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Planting 5,000 Trees in Costa Rica for a Carbon Neutral #ATWS2016
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Last year I visited Costa Rica along with @adventure.travel_ and @visitanchorage for a very enlightening trip about Carbon Neutrality.
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Rafael Gallo, an amazing guy, one of the top conservation advocates in Costa Rica (if not in the world) and owner of @riostropicales, was our guide through this awesome experience. He was also the one who challenged Visit Anchorage to make their Adventure Travel World Summit the first carbon neutral one, setting in motion a movement that brought this critical subject to the attention of many of the adventure travel industry leaders! Kudos, Rafa!
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With Rafa’s help and under the guidance and supervision of EARTH university (a leading carbon neutrality institution based in Costa Rica), the ATTA and Visit Anchorage gathered over 300 volunteers to plant 5,000 trees which will be cared for by Rafa and his people for about 3 years until they can sustain themselves, and will be kept in the ground for at least 12 years to capture the carbon that was produced to make the Summit happen.
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I encourage you to research this very interesting subject. I hope you’ll be inspired and will inspire others within your reach to take action on this super important matter.

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Elfin Cove, a fishermen’s village in Alaska
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Alaska is truly a land of badass, cool people. They live a simple life, a balance produced from the mixture of modern life and being so in touch with the wild that surrounds them.
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I have to admit that, when I was asked by @visitanchorage to go on this trip instead of the first one I was assigned to (that involved exploring glaciers and wilderness, a chopper ride and all the crazy/fun stuff), I wasn’t sure if commercial fishing was for me; but they spoke so excitedly about it and were so eager to have this documented that I started rubbing off on that and got pretty excited about it.
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Being a commercial fisherman in Alaska is not just a profession, but a lifestyle, it is adventure and excitement at its best. They push themselves to amazing limits to do what they love, so you can imagine the kind of stories you can hear from them.
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Elfin Cove is a hub for this kind of stories. Most of the people you’ll find here are fishermen that are taking a break or spending the night before adventuring out again. The rest are the people who work the village, so they are very in tune with this lifestyle.
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The community they become is amazingly warm. They often stop by to say hi, they’ll help you if you’re struggling with anything, they’ll invite you for a beer and to taste their most recent catch (with an incredible story of the catch included, of course!).
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This adventure may not have had the variety of the other one, but it more than made up with authenticity, and its landscapes and adventure was nothing short of exceptional. It’s not a common thing to go on a tourism oriented trip and find a true, honest connection with the place, its people and its raw, unfiltered culture. Huge kudos to @murklcom and Skipper Geoff for putting together such an amazing and complete experience, and thanks again @visitanchorage and @adventure.travel_ for putting me there!

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Llama Herding with Don Eugenio Challapa in Chulluncane, Desert of Atacama
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The Aymara people have been around the Andes for centuries, and are the second largest indigenous group of South America after the Quechuas. However, the population of Chilean Aymara’s is the smallest one at around 40K, and the towns they have inhabited for ages are disappearing as their youngest move to the cities looking for opportunities, merging in with modern culture and leaving their traditions behind.
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During the Adventure Travel World Summit 2015 in Chile, I was assigned to document the Pre-Summit Adventure organized by Extremo Norte Expeditions through the Atacama region. Extremo Norte is run by Jaime Droguett, a man with a kind soul that is very concerned about the conservation of these ancient cultures and traditions.
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We went to the town of Chulluncane, hidden in the highlands close to the border of Bolivia. This town, once a sizable community, is down to about 15 inhabitants now that are struggling to keep their way of life alive.
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Don Eugenio Challapa, leader of this community invited us to visit him, stay at his house, meet his family, try their delicious home-made food, and to join him through his daily activities, where we could enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Chulluncane, and learn more about his community and their practices and traditions through his stories.
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Visiting the Challapas was a real privilege. Normally, the Aymara people are very shy when it comes to foreigners, but with the hard work Jaime and Don Eugenio are doing to make this happen, they are figuring out a way to keep Chulluncane’s Aymara community alive without sacrifying their authenticity.
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This photo is from the morning we joined Don Eugenio to graze his llamas. After a while of exploring the area, we took a small break to snack on some fruits and hear some Aymara legends, while enjoying this beautiful view with the Cerro Cariquima, an extinct volcano, in the background.

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Celebrating São João’s baptism after a little bit of paddling on the Paraguay River
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The city of Corumbá, known as the capital of the Pantanal, is an awesome hub for those explorers who want to immerse themselves in the Brazilian culture without having to take distance away from the activities they love.
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Away from all the commonly visited tourist spots, Corumbá’s culture and traditions are well preserved. The buildings in the main avenue vibe with history, the music the locals play in their parked cars on the side of the avenue on a weekend night invites you to join the party; and their celebrations, while a bit modest compared to those in the big cities, feel quite meaningful and they certainly maintain that contagious enthusiasm Brazil is known for.
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One of these traditions is dedicated to one of their most beloved patron saints, São João or St. John the Baptist. Every year, on the night before June 24th the town gathers to take a statue of the saint through the streets and all the way to the Paraguay river, escorted by musicians and folk dancers that invite everyone they cross paths with to join them in a lively dance. Finally they reach the river, where everyone showers São João playfully to celebrate him on his day.
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Unfortunately during this trip, we were out of date and were going to miss on this, but as the participants of this Adventure Week where coming out of kayaking and SUPing in the Paraguay river, the town was very kind to arrange a small surprise demonstration of the festivity so they could share with us one of their most beloved traditions, and what a great experience that was. Muito Obrigado, Corumbá! I’ll be back for the real celebration!

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The canyons of Baja California Sur, a paradise for all species
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In this #fbf, I present to you a good friend, @mad_climb, and his awesome chocolate labrador, Lola.
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A couple years ago, we went to our favorite canyon in Boca de la Sierra to do a little bit of rock climbing, which is not just Dany’s favorite activity, but also his expertise.
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We hiked up the canyon for an hour or two to find our first boulder problem, where we stayed for about 10 minutes before giving up on it thanks to a scary snake that lived inside the crack we wanted to climb. We don’t want to disturb that one!
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We made our way down the canyon trying the different problems we could find, pretty tough ones for him and simple ones for the rest of us mortals.
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Eventually we arrived to this spot, which is my very favorite one in the canyon. This is a great pool for swimming, it has a small but cool psicobloc if you’re a sick climber like Dany, and there’s a small wave-shaped rock where you can drop the crash pads and enjoy a relaxing setting in the shade.
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This kind of places can only be improved by bringing great company, and Lola, the epitome of man’s best friend, who stays by Dany’s side wherever he goes as you can see here, was the cherry-on-top of a fun adventure.

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