nature

Penang national park meromictic lake turtle beach pantai keracut 15

Penang National Park and the Meromictic Lake at Pantai Keracut

Iris Veldwijk

Events in this story happened on Tuesday the 30th of June 2020. We hiked in Penang National Park to the meromictic lake at Turtle Beach (Pantai Keracut). This is during the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) during the easing of the restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak. You can read my pandemic in Penang diary here. Preparations and Getting the Grab We took three liters of water in my hydration bladder and another 1.5 liters in a bottle in Jonas’ bag. Our lessons from previous hikes in the hills of Penang and on its beaches taught us it’s a good ideaContinue reading

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Day 37 - danube floodplains Gönyű kayak canoe Danube 9

Kayak Trip Day 37: Danube Floodplains to Gönyű

Iris Veldwijk

Events in this story took place on Sunday the 11th of August, 2019. We paddled from a Protected Landscape Area called the Danube Floodplains in Slovakia to Gönyű, our first town in Hungary. In the Danube Floodplains, we’d freecamped for the first time on this trip. The total distance we paddled to Gönyű was 26.6 kilometers. Waking Up at Our Freecamping Site My alarm rang at 5:00, a few minutes before dawn. Slowly, we awoke and wrangled ourselves out of our sleeping bags. The storm had stopped a few hours earlier and we finally reached a deep state of sleep. IContinue reading

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Day 36 freecamping inflatable kayak canoe boat Zucchini paddle freecamping Danube floodplains Slovakia Hungary

Kayak Trip Day 36: Čunovo to the Danube Floodplains – Freecamping

Iris Veldwijk

Evens occurred on Saturday the 10th of August, 2019. We paddled our buoyant Zucchini from the Čunovo Dam to somewhere in the Danube Floodplains protected landscape area in the Slovak-Hungarian border region. We paddled 36 kilometers that day. At night, we freecamped next to the river for the first time on this trip. Leaving Čunovo for the Danube Floodplains We only stayed one night in Čunovo. For the morning, we managed to arrange breakfast at 7:30. The guy who had cheffed up dinner so enthusiastically the night before were not so fond of our early breakfast time; we had to beg forContinue reading

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Fontainhas Brava hiking peak island cabo verde hitchhiking nova sintra

Hiking Fontainhas, the Highest Point of Brava

Iris Veldwijk

This article is about the highest peak of Brava island named ‘Fontainhas’ in Cabo Verde. It is not to be confused with the hike from Chã de Igreja/Cruzinha to Fontainhas/Ponta do Sol in Santo Antão! Intro Fontainhas is at 976 meters the highest point of the tiniest island in Cabo Verde: Brava. Brava is truly tiny; you can walk pretty much across the entire island in one day. I did this hike to the peak from Nova Sintra to Cachaço. Nova Sintra is the biggest settlement in Brava, and probably where you’ll be staying at. Hiking to Fontainhas without aContinue reading

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Monte Verde hitchhiking hiking São Vicente Cabo Verde Mindelo

(Hitch)hiking Monte Verde, São Vicente

Iris Veldwijk

The Setup Monte Verde is the highest peak on the island of São Vicente, Cabo Verde. As the bird flies, it’s only 6 kilometers 744 meters east of Mindelo, the island capital and Cabo Verde’s second-biggest city. The mountain and its plants are protected inside the Parque Natural Monte Verde. The island main ‘ring road’ surrounds the entire mountain, and is a cool trip for one or two people in itself; you can hitchhike, take an aluguer (minivan/pickup, public transit), or rent a scooter/car for a day to see basically the entire island. The peak of Monte Verde is quiteContinue reading

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Quilotoa Caldera Hike

Iris Veldwijk

If you’re only here for an overview of the hike and preparation tips, click here. Months ago I heard for the first time of the Quilotoa Caldera, a collapsed volcano in Ecuador with a crater lake in the middle. The pictures looked incredible and I wanted to visit. A few sprees on Wikipedia and my map app later, I knew I wanted to hike the rim of the caldera. Besides hitchhiking, I also enjoy hiking without the hitching part. I hitchhiked from the town of Baños de Agua Santa – a cool destination in its own right – in oneContinue reading

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Uruguay Lago Merín Laguna Merim spring primavera

Springtime in Uruguay! (Laguna Merín)

Iris Veldwijk

My 90 days are almost up, but dude, I’ve had a good time in Uruguay! What’s all this excitement about? Probably the not knowing what to expect and the fact that this hemisphere of the earth would slowly, but surely warm up in the course of a few months come spring. Near the end of my stay I can finally say: Toss your coat and take off your long pants, because springtime has FINALLY come to Uruguay! Uruguay Trip Summary I did a little tour of the country as you can see from my route map. It gave me the time to explore theContinue reading

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Blackberries: Autumn is the New Summer

Iris Veldwijk

It’s the season of the free blackberries in the south of Chile! These kinds of bushes surrounded nearly all my hitchhiking spots. Somehow, nobody else eats them. I wonder why, as it’s tasty, healthy and most importantly completely free. A bush like this in a public area in Europe would have been looted the minute the blackberries turn ripe. Perhaps this hassle-free food is nature’s way to compensate for the freezing nights I’ve spent in my tent around Puerto Montt and the Llanquihue lake. Autumn has definitely arrived in the southern hemisphere and yet the days have been blessed withContinue reading

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Cuevas Waterfalls Samaipata Bolivia

Cuevas Waterfalls, Samaipata Bolivia

Iris Veldwijk

I didn’t jump from this waterfall. Just chilled an entire day at the three falls of Cuevas, close to Samaipata in Bolivia. Ultimate chill alert! What a beautiful place to cool down one’s feet and enjoy nature. I did get my camera a little wet with all the micro sploosh that’s floating in the air at the bottom of the biggest waterfall. There are two other waterfalls with beaches to relax at. Cuevas is about 20 km from Samaipata in the direction of Santa Cruz and costs 15 Bolivianos for entrance. Unfortunately, it gets really busy in the afternoon onContinue reading

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