Archive for » January 5th, 2012«

Rugged Jeep Wrangler popular again

Today, the Wrangler — with new, more powerful engine and a five-speed automatic transmission added for 2012 — stands out in the wilderness and the marketplace.

With rugged styling derived from Jeep’s World War II heritage, the immensely off-road-capable Wrangler has posted a 28 percent increase in U.S. sales this year. Sales are up over 100,000 and top those of some other SUVs — off-road ready or not — like the Toyota FJ Cruiser, 4Runner and Highlander.

The Wrangler is the only mass-produced SUV with removable doors. The roof, which can be soft top or hardtop, can come off, too, for close-to-nature travel. And, the 2012 Wrangler comes only with four-wheel drive. No two-wheel drive is offered.

With a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $22,845, the 2012 Wrangler arguably packs the most off-road SUV capability for the price. The starting price is for a base, 2012 Wrangler Sport 4X4 with 285-horsepower V-6 and six-speed manual transmission.

In comparison, Hyundai’s lowest-priced SUV, the Tucson, has a starting retail price of $23,845 for a more on-road-inclined, all-wheel drive model that has 165-horsepower four-cylinder engine. All-wheel drive Tucsons come only with automatic transmissions. The 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser starts at $27,930 with 260-horsepower V-6, four-wheel drive and manual transmission.

Time was when the jaunty ride of a Jeep was part of the unique experience of these vehicles, when people expected and even relished the ride as a memorable treat not to be missed.

Too many auto critics spending too much time in today’s soft-riding SUVs have led to complaints about the Wrangler’s ride, which, because of the vehicle’s short wheelbase of 95.4 inches, can feel a bit choppy, especially over highway segments with prominent concrete expansion cracks. There can be a tippy sensation, too, in turns because of the vehicle’s high center of gravity.

But anyone who dislikes a numbing ride and who believes in really piloting an SUV, rather than merely going along for an insulated, sublime ride, will find the Wrangler, especially in Rubicon dress, a satisfying, one-of-a-kind experience.

With the new 3.6-liter, double overhead cam, Pentastar V-6, the test 2012 Wrangler Rubicon had ample power to merge, pass and amble easily with other traffic on roadways. It’s a major difference from the previous Wranglers that seemed to strain to deliver sufficient power for on-road travel.

The new engine, by the way, delivers a significant 83 more horsepower than last year’s 3.8-liter V-6, is the same one used in the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee and is winning lots of praise from Wrangler enthusiasts.

The test Wrangler Rubicon responded readily when I pressed the accelerator, and while not ripping forward in sport car fashion, the 4,100-pound vehicle felt all-around sprightly. Zero-to-60 mph time has improved to 8.3 seconds.

Torque peaks at 260 foot-pounds at 4,800 rpm, which is 10 foot-pounds more than last year.

While a six-speed manual still is the base Wrangler transmission, Jeep officials upgraded the automatic for 2012. It’s now the five-speed from the Grand Cherokee and makes more efficient use of engine power and gasoline. I liked how well timed the shifts were and how smoothly they occurred in the test Wrangler.

Also, with lower first gear ratio than last year’s four-speed auto, the new automatic provides a lower overall crawl ratio for off-roading.

Fuel mileage is increased, officially, to 17 miles per gallon in city driving and 21 mpg on the highway from last year’s 15/19 mpg. During the test Wrangler with gusto, I averaged just 16 mpg in combined city/highway travel.

Fillups can be pricey, requiring some $65 to load the 18.6-gallon tank with unleaded regular. The gas tank warning light came on in the test Wrangler well before I had traveled 300 miles.

There’s no quiet ride in the Wrangler. Even with the hardtop on, I readily heard nearby vehicles, and road noise from the off-road-ready tires was present all the time.

No adults were eager to climb into the back two seats of the test, two-door Wrangler.

For one thing, they had to lift themselves up off the pavement while squeezing past the front seats, which is not easy to do. Some groused about no running boards, but that would be nearly blasphemous for a perfectly good Wrangler Rubicon.

Once settled in back, passengers found their knees resting upward because the bench seat cushion was positioned near the floor. At least they had good headroom — a full 40.3 inches, which is just 1 inch shy of what front-seat passengers have. Legroom in the rear seat is 35.6 inches but it can expand to 37.2 inches in the Wrangler Unlimited, which is the larger Wrangler model with four doors, not the typical two.

Overall, the Wrangler is a quirky vehicle that is loved for its authenticity and its quirks, such as the soft and hard tops that can be difficult to remove and put back on, with many steps and sometimes frustrating instructions.

The Wrangler windshield is one of the few that sits so upright that it doesn’t take a lot of travel in summer before bug “splats” make cleaning a necessity.

Seats, even the optional leather-trimmed in the test Wrangler, aren’t form-fitting, but they give good views out above traffic and off-road obstacles.

And the little turning circle of 34.9 feet provides for amazing agility on- and off-road.

Consumer Reports predicts Wrangler reliability to be average.


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Pet-travel tips from a ‘Dog Whisperer’

TV’s “Dog Whisperer,” Cesar Millan, offers suggestions to safeguard winter reserve for your witty pooches, as good as manners for kids who confront them.

If your dear dog has ever carried a leg on a hotel staircase, transient out of a backseat of your automobile or kept everybody in your vacation let watchful with deplorable howls, we are due for a doctrine from a “Dog Whisperer.”

Cesar Millan takes his dogs — Junior a pitbull and Coco a chihuahua — on so many journeys that a dual pooches many lift their possess platinum-level visit navigator cards.

AP

Dog whisperer Cesar Millan, graphic with his dog, Junior, common some ideas to make roving with pets easier and reduction stressful.

To prepared your dog for a unknown and assumed knowledge of being in an airplane, Millan recommends rehearsing forward of a trip.

“Put [your pet] in a bin for a few hours, put him in a car, and assistance him associate a ease feeling with a bin and travel,” Millan said. If pets — or people — get shaken on a tangible transport day, try rubbing lavender oil on a paws or hands, Millan suggests. It is found to have a relaxing outcome on humans and animals alike.

Many owners of vast dogs onslaught with a emanate of either to composed their pet before it goes into a load space. Millan says it’s OK to skip a knockout drugs.

“The best and many healthy sedation is to take them for a long, even longer, a longest transport that day, so a dog is so sleepy it’s roughly in hibernation,” he said.

Related: Cesar Millan offers 15 tips for pet-friendly travel

While drifting competence be a many severe transport component for a pet, owners and associate travelers mostly get put to a exam on a ground. When animals are forced into totally new and astonishing environments, they can conflict in a accumulation of ways: growling, stealing in a bathtub, perplexing to escape, and of course, carrying an “accident.”

“It is not a dog’s fault,” Millan said. “Most of a time it means that a owners has left too shortly indoors though walking a dog, or it can meant that a dog is shaken and this is a fear reaction.”

Don’t be embarrassed, pet owners — usually purify adult a mess.

“Every pet-friendly hotel knows a consequences of welcoming dog guests,” Millan said.

For hoteliers, one effect is some-more pet-toting customers. 

Dede Gotthelf, owners of a Southampton Inn, essentially designated 10 percent of her bedrooms as pet-friendly, though has increasing to 15 percent in sequence to accommodate clever patron demand.

“We have had vast dogs, tiny dogs, cats, occasional birds in cages, and a bearded dragon that visits each Columbus Day weekend,” Gotthelf said. Her affluent, essentially East Coast patron bottom considers their pets “part of a family” — and are peaceful to compensate a favoured nightly pet price on tip of a room rate, that averages around $500 during a summer high deteriorate (about half that in off-season).

The Southampton Inn, like scarcely all pet-friendly accommodations, has “house rules” that need owners to conform control laws, be deferential of other guests’ space, and purify adult messes to a best of their ability.

One order guest competence be many tempted to mangle involves withdrawal pets alone in a room. While many hoteliers will disremember a bit of late-night yapping or a teenager mess, hotels can ask we to leave if your dog is found unattended in your room. In other words, if we conduct out for dinner, a pooch goes with you.

When renting a car, be wakeful that let companies are not compulsory to give pets a same rights as people. If they extend a pet-friendly policy, be a obliged customer. Safety on a highway should be your priority — and when you’re prepared to return, cleanliness is crucial.

“Take counsel to safeguard pets are kept in one area of a car. Thoroughly purify hair and any pet messes from a cars before to let return,” suggested Paula Rivera, manager of open affairs for Hertz. Not usually is it courteous to a subsequent customer, though it’ll also equivocate cleaning fees.

One pet-mess unfolding — a car-sick dog — is sincerely common. It can’t be totally avoided, though humans can control some factors.

“Motion illness for dogs is really opposite than for humans,” pronounced Millan. “It does not brew good with a full stomach.” Thus, while we competence wish to hang with a normal feeding slight while traveling, it’s indeed improved not to feed a pet most before or during a prolonged expostulate day.

“If it has been a prolonged trip, we can give small pieces of duck or mini snacks, though space them out,” Millan said.

As for lavatory breaks, Millan suggests gripping an eye on a new environment. In swarming rest stops, if we don’t trust your dog or a other dogs in a space, Millan recommends gripping your dog on a six-foot leash.

“Travel means adventure,” he said. “There are obstacles and challenges, though if we can continue these safely with your pets, we will see how your bond grows.”

More from JustLuxe.com


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Friendly Planet Travel’s “Win the World” Sweepstakes is Giving Away 6 Exotic Getaways for 2 via Facebook

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The Jeep Grand Cherokee goes all electric

The AMP Jeep Grand Cherokee, to be unveiled next week at the North American International Auto Show, is a 100 percent electric-drive vehicle with all the cargo space and utility of a true SUV. AMP trades out Jeep’s V6/V8 powertrain for a combination of two Remi electric motors and a 37.6 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery. Because the motors are direct drive, the electrified Grand Cherokee does not require a transmission. The motors combine for 152 kW (203 hp), and the model will travel about 80 to 100 miles (129 to 161 km) per charge.

In the base model, AMP mounts both motors to the rear axle, so the Grand Cherokee won’t offer all the off-road handling benefits of a four-wheel-drive Jeep. However, it maintains other advantages of a Grand Cherokee, including passenger and cargo room. Despite the addition of the large battery pack, you still get room for five people and adjustable cargo space with split-folding rear seats. AMP will also launch an AWD model offering improved off-road handling and performance.

Beyond the powertrain, the AMP model keeps the Grand Cherokee’s standard equipment and components. From the outside, the only thing distinguishing the AMP from gas Grand Cherokees is the “100 % Electric” badging on the former.

An AMP representative told the New York Times that the Grand Cherokee’s pricing will be competitive with the Tesla Model S. That’s somewhat ambiguous, as you can practically pick any price between US$50,000 and $90,000 and find a Tesla Model S variant to match. A representative did clarify to Gizmag that base price will be in line with the base Model S, which costs $57,400 before any tax incentives. That puts the model about double the base price of a gas Grand Cherokee.

AMP plans to unveil the electric Jeep Grand Cherokee at the North American International Auto Show next week, where it will have both RWD and AWD models on show. It will offer additional details then, including pricing and availability. The event takes place in Detroit and opens to its doors on January 9.


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Travel disharmony as 112mph winds beat Britain

Gales of adult to 87mph were available during 2am during Capel Curig in Wales, while
speeds of between 50mph and 70mph are foresee for a rest of a country
today.


A motorist with a chainsaw works to mislay a depressed tree from Newmarket
highway in Royston, Hertfordshire, after clever winds

“It’s going to be a really breezy day,” pronounced Aisling Creevey, a
forecaster with MeteoGroup.

“We have a cold front unconditional down opposite northern Britain that’s going
to transparent south by a morning.

“We are going to see utterly a cold day, with clever and blowing winds
by many of a morning.

“There will be breeze gusts of between 60 and 70mph opposite northern
Britain, Wales and south-west England, with gusts of 80mph in unprotected areas
of Scotland and northern England.

“Showers will turn reduction visit as a day goes on and winds will
gradually ease, apropos uninformed and assuage overnight in many places.”

The Met Office has released yellow warnings of breeze for Wales, Northern Ireland
and Strathclyde today.

North Yorkshire Police urged motorists to make usually essential journeys as the
county gifted “severe” continue on Wednesday night.

There are prolonged delays in both directions on a M25 this morning due to the
closure of a Dartford Crossing QEII Bridge joining Essex and Kent due to
high winds. It is approaching to sojourn sealed until 3pm.

The A49 in Herefordshire is sealed due to depressed trees and a M62 overpass over
a Ouse and a A19 in Cleveland are sealed to high-sided vehicles.

Humberside Police urged motorists to take caring this morning after a series of
trees were brought down overnight.

But a force reported no casualties as a outcome of a high winds.

A orator pronounced trees have been restraint roads or causing obstructions in
areas of Grimsby, Hull, Bridlington, Driffield and Snaith.

He pronounced a car strike a vast bend in a highway in Beverley, East Yorkshire,
though there were no injuries, and a section wall collapsed in Healing, near
Grimsby, restraint a pavement.


A kite flyer is hauled into a atmosphere by winds on Bournemouth beach today

The orator said: “Motorists are urged to take additional caring and beware of
obstructions that might have blown into a road, and pedestrians are also
asked to take additional caring as countless trees have blown down and some-more might do
so before a winds ease down.”

The Humber Bridge and a M62 over a Ouse Bridge, nearby Howden, are both
sealed to high-sided vehicles.

North Yorkshire Fire Service pronounced crews had been called out to localised
flooding during a tiny series of homes in a Skipton area and firefighters
used a vessel to assistance rescue a boat that was in risk of overturning when
it was held in moorings on a River Ouse in executive York.

The brigade pronounced a lorry motorist was taken to sanatorium when an HGV overturned
on a A1 during Leeming and crews were called to dual incidents of cars trapped
in inundate H2O – one in Acaster Malbis, nearby York, and a other during Embsay,
nearby Skipton.

In Scotland adult to 15,000 homes were but electricity for a second night
after trees brought down energy lines. Up to 100,000 families were without
energy during a tallness of a storms on Tuesday night.

Overhead handle problems also caused rail intrusion between Handforth and
Cheadle Hulme nearby Manchester. Buses had to reinstate trains between Wilmslow
and Cheadle Hulme.

Chiltern Railways had to contend with a series of trees on a line from
London to Aylesbury.

This meant buses had to work between Amersham and Aylesbury in
Buckinghamshire, while there were no services – nor any deputy buses –
using between Aylesbury and London.

A tree on a line during Porchester in Hampshire led to sight delays in a area,
while another depressed tree during Wood End in a West Midlands caused delays to
London Midland services between Stratford-upon-Avon and Shirley.

Further north, beyond handle problems caused intrusion between Penrith North
Lakes and Oxenholme Lake District. There were delays of adult to 45 minutes
between Carlisle and Lancaster.

A technician works to correct depressed powerlines during Cumbernauld, Scotland

At Pitsea in Essex, electrical supply problems led to delays between
Shoeburyness and Laindon/Tilbury Town, while beyond handle problems led to
delays to First Capital Connect services in East Anglia.

On a London Underground, there were delays on a western partial of the
Metropolitan line between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Watford/Amersham/Chesham
due to an deterrent on a lane during Moor Park.

London Fire Brigade attended a fibre of wind-related incidents opposite the
collateral overnight, when gusts blew a breeze turbine in Barking and scaffolding
in Tavistock Square into “precarious positions”.

Just after midnight, firefighters were called to reports of a tree that had
tumbled on to a residence in clever winds in Chingford, easterly London, trapping
4 people inside.

A mouthpiece said: “Two glow engines, a glow rescue section and around 15
firefighters attended a incident. They used a saw to cut divided some
branches and 4 people were afterwards means to leave a house.

“Firefighters called a tree surgeon and BT operative to a scene.”

High winds brought down trees and energy lines opposite a South West, blocking
several roads.

Power lines blocked a train track in Plymouth after they were brought down
between Little Comfort and Treburley.

Cheshire Police pronounced officers have attended some-more than 15 incidents relating to
depressed trees, branches, and waste in a highway given 6am today.

A mouthpiece said: “The eastern tools of Cheshire have been particularly
influenced by a weather. Police and other agencies have attended reports of
depressed trees in Oak Road, Prestbury, School Lane in Congleton, and Ashley
Road in Mere this morning.”

A male who died when a tree dejected his outpost in high winds in Tunbridge Wells on
Tuesday has been named as Christopher Hayes, 51. He was married with three
children.

The second genocide was a organisation member on house a tanker owned by Pritchard-Gordon
Tankers Ltd, that was strike by a vast call off a seashore of a south
Devon/Cornwall border. Two other harmed organisation members were in a stable
condition.

Other vital roads to be influenced embody a A628 Woodhead Pass, that was
sealed final night in both directions between a A616 nearby Barnsley and the
A57 during Glossop.


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Road and rail delays after another inclement night

By STEPHEN BRIGGS

Published on Thursday 5 Jan 2012 09:21

9am: Motorists are confronting transport disharmony this morning (Thursday) after a series of highway incidents in and around Peterborough.

One chairman has suffered injuries in a 3 automobile collision on a Frank Perkins Parkway nearby a branch during Ikea.

Emergency services were called during 7.44am, and motorists are suggested to equivocate a area.

Wind has also caused intrusion conflicting Cambridgeshire over night.

At 7.18am there were reports of a tree restraint Ramsey Road, Ramsey Forty Foot. Police are on their approach to understanding with a incident.

A tree is still restraint Hannath Road, Tydd Gote nearby Wisbech, after being blown over during 7.53am.

A tree was blown over restraint a A15 London Road between Hampton and Yaxley during 7.10am this morning, nonetheless it has now been cleared.

At 6.30am there were reports of dual trees being blown over in Wilcott Road, Ufford, nearby Helpston. The trees were privileged by 7.30am with a assistance of a public.

At 7am there was a tree blown over in in Langley Bush Road, Helpston. It was privileged by 7.40am with a assistance of a member of a public.

At 12.10am a tree was restraint a highway during Huntingdon Road, Brampton. It privileged by 12.34am.

There were also delays progressing for rail travellers between London Kings Cross and Peterborough.

Trees on a line nearby Huntingdon caused services to be behind inspiring commuters.

Latest rail transport delays – www.nationalrail.co.uk


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Comments

There are 2 comments to this article

@1 Why,@1 Why? you’re substantially sat during a desk… Epic winds final night. Great fun to travel in.


Re a Frank Perkins parkway collision. It would be tremendously useful to tell us that instruction a collision took place in. we suppose a conflicting instruction should be using fine.


Your view

Please

Police: Monmouth County detective at fault in crash, not given summons

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WALL — A detective with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office was at fault in a head-on motor-vehicle accident in the township but was not issued a summons, according to a township Police Department report on the accident.

According to the police report, the detective, James Powers, 40 of Manasquan, was driving a black 2010 Jeep Cherokee owned by Monmouth County on Ramshorn Drive on the night of Dec. 23 when his vehicle collided head on with another driven by Joan Mariani, 51, of Wall. The report indicated that Powers was at fault when he took a curve in the road too fast, causing the vehicle to enter the opposite lane of travel and crashed into Mariani. The accident occurred at 10:32 p.m. near the intersection of Paynters Road, according to the report.

Passengers in the car with Powers included Riley Powers, 11, Tanner Powers, 11, and Devaney Powers, 5, according to the accident report. There were no passengers with Mariani, who was driving a 2010 Lexus.

Lt. Walter Pomphrey of the Wall Police Department said no summonses were issued in the accident, which was investigated by Patrolman Emmett Idzahl. Pomphrey said officers at the scene have discretion on whether to issue a summons. He said Mariani suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.

First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni confirmed that Powers was a detective in the county department.

When reached for an interview Mariani said she was advised by her attorney to not make any public comments regarding the accident.

According to state pension information Powers received a salary of $117,328 in 2010.


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Road Work Ahead, Forever

Resigned, he gathering his Lincoln Town Car, a clothing cab firm for La Guardia Airport on a Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, into a abyss.

The pothole ate his tire for lunch, and popped off a aluminum edge for dessert. He had a blowout; his newcomer missed a flight.

Most days, and many hours, a apocalyptic choices faced by many drivers on a B.Q.E. are these: Bad, worse and no exit.

“I will be really blunt about it,” pronounced Mr. Torres, who has driven on a B.Q.E. for 20 years. “It’s a nightmare.”

New York City has copiousness of aging, rage-inducing roadways, as drivers who have spent time on a Cross Bronx Expressway can attest. With a crowd of trucks and dangerous on-ramps, a B.Q.E. is a basement of overload during probably all hours of a day.

But one cause has cursed this superannuated 16.8-mile widen of highway to a place of longstanding calumny in a New York civil area, if not all of civic America: construction that never seems to end.

As Gerry Michalowski, a lorry motorist who has trafficked a B.Q.E. given 1978, put it, “It was underneath construction then, and it’s still underneath construction now.”

The initial territory of a road, that enclosed a Kosciuszko Bridge, non-stop in 1939. In a 1950s, as other sections of a alley were completed, Robert Moses, New York’s master builder, hailed a highway as partial of a grand devise to solve a “problem of demonstrate travel.”

Repairs began in 1960, good before a highway was strictly finished in 1970. Today, a reprobate tone orange — seen on barrels, cones, “Work Ahead” warnings — is a permanent underline of a deteriorating landscape.

In a latest territory in this incessant story of repair, a state final month canceled dual environmental studies that were examining alternatives — including a construction of tunnels — to rebuilding sections of a highway in Brooklyn Heights and along a territory famous as a Gowanus Expressway.

There will be no hovel and no radical reformation given there is no money, State Department of Transportation officials said. Smaller-scale repairs will start when necessary, and when income becomes available.

“Our concentration is on preserving a infrastructure and ensuring that reserve is maintained,” pronounced Phillip Eng, a informal executive for a Transportation Department.

The Brooklyn Heights project, including a deputy of a triple-deck overpass that a iconic Promenade sits atop, was ostensible to cost $354.3 million. The state pronounced they would save $6 million by canceling a study.

Delays in anticipating long-term solutions to a B.Q.E.’s ongoing trade woes are not what maestro users wish to hear. As burden trucks idle for billable hours on stretches of a roadway, Gregory Benson, a accountant during Hedley’s, a trucking association in Williamsburg, looks during his bottom line and wonders about a cost of sum reformation as compared with continual repairs.

“Why is it not being done?” he said. “By now it should be a high-tech highway.”

But a existence stays that a expressway is woefully outdated.

When a highway was built, there were no sovereign standards for a breadth of lanes. As a result, in Downtown Brooklyn, a lanes are 10 1/2 feet far-reaching instead of a now-standard 12 feet. The highway was not designed for a distance or volume of today’s vehicles, either; as many as 170,000 transport from a Gowanus Expressway to a Brooklyn Bridge any day, 18 percent of them trucks in Downtown Brooklyn alone, a state said.

That continual pounding, along with a effects of de-icing salt, has enervated a constructional steel and petrify over a past 50-some years, necessitating constant, puncture repairs

In addition, a highway has endured a series of specific ongoing projects from Queens to a Gowanus given 2002. The sum cost of those repairs on a B.Q.E. fluctuating until 2015 is estimated during $1.2 billion, state officials said.


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Profile: David Ryan, Founder of Out2Africa

David Ryan, the founder of Africa’s leading online tour operator and safari specialist, Rhino Africa (www.rhinoafrica.com), as well as its gay spinoff brand, Out2Africa (www.out2africa.com), has already made quite a name for himself in Cape Town and across the African continent. Since the company launched in 2004, it has grown in size and reputation, earning heaps of accolades for creating extraordinary tailor-made holidays in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, the Indian Ocean Islands, and East Africa.

More recently, those involved in LGBT travel have taken greater notice, since Ryan and Rhino Africa won this year’s Pioneer Award from the IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association). “Pioneer” is an apt description, as he is at the forefront of using travel and tourism as a powerful tool to uplift local communities, alleviate poverty, and protect and conserve wildlife.

With a passion for endangered species, most notably his company’s eponymous rhino mascot, Ryan is a vocal activist for conservation and protection. He pushes boundaries to find new ways to turn his life’s work into a paradigm-shifting force. In addition to rhinoceros protection programs, he also founded Challenge4aCause, a bicycle fundraising challenge in Namibia (home to many of the world’s treacherously low numbers of endangered black rhinos), and also supports Township daycare centers and community outreach programs. His upstart Save the Rhino Parade even won best float at Cape Town Pride, again finding ways to blend passions for the LGBT community, other local communities facing challenges, and animal protection.

Full Story from Passport Magazine

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