Archive: April, 2010

Almost certainly the solitary most important characteristic of your journey will be the superiority of your tour guide, since they will be responsible for the tracking as well as finding of the animals for all of you. A superior tour guide should be capable for answering all sorts of questions regarding the habits of the various animals as well as their life cycle. A number of countries offer courses in tour guide training, on the other hand, normally the best camps plus lodges provide training to their individual tour guides, along with the camps in the regions of southern Africa that produces a few of the best wildlife guides all across the world. The superiority of guiding in the East Africa and West Africa is by no means so good even though it has started for catching up with the regions  [...]

The 4 Vallées ski resorts (Verbier, Nandez, Veysonnaz and Thyon) constitute one of the largest lift-served skiing areas in the world. Located entirely in Switzerland, the maximum skiable vertical at Verbier, given conditions are perfect, they involve a trail of 15km descending more than 2,500 metres, making it one of the biggest and best verticals in the world. Verbier features a high percentage of high-tech lifts that can quickly shift large numbers of skiers. The most noted of the lifts is ‘Le Jumbo’ cable car, capable of carrying 150 people at a time up to the Mont Fort glacier. The Funispace lift, on the other hand, features twin giant gondola cabins that can carry 30 passengers. Chaux Express and Les Attelas lifts have been added in recent times. The main attractions at Verbier  [...]

Diving Blue is the most sought after dive site in the Pacific island nation of Palau. Blue Corner is an advanced dive marked by very strong and sudden currents and those with weak hearts are strictly advised not to engage in exploring Blue Corner. Moreover, these conditions at Diving Blue make this ridge that protrudes out into the open sea and drops down to thousands of feet, an ideal roaming ground for sharks. The diving activities at Diving Blue take place along either side of the wall, depending on the water currents. Divers can drop to about 90 feet underwater to witness the spectacular gorgonian fans, anemones, eels and soft corals clinging along the wall. Encounter with a gray reef shark is also a possibility here and it is always advisable to keep a distance with them. As one  [...]

The Futaleufú River is located in the southern part of Chile's Lake District, in the northern reaches of Patagonia. The river winds from Lago Futaleufú in Argentina through a narrow forested valley before emptying into the lakes near the Golfo Corcovado. Futaleufu is one of the most beautiful river in the world and is a top destination for water adventurers. Luscious rainforest landscapes combined with the awesome whitewater make Futaleufu the ultimate rafting destination. Rafting trips to the Futaleufu occur for limited period (mostly during December and January months, when the weather is warm and water condition is great). The river’ surrounding scenery offers a blending of California’s Yosemite with the rapids of the Grand Canyon and the water colour of the Caribbean. Futaleufu  [...]

Whistler Blackcomb is a major ski resort located about 125 km north of Vancouver in British Columbia in Canada. It is the largest ski resort in North America (Vail ski resort is a distant second) and till recently, it had the highest vertical skiable distance by quite some margin. Whistler Blackcomb features Peak 2 Peak gondola, the highest and the longest unsupported cable car circuit in the world, for moving between the mountain tops of Whistler and Blackcomb (earlier, it was possible only through skiing). Whistler Blackcomb is one of the most-visited ski resort in the world, with a footfall of 2 million visitors. Whistler was originally supposed to participate in the bid to host 1968 Winter Olympics though it did not materialize ultimately. However, the preparations had started in 1966  [...]

For the divers, a date with a shark is an unforgettable piece of memory, particularly if it is in the Great Bahama Island in the Bahamas. The Shark Alley here has about 10 – 25 Caribbean reef sharks ready to mingle and swim with the visitors. The shark adventure at Shark Alley begins with a minute briefing. During this time, the shark feeder passes through various dive phases. The fish bait for the sharks are kept in a special container. The shark feeder gets covered in a stainless steel mesh suit and is accompanied by a safety and a video camera diver. The safety diver guides the visitors’ group to the shark area and here, the divers kneel in a semicircle fashion in front of an inoperative decompression chamber. At this moment, the reef sharks also appear. Some even come within a  [...]

Molokini is an ancient volcanic caldera in the Hawaii (Maui is one of the islands of Hawaii, a state of the United States of America). It is located about 2 miles offshore from South Maui in the Alalakeiki Channel between Maui and Kaho’olawe, is a place for great snorkeling and scuba diving. Molokini is a marine sanctuary underwater and a bird sanctuary above. The water at Molokini is incredibly clear much owing to its location in the middle of the channel and the absence of any sand deposits around the islet. The visibility at the Molokini is always clear, irrespective of the wind or the wave conditions. The island has no direct access and only those having research permits are permitted to go ashore. A variety of snorkel tours are available at Molokini. Explore Molokini: The best  [...]

It was in the month of February last year and we had a fantastic two days of white water rafting on the White Nile in Uganda. The river trip started in the Ugandan capital, Kampala after an early pick from the hotel. We were driven to Jinja, the source of the Nile. After breakfast, a general briefing about the ensuing trip and familiarization with the equipments for the trip like life jackets and helmets, we embarked upon the mission. We entered the river at around 10.30 am. Thomas, our guide, took us through a practical safety drill like what happens if the boat overturns and the do’s and dont’s in the boat. After the formal training, we soon hit the first rapid and the fun started. Several grade 3 and 5 rapids (known by names like ‘Big Brother’ and ‘G-spot’); long pools  [...]

Protea Banks is a unique reef system located along the coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa and is a spot known for its remarkable diving opportunities. The marine life forms the main attraction here in terms of yellow tail, tuna, kingfish, barracuda that attract a huge number of predators. The reef is particularly known for its bull sharks (called as ‘Zambezis’ for they can swim huge distances up the freshwater rivers and the most noted case of this is in the Zambezi Riverin southern Africa) and is one of the world’s top shark dives. Diving activities at Protea Banks took off in the early 1990s although the psychological impact of the famous Hollywood flick ‘Jaws’ did not make it much popular in the diving community initially. However, things slowly reversed as the popular  [...]

The view of the 5,700 metre long Gondogoro La pass from the summit is simply fantastic. The pass is located amidst a fine mountain panorama in the world marked by the presence of K-2, Broad Peak, Trinity Peak, Laila Peak and a multitude of other lesser peaks. The trek to the top of the Gondogoro La pass includes 60 degree ice and snow slopes climbs that require ice axe, crampons, helmet, harness, ropes and carabiners to overcome. The first leg of the trek took us to Concordia from where we hiked up to Ali Camp, located above the Vigne Glacier. The icy-white slopes of Chogolisa tower here, resembling a wedding gown and giving Chogolisa its pet name of ‘Bride Peak’. From Ali camp, we started for Gondogoro La at 2 in the morning. We trekked across the Vigne Glacier in the darkness and  [...]