Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
2.am wake up call ( at least for those who slept) and let’s do the highway to the summit with 50 other persons! Good side of waiting in a jam…you are not starting too fast! After overtaking almost all of them, we make it to the top in 2 hours!! Unfortunately it is really cold and we don’t want to wait 45 min to see the sunrise…so we decide to start the descent…
we are really lucky with the weather, it is absolutely gorgeous! The granite is shining with the first rays of light! It is going to be our reward for the next hours! We are back the base camp at 7 am and after the breakfast, the worst part of the trip is still in front of us! OH MY GOD! 2300 meters in 8 km….that’s hard! For the knees and for the legs. We looked like handicapped when we reach the HQ! So we decide to go straight to the poring hot spring 50 km away…
Tags: Malaysia, Sabah, UNESCO sites
Posted in Borneo 2009, Hiking | No Comments »
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Well, after seeing wild Orang Utans we are not really shore if we want to go to Sepilog since it is more of a touristy thing, at the end we decide that actually, although many tourists go there, a rehabilitation centre (for injured, house pets, …) is not a zoo, and they try to make people aware of the precarious situation for Orangs. It must be noted that driving trough Sabah’s main roads makes us feel almost sick due to the quantity of oil palm plantations. Basically it is the ONLY thing you see, with sometimes some ridiculously small patches of intact forest. It’s sad, foremost knowing that very little can be done since kernel palm oil is used almost everywhere…
Now, back to the rehabilitation centre, as we entered we meet a guy holding a sign: “silence please”, all excited we thought there was an Orang there, we where mistaken, there where three!!! Soooo cooool, and not even so many people watching. Most people arrived around 3pm when the centre staff feeds the Orangs that decide to show up. Remember it is not a zoo, there are no boundaries, nets, nor cages, just a “playground” in the jungle where they can get easy bananas 
As the banana time was getting closer, more Apes arrived, including a huge Alfa male (that had been in rehabilitation 10 years ago) that stayed for almost an hour and a mother with her 2 weeks old baby.
Although they are not totally wild animals it was extremely interesting and touching having the chance to observe our close relatives from so close and for so long without them being scared.
BTW on their websites you can help the centre with an adoption: http://www.orangutan-appeal.org.uk/sepilok-rehabilitation-centre/
Tags: Animals, Malaysia, Sabah
Posted in Borneo 2009 | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
Our secret goal was to spot wild orangutans…well mission accomplished! Cruising early morning on the river we even had the chance to see some proboscis monkey, silver-leave monkey, gibbons, and some gorgeous birds while trekking at night time!
Tags: Animals, Malaysia, Sabah
Posted in Borneo 2009 | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Malaysia try to push 5 star resort travellers, which is really sad because lots of things are without reach of backpackers travellers. Danum Valley, Tabin Reserve and further Mont Kinabalu national park are managed by only one company that aims “wealthy” people! Nature and UNESCO world heritage should be “available” for everybody. Furthermore, backpackers allow a lot of local families to work! I really don’t get the governement politic!
For exemple, if you want to go to Tabin, the choices are either the 800RM (250CHF) 1 night 2 days package to the exclusie lodge or 1 day at 350 RM (100CHF) just for transportation and a 20 min walk to the reserve. On top of that, public transports do not exist between Lahad Datu and the reserve which make it difficult to visit it!
Anyway, we shared a taxi we two guys from the hostel. After the short walk we climbed the look out platform with view on the mud pools that are an important sources of minerals for animals wihch means a great spots for viewing wildlife. As usual you need to be lucky! That is part of the deal! we saw a few hornbills, two warrants, monkeys and….a wild boar… .
Tags: Animals, Malaysia, Sabah
Posted in Borneo 2009 | No Comments »
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
First day backpacking, but first we go shopping in Semporna, we both need shoes half an hour later Sarah is a proud owner of her first pair of pOma!!! The plan for today was to get a bas mini (mini bus) to Lahad Datu and then go to Danum Valley conservation area, unfortunately they are booked for the next 2 weeks, so we are stuck in Lahad Datu. In the evening we met a swiss coupple that showed us some pictures of Pulau Derawan, a small island in Indonesia just south of Tawau where the Manta Season is at it’s peak… We might go and have a look, we’ll see.
Tags: Malaysia, Sabah
Posted in Borneo 2009 | No Comments »
Sunday, November 1st, 2009
We were so excited (event without sleep at all) to dive Sipadan and I have to say while trying to get some rest, I was thinking that to compensate this spoiled Mabul island, it must be really really really cool! Well it was…it is crazy to think that we were working only 50 min away form this world famous island but that the underwater world is so different! White and black tipped reef sharks, schools of bumped head parrot fish and barracudas, heaps of turtles, groupers, and so much more! And Foremost BIG WAAALLL diving…
Definitely world class.
Tags: Malaysia
Posted in Borneo 2009, Diving | No Comments »
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
Today we left “the island” for good, it was a mix of emotion, on one hand the joy of starting a new trip, on the other the sadness of leaving back some very good persons with which we spent a lot of time while here on the island.
It was very touching seeing all the dive-shop staff come down to the jetty to wish us luck and give us a beautiful card made by Yunus. It was hard to leave, when even the “tough” boatmen and assistants looked sad and made us understand that they really liked working together.
I really hope, that our future replacements will be cool people and that all the local staff will enjoy working with them. Anyhow, for now they are in very very good hands… or are Sally and Michelle in very good hands… !?
After getting to Semporna we embark (with a Russian couple) a mini boat to Mabul. Mabul is a small island whit an overpopulated waterfront, in fact it looks more like a maze on piloti than a village. Our home-stay was full so they sent us to the neighboring one, the “Hyatt”… well name only of course
A quick live cleaning of the room and here we are our little retreat on Mabul is ready… did I mention that the diesel generator is just beneath our window? Oh, we are not there yet… Walking around the village you encounter a mix of kids, cats and roasters. Once we get to the other side of the island we get in front of the main landmark on Mabul, the oil rig, is an authentic oil platform in front of the best hotel (of course you don’t see it on their website which has now been converted into a dive centre. After a BBQ dinner at our dive center, we go to another bar where a live band plays some good music till late night (It’s weird to have a party after 2 months on quiet Pom Pom). Then we go to bed, ehm to the generator room and unsuccessfully try to sleep.
Tags: Malaysia, Pompom Island
Posted in Borneo 2009 | No Comments »
Friday, September 25th, 2009
So, sitting in the internet room today I was wondering about efficency, It is a well known thing that swiss tend to be on the maniacal side of efficency, but even for me, a laid back ticinese (means from south switzerland -> with all the mediterranean implications) some things just can’t be right…
Imagine sitting in a room near a new chinese office staff being trained by a senior japanese senior staff… The training is stock taking, and it involves a lot of counting, but now, what if the person being trained has no clue (well, maybe a bit) a it about numbers in english… let alone japaneese… Well, Higlly amusing yet still a bit “disturbing”
Posted in Borneo 2009 | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
hello, I’ve been kind of lazy this days, you might think, but I haven’t at allll… In fact I’ve been very very active reparing my laptop wich apparently doesn’t like hot climates at all. Not big news actually since it ran super hot the all winter back home. well, apparently now I got it fixed (knock on wood).
Back to life in pompom, we had some “big” events like an almost sunken boat, me doing laundry, seeing a see snake, shaving… you know, big stuff
Diving is cool, but finally after 11 in a row diving I had a day of office work doing some uninspired graphic design… I soo much miss my favourite designer (aka Sarah ) and today I started teaching a nitrox course to two Italian doctors…. cool, I really like teaching this course, there is a bit more thinking involved
here some pics:
Tags: Malaysia, Pompom Island
Posted in Borneo 2009 | No Comments »
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
So, It has been a week from when Sarah and I were still renewing our (now awesome) apartment in Sagogn and now I’m living on a semi-tiny Island east of Semporna (Sabah, Malaysia). The island is about 30minutes around (that’s what people tell me, I haven’t done it yet, but tomorrow I will ) and it has a resort on it. There are around 60 guests and 30 employees, so not much folk . The guests are mainly Italians and some Japanese, the difference couldn’t be greater
After suffering from a plane-cold, yesterday I restarted diving. by noe I’ve done 6 dives just following a local dive-master to get the feeling about where those small -sometimes very very small- thingies live.
As I said before (I think) the Celeb sea is a paradise for macro photography, which basically means that anything bigger than 10 cm is neglected … doesn’t make my life any easier…. but today I found my first orangutan crab, a banded pipefish and a tiny lionfish. As well I saw a beautiful mandarinfish… so I’m getting my eye tuned.
I’m starting learning some words of bahasa melayu (malay language) a
nd yesterday I had my first “super satisfaction”… After repeating some words with a boat captain, he told me that I had a very good accent unlike the others… Brits 
so, write to you soon
cheers Marco
Tags: Malaysia, Pompom Island
Posted in Borneo 2009, Diving | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
Hello from the island!
Finally yesterday I got on the island, after a long day waiting for the boat to get me here, I can now see myself how it looks like. It is actually veeery beautiful! today I got to do my first two dives and to guide a snorkeling trip. Very cool, I already got to see some highlights like the orang-utan crab, the mantis shrimp and many nudibranches. In the afternoon I saw some squids, turtles, lion fishes, clown fishes and many more while snorkeling near mataking.
Unfortunately, there is not only good things, the reef here has been bombed (as in bomb-fishing) and some bits are in an horrible state, what a shame.
Now I’m super tired and I need to sleep… I’ll write soon again
cheers Marco
Finally yesterday I got on the island, after a long day waiting for the boat to get me here, I can now see myself how it looks like. It is actually veeery beautiful! today I got to do my first two dives and to guide a snorkeling trip. Very cool, I already got to see some highlights like the orang-utan crab and the mantis shrimp
Tags: Malaysia, Pompom Island
Posted in Borneo 2009, Diving | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Hi all, just a quick note that I Smoothly landed on Borneo after 3 flights and 19 hours of sitting… Right now I’m in Tawau and tomorrow I’ll go to pompom island (2h bus+boat). Tonite I went for chinese food with a chinese-malay guy from pompom and he ordered steamed prawns with sabah vegetables… Yummmmy
Marco
Tags: Malaysia
Posted in Borneo 2009 | No Comments »
Friday, August 29th, 2008
New spots, new guide, new luck!?
We try, the first dive site is supposed to be a very good site to spot white tips and hammerheads, the second to see Rays (eagle, golden and maybe manta).
After a semi-complicated start caused by the new girl that didn’t have enough weight and the DM loosing her, we start drifting. After a couple of minutes luck seems to be playing with us, the fists mini school of white tips is just there. We stop, hold on a rock and watch. With the time passing, they get more and more curious and start checking us out, very cool! Meanwhile, schools of fish and turtles keep on passing by. We start moving again, we still want to see the hammerheads. As the dive goes on we keep on seeing white tips and turtles but no hammerhead, after all luck didn’t totally play with us. 60 minutes into the dive we start the ascend, three more minutes of safety stop and then it happens, at 1 m depth there they are, two beautiful small hammerheads waiting for us. Amazing! With big smiles on our faces we surface and get ready for more.
After a short lunch break we go rays spotting, as we drop to the bottom it is immediately clear why this site is so good for rays, an immense plain full of huge garden eels extends in front of us. Garden eels are thin eels that live in vertical holes in the sand, when no predator (first of all eagle rays) is around they come out of their holes standing upright catching food. When a predator (or a diver) is getting too close they quickly retract into the safety of the hole. They live in big groups creating what looks like gardens, hence the name.
After just a couple of minutes we see the first medium sized eagle ray, but it is just an appetizer to what is to come, seconds later a group of 12 spotted eagle rays is effortlessly passing five meters in front of us. The sight is amazing, but what is even more impressive is the size of the rays spanning from 80 cm to 3 m of wingspan, massive and still the most elegant sight you can imagine. The school stays around for a good five minutes giving me the chance to take some good (I hope – remember my display is not working) video shots. We move around a bit just to find another school and enjoy the spectacle. Not enough, while I’m filming Sarah spots a hammerhead!
Definitely a good day and at 2pm we’re back in Puerto Ayora to rest and enjoy our memories.
Eagle ray video coming
Tags: Diving, Ecuador, Galapagos, UNESCO sites
Posted in Diving, South America 2008 | No Comments »
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
Early day today, we meet at the dive shop at 7… we leave for Floreana, the southernmost of Galapagos Islands, about 30 nautical miles from Puerto Ayora. The trip there lastas about two hours and the ocean is fairly calm but it manages to knock down Ryan and Luca’s wife and to make Sarah focus on the horizon.
Once we get there the Capitan decides that (to help the seasick ones) we will first do the land visit. On the dock we meet huge marine iguanas, pelicans, sally footed crabs and sleepy sea lions. A short bus ride gets us to the visit site, first we go for a stroll to see where buccaneers used to live and hunt in the 17th century then we go to the giant land tortoises.
What to say about them… HUGE! Those things can live up to 150 years (rough data) and keep on growing until they are around 80. Well, you’ll ask what the secret to such longevity is, definitely take it easy!
Half more hour of navigation takes us to the first dive site: Champion. Here we are supposed to se white tips, seals and a lot of fish. The site is very nice; there is a “bit” of current but nothing dramatic. As expected we se sea lions and white tips and lots of fish. Unfortunately no big surprise coming from the blue but for this the second dive should be better.
After lunch we move to Enderby where big big things (I’m talking whale-sharkish here) could surprise us.
First we go after the weird looking batfish over a sandy bottom. For once that I’m not being the lowest one to follow what our guide said, the others saw it and we didn’t… oh well. Then we moved to the rocky reef where all the activity was. There we saw plenty of fish, an octopus, a school of jacks and we fought hard against the very strong current waiting for the big ones to pass by but we were unlucky again. Well, not really unlucky, the dives were really cool; we just do not seem to be meant to see hammerheads and whale sharks…
Tags: Diving, Ecuador, Galapagos, UNESCO sites
Posted in Diving, South America 2008 | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Yipiha..we are finally going diving!! With all the underwater advertising picture that we saw, we were more than ready to see school of hammerheads, whale sharks, turtles, penguins and all the rest. Apparently the place is one of the best to see what we really want to see: Hammerheads. We had the video camera of the dive shop with us, it was part of our deal for 130$ for two dives. The problem is that the housing screen is not working, so Marco will have to record without really knowing what he will point at. Will see… It was a short one hour ride from Puerto Ayora to the dive site. The current was stronger that we were used to. We had to grab the rocks to be able to stay at the same place for a while. During the first dive, I kind of see my first hammerhead but he was pretty far and disappeared fast. We saw lots of turtles sleeping at the bottom that we could admired from close.
The second dive is pretty much the same, thousands of fish everywhere. We hadn’t seen that anywhere else so far. It is really nice even though nothing big…BUT WHERE ARE THOSE SCHOOLS?
Tags: Diving, Ecuador, Galapagos, UNESCO sites
Posted in Diving, South America 2008 | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
We stayed 4 days in Baños. The place wasnice (even though Vilcabamba had a better setting) and I would say with too many tourists around. We had great plans and hips of activities to choose from but my stomach didn’t let us enjoy the place as much as the rainy weather. So Marco decided to work night long on the website and between to “bathroom run”, we had time to rent a buggy to explore the waterfalls. The scenery was really stunning until it started raining
…was funny anyway!
Otherwise, during our time in Banos, we managed to eat a RACLETTE! the first one after a year and a half thanks to the swiss bistrot that we discovered here! ! just deliiiiicious.
Tags: Ecuador
Posted in South America 2008 | No Comments »
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
A two hour boat ride that brought us to Isla del Sol on the Titicaca lake was sooooo slow, that swimming would have been faster. Anyway the landscape was just amazing. The lake is dark blue and the islands are yellowish. Isla de Sol is supposed to be the beginning of the Inca religion because of a big rock where one can see ( with a lot of imagination) the face of THE god.
For the story, the boat drops you off on the south side of the island and catch you up on the north one, so that you can walk for a few hours and visit the place. We bought the entrance ticket for the museum and the ruins (south part) and then start walking to the north. Once in the middle of the island we were stopped by a nice old man asking for the ticket that allowed us to go to the north part ! well we had to buy a new one…A little bit further on the north side, this time a family asked for the north side ticket!? Are you kidding me? No,we needed a third ticket to simply walk through the island. Sometimes I really think that a $ is tattooed on tourists forehead!!!
Tags: Bolivia
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Saturday, July 19th, 2008
The 3 days boat ride we did a few days earlier saved us about 18 hours of gravel road. Even though it was the budget of 2 days, we decided to take the plane, bringing us back to La Paz. As we arrived at the airport, we saw a bunch of cows grazing the landing area!! About 10 min before the first flight was supposed to land, they finally decide to move them outside the gate…
The flight in this small plane of 16 persons lasted 45 min (remember instead of 18 hours of bus..). Unfortunately the windows were really dirty and we only distinguished the majestic Andes. In La Paz we took a bus to Copacabana on the Titicaca lake side.
Tags: Bolivia
Posted in South America 2008 | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
No picture for this post: just an explanation. After our 3 days in the desert, we headed to Potosi. The 6 hours ride by bus ( first experience with Bolivian bus) were just the worst…After the good no wonderful quality of service in Argentina, we ( I) were not prepared to THAT. -10°c inside by night. Apparently it is common not to have an heating system, because people are coming with one or two blankets when they take the bus. Well we didn’t know…..Oh MY GOD!!!my poor icy leg. For the record, that night we found the only backpacker hostel in whole Bolivia with ….a heater in the room and really warm shower!
Tags: Bolivia
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Saturday, June 28th, 2008
Finally the bus company tells us that the Paso de Jama road (around 5300m) has been cleared from snow and that we can leave for Chile. The ride is magnificent, form Salta (around 1000m) it’s all up, we pass Jujuy, Pumamarca, Salinas Grande and finally after an incredible valley, get to the Argentinian border (4000m). From there the road keeps on climbing and we get into the highest part of the Atacama desert (the driest worldwide) where the Andean cordillera is mainly made of 6000m high volcanoes. As we start descending we are at 5300m, it’s the highest point of the whole trip and the headache we all have confirms it. A short ride down, some customs formalities and we’re in Chile.
San Pedro is a town like there are in every country: small, pretty and full of tourists. It is a pleasant place to stay and the fact that we’re there during the year’s biggest celebration makes everything even better. The day of San Pedro y Pablo is when all the local and neighboring communities converge to San Pedro to venerate the town protector with a parade of dance, music and alcohol (not necessary to mention that the night was short).
Tags: Argentina, Chile
Posted in South America 2008 | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
We were supposed to leave Salta for Chile asap, but it was snowing up there at 5300m so our bus was canceled tree days in a row. Instead we enjoyed our last moments in Argentina by eating as much meat as we could. VIVA LA PARILLA!
Tags: Argentina
Posted in South America 2008 | No Comments »
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Unfortunately the train de las Nubes (of the clouds) isn’t working anymore, so instead we rented a Fiat punto for two days to follow part of the same way. That was an excellent idea. The road was amazing (even though really bumpy for our small old car). Mountains were colorful and cactus were shining under the sun. The first stop was under the third highest bridge in the world (4700m). Well, our breath was short…we were still not acclimatized to the altitude. Then we headed to “Salinas Grande” which is a salt flat of the small lake size. Pretty amazing. They extracted the salt here making small piles to let it dry out and the next step is on your table… .
We spend the night in Humahuaca, nice and quiet cobbled village.
Tags: Argentina
Posted in South America 2008 | No Comments »
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
After leaving Mendoza we got to San Agustin de Valle Fertil, a small village the is known among travelers only for being the starting point for trips to the Ischigualasto (moon valley) and Talampaya parks. Once we got to hostel we met Thierry, a Fribourgeois we had met in Malargüe coupple of days ago and a Spanish couple. We spent the evening eating asado (typical Argentinian BBQ), drinking wine and watching Argentina vs. Brasil for the world cup qualification.
In the morning we leave for our long day visiting the two geologically incredible parks (UNESCO . Our first stop is at Ischigualasto, one of the only places where a complete superior triassic sediment series is visible. As well, the oldest dinosaur fossil was found here. The nickname of the site is valley of the moon, and as you can see on the pictures it is a very good nickname.
The place was formed (or better said put in this state) during the formation of the Andes around 100 mio years ago when the Nazca plate and the South american plate collided and created a subduction zone. The old triassic (250 to 205 mio years ago) lake sediments where then pushed up in a 45° angle by the subducting Nazca plate forming the nowadays visible series.
Ischigualasto is an incredible landscape marked by different colors like red, green, orange, yellow and gray coming from the different mineral composition of the sediments. Furthermore, the seasonally torrential rainsand the high winds create an extreme erosion that contributes in shaping the moon-like landscape.
After visiting the park’s museum where fossils and reconstructions of the oldest dinosaurs are shown we get on our van again and 2 hours later we’re at Talampaya.
Talampaya is geologically similar to Ischigualasto (although the series visible here are from the inferior triassic) but geomorphologically the two parks have nothing in common. In Talalmpaya the main erosion was (and is) fluvial, resulting in a huge canyon. At the beginning of the canyon we see some rock arts that show how the locals ancestors hunted and farmed guanacos (the local llama). The further we get into the canyon the more spectacular it gets, high walls of about 200m 
with condors flying around and some vegetation at the bottom, very very cool! As well we experience the best echo ever, from a special spot (like a big u eroded into the wall) the canyon repeats full sentences up to four times.
Around six our driver drops us off at an intersection where a bus is supposed to pass by and take us to La Rioja and then to Salta. After two hours of waiting in the local store-restaurant-ticket office-bus stop house having some cheese and wine and counting 5 cars passing by, the bus arrives and we’re off to Salta.
Tags: Argentina, Natural Wonders, UNESCO sites
Posted in South America 2008 | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
6968 m, the highest point of the Americas, this is the Mt. Aconcagua, 3 hours SW of Mendoza. Of course, many people come here to conquer this giant, but not many do that in June (beginning of the southern hemisphere’s winter) and neither do we. Anyway, being so close to it we decide to go for a stroll at its foot.
The tree hours bus ride to Puente del Inca are awesome. We pass form beautiful wine country trough the magnificent pre-Andes and then up to over 3000m at Puente del Inca. Here some hot sulfur springs formed an awesome natural bridge where before a huge flood in the 40s a thermal hotel was found.
From there we start walking uphill for about an hour to reach the mirador (viewpoint) del Aconcagua. The mountain is a pretty impressive view although, being already at 4000 it didn’t seem soooo impossible (in fact, in summer it’s a “pretty accessible” climb – in about 10-15 days almost anybody can do it).
At the mirador we decide to continue a bit further to get to the Aconcagua national park entrance from where the actual climb starts. On the we we spot an hare and a 8 dogs… yep regular city dogs like anywhere in South america.
On the way back to Mendoza we see couple of condors and we enjoy the pre andine scenery in the sunset light.
Tags: Argentina, Mountains
Posted in South America 2008 | No Comments »
