We just got home after an amazing weekend at the ranch. I surprised my wife for our first…read moreanniversary and her birthday and it did not disappoint!!! All of the staff were so helpful and kind! A special shoutout to Cheslea who took care of us when we arrived, as well as was our driver for the safari tour! Ohhhh the animals, my wife and I were in heaven. She misses her little Cashew and I won't forget my big boy Blue (see photo)! Our first time but will not be our last! Thank you again to you all!

Spent the weekend here and had great animal adventures. We stayed in the kangaroo cabins. The cabin…read moreitself had everything and was great accommodations. The place was clean and just the right size for my wife and I. Being city folks you forget how dark it is out in the country at nights. It was nice. We signed up for these adventures to make the weekend even more fun: 1. Feed baby kangaroo(Bodhi). This was about a 30 minute session where we got to feed him a bottle and kibble. It really was an amazing experience. 2. Bucket of food and self guided feeding of animals. We walked the property and hid to feed so many animals. All of the animals were friendly toward people. They were all very good motivated. We encountered a giraffe, donkeys, zebras, horses, cows, pigs, dwarf steers, camels, emu, deer, buffalo and more. The animals were often trying to bully their way to the front of the line. The cow Oreo who has not skipped a meal was always front of the line. 3. Afternoon safari ride in ATV. This was a fun ride around the property. Did not see any new animals but had a great time. The cows out at pasture were thrilled to be fed. 4. Giraffe encounter and meal. This was a little expensive but I would spend it again. The giraffes were super friendly and personable. We wanted to take them home because they were so much fun. The guide, experience and never felt rushed made this worth it. Our guide was top notch. I think her name was Jackie but could be wrong.

We took the adventure tour today to do something special on Valentine's Day…read more It was so very busy! Our tour guide was Tom and he was so informative and fun and kind. He had sweet little stories for all the children. He was very knowledgeable. I learned that he has been going to that cave his entire life, he even took his dates there and he's probably a grandpa now. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Our group was probably 25 people. They had a group descending every 20 minutes. It was quite interesting. The cave actually goes underneath the 35 freeway! We paused and listened and it sounded like lightning as the cars passed over the top. There's an old ladder inside where explorers used to climb down into the cave. That same ladder is on the side of the freeway just like a half mile down inside of a black shed. Nobody knows what's there without taking this tour. They have a beautiful gift shop with lots of wonderful things to buy. They take a photo of each party along the tour and to buy that photo is only $13! They have three different tours to choose from. The adventure tour was one hour. Then they have a 90 minute tour and a 3 1/2 hour tour. The one hour tour that we took was 1 mile long. The terrain is up and down and sometimes slippery so wear your good walking shoes with tread. When you get down to the very bottom, it's pretty warm so don't overdress. Layer with a hoodie that you can tie around your waist. This is not a place for anyone who can't walk a mile on varied terrain--No wheelchairs no strollers, nothing like that. I look forward to going back and taking the longer tour. Every employee that I spoke to was so very kind and helpful. I really like this place. I highly recommend you visit!

This was more interesting and fascinating than I thought. I enjoyed my tour with Myles…read more The parking lot is very large. Plenty of parking. The tour to the cave is about a mile round trip. I don't think you can take kids strollers on the tour. And you should be in capable condition to walk the distance. The walk back is more upward, some areas are steep. It is humid as you get down, which I thought it would be cool underground. I had curly hair going in, came out with straight frizzy hair. The tour guide stops along the way and talks about the rocks, the forms, and some extra surprises along the way. The guide will also take a photo of you and your group, and you can purchase the picture at the end when you go back to the gift shop. Myles was a great tour guide. He explained everything so well. Answered questions we had. Friendly and knowledgeable. Was a very nice hour or so tour. Well worth the time and drive there. Happy I did something new and a little adventurous.

Captain Sean was the BEST!! My experience was nothing shy of AMAZING! He was educated, experienced,…read morefunny as EVER!!! I had the best time!!

Three years later we are back and brought family visiting from out of town. The captain was great…read moreand very informative without it being boring. We were a group of 11 ranging from age 11 through 94 and everyone liked it. You can either park on the street for free or at the Hyatt. If you park at the Hyatt, Capital Cruises will give you a coupon so the What a fun experience!

This is your tour company! Dianna and Lou helped make a special surprise birthday celebration even…read moremore special. They had EVERYTHING covered for us- comfortable and safe transportation, a wonderful agenda and experience, no worry handling of our many purchases, tips for future options, etc. Thanks for new great memories!

I highly recommend Amber & Amethyst Tours for your next event. I contacted them as I was looking…read morefor a wine tour option for my mom's surprise party. They were so accommodating from the very beginning. They made great recommendations on where to go and what would work for our group, and were so flexible with the timing of our event. Other places I had called were strict on a time limit: four hours, three wineries...Amber & Amethyst Tours said they would work with us and our schedule...we never felt rushed to move on to the next spot and had time to sit together and enjoy our wine at each spot! Every place we went, they were ready to open the door for us, help my 92 year old grandma get her walker and get to the entrance, and they even labeled and packed all our snacks and wine bottles purchased along the way. Dianna and Lou were so kind and so much fun! I'll be contacting them again!

Pictures don't do this place justice!…read more On this beautiful Saturday, I was seeking adventure! This tour is such an amazing deal. My tour guide Eryn was amazing and so funny. Caves are so interesting and there is so much to learn about them . Longhorn Cavern offer 3 different tour options. The cavern walking tour is just like a casual walking tour. The black light tour is where you wear hard hats and walk with a light. The Wild Cave tour is for the extreme explorers who are okay with tight spaces . I chose the cavern walking tour. I highly recommend shoes that have a tight grip. The gift shop has really good options for keepsakes. Also, if you get thirst drinks are available to purchase. I saw a section for pizza, but it was sold out. I had amazing time during my visit. The cave is beautiful and there is so much to see.

This isn't the best caverns I've visited within a Texas State Park, but it is pretty darn cool. The…read morebest caverns tour is at Kickapoo Caverns. I did a wild cave tour without the extra charges that Longhorn collects. At Longhorn, our guide, Johnson did an amazing job with our small group of six people for the 10:45 AM tour. My brother and I initially registered for the 11:00 AM tour and am glad that we were suggested another time. We passed by the 11:00 AM tour and they had 40+ people in their group. Johnson showed us cool geological formations. We saw dolomite, calcium bicarbonate, chert, limestone, geodes, stalagmites, stalactites, and quartz crystals. Johnson is somewhat funny; he had a bit of quirky and dry humor. I enjoyed the history of the caverns, but some of it I thought was interesting. It was really delightful to learn that in the 1800's, before the CCC got involved, the locals would dance and play music turning the cave into an auditorium of entertainment. Johnson said that if certain geological formations glows, it is growing. Very catchy phase for memory. I got to see a few bats hanging out. They were tricolor bats which are smallest bats. The cave is cool, but thankfully not slippery. I was wearing no grip support shoes, but I didn't fall or have the urge to fall. There are mats on the floor of the cave to prevent falls. Johnson gave us more time to look around and admire the geology. My brother and I weren't required to bring our own flashlights. Johnson had a flashlight, but forgot to grab the blacklights. What I find is strange is that this is a state park that you cannot renew your state park pass at. This park headquarters is very different than the rest considering that there's a third party company handing the cave tours, they sell ice-cees, popcorn, and the gift shop is very big and vast. The others don't have this. It is questionable to me. I was told that I needed to go to Inks Lake to renew my pass. The cave tours are very pricey. Kickapoo Caverns tour was very affordable at $10. You can use the park pass. You can't get your state park passport stamped at Longhorn Caverns either. It seems like Longhorn Caverns is more for profit and the history about the cavern could be overly exaggerated to attract customers. My opinion. It was hard to believe half of the things what Johnson was telling us. There's one portion of geological formation in the cave that is "dead" because in year 1919, the locals went exploring by touching the formation it "killed" it. I preferred Kickapoo Caverns and the Caverns of Sonora a lot more. Even Inner Space Caverns and Natural Bridge were very exciting to see. Longhorn is cool, but didn't give me that WOW-factor, but I still had a ton of fun on a Sunday morning.

After seeing the movie "The Embrace of the Serpent", we wanted to see the place where it was…read morefilmed: the Mavecure Hills in Colombia. Amazon Adventures was able to arrange a 5-day tour for us, it went really well - even when we missed our flight out of the jungle (no cell coverage and they moved the flight earlier!!) we had a hotel arranged and a flight the next day. Spectacular trip. Would definitely use this company again!

I contacted Jim at Amazon Adventures to arrange a trip to the Pantanal in Brazil. I had tried to…read moremake a few arrangements on my own and was completely frustrated. I shouldn't have wasted my time and just emailed Jim right from the start. He was immediately responsive. Through a series of emails over the course of a week, he offered a couple of options at different price points. I should mention that I was trying to arrange our trip for peak season and was a bit late for booking travel at that time. Unfortunately, our trip was cancelled due to the pandemic. But Jim came through again, helping us to obtain a refund. Through all our interactions, Jim was helpful, informative and pleasant. Perhaps most impressively, he always responded promptly -- I think always within 24 hours. I highly recommend Amazon Adventures and will contact Jim again when we are able to travel once more.

It's cool that the town has a ghost tour. It's a short walk and wheelchair accessible. It is the…read moremost boring ghost tour I've ever been on. A history tour might be better since the stories of haunts are so bland. It's kid and pet friendly. The meeting place is in a cool gift shop with restrooms. There's also history to read about while you wait.

The staff is incredibly friendly, and the check-in process couldn't be easier. The train cars are…read moreimpressively clean and well-kept, and we really enjoyed learning about the history behind the ride. It's a unique and nostalgic experience that takes you back in time. While I do wish the views along the route were a bit more scenic, the overall experience was still absolutely worth it and I would gladly do it again. If you're looking for something different to do around Austin, please support this train. It's a special kind of adventure you don't find every day.

The wedding oak wine train sells out pretty quickly. I have been waiting almost a year to get a…read morebooking. I finally was able to book a ticket for eight of us. The train leaves out of Cedar Park depot. You do have assigned seating. At the Cedar Park depot, they do have bathrooms. I suggest using them because the bathrooms in the train do not open for at least 30 minutes after you leave the station. In the train, we were provided with some snacks and drinks. The drinks include a coffee, hot tea, cold, tea, juice. The snack was a Chex mix. They do have a cart when you can buy some more snacks, but not anything hardy. We did take charcuterie, boards and snacks with us. They let you take an ice chest on board as long as there is no alcohol in it. They do check your ice chest. The train ride is about two hours to Burnet, Texas. They do give you five tastings while on your way. The person delivering your tastings is from the winery and has a lot of information regarding the wines. We were in the Maurice car. In the Maurice car, they have tables with four chairs each. It can get a little cramped. The chairs are not the most comfortable but adequate. Once you arrive toBurnet, they give you two hours to go to the winery or have lunch or do both. We went on a Sunday in the majority of the shops and restaurants were closed. We did end up eating pizza and pasta at a nearby restaurant and then heading to the winery to enjoy some wines. At the winery, we bought three bottles of wine and shared between eight of us. We did get to take Wine home, but they do put it in a different cart until you arrive back to Austin because you are not allowed to drink alcohol that is not provided by the train. Once we arrived in Austin, everything went smoothly to include our pick up of wineand disembarking. Parking is available on site. The train has volunteers that help you throughout your journey. They are super sweet and know all the history of the train. They also have a car that has nice reclining seats. They told us about it on the way back and we were able to take a nap there.

When Steve and I were planning our trip to Austin, Texas we realized fairly quickly that we didn't…read moreknow the city very well at all. In previous vacations we took bus tours to get a little bit more familiar with the city and that is what we did with Austin. Only this time we rode a Double Decker bus! I have seen this kind of bus tour here and there and have seen it when I am in Seattle. Officially I think after this particular bus tour it was my first time riding a Double Decker bus. The weather was typical spring weather on our entire visit but the day we chose to take this tour it was nice and warm and a perfect time to go ride this bus followed by rain for a few days (This took place in April). The ride was so much fun and the tour guide was great! Austin is definitely a different cut than the rest of Texas and that was reflected in many of the people we met. Open mindedness being one and we really felt that with the tour guide. He was so knowledgeable of the city and the neighborhoods and all that made this bus tour all the more amazing. But of course they would probably have staff with personalities that would be compatible in this way. Riding on the top of the bus was so much fun. A few times we had to duck from tree branches and I lowered my head a few times from the traffic lights but that was just me getting nervous with being that high to a light. You see all the sights, famous buildings, museums, local culture, restaurant recommendations and so much more while on this tour. So this was a great experience! I was in Austin proper once a very long time ago and saw just how much it's grown. So it was cool getting acquainted with the city one more time thanks to this bus tour!

I was so looking forward to finally taking a tour of the city. I've been coming here visiting my…read moreson for the last dozen or so years and I've never done it. At first, I sat on the upper level. It was wonderful to be out in the fresh air. However, the sun was a little too much for me so I had to move down to the inside area. I was the only one down there which was fine, but it was really quite filthy. There was thick gray dust on the top rail of all the seats and the fabric on the seats themselves was all thick with black grease. The tour guide was really wonderful. Entertaining and knowledgeable with one exception that was actually kind of disturbing to me personally. When we got to South Congress he talked about the "I love you so much" wall. His story of a husband painting it for his wife could not have been more wrong. It was in fact done by an artist named Amy for her then girlfriend Liz an infamous Austin hotelier and restauranteur. It is an incredibly iconic part of Austin history and if it's told it should be not fiction. I hope for sure this can be corrected for future tours.

We visited over the weekend for the grand reopening of Joanne Land Playground and it is truly…read moreamazing. It has so many wonderful obstacles and slides for the children to enjoy. I don't want to upload pics due to children are present but please go check it out because you won't be disappointed. The main stage is nice and there is a pavilion for you to just sit and enjoy the atmosphere while reading a book or just taking a moment to chill. I always enjoy coming here to cycle or walk but really appreciate the playground upgrade for the children.

My preschooler loves the kids playground at old settlers. Its well kept and keeps kids entertained…read more The location by the pond makes it so scenic. Also, this park has so many events going on.