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South American Explorers Club

We’ve added a more conspicuous link to SAE on all our South America pages.

Anyone planning to hike there is strongly advised to join. Cost is about US$50 / yr.

Planning to study Spanish? Raft the Amazon? Hike the Inca Trail? Work on an archaeological dig? Find volunteer work? Explore the Galapagos? Scuba dive? Climb Aconcagua? Kayak the Apurimac? Soak up sun on the beach? Drive or bicycle around the continent? Join an expedition? Or look for birds?

Whatever you want to do, South American Explorers can help with trip planning, member recommended guides and outfitters, discounts on lodging, schools, travel…and much more.

We are not a travel agency or a tour operator, rather, we specialize in assisting independent travelers and groups make the most of their experiences.

We are a non-profit organisation that provides personal help and attention to details backed up with nearly 30 years of experience. That’s how long we’ve been assisting scientists, researchers, students and others heading to South America. So, take some time to explore all our website has to offer and contact us today to see how we can help you!

Email us at explorer@saexplorers.org. Or, if you’re in the U.S. give us a call at 1-800-274-0568. Let’s talk!

South American Explorers

Gracias Miles Buesst of the Lima club house. I spent many days there prepping for my treks.

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new movie – Into The Wild

I’m organizing for a trip to Alaska. This post jumped out at me:

… a movie trailer for John Krakauer’s Into The Wild. Apparently the movie is set to be released this September, and is being directed by Sean Penn.

For those that haven’t read the book, and I recommend it highly, it’s about a young man named Christopher McCandless who graduates college, gives away his possessions, and donates his life savings to charity.

Then, he moves to Alaska, where he wandered off into the wilderness to live. Four months later he was found dead.

Several notes and letters, along with a diary, were later discovered at his campsite, and they tell the desperate tale of him trying to survive. Great book. I hope the movie is worthy of the title, but since Krakauer is one of the screen writers, I’m thinking it should be worth watching.

The Adventure Blog: Into The Wild Movie Trailer!

Into the Wild is my favourite Krakauer book (and that’s saying something) and I am very much looking forward to this film.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

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hike Quttinirpaaq (Ellesmere Island) in Canada

Rogier at the classy Bluepeak blog parsed the results of an Explore magazine article ranking Canadian National Parks in 5 categories: adventure, scenery, wildlife, natural science, and history.

Rogier concluded these were the top 5 Parks, overall:

1. Gwaii Haanas, BC (Queen Charlotte Islands)
2. Quttinirpaaq (Ellismere Island)
3. Yoho, BC
4. Banff, Alberta
5. Gros Morne, Newfoundland

Bluepeak: Travel, tourism and photography » Best National parks in Canada

I’ve never been to Gwaii Haanas or Quttinirpaaq. Or Canada’s newest, Torngat Mountains National Park in Newfoundland.

map_resolutebay.gifFor C$10,000 you can sign on for a 2-week Quttinirpaaq trip on Ellesmere Island.

ELLESMERE – AD ASTRA ICE CAP TREK — Quttinirpaaq National Park is the world’s most northerly park.

Situated on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, it is less than 500 miles from the North Pole. It is an arctic oasis. Stunning mountains and glaciers, muskox, arctic wolf and fox and many bird species make this a naturalist’s delight. The area is so remote that the only visitors to hike here in 2005 and 2006 were members of Black Feather’s annual Ellesmere Trek. This is literally the end of the earth.

For 2007 our route will be a circumnavigation of the rugged mountains of the Ad Astra Ice Cap from Tanquary Fjord via the Macdonald and Airforce River valleys. We will access some of the most spectacular parts of Ellesmere!

This trip is for the avid hiker who likes physical challenge in the most remote wilderness and enjoys sharing the adventure with like-minded people. Just getting our group with their food and gear to the start of the hike is a difficult and expensive undertaking … but you will be one of a small handful of people to ever walk in these distant arctic mountains.

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National Parks Traveler – Park Remark join forces

We have a new super site keeping tabs on what’s happening with America National Parks.

The National Parks Traveler and Park Remark blogs have hooked up.

Welcome to National Parks Traveler 2.0. It’s not only a significant upgrade from the original version launched in August 2005, but a collaboration with ParkRemark that we believe will provide you with even more value from the site.

Overall, the bottom line remains the same: National Parks Traveler aims to educate the public about the national park system, inform it of issues surrounding the parks and the National Park Service, and build a stronger advocacy for the parks.

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The redesigned site looks great.

Our only request is that the new site point out as many highlights of the marvellous Parks as posts on problems with the Park system.

Home Page | National Parks Traveler

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review – Jetboil coffee maker

Some were underwhelmed with my “preferred coffee system”.

jet-boil.jpgPerhaps I need to step up.

Since I’m already using the JetBoil stove / pot combo, I’ll pick up a JetBoil coffee press based on this good review:

Here’s the basics of how the Jetboil French Press works.

1. Get some water and fill up the cup
2. Light up the micro burner
3. Boil the water
4. Scoop in the coffee
5. Stir the coffee into the boiling water
6. Press it on down
7. Drink some amazing coffee on the side of the mountain you’re currently on.

Review: Jetboil French Press Hiking and Camping Personal Coffee Maker | Single Serve Coffee – SingleServeCoffee.com

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Taklamakan – 150km across the Desert of Death

A new company wants you to sign-up for a trek across the dunes.

Taklamakan Desert, the Desert of Death

A desert is a dangerous place. It is bleak, barren and inescapable. Sand storms are terrifying. Yet over the ages people have been drawn to the desert. Perhaps it is precisely this sense of fear that attracted explorers.

Taklamakan desert lies within the Tarim Basin in XinJiang (China).

Covering an area of 272, 000 km square, it is one of the largest sand-only deserts in the world. The ancient silk routes pass through this region along the northern and southern edges of the desert. …

In this trip, you will trek 150km across the vast expanse of sand dunes spending 7 days and nights out in the desert.

… Logistic support is provided.

We will be doing this as an exploratory adventure. So join us today to be one of the first to experience desert crossing!

SHANGRILA ADVENTURE: Taklamakan Desert-X-ing Trek

Alvin Low – Founder and Operations Manager

Taklamakan Desert – Wikipedia

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Taklamakan up close – flickr – Kiwi Mikex

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trekking Svaneti in Georgia, Asia

Ever since speaking with a woman from Kazakhstan, I’ve been reluctant to recommend treks in the former Soviet Union.

She told me, “Kazakhstan has wonderful trekking, but you will be robbed and possibly killed your first night in the mountains if you go alone.”

But I found an impressive website from Georgia. I would happily hike with these guides in Svaneti, surrounded by 3,000-5,000m peaks, the highest inhabited area in Europe.

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Lonely Planet

Given the diversity of its relief and the richness of its history and the unique ethnic identity of its residents, Svaneti is one of Georgia’s most outstanding regions.

It had long attracted many tourists, but the political and economic decline experienced by Georgia following the fall of the Soviet Union and independence has hampered efforts to revive and further develop Svaneti’s tourist and recreational potential.

In order to achieve this, it is necessary to foster the development of the family-run tourism business, especially given that this business employs much of the population (host families, providing tourists with products and traditional crafts, vehicle transport, horses, guide services, museums, folk music ensembles and more), and provides the local people, many of whom live near the poverty line, with additional incomes.

Svaneti Trekking – About Us

They recommend a number of dayhikes in the region, all which look great. I’d love to get there.

Their longest route recommended is a horse trek called ZHABESHI-USHGULI.

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Svaneti Trekking – English, German, Russian and Georgian

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Ushba (4710m) larger original – flickr – Patricia Scherer

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trouble descending Mt Saint Helens

Great trip report and photos on the Shot from the Hip blog.

Mt. Saint Helens is the famous volcano close to Portland, Oregon.

• 11.6mi (18.7km) return
• 4565ft (1,392m) elevation gain
• summit at 8365ft (2,550m)
• 7-12 hours

Ignoring good advice from Rangers, two hikers raced up the mountain without ice axes or crampons. Then got lost and separated on the descent.

I’d like to smugly denounce them. But, instead, I relate.

In June I too would expect to be able to get up and down without heavy mountaineering gear.

Theirs were mistakes easy to make.

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first trail marker on the scree

The guys did get to the top quickly and enjoyed fantastic views.

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Mount Adams as seen from the summit.

On the way down the blue sunny skies we had at the summit quickly disappeared into a fog of clouds.

Hmm… Where are those markers? …

At one point, the boulders got bigger and more difficult to navigate. We then took a route that we thought would be an easier path. We had walked down the wrong side, but we did not know it. This side was definitely different. As we got farther down, we realized that it would be more and more difficult to go back.

At one point Eric and I got separated as we could no longer navigate the rocks and had to try to go through the snow. He slid down a ways and from his vantage point, he saw the weather station and realized we were on the wrong side.

Since we did not have crampons and ice axes, continuing to slide would not have been a good idea. So we decided to climb back up. …

To make things worse it started snowing. Not just the soft fluffy stuff dropping from the skies, but the heavy kind that pelts you with stings as it flies horizontal. Something we did not need. If I had slipped, the drop would have been quite disastrous, and the snow only made matters worse. Eventually, by the grace of God I made it up to the top, but Eric was nowhere to be found. I called out his name and no answer.

… Eventually Eric found his way up. This little adventure added about an hour to our trip.

Mt Saint Helens trip report and photos

Ah, no harm done — this time.

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Our information page – Mt. Saint Helens – besthike