October 2009

5 Travel Memoirs by Women

by Ekua on October 20, 2009 · 6 comments in books for the road,female travel,inspiring adventurous people

The air is getting chilly and the rainy season has begun. My typical urge to fly south for the winter has kicked in. Unfortunately, travel is not an option for me at the moment, so I will hibernate instead. To me, that means curling up with a hot beverage and a travel memoir so I can live vicariously through someone else’s adventures.

I’m partial to travel memoirs written by women rather than men because I can usually relate to both their outward and inner journeys more. I have found a few good options beyond the ubiquitous Eat, Pray, Love. Here are some suggestions:

Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World
by Rita Golden Gelman

During an impending divorce, Rita Golden Gelman made her first solo journey to Mexico. This trip transforms her and she makes the decision to give up everything to become a global nomad. It’s encouraging to see the author evolve from a timid traveler to a confident adventurer ready to take on the world.

Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for Women Who Are Changing the World
by Holly Morris

In this memoir, Holly Morris shares the details of the creation of the “Adventure Divas” PBS television series. It highlights powerful and unconventional women in several countries who are doing amazing things for their communities. It will inspire you to travel and make positive changes in the world.

Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure
by Sarah MacDonald

After Sarah MacDonald first traveled to India in her early 20s, she vowed to never return again. Several years later, her boyfriend takes a job in India and she decides to join him. This is a hilarious and insightful account of the two years she spent in India dabbling in various aspects of the culture and learning to accept the country as it is.

Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik: One Woman’s Solo Misadventures Across Africa
by Marie Javins

In this travel memoir, Marie Javins goes boldly where few travelers have gone before. While it was not the most poetic read, the author still managed to draw me in with tales of her exciting off the beat path adventures in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Kite Strings of the Southern Cross: A Woman’s Travel Odessy
by Laurie Gough

Maybe it’s wrong to recommend this book as I haven’t finished reading it yet. But so far I’ve found it to be a wonderfully descriptive and passionate account of traveling in the South Pacific and South East Asia, and I’m excited to continue reading it.

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They say it’s an El Nino year, so it looks like it’s going to be a long, wet winter. I may be doing quite a bit of armchair travel in the next few months. Suggestions for other travel memoirs are welcome!

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From the Andes to the Amazon

by Ekua on October 18, 2009 · 2 comments in Bolivia

August 4, 2009

Rurrenabaque is situated in the Amazon Basin along the Beni River. It’s a jumping off point for affordable wildlife and jungle tours that are popular with backpackers. There are three ways to get to Rurrenabaque from La Paz, and none of them are good.

One option is a 20 hour journey along the official “World’s Most Dangerous Road.” While many people now bike down the “World’s Most Dangerous Road” for fun, riding down it in a bus still looks terrifying. Another option is to spend several days floating down the river on a cargo boat. I didn’t see this as a valid choice because I didn’t have many extra days to spare. I chose to fly, even though flights from La Paz to Rurrenabaque are notorious for frequently being canceled.

I was scheduled to fly on August 3rd. That morning, the hostel’s travel agent informed me that my flight was canceled because it had rained the previous day. The Rurrenabaque Airport has a dirt landing strip surrounded by grass. So when it rains, it gets flooded and no flights will leave until they determine that the landing strip is dry enough. Considering it’s in the rain forest, flights are canceled often. The agent told me that I would automatically be put on the same flight the next day.

On August 4th, I excitedly went to check in with travel agent. It didn’t look good– even though it hadn’t rained again, no flights had left yet that day. Since my flight was in the late afternoon, mine would probably be canceled because of the earlier delays. Dejectedly, I went back up to my room. But a few minutes later, the travel agent came running up to my room to tell me that flights had begun to take off and there was one space left on a flight that was leaving in two hours. I rushed to get everything together and headed out.

There were daily parades on my hostel’s street in the days leading up to Bolivian Independence Day. I walked several blocks before I was able to catch a cab that wasn’t stuck in traffic. We had to take a haphazard route to airport to avoid getting caught up in other parades around the city and I nervously hoped I’d make it in time. At the airport I checked in, went through security, and made it to the gate with fifteen minutes to spare.

Rurrenabaque - Plane The Amaszonas plane was the tiniest one I’d ever been on. I’m short, and even I couldn’t stand straight up on the plane without hitting my head. There are two columns of seats, so everyone has an aisle and window seat and a view of the cockpit. There are no overhead bins and definitely no flight attendants with complimentary drinks.

Even through dirty and scratched windows, the views on 40 minute flight are spectacular. First, you get a phenomenal view of La Paz and fly incredibly close to the snowy Mt. Illimani. As you leave the mountains behind, the landscape changes quickly and drastically to thick green blankets of trees with winding brown rivers between.

Reaching the Amazon Basin has been a dream of mine since I was in high school. I felt like a giddy kid as I stepped off the plane into the tropical greenery and humidity. I was so thrilled to be there. I caught a ride on the Amaszonas shuttle which takes you from the airport to the airline’s office in the center of town. Unless you arrange to be picked up by your tour company, this is the only way to get to town.

I found the Indigena Tours office where I checked in and got info for my tour and then went in search of a hostel. The Hostal Turistico Santa Ana drew me in with its brightly painted exterior, plentiful potted plants, and gorgeous mosaic walkways. The room they had available wasn’t ready, so laid in a hammock while they finished cleaning. My room was tiny, very pink, and perfect.

I walked up and down the streets of Rurrenabaque. There is nothing to see there, but it is a very pretty and calming town. It was so nice to be at a lower altitude where I could breathe normally and see and abundance of pretty flowers and vegetation. I had an early dinner and reveled in my last night of solitude before joining a three day tour.

My hostel room didn’t have a bathroom so I used the communal bathrooms and outdoor sinks. I got ready for bed while little beings rustled in nearby plants. Mundane tasks like teeth brushing and face washing are much more enjoyable when done outside in the light of the moon under a sky that’s incredibly full of stars. I was in love with Amazon and couldn’t wait for my adventure to begin the next day.

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