This exciting 8 day programme will give you as much adventure as you can handle! We have a half day of ATV (All Terrain Vehicle - or "quad bike") driving on a wilderness "off road" course, 5 days of Wilderness Canoe Camping into the heart of the world famous Algonquin Park, and 2 days of River Rafting on the mighty Ottawa River! And since we take care of all the details, all you have to do is enjoy yourself!
We depart Toronto at 8:30 am, arriving in Madawaska around 11:30. After a quick lunch we start a 1 hour instruction lesson on the different techniques of driving an All Terrain Vehicle. This is done in an old gravel pit, so you'll be driving right away. After everyone is comfortable with their machines the real fun starts! We head off into the forest, following twisting trails that make up a 4x4 obstacle course. You will cross streams, drive over logs and rocks, and do things with a vehicle that you never thought possible! The course should take about 3-4 hours to complete, during which time we guarantee you'll get covered in mud!
Afterwards, we head into Algonquin Park. This huge wilderness Park is the oldest, and one of the largest in Ontario. To put its size in perspective, it can be compared to several provinces and countries! Its' 7600 square kilometres is 1.5 times larger than Prince Edward Island, 1/4 the size of Belgium, 3 times larger than Luxembourg, and 7 times larger than Hong Kong! Within its borders can be found moose, deer, beaver, hawks, eagles, bears, and even wolves! For the next 5 days we will be living much like the Indians and early explorers did. Traveling by 2 person canoe, we paddle across many lakes, portage over forest trails, swim in clear clean waters, cook by a fire, and sleep in tents under the stars! The nights are so clear here that you won't believe the numbers of stars that you can see. The Milky Way galaxy is easy to recognize as it slowly climbs overhead and, if you watch carefully, you can even see satellites racing by! Over the next 5 days we will cover about 80 km of wilderness routes (with 1 day out for relaxing!), and we can almost guarantee that we will come across a moose or two grazing by the waters edge! If we're lucky we may even hear wolves howling in the distance at night!
After these 5 days of "roughing it", we head back into
civilization. Time permitting we have an interesting stop we include in this
trip. On the way towards Ottawa we stop at the Golden Lake Indian Reserve and
visit their small museum and a Native craft shop. This is a great way to
actually meet some of our Native Indians and learn, firsthand, of their
history. We then continue on towards our rafting base camp.
By the shores of the Ottawa River, you get a chance to prepare yourself for 2 days of adrenaline pumping action! We have 2 nights in cabins (basic accommodation) and 2 days of River Rafting. The Ottawa is well renowned as a world class white water river, so we are sure to get some huge waves! Your heart will be racing as we run class 3 and 4 rapids with names like "Black Chute" and the "Coliseum". At night we are back at the base camp, where we can relate the days excitement in a party like setting. Or you can have a go at some of the extra activities like horse back riding or bungee jumping!
Our last day of rafting should end in mid afternoon, giving us time to stop at the Bonnechere Caves (again, time permitting) where we can do an underground tour of these interesting caves. If you've never been down one before, you'll be in for a treat when they turn off all the lights!
Now it's back to Toronto. We should arrive around 7-8 pm. After this 8 days of adventure, you can definitely say that you have answered the Call Of The Wild!!
What you get:
Half day of ATV driving, 5 days of Wilderness Canoe Camping, 2 days of River Rafting, all Permits and Fees, all Meals, all Equipment (except personal items - see our Packing Check List), Services of a Wilderness Guide, Accommodations (1 night at a hostel/motel, 4 nights tenting, 2 nights in basic cabins), Return Transportation from Toronto, and (time permitting) tours of a Native Indian museum and of Bonnechere Caves.
Accommodations can be arranged in Toronto for the nights before and after the trip.
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