That day we departed around 11 o'clock and the next 7 hours were spent travelling with a car through the Rif Mountains in the northern parts of Morocco. The mountain range stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to Algeria and we crossed about half of the distance or roughly 350 km. Our goal was to reach Bni Bouayach, small village 15 km south of the bay of Hoceima and in the middle of the distance between Gibraltar and the Algerian border. The road in the beginning was pretty good even according the West European standards, but when we approached the higher and more mountainous parts it turned in the typical hole-ridden third world country-side roads that if not careful can break your car or even kill you. Getting out of Tangier and driving further away gave me the feeling I am leaving a western town and entering some proverbial poor country. Along the road can be seen many small villages, which look rather ghettos. Between the hastily and poorly built houses and barracks can be seen also here and there buildings that I'd call "mini-palaces". However later along the road in the less densely populated areas the landscape changed and was much more rustic and idyllic. The houses were very neat and well spaced with several hundred metres between each other and surrounded with well kept and cultivated farm land. The general rule was that in the centres of the villages were built few small blocks of flats with low quality and the further you get out the better looking and farm-like were the buildings.
Even more strange and impressive was the sight of people walking along the roads, in temperatures exceeding 45C and often 20-30 km from the closest human settlement. After offering to some of them a lift and they refused it, we learned that some of these people are locals who are going after their own jobs and tasks, but the majority were just homeless poor people, who were wandering aimlessly around the mountains. Normally they were wearing thick dirty clothes (or rather rags) and matching shoes. Also most of them had bindle-stiffs and tied big plastic bottles full with water. The only thing I couldn't find was why all of them walked under the Sun in midday, during the hottest hours, but seems it was not troubling them, or at least not enough to make them look for cover.
Talking about the heat, I have to mention that in the Rif Mountains one can often see men and women wearing the traditional Berber clothes, which superficially look like something designed for the cold of the winter and snow, but the protection from heath requires somewhat similar techniques and the final result is somewhat surprising. These costumes are composed of long hanging below the knees (or the ankle for women) light shirt, similar to these worn by the Arabs and aselham, long robe or coat-like garment with pointy hood, which is normally closed in front and is made from relatively thick and coarse material in drab colours. For work in the open normally people wear knit cap or scarf and on top of it the traditional broad-brim Berber straw hats, called "taraza" and specially in the case of the women's ones often decorated with colourful pompoms. And as an conclusion now I am convinced that all this covers, hijabs, etc are rather due to the climate then some other cultural reason, because its not only the women, but also men who are completely covered as protection from the insane heath and burning sun rays. So, below you can see some of the pictures i took from this travel through the Rif Mountains, enjoy!
Getting out of Tangier
Small side roads, leading to farms around Tangier
Woman in traditional Berber costume and decorated taraza hat selling prickle pears on side of the road
The prickle pears (Opuntia ficus-indica) are in fact cactus fruits and are often sold 1-2 for 1 dirham and peeling them is included in the price
I've got to try them in Morocco and they are nothing like these we are getting in Europe. Here are sold much bigger and sweeter fruits.
Typical houses in the centres of the small villages along the road in the Rif Mountains
View of the fields in the Rif Mountains
Another view of the fields
Farm land in Rif
Groups of conifer trees, some of them are endemic for the region
Rock formations in the Rif Mountains
Village in the Rif Mountain
Oak tree along the road. Some of the oak species are also typical for the region
Well watered fields in the Rif Mountain
Farmlands in Rif
Fields in Rif
Farms along the roads
Village in Rif
There were a lot of people wearing traditional Berber clothes
Stalls along the main roads
Often can be seen these strange restaurant/BBQ places were you can bring your own meat to be roasted
These old Mercedes used often as taxis are another typical view for the country
This video is collection of several short clips which I took while having a walk in the Garden of the Turia, January 2007. This was the very first time I used video recorder and while the quality is not great when looked in 2016, for that time it was one of the more expensive video cameras.
This video has rather "historical" then modern day entertaining value and shows what it was then, shortly after that part of the park was completed
In this video I talk about some basic concepts, which are part of more natural way of living. In short the idea is that it was unlikely that our ancestors had 3 square meals a day and they rather ate and exercised in unpredictable and chaotic way. So, to emulate as close as possible that lifestyle, for which we evolved, we should try to avoid repetition and routine.
Also the primitive human never knew when will come next meal (if it comes at all that day), what is going to be and what physical activity will be required to get it. In the same spirit we should try to surprise more often our bodies with the food we eat and exercises we do.
Below follows excerpt from the video:
"In this video I'll be talking about the rigidity of the life styles we'd like to maintain. First my core idea of whatever I do is to avoid the monotony and repetition. In the case of exercising for example I'll have one day one or two hours jogging, another day will be simply a long walk. Next day will be lifting weights in the gym. Another day will be wrestling, kick-boxing and so on. The general idea is to avoid repetition at any cost, because we are not designed and our body waste quite fast if we begin repeating the same physical motion again and again.
Same goes for the food. Despite having few core components, like meat, fruits, vegetables and nuts, what I'm trying to do is to avoid repeating the exact type of food that I'm eating. For example one day it could be meat, another day it could be fish. I recently tried elk meat, which was very tender and with much better taste then the cooked version. The berries that I normally eat can be swapped with grapes, apples, mango, orange, kiwi etc.
Also normally I eat some kind of onion. This could be swapped with garlic. Sometimes I eat row eggs but I try to eat as diverse as possible types of eggs. For example instead of the normal chicken egg I eat quail eggs. Also there are many, many types of nuts which all have different properties and different chemical components. I have hazelnuts, almonds, pecan nuts and so on, and so on.
Avoiding the monotony and trying to make my life style as diverse as possible goes up to the point that once a week for example is OK to completely skip the paleo food and eat just cheeseburgers or other very unhealthy food which essentially can't do any damage and likely will be beneficial if eaten rarely.
Another thing that I'm doing is sometimes maybe once a week or once biweekly I'm having one day when I'm skipping eating at all. This is not at all harmful and after a while we you can get used to it and it could gives you boost of energy the next day.
Another important thing is that the amount of food that we eat to be according to the energy spent. Despite of eating healthy food if we keep overeating we can get very obese and exercise is not going to help us as we can see in the case of sumo wrestlers.
The other site of the spectrum we can see people who eat very healthy but don't exercise at all. They have the kind of the aspect of dead fish. Humans have to maintain a certain level of physical activity a day and certain level of energy consumed in the form of food eaten."
Today I'll post a few pictures taken during the spring of 2014 from a walk in Lilla Bommen, a guest harbour in Gothenburg, Sweden located on the shore of the Göta river. It offers mooring for temporary visiting boats.
West part of the Lilla Bommen square
One can see the Viking in the background
Göta river
Göta river
The Viking and The ''Lipstic''
This building popularly known as The ''Lipstic'' is a post-modern relatively tall structure. It is a red and white striped building located near The Viking. It's official name is Lilla Bommen, after it's location.
Its impossible to get in one frame the whole Viking from the side
Also in Lilla Bommen is moored The Viking. She is reported to be the biggest sailing ship ever built in Scandinavia. She was originally built as a sail training ship for the rapidly growing Danish merchant fleet. Viking came to Gothenburg, Sweden permanently in 1950, as a home for various shipping organisations, and later became a school of seamanship. Today she is moored in the Gothenburg guest harbour as hotel "Barken Viking".
Göta river is very pleasant place for afternoon walks
There are always many moored vessels
The Gothenburg Opera can be seen on the west side of the square
Let say we decide to do it with zero money and we have to relay only on what we can find and make for survival all this time. That is going to be good idea, because it will be proof of concept, for which I'll write more on separate post. On side note in our time minimalistic and cheaper probably means using some stuff like plastic and so on because its cheaper and much easier to access then the original materials supposed to be used like animal skins and so on. Sadly 21 century is time when the plastic is basically free and the animals are next to non-existent.
First task is to make list of all essential gear needed for survival on our own for indefinite amount of time. I found few lists and I'll try to compose my own. After completing the list I'll have to try to make it all fit in medium sized backpack not heavier then 10kg (22lbs) including food and water. After a few days spent in the wild by myself I came with this first draft of the list:
Cell Phone (capable of radio reception)
USB to miniUSB cable (in the survival tin)
USB charger
Memory stick with bootable Linux and important files, passwords, etc (in the survival tin)
Solar charger
Camera (best to have one action camera and one for photos with tripod)
Sound recorder
GPS
Compass (in the survival tin)
Map
Small notebook and pen and pencil
Binoculars (I'll think more about that, it may be necessary)
Water storage - Metal Canteen
Water storage - Plastic several litres
Condom (for back up water storage) (in the survival tin)
Water filters and purification (in the survival tin)
Straw or thin tube
Plastic sheet for gathering water
Longer walking stick (1.2-2m) that is, or can be converted to spear or tent pole
Flash-light (in the survival tin)
Mini multi-tool (in the survival tin, may need to be bought every time after airplane fly)
Pocket Knife (in the survival tin, may need to be bought every time after airplane fly)
Small shovel (may need to be bought every time after airplane fly)
Sharpening stone (small is enough) (in the survival tin)
Cutting wire or better small saw or axe if possible (in the survival tin)
Snare wire 2m (or other suitable thin strong metal wire) (in the survival tin)
String (para-cord) tick and thin
Lighter (in the survival tin)
Back up method for fire starting (magnesium block for example) (in the survival tin)
Small candle (in the survival tin)
Tinder (for fire starting)
Portable Camping Stove
Pepper or Bear Spray
Projectile weapon, best some type of firearm (if possible)
Slingshot and replacement bands
Fishing line (also learn how to weave special blind basket) (in the survival tin)
Fishing hooks (in the survival tin)
Sunscreen
Alcohol swabs (in the survival tin)
Painkillers (in the survival tin)
Antibiotics (doxycycline) (in the survival tin)
Adhesive bandage (plaster) (in the survival tin)
Soap
Cotton ball (in the survival tin)
Needles (in the survival tin)
Several metres strong thin string (for sewing, tying, etc) (in the survival tin)
Tweezers (for removing ticks and thorns) (in the survival tin)
Mirror (for self-examination for parasites, injuries, signaling, etc) (in the survival tin)
Dust and chemical protection mask
Gloves (thick and strong, pierce resistant)
Insect repellent - spray
Tarpaulin 2x3m sheet (to be used as hammock and rain-cape also)
Blanket
Survival reflective bag (to be used as sleeping bag if low temperature)
Inflatable ground cover
Mosquito net
Rain poncho
Eating and Cooking Utensils
Small cooking pot
Metal cup for making tea or coffee
Salt
Backpack
Plastic bags (shopping)
Small plastic bags - 5x10cm (for keeping things) (in the survival tin)
Wide Brim Hat
Sunglasses
Shoes
Flip flops
Jeans
T-shirt with long sleeves
Belt
Underwear
Socks
Bath suit (short swimming pants)
Small paper envelopes (for keeping seeds and plan specimens)
Small box
Small waist bag
Carabiner
Money
Personal Identification Papers in waterproofed plastic bag or sleeve
Survival tin (part of the items from the list will fit inside)
This list is going to be tested further and updated soon
This is a short video from a walk around Stora Delsjön, lake located in eastern Gothenburg, Sweden. I went there on 04 Jan 2015 and it was lovely, the weather was warm with only light wind and the views from around the lake were very scenic. There is a path around the lake, which makes loop and can be walked in about 4 to 5 hours. If a visitor has to spend three days in Gothenburg, the first has to be visiting the main avenues, museums, restaurants, shops, etc, the second visiting Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Slottsskogen and the river Göta älv, and the third day has to be spent on walk around Stora Delsjön. And the third day is going to be in the real Sweden, because it is a huge country with very few people and there are much more forests and lakes then cities and towns.
The Rozhen Monastery in the Pirin Mountains in South-Western Bulgaria is a beautiful place. It is well preserved medieval monastery. Some evidence suggest that it existed in the 13th century. I visited that monastery July 2014 and while not secret and mysterious place waiting to be discovered, it is one of these things that we are better of seeing. We can get the impression how the people from the Balkans lived several centuries ago. Its interesting to see what types of building they had, what was the ambient. This is of course monastery and many of the things are specific for such building dedicated to the East Orthodox Christianity, but the general architecture, set up and positioning of the different parts of the structure as rooms, balconies, stairs, gardens, etc, the tools used by these people, the house items and many, many other things are still similar enough to what was the typical settlement in that time.
Interesting and somewhat startling are the wandering herds of cattle. Note, that while these animals are normally tame, one should be always careful around such beasts, because they still have the potential to injure or even kill
The typical house architecture of 18th and 19th century is notable.
The building material used for the stairs is wood.
Stone covers the ground.
There is a beautiful inner garden and patio.
While there were not many tourists that day, one still could see some
Some clever designer planted a palm. This is very untypical for the region and never even seen in the country.
Very typical for the region vines spreading like ceiling
One could see some old wall art, depicting biblical scenes
I this video I am showing how I make my simplified version of ceviche.
Ceviche is a seafood dish popular in the coastal regions of Latin America.
The dish is typically made from fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices, such as lemon or lime, and spiced with chili peppers. Additional seasonings, such as chopped onions, salt, and cilantro, may also be added.
I am putting and mixing together chopped fish, onions, parsley, chili and black pepper. After that I am pouring on lemon juice and mixing it for a couple of minutes until the juice soaks and then I am adding chopped avocado and extra virgin olive oil and again mixing it lightly. And last if you want to try it but you are not used to raw food you can add salt, which will greatly improve the taste and by the way is the main difference between the taste of raw and cooked meat.
I found this flower on 30 April 2016 while I've been hiking trough Lyulin Mountain in Bulgaria, at approximately at 1300 m (4300 ft) above see level in the outskirts of grass field bordering with forest, partially in shade. There were Meadow Buttercups(Ranunculus acris) nearby and while I am aware that there are cultivars and variations of the species with many petals, this one looked different. It may not be significant difference, but the petals were narrower then these of the cultivar "Multiplex" for example and also the flower didn't look so "packed" with petals, next the leafs where very deeply cut and sitting on long (more then 50% of the length of the flower stem) stems.
When I found it, I was unable to say nothing more then it looks like Meadow Buttercup, but at least I was able to appreciate that it is noticeably different and is in far too remote place to be simply escaped house plant or cultivar. Then I started looking for another one, but even after 6 hours of searching I couldn't find anything similar. Now there are three options of what it could be, first one and most likely is that I found either cultivar or hybrid that by some odd coincidence got in very remote place in the middle of the forest in that mountain, second possibility is that it as a rare naturally occurring mutation of the Meadow Buttercup and the third is that it is some closely related, but different and much less common species and that is why I can't find exact match in internet. The most exiting would be to happen that I stumbled across some new species, variety or at least mutation, but because we talk about Europe, where every stone was turned in the last several centuries by all kind of explorers and researchers, I know that this is very unlikely, but still who knows, it may have been missed somehow until now. Anyway, I'll keep researching the subject and if I find anything new, I'll post an update.
Growing at the outskirts of grass field and forest in partial shade
Close up, note the narrow petals
Close up of leaf, lower were sitting on very large stems and all were deeply cut
Some time ago I was thinking what is possibly the most amazing adventure I can imagine for myself. And my thought went along the following lines: so, there are many things I'd like very much to do, but one stands out. Its the idea of around the world travel on foot with minimum luggage and through places rarely or never visited or if visited not documented. One of the main reasons for this to be done could be to document and research places, people, flora and fauna, which will disappear soon and the knowledge about them will be lost forever.
I thought about that when I realised that the proverbial modern access to information is simply illusion. Everybody thinks that we have access to nearly all information that exists, however people are mixing quantity with quality. We do indeed can instantly get enormous amounts of information, but that information is about relatively small number of topics. To illustrate what I mean, just think how much information there is on internet about celebrities, sport, movies and compare that to how much we can find about the way of life of the native Americans before Columbus or indeed about these living until nowadays in the jungles of Amazonia. For example one of my projects is to reconstruct fully the way of life of the different groups of humans before the agricultural revolution (in my opinion it is the way of life for which we evolved, we are best adapted and the way of life most beneficial for our mental and physical health). So first I went to look for more information about the hunting techniques and what a surprise nobody bothered to even document how exactly bow is held and shot by the different tribes. There was rich information about certain topics, which were speciality of the particular researcher, but this method leaves enormous gaps in the knowledge. For example a researcher may not realise the importance of the weapon crafting techniques and to fully discard unique and mind blowing things as "well they have something like 3 feet long bows, crudely made". These "crude bows" and how they are used may happen to be actually the most important thing that need to be documented instead the description of some trinket produced by these people. So to avoid this problem I think we need to have more encyclopaedic approach, in sense the researcher needs to have enough knowledge in very wide range of fields so he'll be able at least to appreciate that certain things are important and have to be described and documented, even if he doesn't know enough to make proper research of the specific topic. Anyway, I strayed a bit from the topic. What I wanted to say is that out there is big world mostly unknown and disappearing and it is worth to go and gather the information before its gone.
So, once we established the need these less known places, people and things to be found, seen and documented the next question is going to be: "How to get there?". Nowadays we have of course many options for travel, but the drawback for most of them is that they can get you only to places that are already often visited, by the virtue of being part of the global transport net and our only other option is to simply walk to the places we want to reach. And once we get our heads around the idea to abandon for most of the part the more conventional methods of transportation, we can start seeing the beauty of the idea to walk around the World. The walk itself is one of the most pleasant and beneficial for our physical and mental health activities that we can think of. In essence such a project is going to combine in one the useful with the pleasant.
So, these were my musings on the topic about the adventures and I thought to share them here.
What I am saying in this video is that generally speaking we should try to run bare-feet, because of the many positive implications it brings to the health and the overall well-being. Also I am explaining the basics of the correct technique of the barefoot running. In short the idea is that we should run on the outer edge and forefeet, which is the more natural way of running as opposed to the heel first strike technique, common between the modern runners. Applying these ideas should improve our health and we'll avoid many injuries and deformities caused by shoes and unnatural running form.
Back in the early December last year (2015) I decided to walk a bit through London, so I started from Leytonstone, went to Piccadilly Circus and then came back at the starting point. The distance was about 40 km (25 miles) and it took me 7 hours to cover it (average speed 5.8 km/h), but I feel that this is kind of limit for me and if I want to be comfortable and walk more hours I'll have to drop the walking speed to something like 5km/h (3.1m/h), which while far from what the athletes do its not really bad for a starter. On the bright side I didn't have any signs of tiredness or muscle fevers in the next days and this is when I decided to start preparing physically myself for long distance walks.
While walking I managed to snap few photos with my phone, which may be mildly interesting for people from other countries :).
Something interesting - "Public Baths", only I am not really sure its still operational
Parakeets (possibly Psittacula krameri) in Victoria Park. Even these fluffy balls of tropical colours look drab in London in this time of the year
Idyllic view of channel in London
Mildly interesting mix of modern and not so modern buldings
Kind of typical for London indie cafe. I like these very much, generally the ambient and the people are really nice.
Nearly forgot to mention it, my Vibram shoes. I decided if the weather is bad to do my walks with them and so far I find them exceptionally comfortable. I think I made by now something like few hundred km in this particular pair and it doesn't show any signs of wear and tier yet.
