- by Dan Friesen -

We just finished our first day in Rio – a wonderful walk along the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana this morning followed by a ride up to Sugarloaf Mountain in the early afternoon. Unfortunately, the cable cars to the top station on Sugarloaf are being replaced this week, so we had to content ourselves with the amazing views – from the halfway station over Guanabara Bay, up to Corcovado (the Christ the Redeemer statue), and out over central Rio. Move over Hong Kong and Cape Town! – truly this is the most spectacularly-sited city in the world!

Our new Brazilian Adventure has lived up to my hopes and expectations. The Amazon rainforest experience was full of up-close connections with the wet and wild natural elements, as well as cultural experiences, like dancing with a small native tribe, walking through the markets and waterfront of Manaus, and spending three days with our delightful Caboclo (part Portuguese/part native) guide, Paulo!

From Manaus, we flew to the state of Mato Grosso for a couple of days in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Ricardo was our guide here – and his knowledge and enthusiasm for the flora and fauna of the Pantanal kept us all engaged and entertained. The wildlife – particularly birdlife – of this area outshines anything we’ve seen on other Adventures, including our tour of southern Africa! Our hotel was a homey lodge where the food was excellent (mostly organic, all local fare) and the Pantaneira staff were warm and hospitable.

Last night, we arrived here in Rio for a three-night stay. We’re pretty amazed! Brazil is a spectacular corner of the planet. The natural marvels, the people, the food – we’re all wondering how it can get any better!

Dan and Scott are currently leading the Walking Brazil: Rivers, Rainforests, & Rio Adventure.

Click here to view our 2010 Adventure Schedule.

- By Scott Isom -

Just a short flight from Aswan, near the Egyptian border with Sudan, stands a lakeside monument named Abu Simbel, an impressive and awe-inspiring tribute to the mightiest of pharaohs, Ramses II.  This is just the way he would have wanted it!  A bit of an egomaniac, this Egyptian ruler had two temples built at Abu Simbel, both of which feature the pharaoh himself in large fashion.  Four massive Ramses colossi adorn the Sun Temple, while at the Hathor Temple (which honors his favorite wife Nefertari), he is still the main focus of attention.  Inside both temples are very interesting scenes depicting various deities and military victories…and there are a few more statues of Ramses inside the temple in case you missed him on your way in.

What is just as incredible as this set of imposing monuments is the fact that they didn’t originally reside on this particular piece of real estate.  When the High Dam was built near Aswan in the 1960’s, UNESCO mounted a rescue effort to move Abu Simbel to higher ground in order to avoid the encroaching waters of the newly created Lake Nasser.  In what might best be called a “Pharaonic facelift”, Abu Simbel was hand-sawn into over 1,000 blocks weighing up to thirty tons apiece and then put back together like a giant Rubik’s Cube 210 meters behind (and 61 meters above!) its original site.  A false mountain was even created to house this 40 million dollar rescue project.  Abu Simbel truly is a sight to behold…even if Ramses could use a lesson or two in humility!

Dan and Scott recently returned from scouting out the itinerary for WAI’s new Adventure: Walking Egypt & Jordan (Click here to view a draft itinerary; the brochure for this trip should be released by June. Walking Egypt & Jordan will be offered in March 2010).

Posted 3/31/09

- By Dan Friesen -

Aswan is the southernmost city in Egypt on the Upper Nile and has long been a border town between Egypt and her neighbors to the south – Nubia for a part of the country’s long and eventful history, and Sudan during the more recent millennia. Part of our walk plan involved hiring a boat to cruise upstream to a Nubian village that we hoped to include in the route. The Nile here is a beautiful, pristine thread of blue, flowing north between the desert on one side (it is stunning to see the desert blocked from its relentless advance by the refreshing, life-giving flow of the Nile) and a group of small islands through which our pilot threaded the boat.

Nearing the village, our attention was drawn to a string of camels plodding back and forth from the sand dunes to the village. Cutting short the boat ride, we hopped ashore with Zizo, our guide, to negotiate a ride to the dunes and back to the village. Bidding started with a young camel driver who offered us, through Zizo, a rate of 120 Egyptian Pounds to go to the top of a dune and back to the village. We countered with 100 pounds. During the back and forth chatter between the camel drivers that followed, Zizo admitted he couldn’t understand a word they were saying – they were using a Nubian dialect among themselves.

Through Zizo I announced that we were evaluating options for future groups and proffered my business card. Soon an older man who turned out to be the “manager” was in the mix, and our boat driver became involved as well, faithfully representing his clients and hoping for a small piece of commission, the ever-sought-for baksheesh (tip). While we were caught up in this trilingual financial wrangling, the camels continue to arrive from the village, having dropped passengers and returning for more. The camel boys rode right up to us and lined their charges up in the sand as if they were parking rental cars on a Hertz rent-a-car lot!

Bottom line – Through the involvement of nine different people and three languages, we eventually snagged a price of 100 pounds and had a memorable, leg-stretching experience. We also learned the value of a firm grip on the pommel when this comical looking beast goes through its jerky ritual of ascending or descending from its kneeling mount and dismount position!

Dan and Scott are currently scouting out the itinerary for WAI’s new Adventure: Walking Egypt & Jordan (Click here to view a draft itinerary for the trip. Walking Egypt & Jordan will be offered in March 2010).

Posted 3/26/09

Scott and I explored several pieces of Cairo – most notably the pyramids! What strikes me about these massive chunks of limestone is that until the 19th century (for over 4000 years) they were the tallest structures on the planet. How could one of the earliest civilizations have the wealth, time, and know how to accomplish this breathtaking feat? The Egyptian Museum was amazing, giving us the chance to gawk at the wonders of gold, art, and funerary splendor of the relatively insignificant King Tut. His was the only recovered tomb that was not plundered by grave robbers. One wonders what even greater marvels the tombs of the great pharaohs must have contained! Once again, I am humbled by the challenge of both understanding those who have gone before, and comprehending the conundrum of a cascade of historical and cultural transitions that has evolved into the Egypt of today.

Dan

PS – Scott will be sharing more on Cairo in a later post!

Dan and Scott are currently scouting out the itinerary for WAI’s new Adventure: Walking Egypt & Jordan (Click here to view a draft itinerary for the trip. Walking Egypt & Jordan will be offered in March 2010).

Posted 3/26/09

- By Dan Friesen -

Leaving the sensory overload experience of Petra, I was skeptical of what we would find in Wadi Rum. How could a desert at the southern tip of Jordan compare to the splendors of Petra?

We drove down the King’s Highway for spectacular views over the Petra Mountains before arriving in Rum Village under a sparkling blue, sun-filled sky. The Bedouin people have lived here for centuries, and our guide, Mohammed, welcomed us for a jeep tour through this, his fantastical “backyard” of desert wonders.

We spent the entire day exploring the Wadi Rum desert on foot and in Mohammed’s jeep, entertained by a continually changing landscape of massive rock formations in varying shapes and colors, framed by sands of yellow and red below and a sky of vivid cornflower blue above. Midday, we stopped for a barbeque feast of delicious roast chicken and vegetables in the shadow cast by one of the stone monoliths. Only one other vehicle interrupted the solitude of our hour and a half break, two Bedouin friends who stopped to share a cup of tea with Mohammed.

More walk planning in the afternoon led us to delightful Burrah Canyon. At some point, the mind is lost for superlatives and one simply succumbs to the stark beauty, surrendering to the serenity of silence. Just before sunset, Mohammed took us to a huge red sand dune and instructed these two Oregon boys how to climb it barefoot and run down from the top. Though we both know the feeling of sand between the toes, it’s been decades since I ran down a sand dune, and never a red one, or with such spectacular surroundings as spectators. It was exhilarating!

We finished the day at a nearby Bedouin camp, an experience we deemed too rustic for our style, but one that will nevertheless be forever etched in our minds. A 2 am call of nature took me across camp by moonlight, aware even in my sleepy stupor of the moonlight reflected off the brooding formations on the western edge of camp. I didn’t have a newspaper to read, but I am pretty sure I have never walked in moonlight that threw such crisp shadows, and I suspect I’d have had plenty of light to shave at the open air sink and mirror!

I concluded that Wadi Rum will be a worthy follow-up to Petra!

Dan and Scott are currently scouting out the itinerary for WAI’s new Adventure: Walking Egypt & Jordan (Click here to view a draft itinerary for the trip. Walking Egypt & Jordan will be offered in March 2010).

Posted 3/26/09

- By Dan Friesen -

From the Treasury, our goal was to evaluate some of Petra’s more remote highlights, covering the easier to access sights as well – all before dark, about 4 hours away. As primary researcher for much of this trip, Scott directed us off the main thoroughfare onto an imposing set of stone steps signposted to “The High Place of Sacrifice,” an ominous objective that should have given me cause for pause.

Now past our tenth kilometer of the day, my calves and thighs began to complain as we began our ascent. Petra, however, has a magical effect on the visitor, and the glory of the setting transcends fatigue and physical limitations. That, and Scott’s contagious enthusiasm inspired me beyond the hovering retribution of my advancing years. Ascending through beautiful rock formations with almost continual spectacular vistas, we reached the top and I declared a Power Bar break. Our descent offered only slightly less natural beauty, but more of the remarkable handiwork of the Nabataeans, with tombs and relief carvings sculpted from the many-hued sandstone.

The sun cast long shadows as we debated how to use our remaining daylight. Scott’s vote was to attack the climb to the Monastery on the opposite side of the valley. My vote was split – my heart wanted to capture this rare opportunity to see an edifice of beauty comparable to the Treasury; my head sided with my legs in urging caution. Ultimately, the 2-1 vote carried the day for the Monastery, and we reached the top in time to capture the glow of the setting sun on a stunning work of human creativity that almost made my heart ache.

We returned to the valley floor and made our way back through the Siq in near darkness. After a 26-kilometer day of walk-planning through some of Jordan’s most spectacular wonders, our respect for this tiny nation in the middle of the Middle East continues to grow.

Dan and Scott are currently scouting out the itinerary for WAI’s new Adventure: Walking Egypt & Jordan (Click here to view a draft itinerary for the trip. Walking Egypt & Jordan will be offered in March 2010).

Posted 3/25/09