Message from Frank Tschöpe

From Lima to Huaraz by bus After a short but very nice stay in a modern hotel in Lima I am continuing to Huaraz in a very comfortable bus. Lima is not my favorite city though! Too big with its 8mio inhabitants and most of the city looks like slums! I would even prefer to walk in the streets of Kathmandu. But it was interesting to see allthe poor districts in safe distance from the bus! So I can recommend the company "Cruz del Sur" for transport by bus! Here you have it much better than in most planes and very soon I expect a nice meal, which I ordered in advance via Internet!

The water in Lima is not drinkable. In the hotel they offered me water from bottles! For my hike I also will desinfect all water with iodine-chlor tablets!

I really hope that I find an attractive, fotogenic mule for hire! Not only for photography reasons but also to help me getting my equipment over the higher passes! On the first days I will be struggling anyway in altitudes higher than 4000m! So it would be ideal sharing my 45kg backpack with a mule! I will see soon what is possible..

Officially they dont allow solo-hikers on that route, but if it comes hard to hard then I will not care about this and go anyway. Or hiking with several mules and porters as a group only for the first days. And if the mules have my pace then hiring them for longer. :-)

Sometimes people do not speak English at all, but the following words are understood by all: "Allemagne, Word Champion in Football" :-)))

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Arrival in Lima/Peru

This is just a testmail from my hotel in Lima! Here I have Internet access! Going forward I will use my satellite tracker for this blog! The flight was quite OK, the clouds were amazing! I also saw the endless rainforest in Brasil!

The taxi driver told me that here is still winter, but for me it felt like summer! Of course here you will not have any snow at all! I didnt manage to get Peruan Soles from the ATM machines at the airport, so I have to use my USD first and hope that I manage to get some money in Huaraz! Very early tomorrow I will go there by bus, which should take me about 8h! There was lots of traffic this evening and in no city I have ever seen so many casinos as here!

My main handicap: I dont speak Spanish at all, only the words Hola and Gracias I know!

Von meinem iPad gesendet

Message from Frank Tschöpe

6 day: Finishing! Today was my last day of hiking and I managed to reach the fjord, where I expect a boat to pick me up in about 3h! I have done this hike 10y ago and I even remember some of the landscapes, especially cpsime of the nice waterfalls! But this year there is much more snow in the mountains and the final steep snowfield could be very tricky in foggy weather! I didnt find the best route today but I managed to build steps with my shoes into the 45 degree slope! So finally it worked! These slopes are very difficult and dangerous with a heavy backpack and if they are more icy than today! But having lost about 7kg I am now feeling very comfortable with a backpack of maybe 37kg! 45kg tough is close o my comfort level! In august in Peru I will start ith a very heavy backpack as I dont want to hire mules who are sometimes not so easy to deal with! So I am enjoying the last hours here watching some ducks and seabirds in the fjord! Though rainfall it is a very idyllic life here! Hope to reach Isafj�rdur by boat and taxi late this evening! Tomorrow then a relaxing day in the hot pools of Reykjavik, by very far my favorite swimming pool in the world!

A great week!!!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Day 5: Latravik to Hoefn This morning I had a short day-hike to a place where I expected a nest of foxes! I even brought the remainings of the cod, but I was unlucky! No foxes there or they were sleeping in their nest! At least there were many bird heads around and many feathers! Birds are the main dish for arctic foxes!

After lunch and 2 beer I went back to Hoefn in quite nice weather, even with a bit of sunshine! Just before the only river crossing (50cm deep, 30m long) an older fox appeared surprisingly and I managed to keep him curious and hungry for about 1 hour! So it was really a nice photo session with my 200-560mm lens! But out of a sudden the fox was not interested anymore and went into the meadows, looking to catch some birds!

Back in Hoefn there is the fox family below the house with 5 puppies. They are extremely anxious and only when their mum is back they go outside of their hole! Sometimes when they fight/play with each other they totally forget their surroundings and on those occasions I am a very happy photographer!

Tomorrow is my last day of hiking! I have to catch a boat at 18:30! There is one section at a beach, where I need low tide and passing at around 17:30 should work!

So I bring back some nice shots of arctic foxes, but no landscape pictures! I did not use the 24mm and 50mm at all! Only a few shots with 35mm and mainly with 70-200mm 4.0 and 200-560mm 4.0, by far my favorite lens! Yesterday I met a person from the US with the heavy 800mm Canon lens! His friend, a painter, had to carry that lens! :-) Another landscape Photographer had the same camera than myself, a Canon 5d3 in combination with the 70-200mm 2.8 and a 3kg tripod! Also a nice setting!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Day 4: On the search for foxes

In the afternoon I went to the next valley looking for an old, damaged building, but I only reached a campsite with a toilet! So I thought the ranger meant a different place for the fox nest! I gave up and walked 1h30 back! Then he told me that I was right but it was about 30m away from the toilet! What a pity! If it is foggy tomorrow I will try again! The ranger went only 2h fishing and only a few hundred meters outside and he came back with more than 100kg of cod! The biggest one was 18kg alone! Unbelievable! Now there is enough food for the next guests and also a delicious meal for the foxes! Much easier than to catch a bird! :-) Hope that the fog will disappear tomorrow! I am ready for 2 more day hikes but then bring me to a position so that I will reach my boat on Friday 18:30! Have to check the tides, as one passage is only passable in low tide! So waiting for the foxes, that should hopefully smell their waiting cod meal!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Day 4: Lighthouse Latravik --> day hikes

Today morning I started hiking up to Hornbjarg, but it was very foggy so finally I lost the track and returned. i also didnt manage to find the highest mountain, Kalfatinder 534m! Maybe yi try tomorrow again, as I need one nice landscape shot for my planned Iceland calendar! But for the afternoon I have a great plan! The ranger told me where to find another nest of foxes! It is about 2h from here and it is below an old deserted house! So I will go for that! Meanwhile the ranger is going fishing! If he is lucky with a big catch, then I will have fresh fish for dinner!

So no foxes so far and also no landscape shots!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Day 3: Rekavik to Latravik Lighthouse After photoshooting the arctic foxes I went for the next stage, a relatively easy 3h hike! One kneedeep 30m-river crossing and about 400m of altitude and I was there at the very nice lighthouse hostel in Latravik, where I first took a hot shower and booked a cosy private room! The last 3 days were very tough with a backpack heavier than 40kg! Now I will do some easier dayhikes and concentrate more on photography!

The foxes liked my hot dogs, but didnt like the dry dog food! Another hiker was shocked that while he was eating pasta I gave the foxes delicious hot dogs! But for me it is OK! I was rewarded with very nice shots also of the more anxious little ones! There were 5 of them! Very interesting to see how they move, play and communicate with their mother! Usually the mother gave the hot dogs right away to her cubs. And then there were some little fights for the food! :-)

It is very foggy here and sometimes the route is not so easy to find, though there are excellent markers each 30m!

Great place on earth here in Hornstrandir!

Ordered a pancake with coffee! :-)

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Day 3: Kjaransvik to Rekavik Today I had a very late start at 17:00, as there was rain before and I hate carrying a heavy, wet tent in addition to my heavy backpack! Day 2 and 3 are still tough, as I didnt manage to eat much food and so far also there were no foxes for the hot dogs and dog food! After 1h I passed a summer house and it was crowded with very nice Icelandic people! They invited me for dinner (noodles with beer) and told me interesting stories on Hornstrandir! But then at 19:00 I started the same route that I already hiked 10y ago! Last time I lost the route and this time was also difficult as of the fog! The stone markers are very helpful but sometimes the fog is too dense to see the next one! But this time I managed to find the route and finally I reached the camp site! Very soon I saw ears hiding in the higher gras and of course it was an arctic fox! So first photo session! My hot dogs were very welcome and the female fox gave everything to her 4 cubs! They were figthing for the hot dogs! This way I save the life of some birds! Their home is below an "info house". I didnt need my tele-lens! I can go as close as 30cm to the female fox! The little ones however are a bit anxious, but tomorrow I will get closer to them! :-) So far from beautiful Hornstrandir! There are colorful flowers, green grass, foxes everywhere, the sea, clouds and fog, but also sun and nice mountains. Not to forget some tame birds!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

The rain stopped and I decided to continue! With 24h daylight you are free to choose when to hike! I have been here before 10y ago and I know where to expect foxes! That is why I will change my campsite and will go to Hornbarg!

Just heard from a female Canadian solo hiker, that Germany won the football game! :-)

Route on www.franktschoepe.com News

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Day 2: Heavy rainfall

I will spend today in the tent, as of heavy rainfall! Yesterday I was so exhausted that I slept right away and when I woke up today there was still an unfolded map on my sleeping bag and a cold cup of tea! :-)

Tomorrow I have to continue as otherwise I would not make my planned circle! I have plenty of books and music with me! I could read for more than 3 months! :-) No fox hunting today! :-) Dont know the result of Germany against Argentina yet. If you know and have connection to me, then please send! And many thanks to all my tough workers in Kasachstan, India, Bangladesh, who are working on my website! You are all great! That is why I selected you for my team!

You dont have to worry! I am safe and will be very well after this day of recovery! :-)

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