For the nature lover, trendy Los Cabos, Mexico can offer a pleasant surprise.

Cabo San Lucas, located at the very south of the Baja peninsula in Mexico in the municipality of Los Cabos, is rarely associated with anything prefaced by the word “eco.” However, going there last month, we discovered there are plenty of things for a conscious nature lover to do while visiting this popular resort town.

image: Johanna Björk

For ocean lovers, a combined kayaking and snorkel tour is a must. Cabo Outfitters is a tour company run by a couple named Stacey and Casey. In addition to snorkeling and kayaking, they also offer a wide range of other tours.

image: Johanna Björk

The full-day tour to Cabo Pulmo, a national marine park, was once referred to by famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau as “the aquarium of the world.” It’s the location of the oldest of only three coral reefs on the west coast of North America and the northernmost coral reef in the eastern Pacific. Cabo Pulmo also has the largest variety of species of underwater life in the entire Los Cabos area.

images: Johanna Björk

If you don’t want to spend an entire day exploring the ocean, Cabo Outfitters 3 Bay Tour takes place right along the tourist corridor between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. As the name suggests, you kayak to three different bays on the Sea of Cortez, stopping to snorkel in two places. I was pleasantly surprised to see more beautiful fish and marine life than I ever had snorkeling in other places. At the end of the tour, you end up at Chileno, a tranquil white sand beach frequented by the locals.

image: Johanna Björk

We did a short bonus stop at a rocky beach in one of the bays and, as we were standing there, two giant humpbacks started jumping out of the water a few miles out to sea. Even though they were far away, it was a mighty sight.

images: Johanna Björk

I was lucky to be there at the beginning of whale season — which runs from January to early April — when the whales migrate down from Alaska and stay for a few months to have their babies. Inspired by our whale sighting on the kayak tour, we decided to go on a whale watching tour. Luis of Baja Wild can tailor any kind of tour experience in Los Cabos, and took us out to look for whales.

images: Johanna Björk

Although we did not get to witness another tandem jump, we saw a few humpbacks up close, got some tail fin action and even saw a newborn whale with its mother. On the way back to shore, many whale watching tours take you by the famous arch that you see in all the postcards, so you can scratch that off the must-see list and save a water taxi trip.

image: Flora Farms

When people refer to Los Cabos, this also includes, San Jose del Cabo, a smaller town located about a 30-40 minute car ride from Cabo San Lucas. If you go, a visit to Flora Farms is a must. This ten-acre organic farm, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains, has an on-site restaurant, bar and grocery. Working the soil, largely by hand, Flora Farms has been growing food without using pesticides or GMO seeds for ten years.

image: Flora Farms

After founding a local farmers market on the farm, 100 percent of the produce is now dedicated to local consumption through Flora’s Field Kitchen, Flora’s Grocery and the Culinary Cottage owners. That’s right, if you find yourself loving Mexican farm life so much you never want to leave, you don’t have to — the perfectly rustic, charming Culinary Cottages are available for rent or purchase.

image: Flora Farms

Just 8 miles north of Cabo San Lucas, Carisuva Ranch is a typical Baja Californian ranch with horses, goats, chickens, donkeys and cows as well and a fresh water well and a traditional desert hut. Their mission is to “educate through contemplation, interaction and understanding of the importance of preserving all ecosystems.”

image: Carisuva Ranch

The tranquil, off-beaten-path environs offer plenty of opportunity for relaxation, and the best way to truly commune with nature here is to go horseback riding. The sunset tour lets you discover spectacular ocean side cliffs, lush desert ranges, and private untouched beaches on horseback. At the end, you will get to enjoy a peaceful sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

image: Carisuva Ranch

Contemplating the incredible beauty of nature, it makes me even more motivated than ever to do my part to ensure that future generations will get to enjoy it like we can.

top image: Johanna Björk

The post The Conscious, Nature-Lover’s Guide to Los Cabos, Mexico appeared first on EcoSalon.

Get out of the gym and breathe some fresh air.

No one is trying to deny that yoga and pilates can dramatically improve your general level of fitness, increase your strength and flexibility, and enhance your quality of life. But for all the benefits, there are a number of things that a rigorous daily practice can’t give you – variety. The opportunity to escape four stifling walls.

In the middle of all of summer’s glories, getting in your daily workout shouldn’t mean that you have to trudge reluctantly inside. Weight-bearing activities, like running and lifting, help fend off bone thinning and osteoporosis which is an unfortunate side effect of growing older as a woman. Vitamin D can lift your mood, and social activities like boxing – yes, talking to your sparring partner counts as socializing – can make working out so much more enjoyable.

Here are ten activities that you can rotate into your workout routine to switch it up and sweat it out this summer. Playlist not included.

Long Distance Running

Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run was published in 2009 and instantly became a landmark text for everyone looking to hit the trail (or road). Among many of the interesting points that McDougall brought up was the fact that over long distances, women perform just as well or better than men. But you don’t have to go out and run fifty miles a day to reap some of the benefits described by McDougall. Even a few miles a week to your local park is a great start.

Rock Climbing

It’s an old truism around your local crag: If you’re a male climber who wants to improve, try climbing like a woman. Contrary to popular belief, upper body strength isn’t sufficient to win the day. Minor improvements in technique help you become a better climber much faster than doing pull-ups and eating your Wheaties. Plus, women generally have a lot less weight to haul upward than most men do.

Surfing

Gone are the days of bros hanging out at the pier, the Point Break crowd daring each other onto bigger and bigger waves. Women now have their own surf clubs, world pro tours and big wave idols (hello, Layne Beachley). Besides promoting upper body and core strength, wave-hunting brings you to some of the most beautiful places in the world and – some say – is as great a way to meditate as burning incense and humming “Om.”

Golfing

Okay, so Mark Twain famously said that golf was a good walk spoiled. And maybe golf is inextricably linked with “old people” and “sweater vests” in your mind. But if you don’t hire a prepubescent caddy, swinging your club and hauling your irons from hole to hole is surprisingly strenuous upper-body workout. Not to mention all the communing with wildlife that you’ll get to do while searching for your ball in the shrubbery around the sixth hole.

Boxing

Women’s boxing gained a final veneer of authenticity when it was accepted as an event at this year’s Summer Olympics in London. Not only that, American Quanitta Underwood stands a good chance of picking up a medal. Boxing is a mentally engaging, social, full-body workout that is also an impromptu course in self-defense—as is any combative sport.

Kayaking

Like climbing, kayaking is a male-dominated hobby that is actually much better suited for women. A woman’s center of gravity is usually much lower than a man’s, and on average, women are lighter. Moreover, technique plays a far bigger role in being a proficient kayaker than mere upper-body strength. Kayaking offers an approach for everyone, from exploring the hidden corners of quiet lakes to navigating treacherous whitewater rapids. We’ll take both, with a healthy helping of independence and beautiful vistas on the side.

Expedition Racing

This team sport combines two or three adventure sports with the additional challenge of packing your own supplies and navigating your own way through the course, which could last hours, days or weeks. While many races require that a woman be part of each team, many races are for women only. The varied challenges give each person specific ways to contribute, many of which not related to physical strength at all. You don’t need to be brawny in order to read a map.

Weight-Lifting

Weight-lifting has had its critics in the past few years, who say that the practice isolates muscles that would never be isolated naturally, causing imbalance and injury. But lifting weights also produces lean muscle mass, which helps you lose weight and improve at virtually every sport. Just be sure to weight-lift in ways that combine muscle groups. Swinging around kettle bells and medicine balls are more useful than doing bicep curls with a set of dumbbells.

Swimming

Triathletes have long known that many harbors, rivers and lakes set aside dedicated areas for open water swimming. As triathlons become an ever more popular event, it’s important to set aside some time to train for this part of the competition—as well as literally soak in beautiful scenery. Just be sure to bring a partner, be aware of rip tides and currents, and know your limits.

Tennis

Racquet sports, like tennis or badminton, are phenomenal ways to build upper body strength and strength around your hips, quads and core. If you’ve got the choice, play singles—you’ll run around the court way more, but still have the chance to socialize with your partner.

Images: Brian Sawyer, Caroline Treadway, Chrissy Ferguson, Horizon League, West Point Public Affairs, Deanna Keahey, Rick McCharles, jjorogen, hockadilly, bourgol, 666ismoney

The post 10 Sports To Get You Out of the Locker Room appeared first on EcoSalon.

Back in the day when I was in elementary school, scouting was the road most traveled by children wanting to explore the great outdoors. These days, scouting is still around, but it’s hardly the draw it was in past decades. Instead, we rely on costly summer camps to help wean children off the Wii controls and laptops and get them into the woods, challenging their bodies and imaginations.

But if you’re like me, you don’t want camp staffers to have all of the fun teaching your kids about their natural world. We need to put on our own counselor caps and lead the way to the redwoods, caverns and caves. We should be the ones pointing out the planets and stars in the night time sky. Our family trips to Yosemite (below) without the intrusion of toys and TV have afforded us precious quality time we will always treasure.

Mapping out these adventures is now much easier, thanks to a new family outdoor campaign called Nature Rocks.

The four founders – all experts in recreation and conservation – designed a website that guides parents on where to go and what to do, from camping at national parks to pitching tents in your own backyards. Many include the “F” word. Don’t be silly, of course I mean free.

When given the choice, these fresh air proponents want you to choose outdoor recreation over indoor hibernation because air and wind and surf and mountains make humans feel more alive.

You don’t have to be  John Muir to make these choices.

Whether flying kites on the beach instead of flying on planes…

paddling your kids down the river instead of dropping them off at the mall…

or looking at life forms rather than looking up images via Google…

the experience of  family bonding amid the beauty and mysteries of nature has tremendous rewards, including the kind of toasty, S’Mores round-the campfire memories that last a lifetime. Scout’s honor!

“The benefit of nature for children are fundamental,” says Richard Louv, co-founder of  The Children & Nature Network, one of the four sponsors of the Nature Rocks campaign. “As families look for lower cost vacation options, we hope they will discover that nature offers families a personal stimulus package, letting them save money while improving the physical and emotional well being of their children.”

Louv’s organization is fostering an international movement to connect children with nature. An author who has written for the New York Times, his most recent book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, sees the urgency in nurturing a future relationship between children and nature.

After all, the next generation will inherit a planet rife with pollution, water and energy shortages, and a loss of habitat and wildlife – the plagues of modern civilization.

Just as committed are the other three leaders in the campaign: The Nature Conservancy, REI, and ecoAmerica. Their Nature Rocks launch was timed to coincide with the beginning of summer when parents are searching for activities that will keep children busy – but not so busy that they miss the joys of the season.

“As a working mom with two young children, I appreciate the useful ideas that improve my and my family’s lives,” says Meighen Speiser, VP of Marketing for ecoAmerica. “The Nature Rocks website offers loads of easy-to-use tools, tips and over 100 fun activities like nature art, weekend camping, hiking at a nearby park or an impromptu neighborhood nature scavenger hunt. The added bonus is that these activities are either inexpensive or free.”

The tips are available on the 2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide, which is chalk-full of fun suggestions for planning family recreation close to home. The site is very user-friendly. Just input your zip code and designate what you’re looking for. The Nature Finder map points you in the direction of nearby activities, such as horseback riding, swimming and snorkeling, camping and skiing. There are hundreds of activities to choose from.

The Nature Conservancy – which works to protect ecologically important lands and waters – says its goal is for a people to feel they are a part of all living things. “Now, working on the Nature Rocks initiative, we’re able to help the next generation better their health and reconnect with nature,” says M. Sanjayan, Lead Scientist, who adds that the Conservancy is dedicated to supporting conservation work that will not only enrich the natural world but also better our health and our lives.

So dust off those sleeping rolls and rinse out the sticky cooler. To quote Joni Mitchell, who wrote Woodstock about her generation’s desire to end war and take stock in nature, “It’s time to get ourselves back to the garden.”

Image: Fabian Bromann

The post Nature Rocks Campaign Urges Families to Get Outdoors This Summer appeared first on EcoSalon.

You might get a buzz from hurtling down the ski slopes or exploring underwater worlds as a SCUBA diver. I know that I do. Yet while these sports bring me closer to nature and help me appreciate the beautiful planet I live on, they are not exactly green. Take into account the equipment, distance to travel to a suitable location and in the case of skiing, the construction and maintenance of necessary infrastructure in otherwise wild places.

I’ve been looking for new ways to enjoy nature without putting so much strain on the planet. While I love hiking, sometimes I’m looking for something more immersive and exciting. Enter kayaking.

I started kayaking in 2006 when I was lucky enough to join a trip to Spitsbergen in the Arctic. Sea kayaking was an absolutely stunning way to explore this environment. You might think it would be cold, but the exercise keeps you warm and there’s no wind chill factor. The beauty is that you can cease paddling at any time and glide silently, so it lets you get up close and personal in a way that you simply can’t in a motorized boat. I was hooked.

Now it clearly wouldn’t be very green if we all had to fly to the Arctic to try kayaking. But the beauty of the sport is that it can be done anywhere there is water, from the ocean and rivers, to harbours and lakes. You can probably do it close to your home – whether that be San Francisco or Manhattan, Sydney, Australia or London, UK.

You might have tried open cockpit kayaking – where you sit on top – on holidays but it’s worth investing the time to learn a proper closed cockpit kayak. You’ll stay warmer and drier for starters but these “proper” kayaks are also faster and easier to maneuver so you will ultimately get more out of the sport this way. You can try river or lake kayaking, sea kayaking in a longer, more stable boat that sometimes has two people paddling, and people even play games such as polo in kayaks.

Kayaking keeps you fit – incidentally it’s more about core strength so pilates and yoga are more helpful in training for yoga than upper body weight lifting. It’s a sport that can be enjoyed equally well if you are single or you have a growing family – especially since many sea kayaks are built for two. It gets you close to nature and helps build eco-consciousness. It’s not motorized, so the only pollution comes with the construction of the kayak itself. Very often an individual kayak will be used by dozens of people and be housed in a club house by the water, minimizing transport hassles.

And when you go on holidays, there are many wonderful places to try out your new kayaking skills, from the seal-filled lochs and isles of Scotland to the sun-drenched aquamarine waters of Greece. Search for kayaking holidays on ResponsibleTravel.com for more great holiday ideas around the world that won’t cost the earth.

As Ratty said to Mole in Kenneth Graeme’s The Wind in the Willows (you did read that book when you were small, didn’t you?): “There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” I quite agree.

Image: zevotron

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