Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Inspirational Wednesdays: Interview with Jim Moriarty and his influence in wave sports


I had the opportunity to meet Jim in 2011 at Surfrider Foundation when I was organizing the Global Wave Conference II in Europe. A lot of people from the international network came for this event and I was more than lucky to connect with all of them.
Since our first contact by e-mail he was a very approachable person, helpful and considered. Very surprising he was even more helpful and attentive than my boss at the time. What a delight working with people like this, specially with the head of an organization such as Surfrider.

Since that we kept the contact, and I can say my first impression remains. He's still the cool considered guy I met, surfing and enjoying life directing one of the most important environmental NGOS for surfers.

Last year while I was in California doing my California Vision project, I interviewed him about an article featuring him between the 25 most influential people in wave sports in 2013, his beginnings in SF, how he started to surf, etc...


-Jim, what do you think about the article and the people listed in?
I loved one word in the longer description of the list and that word is "change." It's one thing to influence people and another to change them. I'm drawn to people who do that latter. I think we all are. Of course I  feel like I don't deserve to be on the list.

-Would you include someone else? why?
Mark Price's new wood Firewire boards are insane. He's merging two concepts rarely seen together, super high performance and a deeper commitment to a smaller environmental footprint. The founders of Sustainable Surf are truly challenging surfboard construction as well, they probably deserve a slot.

There is another category of surfers… free surfers riding non-traditional craft and influencing (changing) the worlds perspective regarding what a surfboard looks like; Tyler Warren, Ryan Burch, Al Knost and Ellis Ericsson come to mind.

-Why do you think Surfrider is considered one of the most important environmental surf NGOs in the world?
Our network of grassroots activists. It's that simple.

We are real people who are actively engaged in 84 coastal regions in the United States alone (we're also in 20 other countries).

It is quite hard, exceptionally hard, to dismiss a person who knows local issues better than most, understands the short-term and long-term consequences connected to decisions being made and who is engaged with a commitment deep enough to stick around until those issues are resolved. The world is full of smart people but it turns out there are very few who are both smart and engage as volunteers. We are made of the latter. We are made up of smart people who engage for years and in doing so... change the world.

-Jim, what is for you, the best part of working with surfers?
We have all worked with different types of people; tech mavens, government officials, lawyers, teachers, etc. One of the things that has changed is that you can find surfers in all of these categories. The Senator of the State of Washington is a hard core surfer.

We all like working with surfers because they are connected to nature at a pretty deep level. You can't duck dive without being completely, 100%, immersed in the ocean. Surfers have that deeper connection. They don't see pollution on a blog or Instagram… they experience pollution because they get sick. The best part of working with surfers is the common connection we have with the ocean.

-What do you think has been the biggest change for the surf in the past decade? 
Surfing has changed, for the better, due to the increased diversity in the lineup. We don't even think about this anymore because having different groups is now the norm. A decade ago lineups were a bit more intense, more aggro. I credit increased diversity of the lineup with changing the sport at a meaningful level. There are more women in the lineup and more kids. It's a nicer place. This phenomenon also seems to be a global one.

-How was your first contact with surf?
My parents used to take us to Rhode Island when I was a kid. We'd paddle around on surfboards but not really surf them. I was a skateboarder in the late seventies and all the moves at that time were surf-inspired… until things went vertical. I've also snowboarded most of my life, always seeking powder… which is much like surfing. I didn't really pitch everything else and become a surfer until my twenties.

-How did you end up working at Surfrider, and what do you love of your job?
I was a member of Surfrider for years. At number of years ago a search was undertaken to fill the leadership position. I didn't see the fit initially because I was more of a traditional software and web professional. The combination of my existing connection to the Surfrider mission and my experience with evolving platforms was enough for the board to offer me the role.

What I love most about this job is our mission. Surfrider's mission is protection and enjoyment of oceans, waves and beaches via our powerful activist network. I love that we're not just about protection, we're users of the coast… we're surfers. I love the focus of the mission on a narrow swath of land, where the land meets the ocean. I also love that our mission is fueled by people not money. We're like Linux or Wikipedia, the value that we offer the world is directly related to our ability to engage the world.

-What's the big adventure for Surfrider this year, and what the main issue you're dealing with?
The rise of single-use plastics entering our oceans has become a larger and larger issue in our chapter network. It became so large that it became our priority campaign for the United States. The last time I looked we had more than 55 wins connected to this issue here, that is there are 55 places in the United States that have proactively passed legislation to minimize the amount of plastics entering our oceans.

We have other issues pressing coastal communities; clean water, beach access, coastal adaptation, ocean protection, etc. We are a local-first organization, that means that locals are the ones who prioritize what campaigns are taken on in their regions. We, the staff, support those efforts.

-Do you collaborate with other environmental surf communities around the world? how?
Yes. Always. What I mean by this is that we always seek to build the broadest, deepest front we can.

We're not making this up as we go. We're drawing from good strategy… business strategy, military strategy, campaign strategy.

We know that the best fight is one you don't have to fight. Thus we seek to have the largest amount of influence in a region so that bad projects aren't even proposed, beach access isn't taken away or water isn't polluted. No one desires a fight… but you've also got to be ready to invest resources if you need to. If something is proposed that will damage our coastline we'll engage and we'll do so with as much commitment, with as many people as we can. We'll also keep fighting if we hit a loss… we tend not to walk away from a battle until we've won.

I've gone to into multiple fights, hearings where a regional governing body was making a final decision, knowing in advance that we were going to lose. We knew this because we knew the votes. It's so clear, crystal clear, that the way you turn those losses into wins is to walk in the front door with 400… or 4,000 people behind you. The best way to build that kind of mass is to partner with everyone you can find who shares a similar vision of healthy coasts. It's easy to tell 4 people their views don't matter and you're going ahead with a bad plan and really hard to tell 400 that same thing.

One last point on this, those groups don't have to be environmental communities. For two Trestles hearings we had many of the major surf brands drive down very large busses and RVs which were wrapped with their brands… it looked like all of surfing, the sport… the industry… all of surfing was aligned. The day before that fight, and many other fights, we were facing a loss… and yet we walked through the front doors en masse and probably won before the hearings started.


-Where is Surfrider going within the next 5 years? what are the plans to achieve that?
In two words "network optimization." I know that may sound cold or techy, what we mean by that is that we know we are a network that exists to preserve healthy coasts. We need to get better at doing that.

We know that information flows in many ways and that at various times elements of the network focus strongly on a campaign and push it to a meaningful win that preserves the coast. We, everyone in the Surfrider network, need to work on getting better at information sharing, best practices identification and distribution, supporting large and small chapters, etc.

Any beach access that is lost can be won back. A region with clean water can be preserved so the water stays clean. We didn't used to deposit as much plastic into the ocean as we're now doing, we can shift that tide. To do all of these kinds of things we need to get better and better at optimizing how the Surfrider network operates. This has been our focus for the past few years and I'm sure it will be for some time to come.

- Thank you Jim! Very insightful indeed

Hope you like the interview, let me know what you think alright? Have a nice day everyone

Just Jim.. I think Google will be pleased with this one.  Surfrider Foundation, San Clemente
Inspiration board. Jim's office
Jim's explaining me one of his charts.
Jim shredding a glassy wave in El Salvador. Photocred ©Luis/ My edit. 
Pocketing! in El Salvador. Photocred ©Luis/ My edit. 

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Surfing pic sequence of the day, getting barreled in Hossegor

Surfing pic of the day is a sequence I took during the Quiksilver Pro in Hossegor last year.
Watching all the Pros surfing is great of course, but sometimes what happens around with all the free surfers, is pretty interesting to document too.

I can't recognize this guy at the pics, but if someone of you know, can you let me know who is he?
Thank you, hope you have some nice surfing this week!











Monday, April 28, 2014

Monday quote, and a natural connection..


Horses, horses.. those mysterious and beautiful animals. They say they reflect your dreams and hopes. Some other say, when we ride a horse we borrow freedom.We all know within ourselves Nature has a lot to teach us.

I took this pic of Phillip in Costa Rica this year. Be able to capture this moment was one of the best moments of this trip with friends. Can you feel the harmony between these two?? So great to see this natural connection just in front my eyes

Enjoy your Monday and have a great week!

Natural connection in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Week suggest, Lush's eco-sustainable beauty amazing products

Ever since I started this blog, one of my first ideas of a post was to talk to you about LUSH's products.

For me they have everything you will probably want in a beauty product: Hand made, natural ingredients with delicious scents and great environmental policies.

As I told you I worked for Surfrider Foundation for 3 years, and before that I was a volunteer at the Barcelona chapter. Thanks to all this background I'm very aware now of all the impact our daily consumerism has in the environment, and how easy is to contribute to reduce all this impact adopting new small gestures in our lives.

I know beauty products and daily hygiene represents a huge impact with all these one-single use plastic bottles, sulpahtes, parabens, etc. I know a lot of you think that if you always recycle those plastic bottles it should'nt be a problem for the environment.
The reality is different. In fact only a very small portion of plastics are recyclable due to a lot of facts related with the matter, the process of decomposition and the recycle technique. So, at the moment what works the best is consume the less we can. Believe me, there's tons of options!

I discovered LUSH about a year ago while traveling in Lubjlana. The aesthetics of the little store caught my attention, and once inside I founded my self in paradise.
As I said their products are delicious and they have a policy of minimum packaging. They have products like solid shampoo bars, which means no plastic packaging. In fact LUSH have saved nearly 6 million plastic bottles globally, from this product only.

Some other of their products come on yellow paper bags with ideas written on how you can reuse and recycle that bag; and If you go buy directly to their stores, you can buy the majority of their products "naked".

Definitively what is good for you is good for the environment! Try these products and fell good about yourself in every way.

My favorites are: their bar shampoos, their bath body bars and their nourishing body bars.. the karité butter body bar is the best and it last for a very long time. Never had to buy body lotion again!

Hey, let me know if you tried these products and what other, apart from the ones below are great to try. Thank you!




Images courtesy of LUSH.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Throwback thursday pic: La Concha city view, San Sebastian

Today for the TBT pic, I want to show you this pic I took on 2010. Its a city view from La Concha in San Sebastian.
As I told you in some other post, weather here tends to change very radically. Well, this picture was taken just before a big storm was approaching to the city, still with the sun shining at its best.

I simply love all the light on the buildings and the crazy clouds approaching in the back!

Enjoy your day!

La Concha city view

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Inspirational wednesdays, Interview with Roman Königshofer, ocean stoked filmmaker

I met Roman in 2012 in San Sebastian. He and a crew of Austrian filmmakers and photographers were filming a surf documentary all along the coast of France, Spain and Portugal.
By the time I was working at Surfrider Foundation, and they first contacted me to ask for our sponsorship for the project.What I loved the most about my job at SF, was the opportunity to be in contact with all kind of interesting projects involving surfing and ocean stoke people. I'm still thankful for that!

I met Roman at their way back from Portugal, as all the crew stayed in my house for a couple of nights.
For me he had all the looks of a typical Austrian. Tall, super blond and athletic. I thought he was some kind of a professional surfer!, and despite I never got the chance to see him surfing, I know he surfs amazingly good, he understands nature so much, it can't be other way.

After 5 minutes talking I knew we were in the same channel. We could've perfectly spend hours speaking about surf, travels, movies, art, simple living, exploring the world, etc. This is a man living his dreams everyday, working with his passion and I always admired that in other people.

He just launched his new stunning reel a few days ago, and I interviewed him about how he got at this point of his life pursuing his dreams, what traveling means to him and how is working on something you love.

So, here we go:

-Roman, how come you ended up doing the job of your dreams? 
I guess because I was always following my gut instinct…

-Why traveling is so important in what you do? 
It’s important for me as a person. It puts you in a state of awareness, it inspires and sometimes even transforms you. Instead of thinking how things may be, you see them as they are. And all that reflects in your work.

-What is one of the best memories filming/shooting lately? 
I just came back from a short trip/shoot from Switzerland. Two friends of mine came with me. When we were arriving the agenda got messed up though and we constantly had to adapt to the new situation. But we managed to get the needed shots in a very short period. It’s just a good feeling when you manage stressful situations like this. It gives you confidence and let you grow.

-One of your favorites projects? 
Shooting the ASP tour back in the days was always fun. I was traveling with great friends and we also had time to surf by ourselves - what more can you ask for?
http://vimeo.com/romankoenigshofer/surfchronicles

-What place you would go again and again and why? 
I love Morocco. It’s close to Europe but a totally different world. We met the most hospitable people on the earth there and of course the surf is great!

-What is Surfing for you?
Freedom & fun!

-Source of inspiration? 
Mother nature. Sunlight. Other people.

-Next destination and future plans of exploring/working?
I’m looking forward to hang out on the mountains at home and sleeping under the stars. Internationally it’s a never ending list, really. But some of the the upper ranks of the charts are definitely Africa, Nepal/India, New Zealand & South America..

Thanks Roman! 

Just to finish, did I mentioned he's an excellent photographer too? Check his Flickr here

Roman's selfie at a travel of Nicaragua & Salvador, 2012
And here's his new reel, enjoy it!









Monday, April 21, 2014

Monday quote for a conscious living!

When you get to travel often, you begin to realize a lot of things. One thing I'm still learning, is how to simplify my life at the best.
It all begins with simplify the amount of belongings you carry with you everytime you travel, merely because you start to see you don't use most of them, and that is more comfortable to travel with few things. Then, when you have the minimum at your travels, you start to feel good about having so few things, so you can focus in more important matters.

Next step in realization is whenever going back of your travels. You start to realize that having less is actually more practical than having more. I was a keen consumer spending every month in stuff I wore once or not even that. The amount of debt I used to have just in clothing!

My life started to simplify when I started to ask my self consciously the purpose of "having stuff". I still have to do a lot of job to live the simple life I want to live, but I think that's a good thing I'm conscious about it and I know what I want. I still have a lot of work on the "shoes" department for example.

I share this thoughts to you, to encourage you to be conscious about your everyday living. It will give you more focus on what really matters to you and you will save great amounts of money you can use for travel!

About the pic:
This pics bring so many good memories to me. I took it in Maderas beach, Nicaragua.
I could say I was living very much a simple life. This big tree was buried at the beach near the site camp, and ended up here by some recent hurricane.
A bunch of guys living at the camp founded it and decided to move it in front of the camp to have it as a bench.

Since then, we passed great afternoons there enjoying the sunset, having great conversations and just being together enjoying our presence.

I'm writing this post sitting at a cool couch, a big TV screen in front of me, and a nice carpet under my feet, craving to be in that tree bench watching the sunset with friends again…

Simplicity makes it all at Maderas

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Suggest of the week, Nicaragua Photo Retreat

Hey guys, I know I'm a day late on my suggest of this week, but hey, we had a perfect day yesterday here in San Sebastian, and I surfed my brains out for 3 hours and a half, and then enjoying a little bit in the sun, etc… Today's a total different day, that's why I'm here…

This week I want to recommend you something to do. A Nicaragua Photo Retreat organized by my photographer friend Mireya Acierto. This is the perfect opportunity if you want to improve your beginner- intermediate level while you travel and discover amazing beaches, breathtaking sceneries and thrilling people all over the world.

Don't miss this opportunity from August 2nd to 9th at Playa Maderas! Get in touch with Mireya at www.travelphotoretreat.com to know everything about the event and check out some of the photos I took there, at the web too. I warrantee inspiration everywhere you look!

Friday, April 18, 2014

Surfing pic of the day, Nosing Salinas!

From all the surfing festivals in Spain, the one I like the most is the Vans Longboard Festival in Salinas.  Apart that I love the longboard style, every year I manage to take pictures I like very much.

Yeah I recognize I shot too much in B&W, but I simply love it too much. Sue me for that! :)

Happy Friday, and may the waves be with you!

Nosing rider with cool reflection, Salinas, Asturias

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Throwback thursday pic: Cemetery drama in México

A few years ago I was visiting my family in Zacatecas (where I was born). Zacatecas has the characteristic to have beautiful clouds sceneries, don't know why, but it does.

Anyway, I were always attired to take pictures on the cemetery, so this time I had my opportunity. The sun was shining strong in the sky, and we had these dramatic clouds, which they played perfect with the lights and shadows for a backlight picture (effect I love very much).

Hope you like it!


Cemetery drama

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Surfing pic of the day, Filipe Toledo

 Surfing pic of the day goes to pro Filipe Toledo competing at the Quiksurf Pro France in 2013.
I will make a proper entry about how I documented the event last year, but for a sneak peak, this photo of Felipe doing his magic at the last day of the competition.
I was so lucky to get this fabulous sunlight and waves for my pics! By the afternoon at the final with Mick Fanning and Gabriel Medina, waves got barely surfable and almost about to rain (the weather delights of living in this part of Europe..)
Can't wait for September!

Filipe Toledo, pushing good to go to the wall

Inspirational Wednesdays: Cyrus Sutton, surfer and activist guru

As a surfer I got to heard about Cyrus Sutton a little bit around. He's from San Diego, and a lot of excellent surfers and other personalities come out of this part of the world.
I knew him just as a surfer and filmaker. I know he was very talented, but I've got to know more about him last year, when I was doing my California Vision project.

By the time I was working at Surfrider Foundation in Europe and when in San Diego, me and my friend stayed at Cardiff with Dan & Danielle (happily married now and both pro active at Surfrider), who were from my travel, one of the most amazing couples I've got to pass time with.

Totally random we were in Encinitas, and we got to assist to the Premiere of newest Cyrus Sutton's film at the time: Compassing (filmed along Mexico), and then crashed his post celebration party.

Since then I became more interested about his life and projects, discovering he's a truly down to earth person, worried about the environment and specially very well documented on sustainable agriculture till the point to start an "instagram" war against Monsanto and their killing practices for our soils and our health.
Thanks to his tenacity and compromise, we all surfers get inspired everyday by people like him, having the force to live their lives fully according with their believes.

At the moment he's in Hawaii to shoot a documentary on sustainable agriculture looking to profile some gardens, forest or farms for this purpose. Give him a shout if you know some of these and follow him for more inspiration here: Facebook profile

Here are some pics I took for my project, and other silly ones from the party!

Marquee of La Paloma theatre
Me and Cyrus at his party. I just noticed we have both big teeth!
The lovely couple Dan&Danielle. That silly guy behind us is Tate, even though his face, he's now a dad!

The peeps at the party
Found this mobile-home outside the party
I looked inside and I found a board to be shaped, maybe Cyrus's?
La Paloma theatre, such a legend. Pic part of my California vision project
Welcome to Encinitas. Pic part of my California vision project
Swamis beach. Pic part of my California vision project
Fisherman in Swamis. Pic part of my California vision project
More Swamis


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Monumental Yucatán, México

A lot of you know about this part of Mexico probably because you've heard about Cancún.
As a Mexican I had my cliches too and since I was 4 I didn't want to go back there, mainly due to all the spring breakers visiting the zone. Then lately as an adult a lot of my travels are surf purpose.
Anyway, I had the opportunity to go back pushed by my sister a year ago in May. I really forgot about all the richness this area of my country has.
My experience was awesome re-exploring my country, going to Isla Mujeres, a small island about 13 kilometers northeast of Cancnún in the Caribbean Sea.  It was beautiful to find that this little town still preserves its identity with a few of little local hotels and small business for those allergic to resorts. Walking around we found beautiful sceneries, and the craziest sunset clouds I've witnessed.

My other favorite thing in this trip was going to Chichen Itzá, ancient ruins of the Mayan civilization just 200 km away from Cancún, going towards Merida.
I remember from my last time there, people were able to go inside the pyramids but now is not allowed. Apparently some stupid tourist years ago painted on the pyramids "Johny was here". Honestly I can't imagine how people are that stupid not to appreciate how special is this place.
This is one of most ancient civilizations on earth, and is always shocking to remember how advanced they were to their time being excellent astrologers, mathematicians and architects, building these monuments so carefully planed, to be aligned with some astrological events like the summer solstice at the Kukulcan's temple. If you want to know more about this phenomenon go here, and don't forget to visit this place if you have the opportunity! Good day to everyone!!

Stairway to heaven, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Fisherman boats, Isla Mujeres, Mexico
The dock and some fisherman working on the catch of the day at Isla Mujeres
Crystal blue waters of the Caribbean, Isla Mujeres, Mexico
The sunset going towards Cancun from Isla Mujeres
Crazy colors and clouds of the sunset at the Caribbean
The observatory temple, Chichen Itzá
Magnificent Kukulcan's temple, Chichen Itzá
Friend observing the greatness



Monday, April 14, 2014

Monday quote and how I fell in love with a tree

Roots are important. Roots are essential!, specially when you're traveling.

When you're getting impregnated with other cultures, habits and different ways to see life, is important to be able to go back to your inner roots to remember who you are.
If I learned something about traveling, was to have an open mind and heart, to really discover and enjoy the "unknown; but then in important to be enough intelligent to know what is a keeper and what 's not from the experience.

So, are you traveling a bit this easter? Enjoy your vacations, and remember to go out of your comfort zone! That's where all the fun begins :)

Just a little word about this pic.
I took this pic in Apollo Bay in Australia while exploring the Great Ocean Road. I can't tell you how impressed I was about all the nature there, specially about these Cypresses. Where I come from in Mexico is pretty dry, so apart from cactuses, I never get to see these kind of majestic trees.
I fell in love with them, and since then I fell in love with many more around the world!!

Cypresses, Apollo Bay, VIC, Australia

Friday, April 11, 2014

Friday movie suggest: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Hey guys, this Friday I will recommend you a movie I just watched the other day, the name is "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" starring Ben Stiller.
This is such a nice movie, about our very intimate desires, going out of our comfort zone and follow our lead. The movie is very well done with a lot of scenes in Iceland; a country I really want to see because of its raw landscapes.
I have to say that the performance of Ben Stiller is really great. In fact I was a little surprised about this fact, as he's always doing so mainstream movies (in my opinion of course). Plus the soundtrack is beautiful with music of "Of Monsters and Men"

Here's the trailer! Go to the movies this weekend if you can and let me know what you think about the movie.


Surfing pic of the day, Friday SUPper

What's for dinner tonight mum? - Waves son, sunset waves!

I took this pic at Maderas around December or so. I started to document the amazing surf of a group of 4-5 suppers that came to the beach for about 2 weeks.
A lot of people tend to believe that SUP is for small waves. They're wrong! These guys were surfing waves from 3ft to 8-12 ft with such an impressive style. These guys got barreled every time they could, and yes, with such a monster board. Pretty cool to watch indeed.

Sunset supper at Maderas

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Throwback thursday pic: Dream ride, Santa Barbara, California

This is probably one of my favorite pics of all times. I took it last year in summer when me and my friend Megan were cruising all over California through the 101 trying to get to San Francisco in one day. We obviously didn't get to San Fran in one day, but I had a hell of nice pics for the project I was doing at the moment: California Vision Project. I remember we just entered in Santa Barbara to eat (mexican again), and we saw a restaurant called La Paloma or something like that.
When parking I just see the perfect pic! The ride of my dreams and the palm trees! Woah! It looks so old style, I just love it ;)

Dream ride and palm trees




Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Inspirational Wednesdays: Alanna, The Latitude Project and the girls of Maderas

I get to meet Alanna Tynan just a few weeks before ending my stay in Nicaragua. She arrived to do some volunteering work together with her sister, around small communities. At the beginning she didn't explain me how beautiful project she and her sister were developing.

The Latitude Project is for me the perfect project where traveling and exploring the world meets with caring (the real caring). So, she and her sister, a natural born explorers founded this rad project, funded 100% by donations. No administration involved or any other. Just money from people who actually live their dreams towards them and their so many friends supporting the projects.

The real cool thing about it, is that their projects are based on the needs expressed to them by the local communities. Not what they think it will be better to a place. They work hand to hand with the communities in order to build something that really matters for everyone.

They team up with a lot of talented people, and they recently teamed up with another great inspirational girl we met in Nicaragua; the super talented photographer Kayla Rocca.
Be sure to go to their site to check out this deal, and donate, donate! http://www.thelatitudeproject.com

On the other hand, speaking about my personal experience with Alanna, I regret very much I couldn't go with them at the time to help them with their projects, and also for not having enough time to pass with this wonderful soul. It's funny how I met her so little time, and how that little time was enough to miss her very much. She is just so open, funny and energetic person; and how I love when she speaks in Spanish! She definitively cracked me up all the time.

I made her a few pics on my last week at Maderas. We use to hang with other girls of the Village to have long walks at the beach whenever she finished her daily work.
I hope you can feel too, through the pictures, the wonderful souls of everyone of these girls, all of them inspirational in so many ways… but those are different stories I will tell you in the future ;)

Alanna's portrait, enjoying the beach
Alanna at the sunset
The girls sharing loving moments. Aga, the Yogi from Polland at left, and Kayla the cool Canadian photographer 
in the right 
Alana, all smiles!
The girls want to see Nikki's pictures. Nikki is in charge of all the magic around the brand of Maderas Village, also rad photographer and my beloved surfer buddy. I miss this South African very much!! Oh, she's the blond at left