WARTCH THE VIDEO ABOVE !

Crossing enemy lines by air, from Armenia to Azerbaijan via Georgia, TotalAdventure landed in Baku mid day Saturday April 27th.

The immigration officer at Baku asked why I had been in Armenia and the answer was tourism business. The passport was duly stamped , this is surely a common acccurence. At least 5 other people on the Tbilisi -Baku flight had transited from the Yerevan–Tbilisi flight.

2 Flights from Yerevan, First, a 30 minute flight North to Tbilisi on Georgian Airways. . Then an 1.5 hour hour flight to Baku on Azerbaijan Airways.

The first thing one notices when entering the oil-rich city is theincredinle buildings – ;like a mini-Dubai. Here is the Hotel Crescent Architect Andrew Burns.

TotalAdventure stayed at the Fairmont in the Flaming Towers. Arounf US 250 a night, a fraction of the price in New York. In the foreground is Mosque of the Martyrs, built by the Turkish government in the 1990s soon after the Soviet collapse.

I had hoped to enjoy Caspian Caviar , as far as TotalAdventure is concerned the only real икра – Ikra, as it’s called in Russian. InTurkmenistan we hadabouta half pound for US 45 back in 2019. THisis farm raised sturgeon and very expensive. The eggs look oerfect, and the eggy taste is mild. Supposedly the ral thing will not beavailable for anouther 15 years – fishing was shut down due to population crash. However Iran and Turkmenistan produce very small amounts.

As of this writing the Azerbaijan Manat is 1.69 to the US $. Azerbaijan is a upper middle class country and prices are similar to the US or Western Europe, though high end hotels and restaurants are lower priced.

Soviet World War Two Memorial Monument.

View from the Fairmont in Flaming Towers. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE TO SEE THE TOWERS FLAME !

The Azeris area patriotic people – aligned with Turkey, with bitter memories of Soviet occupation. The ongoing war with neighboring Armenia is a result of Soviet redrawing of national borders.

The cuisine – much like Turkish ,with a hint of Persian and Russian – is deliciousa nd healthy. Here isa sampling of Caspian seafood.

Egg in pita – amazing. Bürek.

Lamb. Food is Halal in the predominately Islamic nation, though alcohol is widely available.

The Old City – Sultan’s Palace.

A grave. Before the Soviets arrived, Arabic script was used, just as in Turkey. Now a modified Latin alphabet replaces Cyrillic. Turkish and Azerbaijani are very similar and people can understand one another.

Early 20th Century.

TotalAdventure has swum in all 4 Oceans – as well as many seas – which are part of , or attached to the major oceans. The Caspian Sea connects to no other body of water. Though 100 km long and 320 km wide ( 750 X 200 miles in American measurement) , the Sea is really the world’s largest lake. Like a lake there are no tides . The salinity is only 1/3 of the average ocean. Under the sea floor is much oil and gas – enriching the surrounding nations. I swam in relatively clean waters south of Baku,.

On the morning of Tuesday April 30th = TotalAdventure flew to the Azores, via Istanbul and Lisbon.

TotalAdventure Is Currently En Route To Antarctica. We arrived here on Wednesday , November 30th after flying from Miami through Buenos Aries.

It is 600 Miles Across And Will Take 2 Days.

The MV Hondius Is An Icebreaker Class 6 Polar Ship. Built in 2019,It carries 112 Passengers. You can track our voyage HERE

Glaciar Martial. At ehe end of the 12000 mile Rockies and Andes chain that begins in Alaska.

Argentina is 5000 km North To South. A long beautiful drive.

The Malvinas Are An Important Situation Here.

Ushuaia Is Far From Everywhere !

Southernmost Commercial Airport In The World.

Don Bosco Cathedral.

Glacial Stream.

Looking South TO Chile. TotalAdventure will depart tomorrow afternoon throught the Beagle Channel and past Cape Horn.

TotalAdventure returns to Ushuaia Argentina on December 13 . We are extremely unlikely to have any internet or cellular contact while on the expedition, but perhaps a sporadic link. TotalAdventure looks forward to sharing the adventure with everyone !

Last week ArcticTropic headed to San Francisco on business – to explore financial opportunities that will allow us to expand exponentially.  Since natural beauty abounds everywhere – it was easy to get great footage without traveling too far from the various meeting places.

Coming back into the City from Marin County at sunset. September is summer in the Bay Area – the normal cold grey cloak of fog lifts for a couple of months, allowing for spectacular views.

Sunset Over The Pacific.

The America’s Cup Yachts In Port.

Oracle Ahead – From the St.Francis Yacht Club.

On The Way – Chicago, before a change at O’Hare.

On The Way – Mono Lake, California – Nevada in the Distance.

For adventures in the United States, CLICK HERE

There is no better way to explore the glorious metropolis of Istanbul than with a citizen of the city. ArcticTropic was very fortunate to be hosted by Nezih Çavuşoğlu – a renowned artist in Turkey and increasingly throughout Europe. He descends from an old Ottoman family and was educated in Switzerland and the United States.

On the day I arrived Nezih sent his driver to pick me up at my hotel. As it turned out, his work was being auctioned that evening at Istanbul’s top gallery.

Sold !

More works by The Artist.

Fame !

The next day I arrived at Nezih’s beautiful apartment overlooking the Bosporus, with a view from Europe to Asia. His work graced the walls. From there we left for a cruise up and down the Bosporus – featured earlier on ArcticTropic Blog.

With Artist Nezih Çavuşoğlu before Yachting in the Bosporus.

With his wife Gulsen.

Istanbul by night is incredible. We feasted in the top restaurants.

Partied in the most exclusive clubs.

Then aperitifs at other artists houses.

ArcticTropic thanks our gracious host Nezih,who showed Istanbul in an incredible way that no one else could.

FOR ADVENTURES IN TURKEY, CLICK HERE

After a rough sail southwards from Iceland, dodging icebergs along the way, we finally make landfall about 10 days after leaving Reykjavik Harbor. At 39’30’ North, 31’ 10” West we reach Corvo.

Corvo

Flores

Most of the islands were or are still volcanic. Many have hot springs. The Azores are one of the the highest mountain ranges in the world after Hawaii.

Faial

Pico

The mild mid North Atlantic is not known for snow – but Pico is snowcapped half the year.

São Jorge

Though in the high 30’s North Latitude ,São Jorge has an almost tropical feel.

Terceira

From here one can fly to Lisbon, and in the summer – to Boston.

Graciosa

São Miguel

Santa Maria

And now, we continue to the Portuguese islands of Madeira.  An interesting note – almost all the islands of the Atlantic speak either Portuguese ,English or Spanish– or dialects thereof.

ArcticTropic Blog is beginning a series on the Mid Atlantic Islands – stretching 10,000 miles along the volcanic Mid Atlantic Ridge. We will start with South Georgia, onwards to Tristan da Cunha  and all the way up through St.Helena , the Azores and Iceland. Many of these islands are extremely difficult to reach – but the rewards are great for those who make the effort.

Howling November winds, up to 20 knots, whipped Miami’s Biscayne Bay into a frenzy today, 11/21/10 .ArcticTropic is a member of a local sailing club , SailLaser Miami , where members always have great boats rigged up and ready to go. Lasers , Bahia’s and today – a Dart 16 – a small Catamaran- was ready to for us to hit the chop. The club is for serious sailors who do not want the headache of boat ownership.

Thanks to our Waterproof HD camera, this excellent footage was captured, even as I manned the tiller. The blur comes from the spray flying past us. Be sure to choose the 1080 setting for  highest quality.

Miami is a true Adventure City. While it is one of the largest Metropolis’ in the USA, it is close to Hi Speed Sailing,Big Game Fishing and Surfing. One can be in the Bahamas in two hours by boat , Cuba in a few hours more than that, and the Amazon is only 4 hours away by plane.

I spent the weekend on the Maine Coast. While hardly exotic – the Maine Coast is rugged with excellent adventure opportunity. Arctic Tropic is in the process of adding hundreds of United States destinations.

FOR ADVENTURES IN THE UNITED STATES, CLICK HERE

Margarita Island is about 40 miles off the coast of mainland Venezuela. The desert climate and rugged landscape reminds one of Arizona,surrounded by the translucent Caribbean. Constant winds in the 30 mph range every afternoon create some of the world’s best windsurfing and kiteboarding conditions.

The current political climate has slowed foreign travel to a trickle – meaning great prices for those who do go. Recently the price for a beach front resort – including double room, windsurfing,sailing,tennis,all meals and Venezuelan rum and beer was $50 a night.ArcticTropic already has several Venezuela adventure travel providers – go now !