Adventure.Travel News » Off the Radar

InkaFest – Huaraz

Off the Radar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:38:35 +0000

Every August, the Peruvian city of Huaraz hosts the Mountain Film Fest or InkaFest. This year, the festival runs from the 18th-22nd of August.

Films can be entered into one of six categories (not including Best Picture and Viewer’s Choice): Mountaneering, Mountain Culture, Adventure, Rock Climbing and Sports Adventure and Nature. Besides films, the festival hosts workshops and speakers. And of course – there are endless opportunities for adventures in Huayhuash and Cordillera Blanca, climbing, hiking, rafting or exploring nearby ruins.

We wrote about Huaraz last year, click here to read.

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Smith Fork Ranch: Luxury Dude Ranch

Off the Radar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:37:02 +0000

Something amazing is happening in the North Fork Valley of Colorado: local, sustainable, and organic farms are thriving. Smith Fork Ranch in Crawford, Colorado, uses local fruits and vegetables from their own garden and surrounding organic farms, as well as lamb, beef, pheasant, and elk raised locally and sustainably, to create a delicious feast with fresh ingredients every day. The words “luxury” and “dude ranch” don’t often fit together in a sentence, but that’s exactly what the Hodgson family has created at the Smith Fork Ranch. In the dramatic mesas and mountains of Colorado’s Western Slope, the wine industry is growing and thriving in Tuscan-like summers, and this ranch reflects this refined culture amid lush rolling countryside, with the dramatic (and undiscovered!) San Juan mountains as a backdrop.

This piece of Colorado also has the nation’s newest national monument, the incredible Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Visit the park for fishing, rafting, hiking, or some truly adventurous rock climbing (for the hard core only) on one of your days at the ranch-but you really won’t want to be late for that dinner. Fill the rest of your time with world-class trout fishing at the ranch, horseback riding, archery, or even learn the skills to become a barrel racer.

We have spent time in this area, and the whole summer experience at Smith Fork Ranch is everything a vacation should be: amazing local food, culture, and adventure in the dramatic San Juan’s, with a touch of world culture in the growth and care for the food and wine.

Sea Kayak the Brazilian Amazon with Rumo Norte

Off the Radar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:33:29 +0000

Rumo Norte Expeditions, out of Belem, Brazil, has a truly unusual way to experience the grandeur of the Amazon, with minimal impact: by sea kayak.

Rumo Norte owner Gelderson Pinheiro’s favorite kayak trip begins in the town of Alter do Chão, “Altar of the Earth,” where a white sand island known as the Island of Love glows in the clear waters of the Tapajos River (which feeds into the Amazon River 30km to the northeast.)

Paddling a sea kayak south along Green Lake, where the Borari Indians extract stones for auspicious frog amulets, Gelderson says, “The sky is more blue, the sunset is more expressive, the water is warm and has a special blue-green color, and the local communities come to you with friendship and great hospitality.” If the wind permits, add a sail to your boat to get you to Belterra for lunch, then Maguari, where you’ll have dinner with the local community.

You’ll hike through the forest and experience the Sumaúma tree, the Amazon’s largest, and known as the “the telephone of the Amazon,” because the echo from a knock on its base announces your presence to the forest. The Sumaúma’s oil is used in foods, soaps, and as a cleaner; the bark is used as a diuretic; even the waterproof seeds and their fluffy wool are used for pillows or life vests! Most people spend their last night camping in the middle of the river on a white sand island before returning by boat to Alter do Chão.

Start your trip August 29th or September 4th. Check out their site for more details.

Watching Bonobos Deep in Equateur Province of the Congo

Off the Radar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:30:41 +0000

At Off the Radar, we usually write about trips you can book immediately – but traveling deep into Equateur Province of the Congo to visit the Lomako-Yokokala Faunal Reserve to see Bonobos in their natural habitat is not something you can do…yet. In April 2009 primatologist Jef Dupain of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), in partnership with Jengai Tours out of Cameroon, led a group of 12 adventure tourists to test out a trip that AWF hopes to begin running four times a year.

The Lomako reserve is the only place in the world tourists can visit to view Bonobos in their natural habitat. The endangered Bonobos are our closest living relative. They only live in the dense lowlands of the Congo Basin, and are rarely found in zoos, likely because of their sexual repertoire: they use sex for most types of communication, including greetings and conflict resolution.

The group flew into Basankusu, where they climbed in pirogues – traditional dugout canoes carved from one tree, for a four day journey up-river. They floated up increasingly narrower tributaries of the Congo River, squeezing though the dense jungle that looms over the water. As the pirogue glided upriver, the group encountered small communities, living on the riverbanks and subsisting entirely on fishing. Camp was set up in the pitch black of night and goat dinners were cooked over coal braziers.

The days at the reserve were spent on extended forest walks through the wet vines, creeping moss and verdant thistle, led by local guides who have grown up in the jungle. Guests could taste fruits, sniff and touch trees, vines and flowers, or swim in the spring in the middle of the forest and or the fast moving currents of the Lomako river.

AWF built the Conservation Center with three goals: study the bonobos, protect the forest, and develop eco-tourism as an income generator and incentive for conservation for the local people. AWF spent nearly two years in talks with locals. As Jef said, “This was the first time the (planning process) brought local communities together and allowed them to meet with DRC wildlife authorities and government ministers. This sent a clear message that the AWF approach to conservation was really built on a regard for the traditional rights of local people.”

Keep this one in mind for your trips next year (as AWF plans on running trips four times a year starting soon) – the experience is truly unique and contributes meaningfully to conservation and local communities: 60 Eco-guards have been trained and have graduated from the Congolese Institute for Conservation, most of the food is bought from nearby communities, and the building materials and labor was all locally sourced. The custom trips will depart from Bansankusu. You’ll spend a few days at the Reserve learning about bonobos (as well as forest elephants, congo peacocks, and other fauna), interacting with the local community, and participating in the Center’s activities. Click here to see the visual blog from trip participants Sigrid Johnson and Donald McMaster. For the latest news on the trips, be sure to sign up for AWF’s newsletter here.

(Thanks to Sigrid Johnson, Donald McMaster and Kate Gersh for their accounts of this trip!)

Please note that several countries recommend no non-essential travel to the DRC as it remains a difficult and dangerous place to travel. Please be sure to check advisories before planning a trip to the region.

Interview with Katie Brown – Girl on the Rocks

Off the Radar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:55:38 +0000

Professional rock climber Katie Brown has been stunning the world with her climbing prowess since she won her first international competition in France at age 14, then took the World Championships at age 18. After an intense youth in competition, Katie took time off to attend school, then found her love of climbing again as she entered her twenties.

Since then, she’s been diligently working at design school, studying yoga, and traveling the world. Katie’s life has always included a lot of travel. Growing up in rural Kentucky, Katie traveled around Europe starting in her early teens to compete in climbing events. When we met Katie six years ago, she was still painfully shy and leary of the spotlight from her past, but she was on her own climbing program that involved climbing for the love of it, complete with a new focus and a desire to break out of her shell.

Even though she had traveled on the pro climbing circuit, it was a climbing and bouldering trip to Hampi, India with friends that really opened her eyes. “That trip definitely changed and shaped my perspective on life and on the world. India is so vibrant and so ‘in your face.’ It’s an incredible place and I can’t wait to go back. I think all these trips have given me a more open mind and less ethnocentric view of the world. It has made me appreciate the value of ‘home’ but given me the perspective to identify what I value most in life.”

Katie took her first solo trip this spring, trusting the skills she had gained as an independent traveler. “I’m usually traveling on a climbing trip with other climbers, photographers, videographers, etc. This was my first spontaneous, non-planned, solo trip. I went toAustralia and New Zealand, and was greeted with open arms by friendly people who showed me the way-and even let me borrow a car!”

Katie now carries her metaphorical suitcase of skills and perspective with her throughout her travels. “It can seem daunting, but with a guidebook and a couple of contacts, it’s quite easy. And climbers are a friendly, helpful bunch of people!”

And even though she’s traveled the world, she still says her favorite climbing areas are the Red River Gorge in Kentucky or Yosemite National Park in the USA. “The Red was where I started climbing, and is also home to my favorite style of climbing (long, overhanging routes) so I hold it dear. As for Yosemite, well there’s simply no other place quite as awe-inspiring.”

You can read about and purchase Katie’s latest book, Girl On the Rocks: A Woman’s Guide to Climbing with Strength, Grace and Courage, in our Books We Love section.

- Off the Radar

Photos by Jamie Carpenter

Pozos – An Abandoned Mining Town in Mexico

Off the Radar — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:21:53 +0000

Three bus rides away from San Miguel De Allende in the central Mexican province of Guanajato, is Pozos, an old mining town. Pozos is actively promoting an “Art Walk,” and the mysteries of its abandoned silver mines.

Over five hundred barely noticeable circular cement markers are scattered around the outskirts of the town, indicating the presence of mine shafts, some over 150 feet deep. You can walk through the faded red ruins of the mining industry – brick buildings where equipment was stored and accommodations for the workers. The first ruin up the road from the main square is adjacent to a shaft equipped with a string of light bulbs, and frayed rope. For twenty pesos, we paid an old woman perched at the entrance of the shaft, to let us climb about 100 feet down and gained vague sense of what it must have been like to be a Mexican mine worker in the 19th century.

Wacky artists are trying to put Pozos on the tourist map with eclectic workshops making pre-hispanic instruments (among other things), and the town regularly holds festivals when stands of local sweets and roasted maiz pop up on otherwise dusty streets. The most captivating thing about Pozos, is the example it provides of life in a town after mines close, and the stark difference from nearby San Miguel de Allende.

To get there from San Miguel: take the bus to Dolores Hidalgo, then to San Luis de la Paz, then finally to Pozos (this can take up to three hours; we hitchhiked back in a third of the time, and were regaled with fascinating stories).

- Off the Radar

Make Your Own Adventure Short

Off the Radar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:49:18 +0000

October 11th to 17th, join the Outside Serac Adventure Film School, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. During the course of the week you’ll explore the process of making an adventure short and have the opportunity to head into the field for a hiking and camping adventure. Michael Brown, winner of 50 film festival awards and 3 Emmys, who has also reached the Summit of Everest four times with a 25 pount Hi-def camera, is your mentor. Ryan Ross and David D’Angelo, two accomplished adventure videographers, are your other instructors. Check out the program here - and if you enroll, be sure to send Off the Radar your adventure short!

- Off the Radar

Kite the Costa Esmeralda in Veracruz

Off the Radar — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:50:18 +0000

Peppi Stunkel and Omid Kay recently founded Elemental Kite Club on the Costa Esmeralda, in Veracruz. We first met Peppi in 2007 when she was working with volunteer-adventure tour operator Protect the

Earth, Protect Yourself, in Cambodia. Now far from the rice fields, Peppi’s new project opens up her favorite bit of coast in Mexico to new and experienced kiters.

What she loves about the new business: “miles of empty, hazardless beach, and the mango margarita at the palm-thatch Palapa Bar!” She and Omid have spent countless hours scouting the best areas for kiters of all levels, and also put together trips to the nearby El Tajin ruins and white sand beaches.

Elemental guests can stay in their partner hotel, the Taboga, an eco-boutique facility catering specially to kiters.

Visit their site at www.elementalkiteclub.com or email Peppi at peppi@elementalkiteclub.com
- Off the Radar at www.travelofftheradar.com

Kiting the Kenyan Coast

Off the Radar — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:44:11 +0000

Spice up your classic Kenyan safari by following it up with a few days of kite surfing on Kenya’s coast. Glassy bays and the challenging waves of the Indian Ocean beckon kite surfers to Che Shale where lessons and rental equipment are available for newbies. On the days you’re not in the water, visit Malindi or head to Tsavo National Park, famous for being the real site of the 1996 thriller about Tsavo maneaters, The Ghost and the Darkness.

The founders of Che Shale take their responsibility to the community seriously and eight years ago built a school which now serves 180 students. They also established the Che Shale Kasimani Community Program which offers incentives to local people to identify, develop and manage their own small business projects. The program is managed through an Italian NGO, Terre Solitarian.

Visitors stay in one of Che Shale’s several “Bandas” (swahili for hut), constructed from all natural and local materials and rave about the mouthwatering seafood at the Che Shale restaurant – don’t miss the crab!

Visit their website or send an email to cheshale@gmail.com for more information.

- Off the Radar at www.travelofftheradar.com

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Off the Radar talks to Eagle Creeks Stasia Raines

Off the Radar — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:10:53 +0000

Ever wonder about the people making the great gear you use when you’re hiking the Annapurna Circuit or cycling through Moab’s Canyonlands? They’re people like Stasia Raines of Eagle Creek, who just returned from a mixed adventure-volunteering trip through Thailand and Cambodia.

In addition to its efforts at creating more sustainable fabrics and equipment, Eagle Creek supports a number of philanthropic projects around the world, often discovered through the traveling adventures of their staff. Stasia visited a couple of projects when she mixed her recent dive holiday with a stint volunteering in a North Thailand orphanage and short visit to Cambodia.

In Cambodia Stasia visited PEPY, a volunteer-adventure tour operator featured in past editions of Off the Radar. And she says that in Thailand one of the best aspects about her time at the orphanage was talking with some of the older girls about to leave the system and enter college – “they’re debating things like, ‘Should I go back to my village?’ ‘Should I go to on to school?’ ‘If I go to school, what should I major in?’ – worries that are really so universal,” she says. “And now, they’re all my friends in Facebook!”

In the outdoor industry it’s not uncommon to discover people like Stasia, finding unusual ways to bring their personal interests and passions into the workplace. Both Off the Radar and ATTA are proud to have Eagle Creek as a lead sponsor. Thanks Stasia!

- Off the Radar at www.travelofftheradar.com