Cape Town, South Africa

The one stop for high-altitude aviation junkies, Thunder City in Cape Town, South Africa owns and flies one of the world's most diverse and exclusive squadron of former military jets, including English Electric Lightnings (famous for their role as interceptors during the Cold wWr), the BAe Buccaneer or the Hawker Hunter, the pride of the Royal Air Force and the most successful British fighter jet ever built. They specialize in supersonic flights, high-speed aerial acrobatics and surface-hugging, low-altitude passes.

For more information, visit www.thundercity.com.

Cornwall, UK

Spice up your next bucolic holiday in England with Dinscott Tank & Military Collection. Located in rustic Cornwall, Dinscott is one of the largest purveyors of privately owned mainly post-war British armored vehicles and tanks. Some of the most notable are the 55 ton Chieftain main battle tank, the GKN Fv 432 Armored Personnel Carrier with space for 12 fully equipped infantrymen or the Hagglund Bv 206, also known as the Snowcat, which is still in use and was originally designed for use in the Artic circle by the Royal Marines. All are available to clients who take the helm and put these monsters through a grueling 1 1/2 mile off-road course.

For more information, visit www.tankdriving.net

Edinburgh, Scotland

Forget spending thousands and jetting off to some remote location just so you can have a possible encounter with shark -- albeit from behind the confines of a steel cage. In the wilds of Edinburgh, Scotland, you can dive into a 1.1 million gallon tank for a meet-and-greet with Europe's largest collection of sharks in what is billed as an underwater safari. There are 2000 other fish, including stingrays and crabs, floating about as well. If the daytime dives and shark-awareness courses aren't rigorous enough, Deep Sea World offers hair-raising night dives.

For more information, visit www.sharkdives.deepseaworld.com

Phalaborwa, South Africa

For the aspiring bushman, few adventures are as rewarding as the game ranger program offered by Ian Owtram of Antares, a field guide training center in Phalaborwa in South Africa's Limpopo Province, which is often referred to as the Central Gate to the Kruger National Park. The six week-long courses are accredited by FGASA (The Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) and are meant for aspiring field guides as well as those who want a more broad-based knowledge about animals, their surroundings and more. In addition to intensive practical and written training, clients work in the field and up close with some of the world's rarest species.

For more information, visit www.antares.co.za

Worldwide

Offering everything from MiG fighter jet flights over Moscow to zero gravity astronaut training and European rally racing, Incredible Adventures offers an eclectic set of envelope-pushing programs. Some of their most interesting are piloting (in the full sense of the word) the iconic Douglas DC-3, taking off in an ultralight, driving a NASCAR-style, 500-horsepower car, or learning to do covert ops, be it driving James Bond-style, escaping an ambush or pistol training.

For more information visit www.incredible-adventures.com

West Virginia

If you've ever found yourself transfixed on the rodeo races on RFD-TV, then Zbulls is perfect for you, even if you are an ABR (short for amateur bull rider). The West Virginia-based company will elucidate you on all the finer points of the discipline, including how to deal with a double kicker (a bull that kicks up with the hind legs, walks on the front legs and then kicks again with the hind legs, before the hind legs touch the ground) and an Honest Bucker (a bull that bucks the same way every time out of the chute), all the while making sure you are never ever Freight Trained (a contestant or clown that gets run over by a bull traveling at top speed).

www.zbulls.com