Hiking - Top Ways to Enjoy an Awesome Experience

What could be more exciting for an adventure lover than hiking in the beautiful valleys of Nepal? Of course, this is one of the most interesting things that you can do when on an adventure trip. However, there are certain things you need to consider in order to make sure that your trip goes in a smooth manner.
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Take a tour from New York

TrekAmerica.com offers a Freedom Trail trip from New York.

Prices range from $799 to $949

From their website:

Day: 1 New York Area & Boston
Welcome to Bean Town! Relive the Revolution along the Freedom Trail or let Faneuil Hall's street performers, stores and eateries tell their own Bostonian tale. Lounge and watch the locals from the lawns of Boston Common, then pop across to the famous pub Cheers.
Accommodation: En-route hostel paid locally


Day: 2 Berkshire Mountains
City folk just can't resist hiding out here in summer and you'll soon figure why. Trails snake through forested hills and meadow walks skirt clapboard farms. This is 100% New England.
Accommodation: Camping


Day: 3 Niagara Falls
From the edge of Lake Ontario, the sensation of crashing water is stupendous, the noise immense, at America's greatest national attractions, Niagara Falls. Wait 'til you're down on the water aboard 'Maid of the Mist', where the cascades pound, churn and foam right before your eyes. That's what you call a front row seat!
Accommodation: Camping included


Day: 4 Bear Country
Here in Pennsylvania, there are more black bears per square mile than anywhere else in the States. Keep your cameras on standby, folks!
Accommodation: Camping included


Day: 5-6 Washington DC
See where America's leaders shape the country's future. An evening tour shows off the seat of US power, awash with icons like the White House, Jefferson Monument and Capitol Hill. When it comes to DC's museums 'Land of the Free' is spot on: barely any of them, sensational Smithsonian included, will cost you a dime. Later, switch from culture to clubbing in the oh-so-cool lounges around DuPont Circle and Georgetown.
Accommodation: Camping included


Day: 7 New York Area
We head back to the Garden State via Pennsylvannia where our adventure began. This tour is not scheduled to spend any time in New York City so make sure you book extra hotel nights and explore the sights and sounds of the Big Apple on your own. Splurge along Fifth Ave, hit the top of the Empire State Building, or soak up the trendy, laidback vibe of Greenwich Village before heading home.

Tour ends at approx 17:00 hrs in New York Area on day 7.

New Tours for Gap Adventure

GapAdventure.com has added some new adventures to its 2010 roster. Well, when I say some... dozens!

YOLO Trips (You Only Live Once)

Budget Galapogos
Touring Galapogos serves two purposes. First, you get to see them, and second, your tourist dollars can help save the Galapogos wildlife, which otherwise might be killed by poachers, or natives trying to make some money.

The tour:
Day 1 Arrive Quito
Arrive in Quito at any time.

Day 2 Baltra/North Seymour (B,L,D)
Early flight to Baltra, in the Galapagos Islands. Upon arrival meet our naturalist guide who will assist with the transfer to our boat, the g3. Set sail and reach Seymour Island in the late afternoon. Our first landing shows us the great bird life of the island, including magnificent frigate birds, blue-footed boobies and swallow-tailed gulls. We may also catch a glimpse of sea lions and several species of endemic plants.

Day 3 Rabida/Puerto Egas (B,L,D)
Cruise to Rabida Island in the morning and visit a salt water lagoon rich in wildlife and vegetation. A large sea lions colony provides great photo opportunities. Spend the afternoon visiting the lava rock beaches for which Puerto Egas is known.

Day 4 Sombrero Chino/Bartolomé (B,L,D)
This morning we visit Sombrero Chino, located on Isla Santa Cruz. Arrive at Bartolomé Island in the afternoon. Learn the geological history of Bartolomé as our naturalist explains its dramatic volcanic features, including unusual splatter cones. We may spot rare Galapagos penguins, of which less than 1000 pairs exist.

Day 5 South Plaza/Santa Fé (B,L,D)
Set sail and reach South Plaza Island in the morning. One of the smallest islands in the Galapagos, South Plaza has one of the largest populations of Land Iguanas. In the afternoon visit Santa Fé Island. Santa Fé Island (also called Barrington) is well-known as a great place for watching (and swimming with) sea lions.

Day 6 Santa Cruz (B,L,D)
The morning we visit the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. Visit the Charles Darwin Station, see giant tortoises and learn about Charles Darwin’s studies of Galapagos wildlife. Free time to do some shopping and exploring.In the afternoon visit the highlands of Santa Cruz.

Day 7 Floreana (B,L,D)
Reach Floreana Island in the morning and stop at Champion Islet. In the afternoon we go to Punta Cormorant to see a variety of birdlife.

Day 8 Española (B,L,D)
Head to Garner Bay, an excellent swimming and snorkeling site. In the afternoon head to Puenta Suarez on Española Island. The southernmost island in the Galapagos is home to several wildlife species, including masked and blue-footed boobies.

Day 9 Black Turtle Cove/Quito (B)
Located on the second-largest island in the archipelago of Isla Santa Cruz, we venture to the picturesque Black Turtle Cove by panga ride to experience the full splendour of the diverse marine life and birds. We then transfer to the airport and fly to Quito. Enjoy one last night on the town.

Day 10 Depart Quito

IF YOUR TOUR STARTS ON A THURSDAY IN QUITO PLEASE FOLLOW THE BELOW ITINERARY

Day 1 Quito
Arrive in Quito at any time.

Day 2 Puerto Ayora (B,L,D)
Early flight to Baltra, in the Galapagos Islands. Upon arrival we will be transferred by ferry and bus to Puerto Ayora where we meet our naturalist guide and visit the Highlands of Santa Cruz in the afternoon.

Day 3 Floreana (B,L,D)
Reach Floreana Island in the morning and stop at Champion Islet. In the afternoon we go to Punta Cormorant to see a variety of bird life.

Day 4 Española (B,L,D)
We make our way to Gardner Bay in the morning and Punta Suarez on Española Island. The southernmost island in the Galapagos archipelago is home to several wildlife species, including masked and blue-footed boobies.

Day 5 Black Turtle Cove/North Seymour (B,L,D)
Located on the second-largest island in the archipelago of Isla Santa Cruz, we venture to the picturesque Black Turtle Cove by panga ride to experience the full splendor of the diverse marine life and birds. In the afternoon we continue on to North Seymour, home to abundant animal life including the magnificent frigate bird.

Day 6 Rabida/Puerto Egas (B,L,D)
Cruise to Rabida Island in the morning and visit a salt water lagoon rich in wildlife and vegetation. A large sea lion colony provides great photo opportunities. Spend the afternoon visiting the lava rock beaches for which Puerto Egas is known.

Day 7 Sombrero Chino/Bartolomé (B,L,D)
This morning we visit Sombrero Chino, located on Isla Santa Cruz. Arrive at Bartolomé Island in the afternoon. Learn the geological history of Bartolomé as our naturalist explains its dramatic volcanic features, including unusual splatter cones. We may spot rare Galapagos Penguins, of which less than 1000 pairs exist.

Day 8 South Plaza/Santa Fé (B,L,D)
Set sail and reach South Plaza Island in the morning. One of the smallest islands in the Galapagos, South Plaza has one of the largest populations of land iguanas. In the afternoon visit Santa Fé Island. Santa Fé Island (also called Barrington) is well-known as a great place for watching (and swimming with) sea lions.

Day 9 Santa Cruz/Quito (B)
Today we arrive back to Santa Cruz. Morning visit to the Charles Darwin Station here we have the chance to view some of the giant turtles and learn more about Darwin´s work .

Transfer to the airport on Baltra Island for our flight to Quito. Transfer to our hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure. Enjoy one last night on the town.

Day 10 Depart Quito

A bit more about the Galapogos Islands

The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, 972 km (525 nmi) west of continental Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature.

The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 23,000.

The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

The first crude navigation chart of the islands was done by the buccaneer Ambrose Cowley in 1684. He named the individual islands after some of his fellow pirates or after the English noblemen who helped the privateer's cause. More recently, the Ecuadorian government gave most of the islands Spanish names. While the Spanish names are official, many users (especially ecological researchers) continue to use the older English names, particularly as those were the names used when Charles Darwin visited.

and

Environmental threats
Introduced plants and animals, such as feral goats, cats, and cattle, brought accidentally or willingly to the islands by humans, represent the main threat to Galápagos. Quick to reproduce, these alien species decimate the habitats of native species. The native animals, lacking natural predators on the islands, are defenseless to introduced species and fall prey.

Some of the most harmful introduced plants are the guayaba or guava Psidium guajava, avocado Persea americana, cascarilla Cinchona pubescens, balsa Ochroma pyramidale, blackberry Rubus glaucus, various citrus (orange, grapefruit, lemon), floripondio Datura arborea, higuerilla Ricinus communis and the elephant grass Pennisetum purpureum. These plants have invaded large areas and eliminated endemic species in the humid zones of San Cristobal, Floreana, Isabela and Santa Cruz. Also, these harmful plants are just a few of introduced species on the Galápagos Islands. There are over 700 introduced plant species today. There are only 500 native and endemic species. This difference is creating a major problem for the islands and the natural species that inhabit them.

Many species were introduced to the Galápagos by pirates. Thor Heyerdahl quotes documents that mention that the Viceroy of Peru, knowing that British pirates ate the goats that they themselves had released in the islands, ordered dogs to be freed there to eliminate the goats. Also, when colonization of Floreana by José de Villamil failed, he ordered that the goats, donkeys, cows, and other animals from the farms in Floreana be transferred to other islands for the purpose of later colonization.

Non-native goats, pigs, dogs, rats, cats, mice, sheep, horses, donkeys, cows, poultry, ants, cockroaches, and some parasites inhabit the islands today. Dogs and cats attack the tame birds and destroy nests of birds, land tortoises, and marine turtles. They sometimes kill small Galápagos tortoises and iguanas. Pigs are even more harmful, covering larger areas and destroying the nests of tortoises, turtles and iguanas as well as eating the animals' native food. Pigs also knock down vegetation in their search for roots and insects. This problem abounds in Cerro Azul volcano and Isabela, and in Santiago pigs may be the cause of the disappearance of the land iguanas that were so abundant when Darwin visited. The black rat Rattus rattus attacks small Galápagos tortoises when they leave the nest, so that in Pinzón they stopped the reproduction for a period of more than 50 years; only adults were found on that island. Also, where the black rat is found, the endemic rat has disappeared. Cows and donkeys eat all the available vegetation and compete with native species for the scarce water. In 1959, fishermen introduced one male and two female goats to Pinta island; by 1973 the National Park service estimated the population of goats to be over 30,000 individuals. Goats were also introduced to Marchena in 1967 and to Rabida in 1971. However a recent goat eradication program has cleared most of the goat population from Isabela.

The fast growing poultry industry on the inhabited islands has been cause for concern from local conservationists, who fear that domestic birds could introduce disease into the endemic and wild bird populations.


The tanker Jessica aground in the Galapagos, January 2001.The Galápagos marine sanctuary is under threat from a host of illegal fishing activities, in addition to other problems of development. The most pressing threat to the Marine Reserve comes from local, mainland and foreign fishing targeting marine life illegally within the Reserve, such as sharks (hammerheads and other species) for their fins, and the harvest of sea cucumbers out of season. Development threatens both land and sea species. The growth of both the tourism industry and local populations fuelled by high birth rates and illegal immigration threaten the wildlife of the Archipelago. The grounding of the oil tanker Jessica in 2001 and the subsequent oil spill brought this threat to world attention.

Currently, the rapidly growing problems, including tourism and a human population explosion, are further destroying habitats.

In 2007, UNESCO put the Galápagos Islands on their World Heritage in Danger List. [4]

On January 28, 2008, Galapagos National Park official Victor Carrion announced that 53 sea lions (13 pups, 25 youngsters, 9 males and 6 females) were killed at Pinta, Galapagos Islands nature reserve with their heads caved in. In 2001 poachers killed 35 male sea lions.[5]

The Galápagos Islands were short-listed as a candidate to be one of the New7Wonders of Nature by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation. As of February 2009 the archipelago was ranking first in Group B, the category for islands