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Have you tested the waters at the top 10 scuba diving destinations? Divers can make a splash and a difference all in the same trip, so why not consider some volunteer work?
You may also enjoy :
Breaking News: Silva Sets Scuba World Record With 48-Hour Dive
What Can Scuba Teach Us About Travel?

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Photo by Lola Akinmade

SanDisk Solid State Drive

When I think of SanDisk, I think of solid flash memory cards for digital SLR cameras and to a lesser extent, affordable MP3 players around the $40 range.

Now, the storage powerhouse has revealed its new 2.5-inch G3 solid state hard drives, available in 60GB and 120GB versions.

According to Engadget:

You’ll also be thrilled to know that the G3 range supports the newest Windows 7 TRIM feature, which enables the drive to “continuously manage its resources and retain optimized performance throughout its lifespan.”

The drive will cost you around $229.99 for the 60GB version ($399.99 for 120GB).

New Asus Eee Netbooks

Photo courtesy of Blogeee

Ultralight netbooks at just 0.7-inches thick with a purported battery life of 14 hours?

While no release date has been set yet, Asus is planning on releasing three new models of netbooks.

Both the Eee PC 1015P and 1016P will have up to 14 hours of battery lufe (with WI-FI turned off) while the 0.7-inch superthin Eee PC 1018P will have an integrated fingerprint reader and 10 hours of battery life.

Panasonic’s 3MOS HD Camcorders

Panasonic loyalists swear by their products’ topnotch Leica lens optical quality.

Hence, why photographers Uncornered Market, Pam Mandel of Nerd’s Eye View, and myself all carry backup Panasonic Lumix digital cameras in addition to our main DSLR cameras.

Panasonic has now released a range of handheld High Definition (HD) camcorders for shooting professional-quality video – the HDC-HS700, HDC-TM700 and HDC-SD700.

They come with 35mm Wide-Angle Leica Lenses (sweet!), 18x Intelligent Zoom, SD card slots, and 240GB hard drive in the HDC-HS700. All three snap still photos with 14.1 pixels and support Full-HD 1920 x 1080pixel resolution recording – the highest resolution for handheld camcorders currently available.

Panasonic plans on releasing the camcorders in March and prices are rumored to be within the $1,100 – $1,800 range.

Community Connection

For more nifty technology, check out Top Gadgets To Travel With In 2010 and our lineup of cool gadgets in Technology Bytes.

Know of any new, practical, and cool gadgets coming out soon? Please share with us below.

Photo: Laika slips the lead, a member of the Matador Photography Flickr group

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Remember, we’re always accepting submissions for Wordless Wanderlust photos over at the Matador Photography Flickr group. Stop by, sign up, and share your shots.

Photo by boltron-, feature photo by adria.richards

I’m a gadget geek, sure, but I’m a music geek first. So when I hear about the SXSW festival in Austin, my first thought is always “who’s playing?”

But this year I’m more curious about the latest in technology rumors that will surely start flowing through the blogoshere on March 12th. As TechCrunch pointed out, Twitter won the SXSW Web Award…in 2007. Well before it became the “OMG I can’t live without it” little piece of social media that it is today.

So what should we expect in 2010? Scrolling down the schedule, a few things in particular catch my eye:

Could The iPad Have Saved Gourmet? The (New) Future of Magazines – Love the title. Hope someone sends the memo to a few folks in the publishing industry.

Interviewing the President: How YouTube Can Do It Better – As the event description says, “come learn how engaged citizens, accidental reporters, aspiring journalists, bedroom vloggers, cable news-clippers, and the mainstream media co-exist in the YouTube news ecosystem.”

Recession 2009-2010: The Best Time to Launch Your Startup – They say more than half of our biggest companies were started during a recession or depression. Possibly some great tips here for those ready to break free and do their own thing.

Social Media Marketing for Your Business – Sound advice sure to be found here for those social media douchebags we all know and love.

And those are just on Friday. Other highlights answer serious issues, like how to promote your brand with apps, to the seemingly inane (but most likely necessary) question: can you copyright a tweet?

What do you expect to see from SXSW 2010? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Santiago before the quake. Photo: Julie Schwietert

Senior editor David Miller felt the quake all the way down in Argentinean Patagonia, in El Bolson.

Matador members Eileen Smith, who lives in Santiago (but is currently biking around New Zealand), and Craig and Linda Martin, who are traveling in Chile, have all checked in and let us know they’re okay. Friend of Matador, Roberto Parra, also posted a note on Facebook saying he’s okay.

We have lots of Matador members and friends in Chile, though, and we want to hear from you. If you’re anywhere in the Southern Cone, leave a message and let us know you’re ok. And if there’s any help Matador can provide, please let us know what we can do.

Peace.

WHAT/WHERE
There are over one hundred underground ruins in Cappadocia, Turkey. Join travel vlogger Josh Leo in exploring one that reaches eight stories below ground.

NETWORK CONNECTION

The underground ruins of Cappadocia, Turkey are some of the lesser known ruins that can to be easily explored. If you love to get under the surface and explore caves,crawl spaces and caverns you should definitely check out fellow travelers blogs on caving at the Matador Community.

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A woman in Santiago surveys damage after the quake. Photo: todosnuestrosmuertos

One of the stories we’ve been working on since the Haiti earthquake is how social media platforms are being used in disaster to improve rescue, recovery, and rebuilding efforts.

In addition to Twitter, Facebook, and text messaging, a new and powerful app has been unleashed by Google: the Google Person Finder.

The Google blog explains:

“After hearing of the devastatingly powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile overnight, we began to mobilize several teams to see what Google resources could help with disaster response. For those concerned about loved ones in Chile, the Person Finder tool, initially created in the wake of the Haiti earthquake, can be used to submit or search for information about individuals who may have been affected. The Person Finder tool has been translated into Spanish and is currently available at http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/, as well as several media sites and the US Department of State website.”

As a community of travelers and expats, Matadorians are in a unique position to use this app for massive information diffusion. Do you know someone in Chile? Have you heard from them since the quake? Add their name and update their status using the Person Finder tool.

The other app Google’s making available is Google Map Maker.

Again, from the Google blog:

“Google Map Maker is currently available in Chile, and we are making this map data available for download by relief and aid organizations. Visit http://mapmaker.google.com/datadownload for more information and to access the data. If you have familiarity with the region, please help these efforts by contributing data about Chile on Google Map Maker. We will be refreshing the download data frequently to reflect the latest set of contributions.

How are you using social media and online tools to respond to the quake and the resulting tsunami? Share your experiences in the comments.

Photo: Adrian Miles ©

February 14th wasn’t only the horrid – I mean lovely – Valentine’s Day. Along with marking World Sound Healing Day, the Chinese welcomed their New Year. Check out the inaugural festivities in this Boston.com photo essay, Welcoming the Year of the Tiger.

We’ve discussed the culture shock phenomenon here at BNT in such pieces as The 4 Stages of Culture Shock (And How To Beat Them), but this week, Solo Traveler added some advice to the subject in How to travel alone: 10 tips to survive culture shock.

Wow. If you think circumcision is barbaric, check out 8 Interesting (And Insane) Male Rites of Passages From Around the World.

Here’s a nice little reminder from Vagabonding that no matter where you travel, whether it be a spiritual retreat or Mardi Gras, there’s always the possibility of an “exceptional experience”: There’s always room for the offbeat.

Jeffrey Tayler speaks eloquently of how passion and desire got him traveling – and a published writer. If you think becoming a travel writer is just about networking and ass-kissing, check out Inspiration, Travel Writing and L’Esprit Frondeur.

Our hearts go out to the people of Chile, and all those under a tsunami watch.

All photos by author

Number of cycle tours undertaken prior to Cuba: 0

Most kms cycled in one day: 105

Total kms cycled: 797

Average speed in km/h (due to gear, heat, poor roads, and poor conditioning): 13

Cities/towns slept in: 16

Nights spent in Cuba: 33

Nights woken by a rooster at 4:30 AM: 31

Days it took for us to get sick, most likely from the street food: 2

Street pizzas eaten, despite thinking that street food is what caused our being sick: 21

Flat tires: 3

Minutes to change the first flat: 27

Minutes to change the third flat: 14

Taxis taken in Havana: 5

Taxi drivers in Havana who had to stop to ask directions: 5

Waiting for replacement bus in Vinales

Dogs wearing ratty old t-shirts: 9

Flip-flops stolen by a dog: 2

Flip-flops found: 1

Men recruited to help search for missing flip flop: 6

Buses taken: 5

Hours spent on buses: 31

Hours spent waiting for a broken down bus: 2

Cyclists met on the road from:
…Canada: 1
…Spain: 1
…Austria: 2
…France: 2
…Germany: 3
…Netherlands: 2
…Cuba: 1

Times we had to beg for a room to sleep in because accommodations were full: 1

Official currencies: 2

Price for Cubans to take ferry to Cayo Granma in Santiago de Cuba: 1 national peso

Price for tourists to take ferry to Cayo Granma in Santiago de Cuba: 1 CUC (equivalent to 25 national pesos)

Hours spent on Internet: 4

Hours spent waiting for pages to load: 3.5

Beach days during:
…first half of trip: 0
…second half of trip: 1

Seconds it took to decide on a return trip: 0.5

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

For more images from Cuba, check out Carlo’s Photo Essay: Cycling Cuba.

Photo: paul bridgewater – www.londonmusicphotographer.com

ARRIVE IN GAIMAN, Argentina, and you’ll notice a few things seem culturally and geographically misplaced.

Streets bear the names of J.D. Evans and Abraham Matthews. The dragon-emblazoned flag of Wales flies prominently from local businesses, and signs are posted not only in Spanish but also in Welsh, a language otherwise encountered only in the British Isles.

The Welsh settlement in Argentina began in the 19th century, when the Argentine government promoted immigration from European nations. The leader of the Welsh contingent, Rev. Michael D. Jones, wanted to create a colony of Welsh culture and language outside of Wales, away from the influence of the English.

He settled on Patagonia because of its remote location and the incentive of 100 square miles of land along the Chubut River offered by the government of Argentina.

Jones had studied Welsh communities in the United States, but found they quickly assimilated and lost their ethnic and cultural identity. The isolation of Patagonia would help create an insulated community that would maintain its language and culture.

Photo: paul bridgewater

Traditional tea in Gaiman

What brings many visitors to Gaiman, the cultural center of Argentina’s Welsh community, are the teahouses.

The full afternoon tea experience, much like one you could have in Britain, is served at tables covered in lace cloth with a large pot of tea and an assortment of cakes, marmalade, butter, and cream. The most traditional cake is the torta negra, a black cake similar to a fruitcake.

Every October, the town holds a Eisteddfod de Chubut, a Welsh cultural festival featuring performances of poetry and music in Welsh and Spanish, continuing a tradition that began in the province in 1875.

More Wales in Northern Patagonia

Elsewhere in Chubut province, remnants of Argentina’s Welsh settlement exists in windmills, chapels, and teahouses, as well as the Celtic names of its towns.

In nearby Trelew, the main commercial center in the region, the Museo Regional Pueblo de Luis, housed in a former train station, documents the history of the Welsh settlement and features photographs and belongings of the settlers. It was in Trelew that the Welsh settlers built the Salon San David, a replica of St. David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire.

The regional railway once linked Trelew with the town of Dolavon, another early Welsh settlement, where an old flour mill has been converted into a museum of rural life, and a monument pays tribute to the indigenous Tehuelche who aided the settlers when they arrived.

Photo: paul bridgewater

Over near the Chilean border, just south of Esquel, the town of Trevelin was established in 1889 by John Evans, who was instrumental in exploring the upper Chubut Valley for Argentina.

The town’s first settlers arrived here after having built towns along the way as they traveled inland from the coast. The main attraction is the grave of Malacara, the horse that made a heroic leap to save Evans’ life during a Tehuelche attack.

At the site of the first mill built by the settlers after their arrival is the Museo Regional Molino Viejo, which depicts life in early 20th century Trevelin.

While the prevalence of the Welsh language has declined since the early 20th century, it is still taught in schools and university students have the opportunity to study abroad in Wales.

Chubut is also a destination for scholars from Wales seeking to study manuscripts from the original settlers and expose themselves to what is considered the pure form of the language.

Getting to Gaiman

Travelers often base themselves in the coastal city of Puerto Madryn, popular for its whale and penguin watching tours, although some choose to stay in Trelew. There are B&B accommodations available in Gaiman — make reservations.

From Puerto Madryn, catch a bus to Trelew, where you can board a connecting bus that will drop you off in the center of Gaiman. The town is compact and easy to navigate on foot.

Photo: aokettun

Where to have tea

Ty Gwyn, which also operates as a B&B, is the oldest Welsh teahouse in Gaiman and is run by a descendant of the original settlers. The staff, dressed in traditional Welsh clothing, provides attentive service. 9 de Julio 111, Gaiman

Ty Nain is also run by descendants of some of the town’s first Welsh settlers. Make sure to check out its small museum, which showcases artifacts from colonial days. Hipólito Yrigoyen 283, Gaiman

Another of Gaiman’s B&Bs, Plas y Coed doubles as a teahouse and provides large and filling breakfasts and afternoon tea. MD Jones 123, Gaiman

Located on the banks of the Chubut River, Ty Cymraeg has owners that sometimes share with visitors stories of their Welsh ancestors, whose photographs decorate the walls of the teahouse. Abraham Mathews 74, Gaiman

Community Connection

For more suggestions on classic places to have tea, check out Six Cups: Tea Cultures Around the World.