Report from the Zambezi trip September 2006
Laurence and i were sitting above rapid number 5 on the Zambezi just
last week and realized its been 17 years since we first guided on the
Zambezi and here we are again dropping into the best rapids in the
world. We thanked the Zambezi river god Nyami Nyami for all the safe
passages,we peeled out of the eddy, and dropped into number 5 with huge
smiles! We co-trip lead our September 16th Zambezi trip and lead 22
people down the mighty Zambezi. The trip went off without a hitch and
everyone had a great time.
I realize there has been alot of bad news
coming out of Zimbabwe but the country is still safe as ever, the people
are some of the friendliest and most helpful in the world and this is
still a great time to visit Zimbabwe. Tourism has dropped off because of
all the bad economic news, but there is no resistance movement in
Zimbabwe and the locals are depending more than ever on the tourist
dollar.In fact this is even a better time to go because it is less
crowded and you get more personal service. We have considered moving our
base to Zambia on the other side of the river but for now everything is
still a go in Zimbabwe! In many ways it is like returning home for us
because we have made so many good friends and contacts in Zimbabwe.
Bio
Bio Expeditions along with the help of a few clients brought over a
handful of kayaks and all the necessary gear and started a free kayak
school for any local that wants to learn to kayak. This will provide a
fresh stream of new talented kayakers able to work and provide safety
for future rafting expeditions.
Our trips are planned for
September 2007 and we hope that if you have ever dreamed of rafting and
going on safari in Africa you will join us in 2007!
Warmest regards,
Marc Goddard
Bio Bio Expeditions Zambezi Trip featured in Condé Nast Traveler website
Forget the dog days of August: The dry season hits southern Africa in
September, when elephants, zebras, impalas, and baboons lumber down to
the 1,650-mile Zambezi River for a drink of water. The best way to get a
look at all that wild game? From the river itself. Sign on with the
expert guides from Bio Bio Expeditions, whose Zambezi Explorer trip
departs only in September. READ FULL ARTICLE>>
Cotahuasi 2006
We are
back from another great adventure in Peru. We ran another safe and fun
trip thorugh the Cotahuasi canyon. Water levels were perfect as was the
weather. A few of the rapids that we have portaged in years past became
runnable due to a shift in some of the boulders. One of our guests Adam
Dawson ran all of the rapids while others choose to walk around a few.
We are looking forward to two trips in 2007. This was our 6th year
running the Cotahuasi and each year we figure out how to run a smoother
trip. We have big plans for 2007!
Please click below for a few sample shots of the 2006 Cotahuasi trip.
Thanks to everyone for making this a memorable trip.
http://blog.biobioexpeditions.com/cotahuasi.html
Saludos,
Marc Goddard
Marc and Laurence turn 40!
Laurence
Alvarez and Marc Goddard both turned 40 last week. Laurence and Marc
met when they were 13 and have been running rivers ever since! At 40
they are still at it and plan to run the Middle Fork of the Feather this
weekend. Marc plans to guide the Cotahuasi on July 3rd. Please click on
the link below to see a fun slide show on the history of the friendship
of Marc and Laurence and friends along the way!
Check out a new slideshow of the Futaleufu from Bio Bio!
Check out a slideshow by Bio Bio Expeditions here
Bio Bio Blog is up and running!
The Bio Bio Blog is up and running.
Enjoy stories, last minute trip specials and stay in the Bio Bio loop!
Check for weekly updates, exciting photos, expedition news and whats new
with the Bio Bio family and friends!
Bio Bio Expeditions featured on CNN.com!
Bio Bio Expeditions Kilimanjaro trip was recently featured on CNN.com!
To read the text of the full article, click here.
Why Bio Bio Expeditions?
Bio Bio Expeditions was created by Marc Goddard and Laurence Alvarez-Roos, both from California, as a way to bring people to their favorite rivers in the world. They have been international guides since 1988 and were both members of World Champion rafting Team California. It is their passion to lead people to some of the world’s most wild and beautiful places. They accomplish this safely and with the input from and respect for the local cultures. They introduce different parts of the world to their guests and impart a love of adventure, travel, culture, and the environment. Marc or Laurence is on every trip because this is what they love to do.
Bio Bio’s signature trip is in Chile on the Futaleufu river. The Patagonia region of southern Chile is like the Montana of the 1920’s. The Futaleufu River valley is in the heart of this rugged setting where the families live a traditional ranching lifestyle. Bio Bio Expeditions has created their own retreat in this inspiring setting with the goal of bringing the adventure traveler to the heart of Patagonia. The base camp created, with the assistance of our Chilean neighbors, is a place where the active traveler can get their fill of adrenaline sports and relaxation. The Futaleufu River is world renowned as one of the best whitewater rivers in the world and was the site of the 2000 International Whitewater Championships. The guests spend their summer day rafting spectacular, big whitewater and evenings in the outdoor hot tub watching the river drift by or sipping Chilean wine in the sunset bar. They can enjoy Yerba Mate tea with a Patagonian family after a morning of fly-fishing and mountain biking and have our massage therapist soothe their sore muscles after a hot, relaxing sauna. This is paradise for the adventure traveler who loves to enjoy many different sports in a remote and pristine wilderness setting, but you do not have to compromise on comforts or amenities.
Besides Chile, Bio Bio Expeditions runs trips on the Zambezi River in Africa, the Katun in Siberia, Cal Salmon in northern California, and the Apurimac and Cotahuasi Rivers in Peru. Furthermore, they have expanded to a limited number of trekking trips including Kilimanjaro and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. For more information, contact Marc Goddard at marc@bbxrafting.com
Sourcing locally
Challenging to get to and even harder to leave, our
beloved Futaleufu River Valley is a paradise of self-sustaining natural bounty.
We’ve made it an essential part of our
lifestyle here at Bio-Bio Expeditions;
to tap into the local abundance while re-using the goods we bring in from afar.
Here’s what we’re doing to use less, re-use more, and source as much as we can
from, as close as possible:
– The brainchild of our ever-resourceful South African river legend Stan
Ricketts, Stan makes yogurt daily with milk from cows just up the road. Even more impressive, Stan’s first batch of
yogurt started with just one little single-serving yogurt cup (to get the biotic process of turning
milk into yogurt going) and local milk. For each successive batch, Stan
uses a small portion of the previous day’s batch as a starter and then adds the
fresh, local milk. At the end of the
season, even though we’ll have made and eaten gallons of yogurt, Stan will have
only used that one little plastic cup of yogurt to make a season’s worth of his
creamy goodness. That’s a lot of plastic
yogurt cups and bags saved from going into our nearby landfill. Stan’s delicious yogurt, along with our
homemade granola and fresh fruit, is an indispensable part of our daily
breakfast of champions.
– Diego Valsecchi, our Argentinian-Italian wine maker and class V guru,
recently procured half a cow from a ranch a mere 10 minute walk away from camp,
and butchered it himself. Along with our
end-of-the trip traditional Patagonian asado that features all-day cooked
cordero and chancho (lamb and pig) from other nearby ranches, we’re proud and thankful
that more and more of our meat feeds on Futaleufu Valley grass and roams free
in our valley right before we get to enjoy it.
– Nelly and Ximena, the lovely ladies at the top of the hill who Lorenzo and
Marc bought the land from to build our camp on nearly 20 years ago, still bake
our bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – fresh every day. Whether a whole grain breakfast loaf,
light-as-air lunch rolls, or their famous cinnamon buns, Nelly and Ximena’s
breads keep us fueled up for the day.
– All of our buildings in camp feature wood and stone from the plentiful
forests, river, and creeks that surround our camp. With the Futaleufu River as our choice wood
sculptor, we’re keen driftwood collectors and the river’s finest pieces have
homes all over camp in furniture, fences, and buildings.
– If it’s green and we eat it here in Futa, you can bet that it either came
from our on-site garden or a thriving greenhouse belonging to one of our
fabulous kitchen staff. It’s hard to
find a home in the Futaleufu Valley without a vegetable garden, and we’d be
silly not to use the nutritious and delicious herbs and lettuces grown right
here in the rich Futaleufu Valley soil, by default organic!
– Why sit on a cold wooden bench when you could lounge on a thick, cloud-like
sheepskin made from the hide and wool of local sheep? When you pull up a bench by the fire or for
dinner, that’s the kind of luxury your derriere receives. It’s also a rare day in Futa when you can’t
find a Bio Bio guide sporting wool clothing made by a local artisan who, with
hand-spun wool from their own sheep, sew beautiful hats, socks, vests,
sweaters, ponchos, and much more.
– We’re succeeding in turning all of our food waste back into food! Our food waste is either composted into soil
to grow vegetables and herbs in our garden, or fed to our pigs housed in our
adjoining chacra (pigpen). We’re trying not to get too
attached to our pigs as we’re looking forward to making homemade sausage and
bacon in the upcoming months.
– Lorenzo has tried for years to have our used bottles and cans taken to a
responsible recycling center but has yet to find a willing recycler who will
travel from Futaleufu to mainland Chile, where recycling does happen! Instead of sending our bottles and cans to the
local landfill, we’ve built the walls of our onsite brewery out of beer cans
(the more you drink the faster we build!). And, we recently purchased a glasscutter and
are churning out candle and flower vases as well as cocktail and water glasses
from our used beer and wine bottles as fast as we can.
– If it seems as if it can’t get any better, we’re brewing the soon-to-be
world-famous FuBrew right here out of our brand new brewery with local
ingredients. In the time it takes to
down an ice-cold mug of FuBrew in the hot Patagonian summer, we can deliver a
freshly brewed keg from our brewery to the tap at our riverside bar…that’s as good
as it gets!
We’re quite proud of what we’re doing to support local farmers, ranchers, and
craftsmen and women as well as our own creative efforts to make and re-use
everything we can. Come see and taste it
all for yourself this summer (winter, in the Northern Hemisphere) at our luxurious
riverside camp on the one-and-only Futaleufu River in the heart of Patagonia!
-Cooper Freeman
Got Questions?
Call us: 1-800-246-7238 By Email: info@bbxrafting.com
Office hours: 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday PST
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