HI Niagara Falls

To better understand our enthusiasm, we need to elaborate. It was spring 2018 and we decided to go travel to Jamaica. We wanted a little relaxation on beautiful beaches, swimming in the turquoise sea and of course experiencing as many interesting things as possible. The island is extremely interesting, and the beaches are very beautiful. What saddened us while traveling in Jamaica was that it was so polluted. The rubbish lies everywhere, and this obviously does not bother anyone. Moreover, citizens themselves also throw waste out of the window when they drive through the forest or leave food scraps and packaging on the beach. The worst scene was when we visited the most eastern point of Jamaica, the Morant Point lighthouse. There we saw a kilometre-long sandy beach that would be very beautiful if it wasn't completely covered with plastic. Previously, we did not exactly imagine the problem of pollution of the oceans with plastic and we didn’t take it seriously enough, but when we saw this beach, we really understood the problem.

On the way home from Jamaica, we had a longer transition in Toronto, Canada, and we took the time for a trip to the nearby Niagara Falls where we booked an accommodation at the HI Niagara Falls hostel. We were impressed even when we were driving from Toronto to Niagara Falls: Canada is clean! The hostel, however, made everything perfect. Everything was tidy, clean and at every turn, we could see how much they were trying to not impact the nature by managing a hostel. It's a total opposite to the situation in Jamaica, which disappointed us so much. At the HI Niagara Falls hostel, the effort for sustainable tourism is noticeable everywhere. Garbage is strictly separated and recycled. In fact, they almost don't have ordinary, mixed waste, but everything goes to containers for plastics, paper, glass and organic waste, which are everywhere. The signs about energy consumption remind the visitors at every step that they should be careful and think about their consumption. They also offer and encourage the use of bicycles instead of buses or cars for shorter distances, and they are happy to tell you that they have drinking water from the tap and encourage you to pour it in your reusable bottle.

The other thing we noticed at the hostel is the great advantage of being a member of Hostelling International. Accommodation at the hostel is cheaper for HI members, breakfast is included in the price, and you get a discount on bicycle rental in the hostel and many other benefits and activities offered by the hostel could be availed if we only stayed longer.

After we had a good night's sleep in the hostel, we warmed up under a hot shower and had great breakfast, the adventure started for us: Niagara Falls. For those who do not know: Niagara Falls are the waterfalls on the Niagara River, which overflow over a tectonic fault on the Canadian-American border, and then runs to Toronto through the canyon. The waterfalls are fascinating and mighty, but it is certainly worth following the river and seeing the canyon. There is also a wine-growing region, from where icewine originates (wine made from frozen grapes), and many wineries offer wine tastings. All this is close enough to be able to go there with a bike that you rent at the hostel. We had to return to the airport in Toronto and catch a plane home, so we made this trip with the car (yes, I know, we did not exactly prove ourselves in preserving the environment).

After beautiful and interesting, but also very polluted Jamaica, our trip to the Niagara Falls was a real balm for the soul. The enthusiasm of the employees at the hostel, explaining how they care about the environment, inspired us to use less plastic, separate waste and gave us a greater awareness of the impact we have on nature and the environment around us.