Southwest Splendors or Quest for the West?

[SLK1]

I'm taking my 15 yo son on an ABD trip this June to Italy. My 13 yo daughter now has her sights set on a trip as well (and it's only fair...). She is more the outdoorsy, sports type, so we are narrowing it down to Southwest Splendors or Quest for the West. Which would you recommend? She's totally into animals and we both really want to go white water rafting, which I believe both tours do. We have already been to the Grand Canyon, but could easily do that again! So, any suggestions? How about timing - which month in the summer for either one? Thanks!

 

[Turtlemom]

We did Southwest Splendors last August and absolutely loved it! It was very hot though, and aside from the occasional lizzard or cattle--not many animals. The activities were great though, especially the hiking and the ATV ride in Moab on the old mining roads was spectacular. They also offered horseback riding, canyoneering/rapelling and other outdoorsy things. The whitewater rafting trip was great, but very tame (class I and II rapids--many people jumped out of the boat and did some of the rapids floating in the river).

We plan to do Quest for the West this upcoming August 09. I've heard great things about this trip as well. I'm hoping to do a pre-trip excursion with Teton Science School to actually spot some wildlife, but I'm expecting we will be able to see more wildlife on this trip. The weather will also be cooler. I also understand the rafting trip will have bigger rapids. My understanding is that this trip does sell out though, since it is one of the most popular itineraries.

Overall--although I cannot speak from experience on Quest for the West--I'm sure you cannot go wrong choosing either trip. They are different, but both seem wonderful in their own way.

Good luck, and let us know which one you choose!

Turtlemom

 

[ears2BWV]

We did Quest for the West last June with our 2 teens. The rafting trip was a level 4. It was definitely a trip for the thrill seeker. They did offer a float trip for the families which could not do the level 4. Apparently the trip is more of a class 3, but with the unusually high amount of snowfall that winter caused the change. We are a very outdoor family, all heavily into sports, so my daughter was somewhat disappointed we did not hang from cliffs every day. There was a lot of walking, some hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, and of course the raft excursion. Our two teens had a LOT of fun. For the average family I would say there was a lot of activity. Not a lot of bus time, which was nice. There was one family that had done the other trip on ours. I asked them a few times which trip they liked better, and they always said the 2 trips were very different, and they liked them both the same. They did say that the weather was much warmer on the Southwest trip, and the rafting was more of a float. Hope this helps. We are about to leave for a 3 day trip of skiing, so I will check back to see if there are any other questions when we get back. Good Luck