Archive for the 'Rowed Trip' Category
Bag a 2-for-1 deal on a luxury African safari in Botswana
September 24, 2009 8:30am
Elephants, lions and rhinos — oh my! You can see these legendary beasts and more on an 11-day luxury safari in Botswana. Better yet, a longtime purveyor of African travel is offering a 2-for-1 deal on this adventure in one of southern Africa’s most treasured wildlife destinations, home of the renowned Okavango Delta and the setting for “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” TV series on HBO.
Did I mention that the trip isn’t cheap? Even with the deal, it starts at about $3,300 per person, not including airfare to Africa. But it can be a terrific value for a once-in-a lifetime, top-of-the-line experience. And it comes from a respected tour operator right here in Southern California — African Travel Inc. of Glendale.
Deal: On “The Last Refuge” tour, you view wildlife on foot, by canoe, by safari vehicle and by helicopter in three areas of Botswana.
Roundup: Extreme kayaker breaks world record & escapes snakes; NCL one-day cruise sale today; Golden Nugget Las Vegas & Southwest Airlines $49-$99 sale
March 26, 2009 9:27am
Travel TV | If you missed the “Today” show this morning, head on over to its website to watch the video (or read the transcript) about the man who broke the world record in extreme kayaking when he took his kayak head first over the 127-foot-high Salto Belo waterfall in Brazil. Pedro Olivia tells the secret to surviving a waterfall plunge at 70 mph and about how surprised he was to be greeted by big snakes after he survived the fall.
Bulgarian border town, awaiting Turkey - Rowed Trip expedition update
August 20, 2008 2:15pm
Six-plus months into their self-propelled journey from the northern tip of Scotland to Syria, adventurers Colin and Julie Angus share another exclusive Rowed Trip expedition dispatch about their travels by oar and pedal power.
“Dubbed Europe’s hottest new vacation destination, Bulgaria has a gorgeous coastline, delicious food and friendly people, but if you’re looking to find unspoiled beaches there’s no better way to do it than by rowboat. Ten days ago we crossed the border from Romania, trading a coastline that all of Romania vacations on for one with infinitely more breathing room. We rowed past expansive sandy beaches tucked between jagged cliffs of limestone and small fishing villages fronted with grizzled men in wooden boats.
“That’s not to say Bulgaria isn’t a party place. Deep bass rhythms often reverberate across the water from crowded beach resorts. In the vacation hot spot of Varna, carnival rides and high-rise casinos dominate the skyline.
“Pitching a tent in crowded places is impossible, even beaching our boats amidst throngs of swimmers is challenging, so we gravitate toward quiet, isolated beaches which are surprisingly easy to find. We’ve camped on fine sand that squeaks beneath your feet and on shores of crushed seashells.
The Black Sea, at last: Rowed Trip expedition update
August 9, 2008 11:07am
Five-plus months into their epic, self-propelled journey from the northern tip of Scotland to Syria, adventurers Colin and Julie Angus share another exclusive Rowed Trip expedition dispatch about their travels by oar and pedal power.
“Our journey down the length of the Danube River in our rowboats was perhaps the most straightforward part of our expedition. Long, easy oar strokes combined with a healthy current allowed us to move quickly, sometimes 100 kilometers in a day, through eight different countries. Unlike the labyrinth of roads and canals we followed through Britain and France, the Danube offered a natural route that was impossible to get lost on.
Regensburg, the holy grail of German sausage: Rowed Trip expedition update
July 6, 2008 4:34pm
Nearly four months into their epic, self-propelled journey from the northern tip of Scotland to Syria, adventurers Colin and Julie Angus share another exclusive Rowed Trip expedition dispatch about their travels by oar and pedal power.
“You have to endure the service if you want to sample top-notch bratwurst in Regensburg. The Historiche Wurstkuche restaurant is the world’s oldest bratwurst restaurant, beginning service in 1138.
“Many days in advance of our arrival in Regensburg we began hearing rumors of the holy grail of German sausage, and Colin and I salivated at the prospect of finally sampling them. We towed our boats into the center of the tourist city and took a seat at the open-air riverside bistro. The waiter handed us menus and we were intrigued to see the only dish (apart from potato soup) was bratwurst and sauerkraut. Perfect!
” ‘Two dishes of bratwurst, a beer, and a diet coke,’ ” I said to the waiter. Read the rest of this entry »
Rowed Trip expedition update from Germany's Main River
June 24, 2008 11:54pm
Now going on three and a half months into their epic, self-propelled journey from the northern tip of Scotland to Syria, adventurers Colin and Julie Angus share another exclusive Rowed Trip expedition dispatch about their travels by oar and pedal power.
“Just when we thought Germany couldn’t get any better, it surprised us yet again. It started two weeks ago with the Rhine River, a long-distance paddler’s dream with its fast current, abundance of ideal campsites and riverside beer gardens. Even traversing the huge hydroelectric dam was easy using the scenic bypass canal built just for paddlers. Then we turned onto the Main River and things became even better.
We departed from the historic city of Mainz and began paddling upstream against a current made negligible by frequent weirs made navigable by giant locks. Read the rest of this entry »
Rowed Trip - Across the English Channel & into France
June 2, 2008 1:17am
Now 11-plus weeks into their epic, self-propelled journey from the northern tip of Scotland to Syria, adventurers Colin and Julie Angus share another exclusive Rowed Trip expedition dispatch about their travels by oar and pedal power.
The big question this week: They still have two-thirds of the expedition ahead of them. Can they make it, without their beloved custom bicycle trailer that was stolen from a French campsite?
“We were worried about crossing the English Channel in our homemade boats. Numerous people warned us about the dangers of the world’s busiest shipping lane - steep waves, quickly changing weather, and, of course, speeding ferries and tankers. Our plan was to row from Dover, England, to Calais, France, a distance of 21 miles.
We left at 4 a.m., in near darkness, rowing into steep and rolling waves and an uncomfortable wind. The weather was not ideal, but it was predicted to get worse in the upcoming days so we had to take our chances. A robust fishing boat chugged beside us; it was our support vessel, which is required by French regulations. Read the rest of this entry »
Rowed Trip expedition update from Oxford, en route to London; preparing to row across the English Channel (La Manche)
May 5, 2008 8:00am
Now nearly two months into the epic, self-propelled journey from the northern tip of Scotland to Syria, adventurer Colin Angus e-mails en route about his travels by oar and pedal power with his wife, Julie, in another Rowed Trip expedition update.
“We launched our rowboats in the Oxford Canal, a man-made waterway traversing Oxfordshire. These waterways were created several hundred years ago, and now the banks have matured with a growth of willows, hawthorn, and bulrushes. We paddled gently past small fields enclosed by tidy hedgerows and villages of stone and brick.
“The canals were surprisingly quiet, and most of the time Julie and I were by ourselves as we paddled through one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The traffic that we did encounter on occasion were invariably the narrow canal barges, brightly painted and usually skippered by couples enjoying the English countryside from their floating R.V.s.
Rowed Trip expedition update from England’s Lake District
April 21, 2008 10:30am
Now five-plus weeks down the hail-pocked, self-propelled track, Julie Angus e-mails her second Rowed Trip expedition update, en route from the northern tip of Scotland to Syria.
“The challenges of pulling 18′ rowboats behind our bicycles through congested England are numerous. Busy towns with their narrow streets and roundabouts are no-go zones, and steep mountain inclines are a place of sweat and despair.
So it was a great relief when we reached the banks of the Swale River where we could launch our rowing vessels, Tantalum and Niobium, and allow the current to carry us downstream in a world without cars, trucks and hills. Instead, we drifted slowly past weeping willows and bleating lambs transported from hectic modern England to the timeless joys of river travel. Read the rest of this entry »
Rowed Trip expedition update from Port Appin, Scotland
March 30, 2008 11:00am
Colin Angus e-mails the first Rowed Trip update from Port Appin, northern Scotland:
March 24, 2008: “Storm-force winds ripped across the lake while Julie and I huddled beneath a small grove of larch trees watching waves pound the rocky beach. We dragged our two rowboats above the waterline, but still, icy froth clawed at their sterns trying to pull them back into the lake.
“It is Day 11 of our expedition and we have sobered to the fact that March is not the greatest time for cycling and rowing in Scotland. The weather has been alternating from gale-force winds to snow to rain and, on occasion, a bit of sunshine.
“Still, we’ve made good progress, and our modes of human-powered transportation have given us a unique perspective of the country. Our journey began at the most northeast tip of Scotland and since then we have traveled along quiet country lanes and coastlines, as well as through canals and lakes. Read the rest of this entry »
