See the stunning photos from Rob Warner's Wild Rides in Ecuador
When Rob Warner and Finn Iles visited Ecuador, they experienced volcanos, shaman rituals and playing cowboy. Hear from the photographer who captured the shots from their trip to the Andean country.
In the latest Rob Warner's Wild Ridesepisode, Warner travels to Ecuador with rising downhill star Finn Iles to take on Cotopaxi volcano high in the Andes. On the way, the two go through some unusual preparation to be able to take on the high altitude terrain. Watch the episode below and then scroll down to hear more about the trip from photographer Marcelo Maragni.
24 minEcuadorRob Warner travels to Ecuador with rising mountain biking star Finn Iles to take on the Cotopaxi in the Andes.
I'm Marcelo Maragni, a sports photographer from Brazil and father of two. My passion is to travel and visit places people don't usually go to do my photography. This job gives me the opportunity to meet new people, explore new cultures and beautiful landscapes.
I just came back from an adventure through Ecuador on an amazing trip around Quito and the area north of the country's capital city, as well as Cotopaxi volcano in the south with Rob Warner and Finn Iles. We found really unique locations and different cultures everywhere.
My goal on this trip was to photograph Rob and Finn as they visited this country and explored all the beautiful landscapes and cultures, and to get to know the colourful, friendly people here.
The first thing we did on this trip was to travel north of Quito to a small city where different cultural groups were meeting for a festival of traditional cultures. Each group displayed their own traditions, music and dance all together in the same place and it was really colourful and vibrant. It was an amazing thing to see.
What I love about being an adventure photographer is that I can experience unique ways of living that are so colourful, energetic and happy. Most people may have not seen, or be aware about these different cultures, but through my photography I can share these experiences with the world.
Meeting the shaman
Finn and Rob were really open to experiencing these new cultures. They found a local shaman who blessed us on this journey. She performed some rituals with eggs and guinea pigs.
At the same time, it's really important to know when you should just watch and appreciate the culture from a safe distance. We heard about a local bull chasing event, which is traditional in this part of Ecuador. Rob wanted to participate in the event, but we convinced him just to watch. The local people don't try to hurt the bulls, just try to doge and run away. Sometimes the people win, sometimes the bull wins.
It was here that I realised that despite being a world class athlete, Finn still makes very funny faces when he rides his bike, We had to leave the trails after a few runs, though, as Rob began to suffer from altitude sickness.
We left the city and travelled to El Tambo to experience the life of the Chagras – Ecuadorian cowboys. It was really like the Wild West being with them, riding horses and trying to catch bulls with a lasso.
Finn's competitive nature translates into other aspects of his life and he adopted the cowboy lifestyle with all his heart, determined to be a better cowboy than Rob.
After the lessons, we were given traditional clothing and rode on horseback through the wilderness and mountains to find our next bike trail, which was the famed Cotopaxi volcano.
2 minRAW in EcuadorRob Warner and Finn Iles took on the Andes, and this is what it looked and sounded like.
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Riding on horseback and capturing photos was a new experience for me and guiding the horse whilst framing the photos was very challenging.
We were welcomed to the volcano by two Condors. These birds are an important symbol to the people of the Andes and are thought to be bringers of good health.
When the landscape is wide open like it is high in the Andes, you can see so far. There's nothing but nature. This is what adventure photography is about, going to places where there are more animals than people and being exposed to the elements of the world. It was close to 0°C, wet, windy and raining up there and I was wearing three jackets to try and stay warm, but it looked like Finn was in his natural habitat.
He wore only thin clothing, but looked so alive. As a photographer it was really interesting to capture the stillness of the landscape high in the mountains and to contrast it to the speed of the riders. Adventures like this show how small we are and how powerful the world around us is.
Rob has such an adventurous spirit. To be older and keep up with a young professional athlete like Finn was amazing to see. I think this was possible because of the connection they made with each other along the journey through Ecuador.
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