Results tagged “Amazing Race” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Those of you who were fans of Hunter's story yesterday about Costa Rican turtle preserves, or recall our great Q&A with Wallace J. Nichols, a conservationist whose turtle-tracking project thrilled children around the world, we offer you some more turtle topics, only this time these turtles are traveling themselves.

National Geographic is partnering with Conservation International and the Canadian Sea Turtle Network to sponsor the Great Turtle Race, and yesterday, the contestants (all of whom are leatherback sea turtles) started on their two-week journey from the frigid Newfoundland costline down to the Carribbean. The turtles are tagged with state-of-the-art satellite tracking devices that enable the rest of us to follow their incredible 3,700-mile (6,000-kilometer) journey, which you can track yourself here on NG's interactive race map. So far, it seems as though Nueva Esperanza is winning, though Cali is on her tail. You can sign up with Conservation International to get updates on the the racers, and get their play-by-play of race on their blog.

For more on turtles, check out the story by Tim Appenzeller about Leatherback Sea Turtles in this month's National Geographic. And watch the video of photographer Brian Skerry as he talks about using natural moonlight and a long exposure to create this ghostly image of the vanishing species.

It takes a pretty nervy guy to launch a new business in this economy. But Steve Belkin thinks he's got an idea that will sell. The inveterate traveler and former television producer's new venture is a tour company called Competitours, in which teams of two (couples, friends, parent-and-child) travel through Europe completing "challenges" and competing for a grand prize (another trip).

Picture Amazing Race without the frenzy. Challenges are set up for maximum exposure to the culture, not as a test of speed or prowess. One challenge might be to make a 45-second commercial at a Viking museum in Oslo. Another might be to try a dead man's finger in Copenhagen (which turns out to be a hotdog). Points are accrued by completing tasks and videos are judged for creativity, not cinematography. "This isn't about using an expensive camcorder, but being creative and original," notes Belkin.