Mexico's hidden 'bat volcano'
Bats are crucial to the local ecosystem in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. They keep the pest population down by eating millions of insects every night and they also help to pollinate plants in the jungle.
Qasa Alom visits a hidden bat volcano, home to three million bats who sustain the local ecosystem.
This video is from The Travel Show, the BBC's flagship travel programme.
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The National
3 hours ago
- The National
AI alone just won't wash – people must be in the pipeline
I needed to spin up a very quick solution to the problem of getting 2025 tourism information in Tiree tidied up into a single usable place which was, crucially, easily updatable. This might surprise some folks, who remain convinced that by talking about the challenges of tourism, and second homes, I am single-handedly trying to destroy the industry. Nothing could be further from the truth – the goal is to try and do tourism better, to the benefit of our communities – but that's a column for another day. READ MORE: 'Completely unprecedented': BBC cuts live feed for Kneecap Glastonbury performance In this instance, I am wearing my Trust comms hat, and trying to ensure that people visiting Tiree get all the information they need at their fingertips. I want to make sure that we are promoting all local businesses, and that we are clearly communicating the key things we want people to know – like how to use passing places, and when and how dogs should be controlled. This is an important part of making tourism sustainable, and beneficial. It should also give the visitor a better experience. Getting that information out to as many people as possible seems like something that technology should be able to simplify. After all, in 2025, isn't everything solved by applying 'AI'? In short, no – but it can help if you know what you are doing. AI doesn't know where we live. It doesn't know what is still open or not open, it has no idea about the realities of visiting an island with no cash machine and cranky crofters (I include myself in that demographic), and it has not a scooby about the vagaries of island life. The problem of getting the details right is not one that's going to be solved by AI and it's not one that's going to be solved by guides that are based on people sucking information off the internet and turning it into a money maker. It's a problem that needs to be solved by people. We understand the difference between information and knowledge. Computers do not. (Image: Unsplash) A disclaimer: I am writing this before the app is launched, and in the full knowledge that I might end up with egg all over my face as the entire concept flops. Such is life. Let's take this information guide as an example of when and how 'AI' is particularly useful. Why am I insisting on putting it in quotes? Because it is not true AI. Not even close. The AI tools we are using are just clever computer programmes with fancy names. Most of the companies producing 'AI' solutions are simply reclothing the emperor. The emperor has had many outfits. Remember Dropbox's early days? It presented itself as seamless cloud magic, but behind the curtain, there was a bloke manually moving files between servers – a classic piece of human-powered sleight of hand. We've seen that before, and now it's happening again with AI. Take once a Microsoft-backed, billion-valuation startup, it claimed its 'AI' assistant Natasha could build apps just by chatting. In reality, however, it leaned on around 700 human engineers in India to do the coding while calling it AI-powered – a textbook case of 'AI-washing'. It's not that it didn't work – it did, thanks to real people – but the magic was all in the marketing, not the algorithm. So back to the practical side of building this thing. The island already has a very good website, but staff at the Trust find it hard to update because the backend of the website is needlessly complicated, and requires them to set aside time to refresh themselves on how to do it every time. When it came to the data, I could have sent AI off to gather all the up-to-date details for businesses in Tiree, to scour the web for the important stuff people need to know and to compile it into a guide. But that would have been a deeply stupid course of action. The internet is full of information about Tiree – some of it right, a lot of it not. There are business websites and social media profiles updated on an ad hoc basis, glossy magazine features with variable accuracy and out-of-date attempts at exactly what I am doing. If you want a good laugh, there's an 'AI'-written guide to Tiree that's so wildly inaccurate it's worth buying for the giggle. (Image: Getty Images) AI doesn't think independently. It draws conclusions from the data it's given. If that data is wrong, so are the results. In this case, the data is far from sound. We would have had to check everything anyway. So we did the data entry manually – copied content, cross-referenced with social media and filled in what we could from public sources. We did the bit AI cannot do – we verified. Content gathering, though, was the easy part. The harder bits were organising the information and making it super simple to update. For users, it had to be laid out in a way that made sense to both visitors and the community. What do we want people to know? What are they likely to miss? What matters here, in Tiree? These are not questions AI can answer. You need to live here, or listen to the people who do. So I asked around, took advice and tried to reflect the priorities of the island. None of that could have come from a chatbot. That part still takes people. Always has. It was the updating part that I was most interested in. If you have an office tech geek with the time to update opening hours in an inscrutable content management system, that's great but those are few and far between. Updating needed to be quick and effortless. I asked ChatGPT how best to do it. It came up with a series of suggestions – including an app builder that runs off a spreadsheet. I had never heard of it, but I was interested. I ended up using it to build the new information app. And the whole thing does indeed run off a Google spreadsheet. To change an opening time, all anyone needs to do is update a spreadsheet cell. That's it. 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The National
3 hours ago
- The National
All aboard magical canoe that carries voices of land and loss
Canadian First Nations elder Cecil Paul's canoe is, of course, a metaphorical one, evocatively described in his seminal Stories From The Magic Canoe Of Wa'xaid. Cecil cautions before we set out from Kitamaat in British Columbia: 'The currents against it are very strong, but I believe we can reach that destination, and this is the reason for our survival.' Cecil's own survival – and his inspiring fortitude and forgiveness – verges on the miraculous. Born in the Kitlope, he was ripped from his parents and community in an attempt to 'Canadianise' him. Under a Canadian apartheid, he was imprisoned for sitting in a theatre seat not designated for 'Indians'. Battles with alcoholism and other demons descended, before Cecil found redemption in the battle he inspired to save the Kitlope – which he described as 'the largest unlogged temperate rainforest in the world' – from development. His canoe sent ripples around the world. READ MORE: Scottish ice cream parlour known for its 'Italian craftsmanship' among UK's best My journey with Cecil begins by the Crab River. Here the MV Swell, our expedition boutique small cruise ship, crosses from traditional Haisla territory into the Xenaksiala lands where Cecil was born. Maple Leaf Adventures ( are deeply sensitive and respectful with First Nations culture, our onboard naturalist Ethan Browne performing a small ceremony as we enter. Canadian Ethan explains, 'The special place we are going to is no doubt a beautiful part of British Columbia, but it really only comes alive in the cultural context of the First Nations, who have called this place home since time immemorial.' I think I'm ready for the Kitlope, but no-one really is. I finish Cecil's book as we overnight at the mouth of the river. I wasn't ready for how triggering it is. His descriptions of being hit by teachers for speaking his native tongue echo with my schooling when I was slapped with a ruler for speaking Scots. Also pinging my synapses is the familiarity of the vast, arresting beauty of the Kitlope. This elemental landscape of vaulting mountains, tree-shrouded emerald slopes and cobalt waters transcends Sir David Attenborough's purring in a BBC documentary. It also looks a lot like Scotland's Great Glen. The similarities in the struggles of those who lived here before the British Empire descended are even more striking. Tales of people being torn from their homes and families devastated are all too familiar to a Scot. The arduous struggles to retain language, culture and a semblance of dignity painfully so. I wake early to finish Cecil's book on deck as a bald eagle fights his own battles with a dozen haranguing gulls in a corner of Canada alive with flora and fauna. Then we are off, 11 passengers and six crew. Half of the crew have never been up this ultra-remote river. All aboard feel privileged to be here as we leave the cocoon of our luxurious ship to forge upriver through currents, logs and ghosts on a brace of small RIBs. And we all fear we might not make the lake as the river becomes shallower and shallower. The journey is a testing one for the crew battling the shallows and currents, but spectacular too. The hills close in more and more as we feel smaller and smaller. Then we sight a local, the beloved animal the First Nations peoples see as a guardian of the forest. Bears occupy the foundation rung of the replica G'psgolox totem pole we see on the left bank of the river, supporting everything else. Cecil fought hard to have the original totem pole returned from Sweden. It looks like we won't make the lake, though, as the water level plunges below two feet. Perilous for a propeller. But then, just as the rain eases, six hours after setting off from the mouth of the river, what Cecil called 'the theatre' unfurls in all its glory. Imagine Loch Ness with no villages, no houses and no hulking electricity pylons. Kitlope Lake proves as magical as the canoe that has brought us here. We raft up together in the cobalt waters of this breathtaking natural amphitheatre. Ethan reads from the book about bathing your eyes and ears in the water so that you may see life afresh, becoming kinder to others on your unique life journey. We share the experience of cleansing in the cool water, then reflect in the Kitlope's deafening silence. Cecil felt the Kitlope's raw natural power – 'Our people say that you will not leave that place unchanged … something touches you.' It does. I head downstream with a greater respect and deeper knowledge of the First Nations people and of the beauty of this wild and wildly beautiful corner of British Columbia. I also hear the distant ghosts of the Scottish Highlands blowing in the Kitlope breeze. And I think of people who have been stripped of their lands – and dignity – the world over.
Times
2 days ago
- Times
Amor Arenal hotel review: sleep in the shadows of a Costa Rican volcano
Just 5 per cent of Amor's 250-acre undulating land was used to create this adult-friendly boutique hotel, which edges a rainforested canyon in full view of Arenal volcano. Each of the immaculate shiny-wood casitas (cottages) stands alone, lusciously enveloped by tropical foliage, and with the restaurant, bar, open-air spa, pools and gym all hidden amid this intense greenery, the resort feels deceptively small and looks empty, even when full. Guests either cocoon themselves in their casitas — taking full advantage of their rainforest-view spa pools — wander local trails or explore Arenal's zip lines, aerial walkways and thermal springs. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue Score 9/10Amor's 31 casitas are essentially chocolate-box cottages, crafted from at least six varieties of precious hardwood, with private terraces for peering up at Arenal's famous volcano. It's heaven for honeymooners — think cloud-soft beds heaped with cushions, heated whirlpools and strong, rainforest-view double-head showers — and also suits friends travelling together (some rooms have twin queen beds). Yoga mats, kettle bells, plates of sweet treats and even hair straighteners are welcome touches. Light sleepers might find the lack of curtains unnerving, but even if the dawn light doesn't wake you up the howler monkeys will certainly sound the alarm. Just be aware that while all casitas are volcano-facing, the encroaching rainforest conceals the view from some. Buggies can be called upon to whisk those staying in the furthest flung accommodation to the restaurant sweat-free. Score 9/10The chefs are very selective with their produce, favouring organic, seasonal and regional ingredients. El Rancho, the main restaurant with a volcano-view terrace, infuses Latin American flavour into its dishes, though Mexico, Italy and Peru are well represented too. Breakfasts are hearty (think burritos bursting with fillings) but there are also lighter options: homemade pastries, fresh fruit and creamy oats. For something different, amble down the boardwalk from the restaurant (look out for resident red-eyed tree frogs) to La Jaranita Bar and Tico Grill where in-table barbecues are poised for socially grilling gallitos (soft corn tortillas). The hotel has a considered wine menu and a cocktail cart championing sugar cane-based guaro cacique concoctions. Foodies can also sign up for cookery demos, wine tasting and a chef's table dinner. • Read our full guide to Costa Rica• Best places to visit in Costa Rica Score 9/10It's hard to resist the allure of the gorgeously designed spa. Peeping between curtains of vines are sensual open-sided massage rooms, a thatched yoga shala and a meditation pavilion. It's rightfully popular, so worth booking a treatment before you come, though anyone can join the daily morning wellness classes focussing on yoga, meditation or sound therapy. Two trails explore Amor's canyon, past waterfalls, bubbling streams and pristine rainforest, though you'll need a guide if you are tackling the more challenging route. The hotel also has a couple of spring-fed pools backed by trickling waterfalls, lipstick palms and ginger, and a very well equipped gym furnished with functional training and cardio equipment as well as free weights. Score 9/10Arenal is Costa Rica's most photographed volcano and nothing but rainforest stands between Amor and this pointed peak (but don't worry, the volcano is currently 'resting'). This region is the country's undisputed adventure capital with treks, trails and aerial walkways leading through wildlife-dense rainforest, lakes for paddleboarding and meandering rivers for gentle floats or white-knuckle rafting — the accommodating hotel team can help craft you an itinerary. For a change of (culinary) scene, there are plenty of places to eat and drink in La Fortuna, a ten-minute drive away, along with shops selling souvenirs and supplies. Price B&B doubles from £470Restaurant mains from £20Family-friendly over-13s onlyAccessible Y Emma Boyle was a guest of Amor Arenal ( • Best places to see wildlife in Costa Rica• More great hotels in Costa Rica
