Locums for a Small World Blog

Protect Mother Nature: take a locum traveler’s Hippocratic Oath

Posted by Saralynn White

"First, do no harm" isn't a bad principle when it comes to anyone who travels, but it seems particularly appropriate for locum tenens. Every day, hoardes of sightseers are running roughshod over some of the world's most fragile places, winning Machu Picchu a spot on the World's Monuments Fund's Watch list. Wildlife on Ecuador's Galapagos Islands is disappearing under beach towels and hotels, thanks to a boom of building and ships that shuttle tourists by the gutful each year. Even Australia's evocatively-named Bay of Fires, once Tasmania's "best-kept secret," has been threatened by a massive, recent influx of visitors.

So what do you do when wanderlust gets the better of you Down Under? Well, we've happily found several eco-friendly wilderness adventures that will scratch your itchy feet and satisfy your curiosity - without destroying Mother Nature.

The Overland Track between Cradle Valley and Lake St. Clair is regarded as one of the best guided walks in the world, and there's no better way to see it than on a walking tour with Cradle Mountain Huts. Take six days to walk the famous track, bunking down in comfortable mountain huts. You can explore alpine plateaus and glacial tarns, temperate rainforests, rivers, waterfalls and sedge land moors, traversing an extraordinary variety of unspoiled landscapes. The pace is leisurely, with a range of optional and more rigorous side trips including an ascent of Mt. Ossa. Take a trip from your desk chair with this spectacular photo gallery.

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