Christmas 2009

As usual, the run up to Christmas seemed like and age and when it came, it was over in a flash!! All the children came home and we had a lovely white wintery scene on the day. We all ate and drank loads but tried very hard to esure the excesses didn't alter our waistlines too much! Simon and  have agreed that the less (weight) we have to cart up the mountain, the better. As a result, we have lost over a stone in weight each so far, with another half a stone easily achievable before we go.

We went out at the crack of dawn before Christmas for a long walk at minus 8 celcius to see how 3 layers top and bottom with coats on top felt (okay, okay - if you're Canadian I know that isn't that cold, but it is  for us!). We were sweating! So, with an extra top layer in the daysack and outer gloves, I feel we're covered. We've been out every day over the holiday doing about 6 miles with some hilly bits. We need to keep this up daily now but I go back to work tomorow (Tuesday). So, as I don't get home until after 6pm, we'll have to do the work days with head torches, which is good practice too I guess. One weekend, we might even try a night in a tent in sub zero before we go - even if it's in our garden! - so it's not too much of a shock when it comes!! However, for me it is the toilet facilities (or rather the lack of them) that will be the hardest thing for me!! (not that I plan to try out cr*pping in my garden!).

Anyways, after the Christmas pressies, we only need a couple of bits and bobs and we're sorted. Well, apart from the anti-malaria tablets, which are going to cost a small fortune for 5 weeks :(

The Itinerary for Tanzania

Well, its all sorted! Given the current economic climate, we have decided not to climb the mountain for charity, so have booked a private trek. The whole trip looks something like this:

21st January - Fly to Kilimanjaro from Birmingham via Amsterdam - lets hope that this time we have enough time to walk between the two gates!

21st - 24th January - Exploring Arusha, Moshi and the Kilimanjaro and Arusha National Parks. Might do a bit of Mt Meru for a bit of acclimatisation. We'll be staying at the Songota Falls Lodge a very modest and simple lodge away from the hustle and bustle of Arusha run by a local family. We were particularly keen to see as much of local life as possible during this trip and Songota has some great reviews - and the falls sounds so much more appealing than a lodge pool!! We've booked a whole day walking safari on 23rd January in the Arusha National Park that will take us up around Ngurdoto Crater, with our own private armed ranger.

25th - 31st January - 7 nights Trekking and camping on Kilimanjaro via the northern Rongai route (Kenyan side of the mountain). Hopefully summiting 30th January the day before the full moon. We are trekking with a company called Climb Mount Kilimanjaro (oddly enough!). There are so many companies offering the Kili trek, it's hard to choose but I figured I was more comfortable handing my hard earned money to a company associated with the author Henry Stedman.

1st - 9th February - Safari, including the Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti and Tarangire national parks, travelling with The East African Safari & Touring Company on a private safari. As with the Kili trek, there are hundreds of companies to choose from but liked the 'off the beaten track' nature of what they were offering and the fact that their main lodge at Boundary Hill is part owned by the local masai village, is in a great location and only has a few rooms. We'll also be staying at their tented camps. More here.

9th February - Fly to Zanzibar

9th - 19th February - The Echo Beach Hotel in Zanzibar, snorkelling, swimming, relaxing etc. with a trip to Stonetown in there somewhere. The location and size of this hotel sold it to us. Its right on the beach and the two storey bandas offer lovely views from lovely rooms with huge furnished terraces. It also has a great pool and its own dive centre and we hear the food is terrific!

20th February - Come home :(

I can't tell you how long it took to research everything and choose but thank heaven for the internet!! Time will tell if we made the right choices but I am confident that we'll have a great time.

The Kilimanjaro Route

I changed my mind on the route in the end. I detailed earlier the Lemosho Route as our preferred route. However, its not very well travelled. Although we wanted a quiet route, we wanted other trekkers with us in case one of us had to come down before the summit. We figured it would be difficult for the other one to keep going if there was only a guide and the porters. We have an extra day for acclimatisation so hopefully we'll do well but if either of us doesn't we both want the other to continue. The route is also drier than the southern routes and there is more wildlife.

It's going to go so fast but is going to be the first of many more 'adventurous' trips, now the children have left home and we have more time to ourselves. We are already talking about trekking to Everest Base Camp in Nepal if we deal well with the altitude on Kilimanjaro.

The Shropshire Way

A dry day thankfully albeit but a bit cloudy for good photographs, we walked to the top of Shropshire's highest hill - Brown Clee, at 540 metres slightly taller and a little more scenic on top than it's nearby sister (seen here in the foreground). Despite a walking book we didn't find the trail we intended to follow but we found our way round the tor pretty easily and from the top we could see some of the much higher peaks in Wales that we'd walked - Cadair Idris, Aran Fawddwy etc.

From Shropshire

Less than 4 months to go until Kili!!

Well, the training really must start in earnest now. We leave the UK on 21st January 2010. Christmas in between now and then will make the time fly by. We are due to summit Kilimanjaro on 29th/30th January treking the Rongai Route with an extra day acclimatisation. After a couple of days rest we will spend 9 days on safari in the Northern Tanzania parks before flying to Zanzibar to spend 11 days there. Our month long adventure will fly by I am sure but will be worth it.

I had a second cardiac ablation on 12th August and after a little blip, things are going well with the old ticker now, so I am feeling a lot more confident regarding my health. My cross trainer is my daily friend when I don't have time to get to do a proper walk. The painting in the background is an oil by my daughter, which helps with the boredom of indoors training (- as does the TV :)

2010 will be a busy year. Whilst we are in Africa, the baby of the family (20) will be in Hong Kong. Both Uni student offspring (20 & soon to be 22) will be in their final term before going out into the big wide world (and getting a job hopefully!). The eldest (soon to be 24) will undoubtedly be off to the far east on business early in 2010 and the middle sized one won't be outdone and will be off somewhere far away over the summer. We promised to visit the Canadian family members in the summer and as I have never been to BC I'll look forward to that (we were going to include visiting the Alaskan branch of the family too, but they will have moved to Texas by then!). Hubby retires in November and we'll be able to think less about work from then on.

Autumn in Switzerland

We returned again to Switzerland for an extended weekend last week with some friends and found the weather as warm and as lovely as it was back in June. As it was so good, we returned to Zermatt and took the high cablecar up to the Glacier Paradise again, where this time we got the great views we missed in June. At a further 2000 metres up, if we get a clear day at the top of Kili in January (providing we make it to the summit!) the views from there will be spectacular, albeit very different.

Needless to say, we packed a lot in 5 days with lots of walking. We finished it all with lunch on the Lake at Montreaux in beautiful sunshine before hopping to Geneva for the flight home.

Aberdovey/Aberdyfi

Aberdovey on a Sunday afternoon during an unseasonably warm weekend in September was just lovely. We enjoyed ice cream on the beach watching a boating competition. Watching lots of children making sandcastles and flying kites was simple quiet fun but the hard working rowers in the background made us feel quite guilty!

There is nothing like the Welsh coastline on a lovely day :)

Aran Fawddwy

A couple of weekends ago we decided on a Friday afternoon that we'd go to Wales for the weekend walking. We phoned the Wynnstay in Machynnleth and they had a room for 2 nights so we were off! We decided to hike up Aran Fawdwy. Living in the shadow of its more famous neighbour Cadair Idris, Aran Fawdwy actually stands a fraction taller. The weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky and very warm for mid September.

 

Near to the summit my foot was hurting. Fearing a blister I whimped out of the last 15 minutes to the top, as we'd chosen a demanding route down. Demanding was an understatement! I would call it rock climbing (or rock descending), but we made it down safely and the day gave us a great appetite for the dinner awaiting us at the Wynsnstay.

 

Summer in Switzerland

We returned to Switzerland in June for a couple of weeks. We thought that, as we hadn't done it for a while, we'd take the car across the channel and drive there and back for a change. My new car sits on the drive a lot of the time so she probably enjoyed herself too!! We did lots and lots of walking and, as the weather was good for most of the time, we saw some wonderful scenery. We chose the wrong day to visit Zermatt and take the high cablecar though. The views disappeared halfway up and you couldnt see more than 6 feet in front of you, let alone the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc!

From Switzerland June 2009

From Switzerland June 2009

Househunting

We have been looking for a little while for a 'weekender' cottage in Snowdonia, to enable us to escape without notice to without having to pack a bag. I found a sweet little place on the internet the other night and this morning we decided to go and have a look at it.

Anyways, we went into both Barmouth and Dolgellau for a walk and refreshments but the rain somewhat spoilt this part of the day. We had phoned the elder son earlier in the day and he said he was doing what he does nearly every weekend at Bala (this is him doing it somewhere else).

So, we arranged to meet him after he'd dried off and go for dinner. We drove the single track road from Dinas Maddwy (just outside Dolgellau) over the top and down to Bala, which was lovely as the clouds were clearing and the sun trying very hard to shine. We met up and drove to Llangollen and parked up. We went to Caesars Restaurant by the river in LLangollen but before we went in we took a few minutes to admire the river from the bridge, as the weather was glorious.

Then it was back home. Until next time............

Easter in Snowdonia

Well, I wouldnt ordinarily choose a bank holiday weekend to do something like Snowdon but hey ho, needs must. As far as accommodation went, we decided to stay away from North Wales (where the world and his wife seemed to be) and opted for a great place in Oswestry for our base - Sebastian's Hotel & Restaurant What a delightful place, great accommodation and a wonderful restaurant, what more could one ask for? Oswestry is mid point between our home and Snowdon, so this broke up the journey nicely and meant we were away from the maddening crowds.

We were going to climb Snowdon from Pen-y Pass but despite the owner of Sebastian's getting up at the crack of dawn (considering he cooked our 5 course extravaganza the night before) to cook our breakfast, we were still waaayyyy too late for a parking place there. People were parking like 3 miles away from the start to do this route, adding 6 miles to their walking journeys. So, we opted just to go to LLanberis and walk from there with the crowds. From Llanberis, most take the train one way (or both!) so it's very busy but there is more parking. So, we just did it, and will go back at a quieter time to do our preferred route.

Look at all the people!

The route from Llanberis is longer than the one we intended to take, 9 miles all round, but much of the route is quite easy, with just the last third to and from the summit being challenging. The summit was probably busier than Blackpool on the day (or even central London!) but it was worth doing. The weather was glorious and the views over Anglesey and around were simply breathtaking.

It was a beautiful day but it was chilly at the top!

See the snow? still a little bit here and there

After Snowdon we had a more relaxing day, winding our way though lovely Welsh villages in Snowdonia. We went to Blaenau FFestiniog and took the little train to Porthmadog and back. A little "touristy" given the bank holiday weekend but very sweet and the views lovely.

Blaenau Ffestiniog Station

Before departing back home, as we were relatively close by and the weather was so beautiful I couldnt resist a small detour to probably my favourite place in all the world. Coming down the slope on the road from Dolgellau to Corris just before the Cadair Idris car park at Minffordd, Tal Y llyn shimmers in the distance. A picture can never do it justice.

The view up the hill from there is just as beautiful

Next on the list is Scafell Pike. Our eldest son is in Scotland kayaking as I write and is due to do ben Nevis on Wednesday whilst he's up there. So he can give us a few tips for when we get round to that later in the year. We're in Switzerland in early June alpine walking so we might have a go at Scafell before then but if we can't find sufficient time in the next 6 weeks, we have Wales on the doorstep and will never tire of walking there.

Men (and women) of Harlech

There is nothing quite like a hearty breakfast the morning after a hard walk. The Wynnstay grill went down a treat last Sunday Morning (as did the smoked salmon and eggs for the vegetarians amongst us - like me!). We decided over the coffee to go to Harlech for the day. The weather wasn't as nice as the previous day, but it was dry and forecast to remain so.

The coastal road between Barmouth and Porthmadog is lovely, so we drove up the A470 and came down along the coastal road to Harlech. Then at the end of the day we drove from Harlech to Barmouth on the way back to the Hotel. A long walk along the beach over the dunes, a meander around the steep and narrow streets of Harlech and exploration of all corners of the castle was interupted only by tea and panninis at the Castle Hotel.

Just the women

The Castle from the beach

Cadair Idris

What a lovely weekend we had in Wales! We stayed at The Wynnstay Hotel (mentioned below) enjoying great food and great company. On the Saturday we ventured out to walk up Cadair Idris. It was a beautiful day, sun shining and very mild for February. We started the walk on the Minffordd Path doing this route:

http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks/walks/walk_b/1204/

taking the left fork out of the trees towards Craig Cau to go clockwise round Cym Cau (the lake). You can go the other way round but on this route, the very steep decent that starts halfway between Mynydd Moel and the finish is challenging. Its a mixture of stone and soft, which I personally would have found difficult ascending.



Looking over Cym Cau from Mynydd Pencoed


We started off about 10.15am. It was mild and sunny and for much of the day our coats, top fleeces, gloves etc stayed in the backpack. However, about 50 mtrs from the Craig Cau peak it got windy, cold and very cloudy and we put everything we had on! If it is cloudy at the summit, remember to stop long enough beforehand to take in the breathtaking views of Cym Cau. You see it again on the other side but it is breathtaking from all angles. The steep drop from the Craig Cau side make it particularly dramatic. From Craig Cau to the summit we couldnt see a hand in front of our faces, which was a little scary when one considers the sheer drop off one side of the ridge down to the lake!!

Cym Cau

Looking back to Cym Cau and the clouds at the summit

It was my first hard walk for some time because of my heart problems, so I wore my heart monitor all day. I wasn't going to overdo it so I took frequent stops and it didn't go over 135, so I was very pleased with that. The other half likes to think he's fit as he still referees the odd rugby match, but on the way down he had to admit that we have a long way to go before Kili!! We took 6 hours from start to finish, which we thought quite respectable.

Admiring the view (and a chocolate biscuit ;) )

We met up with some friends from London after the walk, who stayed the weekend with us. After a hearty meal at the Wynnstay Hotel and probably too much wine, we retired to the four poster and slept like logs.

Snowdon is next on the Wales section of our prep list but we'll wait until at least the end of March as the weather can make Snowdon very dangerous.

My Walking Companion

My husband of almost 25 years will be my walking companion up Kili. I'm not sure it's something he would have chosen to do off his own back but he's agreed to come with me (despite altitude sickness affecting men more than women apparently!). Our eldest son is into fairly extreme sports, so maybe we could persuade him to come too.

Him indoors is also a keen photographer, which will come in handy to document all our walks and the Kili trip itself.

After the Heart Op

Okay, I am back home after a somewhat longer stay in hospital than anticipated for my heart op at UHB Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. I had a Cardiac Catheter Ablation to remedy my atrial fibrillation. The results are looking very promising and I haven't had any arhythmia since waking up from the procedure. So, here's hoping that I can get myself fit again and begin training in earnest. If I do get to the top of Kili, it wont have been possible without this procedure. Moreover, I wouldn't even be able to attempt it in the condition I was in, so I owe UHB a debt of gratitude for even being able to plan this trip, however far I get up the mountain. I have to stay on Warfarin (a bloodthinner) for 6 months at least, but if the arhythmia comes back I might have to stay on it, pending a second procedure. Thus, I need to find out about the effects of altitude on anyone taking this medication.

I'll be back on my cross trainer at home in a few days to build up a bit of stamina. We thought we'd start again outdoors with a weekend in Wales and walk Cadair Idris. When I was a child, our school had a holiday retreat at Dolgellau and I walked up there on many occassions to admire the view. There is a nice little hotel we like at Machynlleth, The Wynnstay Hotel which is not too far away, does great food and has a really good wine list. It also stocks many 'real' ales and the pizzas round the back are to die for. We might even do Valentines weekend.

As we go round on our walks hubby will be taking pictures and I'll post them on here with a write up of each walk. We use the Pathfinder Guides.