CONVERSATION
CONVERSATION
CONVERSATION
HUMAN TRACES:
ETHIOPIA
HUMAN TRACES:
ETHIOPIA
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
DESTINATIONS
DESTINATIONS
The Dreamtime, or the Dreaming, portrays the Aboriginal beliefs in spiritual existence. According to the tribes that first settled down in the continent, the Dreaming's roots date all the way back to the very begging of the creation of the world. The meaning and ideology of the term is generally not so well-understood by non-indigenous people as it is referred to as part of the culture of one of the early nations, which differs from modern perceptions.
The Spirits were the creators of everything. They made the land and the seas, the rocks and the plants, the sky and the earth. They were the higher power and the Australian Aborigines spent their lifetimes honoring this power, which guided their path and shaped their way of thinking. Not only creators of everything, which could be seen as well as felt, the Spirits also gave the Aborigines the Dreaming.
The time when everything started existing according to the initial Australians, was called the Dreaming. This is the foundation of the continent's culture. The origin of the Dreaming goes way back - 65 000 years back in time to be exact. The Ancestors of the nation shaped the land, forming some parts of it as sacred. The Aborigines were very careful and overprotective of those places, strongly believing in their significance.
The Australian Aborigines are known to have believed that the world didn't have any shape and was therefore empty. Darkness dominated, and life was simply asleep, but this changed when the creation began happening. After the Dreaming and the influence of the Spirits, objects began taking shapes and came to be. They created the four elements: water, earth, air and fire, as well as all the planets, the Sun and the Moon. The Dreaming therefore is a continuous process, which never ended. It is a small cosmos on its own, unifying the past, present and the future into one.
The Australian Aborigines' home riches so many vivid areas of the continent, including Fraser Island, Tasmania, Palm Island, Groote Eylandt and Mornington Island. The Aborigines had very strong believes in relation to the powers of the land, claiming that they never owned it - it rather owned them. The only reason they were able to call it their home is because they were looking after it and the land was taking care of the people in return.
Equally important to the Dreaming was the tribes' understandings of the disappearance of the Spirits. There came a time, when the creators of everything vanished from sight. Some of them were thought to have started living in sacred places, which is why the Aborigines perceived their homeland to be so sacred. The ancestors of today's Australians used to believe that the creators started living in rocks, in water holes and some went up to the sky to guide the people from above and keep them safe. Others transformed completely, taking the forms of the rain, the lightnings and the thunderstorms so they could be part of peoples' life.
Among the hundred's different Aboriginal languages, there isn't a word to describe 'time', because to them this simply doesn't exist. Dreaming and Dreamtime are used to replace it and summarize the ideologies of the Aborigines about everything they knew, everything they could see, feel and experience. This is why the Dreaming has such a vivid, and overwhelming meaning and has survived the obstacles of time. For the past couple thousand years, the Dreaming has built a rich cultural heritage that can identify a whole nation.
Read more about the Land, its connection to people and the way it has been perceived from different generations in the very first print issue of ORIGIN. The Land Issue covers varied topics, most of which remain related to cultural aspects of the land and its importance.
A lot of people travel to explore places and learn about them which is the message that ORIGIN wants to spread. With traveling, however, comes certain responsibilities that we should all be aware of. Elephants riding has become a popular way to explore locations by land. People have been doing this as part of their trips, mostly to places such as Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia and other parts of Asia. It is a common thing to see in certain places in Africa as well. We investigated the activity to explain why it is wrong and riding elephants should be banned everywhere.
Our first print issue studies culture and traveling represented through the land. We explored various location around the globe and learned what makes the land so valuable, which nations cherish it and how it helps us establish an identity. Traveling is important to us but traveling responsibly and making an impact is what we feel proud to stand behind. This is why riding elephants as a way of amusement should be reconsidered.
Let’s talk about the details. Elephants are very caring and extremely intelligent animals. It is a well-known fact that they never forget anything. When kept in captivity instead of spending their life in the wild, elephants die younger. Unlike in other species, this is common for the gentle giants and is often a result for stress.
Many African cultures respect elephants, believing they symbolize strength, loyalty and power. However, power can be a very tender concept. Elephant used as a tourism tool suffer from great pain daily. Elephants can be hurt very severely from the weight of carrying people and a trainer on their backs. The reason for this is the design of their spines. They have sharp protrusions, extending upwards from their spine instead of having round spinal disks. The protrusions and the tissue that serves to protect them can be harmed easily from weight pressure. Once a damage to their spine has been made, there is no going back and sometimes the harm can be irreversible. While this can’t be physically seen, the harm that the chairs can do to the elephants’ skin is. It is often the case that the chairs and the weight on their back can damage the animal’s skin and cause pain to their body. The chair, called Howdah, that gets attached to their backs, rubs on their skin and can cause blisters, which can sometimes get infected.
The training that elephants are required to go through when in captivity sometimes adopts a traditional Thai ‘phajaan’ or ‘crush’ technique. Explaining the technique would compare it to the animals’ spirits constantly and continuously being broken by the means of torture and social isolation. This is done in order to tame them. Elephants are wild animals, this is their nature as they are born in such conditions. Making them safe and obedient around people requires them to go through such training. As horrible as it sounds, in some places young elephants are taken away from their mothers to be abused with nails, bull hooks and bamboo sticks to make them obey rules, given by people. The animals often lack sleep and are starved to become submissive.
Actions from such nature are cruel and harmful as the technique is used to crash the animals’ spirit. Once wild and free, elephants become a source of tourism and entertainment. Nobody, who cared about sustainable tourism should ever ride an elephant.
In a sense, elephants have a human soul. They socialise and feel everything – pain, happiness, grief, sadness etc. They spend their life building families and finding friends. The largest land animals are a gift from nature and it is our responsibility to take special care of them and make sure they live according to their nature. Many animals, who are kept in captivity, are forced to live in isolation and carry heavy loads all day long, which is a wrong way to treat them. Their strength and power shouldn’t be abused but treated gently and celebrated by people. Elephants require minimal care to stay happy and healthy, which comes from giving them freedom to behave naturally and socialise. It is our responsibility to be culturally aware while traveling and make sure to spread awareness about the problem.
You can read the rest of the article as published in the LAND issue.
WELLCOME TO
VERADERO, CUBA
At the heart of Cuba’s tourism is one of the finest island of the Caribbean. Come along as we explore Varadero’s history, and modern-day charm as one of the world’s best summer resort destinations
Words: Aleksandra Georgieva
Photography: Sasha Das, Anca Gabriela Zosin
01 July 2020
Varadero is part of one of the largest resort regions in the Caribbean. Famous as Playa Azul (Blue Beach), last year Varadero was voted second of the world’s best beaches by Trip Advisor's Traveler's Choice Awards. Since the early 1870s the town was considered an elite resort. The peninsula expanded in tourism in the 1930s and saw much hotel development until recent days, when over a million vacationers roam the 20km white sandy beaches of the resort town each year.
At the eastern way of the Via Blanca highway, some 140 km east of Havana, travellers find Varadero. Situated at the 1.2km wide Hicacos Peninsula, the Cuban resort town lays between the Bay of Cárdenas and the Straits of Florida. The north eastern part of the peninsula hides virgin beaches and unspoilt forests. The island’s nature extends to the Hicacos Point Natural Park, the ruins of the La Calavera (The Skull), the ecologically diverse Mangón Lake and Salt Works – one of the first constructed salt works in the New World by the Spanish.
Pass by Varadero's 69 intersected cross streets and at the westernmost part of the Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago you’ll find Cayo Piedras and Cayo Cruz del Padre. Varadero has an interesting past. The town was used as a dock where of the Spanish Latin America Fleet exploited the salt mines in 1587. It wasn’t until 1887 when ten families from the city of Cárdenas built holiday villa homes. The spot between today's 42nd and 48th Street mark the foundation of the summer resort, loved by travellers.
Today Varadero has the greatest development in Cuba alongside Havana. Mostly European investments in the resort have spiked the number of tourists from slightly over 300 thousand in 1990 to over 5 million in 2019. Since tourism generates the majority of the income on the peninsula, it is no wonder that Varadero generates over 500,00 jobs. Apart from tempting tourists with luxurious stay at five-star resorts, the economy of the tropical island benefits from tobacco export. Other crops such as bananas, citrus fruits, rice and coffee from the mountains of eastern Cuba are also important for the region’s economy.
One aspect of nature in the tropical island that damages the economy and claims lives are hurricanes. Since 1498 when Christopher Columbus first recorded the tropical storms hitting Cuba, over 150 hurricanes have gone through the country. Tropical cyclones with highest level of destruction such as Irma have hit Varadero. Apart from ripping roofs from homes and trees from the ground, tropical storms bring unbearable damage, flooding, destroy main agricultural crops and ultimately claim lives. The hurricane season on the island lasts between June 1st and November 15th with September and October carrying the most risk of hurricanes.
Varadero offers travellers a ray of activities and even an amusement park to make your holiday fun and adventurous. A coral rimmed lagoon, only 400 metres east of Marina Chapelín is turned into a dolphin centre. Most hotels on the island offer visits to Delfinario alongside catamaran cruises with snorkelling, kayaks and even small boats that guests can rent to indulge into their own ways of exploring. At Marlin Náutica y Marinas at Marina Chapelin you can find kiteboards and sailboards, as well as fishing charts. History lovers can dive at Parque Marino Cayo Piedras del Norte, one of the 30 diving spots in the area, where lay a sunken military vessel and a soviet military aircraft. Underwater caves are another charm of the island and among the diving attractions east of Veradero is the Ojo de Mégano cave.
Varadero stands at the heart of Cuba’s tourism industry. This is the largest resort in the Caribbean. Expect no less than an array of whitewashed sandy beaches, over 60 hotels and tropical summertime entertainment. From kayaking to diving in underwater caves this mega-resort offers the Caribbean’s best holiday activities and relaxing blond beaches.
VARADERO FESTIVALS
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The World Music Festival takes place in Varadero every June, when open air shows and concerts host performances of artists from all over Latin America.
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Varadero Gourmet Festival happens in April and June, and indulges visitors in different Cuban cuisines, prepared by famous chefs.
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The Melia Golf Club Cup event takes part in Varadero on the third week of October, followed by the two-day Los Cactus Varadero Golf Tournament at Hotel Los Cactus.
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February starts the year with a five-day motorcycling event, featuring an array of – you guessed it - Harley-Davidson bikes.
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NOMADSofORIGIN is an independent annual publication with a focus on sustainable travelling and global cultural values. Each issue features interviews, engaging articles and photo guides, which take our nomadic readers through different destinations and introduce them to local people's perspectives.
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