We have arrived in Manaus to start our Amazon exploration with a several days cruise in unchartered waters of the Rio Negro and some nights in the jungle…
Adventure starting tomorrow!
Monthly Archives: September 2015
Americas Environmental Actions
While we travel, we try to be aware of our environmental impact, but also try to see if we can contribute to some positive actions in the zone we travel in.
While traveling in South-America (Brazil), we have therefore targeted 2 initiatives in the Americas zone.
Efficient cooking stoves in Honduras
The project is located in northwest of Honduras. The country contains the second largest area of rainforest in the Americas. Unfortunately, mainly because of deforestation (more than 37% of its natural forests have disappeared since 1990), Honduras is a significant contributor to global climate change.
In Honduras 65 percent of the consumed energy comes from fuelwood, primarily used for cooking purposes. Given this, reducing the need to harvest trees for fuelwood will make the forests more sustainable. Traditional cooking stoves that use fuelwood are being replaced with energy-efficient cooking stoves at reduced prices. This makes them affordable for every family, and the cost of a cooking stove is typically paid back through fuel savings within two months. The new stoves are 50 percent more efficient than the traditional open fire system, and they require less cooking time because of their thermal design.
In addition to being more energy efficient, the modern cooking stoves emit less smoke, leading to a healthier cooking environment, which reduces respiratory and eye diseases and improves general hygiene.
The project should build up to 2,000 stoves per month and reach 200 rural villages within a year.
In the end, the project reduces wood demand by 50 percent in participating households, which is estimated to avoid 38 000 tons of CO2 emission a year. This reduces deforestation and leads to better soil, air and water conditions.
There are also interesting Socio-economic impacts as the project benefits local families by disburdening them of time intensive wood collecting (mostly conducted by women) and/or permanently reducing their fuel spending, it improves significantly hygiene as well as indoor and outdoor air quality, leading to less respiratory and eye diseases. Finally, the project creates about 100 jobs in 11 participating small stove production companies. In addition, trainers are employed to teach efficient stove use, which further improves the overall employment situation in the region.
We have supported this project through South Pole Carbon Group:
http://www.thesouthpolegroup.com/
Creating the Amazon Ecological Corridor
The Amazon provides 20% of the planet’s oxygen, 10% of our global biodiversity, and one of our best defense against climate change. It’s also home to unique indigenous peoples who live in total harmony with nature in a very sustainable way.
There have been decades of down-cutting at the pace of 16 football fields a minute under the pressure and intense lobbying of the agriculture and illegal gold mines.
There is a project to create the world’s first international corridor that would be twice the size of *France*.
The Colombian government supports it but there is a lot of resistance from Brazil, and Avaaz and some other organizations are now raising funds to organize a lobbying campaign with important media impact to put pressure on President Dilma who’s popularity is at the lowest right now: Brazilians love the Amazon, so insiders say she could go for such an international corridor!
You can support this initiative by making a small donation to enable that campaign:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_amazon_fr_loc/?slideshow
SOURCES:
Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela plan new ecological corridor:
http://thebricspost.com/brazil-colombia-venezuela-plan-new-ecological-corridor/#.VeBs4dN4vk
La forêt amazonienne éponge de moins en moins le carbone émis par l’homme (Le Monde):
http://www.lemonde.fr/climat/article/2015/03/18/la-foret-amazonienne-eponge-de-moins-en-moins-le-carbone-emis-par-l-homme_4596363_1652612.html#pJLYfqUvBmsKSPq7.99
Brésil-Amazonie: face à la déforestation, le cri d’alarme des Guarani-Kaiowa (la 1ère):
http://www.la1ere.fr/2015/07/23/bresil-amazonie-face-la-deforestation-le-cri-d-alarme-des-guarani-kaiowa-273017.html
L’Amazonie dévastée par les mines d’or illégales (RFI):
http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20150722-amazonie-deforestation-mines-or-illegales-perou-haiti-connais
Nordeste Roadtrip – The Video
4000 km roadtrip from Natal to Itacare across 3 states of Brazil.
Beautiful sceneries and aerial photography in a 10′ video full of driving, discovering, riding and kids adventure!
If you want to see more, you can also look at the Chapada Diamantina video that was also part of this roadtrip:
https://beautifulworldtour.wordpress.com/2015/09/16/chapada-diamantina-the-video/
BRAZIL’S NORDESTE 4000KM ROADTRIP – COMPLETED
We did hit the road again to complete our 4000 km road-trip in Brazil’s Nordeste, from Tibau do Sul to Aracaju to Salvador to Chapada Diamantina to Itacare and back to Tibau!
Beautiful but exhausting roads as you never know what you will find… Sometimes good and safe roads, most of the times dirty roads full of holes and crazy trucks’ drivers with no rules, often dirt tracks on which you can’t drive more than 20 km/h, and sometimes even driving on the beach!
Here is a 2′ compilation of the road-trip, Brazilian style, with the roadtrip map right below!
Chapada Diamantina – The Video
The story of our 4 days trek in one of the most beautiful part of Brazil.
Breathtaking aerial shots of mountains and waterfalls of the Chapada Diamantina, from Capao to Pati Valley, including the famous Fumaca waterfall, the highest of Brazil…
Adventure & Emotions!
Chapada Diamantina – The Trip
Parenthèse sublime de 4 jours de trek passés dans les montagnes.
Coupés du monde, hors du temps, un retour aux sources avec une nature abondante et magnifique.
De belles rencontres humaines, des paysages à couper le souffle, des cascades revigorantes, ce fut un moment unique.
Un grand bravo aux enfants qui ont très bien marché, escaladé, sauté!!!
Voici l’itinéraire, pas totalement respecté en raison de l’accident de Jade qui a due être portée par le papa sur plusieurs kilomètres (voir la vidéo)…
Chapada Diamantina – The Photo Album
We had a wonderful trek in the Chapada Diamantina, Brazil’s most known trekking area.
4 days of intense walking with the kids, discovering magnificent nature, breathtaking sceneries, unique wildlife, and welcoming native habitants that did offer us great hospitality.
Here is a photo gallery of the trip with a link to the complete photo album below.
Fumaca waterfall
Fumaca waterfall
Fumaca waterfall
Waterfall & pools
Little Ulysses & Father
Entering Pati valley
Pati valley
Pati valley
The hikers lodge
Traditional food
Cat adopted by Jade
Insipration from the mountain
Donna Rachel, our host
Another waterfall…
Enjoying powerful nature…
…with son
The lodge
The lodge
Donna Rachel & Jade
Pic-nic in an ancient cave
Flower
Bird
Flower
Giant lizard
Flower
Colibri bird
Chapada de Diamantina – GO!
Today was our first day of trekking in the world famous Chapada, a natural reserve that was created in 1985 to protect unique nature and wildlife.
We went to Fumaca waterfalls, the highest of Brazil, to enjoy breathtaking sceneries.
Here are the first pictures of this 4 days trek in the middle of nowhere with no more Internet connection the next few days for sure…
Nordeste Roadtrip to Salvador
We had a wonderful trip to the south of Natal, going along the coast until famous Salvador do Bahia, the “city of joy”.
Here is the photo album.
Arcaju main beach avenue
Another beach on the road
Nordeste road to the beach (from the sky)
Our dream possada in Salvador
Kissing the sun goodbye
Jade getting her afro haircut
Salvador real estate
Salvador street
Salvador street art
Make a wish
Salvador street
Salvador street with Jade
Salvador door with Ulysses
Typical building
One of the most beautiful church
One of the most beautiful church
Church door
Church
Chirst
Christ in bloody pain
Salvador harbor
Salvador waterfront
Beach lifestyle
Sunset salutation
Complete photo album available here:
Back 2 School
Last Monday, like all other French kids, Jade & Ulysses went back to school… Kind of a school!
Indeed, the classroom is open air, ocean view, the teachers are cool (the parents;-), and the schedule is adapted to the travel rhythm…
French, mathematics, English, and computer science from 8AM to 12PM, the sports classes with a focus on surfing and kiteboarding!
This new school format went fairly well, even if keeping the kids concentrated was a bit of a challenge, so we will try to apply it every 3 weeks while we don’t move too much to keep it structured and disciplined for kids.
Ulysses first home work: a maths’ treasure hunt!
BEAUTIFUL WORLD TOUR 