Days not Homeless: 4 Years, 341 Days ...and loving every second of this alpine adventure!
I had decided some time ago that if Andrea wouldn’t hike through the lawless Darien Gap with me, then we would do one of the backpacker sailing trips taking in the San Blas islands en route. The Darien Gap pretty much begins where the Panamerican highway ends in...
I had made a bit of a gamble bringing us here although Calvin, our host of Free Spirit Inn, assured us that the internet is perfectly reliable. Not only did we risk connectivity on the main island of Isla Colon but we spent the entire week out on the far less...
We almost didn’t bother snorkeling while in the Bocas del Toro archipelago as we'll have plenty of opportunities next week in the San Blas islands, but after seeing these beautiful fish at Hospital Point on Isla Solarte we’re very glad we paid the boat owner $20 for a...
Hopefully we were going to like La Fortuna more than we did last year where we spent one brief night before heading up to Los Chiles and Nicaragua. It was the same time of year, it was still a major touristy town and it still suffered from torrential downpours, but...
A very appropriate title for a special La Ruta del los Conquistadores 2013. This year La Ruta introduced a fatbike category and it was going to be all about the additional weight and four inch fat tires on the coast to coast mountain bike race. The fat bike provides...
After thirty six hours and barely enough time back in Florida to accomplish what was needed I was back to Fort Lauderdale airport for a flight to Costa Rica whilst Andrea remained behind to visit friends and family. The first ten days were spent just outside of San...
We were concerned if we would have enough time to see the Tikal ruins in Guatemala, get to the border to cross into Belize and get to our accommodation 10 miles outside of San Ignacio all in the same day - no problem! The first town we encountered after crossing the...
A long weekend of travel was awaiting us – 8 hours from Antigua to Lanquin on Friday, then another 8 hours from Lanquin to Flores on Sunday. Both trips were on a small van sized ‘turismo’ shuttle with 14-16 passengers. They were cramped to say the least! Leaving...
Unfortunately we didn't allocate enough time in Antigua. It's the previous capital of Guatemala with a thriving language school and tourist population overlooked by Volcan de Agua with Acatenango, Fuego and Pacaya volcanoes very close by. After previously travelling...
It was my decision to head to Quetzaltenango, Xela for short, because I had planned on furthering my Spanish education (really just throwing money down the drain). Xela is a very popular place for this, unlike Antigua, it's not full of foreigners and English is not on...
The must see market town in Guatemala’s western highlands, Chichicastenango, is rammed full of local produce and artesanial products, aimed primarily at the influx of tourists that arrive every Thursday and Sunday morning from the surrounding towns. We headed there on...
This was to be the first of two local volcanoes I was planning on hiking with Altiplanos Tours. Santa Maria, an active volcano in the Quetzaltenango area at an altitude of 3772m and Volcan Santiaguito which was created from an eruption of Santa Maria in 1902. Volcan...
Lake Atitlan is absolutely beautiful, at an altitude of 4,500ft with uniquely distinct villages and towns scattered around its shores! There are 3 volcanoes that rise up from the edge of the water and tower 6,000ft above the lake, Volcan San Pedro, Toliman and...
We arrived in Leon on December 26, 2012. We both immediately knew that Leon was not for us. We had already spent 4 weeks in the city of Granada (a week extra for Dengue Fever) and it was now time for some beautiful mountain scenery on a lake - hopefully without all...
So here we were, 24 hours before flying to the Corn Islands for a Christmas ‘vacation’ and Andrea just got admitted into a Nicaraguan hospital with Dengue Fever! Can someone please remind me what use mosquitoes are to the planet again? This is certainly not a pretty...
We’re sadly leaving Granada on Friday afternoon, after spending 20 days here. We have had a wonderful time exploring the city and surrounding areas, but we’re ready for a change. We'll be flying from Managua to Little Corn Island, Nicaragua in the Caribbean for a...
Wayne and I arrived in the colonial city of Granada on Sunday, December 2nd. After getting lost in the municipal market and having a nice man help us with our location we eventually found La Perla, our home for the next 3 weeks. From the street this place looks like...
Isla de Ometepe, the largest island on a lake in the world is formed by two volcanoes in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. We chose to stay in Moyogalpa, the islands largest town as it’s the base camp for the climb up Volcan Concepcion which we had planned for Saturday,...
We left La Fortuna in Costa Rica on Monday morning and got an 8am bus to Florencia where we only had to wait around 15 minutes for the bus to Los Chiles. After walking through town we found Rio San Juan and paid an official looking guy 60 Colons each for a port fee...
La Palma to Sirena I’m sure we can’t put into words what a wonderful adventure this turned out to be in Corcovado, but we’ll try. Our second good decision, after deciding to go to Corcovado, was hiring Nito from Surcostours as our guide for 3 days. His knowledge of...
No idea why it had taken us so long to make it to Egypt but we're already raring to go back! This occasion was just a week long vacation to get us away from the cold of the Alps and for me to enjoy (if there is any enjoyment!) recovering from hip replacement surgery....
After what felt like an eternity it was a random email from a good friend in the US that prompted a plan of attack for the remaining 8 state highpoints. Unfortunately they were spread far and wide and included four that required some level of technique and multiple...
Our Route des Grandes Alpes map from Cluses to MentonCol d'Izoard DescentCol de Turini DescentSt Martin VésubieValbergArvieuxRoute des Grandes Alpes Day 1: Cluses to Le Grand-Bornand to Beaufort-sur-Doron Col de Romme, Col de la Colombiere, Col des Aravis, Col des...
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
Unable to take a rental car into Albania on a prior roadtrip through Europe we made it a mission to discover what would turn out to be a gem, and not one of those expensive gems! EasyJet supplied the direct flight from Geneva to Tirana, public transport was dirt...
Unable to take a rental car into Albania on a prior roadtrip through Europe we made it a mission to discover what would turn out to be a gem, and not one of those expensive gems! EasyJet supplied the direct flight from Geneva to Tirana, public transport was dirt...
Not quite what we had planned regarding a big Swedish adventure, our 3 week Kungsleden hike turning into a city break in Stockholm. Oh well, it was still fun, and we got to explore another scenic European city. With EasyJet flying the dirt cheap route directly from...
The thought of travelling for two days to visit family in New Zealand without adding on a South Pacific island trip was now only a thought! After spending a little over a week in Niue on our previous trip where would we go this time? Whilst my mum had already been to...
With a few hundred Euros in TAP Portugal credit and no real idea of where to go that didn't involve connections and long flights we decided to just head somewhere warm and that we'd never been to before. The Algarve sounded like that destination. Unfortunately the...
Approaching Greenland ice shelf from the air was humbling, the size of the glaciers tumbling into the sea, the iceberg’s with their turquoise underwater colours, the sheer expanse… and we were barely north of Greenland's narrowest point - there was a hell of a lot...
So here it is, time for another fairly long bike-packing adventure following the length of the mighty Rhine river. The other getaways I was toying with were either a north south traverse of Iceland on foot or a photography shoot in the Faroe Islands - for both it was...
Over eighty days of skiing under my belt, it was time for Andrea and I to head to warmer climates. We had spent some time in the French island of Corsica a couple of years ago and now it was time for the Italian island of Sardinia. We had zero plans; just the desire...
Not what we had initially planned but more than happy that crap high mountain reports ruined our early spring 4000m peak bagging adventure! What was a loosely organised Monte Rosa trip, overnight turned into a well oiled Haute Route ski tour (thanks for demanding a...
Andrea heading home to visit family for a little over 3 weeks made the perfect excuse to make my third trip to Nepal. This time would be kind of strange as it wouldn't involve the Icefall, the Lhotse Face, nor the summit of Everest! I had to find something different...
Not entirely hopeful that we would have time to attempt a second Dolomites high route we hadn't planned or reserved anything for Alta Via 1. Having a copy of the GPX route downloaded to Gaia and a list of the more popular refuges was the extent of it. Whilst winging...
Planning a long hike during Covid was not as easy as we anticipated. Our, or at least my first option of the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland was pretty much closed - we needed a plan B. We had never really thought too much about the Dolomites but after reading...
Outside of Cape Epic in South Africa the Swiss Epic in Graubünden, Switzerland, is probably the big destination mountain bike race of the Epic series. Being one of the qualifiers for the Cape Epic, the two-person-team five day event is hugely competitive, packed with...
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
Whilst Mont Blanc comes in at the highest mountain in western Europe its normal "Goûter" route is one of the easiest in the Alps. The 4810m snow covered summit looms over Chamonix, the lower glaciers of Bossons and Taconnaz winding their way down from the upper...
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