Galapagos ranked #1 destination by focused adventure travel site

by Chris Owen on

AvidTrips this week announced the results of its first Top Adventures survey taken in June 25 at this year’s Adventures NYC in Central Park. From a field of 60 domestic and international adventure destinations, the results reveal the world’s top three adventure travel destinations as The Galapagos Islands, the South Island of New Zealand, and Machu Picchu respectively. That caught my attention. Going further I discovered a really easy to navigate, focused adventure travel website that offers a wide variety of adventure travel options complete with ratings on difficulty and activity levels, price and more.

“The launch of our annual Top Adventures survey is part of our ongoing efforts to bring the world’s most amazing adventure trips to travelers” said Sanem Eruçar, Founder & CEO of AvidTrips.

Respondents were asked to select up to three places they most want to visit. In addition to ranking the Galapagos Islands number one, results revealed differences in desired adventures by age and gender.

The South Island of New Zealand emerged the top pick among female adventurers, followed by Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. Male adventurers picked the Galapagos Islands first, followed by Patagonia and Yosemite National Park.

Travelers in the 18-34 age group would like to visit the South Island of New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu, whereas adventurers in the 35-54 age group selected Bora Bora, French Polynesia, the Galapagos Islands and Yosemite National Park as their most desired adventure destinations.

AvidTrips is a different sort of website that empowers adventure travelers to discover and book adventure trips directly with the world’s leading adventure tour operators, skipping the travel agent.

“Whether you’re a horseback rider or trekker, scuba diver or cyclist,we aim to bring you the widest selection of the most exhilarating adventure experiences – so you can focus on finding the trip that’s right for you.” says AvidTrips on it’s website.

After joining via Facebook, users can pick activities and see a map of where they are being offered world-wide. I chose “climbing” and was presented with a map showing organized tours at various locations, complete with a description of what is being offered and a price.

Just for fun, I picked a tour called Everest Base Camp with Island Peak (like I could survive it) and got a quick overview of what to expect along with a detailed description of all that would be happening. Included too were alternative but related tours and resources for further investigation.

This is good stuff to simply kill some time on a hot summer day or get a serious idea of what is involved, when the best time to go is and what costs might involve.

Flickr photo by alh1

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Video of the Day – 3 days of adventure in Rio

by Stephen Greenwood on

Wherever you’re planning on traveling this summer, consider picking up and taking along a GoPro; it’s a small waterproof digital camera that takes great HD video, still photos, & timelapses – perfect for capturing playful moments on land, in the water, and everywhere in between.

Today’s Video of the Day is a fun look at one couple’s 3-day vacation to Rio de Janeiro. It was shot completely on a GoPro and uses a creative mix of still image sequences and video clips. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the creator shoots video for a living – but hopefully it will give you some inspiration to embark on and capture your own adventure this summer.

Already have one to share? Submit your pictures to the Gadling Flickr Pool or leave a link to your videos in the comments section below. It could be our next Photo / Video of the Day!

Conservation victory: Serengeti highway plans cancelled

by Sean McLachlan on


Plans to build a paved, two-lane highway through the Serengeti National Park have been canceled.

The road, which was supposed to bring better access to Lake Victoria, will possibly be rerouted further south to avoid having an impact on the Serengeti’s rich wildlife.

There’s already a gravel road across the park, but paving it would have attracted much more traffic and probably fencing. The U.S. government expressed concern, as did UNESCO, after a study showed the project would affect the annual migration of millions of animals that’s one of the wonders of the natural world.

This is a rare victory of common sense over unbridled “development.” It’s also an example of how being eco-friendly can be good for the economy. Tourism generates a major part of Tanzania’s income, and there’s no way a road cutting through the nation’s most valuable natural resource wouldn’t have had a negative impact.

[Photo courtesy D. Gordon E. Robertson]

Adventure travel show Expedition Impossible begins tomorrow

by Kraig Becker on

Fans of reality television and adventure travel shows will want to set their DVR’s for tomorrow night’s premiere of ABC’s Expedition Impossible, the latest creation from Mark Burnett, the man who brought us Survivor. The show looks to be a combination of The Amazing Race and the sport of adventure racing, mixing in puzzle solving and physical challenges while crossing through a remote and exotic location – in this case Morocco.

When the show debuts at 9PM ET tomorrow night, there will be 13 teams of three lining up at the starting line in hopes of winning $150,000 in cash. Judging from their team bios on the ABC website, the show’s producers found some interesting, if a bit predictable, characters for the race, including teams of jocks, cops, fireman, and the obligatory “California Girls.” Once the starting gun goes off, they’ll be racing across deserts, up mountains, and down rivers over ten grueling stages, with teams being eliminated each week until an ultimate winner is crowned.

Will the show be an epic competition that will have us riveted to our seats all summer long? Or will it feel like a made-for-television adventure? We won’t know for sure until it begins tomorrow night, but you can get a sneak preview of the show right now. ABC has made the first 14 minutes available online which you can check out below. Post your thoughts in the comments section for this story. Is this going to be a hit or summer let down?


On the Track at Watkins Glen International

by Paul Brady on

While the state park is fun and the wineries in the area are getting better every year, Watkins Glen is famous because of its speedway, a storied road track that’s hosted everything from NASCAR to Formula One to, this summer, a three-day Phish-stravaganza. When I rolled through town, there wasn’t much happening in the way of races.

So I took my car on the track.

Traveling the American Road – Watkins Glen International


It wasn’t as furtive as it sounds: for 25 bucks, anyone can sign up for a Thunder Road Tour of The Glen, as the track is known, and drive its infamous first turn, navigate the “esses,” negotiate the tight curves of the back end and come to a stop on the start-finish line for a photo op. Four other cars would be rounding the track with me, but we were under strict instructions not to try to pass each other, much to my dismay. (“Try not to put the other cars into the wall” was an instruction I did appreciate.)

My first lap was a gimmie, a chance to get a feel for the track and relax at the thought that I wouldn’t need to stop for any traffic lights or check my blind spot: This is certainly not highway driving.

The second loop was faster and much more fun, a chance to take the turns a little harder, punch the accelerator in the straights and test the brakes. It was also the lap on which our peloton would stop on the start-finish line. After getting used to “racing,” pulling the car to a stop felt nearly impossible. We all hopped out, and I took a picture for a family visiting from South Carolina, who in all their years watching racing has never set foot on the pavement of a track. They were giddy.

While we were stopped, I ask the driver of our pace car how fast we were going compared to a typical race day. His answer? About 30 percent, with our 60 mph a mere fraction of the 180-plus that drivers can achieve when gunning for the winner’s circle.

I vowed to really crank it up for the last of my three laps, pushing hard into turns in my Explorer, trying to squeeze as much race-day excitement I could from the controlled scenario. There were some thrills, but what I really got out of the day was a burning desire to see a real race live. Probably one at The Glen.