Ecuador Amazon: La Selva Lodge
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After many years as a travel guide in Latin America, I’ve been to my share of jungle lodges. Definitely one of the best I’ve seen was La Selva Lodge, deep in the Amazon jungles of Ecuador.
Getting to La Selva isn’t easy, although that’s usually a good sign. The journey begins with a flight from Quito to Coca, followed by a 2.5 hour ride in a motorized dugout canoe along the Napo River, a 30 minute hike through the dense Amazon rainforest, and finally, a paddled canoe ride across a lagoon.
Just...
November 19th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 1Filed under: adventure, Amazon, Ecuador, jungle lodge, La Selva, nature
Climbing Cotopaxi Volcano
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Image courtesy of Wikipedia
This is the story of the one and only time I was defeated by altitude. But first, some background.
The central highland part of Ecuador is dominated by the Andes Mountain Range. Much of Ecuador is pockmarked with volcanoes, the tallest of which is inactive Chimborazo, at 6,310 m above sea level. Not only is Chimborazo the tallest point in the country, it is also considered the spot on the earth’s surface farthest from the centre of the earth, given that it is almost...
November 15th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, Cotopaxi, Ecuador, trekking, volcano
Bariloche Active – Lake Nahuel Huapi
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Surrounded by mountains, lakes and forests (and sitting within a national park), Bariloche is a veritable natural playground (and a familiar-feeling place for a homesick Canadian in Latin America!) If you want to work up a sweat or just get out into the famously clean clear air of the Argentinean lake district, there’s no end of options.
The natural first option is skiing—the whole place seems geared for skiers, and Cerro Catedral boasts the largest ski centre in South America. But what if you...
September 25th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, argentina, Bariloche, Bosque de Arrayanes, Nahuel Huapi, nature
Paragliding Argentina!
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The sleepy town of La Cumbre seems an unlikely adventure sport capital. Nothing seems to move very fast, and it is terminally laid-back.
However, thanks to some cooperative geography and near-perfect conditions, parapente as it is known in Spanish, has become the thing to do here. La Cumbre has become for Argentinean paragliders what Rio has to hang gliders.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the sport, paragliding involves taking off from a cliff or other stationary object, wearing...
June 13th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, argentina, culture, La Cumbre, Paragliding
Sayta Estancia
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One of the greatest highlights of all my time in Argentina was a stay at a working estancia. Less than an hour’s drive south of the northern Argentinian city of Salta, Sayta is smack in the middle of tobacco country. The ranch has drying racks, sheds and fields, and still produces tobacco during the season (which had just ended when we arrived).
We were looking for an authentic dude ranch-style experience, and were having trouble finding info on anything other than hotel-style properties, which...
May 30th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, argentina, estancia, Sayta
Iguassu – the video
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check it out.
...
May 10th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, Brazil, Iguassu, nature
Iguassu Falls!
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Not much to say about Iguassu (or Iguaçu) other than go if you can.
There isn’t much to recommend the cities on any side of the triple border between Brazil, Arentina and Paraguay, except that they are close to one of the greatest falls in the world.
My only advice is to make sure you have at least 2 full days so as to have time to spend a day on each side of the falls–the Brazilian side offers the best overalll panoramic view, while the Argentinian side is much more intimate, with...
May 9th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, argentina, Brazil, City Review, Iguassu Falls, nature
Hang gliding Rio – the video
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Had some issues uploading video earlier but they seem to be solved now. Check it out!
...
April 27th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, Brazil, Hang gliding, Rio de Janeiro
Fly like a bird – Hang Gliding Rio
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There are some crazy pursuits that, more than others, cry out for the right venue. Bog diving, for example, just wouldn’t be the same outside Connemara Loughs. For me it’s always been bungee jumping in New Zealand. It’s not that I haven’t had chances other places, but somehow it just doesn’t seem the same jumping off a crane parked in an amusement park, with nary a bridge in sight.
And so it again seemed one of those times when I returned to Rio hell-bent on jumping off a cliff.
I had...
April 24th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, Brazil, Hang gliding, Rio de Janeiro
Cave Dwelling: Spelunking, Rappelling and Tubing, oh my!
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Belize has the largest underground cave system in the world, some sections of which have collapsed, creating massive sinkholes. Rivers run through many of them, so the list of cool things you can do in them is pretty long—from simply exploring to jumping off underground waterfalls.
In the name of journalistic curiosity I went to rappel down one of these sinkholes, the 300 foot so-called Black Hole, with Cave’s Branch Jungle Lodge. Started and run by Canadian Ian Anderson, Cave’s Branch has...
April 2nd, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, Belize, Cave's Branch, Caving, Rappelling, Tubing
Surf's Up, Hombre
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Let me be clear about one thing: I am not a surfer. Surfers are a special breed—impossibly tanned, blessed with an uncanny ability to function with their shorts pulled half down, and sporting physiques that are proof that spending time in a gym isn’t always the best way to get six pack abs and killer shoulders.
The west coast of Costa Rica has been surfing central since long before the resorts and canopy tours arrived, so what can be more Costa Rican than learning how to surf? Whether it’s...
February 17th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, Costa Rica, Dominical, Jaco, surfing, Tamarindo
Skip the Potholes – Monteverde/Montezuma, Costa Rica
... inferior equipment and horses that are less than…umm, fit.
Particularly if you are a novice rider, consider the lakeside route used by Desafio adventure Co. which starts with a boat trip across Lake Arenal, and then takes an easy and scenic route that won’t have you fearing for your life. [Note that the ride doesn’t go all the way to Monteverde—at the end there is a pickup and you drive the rest of the way. Trust me, it’s worth it.] www.desafiocostarica.com
Both Zuma Tours and Cocozuma...
February 7th, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure, Arenal, Costa Rica, Desafio, horseback, Monteverde, Montezuma, riding, transportation
Manufacturing Adventure
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... depending on where you are; For rivers in the east including the Pacuare, try Rios Tropicales. In the Arenal Volcano/La Fortuna area the Desafio adventure Company were pioneers in the area, having been around for 15 years, running both canyoneering trips and rafting on the Balsa and Toro rivers. I’ve done both with them and both were awesome. Highly recommended.
Links:
www.riostropicales.com
www.desafiocostarica.com
...
February 2nd, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure
Introducing the PlanetEye Global Nomad
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Welcome to the PlanetEye Global Nomad! Through this space I aim to enlighten, entertain and basically get your travel juices flowing. What I hope to pass on are insider tips, tricks and insights, some gleaned from years of travel and leading tours as a guide, others fresh discoveries, but always with the goal of helping the reader learn or experience a little more of a place than they might not otherwise.
Check in whenever you need a shot of life on the road, or follow along on my year-long, ’round...
January 1st, 2008 | Brendan | Read More | Comments: 0Filed under: adventure
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