3 Sisters Adventure Trekking in Nepal
I have written about the New Zealand based company Trekking 4 Women – a New Zealand site where Anne Young organises treks for women in Nepal and Africa. Today I came across the Three sisters Adventure Trekking Company where three Nepalese sisters Lucky, Dicky and Nicky Chhetri, are pioneers in the field of female trekking guides. Since 1994, they have worked towards empowering women in Nepal.
Rosanna Capatini is the owner of Eliotropica - a travel company focused on women travellers to Italy. When I made contact with Rosanna about Women Travel the World, she was very interested and when I said we were coming Italy, she said “You must come and stay in Lucca – the most beautiful town in Tuscany”. Of course – how could we refuse?
I have just been introduced to another new B&B for women in West Cork Ireland – Bellatrix on Ireland’s stunning south west coast. Young and old, active and retired women, all are welcome.
Owners Lainey and Rita offer a home from home – set in mature gardens It is close to the fishing town of Castletownbere and from their website it looks like there is great kayaking and beaches to explore. Bellatrix is now listed on the Women Travel the World website with dozens of other great accommodation options around the world – check it out.
We spend a half day exploring Malaga - the town that is, not the horendous stretch of built up coastline that is the UK abroad. Malaga is definately worth a visit – if you are driving, park at the airport and catch a train into town. It is an hour’s drive to Diva Espana from the airport.
The road is not for the faint hearted, but Diva Espana hosts Kathy and Linda gave us the best instructions, and offered to meet us to show us the final stretch of track to Diva Espana, as we have not printed out those details.
I will never complain about the drive to my house again – this track is definately challenging, but worth the effort. We arrive at a perfect slice of paradise, set high in the mountains of Andalucia. A beautiful swimming pool beckons, with a jacuzzi beside it, surrounded by sun loungers and chairs to watch the sunset or sunrise.
The buildings have classic white washed walls and the rooms beautifully renovated and comfortable. There is an honesty bar by the pool with drinks, and icecreams. And then there are the hosts – Kathy and Linda are from the UK and have developed this property as a retreat for women.
Unlike many other UK people here in Spain, they have become a part of this community. They are learning Spanish, have officially registered as a guest house and are keen members of the local community.
Kathy is a fantastic cook – breakfast is included, a light lunch and two course dinner is available on site. Linda is the handy person and driver – they make a great team, and their welcome is warm and generous and the food amazing.
Unfortunately we are only here for 3 nights – it is clear that we should be staying longer. The other guests are here for a week, most are return visitors and have not brought cars – they intend to make the most of this retreat space. Some have come on their own – its a great place to stay for a woman on her own – you can have your own holiday, but have company as well through the day.
We take off for the day to visit Granada and the Alhambra which is about a 2 hour drive.
The next day we decide to stay around – we walk to the nearby village of Comares - about 1.5 hours walk there, and 1 hour back. Its a beautiful village – we have a delicious menu of the day at El Molina de Los Abuelos where gay hosts Ivan and Nenno offer a warm welcome. (Linda offers a taxi service to the village for those who don’t want to walk)
There are a lot of walks around the area for those who are keen walkers, but it is also a place where you can be seduced to do nothing at all – to just relax and wind and unwind.
Diva Espana is the perfect place for time out, or to stay in a longer travel plan – but don’t stay less than 3 nights!
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For 2o years Sandy of Adventure Associates in Washington has been designing and running tours for women, so it was great to hunt her down in my recent trip to Seattle – luckily she was home, as she was having a yard sale. So on this extremely hot day, we headed out to West Seattle to see her. The yard sale was going well – lots of buyers and bargains to be had.
Sandy and her partner Vanessa both work out of home – with two separate businesses – so no commute for them. Established in 1987, Adventure Associates is an ecologically sensitive adventure-based travel company specializing in small-group, international and domestic active travel programs – they do a lot of local programmes – including kayaking and camping tours in the nearby San Juan Islands, but they also lead tours further afield to Peru, Nepal, Africa, and of course New Zealand.
Sandy has not been to NZ yet, but is planning a trip herself soon. Roz and Cynthia of Bushwise women used to guide their NZ trips, and more recently Lyn of Driftwood Dreamers has been the guide.
It is always great to meet people you have been emailing, and see them in the flesh and find out more about their work – so this trip is a great opportunity to do this. They are now on the Women Travel the World website – find them here
I have just been in touch with Caren Akinyi Orao, who is a widow aged 40years living in kenya. She has set up a home where she can assist women who are lees fortunate in the society in Nairobi. She runs a project of weaving baskets and accomodating visitors who are willing to stay with families and enjoy the real african culture, within the house everything is provided accomodation, food from breakfast to supper at acost of 10 dollars/day. this money is then used by the women to buy more materials to weave the basket.
What a great opportunity to meet and stay with local women in Kenya… See more about Caren’s garden
Marian Marbury started this women’s travel company in 1999 – and they are still going strong. i have known of them for some years, so am excited that they have just joined the Women Travel the World website. Much of their philosophy resonates with me, especially the bit about “We love eating good food and laughing lots!”
I am two days into my own four month travel adventure, and am so glad to be looking forward to travelling with other women on tours such as these – sharing the stories and the journey and the good food with kindred spirits and other locals we meet along the way.
My new website has just flown off into cyberspace – Women Travel the World – www.womentravel.info Its a smart site (but I would say that!) – it uses google maps so you can find your way to a women’s hotel in Berlin or a B&B in Florence or Krete. And it has a Tour Calendar so that you can see when and where tours are across dozens of tour operators. Check out a safari in Africa, two weeks in New Zealand or Trekking in Nepal.
The site is offering free listings for the first year to any women owned and run accommodation and tour companies around the world.
After years of planning and working with local web designer Jan Malone it is out there flying on its own. I can hardly believe it.
Read the press release here
I found this company when I was researching for my new Women Travel the World website, and have just heard that they were one of the three winners in the Geotourism Challenge There were 321 entries from 83 countries and 501 from 86 countries, so they did very well to win – their main innovation was to train and empower women through adventure tourism and guide sustainable tourism development in new areas. CONGRATULATIONS!
Read about their entry here
Segou, in Mali, West Africa: One of the things I love most about travel is the interesting people you meet along the way. People who inspire you by their character, their way of life, their determination against the odds, their attitudes and outlooks. These people leave an indelible mark on your being, that you carry with you forever. If you asked them, probably they would say their story is not worth telling. I met two such people in the riverside town of Segou, in Mali, West Africa.
It was a hot, lazy day in Segou. I was traveling with an Irishman, Roy, who I had met in the capital of Bamako – it was a mutually beneficial travel arrangement: I was his French translator and he was my fake husband. So far his ability to be a fake husband was about as good as my French – average, but we were getting by! Arriving in Segou late the night before, we hit the streets early the next morning to check out what this dusty, enchanting riverside town had to offer.
Next to the Niger river was a small, makeshift tourist office containing a desk, a couple of chairs, and a list of tours stuck on the wall with some faded and curling photographs. Roy and I planned to take a longboat up the river for the day to visit various villages and tribes, and we were waiting for our guide. I plonked myself in the shade on a small clay fence. The heat had slowed me down to snail’s pace, and I sat mesmerized by the slow-moving, milky-brown river. As I sat and stared, a strange looking figure appeared in my peripheral vision. I turned to see a young Malian guy loping down the street in a very odd way: walking on all fours, sandals on his hands, one shriveled and thin leg completely straight, the other bent, his bottom pushed into the air, he was “walking” the only way he could. Obviously he had had polio as a child, not uncommon around here. It looked very awkward, and my Western upbringing told me not to stare. No less than 2 minutes later this poor wretch was sitting next to me on the fence, a huge white grin aimed my way, his cute black face framed with short, neat dreadlocks, and a colourful large shell choker adorning his neck. This was Mohammed, a local jewellery salesman…
After a short introduction, Mohammed whipped out some necklaces from a small bag, hoping to make a sale. His demeanor was instantly infectious, but although my white skin indicated to the locals that I was obviously “born to shop” and a “bank on legs” (making you a target for every salesman in town), I was not in the mood for haggling (or shopping, for that matter). So I just chatted with him, (in my bad French) because after all, I was here to meet the locals.
Later that evening Roy and I were sitting in a small, busy bar listening to some fantastic live Malian music (Mali has some of the best music and musicians in Africa). Mohammed crawled in and plonked himself next to us. It was nice to see him. We listened to the music, chatted and drank local beer. After a while, another local polio victim staggered into the bar on crutches, a huge, white smile a-blazing. Enter Amadou!
Amadou, a friend of Mohammed, made a beeline for our table, introduced himself and joined us. Mohammed looked a little miffed. Obviously Amadou was a bit of a show-stealer and he was “moving in” on his new friends. It turned out Amadou was a poet and wrote poems of love in French – and would we like to hear one? Of course! With one arm outstretched, the other hand on his heart, and his eyes locked into mine, Amadou recited a beautiful poem de l’amour – it was hysterical! (And probably beautiful if I had understood it!) He then pulled out a small photocopied book of his poems and sold me one. He was a real character.
Eventually it got late and Roy decided to go back to the hotel. I was enjoying Mohammed and Amadou so much, I decided to stay on with them. They suggested we go to the outdoor disco at my hotel – great idea! Roy was not going to be able to sleep with all that noise anyway! At the disco the dance floor was packed with local Malians dancing as only Africans do – magnificently! I was having a drink with “my boys” when Amadou suggested we dance….Er…I thought you needed two working legs for that? Wrong! We got up onto the dance floor, Amadou hopping around on his crutches and Mohammed jumping around on all fours like a mad dog, dreadlocks wagging. OK, so we needed a bit more room than everyone else, but noone batted an eyelid at this odd trio. I thought to myself, “if only my friends could see me now!” It must have looked hilarious. I realized that in our culture disabled people are expected to behave in a disabled manner. These guys were neither disabled physically in their heads nor in their attitude to life. I was loving hanging out with them.
I stayed another couple of days in Segou and visited Mohammeds family and met
Amadou again also. What I admired most was that they both worked for a living. Using their disabilities as fuel, not brakes, all the while carrying a great attitude towards life. In so many other African countries they would have been beggars on the street, slaves to their disability. But here in Mali they had pride and self-respect. I will never forget those few crazy days in Segou and my two new friends, Mohammed and Amadou.
Written by Julie Paterson – Venus Adventures – Global Trips for Women who Love to Travel
