Happy Mother's Day! In celebration of the day's holiday, I thought I'd share one of my favorite mother-daughter trip journals. Adventure Life staff member, Julia Kocubinski, and her mom, Sue, took a trip to Ecuador's cloudforest, Quito, Banos, and the wildlife rich Galapagos Islands last November. Here's a highlight:
We snorkeled off the back of the boat, and stayed pretty near the line of lava rocks. We saw so many different fish right away! A few minutes into the water, my mom and I ended up away from the group, and had two sea lions start playing in the water with each other right in front of us. We watched them for several minutes, dancing in the water. It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen! We felt the need to move on from them – and am I glad that we did. We had a great time snorkeling with Fabricio. He pointed out so many fish to us, (none of which I can remember now) and then we eventually ended up on the edge of this little pool full of baby sea lions. We sat with them for nearly half an hour, watching them play and check us out. One even was nibbling on my mom’s flipper while she sat on the edge of a rock! Occasionally one of the sea lion moms would come by and yell at the babies, who would run away from us for a few minutes. But a few minutes later, and their curiosity got the best of them and they were back playing with us. Then, to make things that much more exciting, the alpha male came right up behind us, and barked at us! I turned around (I was on the edge of the circle) and he was just feet behind me! Luckily all he did was back, and then swam back to his perch 50 yards away from us. For as slow and awkward as they look on shore, they are graceful and fast in the water! I did not want to be on that guy’s bad side!
It's nice to know that "scolding moms" are not simply limited to the human species...
Enjoy reading the rest of Julia's journal and take a look at some of her great pictures. My mom has been campaigning for a girls' trip to the Enchanted Isles for years. OK, OK, Mom ... twist my arm. But you have to be the one who tells Dad he can't come. He'll have to hold his horses until Father's Day rolls around.
Kelly and Rhenee were excellent to work with on planning our trip. The logistics all worked smoothly and everyone was friendly and on time. Our accommodations were very good, particularly the incredible Patagonia Camp in Torres del Paine! Our guides on every excursion were outstanding and made the hikes memorable! Overall we had a wonderful trip with incredible memories!
Scott Gibson
1 day ago
Adventure Life is definitely a first-class safari tour company, and our representative was Franny Friesz. First of all, she responded immediately after we contacted Adventure Life. We told Franny that we had never been on a safari, and she was more than eager to offer a mountain of information about the trip. She informed us fully about all the ups, downs, and all arounds! She even prepared a number of packages for us to review -- even after we made changes to the areas we wanted to explore. Friendly, helpful, professional, and extremely knowledgeable -- these words describe Franny, and what a wonderful trip she prepared! We couldn't have asked for better service than Franny of Adventure Life. We HIGHLY recommend her and her outstanding company! Bon Voyage!
Prima Burke
2 days ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
Jennifer Howard Schroeder
3 days ago
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week