The latest 5 tripreports
(needs some time to load; after loading, click the tabs for details)
Latest tripreport.
Intermezzo: Interview with Ivana & Harry for Examiner
Nancy Vogel Sathre is not only cycling from Alaska – Ushuaia as well, she is doing it with her husband and two kids, homeschooling them all the way! They can be followed on http://familyonbikes.org She also writes for Examiner.com and recently asked us for an interview. I might as well post it here, not just to help out other biketravellers, but also so you know some things we are doing when we are not writing updates or cycling (The original interview was published here) ———– start of interview ——— Ø Would you please explain a tad bit about...
[Read more...]Previous post..
Day 393-401, 8-16 Aug 09: The Islas Bonitas of Belize: chillin on San Pedro & Cay Caulker
"Tropical the island Breeze, all of nature wild and free, this is where I long to be, la isla Bonita…" Madonna already sang it over 20 years ago: ‘I used to dream of San Pedro…’. San Pedro is the town on Ambergris Caye, better known as La Isla Bonita from Madonna’s hit-single. But that was in the 80-s when San Pedro probably still was the paradise she sang about. Since then it has been invaded by US tourists, many of which have bought a piece of land and/or built a house. The palms are still there and though there are no real beaches, the water is clear and the fish...
[Read more...]And just before that...
Day 384-393, 30jul-8 Aug 09: Animals, Jungle, Ruins, Boats & Buses: interior & Northern Belize
It was great to see my only sister Margriet and her daughter/my niece Dawn again, as it had been over a year since we had said goodbye in The Netherlands. She always wanted to go to Belize and as she was tied to my niece’s vacation schedule, we were lucky that we could plan a few weeks together. Her entry into Belize was not so easy as the airport personnel was so rude and aggressive that she was crying when she came out of the airport building. On top of that their luggage was delayed, so we had to spend an extra night in Jorge’s place. We spent the extra day in Belize City by visiting the...
[Read more...]This is old news by now :)
Day 380-383, 26-29 July: The Northern Highway and shady Belize City, into Belize!
After crossing the bridge that separated Mexico from Belize, we still had to do some formalities. I could just ride my bike into the office and get a free stamp, valid for 4 weeks, but Ivana had to pay. Sometimes being an Argentine helps dodging costs: for some unknown reason she does not have to pay for visa for for example turkey & India, whereas I do. But in order to enter Belize, she needed to pay B$100, 100 Belize Dollars, equalling USD $50! It must have something to do with the old ties to the Argentine archenemies, the Brits (Islas Malvinas, anyone?). We also had to state where we wanted...
[Read more...]Ancient history....
Day 375-380, 21-26July 09: Interviews, fever, topes, laguna: down to Belize
Happy B-day to me! My 2nd one on this trip and likely not the last… But there were a lot of things to do, no time to celebrate. I woke up with a very sore throat, but reckoned that it was he airco’s fault and did not think much of it. Ivana & I took our mums back to the airport in two separate transfers and then went over to Veronica & Hector to collect our stuff. We could have stayed with them again, but we had to get started to Belize, where my sister would arrive in 8 days time, so we said goodbye to our good friends that had helped us out so much. Hector took a nice photo of us...
[Read more...]
Our bikes: Santos Travelmaster with Rohloff
Our bikes are the most important parts of our gear that we are carrying. Better said: what is carrying us! So far (I am writing this after 9000 12000 16500km/ 5600 7500 10,000 miles) they have been excellent and we had zero problems. At Santos, you can custom-build your bike. They ...
De Vakantiefietser
De Vakantiefietser www..vakantiefietser.nl Eric Schuit is one of those people that has turned his hobby into work, but in a good way ;-) He is an avid cyclist, has written several books and uses all his accumulated knowledge about bicycles in one of the most fun stores in the Netherlands: De Vakantiefietser. All types ...
Adventure Food
Adventure Food www.adventurefood.nl You need a real adventurer to tell how food tastes in extreme conditions like high altitude, freezing temperatures, blizzards or all mixed together. Hans van der Meulen is more than just a climber, he scaled Mount Everest & K2, Cho Oyu and Shishapangma as well as many other high ...
Mario Wolff & Vertical
www.mariowolff.nl Mario Wolff is also someone who has turned his passion into his living. A climber by heart, he is nw the importer and dirtibutor for Vertical clothing as well as Stic-it (for rockclimbing) as well as Tear Aid, clever stuff that you can use to fix everything. His main focus is ...
Gecko & Carinthia
www.geckoclimbing.nl Gecko Climbing is a small importer of quality brands like Boreal and Carinthia and smaller specialized brands like Trango Bleastone, Elliot ST, Acun & beta stick as well as their own brand Gecko Climbing. Owner Jort veen is a great guy, a strong climber himself and very enthusiastic. He has ...
WorldNomads insurance
World Nomads Insurance. Insurance approved and tested by 7summits.com Most insurances have lots of restrictions in their small print, almost always excluding most sports. Even with so-called 'active' policies, most real adventure is not covered. My company 7summits.com is now a preferred partner of WorldNomads/IHI insurance. We use this insurance ourselves ...
Jacobsons & Ortlieb
www.jacobsons.nl Mario Dominicus is the General Manager of Jacobsons, a daughter of AGU. Jacobsons imports great cycling brands like Nalini, GripGrab, Carrera and many more, see below for an overview. When Mario heard about our plans he worked hard to get us all the gear we needed. Together with colleague Debby ...
Outdoordacht
Outdoordacht/Technolyt: Peter Wayper is the boss of Outdoordacht. The name is a Dutch play on words: "Outdoor" is clear, but "doordacht" means: well thought through. And so it is. All the gear Peter imports and sells is smart and useful. From famous brands like Sea to Summit to newer products like ...
Lenovo laptops
Lenovo Computers www.lenovo.nl Lenovo is part of IBM computers. Their Thinkpad series is well known all over the world. When researching our optimal road warrior's laptop, we stumbled upon a pressrelease announcing the new X300. It was light (3 pounds/1.5 kgs), had a solid state disk (so no spinning harddisk), but still ...
Santos Travelmaster
Santos Bikes: When we first contacted Robbert Rutgrink from Santos (www.santosbikes.com), we had not much idea about his background. We only knew that Santos bikes were loved and praised by many Dutch and international biketravellers. He is a simply a bike lover and his passion is to design and build the ...1000 Americans
1000 Americans: Rico Novelo, Caye Caulker, Belize
Rico is one of the few inhabitants of Caye Caulker, that was born and raised there. After a hurricane destroyed most of his fishing gear, he changed to... »»»
1000 Americans: Mr Marin, Caye Caulker, Belize
Where other restaurant owners would be busy around lunch-time, Mr Marin took his time to read his newspaper in his restaurant on ‘Go Slow’ Caye Caulker,... »»»
1000 Americans: Nathalie, Sarteneja, Belize
Nathalie is one of the many new Belizeans: originally European, but she has since emigrated to Belize. First to study, but later she enjoyed the more... »»»
More 1000 Americans PostsGo Green
1000 Americans: Matt & Rita, San Luis Obispo
Matt & Rita are avid cycle tourists, having toured by bicycle in Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Australia and the US. They actively promote... »»»
1000 Americans: Victor Antonio, peacemaker
Victor, originally from Puerto Rico, though he grew up in San Antonia, Texas, has been on the road for a while, walking to promote peace through Marijuana. This... »»»
1000 Americans: Rose, Diego & Ximena, Pacific Grove
Rose, Diego & Ximena are housemates in Pacific Grove, adjacent to Monterey, California. All are active environmentalists, preferring the bike over... »»»
More Go Green Posts
Our favourite cycling books:
Tips & Tricks
Day 325-331, 1-7 June 2009: highland magic in Morelia
We were dropped off in the morning at our favourite pick-up spot: the tollbooth of the quota. For once we were not the only persons there without a car,... »»»
Day 322-324, 29-31 May 2009: Hospitals, drunk rides and beach camps
29th May 2009: Boca de Apisa – Maruata: 30km cycling, 2 rides, 3 hospitals, free breakfast, lunch and campsite on the beach Ivana has a problem with... »»»
All Tips & TricksGear & stuff
Day -1: Amsterdam to Fairbanks
After all the planning, we were anxious to get on the plane. Romke again suffered sleep deprivation because of our trip and woke up with us and took our... »»»
Day -x: Preparations: making a mess and saying goodbye
We are now several days on the road and have some time to write some proper reports. Frankly I am amazed I can type this, as I was sure that the constant... »»»
More Gear & Stuff PostsTranslator
Recent Comments
Random Photos
View more photos >
Harry