Friday, January 7, 2011

Best Destinations for 2011 - National Geographic Traveler Editor

MANILA, Philippines – National Geographic Traveler editors have chosen the island-province of Palawan as one of the 20 best travel destinations in the world this year.

On its website, National Geographic Traveler said Palawan’s limestone karst cliffs, coral atolls, mangrove forests, sugar-white sandy beaches, and extensive fringing reefs create one of the Philippines' most biodiverse terrestrial and marine environments.

“Designated as a fish and wildlife sanctuary in 1967, the Philippines' largest (in total land area) province encompasses nearly 1,240 miles (1,995 kilometers) of coastline stretching across 1,768 islands,” the magazine added.

It also mentioned the main island’s 5-kilometer Monkey Trail to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park's navigable underground river.

“The five-mile (eight-kilometer) coastal rain forest route is home to long-tailed macaques, blue-naped parrots, and other indigenous wildlife. In the province’s northern Calamianes islands, Coron Island is considered one of the world’s top scuba diving destinations, offering World War II-vintage wreck diving and snorkeling in calm, crystalline waters,” it added.

“Nearby Culion Island, a former leper colony surrounded by sea grass beds and coral reefs, is an emerging ecotourism destination worth a day trip.”

The other destinations that made the list are Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, Sardinia in Italy, Tasmania in Australia, Fjord Norway, Shimla in India, the Messinia Region in Greece, Kodiak Island in Alaska, the Black Sea Coast in Crimea, the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, Shikoku in Japan, Kurdistan in Iraq, Dominica, Namibia, Uruguay, Laos, the Scottish Highlands, Tunisia, and Papua New Guinea. – With a report from dzMM

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