In a recent Money magazine article entitled “Great Adventures for Less“, writer Abigail Bassett & Beth Braverman  touted the benefits of  adventure  travel as a way to enjoy a health vacation and save money at the same time. According to the article, the adventure travel  “has been growing 17% a year, even as economic woes slowed leisure travel…”

In addition to providing travelers with a “renewed sense of passion and purpose,” the article says adventure travel, “will blow your mind without blowing your budget.”

Adventure Life is committed to providing quality small group tours that have a positive impact on the local culture and environment. Each tour is designed to present the best of each region, at the same time allowing freedom and flexibility for the unexpected and unpredictable that make each tour, each destination, unique.

Click active travel to view great discounts and deals from Adventure Life.

There are travelers that prefer nothing more than a large beach blanket and a deck chair...and then there are the travelers that prefer the Galapagos Multisport Tour!.

Tags: active travel, adventure travel, galapagos, money magazine, Patagonia

Earth Protect, an online community and social hub advocating personal action for global sustainability, recently profiled Shannon Shelton, the Founder/CEO of CFI Global Fisheries Management.  The piece explores Skelton’s upbringing in small town Oregon, experience working as a  river guide and fly tyer to help finance college, and ultimately the creation of his company.

The story reads:

“[Skelton] and his company now lead the way in holistic and innovative approaches to restoring and enhancing fisheries and stream environments. He speaks reverently about his work in rehabilitating streams, lakes, rivers, wetlands and ponds in a natural way that achieves sustainable environmental health for the entire ecosystem. In the rural lands cut by rivers, it’s the landowners who gain a lasting legacy for generations to come.”

This link will take you to the story: Earth Protect Fisheries Enhancement.

‘Deliberate’, ‘poetic’ and ‘highly respectful’ are the words Shannon uses to describe CFI Global’s innovative approach.

Tags: CFI Global, fisheries enhancement, fisheries management, Shannon Skeloton

The New York Time published  its annual “The 45 Places to Go in 2012″ article this weekend and several of the recommended destinations are Latin American countries the award-winning small group tour operator Adventure Life has specialized in for more than a decade.

Panama was named the #1 best places to travel in 2012.  Adventure Life offers an array of Panama tours that include amazing  snorkeling and diving, rainforest adventures, and picturesque islands. A Panama tour of Isla Bastimentos reveals an ecosystem budding with both land and marine wildlife, while a Panama Canal tour showcases the manmade “eighth wonder of the world.” Whether hiking through rainforests or enjoying the chill nightlife of Bocas del Toro, travelers will forever associate Panama with the best in natural and cultural landscapes.

If I had to pick one of Adventure Life’s Panama tours, it would be Discover Panama. Travelers explore the highlands of Boquete near the Costa Rica border, hike in cloudforests,  whitewater raft the Chiriqui River and spend  a couple days around Bocas del Toro, snorkeling,  kayaking and soaking in the sun.

Seeing the beauty of Panama leaves no question as to why The New York Times named it one of the 45 Best Places to Go in 2012

Another of The New York Times’ best places to travel in 2012 is the Chilean Patagonia. Patagonia travel reveals the diverse and remote beauty of southern Chile and Argentina and is as varied as the terrain. Adventure Life Patagonia tours expose travelers to an otherworldly landscape gushing with turquoise lakes, green hillsides, and ice-capped mountains. As if that’s not enough visual stimulation, Patagonia tours can also include leaping dolphins and cresting whales.

My favorite Adventure Life Patagonia tour is called Patagonia Panorama. Travelers embark from Argentina, where they lace their boots and take to the mountains for a 4-day Patagonia trekking adventure. The highlight of this trek is exploring  the glaciated Fitz Roy Range, arguably one of the most inspiring mountain areas in all the Andes. After warming up with a week on the eastern side of the continental divide,  you cross the border and enter Chilean Patagonia. From there trekkers spend 6 days exploring by foot the remarkable Torres del Paine National Park -home to the W Circuit, enormous glaciers, turquoise lakes, and verdant temperate rainforests.

The Chilean Patagonia was also named one of the Best Places to Go in 2012. Wow!!

Tags: Adventure Life, Best places to travel 2012, New York Times, panama tours, patagonia travel

This week’s Top Ten Real Estate Deals includes spectacular homes for sale from coast to coast to include a beautiful Southern Plantation style home from Spring Island.

This South Carolina waterfront home sits behind Night Heron Pond which guards the left side of the postcard-pretty 17th hole of Spring Island’s Old Tabby Links golf course.

The home offers a main house and guest house covering nearly 6,500 square feet with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, four fireplaces and the entire second floor (accessible by elevator) reserved for the master suite complete with private veranda.

To learn more about this South Carolina golf course home visit http://www.springisland.com.

Tags: South Carolina private community, South Carolina waterfront homes, Spring Island

A recent article in the holiday issue of Forbes Life  features several new ways of looking at Africa travel, and one of the trips profiled is a brand new luxury African river cruise aboard the Zambezi Queen being offered by Adventure Life.

There are few natural wonders as synonymous with Africa’s raw wilderness as the Chobe River, which divides Namibia’s Caprivi Strip from Botswana’s Chobe National Park.  Teeming with life, this National Park sprawls across the African bush and is home to the largest population of elephants in the world. Prides of leopard and lion, huge groups of buffalo, waterbuck, roan, eland, sable, giraffe, and the rare puku can also be seen. In the river itself watch out for hippo and crocodile, and keep your binoculars at the ready for spotting a rich selection of bird life.

The ship operates in 5-star opulence, and is all about pampering, indulgence, and superior comfort. Whether you are dining on our third level restaurant watching the animals gather at the water at dusk, game viewing or attempting to land your first tiger fish, the professional team will be on hand to meet your every need.

” The Chobe is the region’s lifeblood, the primary reason for its abundant game and birds, and as we rounded a bend and finally glimpsed the 138-foot Queen, gleaming white and beckoning us forward,” reads the Forbes Life article

For more information on this Forbes Life story or to book a trip aboard the Zambezi Queen, visit Adventure Life or call 800-344-6118.

After breakfast either choose a half day game drive or game viewing by boat. Return to the Zambezi Queen and cruise down the Chobe River.

Enjoy a water based game viewing activity or a cultural village tour by mokoro (African canoe)

Tags: African safari, Forbes Life, River Safari, Zambezi Queen