Five places to escape this winter with WWF
Oct 21st, 2010 by wwftravel
The island province of Palawan in the Philippines.
When frigid winter days in the United States leave you begging to ditch your coats and boots and escape to a warmer locale, a WWF tour may be just the solution. These five sunny wintertime destinations offer shorts-and-sandals weather, sunny days and a nice escape during the thick of the winter:
Sumatra, Indonesia
With warm, enveloped rain forests lining sunny coastlines, the island of Sumatra is home to a rich variety of flora and fauna – including great argus pheasants, critically endangered Javan rhinoceros and the largest flowers in the world. Our tour includes a visit to the Bukit Lawang Orangutan Rehabilitation Station, where orphaned residents are being reconditioned to live in the wild. And during a visit to the Mentawai Islands, listen for the splendid song of the Mentawai gibbon, which some wildlife experts say has one of the most splendid songs of any land mammal.
Costa Rica
Rising 125 feet into the misty skies, the Monteverde Cloud Forest is the most famous wildlife spot in Costa Rica. While evenings can be a little chilly—sweatshirt weather, as we like to call it—a daytime walk through the sun-kissed cloud forest will take the chill off. Four hundred bird species, more than 100 mammals and 2,500 plant species can be found in the reserve. You’ll have the opportunity to take in views from above thanks to a combination of suspension bridges and platforms. And with luck, you may catch a glimpse of the rare quetzal; look for its iridescent green tail feathers.
Belize
Belize blends the best of two worlds—the Central American rain forests and the warm Caribbean Sea—and epitomizes the idea of a getaway destination in the wintertime. The country boasts the planet’s second-largest barrier reef, and you’ll spend a day donning a swimsuit snorkeling in the turquoise seas among brilliantly colored fish and a variety of coral. Throughout the tour you’ll stay at beachside eco-resorts, including private thatched cabanas overlooking the ocean.
The Philippines
When a group of scuba divers discovered whale sharks off the coast of Donsol in 1998, the sleepy fishing town became one of the Philippines most popular travel destinations. Our visit occurs during peak season, and so the question will not be if you see whale sharks, but how many. For a hundred years the locals thought the species was a dangerous shark, but these filter feeders are gentle giants and swimming among them is an otherworldly experience. The waters in the Bay of Donsol can be brisk—wetsuits are definitely needed—but the temperate, sunny weather during the rest of the trip more than makes up for it.
India
The Indian, or greater one-horned, rhino is a conservation success story. Thanks to strict protection measures, its population has increased from 600 in 1975 to about 2,000 today. Our tour includes a visit to World Heritage Site Kaziranga National Park, created to protect the one-horned rhinoceros, where you’ll go in search of the two ton animal. Then journey to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Visit at dawn when the sunrise casts a pink glow on the memorial’s translucent marble. Our tour includes early morning outings, which may feel cool, but weather should be ideal by afternoon.
- Janet Joiner, WWF
