Sian Ka'an is a Mayan phrase for "Where The Sky Is Born."? It's easy to see how the name was chosen when you're exploring this UNESCO Heritage site, which is Mexico's first established Biosphere Reserve. In this Reserve near Cancun, Mexico, you can boat and swim through ancient Mayan waterways, see crocodiles in the lagoons, and discover a birder's paradise. Sian Ka'an is a beautiful counterpoint to all the action in the Riviera Maya and Cancun resorts.
Photo: ? Lois Friedland
If you have an iPhone, take a look at the folder of colorful "iPhone 4 Adventure Travel Wallpapers- Best of Destinations" travel images?that Austin Lehman Adventures has created. You can download the images for free. Austin Lehman Adventures is one of the top adventure travel companies, with adventurous trips for adults and families around the globe.
Mountain Travel Sobek
Mountain Travel Sobek pioneered the concept of small-group adventure travel 40 years ago and has been exploring the world in imaginative ways ever since. The itineraries are designed for travelers who want to explore the planet's fantastic diversity of landscapes, cultures and wildlife.
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Country Walkers
Country Walkers is a well-established company with an array of trips to areas that are just becoming popular, as well as the expected itineraries to Europe and throughout North America. They have good in-country connections in exotic places and offer walking trips such as Bhutan: Kingdom of the Himalayas, Croatia: The Dalmation Coast and Chile: The Lake District and Patagonia.? This company offers self-guided hiking adventures in Italy, Spain, England and Switzerland, with accommodations in 3- and 4-star hotels and agritourismo farmhouses.
This company focuses solely on Peru. Dasatariq is the joining of two of the largest tour operators in Peru and their experienced agents can put you on package trips or create itineraries solely for you that include hiking to Machu Picchu, a trip to Colca Canyon or visiting a jungle lodge. Dasatariq has offices in the major cities tourists' visit, in case a problem arises.
If heli-skiing or heli-hiking are on your adventure-travel radar, check out the variety of trips offered by Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH). In the winter this company offers heli-ski for advanced intermediates to expert skiers and snowboarders. In the summer, the heli-hiking trips for novices to experienced hikers and for families. CMH also has mountaineering trips.
c Jen Robertson
Images of hikers trekking through lush green valleys and along trails etched into the steep Himalayas are luring adventure travelers to Bhutan. Village Tours and Treks, a company based in Bhutan that has been bringing visitors there for 25 years, creates custom tours. The tours can blend trekking, whitewater rafting, immersions into the local cultures, visits during festivals and even homestays in villages.
Greenloons
Greenloons, created by a mom who couldn't find eco-sensitive trips for her family, started Greenloons in the spring of 2010. The Web site lists hundreds of trips to ecotourism destinations, plus trips and places where eco-conscious travelers can volunteer.
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You think posh when hearing about this Five Diamond resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, but the reality is the Four Seasons Scottsdale at Troon North is a terrific base camp for hiking, mountain biking, kayaking and - of course - award-winning golf.
Even if you're not staying at this resort, there are plenty of trails for hiking and mountain biking in and around Phoenix and Scottsdale.
Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Scottsdale
These trips will take you to several countries visited by Indiana Jones in the many movies featuring his exploits. Several are repeated often well into 2009.
(c) Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used with permission
Dennis Coello
Intrepid Photography Competition 2007, Bathtime, Thailand - Wendy Broekx
International Expeditions
Friedland
Adventure travelers who enjoy exploring the world on foot will find tempting trips at Country Walkers.? The focus is on imaginative travel with 85 itineraries around the globe.? Trips are divided into styles: Guided Adventures, Self-Guided Walking & Biking Adventures, Small Ship Cruising, and Private & Custom vacations.
You'll walk and bike on local trails, experience the regional cuisine and learn about the locale from people who live there. Country Walkers trips "capture the spirit of the land," according to the company's CEO.
Photo courtesy of Country Walkers.
One entrance to Yellowstone National Park is just about an hour away from Big Sky Resort in Montana, so take time from enjoying all the activities at the resort to see Old Faithful. You can ride a zip line, take a gondola ride and hike or mountain-bike downhill on trails, take a whitewater rafting trip or go horseback riding. Kids Camp may be free if you book through Big Sky Central Reservations.
Many travelers think of Aspen as Glitter Gulch and neighboring Snowmass as an upscale family-friendly resort, and there's truth to both images. But in the summertime, lodging prices are lower and the entertainment ranges from free weekday activities ranging from scavenger hunts and cooking classes to storytelling and a juggling workshop. Kids activities at both Camp Aspen and Camp Snowmass stretch from mountainboarding and skateboarding to paintball and mountain biking. For more information about family entertainment, visit Aspen/Snowmass.
Kids in Deer Valley's Summer Adventure Camp will have great fun during age-appropriate mountain environment explorations, day trips and hikes. At this resort edging up to Park City, Utah, summer packages, which include a chairlift ride to the peak where many hiking and biking trails start, are available in standard rooms and condos in Park City, as well as the posh condos in Deer Valley and units at the luxe Stein Eriksen Lodge. For summer rates visit Deer Valley.
Epic Vacations wrap up all the travel arrangements and send your family river rafting, biking, horseback riding and on lots of other activities with a guide. Trips run for a full week, or three-days and four nights. For details visit Epic Summer or call 888-538-EPIC.
The Summer Unlimited packages at New Hampshire's Waterville Valley are a passport to unlimited summer fun. One price includes lodging plus a choice of mountain biking, kayaking, golf, tennis and other activities.
The Killington Summer Adventures packages let you and the kids go mountain biking or hiking on the slopes and various trails, challenge the climbing wall, take the alpine slides and enjoy other activities together. Packages include 2-nights lodging and a 2-day Adventure Center pass. (A single-night package is available for a slightly higher price.) For details visit Killington or call 800-621-MTNS.
Wrap a family vacation around one of the wakeboard or junior golf camps, or just enjoy a range of activities from riding a zip line and mountain biking for the entire family to Fritz's Adventure Camp for kids at Boyne Mountain. Per-night rates for hotel rooms and condos are available. Guests have access to the biking and hiking trails, tennis courts, 18-hole disc golf course, chairlift rides and other activities.
Squaw Valley USA's High Camp Bath & Tennis Club, a cable-car ride from the resort's base area, has both an ice rink and a large freeform swimming pool surrounded by mountain peaks. At this California resort you and the kids can tackle the climbing wall, go hiking or mountain biking then cool off boating on Lake Tahoe.
Why not let everyone in the family help decide where to beat the heat this summer. Visit How to Choose a Family Adventure for suggestions about planning and prepping for your trip.
Biosphere Expeditions is a volunteer wildlife conservation organization that organizes special volunteer vacations filled with adventures. Would you like to go scuba diving in Malaysia to help? protect? fragile reefs? How about tracking winter lynx, wolves and wildcats in Slovakia's Carpathian mountains? You can even try one-day "sampler" volunteer experiences with Biosphere Expedtitions.
Photo courtesy of Biosphere Expeditions
Take your kids to photograph many of the animals they’ve only seen in a zoo. Wildland Adventures offers a nine-day family safari that travels to several of Kenya's National Parks to see rescued elephants and giraffes, lions, leopards, rhinos, zebras and other animals in their natural habitats. This is a popular trip offered most years. The company also runs family tours to Tanzania and trips to other locales.
Hiking on trails in Yellowstone National Park and photographing bison, exploring the boardwalks and trails around the geysers, and kayaking on Lake Yellowstone are all part of a Country Walkers Montana & Wyoming: Yellowstone Wonders trip. It's a popular trip repeated annually. Country Walkers also offers family trips to the Cinque Terra region in Italy, Bryce and Zion in Utah, and Costa Rica.
Sea kayak in Resurrection Bay where whales and dolphins swim, take a riverside bike ride and you may see a moose, eagles or Dahl sheep and hike among glistening glaciers. It's all part of the popular Kenai Peninsula Family trip with Austin-Lehman Adventures. This company has a big selection of family adventures, including vacations in Costa Rica, Yellowstone National Park, Whistler in Canada, and South Africa.
On the Family Odyssey Through Greece you'll travel on a private boat, take the kids snorkeling in the Aegean Sea and visit islands with ancient ruins. This is one of several family trips offered by Smithsonian Journeys.
Take your kids to China and visit the Panda Research Center in Chengdu, explore Beijing together and show them the terra cotta warriors discovered in the Tomb of Qin Shihuangdi in Xian. Or, head to Bondi Beach and watch the surfers in Sydney, Australia. A&K Family Holiday's are full-filled trips with exciting sights for children as well as yourselves, which is offered most summers by Abercrombie & Kent.
We've used iTriage, one of the free smartphone apps with lots of first aid tips and videos, for quick advice on hikes and in foreign cities.? It's just one of several good smartphone apps that offer medical advice fast, plus links to find the closest doctor or emergency room.
At least one even alerts medics you're have an emergency and can't talk. Here's a selection of these apps.
