E-TRAVEL TIPS AND INFORMATION October 2009 DearTravelTravel Friend Every month, Travel Travel will email you up-to-date travel industry information which should not only be interesting but could affect your future travel arrangements and decisions.  WOMEN TRAVELING ALONE Women traveling on their own have to be more careful, have very different concerns and must be more careful than their male counterparts. Women can encounter a variety of difficulties and problems that can be avoided if some basic precautions are taken. Both men and women need to be educated travelers but women need to plan every step of their trip to ensure their safety: * Research and learn as much as possible about the desination you are going to visit, especially when visiting a foreign country. Religious and cultural beliefs can directly impact your visit. The clothes you wear and your demeanor should always comply with local customs. * At hotels, do not accept your room if reception publically reveal your name and room number with unknown people in the immediate area. Ask for a room on a higher floor, near an elevator but away from emergency exits, stairwells and any in-progress hotel renovations. Keep your hotel room door properly locked and secured when you retire and do not open your door for anyone you are not expecting or know. If in doubt, call reception or security. Keep all personal items and your room key locked and secure when visiting the hotel fitness center. Use your hotel room safe for personal items and cash not needed. * Before departure, make copies of all travel documents, tickets, credit cards and any other important documents and keep them seperately packed in case of loss or theft. You can also email the above to yourself so they will be retrievable when needed at any time. * Keep a few hotel business cards with your hotel  name, address and phone number, on you at all times. Especially in foreign countries, show the card to locals, taxi drivers, tour guides and local authorities if in any difficult situation. Get to know hotel staff familiar with guest orientation and request their assitance with hotel safety, recommended restaurants, tours, sightseeing and where to go safely in the area. * Research transportation options at your destination with your travel agent ahead of time, especially if you will arrive at your hotel late in the evening. If renting a car make sure you have a good map of the areas you intend visiting. Pre-plan your routes. Rent a GPS to help you navigate unfamiliar roads. Do not study your map in your rental car in broad daylight or at night. * Travel light and pack light. Trying to cope with excessive and heavy luggage is frustrating and could make you an easy target for pickpockets. Use a money belt for travel documents, creditcards and cash when out sightseeing (see Travel Travel Tips, September 2009).  Carry only one credit card at a time and only enough cash for that day's needs. Avoid expensive looking luggage and clothing when traveling. Use covered luggage tags with your office and not home  information. Avoid looking like a tourist when sightseeing. Use a small compact camera and keep it out of sight while not actually taking pictures. THE WORLD'S GREATEST NATURAL WONDERS According to the website www.lonelyplanet.com some of the most amazing natural wonders on the planet are:  The Amazon in South America. Just the name evokes images of dense rain forest, indigenous tribes, and abundant wildlife. The Amazon basin is twice the size of India and spans eight countries. At its height, the river can measure 25 miles across and dump about 79 million gallons of fresh water into the ocean per second. That’s more than the next eight largest rivers combined. The river itself is massive and unrelenting, as much a living thing as the plants and animals that depend on it. Wildlife is hard to see, but that much more special when you do; the rain forest is everywhere and awesome. Indigenous tribes are extremely reclusive, but the Caboclo (mixed Indian and European) communities that populate the riverbanks are vital and compelling.  The Grand Canyon in North America. Cleaving a mile deep into the earth, averaging 10 miles across and snaking along its floor are 277 miles of the Colorado River , which has carved the canyon over the past six million years and exposed rocks up to two billion years old – half the age of the Earth. The two rims of the Grand Canyon   lie more than 200 miles apart. The South Rim has the panoramic vistas for which the park is famous. The North Rim, at 8200ft elevation, 1000ft higher than the South Rim has cooler temperatures  which support wildflower meadows and tall, thick stands of aspen and spruce. The Grand Canyon Park attracts five million visitors yearly, from around the world.  The Matterhorn in Europe. The  legendary Matterhorn peak, at 14,690 ft. towers over the town of Zermatt, Switzerland acting like a magnet to ski fans, snowboarders and mountaineers. On 13 July 1865 Edward Whymper led the first successful ascent of the mountain. The climb took 32 hours but the descent was marred by tragedy when four team members crashed to their deaths in a 3,900 ft. fall down the North Wall. Many mountaineers still come to conquer the peak, but a few unlucky individuals never leave.   Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Kilimanjaro National Park has become one of Tanzania 's most visited parks. Visitors can  gaze in awe at a mountain on the equator, capped with snow and take advantage of the chance to climb to the top of Africa . At the heart of the park is the 19,344 ft. Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa 's highest peak and one of the continent’s most magnificent sights. It’s also one of the highest volcanoes and among the highest freestanding mountains in the world, rising from cultivated farmlands on the lower levels, through lush rainforest to alpine meadows, and finally across a barren lunar landscape to the twin summits of Kibo and Mawenzi. The lower rainforest is home to many animals, including buffalo, leopard, monkey, and eland. A trek up Kili lures hundreds of trekkers each year, in part because it’s possible to walk to the summit without ropes or technical climbing experience. The climb is a serious and expensive undertaking, and only worth doing with the right preparation. There are also plenty of excellent options for exploring the mountain’s lower slopes and learning about the main tribes in the area.  The Sandarbans in Asia. A shroud of mystery and danger looms over the Sundarbans National Park , the largest mangrove swamp in the world. This gloomy forest of baffling waterways stretches some 50 miles into the hinterland from the coast and its name translates into the ‘beautiful forest’, a misnomer if ever there were one. For most people, the Sundarbans is a horrifying matrix where, on average, a person is eaten every third day. To venture into this forest is to return to a primeval world of big trees and big creatures. It is one of the wildest and least known environments in all of southern Asia . The Sundarbans begin southwest of Mongoli along the Pusur River , and cover an area between Bangladesh and India of about 3,860 sq miles, double the size it was just 200 years ago. About one-third of the total area of this forest is covered in water – river channels, canals and tidal creeks varying in width from a few yards to a few miles. The land is constantly being reshaped by tidal action, and cyclones. The ecological balance of these impenetrable forests is extremely delicate and influenced greatly by tidal shifts that affect the salinity, and hence the growth rates, of the surrounding vegetation. The eclectic inhabitants of the Sundarbans range from deer, pigs and crabs to the mighty royal bengal tiger. The Divisional Forestry Office supervises activities to protect the delicate ecological balance and botanists, zoologists, environmentalists and conservationists around the world keep eager eyes on this ecological repository. The dry season, November to April, is the most popular season for visiting the Sundarbans.  Milford Sound in New Zealand. First sight of Milford Sound is stunning: still, dark waters out of which rise sheer rocky cliffs, and forests clinging to the slopes which sometimes relinquish their hold, causing a ‘tree avalanche’ into the waters and the spectacular, photogenic 5,550 ft. high Mitre Peak . A cruise out on the waters of Milford Sound comes complete with seals, dolphins and an almost guaranteed downpour of rain,  creating a spectacular deluge of cascading waterfalls and afterwards adds an appropriately moody mist to the scene. The average rainfall is 23 ft. per year! Milford Sound is one of  New Zealand 's biggest tourist attractions with about half a million visitors each year. Most of them are packed into the peak months of January and February, but when you get out on the Milford Sound, all of this humanity seems tiny in the face of nature’s vastness.  The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is the only living organic collective visible from Earth's orbit. Situated off the east coast of Australia , it is the world's largest coral reef ecosystem. It was declared a  World Heritage area in 1981 added to the Natinal Heritage List in 2007.  The reef consists of more than 600 beautiful islands, idyllic coral cays and covers more than 115,830 square miles. The Great Barrier Reef system consists of more than 3000 reefs which range in size from 1 hectare to over 10,000 hectares in area. Human activity in the Reef areas has led to increased pollutants and the reef has suffered damage. The Australian and Queensland Governments, in partnership with a wide range of industry and community groups have developed the Reef Plan as a combined effort to protect the The Great Barrier Reef. The area abounds with wildlife, including dugdong  and green turtles, varieties of dolphins and whales, more than 1500 species of fish 4000 types of mollusc and more than 200 species of bird life. More than two million people visit the reef each year. Tourists are carried to the reef system by more than 500 commercial vessels, and tourism is permitted through nearly all the Park. Most of the Reef is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and various parts of the park are protected.  QUESTIONS? Please email us should you have any travel questions or concerns. Our professional consultants are at your service. Want a specific subject discussed in a future Travel Travel Tips & Information, email us at tvltvl@travelx2.com. **** FORWARD E-TRAVEL TRAVEL TIPS AND INFORMATION TO A FRIEND**** YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN WITHOUT TRAVEL TRAVEL! Travel Travel, Inc. 5140 N. Union Blvd., Suite 200 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 719 593-1591 www.TRAVELX2.COM.  Email: tvltvl@travelx2.com. To unsubscribe and elect not to receive future Travel Travel Tips & Information, please email us at tvltvl@travelx2.com. Enter subject "unsubscribe" with your name and email address.