Happy Travellers

06/06/2014

4000 km of my adventures in Namibia. Switch to HD to fully enjoy!

Over 4000 km of my adventures in Namibia. If you have 12 minutes of time, play the whole video. If not, play the Chapter 2 (4:39 - 8:26). Switch to HD to ful...

20/11/2013

Camping at the edge of the world oldest desert

15/11/2013

After more than 1000 Km of driving I have reached the North of Namibia. Families of the Himba tribe live at the Kunene river at the border of Namibia and Angola at absolutely basic conditions. Every family has its own village.
In the last two days while visiting 3 different families 9 bananas, 6 apples, 5 paperbooks, 6 pens and and 12 airbaloons were distributed to the kids.

15/10/2013

Grossglockner 2013

Our journey to the highest peak of Austria

07/10/2013

Marine Dragon Photo by David Bufka -- National Geographic Your Shot

Follow our pictures also at a new National Geographic website!

Marine Iguana at the Galagos Islands http://www.thehappyadventurers.com

22/09/2013

Icelandic glacier melting into a lagoon and flowing into the ocean.

15/09/2013

One of many „friends“ we have made at the San Cristobal island, . Sea lions live in large colonies on the coast, side by side with humans in villages and harbours where they often occupy even the public benches and sidewalks. It is fascinating to observe them and the younger ones even love to be photographed. They pose and play once they realize they are an object of interest of our camera!

14/09/2013

On the first weekend of September we climbed up the highest mountain if Austria – . After an acclimatisation one-day training we left at 4:30 in the morning and headed to the more challenging trail of . First the led at the dark on a glacier and then turned into a pure climb. Due to the masses of snow and ice, it took us 10 hours of to reach the summit in 3'798 m.
To descent we took the classical rout via . It were long and demanding 14,5 hours and with this picture I would like to thank to our professional guide Martin and also to David Jir who both held the other end of this red rope at the moments once the wall got really slippery...

http://www.hikr.org/tour/post25235.html

27/08/2013

On August 25 David Jir and me climbed up the peak of Piz Troval (3‘146 m) on the Swiss-Italian border as an acclimatisation training for our another coming adventure. Even still in summer, it was snowing during the climb. At the background bellow us the 4km long glacier .

25/08/2013

Climbing up the top of Vorder Eggstock (2 449 m). We reached the almost cloudy peak just at the sunset and finished our descent back to the village shortly before midnight.
A good head torch comes in handy... ;-)

21/08/2013

Crowded! When at the & Islands, a descent or surfacing might be a little bit crowded. Such schools of hammerheads, sharks or Whitetip need to be passed through, but the animals are mostly shy and hunt for smaller preys.

19/08/2013

Magnificent double waterfall on the White River (Hvítá), originating from the Lángjökull glacier 40 km north, is the largest volume fall in Europe.

12/08/2013

Any way is the right one, as long as you keep on going.

07/08/2013

When travelling across Iceland we were very lucky to be able to camp at natural hot springs every night. This is our favourite one – LAUGAFELL.
It had cost us an extra one-day drive across multiple rivers and an almost empty tank to reach this remote oasis in the barren land between the glaciers Hofsjokull and Vatnajokull.
That night was cold and windy (our tent did not survive), but the hot spring at the midnight sunset was an unforgettable experience.
http://www.northiceland.is/WhattoSeeDo/ViewAttraction/laugafell

05/08/2013

Another sunny weekend, another new sailing adventure: chasing winds with a catamaran at the Como lake, Italy.

05/08/2013

One of numerous beaches at the Perhentian islands where we took our first diving lessons. The islands are inhabited by lizards (up to 2,7 m length) that outnumber the human inhabitants. The lizards are not aggressive but their accidental bite can cause deadly infections.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Perhentian_Islands

31/07/2013

Another stunning landscape of Landmannalaugar, another Icelandic river to be crossed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmannalaugar

29/07/2013

Spending the warm summer days sailing at the azure Alpine lake of Lungern, Switzerland.

26/07/2013

The glacier lagoon of Jökulsárlón. As the lagoon is directly connected with the ocean by a narrow river mouth, the icebergs melt when they reach the warmer salty water. Since 1970’s the lagoon has increased its size four times.

25/07/2013

One of many rivers we crossed in the multicolored and geologically active mountains of Landmannalaugar, Iceland. The river can be crossed only by 4x4 vehicles to access the Landmannalaugar hut with natural hot springs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmannalaugar

24/07/2013

Back from our Icelandic adventure, new pictures will follow soon!

11/07/2013

Petra taking her windsurfing lesson in the freezing (almost, 8 °C) waters of the Silvaplana lake, 1'815 m.

10/07/2013

At the top of the Via Ferrata ("Klettersteig") Sulzfluh 2,817 m at the Swiss-Austrian border in the canton of Graubünden

http://www.klettersteigsulzfluh.ch/

08/07/2013

Petra snorkelling in the marine sanctuary at the Apo Island, Philippines. The island (less then 1,5 x 1 km / 0.74 km2) inhabited mainly by a small population of indigenous people started as a one of first worldwide an ecological project for a preservation and rebuilding of the marine life.

[Apo Island is one of the world's best known community-organized marine sanctuaries, and as such it has been well documented by the global science community. The project was started when Dr. Angel Alcala, a marine scientist from the Silliman University Marine Laboratoryexplained to the local fishermen the importance of creating a marine sanctuary in the area. Initially, there was hesitation on the part of the locals; but after a 3-year dialogue, Dr. Alcala was able to convince the island community to establish the sanctuary. Assisted by the staff of the SU Marine Laboratory in 1982, the local fishermen selected an area along 450 meters of shoreline and extending 500 meters from shore as the sanctuary site.[4] Since then, the project initiated on the island led to the creation of hundreds of other marine sanctuaries in the Philippines.
At present, the island is home to over 650 documented species of fish and estimated to have over 400 species of corals. Most of the Philippines' 450 species of coral can be found here, from tiny bubble corals to huge gorgonian sea fans and brain corals. Visitors and tourists pay a fee to enter Apo Island and to snorkel or dive in the marine sanctuary there, these fees are used to keep the sanctuary clean and in good condition.
In 2003, Chicago's Shedd Aquarium opened a Wild Reef exhibit based on Apo Island's surrounding reef and marine sanctuary. In 2008, Sport Diver Magazine listed Apo Island as one of the top 100 diving spots in the world ]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apo_Island

05/07/2013

A sunset in a jungle in Cameron Highland, Malaysia. Dusk comes very quickly close to the Equator. A long hike through the jungle back to the village gave a new perspective on the fauna and flora at night.

02/07/2013

The living at the north of the Palawan Island ist very simple. Though, people are extremely friendly there, especially kids...

01/07/2013

Diving with sea lions at the Darwin Island

26/06/2013

The adventurer Petra taking her PADI lesson

26/06/2013

Inside of a Jeepney (a local small bus) from Domaguete to Zamboanguita on the Negros Island, Philippines.

Our backpacks were stored with many other passengers at the roof of the Jeepney.

On the bus we met a very kind lady who provided us a room in her traditional house for an overnight stay.