On Wednesday of this week, a tourist ship named the M/S Alta ran aground, and became stuck on a reef in the Galapagos islands while entering the harbor at Puerto Ayora, along the southern coast of Santa Cruz island. The extent of the ecological damage to the reef has yet to be determined, but fortunately no one aboard was injured in the accident, which was caused, at least in part, due to a malfunctioning lighthouse that normally marks the entrance to the harbor.

The 140-foot long sailing ship is operated by Quasar Expeditions and was carrying 16 Canadian passengers, 8 Ecuadorian crew members, and an Ecuadorian National Park Guide at the time of the incident. All of the passengers were evacuated from the boat, and spent the night in a nearby, ocean front hotel, before continuing on to Darwin Station and the Santa Cruz Highlands the following day. They did cut their tour a day short however, leaving the islands yesterday, rather than today as scheduled.

As of Friday, efforts were underway to remove the Alta from the reef, but the process is a slow one, and caution must be exercised in order to contain any fuel that may have spilled. Initial reports indicated that as much as 3500 gallons had leaked into the harbor, but later reports refuted that number, saying that no leaks had been found. All the fuel will be pumped out of the ship before it is pulled off the reef and into dock for a complete inspection before it returns to service.

One of the hottest topics in sustainable travel over the past few years has been the impact of tourism on the fragile environments of the Galapagos. Fortunately, it seems that this incident will not have any long lasting effects on the region, and it seems like the Alta will be back in service shortly.

The St. Paul Trail in Turkey is a 300+ mile long trekking route that reputedly follows the same path as the apostle whose name it bares By most accounts he took the path on his first missionary journey to the city of Anatolia and most likely did it without hiking boots. The trail runs from Perge to Yalvac, which is found northeast of Lake Egirdir, and is said to be more wild and remote than Turkey's better known hiking route, the Lycian Way.

The trail was first opened in 2004, and was designed to be an easy to follow route for independent hikers through remote backcountry. That goal will soon be achieved, as volunteers are nearly finished waymarking the trail, making it easier than ever to navigate the hike from end to end.

Of course, any long distance hiker knows that navigation is only one small part of the trek, and the St. Paul trail offers plenty of challenges beyond finding your way. The trail begins at sea level and rises as high as 7200 feet, as it winds its way into the Anatolian highlands. Two optional side-paths can extend the distances further and altitudes higher, taking backpackers up to nearly 9200 feet, if they are feeling especially adventurous. The path also makes its way past ancient roman ruins, through rocky canyons, and to the shores of serene lakes, mostly untouched by outside visitors.

Indeed, the remoteness of this trek is one of its major draws. Unlike the Lycian Way, there is little to no tourist infrastructure in this part of Turkey, and the villages that St. Paul's trail wanders through are still getting use to the idea of outsiders dropping by for a visit. Also unlike the Lycian Way, this trail has two starting points, one in Perge, as mentioned, and another further east, along the Pamphylian plain at Aspendos, a site known for its well preserved ancient architecture.

At this time, it is unknown how many people hike the St. Paul each year, but it is certainly not a busy trek. In fact, if you plan on making the journey yourself, be sure to pack your tent, as there are few places to stay along the way, other than in a villagers house. All of that could change however, as the waymarking should complete by the end of April, and the way of St. Paul will be made clear for all.

For a more detailed account of the trek, read this article at Today's Zaman.

Shenandoah National Park has announced that it will play host to a wide variety of activities for the 2010 season, which is set to begin soon. Those activities include events for the whole family, ranging from fun filled games for the kids, as well as culinary events and special festivals for the big kids too. All the events will be held at Big Meadows Wayside, Skyland Resort or Big Meadows Lodge, which open for the season on March 19, April 1 and May 20 respectively.

Things get underway with an Easter Egg Hunt scheduled to take place on April 4 at Skyland Resort. Children ages three to ten years of age are invited to explore the historic lower-level of Skyland Resort, where dozens of colorfully painted Easter Eggs will be waiting to be discovered. Hunting Easter eggs is just the start for the kids however, as the park will have plenty of other activities to keep them occupied throughout the year, including games, crafts, storytelling, and ice cream socials.

Those Easter egg hunting skills will come in handy later in the year as well. Starting on May 3rd at Skyland Resort and on May 24th at Big Meadows Lodge, visitors to Shenandoah can compete in scavenger hunts from 9 AM to 11 AM on every Monday and Wednesday. The hunts will take place along one of the many trails in the park, and visitors will search for hidden natural and historic treasures to earn certificates of achievement.

Those looking to experience fine dining while visiting Shenandoah National Park should consider the Vintner Dinners, which feature gourmet four-course meals paired with fine wine from one of the wonderful Virginia wineries. Or better yet, consider joining the park's Executive Chef, or one of the visiting guest chefs, as they lead culinary workshops exploring the tastes of fine foods and wines as well. Both options cost $295, and include overnight stays, as well as the fine dining experience. For a much less expensive culinary option, the Rainy Day Cooking Demos are a mere $10, and offer diversion when the weather turns sour, and the trails are too wet to hike.

These are just a taste of the many activities and events that Shenandoah will host this year, but there are many more to discover as well. For instance, on May 15, Skyland Resort will welcome the arrival of spring flowers with music and food, as part of their Wildflower Spring Celebration.For even more events, check out the complete list of activities and book reservations at VisitShenandoah.com.

As far as travel contests go, they don't come much easier than this one. Wend Magazine, Adventure Dominica, and Ahnu footwear are joining forces to send a lucky winner, and their guest, off on a tropical escape to the island paradise of Dominica. They're offering up airfare for two from the U.S. or Canada and five days/four nights stay at the Calibishie Cove Hotel, one of the top eco-lodges on the island, not to mention all the sun and surf you can take in while you're there.

To win, you simply need to submit a photo that best captures your adventurous spirit. The photo can be from practically any place or any activity, but it needs to show off your adventurous side in the best way possible. For instance, perhaps you'll need to dig up that photo of you hiking the Inca Trail or kayaking the Grand Canyon. What ever it is, find it, and send it to contest@adventuretodominica.com and if your image is selected, you'll be on your way to a vacation you won't soon forget.

Like the rest of the Caribbean, Dominica has plenty of beaches and sun to go around. But it is also an excellent destination for adventure travelers looking for a tropical location to explore. The island has miles of hiking trails that wind through lush rainforests teeming with wildlife and over a thousand species of flowering plants, while hundreds of beautiful rivers flow by, fed by the more than 300 inches of annual rainfall there. And when you grow tired of exploring above the surface, simply head below for something completely different. Dominica is a great diving and snorkeling destination too, with plenty of marine life and colorful coral reefs to explore.

So, dig up that photo and send it off today. It just might earn you that warm weather escape you've been dreaming of, and although spring is officially just around the corner, it never hurts to have a little fun in the tropical sun.

Update: Adventure Dominica has a posting on this contest too. You can find it by clicking here. As mentioned, the rules are simple and straight forward.

Way back in December we told you about Katie Spotz, the 22-year old American woman who was planning to row solo from Dakar, Senegal in western Africa to the east coast of South America. This past Sunday, Katie arrived in Georgetown, Guiana, completing her journey, while becoming the youngest person to ever row solo across an ocean in the process.

The expedition covered more than 2817 miles of open ocean, requiring 70 days, 5 hours, and 22 minutes to complete. Reportedly, Katie could have shaved an additional eight days off of her time had she allowed a boat to tow her into shore as she neared her destination. While on approach to Guiana, strong winds and ocean currents conspired against her to make the final leg of the journey that much more challenging, but rather than take the tow, she elected to row an additional 400 miles northwest to Georgetown, where milder conditions allowed her to finish the trip under her own power.

While Katie did hope to set the new record for the youngest to row an ocean, and become the first American to row solo from one continent to the next, she actually had even loftier goals in mind when she set out. The entire expedition was used to raise funds for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, an organization dedicated to funding clean drinking water projects around the globe. For her efforts, Spotz raised over $70,000 for the foundation, money that will now go to improving the lives of others around the globe.

The 19-foot long, specially designed, rowboat that was used in the Atlantic crossing weathered 20-foot waves and occasional storms, but for the most part performed admirably. Fitted with solar cells to charge her gear and a desalination system to provide clean drinking water, the boat was Katie's floating home for the past 2+ months. Aside from a breakdown in the original steering system, and a GPS device catching on fire, there were few technical setbacks to the journey.

Congratulations to Katie on a job well done. The rest of us would have, you know, taken a plane, but your way of crossing the Atlantic works too.

Long distance hiking legend Andrew Skurka is off on another adventure, this time taking on a trek through the Alaskan wilderness that will take seven months to complete, and will cover more than 4700 miles. Dubbed the Alaska-Yukon Expedition, the journey will take Skurka through eight national parks, six in the U.S. and two in Canada, while crossing four mountain ranges, and some of the most remote wilderness found anywhere in North America.

Skurka set out from Kotzebue, Alaska a few days back, and will now travel south to the Iditarod Trail, then east to the Alaskan Range and the Lost Coast. From there, it's on to the Inside Passage, up the Yukon River to the Ogilive and Richardson Mountains, before eventually turning west, and running the length of the Brooks Range, one of the last great wildernesses on Earth. Finally, he'll return to Kotzebue, completing the circuit and ending the adventure back where he began.

For now, Skurka will be traveling on skis, but much of the journey will be completed on foot and with the use of a packraft, a small, inflatable boat that he can carry with him. For most people, the thought of covering more than 4700 miles through remote backcountry, under your own power, would seem like an insurmountable challenge, but for Skurka, it is just another long hike to add to his resume. In the past, he has hiked both the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails, as well as a route from the Atlantic to the Pacific that covered more than 7700 miles. His 6875 mile Great Western Trails Route a few years back also earned him the title of National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.

You'll be able to follow Skurka's adventures with weekly updates on the National Geographic Adventure Blog and through his Twitter feed @andrewskurka. If all goes according to plan, he should be finishing up the journey in the early part of October.

Back in January we told you about a group of celebrities who were climbing Kilimanjaro to raise awareness of the growing global clean drinking water crisis. The expedition was dubbed the Summit on the Summit, and it included musicians Kenna and Lupe Fiasco, as well as actors Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch, and Isabel Lucas, amongst others. The team was quite successful in their efforts, with everyone reaching the top of the 19,340-foot mountain, the tallest in Africa.

The entire expedition was captured on film, and has now been edited down to a 90 minute television program that will air tomorrow night on MTV. Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro is scheduled to begin at 9 PM Eastern/8 PM Central. The show will follow the team from the foot of the mountain all the way to the top, and should prove to be interesting viewing for anyone who is considering making the trek themselves.

For a preview of the show, check out the trailer below, then set your DVR's accordingly.

The Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Martin Pérez, has announced that popular tourist destination Machu Picchu will reopen to visitors starting April 1st, marking a return to normalcy for the 15th century Inca fortress that is the focal point Peru's travel industry.

The UNESCO World Heritage site has been closed for nearly two months following torrential rainfall that caused severe flooding back in January. Those floods caused the famous railway to Machu Picchu to washout, stranding thousands of tourists at the site for several days. Since that time, crews have been working hard to restore access, removing major landslides from the tracks, and rebuilding sections that were completely destroyed.

With more than 800,000 visitors per year, Machu Picchu is easily Peru's top tourist destination. It is estimated that nearly $400 million has been lost due to the closure of the site, and with more than 15,000 Peruvians earning their living, either directly or indirectly, from Machu Picchu, the impact on Peru's economy has been nothing short of catastrophic. The news of the re-opening offers a ray of hope to those workers.

The over-emphasis of Machu Picchu by the tourism industry in Peru has become a cause for concern amongst officials there. Over the past two months, new plans have been put forth to promote some of the other archeological sites in the area, including Sacsayhuamán and Tambomachay, amongst others. Tourism experts hope that by encouraging travelers to visit these other locations, it will take some of the focus off of Machu Picchu, and diversify the industry to an extent.

Whether or not travelers can be convinced to visit these other sites remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure, both the visitors and the locals alike will be happy to see Machu Picchu open once again.

As America's first national park, Yellowstone has always held a special place in the public's imagination. Not only is it home to an array of wildlife, such as bison, elk, and grizzly bears, it also happens to hold the most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful.

Spread out across Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, the park has always been a popular destination for U.S. Presidents, with Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, FDR, Jimmy Carter, and many others all spending time there. In the summer of 2009, President Obama upheld that long standing tradition by taking his family to the iconic park, a place he had visited as a child.

Yesterday, the park service released a never-before-seen video of the first family on their vacation, and while not all of us arrive on Air Force One, their experience in Yellowstone is not unlike the family vacations that we all grew up with. Check out the nearly 12-minute long video below for a good historical look at the park, as well as plenty of shots of its amazing scenery found there.

I guess when you're the leader of the free world, this is what your vacation videos look like.

Last week, flash floods swept through the Samburu National Park in northern Kenya, sending travelers scrambling for high ground, while campsites, 4x4 vehicles, and even bridges were swept away in just moments. The same area was afflicted by a major drought just last fall, which also disrupted travel through the region, but now it faces an entirely different problem, that could have even longer lasting effects.

According to the BBC, more than 17 tourists on safari had to be evacuated by helicopter following the flash floods, which also took out a local elephant research station. Most of the travelers were from the U.S., the U.K. and Germany, and some of them were forced to scramble up trees to avoid the rush of water that resulted when torrential rainfall caused the Ewaso Nyiro River to swell out of its banks.

Tourism is an important part of the Kenyan economy, and the classic safari is at the center of that trade. The Samburu National Park is one of the top safari destinations in the entire country, and many visitors flock to the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro as well. Many of the traditional big game animals are plentiful there, with elephants, zebras, hippos, and giraffes all in abundance.

While the waters have already begun to recede, the washed out bridges will need to be replaced before normal travel in the area can be restored. There is no time frame as to when that will happen, but visitors are still getting the opportunity to visit the park, although alternate routes are necessary for the time being.