Extreme Vacations: five ways to get out of your comfort zone this winter
Extreme Vacations: five ways to get out of your comfort zone this winter
By Simone Olivero | January 17, 2014
By Simone Olivero | 01/17/2014
By Simone Olivero
The Waitomo caves on New Zealand’s North Island (Image: courtesy Legendary Black Water Rafting)
Lying on a beach is so 2013. The best way to truly escape the daily grind is to get outside your comfort zone. For thrill-chasers looking to seriously maximize their vacation days, we’ve rounded up five heart-pounding, adrenalin-pumping (or simply eye-opening) adventures.
255109 Nothing gets the adrenalin pumping like diving into a cloud of blood and fish guts in great white shark–infested waters. About two hours southeast of Cape Town, just off the coast of Gansbaai, thrill-seekers don extra-thick wetsuits and plunge into the icy South Atlantic for a close encounter with the curious predators, with only a cage between them. White Shark Projects is a leader in extreme expeditions—<em>National Geographic</em> photojournalists and English adventurer Charley Boorman have toured with them—providing experiences both educational and exhilarating.<br />
<p><br />
<strong>THE FACTS</strong><br /> <br />
<strong>White Shark Projects:</strong> <br />
<a href="http://whitesharkprojects.co.za/" target="_blank">whitesharkprojects.co.za</a><br /><br />
<strong>Package prices:</strong> $45 for the dive, plus breakfast, lunch and a snack<br /><br />
<strong>Average Cape Town temps <br />
in January:</strong> 21°C<br /><br />
<strong>Distance from Toronto:</strong> 25 hours</p> (Image: courtesy of White Shark Projects) Shark Diving in South Africa Shark Diving in South Africa https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-01-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-01.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-01.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/city/extreme-winter-vacations-toronto/slide/extreme-winter-vacations-01/ extreme-winter-vacations-01 0 0
(Image: courtesy of White Shark Projects)
255110 Snow is for wusses. The latest daredevil craze <br />
is sandboarding, and it’s drawing riders to southwestern Peru, where 90-metre peaks with teetering angles test even the bravest hearts. Home base is the oasis town of Huacachina, where companies like Huacachina Tours pick up adventurers right before sunset—thus avoiding the daytime desert heat. Strapped into rugged dune buggies with only roll bars for protection, boarders white-knuckle their way up and down the imposing dunes until completely surrounded by desert. At the peak, they tighten the sandboard straps around their sneakers before launching themselves down into a valley of the golden stuff. Sand dunes are softer and more forgiving than a hard-packed ski slope, but that won’t make the thrill of the drop—or the threat <br />
of a mouthful of desert—any less daunting. <br />
<br />
<p><br />
<strong>THE FACTS</strong><br /> <br />
<strong>Huacachina Tours:</strong> <a href="http://huacachina.com/" target="_blank">huacachina.com</a><br /><br />
<strong>Package prices:</strong> $25 for boards and buggy ride<br /><br />
<strong>Average Huacachina temps in January:</strong> 23°C<br /><br />
<strong>Distance from Toronto:</strong> 18 hours<br />
</p> (Image: courtesy of Peru Adventure Tours) Sandboarding in Peru Sandboarding in Peru https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-02-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-02.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-02.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/city/extreme-winter-vacations-toronto/slide/extreme-winter-vacations-02/ extreme-winter-vacations-02 0 0
(Image: courtesy of Peru Adventure Tours)
255111 Bordering Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana, Roraima is a one-of-a-kind <em>tepui</em> (“house of the gods” in Pemon)—a place said to have inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s <em>The Lost World.</em> It’s a remote land <br />
of 400-metre cliffs, carnivorous plants, glassy pools of water and jaw-dropping views of the <br />
Gran Sabana. Toronto-based G Adventures offers a 15-day excursion that includes trekking to the top of Mount Roraima, sleeping under the stars in hammocks in the jungle and hiking around Angel Falls, the world’s tallest waterfall.<br />
<br />
<p><br />
<strong>THE FACTS</strong><br /> <br />
<strong>G Adventures:</strong> <a href="http://www.gadventures.com/" target="_blank">gadventures.com</a><br /><br />
<strong>Package prices:</strong> $2,579 for camping, hotel stays, local transportation and most meals<br /><br />
<strong>Average Santa Elena temps in January:</strong> 21°C<br /><br />
<strong>Distance from Toronto:</strong> 29 hours<br />
</p> (Image: Getty Images) Exploring Roraima in Venezuela Exploring Roraima in Venezuela https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-03-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-03.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-03.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/city/extreme-winter-vacations-toronto/slide/extreme-winter-vacations-03/ extreme-winter-vacations-03 0 0
(Image: Getty Images)
255112 As if river rafting weren’t exciting enough, New Zealanders do <br />
it underground and in the dark. On the less beaten track of the country’s North Island, the ancient Waitomo caves feature steep grottos, subterranean waterfalls and picturesque openings draped <br />
in sparkling, crystal-like limestone formations. For the most adventurous, the Legendary Black Water Rafting Company offers the Black Abyss tour, featuring a 35-metre rappel into total darkness and a zip line that zooms down to the water below. Visitors are then rewarded with an inner tube ride along the underground river where thousands of <em>Arachnocampa luminosa</em>—glow worms—are scattered across the ceiling like a sprinkling of stars. <br />
<br />
<p><br />
<strong>THE FACTS<br /><br />
Legendary Black Water Rafting Company:</strong> <br />
<a href="http://www.waitomo.com/" target="_blank">waitomo.com</a><br /><br />
<strong>Package prices:</strong> $195 for approximately five hours; includes all equipment<br /> <br />
<strong>Average Hamilton temps in January:</strong> 17°C<br /><br />
<strong>Distance from Toronto:</strong> 26 hours<br />
</p> (Image: courtesy Legendary Black Water Rafting) Caving in New Zealand Caving in New Zealand https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-04-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-04.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-04.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/city/extreme-winter-vacations-toronto/slide/extreme-winter-vacations-04/ extreme-winter-vacations-04 0 0
(Image: courtesy Legendary Black Water Rafting)
255113 Tucked in the southern confines of Vietnam’s Central Highlands, Da Lat has long been a go-to spot for mountain biking and hiking. Now hard-core adrenalin junkies head to the canyons for some extreme water play. Groovy Gecko Tours runs one of the best full-day adventures, which begins with a one-hour lesson on technique. Then, suited up with a rope, harness, helmet and <br />
life jacket, visitors tackle 15- to 18-metre drops, rappelling down the cliff wall. Natural riverbed waterslides carry them to the biggest feat of the day: a 25-metre rappel down the middle of a waterfall, the heavy waters pounding at their shins. Partway down, they release the ropes, free-falling for the last six metres into the basin below. The day is capped off with a final heart-pounding cliff dive.<br />
<br />
<p><br />
<strong>THE FACTS<br /><br />
Groovy Gecko Tours:</strong> <a href="http://groovygeckotours.net/" target="_blank">groovygeckotours.net</a><br /><br />
<strong>Package prices:</strong> $33 for the day<br /><br />
<strong>Average Da Lat temps in January:</strong> 20°C<br /><br />
<strong>Distance from Toronto:</strong> 27 hours<br />
</p> (Image: courtesy Groovy Gecko Tours) Canyoning in Vietnam Canyoning in Vietnam https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-05-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-05.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/extreme-winter-vacations-05.jpg 1000 667 [] https://torontolife.com/city/extreme-winter-vacations-toronto/slide/extreme-winter-vacations-05/ extreme-winter-vacations-05 0 0
(Image: courtesy Groovy Gecko Tours)