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Eighteen years ago, the town of Butare in South Rwanda was a bloody battleground. Here, The Human Rights Watch reports that on 21 April 1994, 600 orphans were transferred by Interahamwe forces to the local school, separated by identity, and the Tutsis murdered with machetes and clubs. This was in addition to the violent attacks of rape, murder and torture on innocent civilians used by government-supported Hutu extremists to wipe out Tutsis. As the world stood back and watched, the catastrophic civil war that is the Rwandan Genocide unleashed with neighbours and family members turning against each other. One million people were reportedly murdered in 100 days.

The smell of death has since faded, and today, the main road that runs through the town is infused with a new scent. The distinct scent of espresso floats from a simple square concrete building. Painted up its centre column is a flourishing coffee tree with outstretched branches, while a calico sign displays “Espresso RW400” – 61 Australian cents for an espresso that, of the same beans, would cost $4 to $8 in Australia.

This is Cafe ConneXion. It’s the first coffee shop for Butare Town because, despite coffee beans accounting for more than a third of Rwanda’s exports, the Rwandese rarely consume coffee. Meanwhile in Australia, Rwanda’s specialty coffee comes over land and sea to end up in the cups of coffee connoisseurs. At popular Sydney café, Single Origin in Surry Hills, a 250-gram bag of beans from the Nyakizu region, just 20 minutes from Butare Town, cost $23.

Here, in Café ConneXion, with its green walls and blue floor, I speak with the co-owner Jean-Marie Irakabaho. We sit on simple couches arranged at the front, while a desk holding an espresso machine takes centre stage of the room. An imposing coffee roaster dominates the right side of the café, but the room feels somewhat bare.

The local coffee expert Jean-Marie and his Swiss business partner Luzius Wipf, a coffee roaster, recently established the café in the hope that it will create the connection between coffee farmer and drinker. Jean-Marie believes his country and people can move on from the genocide, and hopes that Café ConneXion will increase the domestic consumption of coffee, seeding a similar coffee culture to Australia and Europe. If its goals are realized, the coffees served here could contribute to post-genocide economic growth, and compensate the farmers with local sales when the volatile international market prices drop.

“Rwandans do not drink coffee,” he explains in his thick Afro-French accent.

“I guess less than three per cent [of the beans they produce]. But in Ethiopia they drink more than half.”

When you drive across the border from Uganda into Rwanda, ‘the land of a thousand hills’ is patterned by endless manicured rows of tea plants. This is Rwanda’s drink of choice. Spiced chai tea is drunk sweet and milky, and served with fried chapatti bread as a traditional breakfast. And while there is also an abundance of coffee trees, with some still remaining from post-WWI Belgian colonisation, the beverage has little cultural relevance.

“Coffee is not new in Rwanda. It’s been here for more than a hundred years. But it had been produced without teaching Rwandans how good it is, so they didn’t like to drink it. They thought coffee was for Rwandans that walked with the Europeans or American or Mazungu [white man] or terrorist.”

Luzius tells me over email that the Rwandese are often deterred from coffee, believing it is bad for respiratory and heart health, while some find the caffeine hit disconcerting.

On top of this, the knowledge, skills and tools to make espressos and cappuccinos are largely uncommon, keeping the beverage at luxury status. Rwanda’s connection to coffee remains purely a business relationship.

Despite the small café being the first for Butare Town, it is not the first café for Rwanda. Several

Bourbon Coffee cafés can be found in Kigali city shopping centres two hours away but they are mainly frequented by expats, aid workers and backpackers using the free wifi. Jean-Marie explains that while coffee is available at Bourbon Coffee and hotels, it is priced around RF1000 (AU$1.54), while cola or water is around RF300 (AU$0.46).

Around 90 per cent of Rwanda’s population is rural, and a majority of that figure is reliant on agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa with 44.9 per cent of the near 11 million people living in poverty. This rural living combined with coffee’s luxury status only further deters locals. Yet in nearby Ethiopia, coffee ceremony is a tradition of hospitality, and its far more affordable price means it’s enjoyed by most of the population daily.

When international market prices decrease, or there is excess production, Ethiopia can somewhat rely on its domestic consumption, whereas Rwanda cannot.

“That is why our price of RW400 is crucial to the future success,” co-owner Luzius says.

“The aim is to increase the farm gate price and awareness of the coffee commodity, same as in Ethiopia where green [raw] coffee on the local market is more expensive than its export price.”

Luzius and Jean-Marie were strategic in their planning, even moving Luzius’ coffee roasting machine to Rwanda from Vietnam based on the belief in the project’s potential. In the hope that the students and culture creators of Rwanda’s future would embrace coffee, they established the café nearby the National University of Rwanda in Butare Town, with the region being known as the country’s knowledge centre.

“Young people need coffee to read more papers and prepare for exams,” Jean-Marie tells me. He hopes students will quickly adopt it, and that Café ConneXion will grow into a knowledge hub like the old coffeehouses of Europe where scholars and artists met to share lively political and cultural discussions. Café ConneXion is assisting students with their theses on the industry, and holds free coffee days encouraging them to develop a taste and understanding of the drink.

A university student called Zizi who mans the coffee machine makes me an espresso while we work

through the dramatic hand gestures required to communicate in broken French and English.

“Butare is a town of student. Many student will be interested in coffee when they study,” she explains.

“They like it. They come to learn more about coffee. They ask where the coffee comes from, which beans we will have next time. My friends come every day.”

Jean-Marie believes Café ConneXion is the small start to a hopefully big future.

“First of all is to get people to know coffee,” Jean-Marie says.

“Because if you know coffee then you can’t drink Nescafe. And if they can change the coffee they drink, we can increase the consumption quickly. And I do believe it will happen. But it is also important to have fair prices.”

With more than 500,000 coffee farmers in Rwanda, a local appreciation could contribute to increasing the farm gate value thus helping farmers increase profits and contribute to assisting with the community’s poverty. Despite Rwanda’s specialty coffee being sold at high-end prices by international buyers, Jean-Marie believes farmers have little awareness of this potential and limited access to coffee washing stations that give specialty coffee its status, instead producing regular beans. Regular beans get their grading when the juvenile beans known as cherries are de-pulped and dried at a home level instead of a washing station. They’re then combined with batches from other farmers and sold in bulk cheaply to middlemen.

A specialty grade is given when freshly picked cherries have been fully washed, are traceable to the exact origin, have no primary defects, and are graded above 85 per cent by cuppers for taste characteristics and qualities. The value of these beans is 15 to 25 per cent higher than regular coffee market prices.

Because of Rwanda’s high altitude, it is perfect for growing Arabica coffee trees which are harder to harvest and have full-bodied flavours that make for a specialty grading. This contributes to the sweet, fruity notes and chocolate characteristics the region’s specialty beans are known for.

The poor quality of Rwanda’s coffee crop stems from the 1930s when the Belgian government and

Hutu-led post-colonial regimes forced farmers to plant coffee trees. Price restrictions and high export taxes were established giving them no choice but to sell the beans for below-market prices, thus creating the trap of low quality and low profit. The country’s hilly geography was another barrier to the few washing stations, forcing farmers to hand-wash the cherries, creating inconsistencies between batches, and placing them in the regular grading.

For decades farmers continued the laborious process of hand washing cherries, and selling them for whatever they could get. Export and income taxes were collected by Tutsi chiefs from the mostly Hutu coffee farmers, which helped support the colonial government and contributed to the mounting tensions that led to the 1994 genocide.

Coffee prices on the world market collapsed in the late 1980s. Brazil and Vietnam flooded the market with cheap Robusta beans that grew easily in low altitudes, had more caffeine and less flavour. This saw the value of Rwanda’s coffee drop further. The devastation of the genocide halted the country’s already struggling coffee industry. Many farmers later neglected their coffee trees or uprooted them entirely to replace with other crops. In 2000, there was no infrastructure operating for the washing and separating of the beans, setting farm gate prices at 60 Rwandan francs per kilo.

However, with the loosening of trade restrictions by the government to encourage economic recovery, and initiatives such SPREAD (Sustaining Partnerships to Enhance Rural Enterprise & Agribusiness) funded by USAID, Rwanda was able to produce and export specialty coffee for the first time in 2002. By 2008, these specialty beans were being snapped up by international conglomerates such as Marks & Spencer and Starbucks.

Jean-Marie worked directly with SPREAD and tells me that before the cooperatives were formed,

farmers rarely worked together due to the tensions remaining from the genocide.

“Because of the background of genocide, [farmers refused to work together saying] ‘that one put my

husband in prison’, and, ‘they killed my family’. This did not make it easy. But at the end of the day they realised that everyone needed each other. No one can produce a container of 125 kilos of cherries by themselves. It’s incredible. By working together, it was a contribution in reconciliation. They realise they can do business together.”

Yet while specialty coffee is far more profitable for farmers, it still only accounts for 27 per cent of the country’s coffee exports.

Other projects are working for the same goal as Café ConneXion, with The National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) conducting barista courses to spread the skills that will increase domestic consumption. NAEB also hosts the Rwanda Cup of Excellence to encourage product value and promote international awareness of the country’s specialty beans. Now in its fourth year, it is an internationally recognised accreditation.

Fleur Studd, owner of café Market Lane Coffee and coffee shop Melbourne Coffee Merchants, recently visited Rwanda and some farmers whose coffee was highly rated by Rwanda Cup of Excellence. She says the Cup of Excellence has been vital in connecting farmers to Australian buyers and fostering the appreciation for Rwandan beans in Australia.

Luzius hopes this appreciation for coffee will soon be shared by Rwandans. “By creating a coffee-tasting bar, people become curious to try it. And because others start drinking coffee, it becomes ok to enjoy it and feel a good kick.”

If the initiative were successful, the positive impacts of a coffee culture would be even more influential than that of Europe and Australia. While coffee to us is a caffeine hit, an excuse to catch up with friends, or a savoured delicacy, to Rwanda it could be the uplifting of impoverished farmers, the mending of relationships, and the healing of social and economic wounds.

“We called it Coffee ConneXion because it is where people can connect,” Jean-Marie says.

“In English you spell connect with ‘ct’ but in French it’s ‘x’ and we use French because it connects people. The ‘x’ is the link … We all have the same vision and we believe we are going to make things happen.”

This was the wonderful blue sky that greeted me as I opened the door of our room.

Blue sky above Marrakech
© Carole Scott 2013

I was happy and couldn’t wait to start the day.

First stop was to find our way back down to Jemaa el-Fnaa, as we had become pretty lost the night before. After many digressions into souk alleyways we made it and headed straight for the Cafe de France balcony, which gives a great view of life happening down below. It was to become a regular haunt in our short stay.

All along the rooftops are satellite dishes and people working/having a break

My Dad swears he recognises this face from his last trip to Marrakech!

We had no idea how this cart had fitted into the souks in order to emerge from them!

A helping hand…

Another helping hand

Ancient and modern together

I could have stayed there all day – not only was the people-watching magnificent but the coffee was superb. Best of all there was shade for me and sun for Liz – the perfect arrangement! But the Ben Youssef Medersa, the tanneries and the souks were calling.

When I visited Morocco in 2002 with a travel company that still claims to be all about ‘small group travel’, even though we were in a group of 24 (begins and ends with ‘e’), our local guide promised we would visit the famous Ben Youssef Medersa (or Madrassa as it used to be – why the change, I wonder?). He failed to deliver on his promise two days running, so this architectural gem was top of my sight-seeing list.

I could quite happily have spent a few days contemplating life and studying in one of the tiny rooms off the courtyard. Here are my snaps. If you go to Marrakech, I would recommend it as a ‘must see’.

Happy me in the medersa

We had a lovely lunch break nearby and I couldn’t resist taking sneaky snaps. There are so many interesting, craggy and beautiful faces in Marrakech but it’s not a place where I feel comfortable asking to take people’s photos – it’s hard to get your hands on small change and many people who would make for the best pictures would need a little ‘thank you’.

So these are my sneaky lunchtime ‘world goes by’ photos.

We strolled through the streets to go and visit the tanneries. My advice? Don’t bother! Before we could find the classic views of the vats of colourful dye we were gathered up into an impromptu tour of one man’s ‘patch’. It was interesting enough but the photos weren’t even worth keeping and I can’t say I learnt anything about the process that made it worth the smell. If anyone knows how to find the section that gives the classic views (I visited them last time I was there), do post a comment with info!

A bit more ‘souking’ followed – we weren’t necessarily interested in buying. Rather, wandering around the ancient alleyways is a major sight-seeing joy in its own right. Here’s today’s selection of pictures. There will be more tomorrow!

Our final stop in our crammed day was the Menara gardens. Personally, I wouldn’t bother going again but I imagine if you went in the early morning or at sunset, the view would make up for the fact that this is a rather dull garden with a big resevoir and a building that frames pictures of the snowy mountains rather nicely.

The highlight in these gardens was being ‘mobbed’ by a group of about 30 very enthusiastic school children who all wanted their photo taken with us. While we were joining in and finding it good fun, when their teachers arrived, they were horrified that the kids had ‘bothered’ us. They explained in French (and I was chuffed to understand) that the children were from a rural area and hadn’t met many tourists!

We forfeited the sunset on our second evening in favour of going for a beer in a hotel off the square. It was an expensive stop (about a tenner for two beers served with lots of gorgeous nuts and olives) but absolutely worth it, as it had been a hot day of wall to wall sight-seeing! If you find yourself needing a beer stop, then head for Hotel Les Jardins de La Koutoubia

Tomorrow – a trip to the mountain waterfalls with no photos, the Majorelle Gardens, rug-buying and some sunset pics.

By Carole Scott

We made our way upstairs, grabbing a few blankets on the way and settled in for the ride. I realised how cold it was as I sat on the sub zero seat and my private parts immediately went into self preservation mode and made their way inside. I would deal with this later using a hot bath. I gingerly stood up and put one of the blankets under me and sat back down. The other blanket was wrapped around me in defence against the breeze which was gently increasing in force and decreasing in temperature.

We set off. The scenery was awesome and the air so crisp and clear, no haze anywhere. I was quietly listening to the tour guide telling us about how everyone swims at the local beach we were passing along in their version of summer and thinking how awful that would be in the current weather. You can really tell how sealed up your clothes are in this type of windy coldness, even under all my layers tiny little gaps would randomly open, letting in an exhilarating blast of Nordic air to let me know I was still alive. I loved this little tour, we don’t normally do guided tours but this one really let us get a different look at the city and surrounding islands that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

Stockholm itself is a great city. We visited at the end of winter and spent a few days exploring. Found a great comic book shop and had the second best hot chocolate ever. We also saw another changing of the guard, bringing the total number that we have seen so far to about one million, also some great buildings and a whole lot of friendly people.

You should so go to Stockholm.

Is one of the most southern Islands of the northern Sporades in the Aegean Sea. As every Greek Island it has it’s own caracter.The capital, also called Skyros, or Chora by the local people, is build on the mountain slopes.

The north and south of the island are very different in landscape and flora. The north is very green, wooded and fertile, it bears the name ‘Meroe’ which means gentle, tamed. The south is very mountainous, rocky, coarse and mostly uncultivated, it bears the name ‘Vouno’ this means mountain.

You can reach the island by plane or by ferry from Evia and Kimi.

Atsitsa

Local store with local products

Linaria, the shipping port

Typical street with shops

Delicious lunch with bread, feta (goat cheese), tomatoes herbs and olive oil

Skyrian wood carving

Photos by: Cora Unk Photo

Travel Photographer with: Cosmic Travel Hub

You have probably seen Halong Bay on the cover of a travel magazine or on landscape paintings.  It is a picture of over a thousand limestone islands and islets in emerald green water.  From a distance a range of rock formation can be seen in blue, gray and purple hues amidst a white mist.  In Vietnamese Ha Long means descending dragon.  This is what a traveler, whether it’s hundreds of years ago or at present, might have seen or imagined it to be.

Listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, Halong Bay is a major tourist destination.  It is in the northeastern part of Vietnam.  This is a must in your itinerary even if you’re in Hanoi for a very short stay.  It is only a hundred seventy kilometers away from the city and so a day trip is feasible.  But come prepared for a long journey.  Have a junk reserved thru a travel agent in advance.  It takes about 3.5 hours on the road each way as a 40-60 km/h speed limit is imposed.  Just amuse yourself with sights of towns and fields along the way as well as a traffic enforcer giving your driver a ticket for over speeding, overtaking or for whatever reason.

Once you’re registered at the dock, you are good to sail.  Depending on your arrangement, your junk takes you around the bay for either four or six hours.  Some even opt for an overnight stay.  My family and I were privileged to have a boat all to our selves.  We had a spread of baguettes, assorted fillings and drinks on the lower deck for lunch.  Then we sat on the upper deck for a panoramic view and fresh air.  At one point we got off a floating fishing village and saw shrimps, cuttlefish, clams, crabs and baby sharks for sale.  We also hiked on a trail in Dau Go Island and walked through Thien Cung Grotto, also known as the Heavenly Cave.  Shortly we were back at the dock and into the car…watched the twilight sky and to our base in Hanoi.  It was a full day worth spending.

This post is dedicated to Matthew, Sophia, Tiffany and Steve.

My friend Liz and I arrived at our Riad at about 8pm, so by the time we were ready to go out and eat, it was pretty dark. Armed with a hand-drawn map of the ‘short cut’ to the Jemaa el-Fnaa we set out. Within seconds we were confounded. I had been so laid back and ‘non preparing’ about the weekend break that I all I knew was that we were somewhere north east of the souks. Beyond that, I simply figured that we’d find our way with what the Riad staff provided us…should have known better as I’ve been to Marrakech before.

The alleyways around our Riad were straight out of the middle ages – dark, narrow and mysterious. At night, with lads lurking and eager to ‘help’, it could have felt dangerous. But do you know what? It just wasn’t. We smilingly shook off offers of help and found our way into the souks. At the northern end some were beginning to pack up for the evening. Eventually we stumbled upon the main artery, still packed with people at 9pm.

And out into the heaving, smoky square. The Jemaa al-Fnaa is a sensual feast. Musicians and story-tellers attract huddles of locals, keen to enjoy the evening’s entertainment. The smoke rising from hundreds of food stalls forms ever-shifting clouds, stinging the eyes and making the mouth water (and I’m not even a meat eater!).

I was a right old chicken on that first night, refusing to eat the street food in case my stomach rebelled. How foolish I was. It was the best food in the city, something I only found out on the last night. Take it from me, eating in the square offers the best choice, particularly if you’re a veggie who gets bored of unseasoned five-veg couscous and tagine after a couple of days!

Here’s some night time photos of the Jemaa el-Fnaa.

Tomorrow, it’ll be onto souks, sunsets and people-watching!

By Carole Scott

Related articles

• Marrakech: sunny jewel in a dark April (carolemscott.wordpress.com)
• Inside the Medina (slimpaley.com)
• Marrakech medina (dailypainting.typepad.com)

Pyramid of Khafre, Giza Necropolis, Egypt

Great Pyramid of Giza behind the Pyramid of Khafre

Apex of the Pyramid of Khafre

Corner of the Pyramid of Khafre

Great Pyramid of Giza bisects the modern skyline of Cairo

How to photograph something as iconic yet cliched as the Pyramids? My response was to choose monochrome, use square format and abstract the geometry as much as possible, cropping tight with a telephoto lens to emphasise the scale and texture of the monument.

Signed limited edition prints of this series are available at £195 each (40x40cm). To purchase please contact me. Larger sizes also available

Wide Spot in Buckskin Gulch.

Here are some more details about the Paria Canyon hike along with some more photos.

There are four trailheads: three starting trailheads (assuming hiking downstream), all in Utah:  Wire Pass, Buckskin Gulch, and Whitehouse campground; and one ending trailhead, at Lee’s Ferry, AZ. My hiking buddies (Rob Tubbs, an friend from grad school; his wife, Deanna; and daughter, Abby; and my brother Rob) and I choose to start at the Whitehouse trailhead because there were better camping options on this route (there are no places to camp in Wire Pass and very few in Buckskin Gulch). The Whitehouse trailhead is on the Paria River, two miles south of the Paria Contact Station on US Highway 89, roughly mid-way between Page, AZ and Kanab, UT. The Buckskin Gulch and Wire Pass trailheads are south of US 89 on House Rock Road. Roads to all the trailheads, at the time of this writing, were passable by passenger car.

The start of the hike at the White House Trailhead.

Buckskin Gulch is a tributary to the Paria River, and hits the Paria 7 miles from the Whitehouse trailhead. Wire Pass is a tributary to Buckskin Gulch, and is relatively short. Hiking Wire Pass cuts off a portion of Buckskin Gulch.In addition to the hike to Lee’s Ferry, it is also a popular hike to start at Wire Pass or Buckskin, hike to the Paria, then upstream to the Whitehouse trailhead.

Permits: a permit is needed to hike from any of the trailheads, and there is a limit of 20 overnight permits per day. Needless to say, we didn’t see a lot of people on the 6 days we were in the canyon. Permits are also needed for day use, but there is no limit on the number of permits issues. Dogs are allowed, but also need a permit. Permit information can be obtained here.

Shuttle: Unless you want to backtrack back up the canyon, this is a one-way hike. There’s no quick way to drive from the starting trailhead to the end. Unfortunately, the quickest paved route is not currently an option because the highway between Page, AZ and Lee’s Ferry is out for the foreseeable future due to a landslide which took out a portion of the road on February 20th. Now the quickest route involves driving the length of the unpaved House Rock Road. In our case, I followed Rob Tubbs’ Ford F350 truck in my little Hyundai Elantra.  Now, while I’m a proponent of the drive-fast-over-washboards-on-dirt-roads method, I’m a piker compared to Rob Tubbs, whom I swear is a teacher at the Drive-As-Fast-As-You-Can-on-Desert-Roads School. There was no way to keep up with him, but we did eventually make the drive. In total, the shuttle took 3.75 hours, with about half the mileage over dirt roads. (Google Maps suggests the round trip over the same roads should take approximately 5.5 hours). It is also possible to leave your cars at one end and hire a shuttle company to do the driving.

Best season: This is definitely not a place to go hiking when it’s raining. The flash flood danger is serious. Plus, as the Paria River drains a large area north of the hike, a thunderstorm miles away can cause a flood in the canyon. August is typically the rainest month of the year here, with May having the least rain; though floods have been recorded in every month of the year. The peak visitation is during April and May – but with the permit system, the canyon is never crowded.

Typical hiking in the narrows

Trail conditions: there is no official trail. Much of the trip is in water. On our hike, I estimate 20% of the trip was walking in the river – mostly in the narrows section. The water was typically ankle-deep, but occasionally knee-deep. Of course, water depths depend on the weather – flash floods occur every year and can be dangerous. It’s best to plan the hike during the dry season (spring). In the lower portion of the canyon, where the canyon opens up, there is an unmaintained overland trail (with many river crossings) which is much easier than walking along the river – which contains many large boulders in this portion of the canyon; these create deeper pools.

A large portion of the hike, when not actually in the water, is on muddy river bank. Quicksand is fairly common, both on the muddy riverbank and in the water itself. It’s not dangerous, but you can sink quickly up to your knees (this happened to me once), and it is difficult to get out of without help. You can avoid quicksand by testing suspect locations with a light foot before putting all your weight on it. Also, when crossing the river, favor rocky spots rather than slow water spots.

Buckskin Gulch is known for having large pools of standing water that sometimes must be waded or swum, as well as one point where boulders block the route. In previous years, these boulders present a problem where some climbing might be necessary. Currently, we found the boulder section, several miles upstream from the confluence with the Paria, was easily passable without scrambling. Report from other hikers who had done the complete length of Buckskin reported no large pools of water either. Of course, this could change with the next rainstorm.

Guidebook: there is a guidebook with maps of all three canyons (Paria, Buckskin, and Wire Pass) available at the Paria Contact Station for $9. This is well worth the money, particularly as it shows the locations of springs. My one complaint about the maps is that they lack north arrows, which can sometimes make it difficult to orient the maps properly (every map is oriented differently, with the river/canyon running lengthwise on the page).

Shoes and clothing: I wore hiking boots with gore tex socks over wool socks. Don’t bother with the gore tex socks – they just filled with water. Most people hike in sandals or  tennis/running shoes. I chose hiking boots for the ankle support – but the boots never completely dried out the whole trip. Your feet will get cold. You might consider neoprene socks to help keep them warm.

Even in warm weather, it can be cool in the narrows section of the canyon where there is plenty of shade. This is even more true in Buckskin Gulch where it is rather dark. Take warmer clothes than you would think are necessary based on the weather.

At the Lonely Dell Ranch very close to the end of the trail at Lee’s Ferry.

Water: the river water is very silty and will quickly clog a water filter. Luckily there are a number of springs in the canyon where fresh water can be obtain. We drank from these springs without using filtration (do take some care how you fill your bottles if not using a filter). The springs are well marked on the guide maps, but still may be hard to find. We had a particularly hard time finding one called Shower Spring. The boy scout leader we met told us his scout group planned to camp there, yet when we arrived, we saw them hiking off down the canyon. But then, we couldn’t see the spring. We just about gave up looking for it, but as we were running low on water, I gave one last look. I crossed the river and found a hidden trail through tall, thick pampas-type grass, and behold, a big spring with lots of water! The last spring, aptly named Last Reliable Spring, was easier to find, but has a low flow rate so it took time to fill our bottles. The final 12 miles of the hike do not have any reliable water sources. If you plan well, you can minimize the water you have to carry by planning your daily mileage around the spring or by camping near by the springs. Do remember to carry enough water – you’ll need it, even in April or May.

Campsites: there are campsites marked on the map, but many other campsites are available – just be sure to camp high enough above the river in case the water comes up overnight. Within the narrows section of the canyon, campsites are much harder to find. And in the full 18 miles of Buckskin Gulch, there are only a couple, including the one we stayed at our second night, shortly up canyon from Buckskin’s confluence with the Paria.

The Scoop on Poop: When you check in at the Paria Contact Station, you will be given human-waste disposal bags. These consist of one or two silver bags with some dry chemicals in them. These bags open up to rear-end size. And a yellow mesh bag to carry the used silver bags. The ranger writes your permit number on the silver bags, so if perchance you leave one in the canyon, they will make you come and get it (okay, they’d probably give you a fine; she said they started putting numbers on the bags after some hikers started leaving the used bags in the canyon thinking the rangers came through and picked them up). Luckily, you are only required to use these bags within the narrows section of the canyon. Elsewhere, you can dig “cat holes” away from the river and campsites. In our case, we were only in the narrows for about a day and a half. It’s amazing how your body can react when forced with the possibility of using one of these bags. Four of the five of us were able to “hold it” and carried out empty bags. Concerning toilet paper, that comes out with you, even if using cat holes.

Historical sites: portions of the canyon were historically used by Ancient Pueblo people (Anasizi). There are no ruins, at least that we saw, but there are several petroglyph sites (only one of which is marked on the guide map). If you go, the best petroglyph site we saw is between mile 24 and 25. There are several more recent sites as well. These include the remains of an irrigation pump from an ill-fated attempt to pump water out of the canyon in the 1949 at mile 17.5 and a historical ranch property right at the end of the trail in Lee’s Ferry.

Critters: We saw few animals on our hike other than birds, bats, lizards and mice (luckily only at our final campsite), but I did find a scorpion behind my backpack the night we camped in Buckskin Gulch. You should also be aware that rattlesnakes are occasionally seen. Reportedly there are also beavers (we did see some logs they had worked on), coyotes, jack rabbits, cottontail rabbits, ground squirrels, deer and bighorn sheep.

Overall, this is one hike I can highly recommend. The scenery is outstanding. The country is remote, but easily accessible. I waited about 30 years to take this hike – in hind sight, I should have gone a long time ago. It’s one fantastic hike.

Typical hiking scene in the Paria Narrows

More from the narrows

Yet another scene from the Paria Narrows

Slide Rock Arch, a notable feature in the narrows section of the canyon

Rock Angel – natural rock art on the canyon wall

Petroglyphs – man-made rock art

Hiking near the end of the narrows

Filling water bottles at the Last Reliable Springs

Lost Images of Turin, Italy

I made my first trip to Turin, Italy in August of 2010. I was simply blown away by the architectural influence of the French Savoy family. However, like most of Italy in August, the city was practically deserted. The empty streets along with the general resignation on the faces of the locals, during this holiday month, gave one of Europe’s richest cities an eerie and sickly feel.

I love the ghostly light emanating from the center tunnel in this image. This one ray of sunshine seemed to encapsulate the spirit of this very challenging summer in Italy.

The glassy reflections of life along the Po river made me feel the urge to drink lots of champagne. (which we did)

Even though I enjoy my theatrical edits, I am always up for a portrait of life. This musician was sweating in the heat, no one was tipping, and his look of exhaustion suggested this might be his last August performing in Italy. The reflections of tourists in the window only offered him brief hope for some change, which he would not get.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! My first piece comes out on the Your Life as Trip - experiential travel writing site. Please look for my article there and sign up to receive weekly posts from some of the world’s leading travel writers.

Also, please remember to follow my Blissful Adventurer Page on Facebook!

Look for my announcement about a Puglia, Italy travel opportunity coming soon!

Cheers,

Michael

Photo by: http://www.coraunk.com

Travel Photographer with: http://www.cosmictravelhub.com

Being a now avid explorer Grant settled himself in his back pack for the first hike at Mount Cook. He was happily bouncing around to the rhythmic steps when suddenly there was a sudden bump and he found himself rolling out of the back pack and landing heavily on the hard, cold stones. Bruised and shocked he couldn’t remember what happened next, all he could feel was relief that he wasn’t left behind and was placed carefully back in his safe back pack.

The next morning he could hardly move! He was so sore and bruised. Feeling slightly sulky that he would have to take a day out on his own Grant soon realised that this was actually more fun than he thought it was. As he was gently strolling through the narrow paths he could hear the birds and admire the scenery and of course take lots of photographs!

Just as he was rounding the corner of the hut, he was honoured to be able to view Mount Cook in all his glory in the morning sun with just a wisp of cloud gently contouring the peak. So in fact, what sometimes seems at first a painful disaster can actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise?

Old-time fishing net and floats
Fuji X-E1 35mm F1.4

Colorful rotting wood and rusting steel on an old sailing vessels rudder
Fuji X–E1 35mm F1.4

Buddo Rock on the Fife Coastal Path, near Boarhills

I took an early bus in St Andrews headed down the coast towards Crail and got off at the pretty village of Kingsbarns.  I’d noticed Buddo Rock and the Rock and Spindle formations on my map and wanted to have a look at those, so I planned to walk back from Kingsbarns along the Fife Coastal Path and hopefully find some locations for a future visit. From Kingsbarns I wandered down the lane to the coast at Cambo Sands which looked like they should be a popular spot in the summer, but the car park was deserted on this chilly February morning.  I headed north along the coast and soon came to Airbow Point where the eroded path descends and continued along the beach for some way, which is sandy and dotted with colourful rocks which made an interesting subject in the morning light especially as the overnight tide had removed any footprints.

Sand Patterns on the Beach at Airbow Point near Kingsbarns

Further up the coast the path follows a burn inland to Boarhills where you can cross and follow a track back to the coast.  By the time I reached Buddo Rock it was almost noon so the rock wasn’t ideally lit, but this curious sandstone formation plonked at the top of the beach certainly had interest and would be worth a future trip.  It’s also got a nicely eroded part which makes a natural bench on which to sit and enjoy lunch.  After the sandwiches had gone, the sun had gone in too, so the soft diffused light was actually quite nice for photographing some abstract rock details.

Sandstone Detail, Buddo Rock

Further along the coast The Rock and Spindle was also a pleasant surprise, but by this time the light was quite poor so I just made a couple of shots which I thought might work in black and white, but mainly as a reminder to come back in better conditions.

The Rock and Spindle

From here it’s the home straight past Kinkell Ness back to St Andrews.  After the cliff top caravan park the path descends to the East Sands and offers a fine view across to the harbour.

East Sands and Pier from the Clifftop

At the harbour, icecreams were available and made a pleasant end to the walk before returning to the town centre.

The Harbour at St Andrews

The other ‘little’ issue was the size of the shower cubicle. I mean it was tiny. Super tiny. It was impossible to actually clean anywhere on my body that wasn’t accessible whilst standing stock straight. Even trying to bend over was met with a surprising and un welcome intrusion by the lower than usual taps. I sneezed once and almost knocked myself out on the shower wall. I realise this is normal for Paris and I really didn’t mind, the city itself is just so beautiful that you don’t spend any time in your room anyway. This is partially by accident, like when you stand up out of bed and find yourself in the hallway.

Paris. You should so go..

A Room with a View

Old Canon Powershot – Snapseed – Glaze – Vintage FX – Image Blender

Readers, at long last I have the occasion to post again. I want to take a few moments today and introduce you all to some new social media outlets for The Blissful Adventurer.

First of all, I want to say that Instagram is a tremendous creative outlet for me and my photography. I use it as a photo lab to experiment with new techniques and ideas. I post DSLR and iPhone images alike to my Instagram gallery, and I encourage all of you who love photography to dive into the app and follow my work. I know many of you are already there, so please let me know if I have missed you and I will begin to follow you immediately.

I also want to introduce you to a new website for experiential travel writing called Your Life as a Trip . I will be a contributing writer for this wonderful publication and my first piece comes out on April 9. Please take a look at the site and enjoy the many talented writers who contribute to this wonderful site. I will be posting here to my blog everyday prior to April 9 in hopes that we get a big push for my initial outing with Your Life as a Trip .

For today I want to share some of my experimental images with you. Those of you who follow my Facebook Page  have likely seen all of these images; however, here they will be higher resolution and much larger so I hope you will take a moment and enjoy them up close.

Hipstamatic – Snapseed – Glaze – Image Blender

Nikon D90 – Snapseed – Tangled FX – Image Blender

Nikon D90 – Snapseed – Distressed FX – Glaze – Image Blender

Nikon D7000 – Snapseed – TangledFX – Image Blender

KitCam – Snapseed – TangledFX – Image Blender

Kit Cam – Snapssed – DistressedFX – Glaze – Image Blender – PhotoToaster

Camera + – Snapseed – TangledFX – Glaze – Image Blender – Snapseed (again)

Triple Sixteen Inchers

Moonlit scene in the Paria Canyon below the narrows

I’ve been back several days now from my backpacking trip down the Paria River canyon (Paria is pronounced like Maria). We hiked out of the canyon on Thursday. I had hoped to post about the trip earlier, but after driving 900 miles on Friday, going to by sister’s surprise 50th birthday party on Saturday, Easter on Sunday, and with Monday being opening day for the Seattle Mariners (I’m a baseball nut and went to watch the game at Safeco Field on the big screen even though the game was in Oakland), I haven’t had a chance until now.

When people ask about where I went, I say the Paria River – which usually brings a confused look as they have never heard of it. They ask where it is, and I say mostly in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument – which continues the confused look because they have never heard of it. So then I say, the 38-mile hike ends at where rafting trips through the Grand Canyon start (at Lee’s Ferry, Arizona) and most people then have a general idea.

The Paria River hike is one of the classic hikes in the American Southwest, and I have wanted to do it for over 30 years. Let me tell you, the hike did not disappoint. Much of the hike is through narrows, where the canyon walls are only 5 to 30 meters wide. The hike is considered as a rival to the much more famous Virgin River Narrows hike in Zion National Park.

The first day we got a late start (after having to drive the shuttle, placing a car at Lee’s Ferry to drive back at the end of the hike) only hiked about 3.5 miles, camping before the narrows begins. The narrows begin at about mile 4 and were spectacular. At mile 7, still in the narrows, we turned and went up Buckskin Gulch (a tributary to the Paria). We dropped our packs at one of the only campsites in Buckskin, about 1/4 mile from the confluence with the Paria, and day hiked several miles up Buckskin. That night, we camped where we had left the packs. The following day, we hiked 10 miles down the Paria, leaving the narrows. Though not in the narrows, this section of the canyon was still not wide and still very beautiful. Much of the hiking these three days was in the river itself. The following three days, more and more of the hiking was out of the river, as the canyon widened up. Besides the day hike up Buckskin, we also made the day hike to Wrather Arch – reportedly the largest natural arch in the world outside the state of Utah.

Here’s a few images from the trip. I’ll try to do a more complete blog post on the hike, with more photos, as time allows.

Hiking in the Paria Canyon narrows

Hiking in Buckskin Gulch near the confluence with the Paria

Scene from inside Buckskin Gulch

My brother Rob sitting below Wrather Arch

By: Cora Unk Photo

Travel Photographer with: Cosmic Travel Hub