Indian Cave, Middle Caicos

You'd figure you could escape the heat by going into a cave. Not this one and the skeeters were killer! Shot this clip returning from my surveying Daniel's Cafe on Sustainable Island Restaurant Tourism.

Dark Tourism Forum Premiers Online

What is dark tourism?

'Dark tourism is the act of travel and visitation to sites, attractions and exhibitions which have real or recreated death, suffering or the seemingly macabre as a main theme.'

Stone P.R (2005)

Dark Tourism.....visit this site for more information.

Sustainable Tourism in Restaurants

I was in the local supermarket a day ago, and while I was checking the shelves, two different people commented about the high prices. I paused before replying (something I need to do more often) and said something like "well everything is higher and you have to consider the transportation costs...".

Transportation costs? It amazes me when get strawberries at home in winter. I mean, the berries are being transported 5-7 thousand miles, and they are only a couple of bucks.

But here and now, on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, BVI, the five dollar loafs of bread, "Kraft" cheese going $10 a pound and so on, everything is higher than at home. But on an island EVERYTHING has to come from somewhere else.

I mean, the seafood is local (and fresh, not frozen) and the hydroponic farming does provide some local greens. But be prepared to pay $50 and up for a cut of beef at the dinner table. But who would (or should) when the conch chowder tastes so good!

So this a longer than normal intro is needed to post our research here: Sustainable Restaurant Study. Using the criteria established by the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, we are interviewing restaurants in TCI about the sustainable food practices. More to come....

Storm Drain Labeling

This morning I spent a few hours walking around downtown Westfield with my friend Mike Young of the Westfield River Watershed Association. We placed these labels next to storm drains to alert the public that things dumped in the drain go straight into the river.

It is just one of those things that we may not pay attention to. WRWA used to use a stencil and painted label, but now they use these rubber labels and adhere it with some black goo.

Here is a link for the EPA on the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Storm_Drain_Label_EPA.jpg

Medical Tourism Bibliography breaks 250 mark

Selected Bibliography for Medical Tourism

(The Most Comprehensive Bibliography on the subject on the web)

(Last update 8 July 2011, n=251 references and counting!)

Bear visits my backyard again

Seems Jiggy is spending a lot of time in the neighborhood. So much that my wife has named her (him?). She presents no problem, unless you have a bird feeder. And besides, there is plenty of food during the summer, so everyone has taken down their feeders.

While a bit dark and the focus comes and goes due to the low light conditions, here's Jiggy heading north along Ashley Brook.

One Third of our Time?

the complete citation is:

One Third of our Time? An Introduction to Recreation Behavior and Resources by Michael Chubb and Holly R. Chubb (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016, 1981.

Remember this book? It basically stated that we have 8 hours a day for recreation. When was the last time you spent eight hours playing? Life is so much more complex today; perhaps we need to set aside at least some time for re-creation. And not on Facebook like this report noted:

http://allthingsd.com/20100802/facebook-farmville-now-wasting-a-third-of-your-web-time/

BTW, you can pick up Chubb and Chubb for $0.19 on Amazon.