A quarter century ago Wild Women Expeditions (WWE) (https://wildwomenexpeditions.com/) pioneered today’s steam-charged movement encouraging women to travel in small women-only groups.
Upcoming for winter 2018 are WWE’s four new women-only itineraries in India, Patagonia and Costa Rica. After 25-plus years, Wild Women Expeditions offers more active travel departures for women-only than any other company in the world and in more countries (26 in 2018). A high return-guest ratio indicates how hungry women are for baptism-by-wilderness experiences that can be extreme -- or not – without men setting the pace. And always there’s a dollop of cultural interface to round out the edges.
“What Wild Women Expeditions does is give women the opportunity to achieve amongst other women, test boundaries, take risks and become leaders,” says Jennifer Haddow, Owner/Director. She noted that Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Chief Operating Officer, in a recent BBC interview, indicated that women too often are not encouraged and trained to assume leadership positions.
“Wild Women Expeditions is changing this,” Haddow adds. These four new trips for next year reflect Haddow’s vision and mission.
In India: India Jungles and Jewels Adventures explores India’s national parks and a long list of big cats, cloven-hoofed creatures, elephants and birds, all setting the stage for nurturing and transformational experiences in eco systems that include Kanha National Park made famous in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and home of Project Tiger, an early tiger conservation initiative in India.
Scheduled trip dates are Feb. 8-18, Feb. 27-March 9 and Oct. 25-Nov. 3, 2018. The per person double rate for 11 days and 10 nights is $3,895 including accommodations, all meals, sightseeing in and entry fees to national parks escorted by naturalist guide in air-conditioned private coaches and 4x4 vehicles, the company of a safari specialist, an English-speaking female tour leader, guided canoe outing, applicable lodge taxes and gratuities and complimentary water and snacks. Please see https://wildwomenexpeditions.com/trips/india-jungles-and-jewels-adventure/
Guests lodge at Kanha Jungle Lodge that emphasizes utilizing indigenous materials; they mingle with locals while exploring medicinal plants, community environmental awareness programs and learning to make masala chai, how to drape a sari and apply ritual henna; they even help to bathe elephants excused from poacher patrol and tiger-tracking duties. Habitat explorations are on foot and in 4x4 jeeps. A luxury tented camp, Jamtara Wilderness Lodge in Pench National Park, is a glamping home near a savannah-like environment. Or guests can sleep like a native under the stars in a Machaan, an open-air tent with mosquito netting atop. (Villagers gain income when guests choose this sleeping accommodation.)
Reni Pani Jungle Lodge is an exquisitely designed conservation and wildlife-focused lodge near Satpura National Park. Here is the Satpura Tiger Reserve, an amalgamation of one of India’s best-kept secrets, the Satpura National Park, the Bori Wild Life Sanctuary and the Pachmarhi Sanctuary. Jeep, elephant, boat and walking safaris are on the schedule here. One night is spent wilderness camping, an experience unique to Wild Women Expeditions. On the last morning, guests canoe on the Satpura River, rife with winged creatures, before transfers to Bhopal airport to connect with international flights home. Please see https://wildwomenexpeditions.com/trips/india-jungles-and-jewels-adventure/.
In Patagonia: Two new trips are a multi-sport adventure and another on horseback. Torres del Paine Multisport Adventure is offered Feb. 3-12 and March 12-21 (sold out), 2018. The per person double rate for 10 days and nine nights is $4,795 including English-speaking female guide and activity specialist guides, accommodations, all meals, and all equipment for excursions including sleeping bags for hiking overnights, mountain bikes, sea kayaks, horses and tack and corresponding safety equipment. The playground is Torres del Paine National Park, an other-worldly landscape of needle-like peaks, vast glaciers, wild horses, pampas and lakes. Challenges come by way of hiking, kayaking, mountain biking and horseback riding. Guests reside in a tented Eco Camp. Please see https://wildwomenexpeditions.com/trips/torres-del-paine-multisport-adventure/.
Patagonia Cordillera Riding Adventure is scheduled for Jan 22-Feb. 1, Feb. 5-15 (sold out), March 4-14, 2018. The per person double rate for 11 days and 10 nights is $3,395 including 11 days of horseback riding (including a seven-day pack trip); horses, pack mules and riding gear; professional female wrangler guides; 10 nights of on and off-grid shared accommodation; camping equipment; hand-crafted meals; laundry services; roundtrip transfers from Neuquen Airport to destination in the rugged heart of the Andes. Estancia hospitality serves up localvore and off-the-grid living before heading to the cordillera (mountain range) to ride trails deep into the Andes and into the simple lifestyle of the gauchos. Please see https://wildwomenexpeditions.com/trips/patagonia-horse-adventure/.
In Costa Rica: Para Vida Adventure Retreat dates are Jan. 13-20 and Feb. 18-25, 2018. The per person double rate for eight days and seven nights is $3,295 including English-speaking female and activity specialist guides; seven nights accommodation; all meals; all excursions and equipment and in-country flight. Here yoga and this country’s ecosystems combine in off-grid realities, with mountains and trees to climb and waterfalls to conquer. Mountains, reefs and the rainforests of Corcovado National Park encourage hiking, rappelling, kayaking, snorkeling and spacing out on the natural world. Please see http://wildwomenexpeditions.com/trips/pura-vida-adventure-retreat/.
For details, availability and reservations for these and all Wild Women Expeditions’ 2017-2018 programs call 1 (888) 993-1222, email [email protected] or visit online at https://wildwomenexpeditions.com/.
About
Founded in 1991, Wild Women Expeditions is the world’s largest women-only travel company. Its initial focus was on canoeing on remote Ontario waters. Through an unwavering focus on Canada, one of the wildest, most pristine countries in the world, Wild Women Expeditions became experts in a pioneering niche that introduced small groups of women into wilderness settings. The company now hosts guests all over the world, offering more trips and more women-only, backcountry camping adventures than any other women’s travel company in the world.