500 Adrenaline Adventures (Frommer's) - Lois Friedland [236]
The Inside Passage runs between the eastern side of Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. The protected waters of such sections as Johnstone Strait are ideal for sea kayaking and with a little instruction beginners are soon moving easily through the water. The kayak vacations are camping trips that generally last between 4 and 7 days. You’ll pack your gear in waterproof bags and carry it with you. Depending upon the outfitter, you’ll either paddle to your initial campsite or be ferried by a motorboat. Your guides will assist you and provide your meals, but they are not your Sherpas and you’ll be expected to pitch in as if you were camping with a group of friends. Much of your time will be spent on the water, and in addition to the Orcas you’ll have chances to see a large variety of wildlife including bears, sea lions, dolphins, bald eagles, otters, and salmon. With luck, you’ll even see a humpback whale. You’ll also do some hiking and be able to totally chill until you are incredibly relaxed.
For a change of scenery after chasing Orcas for a few days, be sure to visit Vancouver Island. It’s almost 483km (300 miles) long and 81km (50 miles) wide, so it takes several days to explore. The west coast is more rugged than the east coast, with its Golden Hinde Mountain (named after Sir Frances Drake’s ship) that tops out above 2,100m (7,000 ft.). The waves crashing on the shore at Tofino are enough in themselves to attract visitors. Most of the towns are small and fun to visit. —LF
Tourism British Columbia ( 800/435-5622;www.hellobc.com).
Tours: Northern Lights Expeditions ( 800/754-7402 or 360/734-6334; www.seakayaking.com). Out For Adventure Tours, 685 Heriot Bay Rd. ( 866-344-5292 or 250/285-3600; www.outforadventure.com).
When to Go: June to mid-Sept.
Port Hardy Airport (general aviation) or Victoria International Airport.
$ Haida-Way Inn, 1817 Campbell Way, Port McNeill. ( 800/956-3373 or 250/956-3373; www.pmhotels.com). $$ Hidden Cove Lodge, Port McNeill/Telegraph Cove ( 250/956-3916; www.bcbbonly.com/1263.php).
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Ostrich Racing
Winner by a Neck
Oudtshoorn, South Africa
Ostriches aren’t nice. They have an ornery attitude, a mean peck, and their claws are sharp enough to rip open a lion’s face. They aren’t pretty, and they don’t like to cuddle, either, so they rarely elicit the “ooohs” that greet many African animals. What, then, is an enterprising adventurer to do when encountering one of these 300-pound, nine-feet-tall birds? Why, jump on their backs and race them, of course.
Ostrich riding and racing is the unofficial town sport of Oudtshoorn, a small hamlet in the Little Karoo region of South Africa located a few hours’ drive northeast of Cape Town, where most flights into this region will land. There are a number of ostrich farms in the area, and many sponsor organized ostrich encounters, where visitors can learn about these flightless birds’ natural history before commencing the racing. By most accounts, ostriches don’t take kindly to having someone sitting on their backs, so they run as fast as possible in hopes of getting rid of you.
There are a few ground rules you’ll need to know before you hop on an ostrich. Riders must weigh less than 80kg (176 lb.), and will need to be strong enough to be able to hang onto the moving animal by holding its wings and steering by grabbing its neck—no easy task when you’re loping along at 32km (20 miles) per hour. (Grace is not one of the features of this sport.) An ostrich race is an impromptu affair, and depends on the number of willing volunteers in your party, though there are ostrich derbies organized by civic clubs throughout South Africa.
The semi-arid region of Little Karoo is ideal for raising ostriches, and the town of Oudtshoorn was once the undisputed heart of the world’s ostrich plume trade; the town’s rows of “feather palaces,” homes of multi-millionaire ostrich farmers, attest to its former glory as the center of this