The Travel Word

Visiting a rainforest is a unique nature experience. During the day, these unique biomes burst with a busy buzz and bright flashes of colour. At night, the air comes alive with the shrieks and calls of the forest's many nocturnal creatures. Cicadas drone, bats flap beneath the canopy, a monkey howls in the distance.

"Where's the place you feel most at home in nature?" This is the question we posed to our network of local travel experts all around the world. They came back with responses about incredible landscapes that make their corners of the earth special. In honour of Earth Day and our focus this month on ecotourism, we've compiled their thoughts about some of the best landscapes from around the world.

I had arrived in Fernie, British Columbia, just as the mountains and trees were glowing in the autumn sun, just as the cedars and Douglas-firs were turning a radiant shade of yellow. At the time, it was difficult to imagine that just a few weeks later, heavy snow and plunging temperatures would sweep through the area, but the snow had started falling on a Sunday night and didn't stop until Wednesday. Ever since, the ski bums of Fernie have been sporting broad smiles and I feel at peace with my a

In October of every year, I start to wonder why more people don't visit Corfu during the off-season. Having grown up in a colder climate, but lived more than 20 years on this little island, I'm endlessly fascinated by the beauty of a Mediterranean autumn. The light is more diffuse and the colours softer. The pace is decidedly slower. Better yet, after the high-season hot-weather crowds of summer have dispersed, locals start seeing friends again and have the beaches all to themselves.

‘Length of stay.' In the travel and tourism industry, this statistic is a big deal for a destination. Researchers gather data about it and government tourism offices brainstorm about how to increase it. For local tour operators, it's a number that can influence the shape of their businesses and itineraries.

So, let's say you're in London, the skis are at the front door, the thick socks are packed and you're looking forward to clipping into those ski boots. All that stands between you and the pristine, snow-covered slopes of Alpine Europe is the journey there. Flying might initially seem like the most obvious choice, but could travelling by train actually add something to your ski chalet holiday?

On Turkey's pristine south coast, nestled between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, the city of Antalya has long been a favourite holiday destination. Dubbed the new Turkish Riviera, the flanking seaboard offers a rich blend of things to see and do in Antalya and environs, from exploring Roman ruins to hiking or kayaking deep canyons.

More than 16,000 hectares (nearly 40,000 acres) were destroyed by a fire that forced the closure of Chile's Torres del Paine National Park between December 29, 2011, and January 4, 2012, and caused permanent environmental damage in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

"Slow down." This is the simple message of the Slow Movement. In today's high-speed world of fast food, jet planes and instant communication, we are losing touch with ourselves, with each other, and with the earth, says the Slow Movement. Like ‘slow food' and ‘slow media,' ‘slow travel' is a part of the movement. It's a reclaiming of what has been lost in today's hyper pace of life and travel. It's a state of mind while travelling. It's a personal approach. Today, to launch a couple of weeks o

With a steady eye on identifying fun, interactive and ethical travel experiences, the whl.travel global online travel-booking network taps into and magnifies the excellence of local tourism experts who. Alone, these experts are local leaders, but united they have become a forceful global presence for the right kind of tourism, sharing with major markets all the local opportunities that make a positive impact on hosts and visitors.