By coincidence, as I was preparing yesterday this blogpost about an outing with the group of Nudismo Ecuador a year ago, they went to the same place; so I am starting with a few photos from their recent trip
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… and continue with the story of my visit: A few years ago I got an idea to travel to either Ecuador or Peru and of course looked up options for naturism; Ecuador seemed to have a much more vibrant naturist community with a few active groups. I had to cancel and postpone my trip a couple of times, but a year ago I finally went there and indeed found a good bunch of local naturists. There is a couple of groups in Quito, with weekly gatherings at a pool with sauna and less frequent outings to thermal pools outside the city. Even though Ecuador is situated (you’ve guessed it!) at the equator, the capital and a few other major cities have pretty cool or even chilly climate being high up in the mountains (Quito is the second highest capital city in the world), so hot springs is a natural choice if you want to hang out naked. I had been in touch with one of the local naturist groups – Nudismo Ecuador – for a while, so when my plans solidified, I made sure to coordinate to meet up with them. So a dozen of us went to the thermal pools of Papallacta east of Quito.
There are no officially designated clothing-optional pools, but some admit naturist groups with prior arrangements. This one is called ‘El Tambo’. If you want to enjoy it sans clothes, coordinate with Nudismo Ecuador by e-mail. After parking, there is a short pebble walkway (quite slippery from the mist),
on which we stripped off right away, as from then on only sheep could see us. They seemed a bit a amused,
as at this altitude of 3.5km asl, even some plants prefer to have a wooly cover.
So, yes, it was quite chilly, especially in the mountain mist, so we quickly proceeded to the pool,
although some preferred to gain some body heat from running around the pool first.
But once we were in, it was pure relaxation… until more group member arrived and we decided to play a ball game. The invented it on their own, so I was curious to try!
While water volleyball is common at naturist resorts,
this one is more reminiscent of rugby: you score by touching the “gate” area of the opponent team.
Due to having to run in water, passes are more common in this game,
and less chance of injuries from tackling.
We did take it seriously, so the victory was well celebrated =)
After the game, we were certainly warm enough to venture out for a brief hike, even though it was drizzling.
Some of the mountain peaks around are covered in snow – it would have been even more amazing to see them while hiking naked or enjoying the pool, but there was a thick cloud blocking the view (typical for the area).
We went down to a small river,
and on its bank there was a natural thermal spring
with contrasting, almost neon, colors.
All that moist results in dense vegetation.
Some plants were blooming,
and tree trunks were covered in ferns, moss and lichens.
After the hike, it was already time to go back to Quito, but that hot shower felt amazing!
So even though there is not much official recognition of naturism in Ecuador, local naturists are certainly very active, and my further travel proved that there is plenty of opportunities for naturism!
Just on time, as Burning Man kicks off its ticket madness today, here is a recollection of events at our theme camp Gymnasium and beyond in 2017. If you would like to get engaged with our camp this year in any way, please e-mail us or leave a comment to this post! You can read more about the concept of our camp on its webpage, but overall our theme refers to the Ancient Greek institution for athletics, philosophy and socializing.
Traditionally, our first even was a running race – from the esplanade to our camp at 7:30 Plaza.
Being on the first day of the festival, the race was dominated by our own campmates,
and the winner turned out to be yours truly 😉
This time, we no longer used laurel wreaths ordered online – instead, we had them hand-made by two campmates from the Netherlands. They added a bit of a Dutch twist to it though: judging by the shape of the leaves, it was more of a ‘weed’ wreath 😀
Our Gymnasium also featured a massage station,
especially popular after sport events, and some lucky winners even got a four-hand massage.
Even though our theme camp was first conceived with an idea to revive the ideals of the Ancient Olympics, we keep on adding more elements to have a more complete ‘gymnasium’ in its original meaning – with philosophical discussions and arts as well.
2017 saw our first installment of a pottery workshop, which was a lot of fun, for campmates and guests alike!
It all started with a block of clay.
and after rolling a few pieces, we moved on to creating vessels using the coiling method.
Of course, our inspiration came from Ancient Greek vases,
more specifically, of black-figure type
(but not without some Burning Man twist to it).
Though only the most determined students remained until that stage of the workshop 😀
In 2016, we pumped up the acrobatics compartment of our Gymnasium by adding a gymnastics wheel, aptly fitting to that year’s theme of Burning Man,
but in 2017 one of the campmates brought and entire aerial rig!
Needless to say, it was a very popular attraction among our guests
and campmates alike.
Some poses seemed easier
than the others,
but all of them evoked flying!
The gymnastics wheel was busy too,
but not everyone needed equipment for their acrobatic tricks!
Surely, there was also plenty of fun to be had and art to be seen outside our camp,
and we had a couple of group outings.
A great aspect of art at Burning Man is that it is interactive,
and 2017 was particularly good in this respect.
Many art pieces were calling to incorporate you, to become their part!
The Tree of Ténéré was certainly one of the most popular installations day and night (you can see it by night in the video above).
This cylinder of LED stripes seemed like a pretty simple construction,
but once you got inside and someone spun it, it would turn into an amazing spectacle of color!
Inside this red circular tunnel, one could feel like on a spaceship mission.
And Incendia was our favorite sound camp to dance [naked] at night –
their roof was on fire, literally! 2017 was a hot year at Burning Man, but the nights were still quite chilly, so that fire felt nice.
It was hypnotizing to observe the fire from below, but if that wasn’t enough,
you could use special viewing glasses that multiplied the visual input.
We first saw this camp at FreeForm Festival in 2016, but at Burning Man their installation was much bigger. And thanks to that fire, we could dance naked all night long – till sunrise!
I was gifted glasses that transformed any source of light into a heart ❤ shape, so when I tried them with the rising sun, it was amazing!
The DJ who played that night – Seth Schwarz – was really good, my major music discovery of 2017. Along with mixing records, he played an electric violin, and it wasn’t just a gimmick but an essential and natural part of his set.
… Well, and if you have heard about our camp before, by this time you must be wondering about our famous naked oil wrestling. Of course this was the main feature of Gymnasium again!
Unfortunately, there was a mistake in the Burning Man app and info center that showed our camp in a completely wrong location, which we found out only after a couple of days, but we still had a good attendance of our most popular event.
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We had three wrestling events, with a winner in each, and one was particularly memorable. Despite seemingly having a disadvantage,
he knew what he was doing
and sent his opponents out of the ring with ease!
That golden laurel weed wreath was well deserved!
And here is a video with clips from some of the matches, enjoy!
Are you going this year? Let us know and join our events!
In a couple of weeks, our theme camp Gymnasium will come again to the much anticipated Burning Man festival. If you read this and plan to be there, I’m pretty sure you’ll want to visit our camp. You can read about our theme camp idea on its page and check out our last year’s experience.
Below is the list of our events, but keep in mind that we plan to do even more than we have announced – so stop by our camp at 7:30 Plaza and you’ll find something fun to do and learn… all in the buff! For example, we got a gymnastics wheel last year, which turned to be a hugely popular toy, and this year we’ll add an aerial rig to our arsenal! And what is amazing is that even our busy schedule is just a tiny fraction of all the “craziness” that Burning Man is!
Butt-Cheeky Run Come get your burn started – with the sun’s soft caresses on your butt cheeks! The Ancient Greeks always trained and competed naked – in fact the ’gym’ comes from the word ‘gymnos’, meaning ‘naked’ in Greek. Come experience the freedom of running together in the altogether! Or at least come and see what a great spectator sport it is:) We’ll do a warm-up at the camp and then run wild in the ‘hood and all the way to the Man!
Monday, 28 August, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Naked Oil Wrestling Wrestling is one of the most fun sports you can ever try. It’s also one of humanity’s oldest and was among the major events of the original Olympics. Long before we were kicking balls around we were rolling around in the dirt, putting each other in headlocks! It doesn’t matter if you’re a complete novice who’s never tried it in your life or an experienced fighter, come along and experience this amazing bonding experience in Gymnasium, Black Rock City’s Ancient Greek wrestling school!
Tuesday, 29 August, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, 31 August, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, 2 September, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Discus-ish Throw in the dark… and in the buff Discus (well, LED-lit frisbee) throw competition followed by ultimate frisbee game (or regular frisbee, depending on the mood). Bare your body, but wear lights! The Ancient Greeks always trained and competed naked – in fact the ’gym’ comes from the word ‘gymnos’, meaning ‘naked’ in Greek. Come experience the amazing freedom of running and jumping and exercising free of clothing! Or at least come and see what a great spectator sport it is:) This is our only night event, but don’t worry about cold – movement will keep you warm!
Wednesday, 30 August, 8 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday, 1 September, 8 p.m. – 9 p.m. (rain date)
Naked Piggy-Back and Wheelbarrow Run Race are with us for this fun athletic event! Bring your friends, but choose wisely, as you’ll have to bear them on your back, bareback… or vice versa. Great bonding experience guaranteed! The Ancient Greeks always trained and competed naked – in fact the ’gym’ comes from the word ‘gymnos’, meaning ‘naked’ in Greek. Come experience the amazing freedom of running and jumping and exercising free of clothing! Or at least come and see what a great spectator sport it is:) PS In ancient Olympics this would have been an equestrian event, but BMORG wouldn’t let us bring horses…
Friday, 1 September, 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Nude Yoga + Wine Nude yoga and acro-yoga – for a better flow and connection 🙂 We’ll end the session with drinking wine in your favorite poses, as Ancient Greeks sometimes drank wine in acrobatic poses at their symposiums. Then you could stay for our philosophical discussions sessions. Free your body, free your mind!
Monday, 28 August, 4:45 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Wednesday, 30 August, 4:45 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Naked Philosophy Nudity has the power to surprise and shock, yet why, on reflection, can something as mundane as the naked body inspire simultaneously so much passion and revulsion? To be naked in 21st century western society demands intense self-examination, the questioning and reappraisal of conventional conventions and morality. In this sense, naturism, as the cultural and political movement of nudism is often known, is an inherently philosophical practice. And what better way to do philosophy than naked? We’re sure your college seminars would have been much more fun nude. Come and join us for lively discussions, debates and story-telling. We’ll be discussing naturism, body image, sharing experiences, debating body modification, if and how laws should be changed – really everything related to the human body.
Monday, 28 August, 6 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.
Wednesday, 30 August, 6 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.
Friday, 1 September, 6 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.
Kerameikos (Ancient Greek pottery) Ever wondered how those ancient vases were produced and decorated? Find out at our pottery school at Gymnasium, and you’ll be able to make some ceramics (kerameikos) of your own! It’s a three step process: first, we’ll make the vases of different shapes using coil building techniques; then, we will let the clay dry to apply the slip and carve designs. (You can use the break for lunch or try some of our big toys, such as aerial rig or gymnastics wheel). At the last stage, the pots have to be fired after Burning Man, but we could ship your masterpiece to you, if you’d like! Otherwise, we’ll use it to decorate our camp and use the most appealing ones to award the winners of our athletic events next year.
Olive Dell Ranch in Southern California has announced a new course for its annual nude running race, the Bare Burro 5K. The new route will go through the trails and hills in the rustic Ranch, and the race has been re-named the Bare Burro 5K Trail Run. The 2017 edition of the race will take place 23 April.
“We’re adding the word ‘trail’ to the event to really emphasize that this is a 5K like no other,” Olive Dell Ranch owner Becki Kilborn said. “We like to change up the course every few years to keep it fresh, and this year we’re changing the name to reflect that, too.”
The Bare Burro Run started in 2010 and is now established as the premier nude running event in Southern California. The wild burros usually visible from the course inspired the punning name of the race, because competitors run the race bare… burro. Almost 200 runners completed the course in 2016, despite an overcast and cool weather. The Bare Burro has been featured in the calendar section of Los Angeles alternative newspaper LA Weekly, and last year’s Bare Burro was featured in OC Weekly and was the subject of a two-page article in the British naturist magazine H&E.
Running shoes are strongly recommended for runners but nudity is not an “option” at the Bare Burro, for runners or onlookers: It’s a requirement. “We’re a nudist resort, and we expect people to get with the program here. We’ve found that many dedicated runners are fine with that: ‘You want us to run with no clothes on? Okay.’ Then we don’t see them again until the next year,” Kilborn chuckled. “When it’s cool in the early morning, everybody — even our veteran nudists — are dressed, but by race time it’s usually warm enough. After a few minutes, everybody acclimates to being nude. You may forget to put your clothes back on until you’re on the freeway going home.”
Runners can register through the Olive Dell Ranch website. Registration for runners is $35 in advance, $40 after April 1, and $45 the day of the race, if space is available. Participation is limited to 300 runners, who will all receive an informational packet and souvenir reusable insulated bag. Registered runners may bring friends to cheer them on; they will be required to pay the Olive Dell daily entrance fee. Runners and their friends are welcome to remain on the grounds for the awards ceremony and use Olive Dell’s pool, hot tub and other facilities for the rest of the day.
Theme camp Gymnasium has become a big part of Active Naturists project, and we are set to continue at this year’s Burning Man festival. We’ve already scored some tickets for the core crew, and a few of us are applying for Low Income Program, but the rest should get tickets through the Main Sale: registration opens next Wednesday, and the sale itself is in two weeks (info and dates here). We are open for new campmates too, so if you would like to participate, please e-mail us or leave a comment below!
If you read this blog, you must have heard about our theme camp quite a lot, but if you are new here or would like a reminder, here are some key links:
I thought I’d skip a report on this event entirely due to lack of photography, but when I mentioned it in the previous post, I realized I had to share with the world at least some of my good memories – so here are a few words about the Florida Young Naturists‘ Spring Bash and its venue, Sunny Sands Resort. It’s a spacious resort, mostly oriented to permanent or part-time residents; FYN certainly changes its pace! There are some basic amenities typical to a naturist resort, such as a pool, a hot tub, volleyball court; the restaurant seems to be open only during such events. The Spring Bash itself was very well organized, with numerous fun activities, seminars and workshops hosted by the participants: e.g., capoeira and acro-yoga (by yours truly), salsa, juggling, fire-spinning, discussions on polyamory… There were professional masseurs too, and needless to say they were very much in demand – one had to sign up for a session. I got probably the best deep tissue massage I had ever had (and to add a cherry on the cake, the masseur was my namesake!) All these activities were free, and there was a good sense of community and active participation. In the evening there was live music, and the band got naked too. When we gathered around the fire pit at night, one guy started singing a Swahili song, and then taught us all the chorus (which alternated between male and female voices) – it was a beautiful experience! Thus, it was a very busy event, but you could always leave for a walk on the nature trail if you wanted some quiet time.
As it often happens, naturist events and venues have prohibitive or very restrictive photo policies, so I cannot provide a full report from FYN Spring Bash in the same sense, as I do from Burning Man, for example. But here are some photos from Sunny Sands’ nature trail, which is worth a mention too (even with a risk of confusing naturists and naturalists 😀 )
Woodpeckers seemed to be particularly active at the time.
This one literally stuffed his beak with larvae (probably saving them for the chicks).
But I’m not sure they’d touch this hairy caterpillar.
There used to be a pond of a decent size, but most of the water has vanished now.
But what’s left still provides home for water lilies, frogs
and a family of cranes!
I’ve never seen wild cranes so close, though these ones are clearly used to human presence.
(And perhaps it makes them feel safer that the humans around them are naturally naked :-))
Playalinda is one of the few official naturist beaches in Florida and is certainly one of the best overall. I visited it last April as part of the group outing at the Naked Spring Bash of Florida Young Naturists.
It’s a great beach with plenty of space whether you are with a big group or want to chill quietly enjoying the sound of waves.
If you want to enjoy the waves in a more active manner, Playalinda is known to have a pretty good swell for surfing, but it wasn’t the case at the time of my visit. However, the waves were perfect for body surfing.
Naked body surfing is as natural as it gets when it comes syncing with the ocean and feeling it power!
but even from there you can see well the NASA Shuttle Landing Facility… Those were the days, when you could sunbathe naked and watch the shuttle lift off into space! Nowadays you may be lucky to see the launch of a rocket by SpaceX though. So, next time I’ll try to time my visit well (and check the surf forecast too).
Marshall’s Beach in San Francisco is a great place for a sunny afternoon within easy reach of downtown; you can be naked there and enjoy one of the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
That’s where Tam and I headed after Burning Man last year; in the wake of spending more than a week in a dusty desert, we were clearly drawn to large bodies of water (and it doesn’t get any larger than the Pacific Ocean).
We could have been just chilling on the beach, but we thought we’d rather have another session of acro-yoga, as I didn’t get enough of it during the festival, because I was mostly taking pictures of it.
We kicked off with the ‘front bird’,
and then moved on to more complicated poses.
Tam was keen on practicing ‘basing’ with hands,
and it worked out pretty well.
The iconic Golden Gate Bridge surely provided a perfect backdrop for the photos.
Well, this naked acro-yoga session ended just fine, since Marshall’s Beach is officially recognized as a naturist spot, so as the neighboring Baker Beach (where we went after Burning Man in 2012).
And as pretty much any beach on the West Coast, Marshall’s Beach is poised to have a stunning sunset!
Burning Man festival this year saw the second installation of our theme camp Gymnasium, which refers to the Ancient Greek institution for athletics, philosophy and socializing. You can read more about the concept of our camp on its webpage, but here is our report with some imagery that should help you imagine what it was like (or evoke some good memories, if you participated in our events).
Even though our theme camp was first conceived with an idea to revive the ideals of the Ancient Olympics, this year besides the athletics we put more effort into another aspect of the concept of ‘gymnasium’ in its original meaning – philosophical discussions (with wine). For one session, each participant received a quote of a Greek philosopher and lead discussion on its subject, which let us cover all kinds of topics. We also had a session when we talked about our personal attitudes towards nudity as well as our views on the possible role for naturism in the [default] society. The common theme was the feeling of liberation and bonding with others that brings the simple act of social nudity – and the photos here seem to confirm that.
An entirely new idea for this year was the gymnastics wheel (aka German wheel). Several month before the festival, I stumbled upon a photo with German wheel gymnasts from 1920’s and immediately got an impression that it would be a big hit at Burning Man. As you can see below, it provided a perfect link between the theme of our camp and the theme of Burning Man this year – ‘Da Vinci’s Workshop’.
We of course refer to the drawing of the Vitruvian Man by Da Vinci, and expectedly the Man himself took the iconic shape this year.
We were so happy to see that our idea was immediately understood by other burners – as soon as we rolled the wheel onto the playa, we had people queuing to take a picture,
and it seemed like it was self-explanatory that one was supposed to get naked for a photo à la Vitruvian Man 🙂
This was a big success in terms of bringing all kinds of people to try a new fun activity in the buff and in public,
and they were creative with poses.
But we didn’t forget the primary function of the gymnastics wheel,
and the flat playa surface was perfect to roll it.
We had to be careful to avoid possible injuries, as even one rotation proved to be a lot more difficult than we had anticipated. The gymnastics wheel turned out to be a great magnet for people back at the camp too – dozens of passers by stopped to try it every day; only a few managed though, even with helpers.
In their defense, I have to note that in the first days we only knew one, difficult way of holding yourself in the wheel during rotation: pushing up with your arms with all power while maintaining them as straight as possible. That was until someone came by and said that there had been a workshop on gymnastics wheel at Hellfire Society camp. (On what subject isn’t there a workshop at Burning Man?) So we went there, and the camp lead gladly arranged another workshop specially for us. It turned out that while our technique wasn’t impossible, the typical and much better way to hold yourself during rotation on the wheel was by hooking your feet.
After we learned that, the success rate among all the newbies to gymnastics wheel skyrocketed, and we were on the roll 🙂
Our first athletic event in the week was the running race.
This year we only had a short race on our street,
but it was a nice way to get attention from our neighbors and passers by.
It was all for fun, but it was a competition nevertheless.
Our Gymnasium also offered daily fitness exercises, with Matt leading push-up sessions every morning.
This year we had a certified yoga/acro-yoga instructor among our campmates,
so we had a few sessions at the camp
and also played a bit on the playa.
We probably should have spent a little more time posing with those amazing and massive art pieces,
but unfortunately some of them were burned much earlier in the week than we had anticipated (e.g. the pyramids on Friday morning).
Some installations were quite interactive and served as great frames for photos, literally.
Other installations referred to familiar views of the “default world”, like NYC skyline at the Kostume Kult, making the whole experience only more surreal…
(I wish we could sip our morning coffee in Manhattan just like that!)
Unfortunately I enjoyed my nights out in an immediate manner, and recorded neither my own naked dancing on the ashes of the burned Man and at the White Ocean nor the performance by a couple of naked fire-spinners at the Mayan Warrior art car, which was probably my favorite mutant vehicle in terms of the music (and certainly in terms of the lights). But here is a short clip from that night I found online, where you can see those two naked fire-spinners, but resting in the crowd at the time – perhaps a video with their performance will appear at some point too, but I’m just happy to have witnessed it.
As you can see, our camp was primarily focused on providing interactive events rather than art and installations,
but we arranged some decorations to highlight our reference to Ancient Greece.
This year we added a statue depicting Hercules wrestling Diomedes for his 8th labor. By the way, I haven’t been able to find an explanation behind that ‘penile grip’ – so if there are specialists in history of art among the readers here, please enlighten us in the comments 😎
As you’d expect, our wrestling matches are preceded by oiling up (with a pure Greek olive oil),
which feels great in the arid environment of Black Rock City.
Our entertainers led the show,
and we had a good turnout of spectators and participants for all three matches that we hosted.
Just like last year, we used sumo wrestling rules, as the simplest to adopt at a festival setting.
The wrestlers had to stay within the boundaries of the blue mats,
and only their feet were allowed to touch the ground.
There was a great deal of pushing
and lifting,
or even carrying the opponent outside the rink.
Though pushing was certainly the favorite technique,
and sometimes our puzzle mats did not withstand all that force.
But some matches looked a lot more elegant,
almost like a dance.
And surely it helped to possess a good grip (which the oil made more difficult)
and/or ability to escape one (which the oil made easier).
We had some well matched participants,
so their matches were intense
and unpredictable.
Sometimes we’d need a few judges to decide who stepped outside or touched the ground first, but often enough the victory was clear.
When the most active participants had wrestled each other a few times, we selected those with most victories for semifinals and finals.
You could tell the finalists took the competition seriously,
although all they’d get was a laurel wreath and glory, just like in the authentic Olympic Games 😉
After the winner was determined for each of our three competitions,
we awarded them at our ‘temple’.
And the winners awarded us with their glorious smiles 🙂
Besides giving the golden laurel wreath,
we added one more touch of the Ancient Greek ceremony by scraping dust, oil and sweat from the winners with a strigil (bought on eBay, supposedly authentic!)
And here is a video compilation from the wrestling matches – our only video from Burning Man this year. Enjoy, hopefully it’s a good reward for your long wait for our report!
I thought that this month it’d be very appropriate to organize a sports competition, mini-Olympics of a kind – in the nude, of course – to remind about the origins of the Olympic games in Ancient Greece,
and very much in spirit of Active Naturists and our Gymnasium project.
We’ll have a few events throughout the day on Saturday, 20 Aug (raincheck Sunday) at my favorite Gunnison beach on Sandy Hook peninsula (just across the bay from New York City) :
long jump around noon;
wrestling around 2pm
running and swimming races during low tide time – to run on wet sand/swim in shallower water – between 3pm and 5pm; 100m and 500m;
discus throw (frisbee) at 6pm;
+ there are always volleyball games going on at Sandy Hook;
and maybe we can even have some gymnastics and capoeira!
Look out for our Gymnasium banner on the right hand side of the beach (looking at the ocean). See you!
Active Naturists 