Adventure

For any traveler who has wondered if the additional cost of a tour with National Geographic Expeditions (1145 17th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036; 888/966-8687, www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com) over other tour operators is worth the expenditure, rest assured that it is.

On Dec. 31, 2007, my husband and I left the States and arrived in San José to begin an 8-day tour called “Costa Rica Adventure.” The ground operator was Global Adrenaline.

We were flying home on Feb. 26, 2007, after a trip to the Antarctic with International Expeditions (One Environs Park, Helena, AL 35080; 800/633-4734, www.ietravel.com). Our group was booked on Aerolineas Argentinas (800/333-0276, www.aerolineas.com.ar) flight AR2892 from Ushuaia (USH), Argentina, to Buenos Aires International (EZE).

by Rosemary McDaniel, Trenton, FL

If you are a horseman or woman looking for a true adventure, you just can’t beat Australia’s Snowy Mountains. When I saw the film “The Man from Snowy River,” I knew that that was an area I wanted to see from horseback. In March ’06 I realized that dream.

Since our retirement, my wife, Dorothy, and I follow a custom of celebrating Christmas away from home. We spent the 2005 holiday season on the tour “Best of Kenya and Tanzania,” Dec. 13-31, with Overseas Adventure Travel (One Broadway, Ste. 600, Cambridge, MA 02142; 800/493-6824, www.oattravel.com).

East Africa is an area of great natural beauty mixed with abject poverty — huge collections of animals alongside native peoples scratching out a living yet apparently cheerful.

On our first visit to France’s Pont du Gard, the famous 2,000-year-old aqueduct near Nîmes, in 1996, we stood in envy as we looked down on the river below dotted with canoes and kayaks, promising ourselves that someday we, too, would be among them. It was a long time before that anticipated day arrived; in fact, not until my 80th birthday in June ’05 did we return.

I had some concerns about crime in Guatemala after reading reports in ITN and other publications about bandits and attacks on tourists. I hope these reports do not discourage people from visiting this country. My friend Roni and I never felt unsafe or threatened on the 14-day “Route of the Maya” tour that we took with Overseas Adventure Travel (Box 3167, Boston, MA 00241; 800/221-0814 or www.oattravel.com), May 8-21, ’05.

We’ve wandered much of the world since retirement, usually independently and on a modest budget. We decided to take the “Heart of India” tour from Overseas Adventure Travel (One Broadway, Ste. 600, Cambridge, MA 02142; phone 800/955-1925 or visit www.oattravel.com), Sept. 29-Oct.15, ’05. We’re glad we did!

(First of three parts, jump to part 1, part 2, part 3)

South African game reserves

Everything you ever wanted to know about South African game reserves but didn’t know what to ask!

When we toured Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, we first spent an entire afternoon in the temple complex. Later, we went to see the sunset on a famous hill. You can climb the hill up a very rough, rocky (actually boulders) path or take an elephant ride up.

The sunset was something I have not seen the like of anywhere else in the scores of countries I have traveled. Take good film to capture this phenomenon, and go early; it gets very packed up there!

ITN was mailed a copy of the following letter, sent by a reader to Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT), a subsidiary of Grand Circle Travel (GCT).