Nadege Legros was sprayed with pesticide during a holdup at a remote waterfall in Cameroon. Europeans and Americans, including Spokane psychologist Donald Hutchings, are currently being held by Kashmiri separatists in India. One of those abducted in Kashmir, theater student Hans Christian Ostro of Norway, was decapitated by his captors. He had been seized while hiking, against the advice of the Norwegian Embassy. Dozens of tour operators, large and small, have sprung up in recent years, offering adventure packages to the thousands of people eager to visit the globe's less-traveled spots.
Tour operators are quick to differentiate between adventure and danger.
For the most part, adventure involves travel to remote areas by jeep, dune buggy, dugout canoe, camel or horse. It also means surviving on local food, and camping under the stars on air mattresses provided by the travel company. Anne de Jouffroy traveled to the Celebes Islands off Indonesia, hiking up to seven hours a day to reach isolated villages that had never seen tourists. It's almost like therapy. Your feet may be killing you, but within 24 hours, you've totally forgotten your city routine.