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Recent events have altered our lives considerably, but while our freedom to roam is on hold, we can still escape online and make plans for the future. Ready to inspire your itchy feet, leading adventure travel specialist, Acacia Africa has picked out a list of safari holidays that are likely to be in demand once we start to wander again, the operator including a selection of blog posts and YouTube videos, so you can indulge in Southern and East Africa from the safety of your sofa.

Arno Delport, S

More and more travelers want to feel they are contributing in some way to the place where they vacation. Giving back while on vacation has become a global movement sparking volunteerism and community outreach with tourists.

In Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, two top hotels share a heartfelt program that lets their guests feel good about supporting the community there.

Hotel Tropico Latino and Florblanca Hotel implement the “$5 Check Out Program” that allows their guests to add an optional charge on thei

Winter has begun across most of the United States, Canada and northern Europe. As chilly winter weather freezes the north heading into Christmas, you are not alone if you have started dreaming about a sunny tropical holiday.

Escape this winter to the land of summer in Costa Rica – the “happiest country in the world”. It’s hard not to be happy with blue skies, warm sunshine, tropical breezes, rainforest, warm surf and soft sand. Sounds pretty good if you are looking out the window at freezing rai

Have you ever been driving down the highway in totally stop-and-go rush hour traffic, and thought, “Why the (bleep) am I doing this?”

It just took 10 minutes to go 2 miles. And this is nothing unusual. It’s every day – to work, home from work ….

Know what I’m talking about?

You have deadlines to meet, things that have to get done, places to be, and you’re already late. There’s that question that nags at you, subtly, persistently … “Is my life worth this stress?”

Then you think: “What if I just chuck

You’ve been to Costa Rica on vacation, and you’ve thought: “Wouldn’t it be great to live there?” Or, invest in a vacation home that you can rent out and visit frequently?

Besides being one of the top five best places in the world to retire according to the 2015 International Living Retirement Index, a lot of people from other countries invest in real estate in Costa Rica for vacation homes and rentals.

But where do you start to look for property in Costa Rica?

Location is most important. Two of the

People in other countries pay big money for audio programs like this, while here at Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living eco-community it’s real. The sounds of the Costa Rica rainforest: crickets chirping, big bullfrogs burping and booming, Common Tink Frogs “tinking”, myriads of other insects whirring, and the Portalón River bubbling over stones and boulders.

I returned to Portasol Living eco-community on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast a couple of months ago for a much-needed weekend get

With a culture and an environment that promotes wellness, oneness with nature, harmony, and love of community, Big Island, Hawaii is the best place for pursuing a healthy lifestyle.

Here, residents can find a lot of opportunities to grow and nourish their mind and body.Together with their family and friends, they can take on different recreational activities that abound in any of its neighborhoods, and some of them are as follows:

Golf, spa, and watersports in Hualalai. The best golf, spa, and wat

Time to get away from it all, but you want something different than the usual packed beaches and crowded hotels? What if I told you there was a tropical paradise of rainforest and beach with bright sunny days and warm balmy nights, and you could have it all to yourself? No crowds.

You’d probably think: now hold on, I can’t afford a private island or multi-million dollar hard-to-get-to swanky hideaway. So what if I told you this place is completely affordable, easily accessible, and brand new in

It is once again time for whale watching in Costa Rica!

The 2015 whale-watching season in Costa Rica gets going every year in August and September in southern Costa Rica. In Uvita Beach, there is a Festival of Whales & Dolphins every year in September. The annual festival marks the peak of the annual migration of southern Pacific Humpback Whales to the Ballena National Marine Park in Costa Rica. 

Less than an hour north of the Ballena National Marine Park, Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living e

The cute and cuddly sloths of Costa Rica will once again feature in international television and online programming. The award-winning production Nature will air a two-part program called Nature’s Miracle Orphans on PBS on September 23 and 30, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. (ET). After each broadcast, the episode will be available for online streaming at pbs.org/nature. Nature is a production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET. Nature’s Miracle Orphans is a BBC Production. The series has been consistently

If you love the idea of roaming through a rainforest looking for monkeys, snakes, exotic birds and wild cats, then this Costa Rica nature adventure tour is for you.

On your next Costa Rica vacation, you should go on the Bushmaster Adventures rainforest wildlife tour. This is one of your best bets in the Central Pacific region of Costa Rica to see an incredibly diverse array of wildlife.

Private or group guided tours visit the coastal rainforest at Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living, located

If you are a Pack Light traveler, you probably often find yourself with extra room in your luggage when you go on vacation. Have you ever thought about using that available luggage space to provide supplies to communities you visit?

The desire to give back or contribute to the place people visit as tourists is a fast-growing movement around the world. Volunteer vacations, or volunteerism, are a very popular way to take a vacation. Another way is to “pack for a purpose” and bring needed school an

Article by Shannon Farley

The exciting, adrenaline-charged whitewater rafting and kayaking competition of the Chorro Race 2015 comes again to Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast on Feb. 21 to 22.

The second annual event is organized by the Quepos Whitewater and Adventure Association and sponsored by TEVA. The competition in the Chorro Canyon of the Naranjo River, by the Manuel Antonio National Park, will have both whitewater kayaking and four-person team whitewater rafting races and slalom events

For its fifth year Envision Festival returns to Costa Rica, where thousands of socially conscious people from all over the world gather together to share a magical experience of culture, art, music, yoga, meditation and pure nature.

The 2015 Envision Festival will be held from February 26th to March 1st at Rancho La Merced in Uvita, Costa Rica, next to the Marino Ballena National Park, famous for its beautiful Whale’s Tail sandbar formation.

The festival is known for its great music performances w

Have you always wanted to live in the rainforest by a tropical beach? Or are you looking for a vacation home in a warm climate? The special eco-community of Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living in Costa Rica is an excellent option.

Strategically located on the Costa Rica Central Pacific Coast between Manuel Antonio National Park and Dominical, the beautiful sustainable development encompasses 1,300 acres of pure rainforest, streams, waterfalls, mountain ridges and sea views along the Portalón

Celebrate the sea turtles of Costa Rica every November at the Matapalo Sea Turtle Festival.

The annual sea turtle festival on Nov. 15 and 16 at Matapalo Beach, halfway between Manuel Antonio National Park and Dominical on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast, celebrates the Matapalo Sea Turtle Conservation Project and hatching of baby sea turtles. This year’s festival celebrates the project’s 25^th anniversary.

Matapalo Beach is a main nesting area for three species of sea turtles in Costa Rica. Ev

What goes on in the rainforest when we’re not there? At Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living community in Costa Rica, they’re finding out with the help of a few hidden camera traps.

Camera traps placed in the rainforest at Portasol – located on the Central Pacific Coast between Manuel Antonio and Dominical – have captured images of such exotic Costa Rican animals as this ocelot, followed by a tayra and a nine-banded armadillo. The cameras have been placed in the 200-acre Portasol Biological Re

Yoga and meditation are all about breathing deeply, relaxing, and reconnecting with your inner nature. What better setting for this practice than the pure oxygen-rich rainforest of Costa Rica.

Be in harmony with nature around you at a yoga and meditation retreat at Portasol Rainforest & Oceanview Living. The sustainable community on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast will hold seven Rain/Sun Yoga and Meditation Retreats in 2013-2014. Retreats will focus on creating new energy for participants wit