It is one, however, that is the easiest to avoid.

Dehydration.

The rainforest thrives on the equatorial sunlight, our bodies, in the hot humid environment, don’t! To survive in the jungle or even to have a more pleasant visit, we have to drink more water than we are used to.

I can’t sit here writing this and give you a quantity of water to drink. The only true way to gauge your body’s needs for water is by the colour of your urine. This should at all times be clear or as close to it as you can possibly get. Thirst is an extremely poor indicator of your state of hydration, in fact if you are thirsty you are already dehydrated.

If you are on a guided excursion always make sure the company you are going with has enough water for you during the trip. If it is not out of a new bottle ask where the water came from.

If you are trekking as part of an expedition or doing your own exploration make sure you either have enough water with you or a means of purifying other available sources, like rivers, lakes or, in some countries, their tap water!

In later post we’ll look at water purification and self help dehydration solutions.

The easiest, safest source for water is bottled. When drinking bottled water, make sure the container is sealed: it is possible that you may be served tap water in a bottle because your host thinks you like drinking from bottles, not because you want to make sure the water is clean. As the use of bottled water has spread, this problem is becoming less common, and bottled water is readily available. Other drinks from sealed bottles, such as soda, will be safe to drink, as will hot drinks, however, these do not help rehydrate you.

Water contamination can come from other sources: if it has come in contact with dirty water, it can carry disease. This includes everything from plates to fresh vegetables. Fruits and vegetables should be peeled before eating. Lettuce should probably be avoided because it retains a lot of water on its surface and is rarely cooked, making it easy to pass along bacteria. Fruit juice is fine, but some fresh fruit drinks may be mixed with water.

The other problem expedition members must deal with is food contamination. The fewer steps food has to go through to reach you, the less chance it has to become contaminated. While a piece of freshly cut, fully cooked meat is probably fine, ground meat may have been through equipment that had not been properly cleaned. Likewise, eating fish caught off the coast nearby will be much safer than seafood that has traveled any distance, as refrigeration in transit may be questionable or non-existent. Eggs in developing countries are rarely refrigerated either in transit or while in storage, creating an environment can grow salmonella very quickly, so they should only be eaten fully cooked.

Don’t forget your hands: no matter how clean or safe your food may be, you can still transfer bacteria from your hands to your body with food you are handling. Wash your hands before every meal, and keep your fingernails clean to keep from transferring bacteria to your food. Remember that you need to use water that you know is clean.

All this may seem paranoid, but there is one step that will make an expedition healthier and more fun: eat like the locals. Most people in developing countries eat healthier than those in the developed world, as their diets tend more toward fresh foods and less meat and processed foods, and locals are more likely to safely prepare foods they are familiar with. When shopping at a local market or eating at a restaurant, keep one rule in mind: busy is better. Flies indicate food had been out for a while, so it probably isn’t fresh.

Finally, make sure you know what to do when the inevitable tummy bug hits you and that you have the necessary rehydration solutions handy in your expedition medical kit.

What happens when you are given strange food, but don’t want to offend – click ‘expedition‘ to find out!

If you are a person who rarely conducts any physical activities, then there are still adventure sports to suite your lifestyle. Outdoor adventure sports are mainly sports that help facilitate the process of exploring nature in a useful and exciting way. An adventure sport could be as simple as taking a walk through a wooded area, or traveling on a boat through a gently flowing river or stream. One of the most important things to remember is that you do not try to push yourself beyond what you can handle. This will change a fun and educational experience into something painful and full of bad memories. The worst thing that can happen is that you as an individual decide that you never want to participate in any kind of adventure sport again. This feeling can easily be avoided with the choice of an activity that is suited to your activity level.

If you participate in physical activities regularly, then you have more options for outdoor adventure sports. However, not all adventure style sports are able to be completed as a novice. Some sports take training just like regular team sports. The best way to start with adventure sports is to try a short session before moving on to longer activities and sessions. For someone with a moderate daily activity level, there are many choices of activities to choose from. Almost any kind of sport can be undertaken at a novice level. It is important, however, to still know your own limits. There will always be someone with a higher training level than you, and it is really important to not push beyond your own personal limits. This is the best way to stay safe and enjoy yourself.

Individuals who engage in taxing physical activities on a regular basis have the largest amount of options when it comes to adventure sports. Rock climbing, long camping and hiking trips, extreme water sports, and many other exciting and challenging sports are available for individuals with excellent physical capabilities. It is still best to start slow and increase the amount of time spent on the sport. It is important that you don’t push yourself too hard, as this can be very dangerous. As always, it is important to ensure you have all of the necessary equipment as well as plenty of water, food, and any other necessary items for the particular sport that you engage in.

Outdoor adventure sports offer some of the most challenging and unique sports out there. People of any fitness level can enjoy some form of adventure sports. This is a great way to stay healthy while enjoying nature in an exciting way. Outdoor adventure sports have something to offer everyone.

Here is some more information on Outdoor Adventure Sports

• Finding restaurants with nutrition-based meals, especially when on a budget or in poor countries, can be difficult.
• It’s easy to grab a sugar coated snack or low cost fast food instead of fresh produce when on the move.
• In certain climates food perishes quickly.
• When visiting remote areas there are logistical restraints on getting the food from the shops to the camp.

Your health can be at risk if these situations aren’t addressed properly. For most people, taking a vacation or going on an expedition is a well planned and well financed investment, and the last thing you need is to come down with an illness or intestinal cramps.

For people who are sticking to a ‘well worn’ adventure travel route it is simply a matter of self-discipline and common sense with regards to keeping yourself healthy.  However the further in the wilderness you go the harder it is to eat healthily. Lets look at the far end of the expedition food/logistics dilemma:

• Fresh food perishes quickly and is damaged easily whilst you are on the move or getting to the base camp for your expedition.  So a 2 month expedition will run out of fresh produce by day three!
• Tins are heavy and when empty need carrying back out with you.
• Many liquid forms of goodness, such as milk (and even egg) can be purchased as a powder – but is lacking the original nutritional qualities and if it gets wet it becomes useless.
• Whatever is claimed to last longer or doesn’t need refrigeration is highly processed, meaning again that the difference between it and its natural counterpart is massive (there are a few small exceptions such as tuna).
• Many food containers are glass, which is trouble to transport and then has to be brought out.

Above we looked at what you eat… now let’s look at how much.  Have you ever sat down and made a pile on the floor in front of you for a week of ‘transportable’ food with suitable containers?  Now let’s assume you are going into an area for some research and need to be there for a month.  Times the pile by 4.  How many people are in your team? Now times the pile by the number of people in your team – add 10% for dramas, breakages, delays etc, and you are now faced with quite a large heap. Never underestimate the logistics involved in moving your food.  In over three quarters of expedition locations water will be readily available (with some purification obviously), you only need one tent per trip, one set of boots etc,  but food is a ‘constant factor’.

Below is an old photo of ours from an expedition in Belize, 2 months, 20 people… this pile was half way though the trip!  Notice how it is raised off the floor away from the bugs and the dirt.

It goes without saying to take out of the jungle/mountains/desert all your waste you can’t burn (by burn we mean paper!).

Some good advice for a longer term project or expedition – using locals on your project is a must, not only for culture, language assistance, help with the geography/ecology, but they know they nearest villages and probably the people in them.  When in Belize, we had our Mayan helpers return, after time off to visit their families, with bags of fresh fruit and vegetables (not to mention one sneeky chap who paid a few dollars for a bottle of rum!).

Give the link a click to read some more expedition diet advice?

Most adventure travel destinations are in far off lands.  When traveling on an aircraft, especially during long flights, it’s important to ensure proper hydration, even when there is no natural thirst.  Airline cabins pump recirculated air devoid of natural moisture. By drinking water every two hours, the body not only replenishes itself, but strengthens it’s immune system to fight off airborn bacteria. For those who feel light headed, almost faint, the problem can reach beyond dehydration, with a need to replenish electrolytes. By sipping a sports drink, empowered by electrolytes, the body can be restored to its natural balance.

Adventure travel can be physically demanding with outdoor sports, aquatics and hiking. To remain in good physical condition to fully enjoy your trip, it’s well advised to pack some essential vitamins and supplements, especially if you are going to an area where good fresh food is difficult to obtain. A multi-vitamin may be good enough for home, but some extra power for endurance can be had through Omega 3 Fatty Acids. This supplement, also known as fish oil, is a natural lubricant for the joints, and may give you an extra buffer with your knees for prolonged activity such as cycling, hiking and swimming.

Potassium is another source easily depleted from the body due to physical exhaustion. If you begin to feel light headed, you may need to replenish your potassium. Try eating a banana or taking at least 4 ounces of fresh, natural orange juice. Both are loaded with potasium and will return your stamina for activity.

For sports enthusiats who are always on the go, protein is a viable source to sustain the body for hours. However, when traveling, people pay little attention to their dinner plates, feeling a sense of freedom from a regimented diet. To avoid mid day fatigue, try eliminating or grossly reducing your intake of sugar and white bleach flour. These substances, plentiful in desserts, provide a quick snap of energy from the instant surge of glucose, but will cause a “crash”, or acute fatigue a few hours later. A little dietary discipline at the dessert bar will make a world of difference when you’re ready for hiking or biking.

Eating sensibly while on taking part in adventure travel activities is not only vital for endurance, but is part of the investment you made for the trip. What good does it do to spend the money, but not have the energy and stamina to enjoy it? By improving your eating habits, reduce sugar and snacking, and taking along the necessary supplements, you will be able to surf the ocean rather than channel surf from a rocking chair. Health and vitality starts with the dinner plate and some discipline. It’s up to you how good you want to feel. Nobody can do it for you.

Mountain climbing is an excellent example of an outdoor adventure sport, and is extremely popular throughout the world. Though most climbers stick to smaller mountain ranges, and climb more for the exercise, many climbers push themselves even further, and attempt to dare the most dangerous mountains in the world. Mount Everest, in Asia, and Cerro Anconcagau, in Argentina, are two of the tallest mountains in the world, which have been successfully trekked by multiple climbers, though many others have perished due to their extreme conditions. Mountain Climbing forces participants to take an active hold on their life, physically building their body to assault sheer walls of rock, mentally mapping each move while trying to practice some form of safety and common sense.

Kayaking is another notable outdoor adventure sport, as many people brave some of the craziest waterfalls and rivers in the world, armed with only a paddle and a plastic kayak. Extremely beneficial to the upper body, such as the chest, arms, and back. Kayaking offers an amazing workout! Mentally, kayakers must navigate fast flowing rivers, tall waterfalls, and other treacherous courses, constantly mapping their place, trying to maintain the correct speed, while avoiding all rocks and obstacles that may spring up at anytime, building observational skills and quick reaction times.

Though hiking does not seem like a very adventurous sport, hiking and camping in the wilderness is a whole different story, and is another popular sport. Competitive hikes, such as the one held every year along the Appalachian Trail in the States, offers participants an invigorating, yet well paced workout, while forcing them to navigate over tough terrain to stay on the correct course. Other forms of hiking are just as challenging, forcing participants to navigate some of the most difficult terrain in the world, such as deserts, dense forests, or swampland. During these days out hikers must endure harsh weather, unimaginable terrain, and extensive wear on their minds and bodies whilst carrying their equipment and navigate safely.

Survival courses are another type of adventure sport, throwing individuals completely into the wild, forcing them to make their own fire, shelters, and find their own food.  Survival courses force people to their most basic instincts, and are often hard on the body, and even more difficult on the mind, building the weak into the strong….. or they can be a good laugh if done with a friendly group and an instructor who knows the limits of his students.

Outdoor adventure sports are an excellent and active way to build the body and mind, so get out and try one today.