Endless Rainforest

Every day it's harder for me to wake up in the morning, even after having slept a dozen hours. I feel like an old battery that lost the ability to fully charge and discharges quickly. I shake my leg and I still can not feel my foot.

The sting

With what strength will I leave this jungle if the road is bad? - I wonder sceptically the day I leave Libongo. I have eaten a lot in the last 4 days and good quality food. I have slept in a comfortable bed many hours every day and rested all my muscles, but still, I feel weak.

CameroonNicolás Marino4 November 2015africa, cameroon, jungle, adventure, bicycle, bicycle touring, rainforest, central africa, snakes, scorpions

The Little Black One from Cameroon

Pasé los últimos meses cruzando la selva sorteando un obstáculo tras otro y sometiéndome a una tras otra paliza, hasta llegar al corazón de la misma. En todo el trayecto había arriesgado mi vida más veces de las que prefiero recordar y hasta fui golpeado por un corrupto oficial de inmigración congoleño.

The Bayaka in my Heart

By the time I returned to the village, three days had passed without seeing them and I already missed them. I was happy to return and they were happily waiting for me. When I returned, it was like coming back home, as if I had never left.

Central African RepublicNicolás Marino29 October 2015africa, adven, central african republic, pygmy, bayaka, bayanga, jungle, rainforest

Rainforest Nights

The nights in the jungle are always special. It's like when we go to a theatre and at the moment before starting the function they turn off the lights and everything is in absolute darkness. We, the spectators, at that moment fill ourselves with excitement and enthusiasm for what is to come.

Natural Born Hunters

Son las 6.30 am. Los primeros rayos de sol se filtran arrojando puntitos de luz dorada sobre la densa vegetación de la selva. El aire es húmedo pero conserva aún la frescura liberada por las plantas durante la noche. Las mujeres están reunidas en grupo preparando sus redes y canastas.

The Morning After

5.45 A.M. I open my eyes. I slept 2 hours and I suffered the rest. The thin walls of my tent reveal the first light of day. The jungle is quiet, the elephants are gone and many insects have already gone to sleep ceding the singing to the daytime birds that are already beginning to wake up.

CongoNicolás Marino18 October 2015africa, central african republic, mud, jungle, rainforest, border crossing, trapped, adventure, extreme, bomassa, tropics

Trapped in the Night

It was not the great inconvenience of losing more than an hour worth of light the worst thing that the unfortunate episode that I had just gone through left me, but the horrible bitter taste that remained inside me.

When Everything Goes Awry

One of the most exceptional days of my entire life was coming to an end. These kinds of days are magnificent because they offer everything one imagines but, even more importantly, everything that one could have never ever imagined.

CongoNicolás Marino16 October 2015africa, congo, corruption, border, jungle, pygmy, police, immigration, rainforest, central african republic

Land of Encounters

After periods of such intensity, day after day handling such high levels of adrenaline, the arrival of easier stretches is not only welcome but becomes a necessity.

CongoNicolás Marino15 October 2015africa, congo, jungle, adventure, rainforest, mud, gorillas, chimpanze, odzala, national park

-Ça c'est la Guerre!- (That is war) Part II

I arrived at Olloba with the intention of resting but the bicycle was shattered, and so was I. After a few hours of lying on my back, now on a mattress without mice, I could barely feel my muscles.

CongoNicolás Marino12 October 2015congo, africa, jungle, adventure, rainforest, extreme, cycling, touring, bicycle touring, mud

-Ça c'est la Guerre!- (That is War) Part I

It took me two hard weeks through the jungle to make the 550 km to the last village in northeastern Gabon and there, in Mekambo, the easiest part was over.

Gabon, CongoNicolás Marino10 October 2015africa, gabon, jungle, extreme, rainforest, equatorial, border crossing, mud, adventure

Before the War

No matter how hard one tries to prepare for unforeseen events, it is never possible to prevent everything. It had been almost 10,000 km since I had left Cape Town and since then I had been carrying 10 kg extra in spare parts.

GabonNicolás Marino2 October 2015africa, gabon, central africa, jungle, rainforest, equatorial, humidity, extreme, makokou, mekambo

The Rainforest

I knew little and nothing about Gabon before crossing the border, and that is perhaps why I arrived there with so much interest.

GabonNicolás Marino28 September 2015africa, gabon, rainforest, jungle, bicycle, touring, traveling

How to say good-bye to Indonesia

Four months, seven islands, some 6000 km, and some of the most incredible experiences on two wheels so far. Despite seeming a lot, they are virtually insignificant numbers for such a vast country.

IndonesiaNicolás Marino23 July 2013adventure, bicycle, cycle, cycling, farewell, indonesia, jungle, traveling

The Long Crossing of Sumatra

Several people had told me that Sumatra was "the best of Indonesia", but honestly, after more than three months of cycling through this country, where over and over we had been

In the Ring of Fire

With such limited time as 4 months to visit Indonesia, the last place in the country where I would have spent at least one second is in Bali. The mere idea of going there gave me chills.

IndonesiaNicolás Marino19 June 2013adventure, bicycle, blue fire, bromo, cemoro lawang, crater, cycling, ijen, indonesia, java, jungle, monkey, sulfur, touring, traveling, tropic, volcano

Going Extreme!

Two of the toughest bike travelers I know, Salva and Adam, both good friends of mine, met in Sulawesi in 2009 and together they embarked on a journey that both

IndonesiaNicolás Marino30 April 2013adventure, bada valley, bicycle, extreme, gimpu, gintu, jungle, lake poso, palu, sulawesi, traveling, trip, tropical, tropics

The Road to the Extreme

It had been quite a long time ago, still during the planning stages of this trip, that two cycle travelers friends' of mine told me that Sulawesi was without a doubt,

IndonesiaNicolás Marino22 April 2013adventure, bicycle, cycling, indonesia, jungle, lake poso, sulawesi, traveling, tropics

Never Ending Green

During my years of traveling both as a backpacker and traveler by bicycle, I have been more than once dazzled by what the world has to offer. Its landscapes, its ecosystems and its phenomena are some of the reasons that always make me want to keep going out, to see more, to learn more, to feel more.