For the third consecutive year, editors of National Geographic Adventure magazine have included an Austin-Lehman multi-sport adventure in its “25 Best New Trips” roundup, according to, which calls itself a destination specialist in the Americas.
The Montana-based ALA’s first-ever venture into Panama, “Boquete to Bocas Adventure,” was singled out this year in the magazine’s November 2007 Adventure Travel Issue featuring the world’s top up and coming trips.
NGA’s Best New Trips for 2008, says correspondent Bonnie Tsui, is an “essential guide to the most spectacular trips on the globe…innovative, exploratory, action-filled and guaranteed to change your life.”
“This acknowledges that year after year ALA is considered to be one of the top adventure travel tour companies in the world,” said Dan Austin, co-founder and director of operations.
ALA’s Okanagan Wine Country Adventure in BC, Canada, and their Oaxaca Adventure in Mexico received identical recognition in 2007 and 2006.
About Panama, Mr Austin said the country is just blossoming as an adventure destination.
“It’s still a place where you can easily recapture the feelings and sensations you had on your first trip to Central America,” he said.
The 9 day/8 night jungle-to-beach experiences include hiking through the misty cloud forest surrounding Baru Volcano, a night at one of the region’s working coffee farms, tackling the rapids of the Chiriqui River, mountain biking the rolling hills of the Pacific slope and snorkeling off the islands of Bocas del Toro.
Guests meet indigenous peoples still living much as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago and explore Boquete, one of the most modern cities in Latin America.
Report by David Wilkening
