Job vacancies at Ecolodge Member Black Sheep Inn, in Ecuador The Black Sheep Inn, ECUADOR, is looking for a manager. Live your dream with us high in the rural Ecuadorian Andes! We have organic gardens, composting toilets, adobe buildings, and visitors from all over the world. Working at the Black Sheep Inn can be a dream come true. We live in one of the most beautiful spots in the world, and have very comfortable facilities. We are looking for a multi-talented manager who loves being busy. Fluent English and Spanish are a must. Experience in all of the following is helpful: hospitality, food service, construction, management, farming, and computers. No two days are alike. Minimum commitment: 6 months. The Black Sheep Inn is also looking for volunteers. Spend a month working in the rural Ecuadorian Andes. The Black Sheep Inn is looking for multi-faceted volunteers to help run our ecological guesthouse. Work on projects around our property and help attend to the guests, one day off per week. Your first week is a trial period and you pay US$7.50 per day for room and board. After the trial week, room and board is negotiable. Contact us for more info as we can only accept 1 or 2 volunteers at a time. Visit Black Sheep Inn Website - Contact Black Sheep Inn
Terrorism's effect on Tourism, a view from
Pakistan South Asia, once a destination for European and far eastern tourists has also become a victim of terrorism since the great tragedy of September 11, 2001. Pakistan is now totally out of the tourism arena while nearby Nepal is the worst victim of the last 12 months. Tension between India and Pakistan has also caused a dip in Indian tourism which has observed 3.8 percent decrease in tourism during year 2001. China is one of the only countries in the region where there was increase (6.2%) in tourism in 2001. According to unofficial estimates, Pakistan received 556,800 tourists (including visitors from India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh) in year 2000. In 2001 the figure was just 499,700 and this also includes a great number of foreign journalists and US and EU officials coming to Pakistan in relation to the Afghan crisis. Now, industry is facing serious crisis as number of arrivals had not even touched the figure of 23,000 (minus people from India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan) till the end of July 2002. It is estimated that arrival of actual tourists would not reach the figure of 100,000 till December 2002. On going sequence of events of terrorism at popular Pakistani tourism destinations like Asoka carvings at Mansehra and Mission school at Murree Hills and then at Taxila Church have two points in common: non-Muslim tourists and prime tourism destinations are targeted. This has obviously resulted in total breakdown of tourism industry in Pakistan. Situation is almost same in Nepal where Maoists are attacking Khubmu Valley and other prime spots and tourism destinations. Nepal has observed 22 percent decline in its tourism since October 2001. This negative trend of tourism is the worst of its kind in the history of Nepal. Meanwhile, World Tourism Organisation (WTO) has dropped Pakistan from "destination" and "country" list of South Asia probably due to volcanic political positioning of Pakistan. Terrorists in Pakistan have attacked in tourist places such as Taxila Church and Asoka Carving despite those being difficult targets from their point of view because they want to precisely harm the economy of Pakistan. Go to Ecotourism Society Pakistan Website
Members in the News:
Ibex Expeditions selected Featured Tour Operator
Dining with a wild elephant
To start from the beginning, I was playing with the dogs at about 7.00 pm outside near the kitchen. The day was a pretty hot one with temperature ranging from 25.5 - 38.8 degrees Celsius, and it is the season of strong winds. The sun was on its' way down and the day was starting to get cooler, but the heat coming off the ground was still quite intense. It was rather dark at about 8.30 pm. The Full Moon was on the 23rd July, hence the moon would show its' face a little later, at about 9.30 pm today. We were all still sitting outside in the open near our kitchen. There was a stiff wind blowing and sounds and smells were all mixed up in the swirling wind, so nothing could really be deciphered clearly, and I had requested strictly no torches - just the lamps that had been lit and the sounds of our voices. Although there was an extremely strong wind at this time, we could hear sounds, on and off, coming in from different directions. At this point, our Farm hand - Kamal and I got out a Jack Fruit, which we split into half and quietly walked towards the closer sound in the shrub behind our garbage pit. We went to about 15-20 meters towards this sound with our torches shining only on the ground and we threw the pieces of jack fruit towards the feeding sounds and back tracked to where we were. It was about 9.00 pm when we saw a shadow near the big 'cone' tree (a small, yellow fruit that tastes sweetish but with a sour tang - in season now - a favourite of monkeys and species of birds). The moon was just about starting to come out and visibility was fair. We were about 40 metres away, and the contrast between the shadow and the foliage was very clear. We could clearly see him, systematically eating his way towards us, coming along the edge of the jungle but very openly. He ate 'illuk' grass (manna grass). It was really cool watching him eating so clearly and he was certainly in no hurry to eat and run away. He ate his way to the jam tree, which is about 15 meters away from where we were seated. It was a brilliant moment as we could see a wild elephant, very young though - definitely not reached puberty as yet, noisily and systematically eating away to his hearts content, and with us there not very far off, and we were all at ease with each other. We could clearly see his features, maybe about 2 meters tall and had a rounded back, which tells us that he is a young male. He seemed to have a very healthy body, well built and quite muscular for his age. We could clearly see him pluck at illuk, dust the sand off and shove the whole lot into his mouth. He was a very fast eater, quick to choose what he wanted and ate with energy, unlike most other elephants that are destructive eaters, but take their time eating. We must have watched him for about 45 minutes from about 15 meters away, and at this point I started to get the hunger pangs and went to the kitchen and served myself a plate-full. When I came out from the kitchen, the boys were back inside as the elephant had come a little closer. He had crossed the road and was now feeding even closer to the kitchen. He was eating away at the illuk grass and made no attempt to even come towards the kitchen, a place that all elephants find very attractive because of the scent of food and especially salt, which is a big favourite. My next step was to go outside, to the bench that I was originally on, with my plate full of food. Very slowly, I moved towards this bench and towards this elephant. I reached the bench, sat down and now I was really close to this lone, young, male wild elephant who was happily eating away, while I did the same about 10 meters away." Visit Tree Tops Farm website - Contact Tree Tops Farm
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