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Eco-Tourism 2.0: Vacation Alongside Your Favorite Wild Animals

And help save them in the process!

Jessica Root

By Jessica Root
Tue Mar 1, 2011 10:15

photo of elephant and tiger in India

 Tiger & Elephant in India
© Wildland Adventures

Sea turtles, Tigers and Penguins Oh My!
Here's a new mode of travel that will please animal-lovers, kids, conservationists and armchair conservationists (like myself) alike: it's appropriately called conservation travel. And it's carving its deserved place in the tourism landscape, providing a refreshing alternative to beach-y, all-inclusive packages and other Plain Jane, been-there, done-that trips.

See the Wild with SEEtheWILD.org
With a new online travel purveyor like SEEtheWILD.org, travelers can truly escape their regular routine, and surround themselves with the wild animal species they love.

grizzly-bears-tour.jpg
Grizzly Watching In The Great Bear Rainforest. Photo: © Greg Shea / Maple Leaf Adventures

In short, it sounds like a dream adventure vacation.

The perks? You get to take an escape from the grind, and just by booking your excursion, directly fund efforts to protect endangered species and volunteer, if you choose to.

penguin-tour.jpg
Magellanic Penguin In Argentina. Photo: © Wildland Adventures

Planning is easy and takes only a few, fun steps:
1. Click over to SEEtheWILD.org
2. In the scroll bars, begin selecting the criteria you'd like to base your trip around like: selecting what animal you'd like to see and/or work with, what country you'd like to visit, your budget, the type of adventure you wish to take (adventure, volunteer, cruise, etc.) and if there's a particular tour operator/non-profit you'd like to travel through.
3. Click "Search" to see the results and pick the vacation that suits you!

sea-turtle.jpg
Green Turtle Research In Baja. Photo: © Elizabeth Moreno

A quick search for a low-budget, volunteer Green Turtle vacation in Mexico yielded at least three results, and a particular Baja Camping and Turtle Research expedition spoke to every turtle-adoring, low-impact traveling, wanderlust bone in my body.

SEEtheWILD.org is officially now on my radar-- you'll want to put it on yours too!

More on Adventure Travel:
7 Exotic and Life Changing Volunteer Vacations
Making Travel Meaningful: My Grand, Green Southwest Adventure (Part 1)
Can Bikes Change the World? An Epic Adventure Points to Yes (Interview)
Glamping Makes Many Happy Campers

 
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