10 original trips to enjoy the Earth First published: May 2016 Melba Editorial C/Ronda Guineueta Vella, nº38, 6º,4ª 08042 Barcelona. Spain photosmelba@photosmelba.com © Text: Alberto Fernández Horcajo © Photographs: Alberto Fernández Horcajo Graphic design: Lluc Julià ISBN: 978-84945420-1-5 Printed in Spain by Graphycems
10 PRACTICAL GUIDE
ORIGINAL
TRIPS TO ENJOY THE
EARTH ALBERTO FERNÁNDEZ HORCAJO
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10 ORIGINAL TRIPS TO ENJOY THE EARTH
Presentation I didn’t know reading a Canadian travel guide would change my life. A dull read suddenly became an urgent longing to go there. I had discovered the impossible in a lost area of Vancouver island: I could kayak with orcas. As a biologist, nature lover since childhood and traveler, I was shocked. What other places and experiences could await? This is how this book was born. I researched, and the joy of making those trips come true, decided my destinations. To make the book more appealing I explored different habitats and activities, so any reader could feel the same passion to be there as I did. At least for some of the trips if not all. I’ve been fortunate to be in some of the most beautiful and interesting places of our planet. We must conserve them for the future generations, and the human interest must prevail over national goals. As citizens of the world we need to make our governments responsible to save the natural resources and biospheres of our planet—the planet we share. We have to.
GREENLAND INUIT SETTLEMENTS
CANADA
ICELAND THE RING ROAD
SPAIN
VANCOUVER ISLAND
PYRENEES MOUNAINS
ALGERIA
TASSILI AHAGGAR
10 PRACTICAL GUIDE
ORIGINAL
TRIPS TO ENJOY THE
EARTH
PERÚ
MATSÉS TRIBE
ZIMBABWE
MANA POOLS NATIONAL PARK
Content 10
POLYNESIA Swimmig with whales
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ALGERIA Sleeping under the starry night in the Sahara desert
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SIBERIA Photographing enormous bears in Kamchatka
SIBERIA
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GREENLAND Dog sledding, eskimos and the northern lights
KAMCHATKA
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PERÚ Exploring uncharted territory in the Amazon with the Matsés tribe
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CANADA Kayaking with orcas on Vancouver Island
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SPAIN Gliding over a mountain range in a hot air balloon in the Pyrenees
INDONESIA
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ZIMBABWE Walk alone through the African savannah in Mana Pools National Park
A DESERT ISLAND
POLYNESIA HA’APAI ISLANDS
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ICELAND Following the footprints of volcanoes
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INDONESIA Living like Robinson Crusoe on a desert island
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ALGERIA
Sleeping under the starry night in the Sahara desert
Sleeping under the stars? Yes, and surrounded by dunes. Where? In the desert of Ahaggar, one of the most beautiful and hidden places in the Algerian Sahara. How? On a multi-day route in 4x4 vehicles. 10 ORIGINAL TRIPS TO ENJOY THE EARTH
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S
ince time immemorial, mankind has been drawn to the magic of a night beneath the stars. Because of its beauty, its allure, or perhaps because it awakens the wanderlust gene that some of us seem to possess. But there are very few places in the world like the Sahara Desert that offer you the chance to contemplate its splendor, all while your eyes become heavier in the complete silence and as the star-filled sky bids you goodnight. You are in one of the most beautiful and remotest areas of the Sahara, almost 200 miles away from the nearest urban area. Man’s presence is scarce here, palpable only through sightings of the occasional traveling Tuareg who’s accompanied by his solitude, his goats, and his camels. Although this destination offers an endless variety of possibilities for adventure, we will focus on it from the point of view of those who consider it too reckless to travel without minimum safety requirements. For this reason, they prefer to have the support of a travel agency which provides them with comfort and peace of mind. This type of trip comes highly recommended for travelers fascinated by the desert, its unique sunrises and sunsets, as well as by the solitude it offers and its captivating beauty that stretches out into the infinite horizon. We will prepare ourselves for a 4x4 drive through southern Algeria. There we’ll discover the Tassili, or Ahaggar plateau, and the Sahara’s largest mountain range: the Hoggar Massif. Covering a total surface area similar to that of France, it is a true realm of nothingness, where only the capital of the Algerian desert, Tamanrasset, flies the flag for
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civilization. This mountain range, formed by a 6,600-feet-high plateau, is composed of ancient lava flows. With each passing second, the protruding archaic volcanoes lose their battle against erosion. These monolithic lava forms, known as “pythons,” reach heights that are inconceivable to our notion of a desert. This is how the summit of Assekrem, also known as Mount Tahat, comes into view at an incredible altitude of 9,573 feet. In the south, the contours soften out and the plateau changes its name to Tassili Ahaggar, although its enduring beauty is still all the more magnified. Rocky outcrops with a thousand different forms, the remnants of a forgotten sea from 400 million years ago, break up the plains and amass dunes of surprising size and beauty. It is a landscape that is almost impossible to forget. These dunes were formed by sand that’s been pushed up, grain by grain, from the desert by the continuous and abrupt changes in temperature. The entire, immense plain is dotted with these formations – each one of them unique – where the sand from the dunes and the vertical walls seem to be locked in an eternal battle. The area’s enormous size means that any distances are covered in all-terrain vehicles. The majority of those working for the travel agency will be Tuaregs. Of nomadic origin, these people are predominantly based in Tamanrasset, which gives rise to the proverb: “If a Tuareg leaves the desert, he is no longer a Tuareg.” This could make us change our mind. Despite this, they are the perfect link between the desert and our world. They provide a lifetime of experience spent in the desert, in addition to the itinerary and infrastructure required for the journey:
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By nightfall the camp becomes the junction point between us and our Tuareg friends
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all-terrain vehicles, food, water and camping materials. In any case, there tends to always be at least one “authentic” Tuareg within the team. Generally older, they put their trust in the remotest corners of this vast, empty land, while simultaneously sharing their rich knowledge of it. It is a great shame that if you want to talk to them, understand their lives, or ask about the desert or its animals, you’ll be left rather disappointed, unless you speak Arabic or Tamahaq (the name of the Tuareg language). Our traveling companions, although somewhat westernized, retain many of the customs of a life in the desert.
A tent or just a mat will make you enjoy a universe of stars every night.
We form a small group of unfamiliar travelers, each of us with an adventurous spirit. We are all bewitched by the magic and immensity of the desert and by its neverending beauty; a magical light also fascinates my camera. There are moments when my camera feels overwhelmed in conveying this feeling to me, as if scared of losing out on
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those moments of light that offer a singular photographic composition. No matter where I look, I cannot stop taking photos. Our trip follows a routine. We wake up, accompanied by a cold dawn. Every morning we hear the gentle clink of glass as they prepare the first of three or four delicious teas that they drink throughout the boiling hot day. Three little glasses each time. The first, strong and bitter, is called the tea of death. The smoother second one is that of life. And the last one, with more sugar than usual, is that of love. During the ritual, the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, very consistent with the pleasant and amicable nature of the “blue people.” You will also be surprised by the preparation of Tuareg bread, or “Taquel-la.” In order to bake it, they require embers from an intense flame, fueled by one of the Sahara’s other most precious assets: the wood of one of the scarce Acacia trees. The dough, buried in sand and heated by the embers, is then shredded up into little pieces and mixed with other food depending on the time of day: with milk, camel or goat curd for breakfast; with vegetables, if there are any, at lunchtime; and with spiced, boiled meat in the evening. While the Tuaregs pack away the camp – which is in the middle of nowhere – we take a morning stroll in the surrounding area. Our old Tuareg guide – whose people undoubtedly know the Sahara best – tries to communicate his knowledge to us, a wisdom forged by years of living in this majestic desert. Meanwhile, the first days of January offer us pleasant temperatures. Once we’re in our vehicles, the midday hours wear on and we pass through some interesting places.
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The Oued (dry river) Tin-Tarabine, the extraordinary outcrops of In-nakachaker which are larger than most buildings, and the arrival at Tagrera, where giant forests that are mushroom-like, yet actually made of solid stone, all appear to welcome us into a fantasy world. Meanwhile, we discover petroglyphs everywhere, which turn this place into a shrine of Neolithic art from a time when the desert was not yet a desert, but a humid savannah. In In-Tehog, the rock art reaches levels of inconceivable expression. Both times that I looked to the floor, I was rewarded by the
The dune formations in Tassili Ahaggar are a beauty out of the ordinary
sight of a flint knife and a perfectly round, polished stone which was the size of a billiard ball. They were possibly used 8,000 years ago by the Neolithic inhabitants of the thensavannah to grind grains. When it seems as though the word “surprise” has been worn out by this experience, you’ll enter the narrow passageways cut by the sandstone canyons of El-Ghessour with its ghostly and surreal landscapes. I feel very good. It’s the desert I’d been searching for, the thing I had dreamt of. A
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Sand, dunes, and rocky desert formations, make this desert one of the most beautiful corners of the Sahara.
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secret, hidden place. Occasionally I escape from my friendly traveling companions, running the risk of the guide’s rebuke, but my adventurous spirit spurs me on. Sometimes you find yourself in a place that you know is your own. When you leave the vehicles at sunset and begin to walk amongst the labyrinth of these enormous rocks – accompanied by the last rays of sunshine and the solitude that is marked by each one of your footsteps in the sand – you experience the magic of the Sahara. After watching one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world from the desert dunes, you find a moment of peace and tranquility
the best pastures around these empty plains transforms their modern-day journeys into real odysseys, as they find themselves caged in by prisons called geopolitical borders. The days pass by in Tassili Ahaggar. You find yourself falling in love with its beauty, which continues to surprise you with each passing moment. We don’t see anybody except for the occasional herd of camels. But our journey is not yet over. Our 4x4 vehicles head north in search of the Sahara’s highest mountain range, the Hoggar. Here, the terrain becomes rough, the altitude takes center stage and we soon spot the volcanic “pythons,” witnesses of volcanic activity that reigned in this region millions of years ago. We head towards the peak of Assekrem, almost 9,850 feet high, known as one of the best places in the Sahara in which to enjoy the sunset. It is also home to the hermitage of Charles de Foucauld, the hermit priest. He led a life of contemplation there during his last 15 years on earth. The altitude and the month of January cannot prevent us from enjoying a magnificent sunset in the company of a solitary moon.
Petroglyphs are the junction point with the ancient inhabitants of the desert.
PLANNING THE TRIP This is, without a doubt, the journey that requires the least independent planning. Among other reasons, this is precisely why it was chosen. From here, you basically have two possibilities: either use a specialized adventure travel company from your own country, which would instill more confidence, or use a local agency, most of which are located in Tamanrasset. The second option is the more economical. The problem here is that you will probably be lacking any reliable
around the campfire, where the Sahara’s interminable silence is broken only by the singing of your friends. There, in the middle of nowhere, you enjoy the hospitality of their character, but also their pride in maintaining their customs and traditions. Although they are Muslim, their social basis is matriarchal; they are monogamous and above all, always nomadic. Seeking out
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POLYNESIA | SWIMMING WITH WHALES The trip will give you some moments of solitude to feel as one more being in this amazing desert.
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Photographically dunes give place to an amazing potential
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ALGERIA | SLEEPING UNDER THE STARRY NIGHT IN THE SAHARA DESERTWHALES
references, save for well-known Internet forums. Another very important issue to consider is choosing when to travel. The Sahara is synonymous with extreme heat, but in some of the region’s areas, the cold weather dominates during certain months of the year. Tassili’s altitude is around 3,300 feet, which can lead to temperatures of around 68ºF in the winter and 104ºF in the summer. Winter nights can be extremely cold and temperatures can sometimes even drop to 32ºF. Any discomfort will likely be caused by the wind. Conditions change at the peak of Assekrem, where you
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
should ensure that you are bundled up in order to truly appreciate the beautiful sunset. When bedtime comes around, you will also need to decide if you want to sleep inside a tent or under the stars. I preferred the second option. A mat, a good blanket and a bit of luck helped protect me from the strong winds during the night and allowed me to dream underneath thousands of stars. Having their dim light illuminate your thoughts with dreams of remote and beautiful places is priceless. And if you look around you, you will notice your Tuareg companions sleeping on the bare sand.
• Being able to reflect and sleep beneath multitudes of stars.
WHEN TO TRAVEL Despite the Tassili Ahaggar area having a somewhat milder climate than other areas of the Sahara due to its altitude, temperatures there are still very high. The closer to winter you go, the better. ACCOMMODATION Under the stars. THE ESSENTIALS Research the area’s current political situation before deciding to travel. TASSILI AHAGGAR HIGHLIGHTS • Marveling at one of the most beautiful desert landscapes in the world. • Traveling in safety and by 4x4 to one of the places on Earth that’s most removed from civilization.
SUGGESTED ITEMS TO BRING Depending on the time of year that you go: • Comfortable footwear (for sand and rocks) • Sandals, flip-flops for the camp • Thick socks for nighttime • Comfortable loose pants • Light clothing for the daytime, although it is very important to take a jacket or long-sleeved sweater, as the nights and mornings are cold. • If temperatures are expected to drop during the night (for example, on the Hoggar Massif), take warm clothing (jacket, gloves, scarf, etc.). • Sunglasses, hat, lip balm, sun block and swimming goggles, which are ideal for protecting your eyes if there is a lot of wind. • First-aid kit
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GREENLAND
Dog sledding, eskimos and the northern lights
Dog sledding? Over the frozen sea. Where? In a remote part of Greenland. With whom? Accompanied by Eskimos and the Northern Lights. For how long? A week. 56 |
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The Ha´a pai archipelago was formed by the coral reef and is the result of the accumulation of sand caused by the coral itself
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GREENLAND | DOG SLEDDING, ESKIMOS AND THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
T
he dogs are trapped in the snow again; the sleds are stuck once more. Three days of ceaseless snowing and the load, us, is too heavy to move. The exhausted animals pant while they sit on the snow. The solution? Get off the sled and lighten its load. My Eskimo guide does the same. Him at the front and me at the side. Suddenly, the cold ground gives way, opening up. My legs sink into the cold waters of the ocean. Instinctively, my hands grab onto the sled and only half of my body is submerged in water. At this point, a thought runs through my head. What happens if the crack gets bigger? Will the sled and dogs sink into the dark waters? But the ice doesn’t give. Using the sled, I heave myself out of the water as quickly as possible. The water is 33ºF, while the outside temperature is 17ºF. I have heard a thousand stories about what happens when you fall into freezing water but, inexplicably, I don’t feel cold or wet or anything. The outer layer of my waterproof pants and the plastic boots prevented it. I felt only a slight feeling of shock. We find ourselves in the south of Greenland, on a sled route between the Inuit settlements Kulusuk and Sermiligaaq. No more than 400 people inhabit these two beautiful places. After being delayed for a few days in Reykjavik, we flew into a little airport hidden away between jagged mountain peaks. After José Manuel Naranjo, director and guide of Mundo Ártico, had spent several days preparing the material and the team, we were ready. (Besides being specialized in polar expeditions, Naranjo has also accomplished feats like crossing Greenland’s polar cap from north to south in record time.) Meanwhile, we
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had been living with Inuit families, observing their everyday lives in this forgotten place where modernity mixes with tradition. The dogs caught my attention. While we are used to having them inside our homes, here it is a different story. They live outside of the house, in the snow. They are not pets. Dogs are vital to the culture of this settlement. Dog sleds are the ancestral form of transport. Nowadays, they are progressively being substituted for modern snowmobiles. The dogs are a mixture of different Nordic breeds. They are not as used to basking in affection as our animals back home. The only ones who play with them are the Eskimo children. All you have to do is discover their gaze, midway between that of a wolf and a dog. But not being used to playing, or having such an intense look, does not mean that they are ferocious. We can get them to play with us. However, it is good to be aware of the fact that if one bites us, it will be killed, according to Eskimo custom. Our expedition is made up of four dog sleds. In each one was an Inuit guide and a traveler. Ahead of us is a trip of 47 miles, many times over frozen waters, wending between icebergs trapped in the sea’s ice shelf. We were using traditional dog sleds in one of the few places in the world where this ancient form of transport is still used. When you arrive for the first time in these faraway lands to make this journey a reality, some of the reasons behind certain preparations or materials used are unknown. The answers lie in the actual name given to this trip: an expedition. A small expedition, but an expedition nonetheless. We quickly realize that there are unforeseen circumstances that can cause plans to change completely,
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Kulusuk is the starting point of the expedition. Eskimo villages are characterized by their small population.
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The landscapes of the frozen Arctic are breathtaking, wild, inhospitable and beautiful
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GREENLAND | DOG SLEDDING, ESKIMOS AND THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
such as the state of the ice or snow, the weather conditions, or simply matters beyond our control. A week in the Arctic is a long time. “Why are we taking so much food?” I asked myself. I soon answered my own question. On the first day, bright sunshine led the way for our sleds through the valleys and rugged mountains around Kulusuk. Dashing in and out of small fjords. The dogs pulled with strength, enthusiasm and joy over the hard snow. The miles flew by, and the weather was good. We quickly arrived at the open sea, and the first icebergs embedded in the ice appeared. We drew closer, escorted by their blocks of ice. The landscape is incredibly beautiful, without the slightest bit of exaggeration. It is so beautiful that you don’t know where to look. You start taking photos, but you feel overwhelmed. To me, it is the loveliest and most spectacular place in the world that I have ever visited. The sun starts to leave us and the day is bidding us farewell as we make out a few small cabins in the solitary and remote landscape. The Inuits untie the dogs from the sleds. Meanwhile, their barks demand their welldeserved payment, which comes in the form of seal meat or feed. We have covered 22 miles over sea and land. Our companions are healthy, happy people who are warm and friendly. We enjoy the good atmosphere around them. They feed the dogs while we settle into the cabin. It is as simple as it gets. There is barely a little gap between the bunks where we are to sleep. We make the most of this space to melt ice over a stove, eat and chat. We have been lucky with the temperature: barely 23 or 21ºF. We didn’t even use all of our warm clothing during the journey.
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A dogsled route during several days in the Arctic in winter is not trip, it’s an expedition. 62 |a10 ORIGINAL TRIPS TO ENJOY THE EARTH
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But this secluded and beautiful place had a surprise in store for us. The weather started to change quickly and the wind and snow started reasserting their power. A huge blizzard that was going to confine us for several days was closing in. One of the aims of the trip was to watch the Northern Lights from a remote area. This possibility faded for the moment when the cloud cover blocked our sight. Our other aim, the polar bear, is also out of the question for now. Unless, of course, attracted by the smell of food, the dogs or ourselves, they decide to come and keep us company. The blizzard caused the temperature to drop and the feeling of cold multiplied, forcing us
Eskimo children smile very easily.
to stay in our wooden shelter for as long as it decided to keep us there. One day, two days, a week? Now I started to understand why we had so much food and so much equipment. You know when you are going to start the adventure, but not when it will end. Greenland bares the human condition. This is the place where civilization forgot to come; instead it just hides in small Inuit settlements.
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The rest of the island’s 836,330 square miles are an inhospitable polar ice cap. When you enter its wilderness, you do not know how it will treat you. It left us hiding out in this shelter for three nights. Outside, winds of 50 to 55 miles per hour whipped everything around us. We barely went outside. Our dogs were buried in the snow to protect themselves from the cold and the bitter wind. The ramshackle hut led my thoughts to polar expeditions of bygone ages and also gave way to a lot of photo opportunities. This, of course, while paying attention to the cold. The days pass by and the bad weather does not leave off. Living with the Eskimos and our Venezuelan traveling companions makes the free time pleasant. After the third night, with no improvements in the weather, we decided to start returning to Kulusuk, discarding our plan to reach Sermiligaaq. Why? There is something fundamental that you have to understand: everything revolves around the dogs and the sleds. With very hard-packed snow, good weather, no headwind and flat terrain without any blocks of ice, the kilometers fly by. You can cover up to 25 miles in one day. But the arrival of snow complicates everything. The sleds get stuck. Thus, deep, soft or damp snow, along with precipitous terrain or chaotic ice, slows everything down, sometimes down to an average of 0.31 mph. It is easy to calculate the daily average. This is why a 93 miles journey by dog sled through the Arctic is a real adventure. The route conditions and the weather always hold surprises, but this is the spirit of the expedition. We were 22 miles from Sermiligaaq and 22 away from where we started in Kulusuk. However, with the snow in these conditions,
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Sledding the surface of the frozen sea offers stunning landscapes.
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Huskies are the protagonists of our expedition.
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A hard blizzard can change all our travel plans.
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GREENLAND | DOG SLEDDING, ESKIMOS AND THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
in which moving just a few hundred meters is utterly exhausting, and with time passing by, we start the journey back. We hope that the entire trek will not be made under the same conditions as when we left the camp. We were lucky and the storm subsided along with the blanket of clouds, allowing us to see what is possibly nature’s best spectacle: the aurora borealis. You will never forget it. You’ll rub your eyes to check if it is real. A mantle of moving colors paints the sky. They appear and disappear as if by magic. Happiness and amazement will engulf you. You’ll shout joyously. What’s more, you’ll have the fortune of contemplating them in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. With Nanook, the white bear, we were not so lucky. We knew that it would be difficult and that the high temperatures left the ice shelf very thin, preventing us from reaching the edge of sea, where these formidable hunters find seals, their main prey. At any rate, these magnificent animals can appear anywhere: next to the camp (luckily we had the dogs, although the Eskimos always carry weapons), in a valley, or even in the streets of the settlement or on the airport runway. PLANNING THE TRIP Setting out on a trip to any area of the Arctic with the aim of covering a route of, say, 93 miles by dog sled is complicated to arrange independently, but not impossible. The basic issue is getting in contact with the Eskimos, as they are the ones who must provide the sleds, the dogs and local knowledge. Ideally, you would have previously made a contact, for example on a different route or expedition. Having gone on a previous expedition will
also have familiarized you with the type of material that’s used. The equipment is similar to what you would use in a high mountain environment. Make finding your Inuit guides a priority. The best way to do this is via references from other travelers. The other option is to use a travel agency that specializes in the polar regions. At least the first time you go, I think that this is the best solution and was the one that I considered. Either way, there is an important issue that we have to deal with ourselves: buying the plane tickets. Why can this be a problem? Flying to Greenland and the Arctic in general is expensive. The weather conditions are
To observe the aurora borealis in the middle of nowhere is an unforgettable spectacle.
complicated, the airports are small and hidden away between jagged peaks and, because of a lack of acceptable safety conditions, many flights are delayed, especially in the winter. On the outgoing journey it is not as important, as you have no subsequent flight connections after your arrival in Greenland. However, the consequences for the return journey can be a different matter. I had problems with both my
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