Adventure Vacation Suggestions??

[Annette]

It looks like DH and I will have 1 more trip before we TTC and we want it to be adventurous. We just went to Costa Rica and had a blast and did so many outdoor activities, like whitewater rafting, rappelling and zip lines.
Of course now that that vacation is over, I am ready to plan the next one.
We've already been to Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon.
Ideally, our next trip would be outside the country.

Does anyone have any suggestions for adventure trips that aren't too expensive (we'd like to keep everything under 3-4k). We aren't looking for guided tours, just somewhere that offers a lot of hiking, rafting or other activites that you can't necessarily do in the states.
Thanks!

[Asha]

we are going to peru. i consider it an adventure bc we will be going to machu pichu!! though, we aren't being that adventurous bc we are taking the train up, but i know that you can hike up. emmjay's dh hiked up to machu pichu. her journal has lots of neat travel photos for inspiration. i hope she doesn't mind that i led you in her direction.

[betsyboop]

I was going to recommend Peru, but it looks like someone already beat me to the punch! We went this past July and it was a great trip. We saw Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and Lima (I would leave out Lima if I had to do it over again). We hiked, stayed in the mud brick home of a local family for a night, and ate crazy stuff like guinea pig and alpaca. I think that qualifies as adventurous:) The trip was pretty inexpensive too- the flights were about $500pp and then everything in Peru was very cheap- hotels, meals, tours, etc. I think the whole 10 days cost us about $2500-$3000.

[wander_woman]

My favorite adventure vacation was to Patagonia in southern Chile. You have to go in Dec - March (otherwise it's too cold) so I don't know if that fits your time frame. It was by far the best outdoorsy vacation I've ever been on (I've been to Costa Rica, and absolutely loved it, but Patagonia was better, IMO). We spent 4 days hiking in the Torres del Paine park at the very southern tip of the continent. Breathtaking scenery and some of the best hiking I've ever done (Emmjay has pics of the park in her journal). We also did a one-day glacier hike which was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. Then we spent 1 week rafting the Futleufu river (one of the top whitewater rivers in the world). That week also included horseback riding, kayaking lessons, and hiking. Our outfitter was Bio Bio Expeditions and they were excellent. Rafting the Fu is definitely an experience you will never forget. Much bigger and fiercer rapids than I've ever seen before, in the midst of the most amazing scenery. We spent our last few days relaxing in Buenos Aires. The trip cost of $4k for 18 days (but we got a deal on our rafting trip).

I've never been to Peru but it's high on my list of places to go. Besides the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, there's also some good whitewater rafting there. And you could take a trip into the Amazon. You could also do an amazon trip in Brazil. A friend of mine did this recently and had a blast.

A final suggestion would be to head to Asia. New Zealand would be perfect for you (lots of hiking, rafting, camping, kayaking, etc.) but will probably be too expensive (I've never been, just from what I've heard). It may be worth looking into though. Perhaps you could get a good deal on a flight. Everyone I know who has been to NZ absolutely raves about it.

[elladee]

Sounds like South America is the way to go.

DH and I honeymoon in Venezuela. We did a trip to Angel falls (the highest waterfalls in the world). It was a 3 day treck - only accessable by canoe, so we spent one day getting there, one day at the falls and one day getting back out. Then we spent some time in and around Merida - the mountain region. We went horseback riding, paragliding, and rode mountain bikes down the side of a mountain (we had a guide to drive us up :D ). We then spent the last couple days on the beach snorkeling and bumming around. It was a blast. The whole thing cost us just under $5,000, including flights from the US. Last I heard, the black market exchange rate was even more favorable for US dollars, so you could probably do even better.

[rosa727]

I have not done as many really adventurous vacations as I would like (although we are going to St. Lucia next week and planning on doing a lot of adventurous stuff while there; no, we are not staying at an all-inclusive or anything like that - we have our own villa). Anyway, my dream adventure vacation is a cruise down the Amazon. I have heard about these but don't know a whole lot about them. I think you would see a lot of amazing things. I would love to go just about anywhere in South America. My friends just honeymooned in Patagonia and loved it. They have amazing pictures!

[lawyergirl25]

A friend of mine backpacked in Peru for 3 weeks this summer, on a budget of $1500. Obviously, she and her friend roughed it, but they had a fantastic time and saw A LOT. I could email her for details if you'd like.

[Annette]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll have to start researching. I think backpacking would probably be out of my comfort zone.
I am also unsure of the camping aspect. DH is still trying to convince me to do a 6 day Colorado river trip.

[Leia]

I second New Zealand, hands down. So beautiful, so much adventure. Anything you could ever want in a destination. If you can use miles to get there, it's not expensive.

[Annette]

We actually wanted to go to NZ this year, but my miles wouldn't get us there (Continental doesn't fly to Auckland) and the trip itself would be pricey. Our travel agent suggested Costa Rica instead and we had a blast there. We also flew for free.

[emmjay]

If you are interested in Patagonia, I think Continental, or at least Continental partners, fly to both Buenos Aires and Santiago - for partner airlines I believe you have to call the partner airline to use your miles, but you should still be able to use them. From either BA or Santiago you could fly to Puerto Natales which is near the Torres del Paine National Park. That is a lot of hiking, but you don't necessarily have to camp because they have lodges available throughout the park.

Ecuador is another good place for adventurous stuff - Continental definitely flies to Quito (I used Continental miles to fly there myself!). You can go surfing, rafting, mountain biking, hiking, horeseback riding, and see rainforests, mountains, etc. There are also some really great Spanish colonial towns there, and a thriving indigenous culture. Plus they use US dollars so you don't have to worry about the exchange rate. ;)

[betsyboop]

If you are interested in Patagonia, we've also been there and we actually went a couple of Octobers ago, so well outside of wander_woman's Dec-March window, and it wasn't unbearbly cold at all. It was obviously windy and that made it chilly, but it wasn't too bad. On the day we hiked in Torres del Paine, it was actually very hot and sunny- we wore short sleeves and wished we had shorts.

If you're interested in Chile at all, I would also recommend a visit to the Atacama Desert region. The scenery was awesome and the people were SO friendly and happy to have people vsiting their region. It's actually the driest desert in the world and there are some really cool things to see there- geysers, a huge salt flat, all kinds of intresting wildlife, volcanos, and more. We spent about 4 days there on our trip, but there was plenty more to see and do when we left.