nature tagged posts

In Chapada Diamantina, Hiking/Trekking On  20/10/2018  No comments

I had visited the Chapada Diamantina about 7 times since I moved to Salvador, Bahia. However, I have never made the trekking of  Vale do Pati, this time, I decided to face it. I would go with a friend who could not make it because of work, so I left alone with the guide. Our plan was to enter through Guiné, to go to Morro do Castelo on the second day and on the third day leave through Vale do Capão.

I was a little apprehensive because, lately, my right knee was hurting, but nothing very strong. So I talked to the guide André (Chapada Soul) to go slow. Since I was the only person in the group, the pace would be my own. Perfect.

We went up a rather steep trail to a plain where we walked towards the “Mirante” (a top hill view point). On the way, we crossed a small river that was a bit dry, did not motivate us to dive in. Then, we arrive at the famous Mirante do Vale do Pati, an incredible place, surrounded by valleys and mountains. There we stayed for about two hours enjoying the la...

In Asia, Adventure, Diving & Snorkeling, Thailand 2004 On  13/12/2004  One comment

We arrive in the city of Krabi and went straight to Ao Nang beach. A pleasant beach, full of hotels, bars and restaurants. The beach is crowded with boats that, frequently, offer to take you to an island or interesting beach. We strongly recommend the 4-island tour. It is one day in a long-tail boat island hopping (Poda Island, Chicken Island, Tup island and Phranang cave). The boat trip is slow, what makes it an enjoyable trip so one can calmly observe the nature, rocks, sea, and other boats… Everything, without having the idea of being in a hush to arrive somewhere.

The Krabi region of is well known by rock climbers and divers. It is surrounded by rocks for climbing and waters for diving. Here it is the famous Koh Phi Phi, the island where it was filmed the movie “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio. We benefit from that going to the Phi Phi area for diving. We had been diving for 2 day (4 immersions) in a place called Maya Bay and Koh Bida Nok...

In Asia, Thailand 2004 On  05/12/2004  One comment

Koh Samui was our first place for “vacation”. Before, our trip had been busy and tiresome. Coconut and fishing were the main activity on the island (koh); nowadays it is a tourist paradise. This, therefore, would be a perfect place to start to relax. In general, the hotels were small, there were many resorts but one doesn’t see the big towers of a chain hotel. I read that here it was not allowed to construct hotels higher than coconut trees, what I consider brilliant.

People told us that it was the rain season. We check on the internet for the weather forecast and it said cloudy and rainy days. We were luck because it rained only a few hour when we arrived and on the day of the departure. The rest of the time we could enjoy the beach, relax on the hotel’s sun bed, sleep in the coconut shade and sea bath. This was what I missed the most. The beaches in Europe don’t give you that kind of pleasure. It is impossible to compare.

Walking on Mae Nam beach we saw pieces of wood ful...

In Adventure, Cycling tour, Europe, Cycling & Diving in Catalonia 2003 On  23/03/2003  One comment

I decided to go on a bike tour organized by Carles from amics de la bici. We left Barcelona on a Saturday morning. We took the train to Ripoll where we started the journey. By the arrival at the train station in Ripoll, Albert was waiting for us with some white cloth meant to do flags for peace. We did the flags and placed them on the bikes.
The trail was constructed on some old train tracks. After about 10km we stopped at the old train station from Sant Joan de les Abadesses in order to keep the group together. We went in town to visit the historic center and have some coca (sweet bread typical from the region). A few kilometers later we stopped for lunch. Picnic on the grass. Awesome!

After lunch we continue to Olot stopping a few times in order to keep the group together. There was some way up, way down and flat paths. Sometimes there was no effort, it was only to sit on the bike and observe the landscape. By arrival at Olot we stopped to visit an area of an old volcano...