Holbrook Travel

Check out this lovely spotlight from our long-time partners at Road Scholar on Selva Verde Lodge & Reserve! This gem in the heart of Costa Rica protects 500 acres of primary and secondary rainforest, and we are thrilled to see the work of the Sarapiquí community toward sustainable development recognized in such a special way. 🌳🍍🦜

Selva Verde Eco-Lodge: A Mission to Save Costa Rica's Rainforests Costa Rica — our 2024 Campus of the Year — boasts of lush rainforests teeming with wildlife, exotic birds, butterflies and flowers in every vivid...

Gorgeous image by Cindy Cone! Check it out and vote for her work if you are so inclined.

Vote Now | Cindy Cone - To the Sun 2024 People’s Vote Awards by reFocus Awards is now open

Today we celebrate one of the most beloved and treasured creatures in all of animal kingdom – the Elephant. 🐘 These gentle giants are known not only as the largest living land mammal, but also as smart, social, and self-aware creatures. They play a vital role in all environments they inhabit, from savannas and forests to deserts and marshes, but they face equally significant threats to their survival due to ivory poaching, human-wildlife conflict, and habitat destruction.

As part of our efforts to provide travelers with opportunities to see these majestic animals in their natural habitats, we partner with organizations like the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to ensure that these encounters can occur under safe circumstances that promote the conservation, preservation, and protection of wildlife and its habitats. 🌳 The SWT is a pioneering conservation organization in East Africa that works tirelessly across Kenya to protect this species' natural environment, enhance community awareness, address animal welfare issues, provide veterinary assistance, develop and establish anti-poaching initiatives, and rescue and hand rear elephant and rhino orphans in the region.

If you choose to visit Kenya with us, you can enjoy an unforgettable visit to the SWT and experience why they are the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world! 🎖 Visit their website to learn more about their invaluable work and read some of the heartwarming rescue stories they share, like this one of a baby elephant named Toto that was brought to the SWT by other formerly orphaned elephants rescued by the SWT who found the baby in the wild and figured he needed help from the kind people who had helped them before. 🔗 https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/orphans/toto

We’re so excited to be attending and sponsoring CREST’s World Tourism Day Forum, taking place Sept. 24-25 in Atlanta! This year’s conference will examine tourism’s influence on cross-cutting themes such as migration, social justice, civil rights, climate, diplomacy, and cultural preservation, and we look forward to being a part of this important conversation. If you or your organization would like to attend the event or become a sponsor, there's still time – visit https://www.responsibletravel.org/world-tourism-day-forum-2 for more details. We hope to see you there!

📸 by Jennifer Leigh Warner

We are thrilled to announce Holbrook Travel as a Silver Sponsor for the 2024 World Tourism Day Forum! In line with the Forum mission, Holbrook Travel’s commitment includes:

🏞️ Cultural Preservation: Promoting cultural heritage through respectful and immersive travel experiences, preserving the unique traditions and histories of the destinations they visit

🌱 Conservation Initiatives: Supporting local conservation projects, non-governmental organizations, and community-based programs that advance conservation and sustainable development

🌍 Community Engagement: Empowering local communities through education, job creation, and economic support, fostering sustainable development and mutual respect

We are honored to have Holbrook Travel as a partner in our quest to promote justice, peace, and sustainable practices within the tourism industry.

Interested in joining Holbrook Travel as a sponsor? Explore sponsorship opportunities here: https://loom.ly/LvtK8s0

Rural community-based tourism is a pillar in the sustainable development of rural areas in Costa Rica. 🌱 Its productive alternatives aim to help generate employment for community members to complement their ancestral agricultural practices and diversify their sources of income.

Since its establishment in the 1990s, the Sarapiqui Conservation Learning Center has been making strides toward the educational, environmental, and social development of the Sarapiquí community, with a special focus on helping women, children, and youth. Among the many educational programs and workshops offered at the Center — including language, computer, dance, and cooking classes, reforestation and community service projects, entrepreneurship training, cultural workshops, and more — they have been working on developing an initiative around promoting rural community-based tourism consisting of five tourism routes. 🗺

The SCLC’s five tourism routes encompass an Agroecological Route, a Wellness Route, a Gastronomical Route, an Educational Route, and a Cultural Route. Each route was devised in collaboration and connection with more than 20 local families and entrepreneurs to support Sarapiquí’s sustainable development and the Center’s programs, as well as stimulate new income sources for all families involved. 🤝

Visitors can get to know the types of enriching activities this area of Costa Rica offers as categorized by the SCLC. Those interested in exploring the Agroecological Route 🍍 can participate in a variety of visits that include a pepper farm, a pineapple farm, and coffee and chocolate tours. The Wellness Route 🚣‍♂️ consists of activities like a medicinal plant tour, yoga and meditation classes, and floating on the Sarapiquí River. The Gastronomical Route 🥗 offers cooking classes, a legume and vegetable ice cream tour, and farm-to-table lunch or dinner with a local host. The Educational Route 🐝 involves reforestation projects, a bee tour, and scientific talks by the SCLC director. Lastly, the Cultural Route 🇨🇷 incorporates folkloric and latin dance classes, a traditional Costa Rican games tour and cultural exchange, and a historical boat ride.

These are only some of the activities offered as part of each of the tourism routes in this initiative, so there will surely be something for every person and special interest out there. We look forward to sharing more information as it becomes available, and in the meantime, make sure to keep the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center in mind for your next visit to Costa Rica! ☀️

📸 by Guisselle Monge

We're in Sierra Vista, Arizona at the Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival making new friends of both the human and avian variety!🦅🦉🐦🦜🐦‍⬛ If you're attending the event, be sure to stop by and say hello to Travel Consultant Jill Hays. She will be at our booth today from 10:00am to 5:45pm and Saturday from 10:00am to 4:15pm.

Meet Erick Guzmán Martínez, one of our Costa Rica guides! 🌴🦎 🦜 Erick has been guiding groups for 18 years and was born and raised in the Costa Rican countryside where he learned about nature from his parents and grandparents.

What do you enjoy most about being a guide?
I love seeing how participants react when we see something unusual and they get very excited.

What do you love most about your country?
I love the biodiversity how such a small country has so much to offer.

What are some of your favorite wildlife to spot in the field?
Can be any kind of wildlife, such as monkeys and sloths but when I got to see a jaguar and a tapir in Tortuguero and last December I was leading a group and we found a bird never ever recorded for Costa Rica (the Cattle Tyrant).

📸 Courtesy of Erick Guzmán Martínez

Another successful planning session in the books! 💡 Last week, some of our team members gathered to continue with the initiatives begun during our 50th anniversary company retreat earlier this year. We enjoyed welcoming our out-of-town coworkers to the Gainesville office for the chance to collaborate face-to-face and brainstorm new ideas for the future. (And of course we managed to fit in a little after-hours fun that included birding and a foosball tournament!) We’re energized and excited to put these ideas into action for our travel community. 🌎

Happy ! 🐍

Did you know that snakes live on every continent except Antarctica (not to mention in many of the world’s oceans)? They’re revered in some cultures and reviled in others, but they play a critical role in maintaining balance in the ecosystems they inhabit. Some snakes feed on small pests, helping to control the spread of disease, while also serving as an important food source themselves for certain birds, mammals, reptiles, and even other snakes. Meanwhile, science is still exploring the potential benefits of snake venom – not just for treating bites via the use of antivenom, but also for conditions such as hypertension, congestive heart failure, and cancer. For these reasons and more, it’s important to protect them against the many threats they face, from climate change and habitat loss to vehicles strikes, infectious diseases, and other dangers.

Here are a few colorful specimens from around the world to demonstrate a small slice of their diversity. How many of these have you sssseen?

This is a beautiful shot from Hawks Aloft's recent adventure through Ecuador that captures one of the hundreds of bird species that call the country's Chocó region home! 🐦🌳

Good Morning Friends! From Ecuador's back country - Red-crested Cotinga! Thank you Freddy Perez for helping us find this specialty!

A Hawks Aloft, Inc. and Holbrook Travel Expedition!

If you've ever gone on a trip with us, you've had the chance to meet one of our expert in-country guides. From sharing their intimate knowledge of the wildlife in the field, to making sure all of our travelers are comfortable, our in-country guides play a huge role in providing the best experience possible. In celebration of our 50th anniversary, over the next few months we will be introducing you to some of these dedicated individuals in a variety of destinations.

Meet Freddy Perez, one of our Ecuador guides! 🇪🇨📷🐦🥾🎒

What inspired you to be a guide?
I was inspired when I had the chance to use binoculars for the first time in a beautiful forest because I enjoyed seeing the details of the amazing things we can find in nature. Then I learned about birdwatching and the chance to show nature to the people who visit Ecuador. Later, I started to study tourism and learn more about nature and birds. I like the idea of meeting people from other countries and sharing experiences during a tour.

What do you enjoy most about being a guide?
I enjoy being with new people, to talk and to learn about different life experiences the people have. Also I enjoy knowing that many people love nature.

What is your favorite memory from guiding a group?
My favorite memory is when we drove for one hour looking for a Plate-billed Mountain Toucan and it was very cloudy when we started to look. We were trying a lot and 20 minutes later the toucan started to call. It came closer and we waited for 10 minutes more until the clouds finally go away. After that we had a very good look at the toucan because it was clear.

📸 Courtesy of Freddy Perez

Please join us in congratulating Selva Verde Lodge on being awarded elite status in the Certification for Sustainable Tourism from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute once again! 🏅 The tireless work of the Selva Verde team has ensured that they continue to be one of less than 80 properties in Costa Rica with this certification, either Elite or Basic, which offers reliable information and tangible proof of the Lodge’s sustainability practices.

As expressed by the CRTI, “the main purpose of the CST is to turn the concept of sustainability into something real, practical, and necessary in the context of tourism competitiveness in the country, trying to improve the way in which natural and social resources are used, promote an active participation of local communities, and provide a new support for the competitiveness of the entrepreneurial sector.”

We are proud of Selva Verde for their commitment to maintaining the highest standards of quality and service and also extend our congratulations to the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center for providing Selva Verde with the avenues to reach their community outreach goals and other stepping stones toward this notable certification. 🏆

To learn more about the CST, visit their website 🔗 https://www.ict.go.cr/en/sustainability/cst.html -for-sustainable-tourism

📸 by David Bruck, Lindsay Taulbee, and the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center

We’re having a wonderful time so far at the American Public Gardens Association Annual Conference in Boston, meeting new people and catching up with longtime friends. 🌸 If you’re in town for the event, be sure to stop by booth #2 in the Exhibit Hall today and say hello to Garden Tours Director Sandy Schmidt!

Last week, we had a special visitor at our Gainesville office! Our friend Yandisa Ngcuka from Wilderness came to share with our team some of the latest travel opportunities and offerings in eight countries across Southern and East Africa. We were particularly excited to discuss how their approach to conservation and sustainable travel aligns with ours. 🦍🦓🦏🍃

Mother/daughter duo Jennifer Christy and Sarah Rose Kelley recently returned from a bucket list adventure to Madagascar! 🇲🇬🐾🌵🌅 They shared some of their stories and photos taken along the way with us, including a variety of wildlife and scenery from Berenty Reserve.

'We went on night walks to see mouse lemurs in the rain forest of Ranomafana, walked on tree bridges over a small river in Mantadia, hiked in the hot desert to a natural oasis in Isalo, put our feet in both the Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel, watched artisans at work in their studios, found chameleons on both day and night hikes and so much more. While I was looking up with my binoculars for the red eyes of a Madagascar Blue Pigeon or the crazy long tail of a Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher, Sarah Rose would be finding a Moss Gecko that blended into the tree trunk, a crazy shaped mushroom or an insect that camouflaged as a stick.

Berenty, a private preserve, was our final destination to explore and what a highlight it was! A tree nursery had thousands of young seedlings which are being added back to the forests and we heard about conservation efforts there and around Madagascar. There were huge tamarin and baobab trees in the primary forest while the spiny forest had octopus trees and elephant foot shrubs. Ring-tailed lemurs ran across our roof in the early mornings and after a delicious breakfast we watched the sifakas leaped across a walkway with a Madagascar kestrel sitting on a pole. We saw 17 species of lemurs on the trip and getting to watch the Berenty populations up close was entertaining.

Check Madagascar on the bucket list … where will be next?'

📸 by Jennifer Christy and Sarah Rose Kelley

❄️ The enchanting phenomenon of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, has been captivating humanity since the beginning of time, and our very own Andrea Holbrook and Kevin Van Dien got to witness it in person during a memorable adventure into the subarctic town of Churchill, Canada earlier this year. This naturally and culturally rich area on the Hudson Bay in the province of Manitoba may be known as the polar bear capital of the world, but it offers visitors many more magical encounters with nature. 🐻‍❄️

🌌 In simple terms, the aurora is a dynamic and colorful natural light display that occurs in the sky when atoms in the upper atmosphere come in contact with charged particles from the sun. Andrea and Kevin shared some photos from this indelible experience where they went aboard a Tundra Buggy® that serves as a seasonal restaurant called Dan’s Diner. Here, they enjoyed an artfully crafted, several-course meal made with locally grown and sourced products while parked atop the frozen Churchill River and blanketed by the vastness of the dark and sprawling landscape. From inside the restaurant, diners can peek through the skylights and panoramic windows to catch glimpses of the aurora borealis before wrapping up to brace for the frozen temperatures and step outside to see them directly and capture them in vivid photographs. 🌬

📸 by Andrea Holbrook

This is one of several enriching chronicles of Cindy’s unforgettable adventure in Peru that we are fortunate to have helped organize for her and her group. Explore her website for even more beautiful photos and stories showcasing Peru's cultural and natural diversity! ☀️🦙🌺🦜

Hummingbird Encounters in the Sacred Valley A visit to the Santuario de Colibríes—Ensifera Camp should be on every birder or nature enthusiast’s itinerary when touring the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru for close encounters with some of the amazing hummingbirds found here. Our excellent guide and birder, Enrique Castillo, recommended...

Our team has successfully completed our 50th anniversary trip to Tanzania, and it was filled with all the incredible sights and experiences that this East African nation offers to its visitors. 🐘🦒🦓 Enjoy this glimpse into the unforgettable journey that took our travelers across world-renowned Arusha National Park, Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Serengeti National Park, and stay tuned for more photos and posts here, on our Instagram page, and on our website recounting our stories from this special celebration! 🌄🦁🦜

📸 by Jill Hays, Pelin Karaca, and Lindsay Taulbee

A vital component in our sustainability initiatives is our support for the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center and their invaluable conservation work in Costa Rica. 🇨🇷

💡 Since 2021, the Center has continued to nurture its community and mission with an innovative project aiming to protect critical habitat for the endangered Great Green Macaw and other wildlife while also providing sustainable income to local residents. With the help of Costa Rica Regenerativa (CRR) and the University for International Cooperation (UCI), the seeds of the mountain almond tree (Dipteryx panamensis) are being commercialized to protect and promote its cultivation and contribute to sustainable development in the San Juan-La Selva Biological Corridor. 🌳

🪺 The mountain almond tree, also called the “tree of life,” is a keystone species that provides habitat and sustenance for a variety of wildlife, but it is especially crucial to the survival of the Great Green Macaw. This bird species obtains 80 percent of its food during its reproductive season from the fruits of these trees and also builds 90 percent of its nests on them. Prior to receiving governmental protection in 1996, these trees were frequently cut for lumber due to their valuable wood, which greatly decreased the Great Green Macaw population. 🦜

🫘 The SCLC has now pioneered a process where interested members of the community can be involved in collecting mountain almond tree seeds to drop off at the SCLC collection center. The seeds are then dried in a solar dryer before getting extracted and roasted in a processing plant to later be commercialized. In addition to fomenting the conservation of the area’s forests, this project seeks to help ease economic dependence on tourism and educate local communities on making use of the natural resources available to them to generate viable income alternatives while preserving the environment. 🌎

📸 courtesy of the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center

Last month, we celebrated our 50th anniversary by gathering our teams from the U.S., Costa Rica, Panama, and Argentina for a full week of fun, insightful, and inspiring activities in our Gainesville, Florida office. We spent time reflecting on our history, relishing our present, and planning for our future, and even kayaking down a river and planting trees to memorialize some of our team members who are no longer with us. Check out our blog for the full report!

Holbrook's Anniversary Retreat: Celebrating 50 Years! | Holbrook Travel “So why travel responsibly? In a world of conflict and polarization, more than ever, travel can be a tool for positive change - but only if that travel is done respectfully and reflectively. Travel thus has to start with a change of heart and a new frame of mind. Whether spending time with those w...

US populations of the Scott's Oriole migrate to Mexico or Southern California and survive on mostly insects including grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars. They are among many migratory birds that rely on insects as essential sources of energy, especially during important times of their lives, such as migration and raising young.🦅🦗

This year's , is meant to highlight the importance of insects for birds. Bugs are full of remarkable nutrients, providing birds with protein-dense, high-energy sources of food. Even many birds that we might not think of as insect-eaters, like hummingbirds and birds of prey, actually rely on insects.

Many insect populations are threatened by agriculture and the affects of urban development such as light pollution. Pesticides and herbicides used to protect crops can be deadly to the insects birds rely on for food ✨

📸 courtesy of Jake Scott

Just in time to celebrate the start of this year's , enjoy this inspiring account of Saxon Holt's transformative adventure in Costa Rica with Pacific Horticulture! 🌺🦜🌳🌻🦥

Our love and appreciation for earth’s beautiful creatures starts at home, and this week we want to show off the furry friends that make our days happier! 🐶🐱 Since its creation in 1981 by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the U.S. celebrates National Pet Week every first week of May to encourage responsible pet care and celebrate the bond between humans and their animal companions. Enjoy this hefty gallery of photos from our staff’s beloved pets, past and present, and learn more about how to celebrate here: https://www.avma.org/events/national-pet-week