Jaroslaw Kapinski - touristic CV

I live in Gdańsk, city in at the and work as a physical oceanographer and coastal engineer. My hobbies and interests are focused on travel and wildlife photography, bushcraft, survival school in wilderness and particularly on active tourism which is aimed at backpacking and extreme expeditions. Therefore, as a destination I usually choose uninhabited or underpopulated areas which are located very far from the madding crowd like extensive mountain ranges, impassable marshes, sun-burned deserts, endless steppes or untouched by human hand primeval forests. I am the immense enthusiast for lowland and mountain trekking, kayaking and cycling throughout the year, cross-country skiing as well as winter swimming at sea. Additionally, I tried my hand at cave exploration, mountain climbing, rafting, horse riding and off-road rally. Many years ago I have been fascinated by the countries of the former Soviet Union. Up to now I travelled across (trekking across Belovezhskaya Primeval Forest, kayaking on , Yaselda and rivers), Latvia (kayaking on Salcia, Ula, Merkys and Nemunas rivers in Dzukija), , Ukraine (trekking across Charnokhora and Gorganian ranges of Carpathian Mountains as well across Black Sea region) and (Kaliningrad District, Ural Mountains, Caucasus Mountains, and Russian Far East). Especially I have been bewitched by Siberia, which stretches in the Asiatic part of Russia, because of the beauty and biodiversity of the nature and hospitality of its inhabitants. I visited there many spots and corners as well as discovered a few its secrets like old and contemporary labour camps and Tunguska event (place of big meteorite explosion). Among other things I explored there Primorski Mountains at the , Eastern Sayan Mountains, Subpolar Ural Mountains and West Siberian Plain over the arctic circle. Therefore I have some experience in survival techniques in such areas like dark taiga, woodless and swampy tundra, isolated mountains and grassy steppe. However I prefer wilderness, I am also well familiar with such urban areas like Magadan, Angarsk and where I explored their colourful centres and gloomy outskirts. My experience especially concerns trekking across Siberian wilderness, although I also sailed a ship on the Lake Baikal, sailed a rubber pontoon on Angara River, canoed on Lena River, many times travelled by Trans-Siberian Rail and went by off-road car at very long distances. The beauty and boundlessness of the Siberian landscapes I also admired form a plane and helicopter. I was also one of the organisers of Transsiberia – long-distance rally leading from Gdańsk across the whole Russia to Magadan (14 thousand kilometres "on wheels" across 9 time zones). Moreover, as the first foreigner I explored Strojka 501 - part of the abandoned subpolar railway line from the Stalin’s period, which was planned to connect Salekhard with Nadym. I am also familiar with harsh Siberian winter - I hiked twice on the ice-bounded Baikal Lake spending nights in a tent, where I faced up to snow storms and very low temperatures. Usually I travel in a small group, however I also experienced a lonely rafting in pontoon on Angara River running across pristine taiga, which took a few weeks. Crossing the Siberian wilderness I sometimes stayed in regions which are totally uninhabited, hard to reach by ordinary people or closed for foreigners. Several times I was exposed to danger due to people and wild animals, I got lost in deep forest and unfavourable conditions sometimes forced me to risky moves. However, I was sometimes carelessly lazing about on the sunny beaches of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Lake Baikal as well. During my trips across Siberia I often tried rich traditional Russian cooking as well as meat of exotic animals and different processed milk products while visiting indigenous people. However, with local people I also ate pasta and raw fish by hand directly from a common bowl. Another time I looked at mice as at tasty nibbles, while I was lost in a deep Siberian forest, without reserve food.

1 Another area of my touristic exploration is the Scandinavian Peninsula, especially its northern part. The harsh climate, rocky terrain and poor nature result here in a small number of human habitats and a small amount of visiting tourists, especially those, who are engaged in mass tourism. In capricious summers sunny moments are interspersed with torrential rains accompanying frosty north winds. In addition, the ubiquitous clouds of mosquitoes discourage leaving a building or a tent even for a while and midnight sun deregulates biological clocks of human organisms. Whereas, the winter period is dominated by a very low air temperature and deep, impassable snow cover with a polar darkness lasting for several long months. Therefore, in such places the nature rules imposing all its own principles. For these reasons, touristic exploration of the northern Scandinavian wilderness, where everybody is convicted only for himself, gives a good opportunity to examine own skills in the school of survival any time of the year. All kinds of hardships being in such extremely adverse conditions, however, are compensated for the incredible views which, depending on where you are, include rocky mountain ranges, steep fjords, pristine taiga, treeless tundra, glaciers, waterfalls or rivers and lakes rich in fish. Unforgettable experience is also view the aurora borealis in the starry firmament. Another advantage is direct contact with the pure and unspoiled nature, vast and untouched by civilization landscape as well as with pervasive silence. Furthermore, wandering outside touristic trails, which are only occasionally marked in some areas, and camping in arbitrarily selected places, gives a sense of all-encompassing freedom. Definitely, the most interesting place for active tourism on the Scandinavian Peninsula is Lapland. Among its national parks I have explored the biggest ones, which are located over the Arctic Circle: Abisko, Lemmenjoki, Oulanka, Padjelanta, Pallas-Yllästunturi, Pyhä-Luosto, Sarek, Stora Sjofallet, Urho Kekkonen and Varanger. I also took part in a rafting on the Kotka River and visited St. Nicholas in Napapiri near Rovaniemi.

Tourism in Poland walking / cycling / skiing (LP = Landscape Park, NP = National Park, F = Forest): Augustowska F, Białowieski NP, Biebrzański NP, Bieszczadzki NP, Darzlubie F, Drawieński NP, Drawska F, Drawski LP, Górznieńsko-Lidzbarski LP, Karkonoski NP, Kaszubski NP, Knyszyńska F, Mierzeja Wiślana LP, Nadmorski LP, Narwiański NP, Notecka F, Romincka F, Słowiński NP, Suwalski LP, Świętokrzyski National Park, Lagoon (in winter on ice), Warta Mouth NP, Welski LP, Wigierski NP, Wysoczyzna Elbląska LP, kayaking / canoeing / rafting (R = River): Augustów Canal (also on the Belarusian site), Biebrza R, R (in winter), Dead Vistula R, Łupawa R, Motława R, R, R, Pasłęka R, Piaśnica R (in winter), Puck Bay (at the Baltic Sea), Radew R, Radunia R, Słupia R, Szkarpawa R, Vistula R, R (in winter), Wieprza R and R.

All visited countries

Andorra, Belarus, China, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain (Gibraltar), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine and United States of America. 2 Expeditions abroad

 2020: Lithuania under the paddle kayaking on Salcia, Ula and Merkys rivers crossing wild backwoods of Dainava and Rudninku Forests in Dzukija  2019: Kaliningrad District in Russia participation in sung-poetry festival Ukhana  2019: Varangerhalvøya National Park in the Norwegian Finnmark trekking solo across the most difficult areas of the park located 500 km over the polar circle in the area of the Arctic tundra  2019: Orhei National Park in Moldova cycling trip in searching of natural and cultural-historical values of the park  2018: Pyrenees in Spain, France and Andorra trekking across environmentally protected areas: Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Nature Park, Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, Pyrénées National Park and Sorteny Valley Nature Park  2018: Shchara in Belarus kayaking on one of the most beautiful rivers in Eastern Europe running away from official tourist routes  2018: Mojave and Sonoran deserts in the U.S. trekking across Joshua Tree National Park in California as well as across Saguaro National Park and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona  2017: Baikal Lake in Siberia winter expedition on ice of the Baikal Lake around the Holy Nose Peninsula being a part of the Zabaikalski National Park which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List  2016: Sarek - pearl of Lapland trekking solo across Sarek, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, being one of the wildest and most inaccessible national parks in Europe and through the Ultevis Nature Reserve belonging to the areas with the highest concentration of brown bears in Sweden  2015: Yaselda River in Belarusian Polesia kayaking on the river leading through vast and sparsely populated marshes of Polesia called green lungs of Europe (entrance to the Belarus on kayaks on the Augustow Canal, the only river border crossing of the European Union)  2015: Iceland - land of fire and ice car tour around the whole coast of the island; main attractions: volcanoes, geysers, fumaroles, lava fields, glaciers, waterfalls, ocean cliffs, black beaches, geothermal spa: Blue Lagoon and Jardbodin  2015: Kungsleden (King's Trail) in Swedish Lapland winter expedition along the trail leading across uninhabited areas of Scandinavian Mountains located about 200 km far north of the Arctic Circle, including the Abisko National Park, which is considered as the best place on the earth to watch Aurora Borealis

3  2014: Varanger Peninsula in Norway trekking across Varangerhalvøya - the northernmost national park in continental Europe, situated in the Arctic tundra climate, about 500 kilometres far north of the Arctic Circle  2013: Lapland in Sweden trekking across neighbouring national parks in Scandinavian Mountains: Padjelanta, Sarek and Stora Sjöfallet located over the Arctic Circle, being the Europe's largest area of protected environment and UNESCO World Heritage Site  2012: Lapland in Finland trekking across national parks over the Arctic Circle: Pallas-Yllästunturi, Oulanka, Lemmenjoki, Pyhä-Luosto and Urho Kekkonen, rafting on Kotka River and visit to Santa Claus office near Rovaniemi  2012: Colombia jaunts to jungle of Teyuna (getting to Ciudad Perdida) and Tayrona Parks located in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains, rafting on Fonce River in the Andes, backpacking around the country: Bogota, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Gil, Barichara, Villa de Leyva, Chiquinquira and Islas del Rosario at Caribbean Sea  2010: Neman River in Belarus kayaking at a distance of 500 km starting from the source of the river across areas located away from official tourist routes  2010, 2009, 2007: Kaliningrad District in Russia Russian sung-poetry festival Ukhana and Russian Navy Holiday in Baltijsk  2008 / 2009: Belovezhskaya Primeval Forest in Belarus New Year celebration, exploration of the primeval forest and its countryside  2008: place of Tunguska event in Evenkia (central Siberia) getting up to the place of the Tunguski meteorite explosion in Evenkia exactly at the hundredth anniversary of this biggest explosion in the history of human existence on the earth  2008: Lake Baikal, Siberia three-weeks winter trekking on ice-bounded lake, participation in Russian expedition  2006: Kaliningrad District in Russia exploration of Kuronska Lagoon, Russian part of and Sambia Peninsula  2006: central Siberia three-week lonely rafting in a small pontoon on Angara River, belonging to the largest Siberian rivers, crossing large areas of uninhabited taiga  2005: Russian part of Caucasus Mountains and Black Sea mountain trekking in Caucasus and ship sailing on the Black Sea  2005: West Siberian Plain and Subpolar Ural Mountains trekking on the legendary railway line from Salekhard to Nadym called Strojka 501, being a part of the Transpolar Railway, which was built (but never finished) along the Arctic Circle during the Stalin's period; trekking across Subpolar Ural Mountains

4  2004: central Siberia, China, Mongolia kayaking on Lena River - one of the biggest rivers in Asia; expedition preceded sightseeing of China (Beijing, the Great Wall) and Mongolia (Ulan Bator and its vicinity)  2003: across Russia international car race Transsiberia from Poland to Magadan at the Far East of Russia through Moscow, Ural Mountains, Buriatia, Yakutia and covering 14 000 km across 9 time zones  2003: Kolyma river in the north-east corner of Siberia successful search of the Jan Czerski grave - outstanding Polish geologist and palaeontologist from the XIX century; originator of expedition but absent from it because of insufficient funds  2002: southern and central Siberia trekking across Eastern Sayan Mountains near Mongolia and across Primorskije Mountains at the Lake Baikal as well as kayaking on Lena River; main aim: exploration of Volcano Valley - the most inaccessible and completely uninhabited part of the Eastern Sayan Mountains  2001: Ukrainian Carpathians: Charnokhora and Gorganians trekking across underpopulated mountainous areas lying at the Polish border zone with Czechoslovakia in the period between the 1st and 2nd world war  1988: Sankt Petersburg in Russia and its surroundings visiting of Sankt Petersburg (Leningrad at that time) and neighbouring tsars residences, monthly stay in realities of decadent Russian communism.

Jaroslaw Kapinski [email protected] http://kapinski.travel.pl updated: May 2021

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