Michael Fay’s “Megatransect” across Central Africa

by Nino Marchetti on

Between 1999 and 2001, noted biologist Michael Fay led a team across 2,000 miles of not
always so friendly terrain in Central Africa. Fay hiked the total distance over a 15 month period, taking note of life
in the relatively undisturbed Congo River Basin and wondering how it might change as humans slowly encroach upon
it.

Fay’s trek, dutifully recorded by himself with digital cameras and a lightweight computer system, is archived on
National Geographic’s website. It is a telling tale of a man and nature in a place Fay thinks “may well be the most
beautiful place on Earth.”

More of an overview of Fay’s “megatransect” can be found
here, while the link below leads to
Fay’s expedition notes and photos. Best to put your feet up on this one as you’re going to get sucked in.

Kilimanjaro for a Cause

by Erik Olsen on

Fans of Ernest Hemingway unite! And do something good for the world.

Have you ever fantasized about sitting beneath a tree at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, pretending that your wounds are just too horrible, the gangrene is setting in and well, it’s time to ponder what your life was worth? OK, dump the scene from Snows of Kilimanjaro, but go to Tanzania anyway and climb for a cause.

Here is an engaged adventure with a heart.

In February, Travel Talk Radio will start an expedition to Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, and the group is inviting anyone to join and “slog for the cure” of neurofibromatotsis, a common neurological disorder. The cost of the trip is just $999 plus airfare if you raise at least $5000.

Wondering if you’re up for it? Well, although it is a very tall hill, lots of folks climb it every year. Heck even kids and grandmothers climb it all the time. There have been cases of altitude sickness, but most people should be just fine. And remember, it’s for a good cause.

The BIG Trip

by Erik Olsen on

Some sites use pictures instead of words to tell a story about a
great adventure. Such is the case with Bigtrip.org, the photographic record of a
couple’s journey around the world. The site covers the 15 or so countries that this couple, Isaac and Kate, took on
their global trek to diverse countries ranging from Cambodia to Sweden. The pictures are neatly organized by country
and show off some real photographic talent. It is one of those sites that makes you want to get off your A%$, grab your
whatever-megapixel camera and hit the road. I thought that the photos
from Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) and Torres
del Paine in Patagonia (one of my favorite places in the whole wide world) were particularly inspiring.

The Alpinist

by Erik Olsen on

I was very impressed when I first came upon the online site for the climbing magazine
The Alpinist. The main page is beautiful, with a glorious photo of some dude
making a gnarly ascent up the face of a sun warmed rock face. But I dug around a bit and was pretty diappointed that
there was so little material available. The site provides access to old covers and to tables of contents, and there is
a nice section called climbing notes that gives
the low-down on climbing sites around the world, but there’s little access to editorial content with the exception of a
few well done features called “The Climbing Life” which
features brief, but beautiful, bits about various climbers and photographers. I dunno, I’m sure the editors don’t want
to cannibalize their hard copy sales, but I’d love to see more content from this excellent magazine online. Either way,
check it out, if just for some of the fine photos.

The Long Walk

by Erik Olsen on

Follow a group of  as they retrace the 8,000 mile slog of cavalry
officer Slavomir Rawicz. Rawicz, whose famous book,
The Long Walk, detailed his
capture by the Red Army in 1939 during the German-Soviet partition of Poland. He was sent to the Siberian Gulag along
with a group of Poles, Finns, Ukranians, Czechs, Greeks, as well as several English, French, and Americans caught up in
the fighting.  The story details how he and six others escaped a labor camp in Yakutsk clawed their way across
thousands of miles south to British India, where Rawicz reenlisted in the Polish army and fought against the Germans.
The expedition which got underway in September, retraces Rawicz steps from Moscow to Siberia, then through Mongolia,
China, Tibet and India. Along they way thr group is documenting with photos and journal entries. Whiile a bit sparse
now, the site promises a full multimedia tour when the trip ends in the first months of 2005.