Outdoors

Every May sees the wonderful spectacle of the Jerez Horse Fair or Feria de Caballo. Spain's world famous sherry producing town, Jerez de la Frontera, plays host to the most prestigious equine heritage event in the whole of Spain, and one of the most important in Europe.

It attracts many thousands of visitors each year who come to witness the remarkable displays of horsemanship along with the bullfights and exhibitions of Sevilliana (flamenco.)

Originally a cattle market the Jerez Horse Fair now has three distinct branches. There are still the live stock and agricultural machinery exhibitions then there are the bullfighting and Sevilliana displays which take place in Hontoria Park. And last but by no means least the Horse Fair itself.

The daunting feats that the Spanish purebreds and the Andlusian thoroughbreds perform are absolutely outstanding and the shee...

Upstate New York is known for the fun and beauty that can be found in the Adirondacks. Bird watching in the Adirondacks is excellent and a combination of all the things that make the Adirondacks great.

Bird Watching in the Adirondacks

The Adirondacks are a mountain range in northeastern New York State. It is best know as a popular winter resort area with a long history of entertaining celebrities of a sort. Less well known is the fact that the area is a great place to pick up additions to your life list.

During the summer of 2005, Hamilton County held the first Adirondack Birding Festival to honor the birds whose habitat lie within the region. The festival encouraged the participation in hikes, canoe trips and nature walks to watch over 100 species nest in Adirondacks' Hamilton County, home to the Bicknell’s thrush, a rare songbird only found in mountaintop forests o...

Taking your kids camping the first time can be a daunting task, if you're not well prepared. But a well prepared camping trip with your kids can be a great joy for everyone involved. Here are a few considerations and preparations you should make before leaving home.

First of all, choose an easily accessible location. You may want to choose a camping spot that is accessible by vehicle if your kids are relatively young. If you want to hike in to the camping spot, keep the distance pretty short. Also, remember that younger kids may not be able to carry all of their gear and food in, so you'll end up with one very heavy pack if you're not careful.

Here are a few tips for minimizing the amount of stuff you have to take in, if you're hiking to your camping spot.

First, choose a spot with easy access to water. That way you can take in dehydrated foods, and use the water at ...

Once you catch bird watching fever, the completion of your life list will become a dream. In that dream, there is little doubt that you will see the famous Amazon Rainforest.

Bird Watching Prospects in the Amazon Rainforest

Encompassing about 1,500 species in the land where the world's second longest river flows, the Amazon Rainforest is a unique birding habitat . This region of South America from the Peruvian Andes to the South Atlantic in Brazil is known as Amazonia.

The Amazon River and shoreline is a major destination for bird watchers with 4,000 miles of shoreline. It is estimated that about 15 percent of all known bird species in the world have their habitat here, which represents only 4 percent of the planet's land surface.

The Amazon Rainforest is a 7 million km square (1.2 billion acres) moist broad leaf forest from 9 nations, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, C...

A survival kit should be carried by anyone who goes deep into the wilderness. What should be in it? Matches, a blade of some sort, and first aid supplies are among the usual recommendations. When you read the true stories of survival, though, you start to see that it is what's in a persons head that often determines if they survive or not. What, then, should be in this mental survival kit?

A Survival Kit In Your Mind

1. Willingness to learn. Even those who know nothing about survival until lost in the wilderness can still learn as they go - if they are willing to. If you're cold, watch that squirrel dive under a pile of leaves, and try that to stay warm (it works). Notice what's working and what isn't, and keep trying new things.

2. Willingness to do what's necessary. This is one of the most important items in your mental survival kit. Hey, they can eat hissin...

The Yarra Valley is home to many excellent food and wine festivals. In January, raspberry lovers can enjoy the Kinglake Raspberry Fair, while May offers the Kellybrook Cider Festival and the Grape Grazing Festival. In November, the Victoria Strawberry Festival is held in Seville and the Country Harvest Festival is held at the Warratina Lavender Farm. In December, the Victorian Cherry Festival is held at Wandin.

The Yarra Valley is home to at least 23 wineries which are open to visitors and where you can sample their award-winning produce. The wineries range in scale from large operations such as Rochford's Eyton and Tarra Warra Estate to small boutique wineries such as Ainsworth Estate in Seville and Warramate Wines near Healesville. If history interests you, the historic Yering Station-Yarrabank winery near Yarra Glen claims to be the first vineyard established in Victoria.

More than any other state in Australia, Tasmania enjoys four distinct seasons, each with its their own special characteristics. Both local Tasmanians and visitors enjoy the state's temperate maritime climate. Summer is a festive season when the Launceston Festivale and the Hobart Summer Festival are held. Autumn is a mellow season with calm, sunny days when the native deciduous beech trees and European trees blaze with a riot of red, orange and gold colours. Winter days are crisp and clear with a dusting of snow on mountain peaks. Spring is cool and refreshing, with gardens bursting back to life as Tasmania celebrates the Blooming Tasmania festival.

Tasmania's capital Hobart is an intriguing blend of the old and the new, a city defined by the river and sea. Hobart's maritime focus can be appreciated with a harbour cruise or drive to the top of Mt Nelson or Mt Wellington - suburb...

The Margaret River Wine Region is famous for its abundance of mouth-watering fresh produce and wines. Whether you enjoy full-bodied wines, fruity olive oil, premium cheeses or delicious hand-made chocolates, Margaret River is a gourmet food lovers’ paradise. Visitors can indulge in a rich smorgasbord of culinary delights at a host of world-class wineries and restaurants dotted throughout the region. The Margaret River Wine Region includes the area between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin and east to Busselton, covering a cluster of towns each with their own distinctive traits.

Margaret River is also famous for its world class waves, and has more than 40 locations offering excellent surfing in conditions ranging from powerful reef breaks to gentler beach breaks. Margaret River's surf is among the most consistent in the world, and the region is also among the scenic and laid back...

Kangaroo Island is about seven times the size of Singapore and around 155 kilometres in length, with the town of Kingscote being the island's capital and main settlement. Wildlife is abundant on the island, where koalas laze in the gum trees and seals laze on the beach. In addition, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, platypi and goannas all thrive on the island.

A wide range of tours are available on Kangaroo Island, enabling you to relax while someone else does the driving. In addition, guides can provide a great deal of information about Kangaroo Island on the way. Both coach tours and four-wheel drive tours are available, with most tours collecting passengers from their accommodation, the airport or the ferry terminal. Bike riding and hiking are also possible for those with the energy, but beware that Kangaroo Island is large and the necessary level of fitness is required for t...

If you're lost for ideas of what to do with the kids these school holidays then how about a Treasure Hunt? The Great Isle of Wight Treasure Hunt is a Castle and Kings themed mystery tour through an especially beautiful and historic part of the Isle, with a scattering of clues to solve related to the places you will visit en route. It's everything you need; entertaining, educational and even exciting as it requires a short sea trip to get there!

Despite its name Cowes, your first port of call, has nothing to do with bovines, and everything to do with bowlines. Every August it stages the world’s premier sailing regatta, when ruddy-cheeked young things gather to race their yachts, splice the mainbrace and party till the cows come home. It’s a rollicking sort of town all year round, a hive of youthful exuberance, with live music tumbling out of the pubs along the jaunty main dr...

American made cars; the muscle cars of the past are fast becoming the most popular cars of the present. Carmakers are bringing a few of the oldies but goodies back, in body style that is. The Chevrolet Camaro is a favorite of many drivers young and old, because of the way that it looks, and the way that it makes you feel. If you are in the mood for a car that makes you feels as young as you want to be, the Camaro is the car of choice. It is known for being fast, smart looking, and great on gas.

Chevrolet is updating and changing a few of the looks of the old style Camaro, while leaving all the power, muscle and fun in tact in the Chevrolet Camaro car. The car measures to be 186 inches long. In addition, it will sit on a 110-inch platform as that is the wheelbase. The tires on the Chevrolet Camaro are 21 in the front and 22 in the back. This gives the front end a differen...

Keystone offers the finest night skiing in Colorado with lights on 15 different slopes and a great terrain park. Night skiing starts at 4pm and ends at 10pm.

All of the night skiing at Keystone is on the front face of the mountain featuring great runs like the spring dipper. The Keystone Gondola will service most of the night skiing.

The spring dipper is a great long fast groomer with great high speed turns which makes the spring dipper a night skiing favorite. The frenchman is a great groomer which you can carve the most perfect turns, with ease and the big rollers will allow you to take flight if you want this. Always remember to give the right away to slower skiers and always ride in complete control. Your life and others are all always at risk when alpine skiing, so please be careful.

The Keystone terrain park offers many different types of rails, boxes and jumps...

The Outback at Keystone Ski Resort offers amazing views and so much more. The Outback Express is the only lift which services this beautiful region which includes the north bowl and some of the best tree runs in Colorado. Conquest and the victory chutes are on the north facing slope of the mountain. This means the snow will stay relatively soft which makes it a lot easier to make those important carves through the trees. When you get to the top of the Outback Express, go left and you'll be guaranteed soft snow. If you go right on a sunny day, you'll be skiing on crust.

The runs on the South facing side (right off the lift) are my favorite tree runs in Summit County. I suggest you wait for a powder day to experience the South side. The trees are so evenly spaced and the hill is at a favorable pitch. Out of: Breckenridge, A Basin, Vail and Beaver Creek, the Outback is my person...

RV dump stations everywhere are closing down operation due to several reasons. Some, but not all of these reasons are the costs and headaches involved to keep them operating and properly maintained, the wrong types of chemicals used by RVers and because of neglect and poor housekeeping by people who use these dump stations.

RV holding tanks are used to hold, or store waste water until a sewer system is available to empty the tanks. Because little water is used, in comparison to a domestic waste water system, RV holding tank wastewater is far more concentrated. Adding to the problem are the chemicals required to assist in breaking down the waste and controlling odors. This requires more treatment than a regular house type waste system and it complicates disposal of RV holding tank waste. In many cases it is much easier to just close the dump station.

The problem that the av...

Twenty-eight years ago, I towed my first travel trailer. Of course at the time, like most teenagers, I thought I knew everything. I tent camped for years and had experienced camping in travel trailers and motor homes with a friend of mine and his family, but this was my first RV adventure out on my own. I had recently graduated from high school and was working for an RV dealership in Pennsylvania. I started out washing campers and soon was promoted to an apprentice technician. I was always mechanically inclined and had an interest in how things worked. From the time I was thirteen and took our lawn mower apart, that there was nothing wrong with, to age sixteen, when I rebuilt my first VW engine.

Deer hunting season was quickly approaching, which in North Central Pennsylvania is similar to a national holiday. I asked my boss if I could borrow a travel trailer to use for a hunting...

Prior to 1999, West Nile fever didn’t occur in North America. Now, it returns each year, causing a patchy epidemic with victims across the continent. To understand why this is happening, we have to understand how the virus cycles through birds and mosquitoes in our environment.

Birds carry West Nile virus. It was almost certainly a bird that brought the virus to New York in the summer of 1999, but no one knows for sure exactly how it happened. The bird may have been ill, or it may have been relatively healthy: some birds die from the infection while others are unaffected. In any case the bird was bitten by a mosquito while the virus was circulating in its bloodstream.

The mosquito went on to bite another bird and spread West Nile virus to that bird. More mosquitoes drew blood from both birds, acquiring the virus and subsequently spreading it to more birds. Susceptible bird...

Inverters are nice to have at times when you are dry camping and/or when you don’t have access to 120-volts AC. Batteries produce power in Direct Current (DC) that run at low voltages. Power companies and AC generators produce sine wave Alternating Current (AC), which is used to operate 120-volt appliances and electronic equipment. An inverter takes 12-volt DC power from your RV batteries and electronically changes it to 120-volt AC. Some RVers use an inverter just to watch TV or for their personal computer.

Other RVers use an inverter to operate microwaves, coffee pots or other larger appliances. When you purchase an inverter the inverter’s output capacity must be capable of operating the loads that will be placed on it. Inverters have two different capacity ratings. Continuous output rating and surge capacity rating. Continuous output is the maximum wattage the inverter can ou...

There is nothing like the allure of camping if you yearn to get away from civilization and the hustle and bustle of your everyday life. If you want to get closer to nature, then very little can compare with spending one or more nights at a campsite.

Camping is a big thrill whether you use a tent, a travel trailer, a recreational vehicle or no shelter at all. One thing to bear in mind, though, is that there are laws that cover camping, particularly in designating campsites for the protection of the environment.

For some, camping always brings a feeling of nostalgia or romanticism for simpler times and past camping trips with their fathers and uncles. It brings to mind a feeling of ‘being one with nature’ as well as that other feeling of ‘man against nature.’ After a few hours, it’s easy to see why they refer to camping as ‘roughing it.’

If you want to enjoy your campi...

Since the history of mankind began, Africa has always been steeped in great mystery, like a dangerous land where wild animals roam, where the jungles are thick and where uncivilized tribes either eat men or shrink their heads. It is no secret why the continent has earned the sobriquet “Dark Continent.” Today, African culture is as varied as the continent’s inhabitants. There are modern, glistening cities at one end and an explosion of nature and wildlife at the other. From North to South and West to East, the face and culture of Africa changes, like the lay of its land and its warm, soothing climate.

In terms of sheer diversity, Africa stands out among all other continents, which is why a vacation there can be a rich experience of what life has to offer, filled with a variety of sights and unexpected surprises. It hardly matters what you are looking for because Africa is sure to...

Traveling to the tropics, one encounters a considerably greater diversity of species, both plant and animal, than we find in the temperate regions. What that means, you’ll see a lot more different kinds of birds, butterflies, flowers than at home. Butterflies in particular are fun to watch as they flit from flower to flower sipping nectar, and chasing each other as part of a courtship dance. Tropical butterflies will dazzle you their flamboyant and exotic colorations, from iridescent blues to a kaleidoscope of colors.

Butterfly gardens have become a very popular attraction for the tourist crowd; in a controlled environment, one will encounter a great variety of these beautiful insects and learn about their life history including their choice of larval (host) and nectar plants. What I mean by controlled environment is that a fine cloth mesh encloses mos...