From Zambezi to the Futaleufu with Love!

Greetings from the amazing south of Chile! The Futaleufu is big and wild and the BBX camp looks better than ever. The summer light pours into the windows of the pagoda where you can sit with a book and watch the turquoise river flow by. The new bathrooms with hot showers are five-star! Each platform now has a huge African-style safari tent complete with beds, down comforters, and Peruvian rugs. Speaking of Africa – we are delighted to announce that we sponsored one of our best native-Zambezi guides with a trip to Chile. Lovemore Kalinda, who until a couple days ago had never been on an airplane, flew from South Africa to Bariloche, Argentina and had his first kayak descent of the Futaleufu today. He is an excellent kayaker and river guide, but this is the first river he has run besides the mighty Zambezi. We are very happy to be able to provide this opportunity to Lovemore and he will spend the next two months here on the Futa kayaking, rafting, and working. Meanwhile, Sabine and Quinn (Laurence and Marc’s offspring) are enjoying “playdates” Patagonia style. We celebrated Quinn’s 1rst birthday on January 16th with lots of local kids, a BBQ of hot dogs and hamburgers, and live music by Ken Kruger. It was a wonderful celebration and we are truly enjoying watching the kiddies play and explore in this beautiful place.

If you haven’t experienced the magic of BBX on the Futaleufu yet, there is still room on the Feb. 11th, Feb. 18th, and March 4th trips. Call Diana in the home office at (800) 246-7238 and we’ll see you down here!!!

Love, Damara, Marc, Laurence

Rafting and kayaking in the Futaleufu Valley with Bio Bio Expeditions

Multi-Sport Rafting and Cultural Tour of India

Bio Bio Expeditions is happy to announce an amazing adventure into the heart of India!

Visit to the Taj Mahal

Rafting expedition on the Alaknanda, an upper section of the sacred river Ganges - perfect for first timers or experienced paddlers!

Cycling through remote villages

Visit to Corbett National Park, famous for its elephants, tigers, and macaques!

Riverside camping at our beautiful base camps - Leopard beach camp and Camp Tusker

The trip includes camping, luxury hotels, and beautiful riverside lodges.

This trip is designed for the active traveler looking for a combination of adventure, expedition, fun and culture!

Dates:
November 5th - November 19th, 2007
March 9th - November 22nd, 2008

Call 1-800-246-7238 for more information or a detailed itinerary.

Zambezi Video

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