Journal Archive
WORLDNOMADS.COM hosts The Fuego Project journal
(Click the above link to see the latest journal entry)
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Recuay to Ayacucho, Peru
Our bikes are looking flash: new tyres, grips, and blinking clean. Ready for another beating in the Peruvian Andes... We leave Recuay and our friendly hosts Werner and Maria on a sunny morning, to ride into Huascaran National Park nearby. The air is thin... read more>
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Cajamarca to Recuay, Peru
Retracing our steps from Cajamarca back towards Los Baños del Inca for 5km we then took the 'Carretera longitudinal de la Sierra' towards Cajabamba and Huamachuco on our back route journey across the sierra and down to the coast at Trujillo... read more>
Tuesday, 8 April 2010
Namballe to Cajamarca, Peru
We entered into Peru via La Balsa and entered a whole new world by the time we reached the first pueblo of Namballe. We were quite low around 600m to 700m in the hot and tropical lowlands. Adobe and straw brick buildings dominated the countryside of coffee... read more>
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Cuenca to the Peruvian border
Cajas National Park is a high paramo wonderland of stunning lakes, black rocky peaks, glacial valleys, waterfalls, golden grassy vegetation, amazing alpine flora, wildlife of deer, fox, rabbits, birds of prey and importantly home to the andean condor. We couldn´t leave Cuenca without spending three days hiking 25 tough km's... read more>
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Quito to Cuenca, Ecuador
Santiago’s house is a relaxing place to be. His Casa de Ciclistas is just east of Quito, in Tumbaco. He is frequented by many local cyclists that want their bike fixed, and Santiago and Juan Manuel, a 15 year old Colombian work all day on bikes. From Tumbaco a good bus system connects to Quito, so we visit the city a few times... read more>
Friday, 29 January 2010
San Agustin to Quito, Ecuador
After an extended Christmas break in San Agustin with good food, good company and time for my horse-riding wounds to heal, it was time to get back on the road again. Saying goodbye to La Casa de Ciclistas in San Agustin and Paola, Igel, Rambo, Costena and Teo we headed towards the department of Putumayo and it’s capital Mocoa which was a few days riding before tackling the notoriously bad... read more>
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Medellin to San Agustin, Colombia
Since it had been nearly 10000 km since our last major service on the bikes (besides oil changes for the Rohloff hubs and new brake pads which we have done on the road), it was time for some ‘bike love’ for our trusty steeds. And in Bisono, in Manizales we had found the right man. His son is the downhill mountain biking champion... read more>
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Cartagena to Medellin, Colombia
Bienvenidos a Sudamerica
After 18,017km on the north american continent and nearly a year and a half since riding out of Anchorage Alaska, we finally arrived in South America into the beautiful colonial city of Cartagena, once the most important port of all of the spanish americas. The large... read more>
Monday, 30 November 2009
We left you at the small border crossing into Panama in Rio Sereno. After getting our exit stamp for Costa Rica, we enter the Panamanian border crossing. We are the only people here, except then for the migration official and three Panamanian army officers. The migration officer tells us that Ali, being Australian, needs a tourist card to enter. Unfortunately... read more>
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Costa Rica
One of the joys of bike touring is not always so much about the riding, but it’s about getting to out of the way places and experiencing nature. We had really wanted to see nesting sea turtles at some stage in Central America, and from the map it seemed like a beach called ‘Playa Ostional’ might be a chance. However when we asked about riding there along the coastal dirt road from Playa Tamarindo... read more>
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Nicaragua
No story as yet, but some photos in the gallery http://journals.worldnomads.com/thefuegoproject/gallery/19475.aspxwith a more detailed description than usual to give an idea of our time in Nicaragua. Enjoy!
Friday, 2 October 2009
Honduras and Diving Utila
For months we’ve been looking forward to diving on Utila. Utila is one of the Bay Islands, in the Caribbean Sea, off the northern coast of Honduras. Also for months we have had our doubts about cycling in Honduras, because of political instability after president Zelaya had been removed from the country by the army in june. And because of not so positive stories from fellow travelers... read more>
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Flores to Punta Gorda
What kind of sound does a howler monkey make?... It’s 4am and we awoke to the sound of howler monkeys singing in chorus through the canopy of the jungle at the ruins of Tikal. It was a call and response kind of affair with loud wheezy moaning. It brought the dark jungle to life. Later in the day standing atop templo IV at the ruins of Tikal the symphony began again. We asked each other, how would you describe the sound a howler monkey makes? It is so... read more>
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Xela to Flores
Well we did it, we finally left Xela after a few previous attempts to do so. It had been one of those places where no matter what you try to do, you may never leave. What started as a few weeks of Spanish language school, followed by our trek to Lago de Atitlan, turned into a relapse of Anna’s health problems from the previous month with more tests and visits to the specialist. In the meantime our English cycling friends, Martin and Susy caught up to us in Xela... read more>
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Lago de Atitlan, Volcan Pacaya and Antigua
Xela to Lago de Atitlan, our overland trekking adventure. Rina and Lior our fearless guides from Quetzaltrekkers, led us over the mountains, past a highland town called 'Alaska', through cloud forests, past highland villages, past treacherous landslides, over swollen rivers and finally got us to Lago de Atitlan after 2 days of hiking in terrential rain. Quetzaltrekkers... read more>
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Oaxaca to San Cristobal de las Casas
Oaxaca is a great city to enjoy some downtime, relaxing with our cycling friends Martin and Susy, checking out Monte Alban, wandering the markets and artesanias, the leafy ‘zocalo’ and working our way through some of the famous Oaxaquenan cuisine. We eat ‘comida corridas’ (a set menu lunch/dinner with soup, mains, agua and dessert for 35 - 60 pesos) daily, and also at the small ‘comedors’ in the local ‘mercado’ where the... read more>
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Guadalajara to Oaxaca
The days in Guadalajara with Nobu, Hiro and Ken fly past. They are captivated by the city with its climbing wall, cinema and skate boarding and decide to stay longer, while we get back in the saddle, wanting to get moving further east and southward after our journey home and only 600km under the belt since returning to Mexico. So sadly we part ways again, uncertain of when we might meet them again on... read more>
Friday, 10 April 2009
Mazatlan to Guadalajara... lagoons, volcanoes, agave and tequila
After nearly two months off the bike, we saddled up and rode out of warm and sticky Mazatlan where we had enjoyed a tranquil time with our amiga Chamely and her puppy ‘Blitz’. Mazatlan itself was a stark contrast to the place it had been during carnaval a month earlier. The bikes felt good, and surprisingly we weren't too rusty either, spinning the wheels over to let our legs get into condition again. For the first few days at least it would be relatively flat along the coastal plain... read more>
Sunday, 8 February 2009
Baja California Sur...gray whales, sea of cortez and the endless desert
Sometimes things happen exactly at the right moment. For us this was meeting Vincent and Michel, two Swiss cyclists, who also started their expedition in Alaska in May, and were on their way to Argentina. Michel has CF, a serious illness that is affecting his lungs. During their trip he has been admitted to hospitals several times. Now, in Guerrero Negro, his lung capacity has deteriorated so much, that they have to end their journey and dream... read more>
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Baja California Norte
It is a fine and sunny day in San Diego, the chickens are scratching in the yard, ‘the Casita’ (our home for the past week) is cleaned and bikes are loaded into the back of Merle’s pick-up truck. After much nervous anticipation..... it is time, let’s go to Mexico! Merle drives us the 15 miles to the huge wall that separates the United States from Mexico and the border crossing of San Ysidro and Tijuana... read more>
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Las Vegas to San Diego...the Mojave desert, Joshua Tree, the Salton sea and the Anza Borrego desert
Our entry into Las Vegas is great. Google maps instructs us the shortest route to our host, of which four miles are on 'the Strip', the epicenter of casino's. Along the way we see marriages in small wedding chapels and a red leather booted Elvis gives me highfive and says in a deep toned voice 'he baby'. We're on an adrenalin high navigating our loaded bikes on the busy six lane road... read more>
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Bryce Canyon to Las Vegas... hoodoos, Zion and the North Rim
As we pushed on into the wind for the last 15 miles uphill to Bryce Canyon, Anna spots another cyclist riding up behind us. 'Could it be Wayne?', we spot the beard, the cap and the dark bags, 'it is!'. He had been pushing hard to catch us on the hill, so Anna spun around to meet him. We had first met Wayne just out of Jackson WY in Grand Teton NP from where he had headed to the mountain passes... read more>
Monday, 10 November 2008
Moab to Escalante.... Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and the Grand Staircase
It wouldn't be a stay in Moab without hitting the world famous trails and slickrock. We were lucky enough to have some local mtb guides in Nancy and Rachel who took us on an epic ride from the slickrock trail, up the hill nine miles to the Porcupine Rim trail. It was some of the most technical climbing we have ever done, stepping up rock ledges on technical double track but rewarded with awesome views of the red rock pillars of Castle Valley... read more>
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Wyoming to Utah: the Flaming Gorge, Fruita singletrack and Moab
After the snowstorm passed, we left Jackson WY on a sunny but cold afternoon. We pushed untill after sunset, and found ourselves on a high plateau, the Green River Basin, the sagebrush covered in a thick blanket of snow. The temperature overnight dropped to 15 F (-10 C), too cold to stay outside and cook dinner. Ali scraped snow of the table to boil for a quick soup. Luckily our sleeping gear really showed it's value, and we were warm inside... read more>
Saturday, 11 October 2008
Missoula to Jackson... Big Hole, pronghorn, Yellowstone and the Tetons
With fresh inspiration for the journey ahead we followed the Trans-America trail south along the Bitteroot valley before crossing over a range to the east at Lost Trail Pass and into the Big Hole Valley. This was the same route the Adventure Cycling Association took across the states in the summer of 76' in their inaugural Trans-American bike journey. On the ten mile downhill from Chief Joseph Pass... read more>
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Banff to Missoula... the great north parks and big sky country
After a chilly week tent bound with the flu in Banff, and spending time with friends, it was time for us to hit the road again with winter nipping at our heels and a lot of mountains between us and the desert country. As soon as we left Banff along the Bow Valley Parkway the sun began to shine and warmed our spirits. A little weary from the flu, it took several days to find our strength again... read more>
Sunday, 7 September 2008
Sea to Sky Highway, Icefields Parkway and the Dave Matthews Band
We said goodbye to Vancouver in style, cruising the harbor with Tas (Ali's former housemate) and Scarlett in their little yacht. It suddenly turned really hot for a few days, and we sweated our way up the Sea to Sky highway, from Vancouver to Squamish and onwards to Whistler. Squamish is known for the Chief, a huge monolith (rock), and very popular amongst rockclimbers... read more>
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Vancouver Island, the wild pacific coast and the city
After the gas leak in Prince Rupert we were eventually moved to 'emergency' accomodation at midnight which meant a not so long sleep before an early morning ferry on our way to Vancouver Island. Tired heads we slept pretty well then i woke at 7am...aahhh! we had slept through our alarm and the wake up call from the hotel never came...calm down, we can still make the 7:30am boat... read more>
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Inside Passage Alaska
The Alaska Marine Highway ferry has a special on this summer, the 'see Alaska pass', which enables us to hop on and off at different ports along the Inside Passage. The Inside Passage is a waterway secluded from the Pacific by Islands, and therefore has calm waters, and a very wet climate. Arnout, Anna's brother flies in to Juneau, Alaska's capital to join us for a few weeks.... read more>
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Cycling companions, on the Alcan to the South East
It was a bit hard to leave Fairbanks. We had been welcomed so warmly and had a wonderful time under the wings of Dan and Lisa in their logcabin. During the summer solstice weekend we enjoyed a 2-day hike on the Pinnell Mountain trail together with them, Pat and Jeremy. The first day gave clear and far views over hills, small herds of caribou, hoary marmots 'whistling' from rocky outcrops... read more>
Friday, 20 June 2008
Dalton Highway... from the Arctic to the interior
‘The Dalton Highway, you can’t ride your bike on the Dalton…you’re crazy, you’ll be eaten by Grizzlies, smashed to pieces by flying rocks the size of golf balls, driven off the road, you’ll freeze to death…and you’ll need at least five spare tyres after the other four are shredded to pieces by razor sharp rocks’... read more>
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Parks Highway and the Great One
On May the 22nd we left Anchorage with bikes loaded and Ali back to full strength after a nasty flu. We cycled along the Parks Highway, a 363 mile road connecting Anchorage in the South with Fairbanks in the Interior. The first week of riding took us from the flats, along an endless road lined by spruce and birch, to the treeless tundra... read more>
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DENALI NATIONAL PARK
Situated between Fairbanks & Anchorage is the 6 million acre Denali National Park & Preserve. The park contains Mount McKinley, the tallest peak on the continent at 20,320 ft. When measured from base to summit is actually higher than Mt Everest. But will Alister & Anna actually get to see it as they ride past? It is usually veiled in mist 2 out of 3 days.
FACTS ABOUT ALASKA
Alaska pays citizens between US$800-US$1900 a year just to live there. The subsidy comes from royalties the state earns from Prudhoe Bay oil.
Summer solstice results in daylight stretching for almost 22 hours.
More people are injured by moose each year than bears.
The state capital, Juneau is not accessible by road. Many towns aren't, therefore Alaska has the highest number of pilots per capita in the US, that's 1 in every 78 people. (Wikipedia)
Alaska Natives, who make up 15 percent of the state's population, maintain many traditions, such as whaling, subsistence hunting and fishing, and old ways of making crafts and art.
Plants and vegetables in Alaska grow to enormous sizes. Some of the current record holders are a cabbage that weighed in at 106 pound or 48 kilograms! The tallest sunflower was 16.75 feet tall, that is 5.1 metres!
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Sunday, 11 May 2008
Hi there from Alaska, it's been three days since we've arrived in Anchorage, so time for some tales. The flight here was breathtaking, over snowcapped mountains as far as the eyes can see. Our first impressions: big mountains, big cars, big roads, big steak houses, and big Americans... read more>
Monday, 3 March 2008
Preparation is half the fun...
We are at the moment both in Adelaide. Alister is still at work while Anna has just finished her job. Last week we flew to Melbourne for our US visa interview. It turned out to be a good opportunity to catch up with Alisters brother Rob and girlfriend Mel... read more>