Ron Van Vugt

Our Ultimate Adventure Trip in November 2015 came at the end of the rainy season and was the first of Island Expeditions trip of the season. It was exhilarating from start to finish. IE was well organized and able to respond to the vagaries of some continuing wet weather that changed our itinerary on the second day, forcing our guides to cancel the trip to the caves due to high water and safety concerns, and substituting instead a thrilling afternoon at the Zip Line at Bocawina Nature Preserve. No disappointments there! The ocean kayaking and snorkelling on Tobacco Key, and Glovers Atoll were out of this world. The accommodations and food as well as the hospitality displayed by guides and other staff was outstanding. That part of the trip was everything a palm beach tropical island could suggest. But the real treasure of this trip was a 4-day canoe camping trip on the Mojo River. Because of the preceding weeks of rain, the river water levels were at the highest that our veteran guide, Pedro, had seen in his 20 years on the river. That made for the most exhilarating paddle as we dropped over ledges for 3 solid days. Safety was always our guides' first concern, evidenced by their scouting out of the next drops (pour overs). Our inflatable 2-person canoes (resembling pencil thin Zodiacs) took the drops with ease, but not without the hilarity of one or another party of two (gear securely fastened to the boats) tipping over and sputtering with laughter upon surfacing.

The professionalism, knowledge of flora and fauna, and hospitality of the guides on all sections of our Ultimate Adventure was outstanding. We particularly enjoyed sharing meals with Mayan families in their homes and getting a bit of a sense of their lives.

This was one of the fullest, most action packed adventures we have ever compressed into a two week time frame. Simply outstanding in all aspects!