Adventure Travel
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![Going Places with Dale Leatherman A view of some mountains and water from the ground.](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Patagonia-The-Towers700-landscape-3b2d06dc2689f59427b345b4426e8479-.webp)
Patagonia: Journey to the End of the World
Once upon a time an enterprising rock climber launched a line of clothing for extreme sports. He named it “Patagonia,†a word that triggers a visceral reaction in adventurers and wannabes. Even the armchair traveler experiences a shiver visualizing one of the wildest regions on earth, a faraway place with...
![Going Places with Dale Leatherman A river running through the middle of a canyon.](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Anasazi-Viewpoint-landscape-578a3a844573b96a5f2d71ae1e543e79-.webp)
Simply Grand: Rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon
I’m sitting just inside the lobby of Las Vegas’ Paris Hotel to escape the sweltering heat that seems to radiate from the sidewalks and buildings as well as the sun. I would like to cover my ears to block out the sounds of slot machines, sirens, traffic, and raised voices....
![Going Places with Dale Leatherman A group of people in the water with scuba gear.](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/epcot-divequest-landscape-469b62ba6fe2c9cb5d7daae6c24d4a2b-.webp)
Orlando: Magic Kingdom for Adults
My breath whooshes out, sending a cascade of bubbles toward the water’s surface. One of the passing sharks turns and cruises toward me, mouth agape in an exceedingly toothy grin. He’s so close I could touch him—if it weren’t for the mesh barrier. When he loses interest I swim over...
![Going Places with Dale Leatherman A river with two boats on it and a bridge in the background.](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/New-River-Bridge-landscape-145f85770bcb3a441fc4f3cf57415830-.webp)
West Virginia’s New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
If you’re a Baby Boomer (born 1946-1964), mention of the New River brings to mind intense whitewater adventures under Spartan conditions. If you didn’t experience it, you heard about it from friends who rafted or kayaked the Lower New in the 60s and 70s. They talked of paddling Class III-V...
![Going Places with Dale Leatherman A group of people in life jackets are on a raft.](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/OPGauley-River-PillowRock2-Donnelle-Oxley1-landscape-b92ca1ca1e11e553f31898b466234e5b-.webp)
Nature’s Roller Coasters
Nature makes the best roller coasters. Rafting is wet, wild and exhilarating—and no two rides on a whitewater river are ever the same. Today’s upscale outfitters won’t guarantee that anyone will stay dry—or even stay in the raft—but they do promise indulgences at the end of the day. In the...
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Swimming With Humpback Whales
“The principal gift whales offer humanity is that they are the only animals that can impress us enough to persuade us to change our minds about the importance of the wild world.†– Roger Payne, Among Whales When I saw a flash of white on my left, my heart jumped into...
![whale12 A whale is jumping in the water](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/whale12-landscape-33fa1dc76dddb30f7df7dd0fb568a6b8-.webp)
Exploring Alaska’s Glacier Country by Small Ship
Humpback whales bubble-netting. Copyright Donnelle Oxley The underwater microphone beneath our skiff picked up the whoosh of bubbles and the sound of whales chattering like children at recess. But we knew the humpbacks circling under us were on serious business—the pursuit of dinner. As if at a conductor’s signal, all...
![](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/placeholder-landscape-973114959eabd8b2d49587505f123945-.jpg)
Peru: So Many Mysteries, So Little Time
Machu Picchu, Peru’s “Lost City of the Incas,” made my life list when I was in junior high school. Now, at the end of my sixth decade, I’ve focused more intently on my “must see” goals — Egypt’s pyramids, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, China’s Great Wall, the Rwandan mountain gorillas, etc....
![Galapagos Galapagos](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Galapagos-landscape-0a9de6122070063ce359098cd51fc94a-.webp)
Close Encounters in the Galapagos Islands
Like most nature lovers, I have dreamed of close encounters with wildlife that don’t make me feel like a stalker. A Dr. Doolittle experience–short on actual conversation, of course, but long on trust and peaceful acceptance. Last spring I found a place where this is a reality–the Galapagos, an isolated...
![Train-image-1 Train-image-1](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Train-image-1-landscape-81b2b8fdc03475cc60dff2ce208f58b9-.webp)
Oh, Canada! Traveling Coast to Coast by Luxury Train
We could have flown from Toronto to Vancouver in five hours (catching glimpses of the countryside miles below through the clouds), but Canada—the second largest country in the world–deserved a closer look. And, having experienced luxury trains in Australia and Peru, we were eager to travel on VIARail’s The Canadian,...
About Dale
![](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dale-Leatherman.webp)
In the course of her life, she has exercised racehorses at New York's Belmont Park, shown jumping horses on the A Circuit, driven a race car with the late Paul Newman, and played the world's most famous golf courses. She is a former private pilot and an avid scuba diver. Read More...
![Going Places with Dale Leatherman A woman with short blonde hair wearing a blue shirt.](https://daleleatherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dale-Leatherman.webp)
In the course of her life, she has exercised racehorses at New York's Belmont Park, shown jumping horses on the A Circuit, driven a race car with the late Paul Newman, and played the world's most famous golf courses. She is a former private pilot and an avid scuba diver. Read More...