I am looking forward to getting started in Alpena and Mackinac Island this June of 2010. I have been working hard to get our shipwreck kayak tours put together so we can offer 7 to 10 scheduled departures per day this summer, departing from Alpena to our launch spots for glass bottom kayak tours of shipwrecks in shallow and very clear water.
I will be visiting Mackinac Island in the next few weeks to look at launch locations for Island Kayak tours and am excited to establish a Green Planet Extreme location on one of Michigan's most noted destinations.
I just returned (last night) from a great family vacation to Mexico where we stayed at an all inclusive resort on the Mayan Riviera in Playa Del Carmen. It was my first experience at an all-incusive (Sandos Caracol) and it was awesome.
The older kids and I (5 of us) booked and went on an extreme adventure in the jungle. We had to use ATV's to go over 7 kilometers into the jungle and do some jumping off cliffs into sink holes with caves. The jump was 32 feet and the water was pristine. The sink hole goes down over 180 feet and scuba tours are also offered. After our first jumping adventure, we went to our next stop to jump about 15 feet into another cave where we were able to zip line and swim around looking at the great cave structure. The underground river and cave system in the Mayan area goes for over 50 kilometers and remains mostly unexplored. WIthin 10 kilometers there is a Mayan village where there are no cars and the people are waiting for a road to be constructed so they can more easily get to their jobs.
We stopped at another "bat cave" and we able to view vampire bats in flight and have some awesome photos taken. This stop also included a visit to a hut set up by some locals who let the kids play with a 5 month old raccoon type of animal and hold a boa constrictor snake around their necks and take some photos. They explained that the snake had recently shed its skin so it wasn;t aggressive. That was good to know.
Overall, I made some great connections in Mexico, both with guests from Canada and with Adventure Tour guides who reside in Mexico and have been guiding for a great number of years. They want to visit Michigan next year on vacation and I offered to show them some great adventures in our home state.
I believe that making connections like this is more important than anything that can be done over the internet. Making friends and offering personal services is the best way to promote our state and the adventures that can be experienced. Carlos our guide was very interested in experiencing our winter adventures such as igloo making and winter camping, winter rafting and snow shoeing.
As I continue to set up our adventures I will keep in mind that there are people all over the world who want to experience what Michigan has to offer. Making their experience enjoyable is my goal and hopefully it will be rewarded by some people who are then willing to promote our adventures verbally to others. Customer satisfaction and excellent experiences is the winning combination.
I will be visiting Mackinac Island in the next few weeks to look at launch locations for Island Kayak tours and am excited to establish a Green Planet Extreme location on one of Michigan's most noted destinations.
I just returned (last night) from a great family vacation to Mexico where we stayed at an all inclusive resort on the Mayan Riviera in Playa Del Carmen. It was my first experience at an all-incusive (Sandos Caracol) and it was awesome.
The older kids and I (5 of us) booked and went on an extreme adventure in the jungle. We had to use ATV's to go over 7 kilometers into the jungle and do some jumping off cliffs into sink holes with caves. The jump was 32 feet and the water was pristine. The sink hole goes down over 180 feet and scuba tours are also offered. After our first jumping adventure, we went to our next stop to jump about 15 feet into another cave where we were able to zip line and swim around looking at the great cave structure. The underground river and cave system in the Mayan area goes for over 50 kilometers and remains mostly unexplored. WIthin 10 kilometers there is a Mayan village where there are no cars and the people are waiting for a road to be constructed so they can more easily get to their jobs.
We stopped at another "bat cave" and we able to view vampire bats in flight and have some awesome photos taken. This stop also included a visit to a hut set up by some locals who let the kids play with a 5 month old raccoon type of animal and hold a boa constrictor snake around their necks and take some photos. They explained that the snake had recently shed its skin so it wasn;t aggressive. That was good to know.
Overall, I made some great connections in Mexico, both with guests from Canada and with Adventure Tour guides who reside in Mexico and have been guiding for a great number of years. They want to visit Michigan next year on vacation and I offered to show them some great adventures in our home state.
I believe that making connections like this is more important than anything that can be done over the internet. Making friends and offering personal services is the best way to promote our state and the adventures that can be experienced. Carlos our guide was very interested in experiencing our winter adventures such as igloo making and winter camping, winter rafting and snow shoeing.
As I continue to set up our adventures I will keep in mind that there are people all over the world who want to experience what Michigan has to offer. Making their experience enjoyable is my goal and hopefully it will be rewarded by some people who are then willing to promote our adventures verbally to others. Customer satisfaction and excellent experiences is the winning combination.