Bob Goes Abroad

A Yukon Adventure

Bob van Beers — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:33:02 +0000

After another busy week at work I decided to take my kayak on an overnight camping trip, so Saturday after work I jumped in my minivan and headed to the grocery store to buy enough food to survive the weekend. The plan was to drive to Braeburn Lake, located about 1,5 hour north of Whitehorse. While the pump attendant filled up my fuel tank at the gas station I inserted the soundtrack of ‘Into the Wild’ in my car’s CD player and concluded I was ready for a relaxing weekend getaway.

Living in the Yukon makes you redefine the definition of the word ‘highway’, since many highways are basic gravel roads without any of the characteristics of what the rest of the world calls a highway, and only once in a while you`ll pass a small settlement consisting of a small number of cabins and a gas stations which often doubles as convenience store and local bakery. The same applies to Braeburn, a small settlement located at Mile 55 of the Klondike Highway. The Braeburn Lodge is famous for its cinnamon buns and sandwiches, and is definitely a place worth visiting for anyone travelling up the Klondike Highway.

It was already shortly after nine by the time I arrived at the Braeburn Lodge, and unfortunately they just closed the kitchen for the day, so I decided to head down to the lake right away and start my trip. After taking my kayak of the roof rack, I quickly loaded it with my groceries, a camping stove, a small tent, sleeping mat, a spare set of clothes, and some basic camping gear. While looking at the lake I had a brief discussion with myself about whether I should take my photo camera along or not. Except for a couple of dark clouds on the other side of the lake everything looked peaceful so I decided to fill up the remaining space of my waterproof compartment with my Sony SLR and my standard zoom Carl Zeiss lens. A quick look in the back of my minivan confirmed that I loaded everything I could possibly need for this trip in my kayak so I locked up the car and headed down the lake in my fully loaded kayak.

One of my co-workers told me earlier that day that the lake contained some small unhabited islands, perfect for camping. The dark clouds that seemed to be far away not too long ago were now moving rapidly towards me, and it didn’t take long before I was paddling in the rain. Probably 5 minutes later the rain got accompanied by load thunder, which made me decided to head to the nearest shore and find an appropriate spot to build up my tent.

A small inlet on the opposite shore of from where I started proved to be a save harbour to set up my camp, so I pulled my kayak out of the water and went for a short walk to inspect my new ‘home’ for the night. Equipped with a can of bear spray in my right hand I walked down a partly overgrown track to find a wider open space to build up my tent. About 100 meter from the waterside I found a space big enough to build up my tent, so I quickly ran back towards the lake to start unpacking my tent. A mere five minutes later I was able to sit inside my tent and hear the rain drops hit the outside of my tent. I unrolled my sleeping mat and crawled into my warm sleeping bag, and not too much later I went into a deep and comfortable sleep.

In order to make the weekend as relaxing as possible I left my phone behind in the car, so I have no idea what time it was when I woke up the next morning but it must have been already pretty late in the morning. The dark clouds of the night before were now replaced by a clear blue sky and bright yellow sun. A breakfast consisting of 2 bananas, a couple of granola bars and a bottle of water provided me with enough energy to start the day with, so I headed back to my kayak, leaving my tent behind as storage for most of my gear. Soon I was surrounded by water again, and looking in every possible direction all I saw was rolling mountains with green trees. I spent an unknown amount of time enjoying the scenery and the weather until I passed a small island with a fairly high, sandy hill on it. I figured the top of the hill must give an impressive view of the area, so I paddled around the island to find a spot to dock my kayak and explore the island.

While walking up the sandy hill I felt like a little Robinson Crusoe on my own little island and like I expected, the hill provided my with a magnificient view of the lake. I collected a pile of rocks and used the branch of a dead tree to dig a hole to build a small fire pit. Still not having any sence of time I don’t know for sure how long it took me, but my pile of rocks turned relatively fast into a small fire pit big enough to grill my corn on the cob, my leftover bananas and some bread. This small and largely improvised meal on a location like this tasted better than many meals I ate in luxury restaurants around the world.

After my lunch break I put out the fire, walked back to my kayak and decided this was a place I would return to in the near future. I paddled back to my tent, loaded everything back in the kayak and crossed the lake again to get back to my car. Just before reaching my car I saw the small creek I didn’t pay too much attention to the night before. I asked an old man walking his dog on the shore whether this creek was heading to the highway, and if it was possible to paddle it downstream. He nodded and assured me it was about a 500 meter to 1 kilometer trip till it would go underneath the highway, followed by a spot where I could easily pull out my kayak. Before I thanked him for the information he added that there were no beaver dams or other obstacles so that it would be an easy trip downstream.

After paddling down the stream for what felt like one kilometer I expected to see the highway after every turn the creek made. Instead the creek became more and more overgrown by trees and other vegetation, making it more and more difficult to paddle through. Not much later the first trees starting blocking the creek entirely, forcing me to get out of my kayak and drag the boat over the trees. By now it was already too late to turn around so I decided to continue, still expecting to see the highway after the next turn. After passing these natural obstacles the current became stronger, and it took some serious efforts to keep control of the kayak. I started laughing thinking back of what the old man told me not too long ago, and concluded he had clearly no idea what he was talking about. A couple of turns later a beaver dam showed up in front of me, and after a failed attempt to stop the kayak I rolled over and was forced to my first unvoluntarily swim. I quickly grabbed the side of my kayak to put it back up again, but a branch sticking out of the dam got stuck behind the cover of my waterproof compartment and took of the lit. To make things worse, this was exactly the compartment I stored my camera in, and thus ruining a 1800 dollar camera in a fraction of the time in took me to save up for it. By now I got pretty upset, but I had no other option than to continue.

Not having any sense of time now turned into a negative thing, since I had no idea where I was nor where I was going. After a couple more strenuous sections I reached a large beaver dam, with a steep one meter drop behind it. I decided to get to the shore and take some time to decide what to do next. A couple of screams to figure out if I was near any civilization turned out to be useless, so I decided to leave my kayak behind and see if I could find an accessible road somewhere. With an axe in one hand, and a can of bear spray in the other I tried to find a way towards where I believed the road must be. Shortly after I left my kayak behind I realized it was close to impossible to pass this section on the forest, so I decided to turn around and look for a possible way to pass the dam. Walking back to the river I noticed what I believed were fresh bear excrements. I tend to sing only when I`m drunk, but at this time I felt the pressure to sing as loud as I could to scare away any bear that was possibly nearby.

It wouldn’t misfit in a new Pepsi commercial, but I sat down in my kayak, drank my last can of Pepsi and decided I had no other option than paddle towards the dam and look for any possibility to go down the dam. I wrapped a rope around my waist and secured the other end to the front of the boat. As soon as I reached the dam I jumped out of my kayak and crawled down the dam, hoping that it would not break under my weight, which would than cause a wave with an enormous amount of debris. Except for the sounds of a number of branches cracking underneath me, the dam seemed to hold up and I managed to get safely to the creek one meter below. From here on the creek was more accesible again, and I started to enjoy my adventure again. Instead of reaching the highway the creek turned out to end in another lake, making me wonder if I would make it back to Whitehorse on time to open the office on Monday morning.

I looked around to identify anything that would either direct me towards the highway, or provide me with an indication of where I was at. In the far back of the lake I spotted something that could possibly be a cabin, so I started paddling towards it. Halfway the lake I could clearly see the cabin. To my luck there was a lady sitting on the deck when I arrived at the cabin. Although she was surprised to see someone showing up in front of her, she was more impressed by the number of mosquito bites I turned out to have on my face, arms and legs. Without even noticing it I seemed to be eaten alive while fighting the creek. After the lady was kind enough to give me some mosquito spray she told me I was at Little Braeburn Lake, and that I would have to paddle to the opposite side of the lake and walk about 2 kilometer to reach the highway.

After I took all the water out of my kayak and tried to recover my camera I thanked her for her help and took off to cross the lake. With sore arms I reached the other side, dragged my kayak out of the water and with my backpack on my bag started walking down the heavily eroded dirt road. After walking the 2 kilometer reaching the highway now felt like a victory, but from here on it was still a 3 kilometer hike to reach the Breaburn lodge. Just after I started the last kilometer the first car passed me, which I waved down for a ride to reach the lodge.

Again the kitchen was closed, but the owner offered me to make me a fresh turkey sandwich. While I sat down to eat my sandwich I toldhim what happened on my trip down the creek. According to the owner of the lodge the creek is known to locals to be inaccessible and as far as he knew noone attempted to follow the 5-6 kilometer creek down to the end for a large number of years. Upon finishing my sandwich I walked the remaining two kilometer back to finally reach my car. By now it was already 10.30 PM and it took me another 30 minutes to drive back to my van and load everything up again. Although I was exhausted and preferred to sleep in the back of my van and drive back the next morning, I figured it would be better to drive home now, change into a dry set of clothes and get some good rest in my own bed before another busy week at work would start on monday morning.

Driving down the highway I concluded it had been an unforgettable weekend, with an excessively high price to pay in the end, with over 50 mosquito bites, arms and legs full of scratches and bruces, and an 1800 dollar camera to replace.

Canada reunion in Freiburg

Bob van Beers — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 10:33:33 +0000

During the Carnival break I made a last-minute decision to go to Freiburg to meet up with some German friends I met while living in Vancouver. Because I still have to save up money to return to Canada, I decided to hitchhike to Frankfurt and catch a ride with a friend from there to Freiburg. In Freiburg we all stayed at Sabrina’s place and partied for the weekend.

Although I had planned to get up at 8 am, it wasn’t until 10 am that I left my parents house and started my trip. Within the Netherlands students can make use of free public transport (with a number of restrictions), so I took a train to Venlo, the last city before the German border, and started hitchhiking from there.

As soon as I got off the train I started walking

Bob van Beers — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:40:02 +0000

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About me

Bob van Beers — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:05:47 +0000

Born and raised in a small town in the southern part of the Netherlands I developed a passion for traveling at a young age. Together with my parents and sister we travelled frequently during the summer months to destinations like Scandinavia and the United Kingdom.

After graduating from high school I spent almost 2 months backpacking and hitchhiking in Canada with a school friend. The same year I started the study International Tourism and Travel Industry at the NHTV in Breda, The Netherlands. As part of this bachelor study I lived for 6 months in both Finland and Malaysia.

Some of my favorite memories include backcountry hiking in Tombstone Territorial Park, commercial fishing with Aboriginals in Canada, kayaking in Borneo’s jungle, spending a day in a water village in Brunei, and witnessing the celebrations for Malaysia’s 50 years of independence. Interaction with the local population is always an essential part of my experience abroad, which has resulted in an international network of friends.

Later this year I will return to Canada to live in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territories. I have already several trips in Yukon’s vast and remote wilderness lined up, so stay tuned for more photos!

Around the world in 80 photos

Bob van Beers — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:02:38 +0000

Jumping off a 160″ bridge, flying an airplane, climbing mountains, temperatures ranging from -30 to +40 degrees Celcius, sleeping on the streets and in 5* hotels; it has all been part of 5 unforgettable years in which I travelled to nearly 25 countries on 5 different continents. This album features 80 of my favorite photos taken while exploring the world.

Backpacking in Brazil

Bob van Beers — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 09:34:05 +0000

During my time in Vancouver I got to know many Brazilian friends. I was lucky to find a good deal on a flight from Canada to the Netherlands via Brazil, so at the beginning of November I landed at Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo.

Photography

Bob van Beers — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:20:38 +0000

My travels have brought me to many unique places in the world, something I always wanted to share with people at home, and other travelers I met while being on the road. This was the starting point of a growing interest for photography. When I started traveling my first photos were nothing more than regular holiday photos, shot with a simple point-and-shoot camera. Both my photography skills and gear have undergone major developments since these days.

All recent photographs were made using a combination of the following gear:

Nikon D7000 DSLR body
Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 lens
Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D lens
SanDisk 32GB, Class 10 Extreme SDHC memory cards

I now work as a photographer specialized in landscape and travel photography. My photos have been used in a variety of publications, in both online and offline media. Clients include, but are not limited to, travel magazines, tour operators, and destination management organisations. Feel free to contact me to discuss any photo assignment on location.

Click here to go to the contact form

Youth Mobility Program Canada

Bob van Beers — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:17:22 +0000

Now the summer season is over, and days are quickly becoming shorter, I thought it was time to write something about my stay in Vancouver. The first six months flew by, and gave me loads of priceless memories. I spent the summer working as a Customer service agent for Fraserway, Canada´s largest RV rental company. During the weekends I tried to see as much as possible of what makes Canada such a beautiful place to live.

Although I had been dreaming of going back to Canada after my trip in 2005, I was not really planning to do it this early and for such a long time. A coincident meeting with a General Manager of Fraserway in Amsterdam resulted in a job offer and not much later in an actual job, so on the 8th of May I left my parents house once again, this time for the longest trip so far.

By working for a variety of companies in the tourism industry I already got a descend knowledge of the work field, but this was the first time for a rental company. Fraserway’s fleet can be divided in 3 groups, which are the van conversions, truck campers and motor homes. After a short training to get familiarized with the products and the daily tasks s regular day in the office was as follows:

In the morning customers were picked up from either the airport or their downtown hotel by one of our shuttle bus drivers . Upon arrival in the office my colleagues and I were awaiting them and went through the required paper work, followed by a demonstration of the rented vehicle. Later in the morning tasks also included taking care of the customers who came back to drop off their motorhomes at the end of their holiday. After all customers had left the office again we started prepairing everything for the next day and finished the day by prepairing the cash report.

I can write several more paragraphs trying to describe how beautiful the country is, but the only way it comes close to reality is by taking a look at the photo gallery.

As with every trip there are a few people I would like to thank for their contribution to this adventure. First of all, and very important, my parents and sister, without their support I would not have been able to do all this. Secondly a big thank you to my cousin Alex, who has been of great help from the moment I arrived in Canada. Next I would like to thank the management and (seasonal) staff of Fraserway RV for a great season, and one of my best summers ever. Finally, thanks to all my (new) friends in Vancouver, especially my roommates Sean, Stefan and Matthias, for making this place my ´home far away from home´.

Fraserway - Fraserway is Canada´s largest RV rental company, with a fleet of over 1000 motor homes. With 5 rental locations all over Canada the company is able to serve customers in all their rental needs. With 80% of its customers coming from Europe, the company makes many efforts to have an unbeatable customer service, by having German, Dutch ans Swiss speaking staff.
More information: Fraserway.com

Study trip Egypt

Bob van Beers — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:53:32 +0000

The recent introduction of Egyptair to the world’s biggest aviation alliance was reason for the Dutch part of Star Alliance to organize its annual study trip to Egypt. With a group of 120 travel agents we flew to Egypt’s capital Cairo to see what this country has to offer for both the leisure and business market.

The group was divided on flights of the Star Alliance members Lufthansa, BMI, Egyptair, Austrian, Swiss and Turkish Airlines. I was selected to fly with Lufthansa’s early morning flight to Frankfurt, with a connecting flight to Cairo. After spending the night at Schiphol Amsterdam airport, I proceeded to the check-in counter where I met my colleagues on this trip, and boarded the airplane. Frankfurt’s newly renovated airport gave us a fast and convenient transfer, so at about 4.00 PM we safely reached Cairo International Airport. The transfer to the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel (5*) gave me my first impression of this capital, dirty and chaotic, with seemingly no traffic laws, as nobody appeared to worry about traffic signs or markings on the road.

Our hotel was situated directly on the Nile shore, giving a nice view from the bar where we had our welcome drink. My room was at the 16th floor, overlooking the city center and a small part of the Nile. After we had time for some refreshments in the hotel room our dinner was served in one of the restaurants inside the hotel.

The next morning we went to Giza to see the famous pyramids. The three pyramids are only a short drive from Cairo, and are considered to be part of the Eight Wonders of the World. After some photo shoots we continued to the neighboring Sun Boat Museum, followed by a quick photo stop at the Sphinx. From there we drove back to the Nile, where we embarked a river cruise to consume our lunch.

After this lunch our tour went on to the city center itself. The city is more than any other city I have been to made by its people. Like Amsterdam is known for its canals, Singapore made by its modern architecture, Cairo has is character thanks to the local population. Everywhere you look you see street vendors selling there goods. One of the best locations to experience this is the Khan Al-Khalili market in Cairo. While the entire world is currently thinking of how to spend their own money during the current economical crisis, the only thing they seem to worry about is how they can spend your money. You have to be careful, because with smooth words and techniques they manage to transfer any situation into selling their products to you. The main rule you should remember before you enter the small streets in the area is “Don’t pay more than half of the first offer”. Negotiating is what you have to do, and although it might sometimes be difficult, real bargains can be found here.

After wandering around the small streets of the Khan Al-Khalili market for two hours we went back to the hotel. The entire day we were already accompanied by an Egyptian TV crew, and a local newspaper published an article of the Dutch travel agents exploring Cairo. That night’s dinner was furthermore attended by the Dutch Ambassador, and several local representatives of Egyptair. The entire evening was transformed into a fancy show with performances of a famous ballet group and an on-stage music performance.

While the rest of the group went to the Egyptian Museum I decided to spend some more time in the city itself. After a short walk from the hotel I already got rid of all the tourist shops and found the real population, living their lives on the street. In every street I found friendly people to have a short talk with, and willing to be photographed. Walking there felt like being in a completely different world, people seemed to be more relaxed and more enjoying the simple things in life. I passed by several small bars with old men sitting outside, overlooking the street with everyone passing by.

Two hours later I arrived back at the hotel for the lunch. After the lunch we checked-out from our rooms and were transfered back to the airport. An one hour flight with Egyptair’s domestic carrier Egyptair Express brought us from Cairo to one of the country’s booming beach destinations Sharm El Sheikh. Although I don’t see myself going on a holiday to a destination like this, it was interesting to see what this newly built destination has to offer to clients looking for a standard sun, sea and beach holiday.

We checked-in at the Marriott Sharm El Sheikh Resort (4*), and got some time to relax in our rooms. At 7.30 PM we gathered in the lobby for a barbecue at the beach. From our hotel a long boulevard lead to Sharm El Sheikh’s city center. Here you can find loads of souvenir shops, bars and clubs. Although it was still low season the city centre was crowded with mainly British and Russian tourists.

Although the entire trip had been very relaxing already, the fourth day was entitled to relax and enjoy some luxury. With four big yachts we entered the open sea for a day of sunbathing, swimming and snorkeling. During the day we made several stops along the route. We were able to see the Red Sea both above and below the water surface. The beautiful coral and fishes made it a very nice, and indeed relaxing day. Although the four boats were filled with over 100 women, no one had helped me with applying the suncreen, so by the time we arrived back in the harbor my entire body was red like a lobster.

Our fifth and last day in Egypt I just slept late and after a short flight with Egyptair Express to Cairo, and a connecting flight with Swiss via Zurich I got back in Amsterdam in the late evening. After those 5 days I can conclude that Egypt has much more to offer than regular beach holidays and I am pretty sure I will get back to experience more of this country in the near future.

During the trip I took over 1000 pictures, a selection of them can be found again in the photo gallery.

Finally, I want to thank the entire Dutch Star Alliance crew, the representatives of Egyptair and all other people involved in organizing this unforgettable trip.

Star Alliance – The airline network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer customers worldwide reach and a smooth travel experience. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 16,500 daily flights to 912 destinations in 159 countries
More information: Staralliance.com

Southern Sweden

Bob van Beers — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:46 +0000

I just returned from a 5-day trip to the southern part of Sweden were I visited my Dutch friend Lindy. Check out the photo gallery for the first pictures, more pictures will be added later this week. Special thanks to Lindy for hosting me those days and to Mr. and Mrs. van der Heijden for giving me an excellent ride home.