G.A.P Adventures: Vacationing In A Whole New World

A couple weeks ago the girlfriend and I booked our trip to the Dominican Republic and I am quite excited. My first big, week-long trip and somewhere tropical! My girlfriend (Robyn) is quite the experienced traveller. She’s lived in Australia for a year, she’s been to Costa Rica, over to Europe and a bunch of other places and mentioned to me that her mother was going on a G.A.P Adventure tour when we leave for the Dominican.

I’ve never head of G.A.P Adventure before but I have heard of the concept. They take a small amount of people (12-18 in total) and go off the beaten-track so-to-speak. You won’t be staying at that All-Inclusive 5-Star Resort but they do offer a ‘Comfort’ package where you can stay in a decent resort (up to 4-Star). They immerse you in the local culture so that you can experience them first hand and learn more about them as well. They also believe in leaving a small foot-print while you’re there so you don’t disrupt the local communities and stress out the locals. Image 50 people getting off a large bus and being crammed into a small local cafe. G.A.P Adventure does not do this, they like to have as minimum impact as possible but also give you the best experiences of your life.

Now our trip to the Dominican Republic is, unfortunately, not a G.A.P Adventure tour, but after watching a presentation of Costa Rica they have definitely convinced me that they offer the type of travel I am looking for. Their ‘Original’ package would make use of the countries local transportation. You know, the type where sitting on a bus next to goats or chickens? They also believe in if it moves, we move with it. Not quite the saying they used but you would make use of donkeys, horses and even camels for your modes of transportation. Which would be an experience in itself. They also employ experienced ‘Leaders’ who live in the locations that G.A.P Adventure operate in and make sure that you get the best out of your stay during your tour. The Leaders are also there for guidance and ensuring everyone is safe. When you’re at you destinations you make use of local guides (again G.A.P does their research and hires people who are experienced in their location). The Leaders are also available to the self-guided tours to give you advice when you need it.

G.A.P Adventure also offers other options and one that peeked my interest a bit more is the self-guided tours. They allow you to rent a Toyota RAV4 and you use it to get your own butt around the countries between your intended destinations. You’re also not attached to a tour schedule. If you want to stay an extra day, you can.

If you’re a bit more adventurous and looking for an experience in other cultures around the world I recommend checking out the G.A.P Adventure website for more information as well as photos of their trips. I will definitely be looking into some of their excursions and I know Robyn is excited in the fact that I am interested in this sort of travel.