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Julio Carvajal
@jcarvaja17
Best of the week 27 at #nomadict 2020
I traveled to Cuba, five years ago, all alone, for the very first time. The feeling of being alone in that amazing place turned something on in my mind that kept me traveling over and over again. I always came back with photos taken with my cell phone which I would show to everyone or even upload them to my social media accounts. As time went by I knew it was time to add more quality to those memories and I got my first DSLR.
"I began capturing marvellous Costa Rica, my home country, with my new camera."
The first time I saw some of my landscape shots of Costa Rica being shared by huge internationals accounts was one of the most satisfying feelings – I knew I was showing the place I love the most to many, many people by this means. Costa Rica is said to be the Switzerland of Central America. In spite, it is not as popular for landscape photographers as other locations. I believe publicity about Costa Rica is always focused on staying in a luxury hotel in front of the beach or in the jungle, and relax. Do not get me wrong, that is awesome too, but there is way more than that.
As a filmmaker and photographer who loves hiking, I always find myself visiting waterfalls, volcanos, and lakes during the weekend, finding new places and exploring new directions. And you know what is the most crazy thing about it? After four years of constant adventures inside of Costa Rica, there are still tons of places that I do not know.
"If you like landscape photography and true adventures, this is the place to be."
"My favorite spots here in Costa Rica got to be the different active volcanoes we have (Turrialba Volcano, Poas Volcano, Arenal Volcano)."
Having to hike around 3-4 hours in the middle of the night – when it’s pitch-dark – to get right before sunset to the edge of an active crater is one of the most thrilling experiences you could ever have. It is not an easy hike, but once you are there, there are no bad photos. Due to the nature of the geography of a volcano, hiking to the top of a volcano is always demanding. You are always going up so you need to prepare your mind and your body for this kind of hike. Your physical condition will be tested as you reach new levels of altitude and there is always the danger of an eruption. One of my toughest ascends was to the Iztaccihuatl Volcano, Mexico, having an altitude of 5230m.
"I was fighting with myself against quitting. The high altitude was killing me and seeing people retiring and going home was an invitation that looked really appealing."
I learned here that our minds are really powerful and they can overcome all barriers you have – my body was done but my mind kept me going for the last couple of miles. I set this trip to hike this Volcano, that was my goal and I could not go home without achieving it.
"However, if you set these kind of goals, preparation is very important in order make achieving them as realistic as possible, without too much suffering."
Last year I tried three different Volcano hikes and all of them were awful due to thunderstorms, a lot of rain or even really low temperatures that made the hike impossible. After the last attempt at the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano I decided that it was time to pay a little more attention to the pre-hiking details and since then I’ve been studying wind speeds, rain levels, cloud coverage of the areas, etc. Besides those checks on the weather I also check on the website of the national entity in charge of studying the volcano activity in order to see the current state or if there is any warning about the volcano itself.
"So far I've done four Volcano hikes this year (2020) and all of them have been successful."
One of them was the ascent to Acatenango, Guatemala. From there you can see Fuego, an active volcano right next to Acatenango with an altitude of 3,763m. I can tell you, there is no other place like that. Hiking to the top of an inactive volcano to watch the neighboring volcano (Fuego) erupt all night long is amazing. I can even say that it is the most powerful and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I slept 30 minutes that night and even though I had another hike the next day that was more challenging due to the lack of sleep, I did not regret it. Not at all.
The day of the winning shot is another example of such a great adventure that I will never forget. Iceland had been in my head for several years, I remember seeing Icelandic landscapes on a Ben Stiller Movie “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” When I watched that Movie I decided to visit Iceland, so you can imagine how I felt when I was finally going there. I started doing my usual research for epic places and I found this volcanic waterfall, Hengifoss. It seemed something else – I had never seen a waterfall like that, with walls colored by what once was Lava. Amazing. I investigated further to get the specific location in Google Maps and after a while I got it. Hengifoss and the apple crater volcano in the Highlands were the two places I wanted to check out while in Iceland no matter how harsh the circumstances would be.
WINNING PHOTOGRAPH
BEST OF THE WEEK 27
Despite the research I had done before it was quit a job to get there. I remember telling my girlfriend at some point that if we would not see the volcano in the next 10 miles, we would turn back as it was getting really late. About 5 miles from that discussion the volcano appeared on the horizon. When we finally arrived I was impressed by its structures, colors and beauty. By nature’s art. I hiked a little in order to reach the low side of the waterfall, sat down and enjoyed the view for a minutes. It was magical, and the weather conditions were perfect that day. Despite the huge winds that we had last night, that morning was super calm.
"I decided to fly my drone and the rest is history. What a moment…"
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