haha, still working on the athleticism, but i can safely say i like adventure :)
On Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 9:16 PM, Hardy <[email protected]> wrote: > WOW!!!!!!! Unreal Man, can't wait to hear more about it!!!! > > Jacques, you are the Adventure athlete Extraordinaire :-) > > Amazing!!! > > On 26 March 2012 00:57, Jacques Booysen <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I have a healthy obsession with volcanoes, mountains and the great >> outdoors. Passionately curious of what the planet has to offer and of what >> human beings are capable of. It all happened a few years ago when i did the >> diagonal of fools on la reunion island and seeing the active volcano erupt >> during the run, it was magic. Afterwards being curious of what other >> volcano trail races existed, i stumbled upon a great report by Christian >> Griffith's on a trail race named Feugo y Agua. Translated fire and water >> from Spanish, it is a 100km wilderness run up two volcanoes on a remote >> volcanic island in lake Nicaragua, central america (the piece joining north >> and south america). >> When i saw this race a few years ago i knew i just had to do this race no >> matter what, by looking at this island on Google earth you will see what i >> mean, it is quite unique. So i drooled over the lakes and volcanoes and >> always had it in the back of my mind. The race was canceled last year >> because of financial reasons, but the date was set for February 2012. >> >> Nicaragua is quite far from South Africa, so i added my own adventure to >> the mix to make it worth going. I always wanted to fly somewhere far and >> unknown and ride out of the airport solo with my mountain bike and explore, >> and this was the perfect opportunity for me to make it happen. Nicaragua >> lies on the pacific ring of fire and is bordered by Costa Rica on the south >> and Honduras on the north, it has undergone periods of political unrest, >> military intervention by the United States, dictatorship and earthquakes >> but has reached a period of stability and are described as the safest in >> the region. I did my research, and even though people tried to scare me >> with all sorts of stories, they didn't manage to scare me. I was gonna see >> for myself, armed with my mountain bike, running shoes, super potent bug >> repellent, antibiotics and hammock, i was well prepared and on my way. >> >> So packed with the bare essentials like any adventure racer would as hand >> luggage and only booking my bike as checked baggage on the airplane, i left >> for two weeks traveling on the 4th longest nonstop endurance flight in the >> world 17 hours directly to Atlanta with a slight detour near bermuda >> avoiding a storm (these airplanes are amazing), so touching US soil for the >> first time i connected to Managua Nicaragua with another 4hour flight. On >> the connecting plane to Nicaragua, a German guy saw me stand out in between >> the american missionaries with my South African passport, somehow he knew i >> was not a missionary and not from the US, and seemed keen to chat, we >> swapped seats and talked nonstop for 4 hours, what an awesome coincidence, >> this guy turned out to be an epic German cartographer that has mapped large >> parts of Nicaragua, central and south america and other parts of the world, >> a true adventurer. I showed him my topographic map on my tablet pc and he >> was impressed how well i was prepared and showed me the best way to get up >> some of the volcanoes in the arch. On one of this mapping expeditions he >> told me he traversed a large section of the volcanic arch on foot. His name >> is Klaus Wiesner and he gave me one of his own maps he made of Nicaragua >> for free, he said i needed it more, what a cool guy! >> >> Coming in over lake Managua for a landing at the capital with the same >> name he showed me momotombo volcano (they actually have a geothermal power >> plant there) and it's tiny offspring volcano inside the lake, >> momotombito. This was very cool, and he told me that the US marines used to >> do combat training there. We landed at the small but modern new airport in >> Managua that lies on 11 seismic faults, in 1972 an earthquake occurred here >> with a magnitude of 6.2 at a depth of about 5 kilometers beneath the centre >> of the city. The earthquake and after shocks caused widespread damage, >> among Managua's residents, 5,000 were killed, 20,000 were injured and over >> 250,000 were left homeless. Even though no recent earthquakes took place >> large parts of the city was never rebuild, and made the country even poorer. >> >> I booked into basecamp for my biking and running adventure, the best >> western hotel opposite the airport after crossing the pan american highway >> with Huge trucks like you see in trucker movies, hectic trucks, trucks you >> want to avoid getting your bike close to. But my plan was to take back >> roads and stay away from cars and experience the country from the top of my >> seatpost in style. Double story buildings in Nicaragua are rare, and >> because of the earthquake you can understand why. The settlements around >> the airport and next to the hotel looked similar to the townships we get >> here in south africa, very poor. >> >> So i mounted a small bike carrier on my seat post to carry the heaviest >> stuff and took the rest in a 40l backpack on my back, leaving my cardboard >> bike box at basecamp. I had my GPS and had semi planned were i wanted to go >> each night. It was quite a liberating feeling riding out there with my bike >> into the unknown on dirt roads in a strange country that only speaks >> Spanish, but i ended up having the time of my life experiencing tropical >> living in one of the poorest and richest countries in the region. Poor >> money-wise but rich in volcanoes,natural beauty, passion for poetry, art >> and friendly people. >> >> "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to >> say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no >> knowing where you might be swept off to." ~J.R.R. Tolkien >> >> My goal was to get to the island Ometepe in lake Nicaragua in time to do >> the 100km Feugo y Agua race and then cycle back, i ended up cycling more or >> less 30km every day, taking it easy before the race, exploring and having >> my own adventure. >> >> I cycled through very poor areas seeing very interesting landscapes, >> interesting people and funny dogs along the way. A couple of nights i >> stayed at a biological research centre inside the dormant apoyo volcano >> crater with clear blue lagoon inside hosting Cichlid Fish found here and in >> lake Malawi, i swam inside the lagoon most mornings, a very inspirational >> place with awesome people running it. It was a little though for me to get >> out of the crater with my loaded bike in the mornings but this place was so >> awesome that it didn't even cross my mind. I also cycled past the active >> volcano of masaya where i peeked inside the crater seeing the raw earth at >> work, one night i went with a group to explore it at night, we went into >> old lava pipes looking for vampire bats and found some, on our way out we >> had a peek into the main crater to see the glow but were quickly >> overwhelmed by the sulfur and quickly left the reserve. >> >> From the port of granada on lake Nicaragua that hosts fresh water bull >> sharks, i took the weekly 2pm ferry witch was a 4 hour ferry ride to >> ometepe, the twin volcano island on lake nicaragua. My bike was loaded with >> the cargo and i spend most of the time in my ticket to the moon hamock >> outside on the upper deck of the ferry hanging and seeing on my gps were i >> was. >> >> We saw spectacular views of the island and the active volcano, la >> conception when we arrived at altagracia just before sunset. Waiting for us >> at the port were locals with stacks and stacks of banana's or plantain >> that would be exported off the island with the ferry continuing through the >> night to the south of the lake. I got off and i managed to get my bike >> after a while, and then there were nothing, no lights just a pitch dark 3km >> road i knew i had to take to get to the little town from the >> port according to my gps. Here after 100m i went over the handlebars with a >> heavy backpack on my back after trying to turn on my red back light and not >> looking, hitting a big rock my bike stopped and i bought land like we say >> when you fall off your bike, it was quite funny, but i won't mind buying >> real land there. Then out of nowhere locals on bikes came riding past and >> trying to stay in my light as they had none or very basic lights, i must >> have looked like a spaceship to them with my gps and all my lights. My gps >> helped me allot. All towns in Nicaragua are small, they basically have a >> central plain surrounded by a few settlements. Altagracia was even smaller, >> but i managed to find accommodation and eat something and get a nice nights >> rest in a very basic room with a bed and a fan, this day was full of >> adventure for me. >> >> The next morning i took some 16km of rough dirt roads directly to >> mayogalpa riding next to la conception volcano, a near perfect cone-shaped >> volcano, mayogalpa is where i was gonna stay for 4 days while doing the >> 100km fuego y agua ultra marathon, this is also where the race would start >> the next morning. I settled into a room that looked like a converted horse >> stable with a door, bed and fan. >> >> We departed in one of the chicken buses from the town of mayogalpa on the >> island of ometepe to the Feugo y Agua race briefing. Chicken buses are >> yellow america school buses found all over Nicaragua, locally decorated >> and converted to transport people,chickens and basically anything. After an >> awesome island style sunset and pre-race dinner we had the race briefing >> and a traditional island dance show by the local ometepe children. >> >> Twenty 100km runners lined up at the 4am start, and then, boom! Fireworks >> were shot into the air with sparks missing us by meters, giving us an extra >> jump in our step and off we were. Starting on the main road in mayogalpa >> the road turned into dirt trails with bush tunnels making use of sections >> of road, we were on our way to the malderas volcano on the other section of >> ometepe by means of the narrow strip of land joining the two volcanoes on >> the island, almost like a bridge. Even though it was early it was already >> hot and humid. >> >> We ran on trails and a piece of black sand beach on the island bridge >> section and missed the turnoff, allot of runners got lost here, but by >> using common sense and an detour through the forest, we eventually found >> the path after losing a bit of time. Running though the true >> wild banana forests was quite cool where after we reached the natural >> springs. From here we followed the road on the other side of the island >> bridge section next to a more white colored sand beach to the start of the >> volcano climb at porvennir 31km into the race. At this stage i think i was >> already dehydrated as i was drinking allot of water and sweating from the >> heat and not getting in enough salt. Luckily they had salt tablets at this >> aid station and i took a few with me. >> >> I followed a very rocky trail up to the start of the climb of the >> malderas volcano and started heading up into the cloud forest where i heard >> howler monkeys making freaky noises in the forest. The higher you go up on >> this volcano the more dense and humid it gets, the trail transforms from >> always wet mesh of roots in nutrient rich soil into mud pools in a jungle >> gym where you have to use all fours to pull yourself up the volcano on >> strong tree roots. Cloud forests are green, growing, glowing gardens of >> trees, ferns, orchids and mosses in an always cloudy or foggy atmosphere. >> Climbing through these forests reminded me of the film "Lord of the Rings". >> Movement was very slow and tiring here, but an awesome privilege to >> experience. I reached the rim and descended into the crater, at the bottom >> of the crater there is a lake composed of rainwater and a natural spring. >> It measures 300 by 250 meters, but with the fog one can see only about 50 >> feet across. This is 41km into the race, it was cold up here and I used the >> aid station to get some food down and refill my water. >> >> Going out of the crater the forest became so dense at places, that you >> would have to stop and figure out how you are going to get though this mesh >> of moss covered roots, eventually you would spot the gap where you could >> slide though. I have never seen strong dense roots with moss and forest >> like this in my life, it was very cool. Coming down though the mud it would >> drop steep at sections where you just had to hang on to roots and slide >> down. >> >> I reached the bottom for the volcano at the 50km mark after 10 hours, 2 >> hours before cutoff. I had blisters from wet feet, i was semi dehydrated >> and slow. Had a peanut butter and banana sandwich and hit the hot stretch >> of dirt road leading to the other side of the island and volcano la >> conception. At this stage 10 out of the 20 that had started the 100km had >> dropped out for various reasons. I was last and slow, but i make the >> cutoffs. It was probably my dehydration and blisters that made me so slow. >> >> As the sun set in an spectacular mushroom cloud over the volcano, i >> headed for flor the start of the la conception climb, here i went though >> local villages where my feet was starting to get very sore and i was >> getting very slow but i was determined to finish. The music the locals >> listen to here is exactly 15 years behind the rest of the world, so as i >> was making my way to flor i had to listen to remixes of the >> titanic soundtrack and other 1997 hits. I reached flor, the 80k mark in >> 17hours, and had 24hours to finish the race. Even though i was slow, i >> wanted to finish even though i made the cutoff with just an hour to spare. >> >> At this checkpoint the race organizer informed me that he can't stop me >> from going up la conception, but he wouldn't advise me to go at my current >> speed, as it is very steep and can be very dangerous. So this is where i >> ended up flipping a coin, a cordoba - nicaragua money with a triange on the >> one side. If it would fall on the triangle i would go up to volcano, if not >> it would stop here. It landed on the side without a triangle and this is >> where my race stopped. It was an awesome race, and i would love to do it >> again. So i did 80km in 17 hours and got a dnf, i enjoyed it and learned so >> much and are not killing myself about the dnf. It is definitely an >> experience of a lifetime i can recommend to any trail runner passionate >> about mountains and nature to put on their bucket list, a though one. >> >> After the race i stayed on the island for a couple of days exploring it >> on my mountain bike, whereafter i took the weekly midnight ferry to granada >> where my bike was stacked between lots of bananas. I did some off the >> beaten track exploring involving steep hike a bike sections, being chased >> by dogs, fired upon with fireworks, and escorted by friendly locals on the >> rim of the apoyo crater. >> >> I made my way back to the city of managua, and finished a >> very successful adventure. >> Jacques >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "DarkAndDirty" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/darkanddirty?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "DarkAndDirty" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/darkanddirty?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DarkAndDirty" group. 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