Carrying the Farm: Chickens, Goats, Pigs and One Dog

by Jamie Rhein on

In response to my how we carry children post, Willy commented about how he carried a dog in his back while riding his bicycle. This reminded me of the time I went with one of the community development workers from my village in The Gambia on a quest for chickens. I had invited 10 Peace Corps volunteer friends to my village for Christmas and was looking for our dinner. The quest took us on a journey to several villages with me on the back of his small motorcycle. I hung on with every bump along the unpaved roads. Big chickens in a Gambian village are hard to find. As we acquired each chicken it was was hung upside down by its feet from the motorcycle’s handlebars. Eventually, there were four chickens, two on each side.

Recalling this memory got me thinking about the other ways I’ve seen animals carried. Once I carried a wild baby bird in a shoebox from Columbus to Cleveland, but that’s another story. In the meantime, here’s how folks take animals, mostly chickens, from one place to another. But here’s a dog photo in honor of Willy’s head-turning ride.

This photo by margiewphotos is of Christmas Day in Peru at the Pisac Market. This is sort of how I tried to carry my son when he was a baby, but this boy is certainly having more luck. The goat looks like he’s enjoying the ride. Interesting version of a manger scene don’t you think?

Here a woman carries animals in Guatemala. Chickens perhaps? I think I see a feather. This was taken by Neal Waters at the San Francisco el Alta Market, the largest one in Central America.

This photo was taken in Cambodia by kschlemm. I saw pigs being carried like this in Vietnam also. Yep, it’s tough being a pig.

More chickens on the way to somewhere. These are in Myanmar. Photo taken by netdance.

This photo caught my attention for a couple of reasons. One is the method of carrying chickens. The second is that this was taken in Tatopani, Nepal. I’ve been to Totopani. It’s on the Annapurna Circuit and a terrific place to stop for the night. There are hot springs here where you can go for a soak. I did not. Too tired to move after trekking all day. I did hear that pani means water in Nepalese and Tato means hot, thus the town’s name. I didn’t see this guy and his chickens, though. Dey must have taken this shot in the early morning.

This is cute. Sort of looks like a funky purse that squawks. I wonder if there’s room to tuck in a comb, a wallet and car keys? According to beccabrian who took the shot, the chicken belonged to a guide who carried it along on a trek in Laos and let it out at rest stops.

A bit more chickens than I was after for our Christmas stew, but the transportation method is about the same. This is in Phenom Penh and taken by fadedfromthewinter.

Javachickn carries show chickens around in his Toyota Corolla. I wonder why. In his post he mentioned picking the chickens up from O’Brien, Oregon. When I was a kid I bought two fluffy yellow chicks at a dime story, one for me and one for my brother. We named them Tinkerbell and Abby. Both turned out turned out to be roosters. I think we took them in a cardboard box to the farm that agreed to take them.

Alaska without the Cruise Ship Part 9: Adventuring in the Wilds of Juneau

by Neil Woodburn on

Alaska without the Cruise Ship is a 17-part series exploring the ease and advantages of touring Alaska on your own steam and at your own speed.

Although rain prevented us from viewing Mendenhall Glacier up close in a helicopter, it did not prevent us from other outdoor activities we had lined up in Juneau-two of which departed from the Eaglecrest Ski Area

The first was a zip line course. We had done some zip-lining a few days earlier in Ketchikan, but since the zips were incorporated into a climbing confidence course, they were neither long nor scary. Alaska Zipline Adventures, on the other hand, is not for the weak of heart. This zip line course rips through a rainforest canopy 80 feet above the ground. If something goes wrong here, there’d be serious problems.

The location couldn’t have been prettier. The rainforest was awash in majestic, old-growth pine trees bursting with color and primordial glory. Six steel cables, some up to 650 feet long, zigzagged between the trees, connecting them like a procession of mountain climbers tied together, while far below a stream gurgled through a thick bed of incredibly green and overwhelmingly beautiful foliage.

Each of the trees had a platform attached to it where a friendly staff member hooked our safety harness onto the cable and gave us a reassuring pat on the back before we launched ourselves into the wide open expanse.

The first jump was certainly the most unnerving. There I was standing in a tree 80 feet above the forest floor about to step out into nothing. When I finally did, the zip line immediately made a whirring noise and I whisked suddenly away. The forest was a blur, but the tree I was flying towards at the end of the line remained fixed straight ahead and growing larger by the second. I knew that the slack in the line would slow me down as I got closer, but I was still moving at a pretty good clip when I suddenly began to twist in my harness until my back was facing the oncoming tree. The thought of slamming into it backwards was a little unsettling. I began to wildly flail my arms and managed to turn myself around just in time to realize another mounting challenge; the platform I was rapidly approaching wasn’t built for a 6’4″ person. Shorter people had only to lift up their legs a little and they would land safely on a wooden ramp built into the side of the tree. I, on the other hand had to clutch my knees up to my chest otherwise my shins would have crashed painfully into the platform.

I managed to do so and landed safely with a loud whoop! My first ride was a success. The next five rides were easier and grew increasingly more enjoyable as our guides taught us fun little moves to perform, like hanging upside-down, or grabbing an ankle and jerking arrhythmically like Napoleon Dynamite. My personal favorite was Superman, body parallel to the ground and arms outstretched as I flew over planet earth. Wheee!!!

We here having so much fun we completely forgot it was raining. The thick forest canopy kept out much of the wet stuff and the waterproof jackets provided by our guides kept out the rest. Only my face and hands were a bit cold. By the time we reached the last zip line, a thermos of hot apple cider appeared out of one of the guide’s daypacks and we toasted to our flying adventure before launching off one final time.

The following day we returned to Eaglecrest Ski Area for another bit of outdoor fun: a Cycle Alaska “Sky to Sea” bike ride which promised to do just that.

Like so many tour outfitters in the state, the bulk of Cycle Alaska’s clients are cruise ship passengers. The good news for solo travelers is that cruise ship passengers never have a car, so most outfitters provide a free shuttle service that picks up clients from the docks or their hotel. It therefore came as no surprise when the Cycle Alaska van which picked us up in front of the Prospector Hotel with five cruise ship passengers who had signed up for the bike ride as well. During the 30 minute drive to the top of Eaglecrest Ski Area they regaled us with stories of all-you-can-eat buffets and swinging couples at the onboard nightclubs.

The bike ride seemed a pleasant escape from all of this.

The ride turned out to be about ten miles, most all of which were downhill. Thankfully the rain was very light and wasn’t too much of a bother (like every other outfitter in Juneau, Cycle Alaska also provided us with waterproof jackets and a helmet).

The bikes were very nice mountain bikes with comfortable gel seats and nice shocks. Every few miles we pulled over to the side of the road and walked down a trail or along a stream. We had three guides with us and another which followed behind in a support van. The guides would point out various shrubbery and edible plants and then we’d be back on our bikes coasting along.

Eventually we hit flat ground and the watery shores where we ran across another group of travelers braving the weather with kayaks. Rain is a constant presence in Juneau; life simply does not stop when the clouds burst. Nor for that matter, do the adventure outfitters.

Yesterday: Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier
Tomorrow: Salmon Fishing and Whale Watching in Juneau

Folding Bike Review

by Neil Woodburn on

For whatever reason, there has been a lot in the press recently about folding bicycles.

Folding bikes fascinate me for two reasons; I love the engineering and I love the thought of traveling to some far off destination and peddling through the countryside on your own bike instead of some clunky rental–if you can find one at all.

Most recently I came across a review of four of the best folding bikes in the upcoming June edition of Wired Magazine. Apparently, we’re not quite in the George Jetson world of perfectly folding forms of transport yet because each, it seems, has its limitations; missing shocks, too heavy, chains coming off, etc.

Nonetheless, these bikes are still rather impressive. The highest rated one, the Dahon Mu SL (above), weighs a mere 19 pounds, folds in 15 seconds, has an aluminum frame, and 20-inch wheels. Not too bad!

Bicycle Utopia: Free Bikes in Paris!

by Neil Woodburn on

Free city bikes have been a utopian dream for a long time now. I’m not sure where it started, but I recall that about 20 years ago some European city decided to buy a bunch of bikes, paint them yellow, and then let people use them at their convenience (readers, any idea where this first happened???).

The idea was that one could step out of a store, grab the first yellow bike they found, ride it to their next destination, and then leave it there for whoever needs it next.

Naturally people began stealing the bikes and painting them different colors, or simply locking them up so that others couldn’t use them. Bicycle Utopia was a failure.

Over the years a handful of other cities have tried the same system with various degrees of success.

This July, Paris is launching their own version. Called Vélib’, the Parisian version will drop 20,000 red-painted bikes onto the city streets for locals and tourists alike to peddle around to their heart’s content.

The program is based upon a smaller version in the city of Lyon which has now been operating successfully for two years. In anticipation of the Parisian version, Benji Lanyado, writing for the Guardian, recently took the Lyon system for a test drive.

Unlike the original program in which the bikes were just dropped off anywhere, the Lyon system requires that riders insert a credit card into a special bike rack in order to release one of the bikes. If it is never returned, the user is charged €150. If the bike is placed back into another special rack anywhere in the city within half an hour, there is no charge. Every hour after that costs €1.

What a great system!

Lanyado spent a fine day popping from one destination to another, enjoying the three-speed bicycles and all the wonderful sites that Lyon has to offer. I can’t wait until this arrives in Paris!

Riding a Penny Farthing Around the World

by Willy Volk on

Joff Summerfield is biking around the world. Not only is his feat impressive — to date, he’s already cycled more than 8400 miles! — but he’s doing it on a 19th century penny farthing bicycle, one of those bikes that boast a front wheel with a 47-inch diameter; sport a tiny little nubbin of a back wheel; and has neither chains nor gears. Much like Rosie O’Donnell, he’s top-heavy and dangerous.

Wearing a traditional English pith helmet, Summerfield left London on May 1, 2006. Since then, he traversed Europe before crapping out from dysentery and altitude sickness in the Middle East. As such, he had to pause his trip to recover. Now healthy, in November, he returned to Oceania to keep pedaling.

Currently in China, Summerfield plans to cover 36 miles each day while spending under $10 a day. (Maybe Ember‘ll buy him lunch.) On such a restrictive budget, Summerfield is forced to sleep in a tent, cook on a stove, and slurp from water bottles. He plans to spend 6 months in China, Myanmar, and Hong Kong before heading to North America.

For some pretty amazing pictures from his journey, check out his website.