Adventure Travel Wilderness And Hiking Trails Fees Continue To Rise

Is adventure travel getting expensive for the family? The good news for adventure travel and wilderness hiking trails is that the USA has some of the most unique and incredible places to see on earth. Our National, State Parks, Monuments and Wilderness Areas are awesome, but for years there have been reduced number of visitors. Many citizens have said that a four-year program to increase national parks entrance fees to make them more uniform may discourage some Americans from visiting their national parks such as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion and Yellowstone.

The National Parks have been faced with a budget crisis. The parks are struggling to protect the historic, cultural and natural resources that the parks were created for. The parks are short of funds for operating facilities, repairs to roads, bridges, trails and buildings. There was an 814 million dollar shortfall in 2006. There are almost 400 areas of protection covered by the National Parks Service. Almost every park has fewer full time employees now than in 2001, while there were over 273,000,000 visitors to the parks in 2005. The park service needs more funding to provide education, interpretive and for the safety requirements of their visitors. This is a time of controversy about park fees, current plans for oil, gas and mineral exploration in our parks and of course removing the O'Shaughnessy Dam to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite.

Recently the federal government has moved to replace the National Park Service's annual pass with a new multi-agency pass. Some people think that the fee increases are getting out of line. The park service raised entrance fees at 34 parks over the past two years and plans to raise them at another 124 parks in 2008 and 2009. At Glacier National Park in Montana and Joshua Tree National Park in California, the fees will go up twice, and beginning in 2011, park officials plan to increase fees every three years, based on inflation. There is a proposal to double entrance fees next year at Crater Lake National Park, now per car. Will it drive the local visitors away? In 1997, when the park service began raising fees, the number of national parks visitors has fallen 1% while entrance fee revenue has gone up almost 16%. Many of them are from outside the United States and love to visit the American protected lands.

Will the National Park Centennial Act to rescue our parks before 2016 - the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service? The acts purpose is to eliminate the annual operating deficit and maintenance backlog in the national parks. If it passed, it was to create a check off box on American tax returns to fund the parks. As H.R. 1124 and S 886 it did not get passed in 2006. In spring of 2006 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report about our National Parks based on research, to the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee that found that funding had not kept pace with need, requiring park managers to reduce services including, reducing visitor center hours, educational programs, basic custodial duties, and law enforcement operations, such as back-country patrolling. Additionally, the park system has been forced to close campgrounds, shorten operating hours, eliminate many interpretive programs, lay off many seasonal rangers, and eliminate many of the parks' scientific studies programs.

So where's the good news about our public lands? Being an outdoor writer and avid traveler to our parks and wilderness areas Bob Therrien, President of TrainingPASS Sales, Inc. has created an outdoor recreation message board, he commented "As I've visited the outdoors, the hardest part over the years, for me has been the research about which parks, hikes, climbs, locations and activities I want to visit with my family and friends. Exploring federal then state website after site, then mapping the distance from each area of interest is inefficient and many times lacking in information. To solve that inefficiency we have collected all the basic information about our parks, wilderness areas and national monuments and put them into one website. I don't personally have a problem with the new park fees. It costs me more to take my family to the movies. I'd rather enjoy a full day or two at a place like Denali National Park, the Arches or Canyonlands.

The USA has incredible adventure travel wilderness and hiking trails. To promote these areas AdventureZoneTOURS created a forum for sharing trip reports on National Parks, State Parks, National Monuments and Wilderness Areas.

The Outdoor Adventure Message Board opens up to reveal a listing of U.S. States, separated into travel regions. Click on any state region and there are sub forums for all the parks, monuments and wilderness areas in that region. Many times there are several interesting choices to pick from of federal or state lands, within a state region. For the activity-specific minded, AdventureZoneTOURS.com encourages users to share trip reports for a variety of outdoor activities from hiking, climbing, canyoneering, geo exploring, photography, ghost towns, mines, and cave to water sports such as boating, fishing, jet and water skiing, tubing, rafting, and scuba. Winter travel sports such as snowmobiling, skiing and snowboarding are featured. Hunting locations, ATV and horseback trails as well as the most scenic areas for outdoor photography are also available as individual topic posts. To research or share your favorite adventure travel location, you're invited to sign up and share today.

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Top Nature Adventure Travel Tips Worldwide

A nature adventure travel will provide you the best of entertainment and excitement. However, you need to choose the destination carefully. The destination should suit your specific taste, budget and requirements. This will make your nature adventure trip enjoyable and memorable. Here is a list of some of the top nature adventure tour destinations in the world. Study these carefully and plan your adventure tour accordingly.

a) Madagascar:

When it comes to wildlife, this place comes in the top list. It is a prize-winning destination to all those who want to experience the best of nature adventure travel tour. You would be able to see different kinds of frogs, lemur and chameleon.

b) Great Barrier Reef:

This place witnesses around 1.8 million visitors each year. The place is referred to as world heritage site which is the largest structure on earth built by living organisms and desenes its place within the top ten rankings of adventure sites in this world.

c) Polar Bear Trek:

Polar Bear Trek is considered to be a great predator. You would be pleased to see this amazing animal within its natural habitat. There are very few of then left these days due to the global warming threat and constant change in the climate. This is the biggest bear available in this world.

d) Tiger safari:

You can enjoy tiger safari via sitting on the back of an elephant in one of the India’s National Park. The experience is awesome.

e) Whale watching:

This would prove to be a great experience for you. You would be able to communicate with the animal via good whistles and squeaks.

f) Wildebeest Migration:

You should definitely try this one if you want to experience the true taste of an adventure travel. This is considered to be the biggest mass migrations across the globe. You would be able to see predators such as the hyena, lion, crocodile and cheetah feasting while the migration takes place through their territory.

g) Swim with wild Dolphins:

Dolphins are beautiful creatures. Having an opportunity to swim with them is real adventure. People who had an experience in this kind of an event; usually like to come back to the place to experience the thrill once more. Dolphins enjoy human company and you would love the company of this wonderful animal.

All the natural adventure options mentioned above will provide you the best of enjoyment and thrill.

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Luxury Adventure Travel to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands

Nothing sounds more exotic or exciting than luxury adventure travel to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. Let's take these one at a time and see what you would be getting if you indulged yourself with luxury adventure travel of this kind.

First the Galapagos Islands. Luxury adventure travel to the Galapagos Islands is following the footsteps of Charles Darwin and the Beagle, as he formulated his theory of evolution by studying the life forms on these islands, untainted by human hand for thousands of years. You can try to spot the blue-footed boobies waddling among the hundred year old 600 pound tortoises, or seek out the Amblyrhynchus, a three-foot long, iguana resembling a dinosaur that lives only on these islands.

You could make your initial stop to tour Quito, and have a look around one of the Indian markets nearby, such as the Saquisili Indian market, and buy a hand-made Panama hat - these are made in Ecuador, not Panama! Quito itself offers a great deal to the adventurer, and you will be able to straddle the equator - one foot in the northern and another in the southern hemisphere. Quito was destroyed by the Indians to prevent it being taken by Pissarro, and rebuilt by the Spanish colonialists.

Then take a business class flight on your first stage to tour the Galapagos Islands, and transfer to a luxury cruiser to visit Espanol Island, the first of the Galapagos Islands you will visit. Don't forget that this is luxury adventure travel to the Galapagos Islands, and that you should want for nothing: the best accommodations and personal attention.

After admiring the iguanas, which swim only at this island, cruise over to Santa Cruz, and visit the Charles Darwin Research Station at Academy Bay, where you will check out the captive tortoise and iguana breeding centers. After crossing the equator, Genovesa Island can be very deceiving. The quietness of this volcanic area lulls you into a false sense of security, because you will shortly enter Darwin Bay and be assaulted by the sound of thousands of birds of many different types: boobies (both blue and red footed), Audubon's shearwaters, noddies and red billed tropicbirds among many others. This is an ornithologist's heaven.

Wreck Bay (I wonder how it got that name) on San Cristobal is the administrative capital of the Galapagos and you can fly from there back to Ecuador, connecting in Guayaquil for your flight to Lima. This is the start on the second part of your vacation: Luxury Adventure Travel to Machu Picchu. However, why rush it? Why not first have a look around some of the other places that Peru has to offer?

Take a trip to Cuzco: at three miles high, one of the highest cities in the world. Imagine your 100 meters time here! When you get this high, you have to take it easy or you could become ill, so let yourself acclimatize after your sea-level trip to the Galapagos Islands. Give it a day and then head off for a tour to Chincero in the Urubamba Sacred Valley, to learn something about the old ways of the Incas. Keep in mind that is a luxury vacation, and in keeping with that you should also visit La Cicciolina, which one of the best restaurants in this part of the world. Now you are ready for your luxury adventure travel to Machu Picchu!

What better than a luxury train ride on the Hiram Bingham train to the lost city, enjoying champagne and a top class brunch on the way. It was Yale historian, Hiram Bingham, who brought Machu Picchu to the attention of the civilized world in 1911, and wrote his first book on his finding under the title "The Lost City of the Incas". In fact the city had been constructed around 1460, when the Inca Empire was at its peak, and it is believed that it was abandoned less than 100 years later due to an outbreak of smallpox killing most of the inhabitants.

Although many think it had ceremonial origins, current belief is that it was an estate of the Incan emperor, Pachacuti, and it is certainly not mentioned in any of the writings of the Spanish conquistadores. Whatever its purpose, this is an extraordinary city, totally invisible from below, and completely self-contained with its own springs and terraces devised to produce enough food to feed a large population. It also possesses baths, storage rooms, temples and around 150 houses.

It is not enough to travel this far and simply walk around the ruins, or those of them that you are permitted to visit. The ecosystem around the area is fascinating, and luxury adventure travel to Machu Picchu would be incomplete without learning more about this cloud forest. For the botanist there are more than 372 species of orchid to enjoy, from the lady's slipper to tiny specimens needing a magnifying glass to appreciate.

Finally, when you return to Lima why not complete your luxury vacation and visit the Larco Herrera Museum, then take a private tour of the city, visiting both the modern and the old colonial areas of Lima.

You don't get to enjoy luxury adventure travel to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Island very often, and you want it to be a wonderful experience, so find a tour company that can offer you personal attention, and with planners that can offer you a personal vacation just for you and a partner. That is far better than joining 48 others, and enables you to enjoy true luxury vacation with luxury travel, accommodation and cuisine that you will remember forever.

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Adventure Travel to Kenya: Discover Kenya's Best Kept Secrets

How would like adventure travel to Kenya, to learn some of Kenya's best kept secrets? How about checking into Hemingway's, a luxury hotel on the Indian Ocean, or spending some time in the same area that Elsa was released into the wild by Joy Adamson? You can enjoy these, and more, with luxury adventure travel to Kenya, land of the Luo, Kalenjin, Turkana and the famous Maasai warrior race, as the name is correctly spelled although we shall use the more popular western spelling of Masai.

The capital is Nairobi, and that would be a good place to start. There are many types of hotel in Nairobi, but if you can, try to book into one of the few boutique hotels that accommodate only a few guests, twelve being a good number. For that you will have to book yourself a luxury adventure vacation, with personal service offering vacation planning from just yourself and your partner.

That is a better way to enjoy Kenya's secrets, rather than traveling in a large group of 40 or more as most people do. If you can find a tour company that offers this level of personal service, then your vacation can be tailored to suit your own timetable and needs, and not those of the majority, or even in some cases the minority!

Nairobi has a lot offer somebody seeking adventure travel to Kenya, and you don't have to travel to unknown places to discover some of Kenya's best kept secrets. Take Karen Blixen's house, for example, the author of 'Out of Africa', made into an Oscar winning movie, or the Carnivore restaurant, where you can dine on some exotic game. You should also check out Masai crafts at the Utamanduni Craft center and visit the giraffes at the Giraffe Center.

However, it is the game reserves that most people visit Kenya to see, and that adventure travelers to Kenya are particularly interested in, so take a plane ride over the Meru National Park and land near Elsa's Kopje - a rocky outcrop on Mughwangi Hill in the Meru Park, where Elsa was released by Joy and George Adamson back in 1958.

Why not spend some time in the park and check out the elephants, leopards and cheetahs, and of course the lions. Unfortunately the big game, the lions in particular, are in grave danger in Nairobi Park due to the action of humans, so take advantage of the opportunity to see them in the wild while you can. Although most people prefer to go on guided safaris, others prefer fishing and nature walks, or even just to lie by the pool. It's your vacation so indulge yourself.

You must then visit the Masai Mara Nature Reserve, where the big game animals are less under threat from human activity. Try to head for the Cottar 1920 Mari Safari Camp, where the 22,000 acre private concession houses only 12 guests, but it's well worth it, and no luxury adventure travel to Kenya should miss a visit to Cottars. Calvin Cottar is one of the best guides in the country, and will take you on a game drive in a 4WD or even a more traditional ox cart. It is an advantage that the camp is not part of the reserve, because you can go on night drives and guided walking tours, which would not otherwise be permitted.

Malinda is another part of Kenya you must not miss: situated on the Indian Ocean Malinda offers Hemingway's a luxury hotel that offers the very best personal service. Use it as a base for a trip to Lamu Island, which used to be a base for the slave trade, and on which the only means of travel other than foot is by donkey. Try a dip in the ocean or simply relax by the pool, contemplating what you have seen

The type of luxury you can experience on these trips is unbelievably high, and adventure travel to Kenya is not all safaris and living rough. You can also do it in style, but make sure that your price is all-inclusive since the extras for the flights and safari trips can be high. A good luxury vacation company will offer you all-inclusive deals that will work out cheaper in the long run than trying to keep your initial costs low and pay your own way. You will either end up paying more, or missing out on a lot, which would be a shame after traveling so far.

Try to get a personal deal, with just the two of you traveling, rather than being part of a large group, and make sure that your travel is commensurate with the luxury you are seeking: a minimum of business class flights, and first class rail and road travel where it is involved. Your accommodation should be the best available, and the small personal hotels are often the best.

Achieve all that, and there are no reasons why your luxury adventure travel to Kenya should not provide you with the vacation of your dreams, the memories of which will last you a lifetime.

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