Blog Archive - Addicted To Nature

20 Aug

Planting Exotic Trees

August 21, 2022
By seofoxx

Planting challenge

We're addicted to nature and we bet you are too! We had so much fun planting these exotic and tropical trees in our garden in Sicily. We planted 50 trees at the beginning with 20 different species.

It was very difficult, because each plant needed different soil and sunlight. But it was worth it, because now our garden is a little slice of paradise.

This is the list of plants we started with: 3 Avocado, 3 Asimina, 2 Casimiròa, 2 Eugenia Uniflora, 2 Feijoa, 2 Giuggiolo, 3 Guava, 3 Lucumo, 3 Macadamia, 2 Melarosa, 5 Passiflora, 2 Psidium Cattleianum, 2 Plinia Cauliflora, 2 Pecan, 2 Eugenia Aggregata, 3 Anona Cherimolia, 1 Banano, 3 Black Sapote, 2 Lici, and 3 Mango (Ostern and Kensington).

If you're looking for a fun and challenging gardening project, we recommend trying to grow your own tropical oasis!

AFTER ONE YEAR

We are so excited to see the success of our planting challenge! After just one year, we are seeing such positive results. The majority of our plants are healthy and thriving, and we even had some first fruits from our mango, passiflora, guava, and giuggiolo trees! Noah was especially surprised at how much some of the plants had grown. We are constantly planting new plants and we can't wait to see what success we have in the future!

85

PLANTS PLANTED

01 Jul

Blog

Sleeping in Rifugio Bafile

July 1, 2021
By seofoxx

Abruzzi, Italy

Rifugio Bafile

Here are some impressions of the hiking trip on the Gran Sasso in the Abruzzi, Italy. Sleeping in Rifugio Bafile was thrilling! Check it out 😉

BIVACCO BAFILE – 2669MT

SLEEPING ON THE GRAN SASSO

In order to reach the Rifugio Bafile, you need to have special equipment. The way to the Rifugio can be very dangerous. You will need special climbing equipment with ropes and carabiners to attach yourself to the Via Ferrata. Nevertheless, there are many sections where there is no Via Ferrata. If there is still snow in such places; you have a problem.

Of course I was immediately hyped when Lorenzo told me about this hike. We immediately bought the appropriate equipment and tied ropes with carabiners. The weather conditions were good and we decided to go to Campo Imperatore and start hiking from there. After a few hours of the cliffy hiking trail, we finally reached the Via Ferrata. But exactly in this moment a fog front surprised us and we suddenly had a visibility of only 2 meters. We were about to break off the trip, when the fog loosened a little and we started to hook into the Via Ferrata. After several hours of climbing and hiking we suddenly came across a steep slope covered with gravel. There, the Via Ferrata also stopped. Moreover, many parts of the slope were covered with snow. For this section we needed an eternity, because we made every step with care. During the whole hike we did not know when we would arrive, because we did not see the end of our hike through all the fog. After we desperately took one step after another, a small spot in the fog opened up and we saw something red; a small hut; Rifugio Bafile! It felt so close! We marched in quick steps towards the hut and climbed up the last part. We arrived just before sunset and had a fogless view.  The night was very pleasant, because although we had the wrong sleeping bags with us, the rifugio was overcrowded with thick blankets.

Lorenzo woke me up in the morning and told me we couldn’t get out because the door latch from outside had fallen down at night and had locked the door. We were lucky, because above the door was a small window from which we could get the door latch back open with a stick.

The way back was fogless and pleasant. Very recommendable!

01 Jul

Blog

ICE EXPERIMENT – NEXT LEVEL

July 1, 2021
By seofoxx

NEXT LEVEL

Eating in the ice water

Well…we had lunch in the ice water and it was fun! Obviously, don’t try this at home. It can be dangerous. We do often go into the ice water and are trained in that. In addition we ate only a small pizza.

You can find more crazy videos on our Youtube channel 😉

01 Jul

Blog

SWIMMING IN A GLACIER

July 22, 2021
By seofoxx

Ice Swimming

Hintertux Glacier – Austria

Nature can always surprise you, especially when you are in ice-cold water! Here are some impressions of the ice swimming trip in the Hintertux Glacier in Austria. Check it out 😉

HINTERTUX GLACIER – 3250MT

ICE SWIMMING IN A GLACIER

The glacier in Hintertux is one of the most famous glaciers in the world. It hides a labyrinth of passages and water channels inside. But this is not the only reason why the glacier is so special. The water temperatures in the interior of the glacier are around 0°C. But the water masses do not freeze because they are a little bit above the freezing point and are also in motion.

We planned the trip on a weekend together with the experienced ice swimmer Christof Wandratsch.

With a gondola e went up to the glacier. We followed the ice swimmers, who immediately knew the way, into a small hole. So this was the entrance. We climbed in and couldn’t believe we were in a glacier now. The walls glowed in a bright blue and we went through a long glacier system until we hit a water channel. We first went through it with a big inflatable boat and that was the moment when the ice swimmers made it clear to us that we would soon swim in this channel. I put my hand in the freezing cold water and thought that only crazy people can go in here.

A few minutes later we finished the boat tour and we had to change ourselves. My father and I were the first ones to go in. I just turned off my head and stopped thinking about the ice water that I would soon feel. “Down the ladder and in.” – that was my only thought. My body filled with adrenaline as my feet touched the water. I climbed all the way in and swam away, feeling the freezing cold water that was about to freeze. After a short back and forth in the water I climbed out the ladder again and felt divine.

A great experience, definitely recommendable!

29 Jun

Blog

Hiking in the Calanchi

June 29, 2021
By seofoxx

LUBRIANO – CIVITA DI BAGNOREGGIO

CALANCHI HIKING TRIP

The Calanchi are located next to Lubriano and Civita di Bagnoreggio. The pattern of the rocky landscape is unique in the world.

Lubriano and Civita di Bagnoreggio are two traditional Italian villages. The beauty of the two small towns is also reflected in the nature. Between the two villages are the famous “Calanchi”. Such a rocky landscape is unique in the world. Nevertheless, the hiking trails are never crowded. Few people know the right hiking trails and the best insiders. Our goal of this hike was to spend one night on “La Cattedrale”. This is a local term for an elevated platform, in the middle of the Calanchi. But to find the entrance for the hiking trail was not that easy. Since the hike is not often visited, many parts of the trail are already half overgrown and you can easily confuse a real trail with a wild boar trail. I had to make this experience too. When we started hiking we followed such a track and lost 3 hours because of it. Finally we found the right route, which was along a small river. This route led us directly to the Platteau. There we stayed for one night with a indescribable view of the beautiful Calanchi. This trip is so unique because of the particularity of the landscape. Definitely to recommend!

29 Jun

Blog

HIKING ON AN ACTIVE VOLCANO

August 20, 2022
By seofoxx

ETNA VOLCANO

Mount Etna, Sicily – Italy

Nature is always stunning, especially active volcanos! Here are some impressions of the snowy hiking trip on Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy. Sleeping in rifugio Timparossa and rifugio Galvarina. Check it out 😉

MOUNT ETNA – 3320MT

HIKING ON THE ETNA VOLCANO

Etna: one of the most active volcanoes in Europe, with an altitude of 3320m. Our plan: to spend 3 days and 2 nights on the mountain.

We started our hiking trip in Piano Provenzana. With a full backpack we hiked towards the Rifugio Timparossa. We had blue sky, but the trail was very hard to see through the snow and the cold wind surrounded us with uncertainty. We crossed landscapes covered with small volcanoes. After a few hours we came across a small forest on the north side of the volcano. We crossed the forest covered in white snow and finally found our first place to sleep; Rifugio Timparossa. It gave us a good shelter in the first cold night. With a small oven the refuge did not cool down so fast at night.

But the oven went out during the night and the cold woke us up early in the morning. After breakfast we hiked towards Rifugio Sapienza in the southern part of the mountain. From there we crossed many forests and open meadows. Arrived at the Rifugio Galvarina, we immediately took care of the fire inside the hut. Afterwards we practiced the Wim Hof Method. The afternoon passed quickly and it became dark very fast. In the evening we could see the Etna Volcano erupt from the Rifugio Galvarina. The sky turned red after each eruption. The temperatures were sinking outside at night and we woke up the next morning with a snowstorm. But the storm did not make our return journey too difficult.

Hiking on an active Volcano was so thrilling and adventurous. Definately to recommend!

29 Jun

Blog

Sleeping in a cave on 2000m

July 1, 2021
By seofoxx

On 2000m height

Cave sleep experiment

Sleeping in a cave on 2000m height in Italy was just crazy. The mountain had snow at some places and it was freezing at night. In this video I summarize the whole trip. Check it out 😉

SELF EXPERIMENT

SLEEPING IN A CAVE

We started the trip at a height of 1000m and the cave we wanted to sleep in was on 2000m height. So we had a difference of height of 1000m. This was already insane and difficult. On the hike to the top of the mountain we even came across snow and that could only mean one thing: extreme cold at night. On the way to the cave we passed a small lake. Before it got dark we put our sleeping bags and mats on the ground and soon realized that we were not equipped at all for the coming night. The cave protected us at night from the wind that was blowing outside. But it couldn’t protect us from the cold at all.

20 May

Blog

CRAZY 10 KM SWIMMING

June 29, 2021
By seofoxx

FROM FINALE DI POLLINA TO CEFALÙ

Swimming with Christof Wandratsch

In this video Aaron and Gerrit Curcio are swimming with ice swimmer, long distance swimmer and world record holder Christof Wandratsch 10’000m in the open water ocean from Finale di Pollina to Cefalu. Also swimming with us: Cosimo Rinaudo. A distance nobody has ever done before! Enjoy!

FROM POLLINA TO THE HOTEL KALURA

THE SWIMMING ROUTE

It’s really crazy what the body is capable of doing when you step out of our comfort zone. I didn’t realise before that the mindset was so important. I managed this long distance without training and only because I believed in it.