group also had the incredible opportunity to see a giant tortoise halfway out of its egg.

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Tired already of the cold and wet winter weather?  Here’s an enticing video of a Rivers Fiji whitewater trip posted on YouTube by a gentleman by the name of Haero. O.A.R.S. was the first company to set up low-impact commercial Fiji whitewater rafting trips down the Upper Navua and ‘Luva rivers.  We’ve also lent a hand in creating a conservation area that will save a segment of this incredible environment forever.

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While searching for holiday gifts online at Powell’s Books, I stumbled upon John Daniel’s Rogue River Journal. The book is a nonfiction narrative account of a four-and-a-half-month experiment in solitude in a remote Rogue River cabin. Rogue River Journal is the winner of a 2006 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award. I’ve read several other books written by Daniel, including Looking After: A Son’s Memoir, Common Ground, Wild Song: Poems of the Natural World, and All Things Touched by Wind. I’ve been a fan since being introduced at a writers’ workshop in Sitka, Alaska. I’ll try to finish the copy I just ordered in time to pass it along as a gift to an unsuspecting Oregon rafting enthusiast. I’m adding his coffee table book, Oregon Rivers, to my holiday list. (hint)

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A friend told me Thanksgiving is now considered the half-time of the holiday season.  It makes sense doesn’t it?  Holiday decorations began appearing in stores before Halloween this year. Here are just a few green travel tips for the Holiday Season… Use electronic, not paper, tickets when booking transportation or events.  Electronic tickets generate less waste and cost less to replace.

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A friend told me Thanksgiving is now considered the half-time of the holiday season.  It makes sense doesn’t it?  Holiday decorations began appearing in stores before Halloween this year. Here are just a few green travel tips for the Holiday Season… Use electronic, not paper, tickets when booking transportation or events.  Electronic tickets generate less waste and cost less to replace.

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For a mere 35,000 Alaska Airlines frequent flier miles, you can book a round-trip coach flight to either Ecuador or Peru on Lan Chile Airlines. (60,000 frequent flier miles will get you a business class ticket, and 80,000 miles will get you the ultimate in travel luxury-First Class.) There are no blackout dates, however, spaces are limited on Big Holidays and busy travel days (i.e., spring break). Frequent flier seats become available 11 months prior to a travel date and are available on a first come-first served basis. Once you book a frequent flier ticket, you have a three-day grace period to change your ticket without paying a change fee. After three days, there is a $75 fee to alter your ticket. You can request your Partner Award reservation by calling the Alaska Airlines Partner Desk at 1-800-307-6912, daily 5:00 a.m. to midnight (PT). As a reminder, here are departure dates for some upcoming O.A.R.S. adventures in Latin America.

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