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London 2012 Olympics / Olympics Travel / Britain Travel / Adventure Travel / Water Sports / White Water Rafting / Active Travel / Photo Gallery / → All Tags

An Up-Close, Exclusive Look at London's Olympic White Water Rafting Course

It's almost exactly one year before the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and what am I doing? Well, squeezing my butt into a wetsuit is the short answer, but the long answer is heading out on the manmade rapids that comprise the Lee Valley White Water Centre just outside of London, for a sampling of what the Olympians will be going through this time next year, and what the adventurous public can experience now.

Did you ever go to an amusement park with little rides for kids that involved a blue track of shallow water with a slow current that lazily propelled round floating rafts until time was up? The Lee Valley White Water Centre is that, for adults, times a zillion, with the addition of major adrenaline rush.

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Costa Rica Field Trip / Volcanoes / Adventure Travel / Ziplines / White Water Rafting / → All Tags

How to Rev Your Adrenaline in Arenal

All this week, Amanda Pressner will be bringing us reports from her recent trip to Costa Rica with her entire family. Any questions about traveling to Costa Rica or family-oriented activities to do while you're there? Let us know.

With just four days to spend in the Costa Rican jungle, my family and I wanted to pack in as much pulse pounding excitement as we possibly could—and what better way, we figured, than to set up base camp just down the slope from an active volcano?

Arenal (the name of the volcano, a lake and a region in Costa Rica) is one of the country’s popular destinations—and for very good reason. Not only is it possible to see the fiery red lava flow at the top of the cone on a clear night (usually from the comfort of your hotel room) but there’s no shortage of ways to experience the nearby rainforest and cloud forest and the rivers that cut through them.

In fact, according to Elaine Knight, owner of the Lost Iguana Resort & Spa, the biggest mistake people when planning their trip to Costa Rica rushing to hit too many different destinations and booking too few nights in Arenal.

In an email before the trip, she encouraged our group of six to spend four nights, and four days in the local area. If figured that she might be a tad partial, but in the end, I’m so glad we followed her advice.

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