Monthly Archives: November 2013

Skiing in the desert

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Atlantic Ocean in the horizon

“I will take you to my world record sand dune, Ian. It’s bigger than ‘The Matterhorn Dune.” Henrik exclaimed excitedly.

I was already huffing and puffing up the sand dune in ski boots with skis on my back. The sand found its way in the ski boots and bore two nice holes in my shins.

“Let’s do it!” I cried.

I’m in Namibia looking to get my skiing fix. It just so happens I was in Swakopmund where Henrik’s office is based. I couldn’t tell you where I saw an ad for his place, but it was from the corner of my eye. I Googled “skiing in Namibia” and he was the first hit that pops up.

Henrik holds the world record for the fastest time skiing on sand, clocked at 92.15 km/h. Henrik worked over ten years developping his special wax formula specially suited for skiing on sand. It’s hard for him to hold back his excitement when he talks about the technical aspects of skiing.

Henrik at the top of Matterhorn Dune

From modest beginnings in East Berlin before the wall fell, his amazing story took him from competing in ski jumping into Namibia. After a life threatening accident, he climbed onto his skiis to set the world record and make a name for himself.

Sand skiing, especially in Namibia, is the most surreal thing ever. Being an avid skier, I was craving to get myself back on the slopes, but where to go except that giant pile of sand in the desert? When I climbed up to the top of Matterhorn dune to do a few runs, you could see right across the desert. And the Atlantic Coast line. It was the most bizaare site ever. It’s like I was skiing in the world’s biggest beach, as Namibia’s desert ends right at the ocean.

Our camp for the day

His adventure lead us well into darkness, when the sand is at the optimal condition for skiing on because the wax required cool air, not because it was light sensitive. The last run I end up doing was on his dune that he set his world record on, under the stars, under the moon, no winds and next to the ocean.

Perfect conditions.

To find out more about Henrik and skiing in Namibia, check out http://www.ski-namibia.com/

Could’ve suffered much more at night… Have you considered mosquito nets?

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PermaNet hanging out during the day. Not in anti-mozzie mode
just quite yet!

I woke up in the middle of the night from the swelling, itching and a thousand mosquitos finding their way through the giant wide open windows to the already stuffy room in India to eat me alive. It was mosquito netting time. I didn’t think it would be as bad as it was considering how the evening was so mild. But then again, I’m the kind of guy that mosquitos love, to my demise.

Thank goodness, Vestergaard Frandsen had provided me with wonderful oppurtunity to try out their mosquito nets, aptly named PermaNet. This fantastic company, in short, helps improve lives of those in vulnerable countries through supporting the UN’s Millenium Development Goals. And this mosquito net is one of the big products. It helps with fighting malaria in the most hectic mosquito ridden places.
Make shift the net; notice pack shoved
to increase height in feet space
Mosquito nets injected with insecticide
The one I received from Vestergaard Frandsen was big enough to fit two people in a rectangular prism. All four corners can be strung up with extra material to lift the mid points up. Or be creative and figure out how to fit your sleeping accommodations.

And embedded in the mosquito netting is insecticide. And my gosh does it work. The insecticide, Deltamethrin, is harmless to humans at that potentcy. However, I would still recommend washing your hands with soap thoroughly after handling it, as it can cause a burning feeling if touched in more sensitive parts of the body. It could last up to 2 days.

The results
You can actually see the mosquitos collect on the net and around on the ground. I had no idea mosquitos loved me that much! It was quite satisfying to have a full night rest without having to worry about being eaten alive.

The implications of this, other than my own comfort, is that when this mosquito net is distributed to the vulnerable countries, it actually will prevent malaria. Any mosquito net will do, really, but when there’s insecticide, it will greatly reduce the chance of the having more mosquitos around. 

Practicality
The best part of it, especially for those hardcore backpackers, this mosquito net is pretty easy to set up, pack, and throw in your pack. I usually carry some cord when I travel (being me) and I can string it up in a makeshift way. Even when I don’t have all four corners, I can shove my pack in the appropriate spot to elevate the net to not touch my feet. I love the fact I have a retangular prism, it provides ample amount of room under the netting and keeps it off your face. It’s possible to fit 4 people in it easily.
Net shoved away during the day.
In short, if you’re going to some mosquito infested regions, don’t leave without this mosquito net, PermaNet. It’s an amazing product that I had never considered until I was introduced to it.

All respiratory masks suck. Except for this one

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Totobobo Mask

I’m not a man to give reviews very easily, unless it was bad… or spectacularly amazing. And this one is it, amazing. I’m talking about the Totobobo Mask, of course.

After a few years of use, it was about time I had written something more significant.

My Criterias: Light, Not hot, breathes easy, and non invasive
When I was still working in South Korea, spring time was also a time for a phenomenon called “Yellow Dust”. Fine particles of sand specs picks up from the Gobi desert, collects air pollution as it travels through China and then dumps it in Korea. This can also last throughout the summer. Needless to say, I got sick a lot during the spring. Finally, I had enough and decided to look for a good mask. My criteria was that 1) Was light 2) Not hot 3) Breathes really easily 4) Non-invasive

You can rock climb with it!

After searching awhile online, reading reviews, I found that most other masks were lacking in atleast one of these criterias. Some were made of neoprene, some were “good” but once the filter goes on, it’s very hard to breath, and some were just a huge thing in your face. Just as I was about to give up, I found Totobobo Mask.

They matched all my criteria.

Light
This mask is incredibly light. You can even mash it up, fold it in your pocket and carry it around with you. No harm will come to this mask.

Not hot
Despite scorching 36 degrees and 110% humidity, the mask doesn’t make it any hotter when you breath into it. Ok, a little bit, but despite that I’m a sweaty guy, (I use a sweat band that channels sweat instead of a sweat absorber in high cardio exercises in the summer) the mask doesn’t really make that much of a difference.

Breathes Easy
Yeah, as I said, I do lots of sports outdoors. And so breathing hard into this mask is no problem. The air flow doesn’t really slow down. It does a bit, but not that significant.

Non-invasive
Once I got it, I started wearing it riding my bike to work. And wouldn’t you know, I didn’t sound like someone who had been smoking for 10 years and you can see the physical debris of dirt that gets caught up in the filters. Not only do I ride my bike with it to work, I also rock climbed with it. It never got in the way.

After using it for biking and rock climbing, I had brought it to India and Nepal. Even just sitting in the rickshaws in Nepal for 20 minutes, I had realized my mask is completely filthy and needed a filter change. With good foresight, I had bought a lot of filters.

Some other cool features?

30 minutes in a can in Kathmandu, Nepal

Filters
How good are these filters? Well, if you don’t know what N95 is, that is pretty much the standard for “The American National Standard for Air Purifying Respiratory”. This means it filters out practically every airborne pollution, which refers to 95% of the pollution. Also, I ended up getting N96 filters too!

Changeable filters, renewable everything! Less waste!
Unlike other masks where you have to throw out the entire thing and get a new one, Totobobo only throws out the filters. This produces a lot less garbage and being environmentally aware, I feel a lot less guilty doing this. To be honest, I didn’t think this was a thing I’d really like about it, but it has grown on me. Recently doing lots of construction work, I’ve been throwing out and purchasing a lot more face masks than I feel was necessary. This changed everything

In a nutshell
Get it. My lungs and health significantly got better, you can see the pollution being filtered out, it’s not invasive, not hot, light, easy to wear and reusable. There are so many pro’s about this one filter! I’m very happy with it and you should totally get one, by clicking right here!