A little lie-in today, coffee in bed at 6.30. Today’s walk to Shira Camp 2 is short. We started off at 8.00 am and soon saw some Jackal footprints.
Today’s walk started off through short scrubland. The Shira 2 Camp site was soon visible on an exposed ridge above us. It was likely to be cold. We arrived for lunch, which we ate in the mess tent. The temperature in the tent ranged from cold, to boiling hot, depending on the state of the sun.
Today three of us crowded into the Chef’s tent to see how food was prepared, and to help prepare the popcorn for tea. The kitchen was a small blue ridge tent. It was quite a tight squeeze to fit us, the cook and helper, into the tent. Cooking was done on a couple of large gas cylinders with an integral ring. These were used for all the cooking and heating hot water for washing in the mornings and evenings. I could see only two large light weight cooking pots which were used for stews, roasting chicken, making omelettes, pancakes and of course the popcorn which we had a helping hand in producing. There were no tables, and food preparation was done sitting down on the ground with the same plastic chopping boards I use at home. How they produced these meals for us and fed all the porters and guides was quite unbelievable. Food supplies were getting short, and there was going to be a restock of food and gas the next day, all brought up to the Baranco camp.
After the demonstration cook, we had tea at 3.30, and then a short walk-up tomorrow’s path to take us above 4,000 Meters to help us acclimatise to the altitude. This walk was quite hard work, and I was beginning to get out of breath. Back down again, and then supper. It was at this stage I noticed my appetite for food had gone. I noticed I was still eating after everyone else had finished.
No rain today, I was sleeping well during the night. I was not cold, no headaches, just a total loss of appetite.
We are woken at the start of the day with a cup of coffee or tea. Today it was at 6.00am, still dark. We have 30 minutes to drink coffee, get dressed, pack our bags, and then leave them outside on a canvas mat. Once the luggage is there the porters can dismantle and pack the tents away and start the transport of the tents and bags to the new site. An individual porter is responsible for your bag and tent. You are always housed in the same tent for the whole of the trek. Each tent is labelled with a number, as is the luggage. My tent was number 5, and when you arrive at a new campsite, you look for the tent, number 5, and there it is with your bag already in it.
Today there were some monkeys in the trees, blue monkeys. Managed to grab a few pictures, two of which are reasonable. Breakfast in the mess tent was a runny porridge, frankfurter, omelette, and papaya. Tea or coffee. Started on coffee, but transferred to tea, not liking instant coffee.
Our walk today was to Shira One Camp. This was an up and down walk, starting in the rainforest, then into the heather and finally open space. It was a lovely walk, plenty of trees and flowers to see, then as the trees disappeared, we were greeted with views back to the lowlands around the base of the mountain.
On the walk we passed the first of several helipads built by Roman Abramovich in his 2009 attempt to climb Kilimanjaro. He failed to summit and gave up the fight at 4,500M, and was helicoptered out. We had a couple of snack breaks on the way to Shira One. We reached the campsite for lunch of chicken and French fries.
After lunch it poured with rain, and my tent sprang several leaks. The tent porters soon corrected them, so I had a dry, snug tent. At every camp stop, there are two containers of water, one drinking and the other warm for washing. Filled a bowl of warm water and had a quick wash in my tent. Should have brought a towel to dry. My tee shirt is absolutely covered with salt stains from the two days of walking and sweating. Should have brought a few more clothes on the hike. No problem I change into one set of cloths for socialising in the evening and the smelly, sweaty cloths for walking. It will be getting cooler now, so there will be something on over the tee shirt.
Water is gathered at each stop. Sometimes the water team must walk long distances to find the clean stream, other times the water is close nearby,
In the pictures you can see our tents, and the two loo tents, one for the women, and the other for the men. The campsites do have their own permanent toilets, these are very smelly and dirty, they are the squat type of toilets. The portable toilets in their tents were nice to have and were kept clean.
As evening approached, the rain stopped, and I was able to grab some snaps of the campsite and a nearby stream. This evening we were entertained by quiet singing from the porter team. This was quiet, because singing in the park had been banned, with some guides losing their license to lead groups. COVID was used as an excuse to ban singing.
Supper tonight was rice and vegetables. It was much cooler tonight, so when I went to bed, I still wore most of my clothes. Still lovely and warm in my sleeping bag.
Today, Friday 11th February, was the start of the trek. Up and ready by 7.00 am for breakfast of mixed grill and fruit. Afterwards I repacked, splitting my luggage into three, the trekking luggage to be carried by the porters, luggage to leave behind and my day sack. I had yet to see the sleeping bag I had ordered; I was assured it would be there in the tent at the first campsite. Others had also ordered a sleeping bag, even those who had their own bag, saves luggage space.
The group was split into two Land Cruisers, and we headed off out to the start of the epic trek at the Lemosho Gate. The highway was on an exceptionally good tarmac road. (Chinese built for mineral rights?) The traffic was terribly slow, and then there were flashing lights as government limos sped past. Apparently, the prime minister was out and about. Instead of continuing along the tarmac road we set off cutting the corner of the triangle on dirt roads. This took us through a township and alongside many cultivated fields. The townships, and shops looked remarkably like my memory of Kenya 60 years before. Cultivation was in full swing, mainly manual with jembes, and women sowing the seeds. I did see one tractor. (The land behind our hotel had been ploughed mechanically.) This work was all in preparation for the short rains which were due to start in the next week or so. We spotted Zebra on some of the grassland areas.
We eventually re-contacted the metalled road and continued at a fast pace to the Lemosho Gate. There (2100 meters) we had a picture opportunity under the sign. We collected our lunch and filled our water bottles with clean water. Our porters were having their luggage weighed by the park authorities to ensure they were not overloaded and exploited. There were eight of us clients, and thirty-four supporting us. The thirty-four included the tour leader, Jimmy, our guides, cook, toilet operatives, water fetchers, the manager, and the porters. Three porters per client.
We started our walk through the rainforest. There were Colobus monkeys, who remained very hidden, and plenty of birds. I carried my large lens, but no obliging critters posed long enough to be photographed. Part way up the walk we stopped for lunch (fried chicken) so arrived at the camp at around 2.30. The path up was very well made and not steep, it was all through the rainforest. The walk was warm, I wore shorts and a tee shirt. At the campsite, after dusk, it soon became cool, so I wore fleece and long trousers.
At the camp site the sound of thunder boomed around, and the clouds grew larger. This was to be repeated every day. From morning to midday there were no or few clouds. As the day progressed the clouds took over the sky, and thunder then became pretty well continuous. We were lucky to get extraordinarily little rain.
We had an excellent meal of pumpkin soup, spaghetti and meat. We were all seated in a large mess tent with a table and chairs, all brought up by the porters. Several Ravens provided a photo opportunity, they are scavengers on the lookout for a free meal. The night was warm in my rented four-season sleeping bag. The Colobus monkeys provided a noisy soundscape to the forest throughout the night. Some obliging monkeys showed themselves in the morning.
Our Route to the Lemosho Gate and the walk to the first camp at Mti Mkubwa Campcam
Drive from Weru Weru River Lodge to Lemosho gate, and then walk up to Mti Mkubwa Camp
The earlier trip to Morocco had been a practice run for the climb up Kilimanjaro. So, I felt confident I would succeed in climbing Kili. I booked the trip quite late to Kili, the last booking I believe. The Omicron variant initially stopped me from bookin. I thought Tanzania would be added to the red list to join South Africa and several other African nations. It soon became apparent this wasn’t happening, and the red list soon lost its African countries. I booked the trip in January, getting a 20% discount from Explore. Unseen benefit!
I few weeks before travelling, I bought insurance for it, which had to include cover for over 6,000 meters. I also completed my Tanzania visa application online. The visa was granted withing 36 hours.
Despite the wind down of the pandemic, there were rules still to be obeyed for entry into Tanzania. A couple of days before travelling a PCR test was taken and delivered to the pickup point just off the M40. I waited with my fingers crossed for the result to be texted to me the next day. Yes. Negative, so I could travel.
The next day (9th February), I had to complete a Tanzania passenger locator form, and pay $10 for an LFT for when I arrived in the country. Not sure what happens when you fail this test. I assume, holiday over and into state isolation. I decided to travel to Heathrow by train and the Piccadilly line, no way was I going to pay the rip off Heathrow express fares. The alternative, the Oxford Airline bus service, is still not back to its pre-Covid timetable.
Arrived at Heathrow unstressed, checking in quickly, presenting my paperwork, (visa, vaccination status, PCR test and booked LFT). Soon I was in the departure lounge. Many of the bars and restaurants are still not open in Terminal 2. Even the bar I had a pint in closed shortly after I entered.
Soon I was boarding the flight to Addis Ababa, and despite not purchasing My Sheeba Space, I had an empty seat next to me. Ethiopian Airlines was very insistent that I should bid to upgrade to business class, or failing that, I should purchase empty seats next to me, the so-called Sheeba Space. The food on the flight was good. Two meals on the flight to Addis, and they also did not stint on the wine. Another meal and wine on the short flight to Kili. Some European, American, and British airlines have something to learn about when it comes to service.
In Addis I transferred to the flight to Kilimanjaro Airport. This was a fullish flight although there was a spare seat next to me again. I could not believe so many were flying to Kili, only realising later that the flight was destined to Zanzibar, and only twenty people disembarked at Kili. Small airport where I was temperature checked and had my LFT test. (Very gentle tester.) Seems they were testing only the British. Americans did not get tested, and I heard one American demanding her $10 back. I had slept during some of this flight but luckily awoke as we were flying over Lake Naivasha, Kenya. A town I once lived in. Homes and cultivation now surround the whole of the lake.
There was one other Kili client on my flight. We were both picked up and driven to Weru Weru River Lodge around 60 minutes away. All the other clients had arrived on earlier flights through Nairobi. Some had been booked on to my flight but Explore had cancelled their flights and put them on the Nairobi route. This was because of the escalating war in Ethiopia. I think because I was a late booker, the security issues had diminished, and the Ethiopian Airlines option was back on.
We arrived at the lodge, showered, and then met the others for the briefing. The lodge has large well-appointed rooms. There was a swimming pool and bar. Even managed to get a Negroni for a relaxing evening drink. Oh and of course WiFi.
Supper was terribly slow to be served. Despite the number of chefs, it appeared ages to prepare. I ate an Avocado salad, followed by Nile Pike.
We drove to Heathrow to catch our flight to Iceland. We parked in the long stay, wrote down our location and caught the bus. Having negotiated the tedious check-in procedures we were soon in the departure lounge. Part of the check-in process was to be asked if we were flying on to America, and if so had we been to Italy. In departures, I decided to buy a bottle of Lagavulin 16. No cheaper than in Tesco, but at least I can take it on the flight, and it will be cheaper than in Iceland. The flight was not busy, was this because of the virus? At Keflavík International Airport most of the passengers stayed in departures, as they were continuing on to the US. We soon had our bags, I did purchase some cash from a cash machine near the bag pickup area. I would advise against this, Iceland is pretty well cashless these days, so use your debit card. Nowhere did I have to spend cash, and we ended up having to spend it to get rid of it. We also couldn’t use a precharged debit card, as the Icelandic currency was not supported by our Post Office card,
By now we had met up with the other passengers and the tour leader. We took a coach to the car hire location. Here the leader picked up our minibus. Our trip was to take us to our hotel, driving initially along the coast. We set off just before the sun was setting, arriving at the hotel after sunset. We did stop at one place to see a lone Harlequin duck swimming in a river. There was not much wildlife outside. Outside of the van, it was bitterly cold, the weather was bright and sunny, but there was a cold, icy wind.
We arrived at the hotel Eldhestar, a single-storey hotel. The hotel is geared around horse riding in the summer. We were treated to views of the ponies as they were moved around. Many of the surrounding buildings were stables. Also staying at the hotel was a male choir who provided us with an impromptu entertainment during our evening meal.
Spotted: Harlequin Duck, Eurasian Wren.
The day’s drive from airport to hotel Eldhestar
Alþthing, Strokkur, Gullfoss and Skálholtskirkja, Saturday 7th March 2020
I do love continental breakfast. This hotel was no exception. I gorged myself on the cold fish, cheese and meats. I was well-filled before we climbed aboard the minibus for our trip around the tourist sites. The weather was sunny and cold. On the way to the first stop, we had to wait a little while as a car was pulled out of the snow and up the hill by a breakdown vehicle. Someone had slid off the snowy road in a dip where the snow had drifted.
Our first stop was at the bottom of a hydroelectric power station. Here we were able to view some Mallard and Whooper Swans. We then drove to the top of the hydroelectric lake where we should have been able to see some more birds. We did spot a Barrows Goldeneye.
Stop 3 was at the Thingvellir National Park. Here there were some nutters scuba diving in the lakes which were covered with ice. We walked around the small church, Þingvallakirkja (Þingvellir church) and the location of the old Icelandic parliament. The parliament still comes here for a couple of weeks in the summer. There was some lovely walking around here, where you could see the volcanic layers. Some breathtaking views from the ridges. We ended up in the visitor centre for a sandwich lunch before returning to the van and on to our next stop.
Stop 4 was at Geysir where we could see the active geyser called Strokkur and the inactive geyser called Geysir. The place has changed since we were last here back in 2000. There is a large new hotel there now. Sorry for so many photographs of Strokkur, I took a long sequence of pictures for one eruption.
Stop 5 was Gulfoss where we walked along the top of the frozen falls. We could not walk up close along the lower paths, they were roped off after being deemed dangerous because of the snowfalls. Spent some time warming up in the visitor centre, though not buying anything. Prices were too high: Managed to get a picture of a Northern Raven soaring on the cliffs over the falls. The falls had also changed since we last visited, a large visitor centre having been constructed.
Stop 6, we did a picture opportunity of some Icelandic horses. Cute creatures, so hardy standing out there in the cold and snow.
Stop 7 and it was the Skálholtskirkja cathedral. The cathedral is miles from any inhabited areas. The present cathedral was consecrated in 1963. There is a re-creation of the old Icelandic Cathedral on site. Where the cathedral is located is considered one of the most important places in Iceland from 1056 until 1785. It was one of Iceland’s two episcopal sees. While we were there we saw a lovely flock of Snow Bunting flying into the trees. No photos, wrong lens. No problem, there were plenty of Snow Buntings on later days.
It was now back to the hotel for some 16-year-old Lagavulin and dinner. I apparently was not the only one to buy some whisky for an evening drink.
Spotted: Whooper Swan, Eurasian Widgeon, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Cormorant, Northern Raven, Snow Bunting.
Day two, drive to Thingvellir National Park, Geysir, Gullfoss and Skálholtskirkja cathedral.
Stykkishólmur and Orca watching Sunday 8th March 2020
Today there was the long drive to Stykkishólmur. We should be stopping off at Olafsvik for the Orca hunt. The news was not good though. The wind was strong, the forecast was bad, and the sea was rough. It looked like the Orca viewing would be off. Despite several phone calls during the day, and the weather not seeming as bad as forecast, the boat trip remained off.
We first drove to Reykjavik and did a whistle-stop tour of the city, before heading North, through the tunnel under Hvalfjörður. We stopped for a coffee and some cakes on our journey. On entering Stykkishólmur we had lunch in at a bakery called Nesbrauð ehf. After lunch we spent quite a time at the port searching for birds, spotting European Shags, Great Cormorants, Black Guillemot and various gulls.
We then drove to an industrial area of the town, where we thought we might get a different view out to sea. We were made to feel unwelcome as there were large trucks reversing, picking up their fish cargos. So we left.
Next stop was to the West, Grundarfjörður and its small harbour where we saw flocks of Snow Bunting, with many of them sheltering amongst the harbour wall rocks, they looked a little like cobblestones from a distance. There were many lovely Northern Ravens flying around, seemingly pairing up for Spring.
Back to the hotel Foss, a larger multi-storey affair. This seems to be under renovation for the summer. Reasonable room with a walk-in shower. There was a good view of the town, directly towards the church. It may be possible we will see the Northern Lights from the comfort of our room.
After supper, we did look out over the town, no Northern Lights. Our tour leader said he would keep watch and wake us if and when they arrived. So alas no Orcas and no Northern Lights. Hopefully better luck on Monday
Spotted: Greylag Goose, Whooper Swan, Eurasian Widgeon, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Common Eider, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, European Shag, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Purple Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, European Herring Gull, Black Guillemot, Northern Raven, Common Starling, Snow Bunting.
Day Three, drive to Stykkishólmur
Snæfellsjökull National Park Monday 9th March 2020
The news was not good, looked like no Orca spotting this trip. We could try from the land and we did stop at a few viewpoints on the way. No luck.
We started the day with a quick trip to the Harbour. Not much was going on, so we were soon on our way West. We stopped at Grundarfjörður (2) with the inevitable tour of the harbour, again nothing worth photographing. A few metres along the road we stopped again for a viewing point of the Kirkjufell Mountain (3). It is quite impressive.
Another viewing point along the road was high above the sea at Búlandshöfði View Point (4). Here we looked out to the sea. Would there be any Orcas breaching? In the rough sea, they were going to be difficult to spot.
We made another stop down to the coast (5) where we viewed many different gulls and Oystercatchers. Totally confused by gulls. They change their plumage as they age.
Next, we went on to the Port Ólafsvík (6) where we should have taken the boat out to see the Orca. It was obviously all closed up. We had a coffee here and watched a display by the Northern Raven. Many Snow Buntings were landing on the roofs of the house opposite.
We continued on, dropping in on the village of Rif (7) and then towards Skarðsvík Beach (8). It was a narrow road with a steep camber. Here we managed to slip off the road. We pushed, we dug and only made matters worse. Other people stopped by to help, some of our weaker members were placed in the other vehicles for save keeping. Rosemary was at one time unceremoniously dragged across the ice by me and another man because she was about to be squashed by our van when it was reversing. Eventually, a phone call was made, and a truck arrived and pulled us back on to the road.
While we were standing around in the icy blast, we realised how in-hospitable the land is around here. There is no way you can walk across the country, you would soon be torn to shreds by the sharp ragged lava rocks.
Once back in the van we headed back to Port Ólafsvík (9) for lunch. The best lunch. Surprising how restrained we were in ordering our food when it was being paid for by Naturetrek,
Continuing our journey around the Snæfellsjökull we headed back towards where we had slipped off the road, instead of going down to the beach, we kept to the main road. Our road looked very pretty with the drifting snow blowing across it. At Londrangar (10) we stopped to view the birds from the top of the cliffs, and of course the two rock pinnacles.
At Hellnar (11) we drove down to see the Bárðar Saga Snæfellsáss Statue.
It was now back to the hotel, completing the circuit around the Snæfellsjökull. It was our final meal, and the final chance to see the Northern Lights. Sure enough, that night, there was a banging on the door and a phone call. The lights were visible, but we couldn’t make them out. Let us face it, we are in a solar minimum, so the chances of seeing a good display were pretty non-existent. Maybe a cruise up the Norwegian coast in five years time, when CORVID 19 should not be an issue, and the sun will be at its maximum.
Spotted: Eurasian Widgeon, Mallard, Common Eider, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Northern Fulmar, European Shag, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper, Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Northern Raven, Common Starling, Snow Bunting.
Day Four, around Snæfellsjökull
Back home Monday 10th March 2020
It was now time to go home after our short break. Breakfast and then the trip back home. We started off with a quick visit to the harbour, and then the drive South. A coffee break at Kjalarnes, before heading past Reykjavik and finally stopping on the coast near Keflavík. Here we did some bird spotting in the harbour and park. A quick lunch at a bakery, Kornið bakarí and then to the airport. Finished spending all the remaining money and caught a fairly busy flight home.
We managed to complete a foreign destination holiday before Lockdown started. We were conscious of the CORVID 19 virus while we were away. Despite Iceland having a good record on CORVID 19, we did not see any particular restrictions, social distancing or hygiene actions in the hotels or restaurants There were some signs in the airport, but nothing at Heathrow.
Day Five, back to Keflavík
Complete interactive Google map of trip.
The Google Interactive map can be zoomed into, and shows the stop points for each day.
On Monday, we said goodbye to Camping des Playes and headed to Camping Champ d’ete in Pont-de-Vaux, a short distance off the Autoroute du Soleil. A large flat campsite near to the town. There is a small river which joins the nearby Saone. I say a small river, it was big enough to have boats and a marina in the village. It looks like it is easy to walk into the town, and the river must have some good walks along the banks. Alas, the weather was wet and not conducive to walking. The campsite was also about to close for the winter. I shall put this down as a possible place to stay in the future.
The Tuesday we headed off back to Chalons-en Champagne to stop in the same place as when we came out. Not sitting outside for supper this time, instead, there was rain and more rain. The grape pickers had all left as well. We did stop off at the large Carrefour.
Wednesday was an uneventful drive back to Calais and a trip across in the Euro Tunnel. We caught an earlier train and managed to miss most of the holdups crossing the Thames.
We had had good weather in Provence, and now it was soon time to make our way home. We decided on a couple of stops on the journey back. This meant we had a couple of days spare. The weather was wet to the North, so we decided to head to the South. We had visited Six-Four-les-Plages a couple of years ago, and there was an open ACSI campsite, Camping des Playes. We headed on down, stopping at a Carrefour Market in La Brillanne for some essentials and dinner.
We arrived at the campsite. nobody around so selected a spot and set up home. The campsite is on the uphill edge side of the town. The site is very hilly, though the individual pitches were all level. There were not many, as most of the site is now small holiday pre-fab homes. They really are everywhere now. There is no way you could get into this place on spec in the season, and I count ourselves lucky there was space. Anyway, we checked in when the receptionist arrived. We didn’t go anywhere today, just chilled out, drank wine and cooked supper.
The next day, Sunday, we were awoken by shooting above us. Yes, the hunters were up before dawn. Today we would go out for Sunday lunch. We headed down the hill to the beach. There is a lovely walk along the beach. Swimmers and surfers on the sea, bars along the road. We walked along the beach examining the menus and stopped at one place, L’Eden bar/Bistro/Millesim for a pastis. The bar was split into several separate areas, a rougher bar, restaurant and night club. Marked it as a possibility for lunch.
We continued into the main area where there was a market in progress. we have been here before, so were acquainted with the fish stores with their whole Tuna fish being caved up to order. We did purchase some bread and started looking for somewhere to eat, the restaurants were beginning to fill up. Headed back to L’Eden, seemed reasonably empty, but of course, as we were not booked, placed inside the restaurant and not on the terrace. The restaurant soon filled up.
We had an excellent meal there, and I had a Negroni.
Walked slowly back to the campsite for the evening.
Our last day had a little less Geology, with more emphasis on the historical and sightseeing. The geology was Les Mourres, a barren area with rock pinnacles rising up. This all started 25 million years ago. The pinnacles were islands of water plants and primitive seaweeds which became embedded in the limestone deposits as deposits were laid down. Over time the limestone was eroded leaving the harder rock to survive, hence the grotesque shapes.
Next, some sightseeing in Forclquier where we wandered through the narrow streets, bought some pastis and then made our way up to the Citadelle. Here we had a picnic lunch and then walked back down for a beer in a bar. The final stop was to the Salagon Museum and Gardens. The Gardens have areas dedicated to Provence agriculture, so there were many lavender varieties. There were also planted areas of medicinal herbs, and finally a world area planted out by continent and country of origin.
There was an issue with their guide which ran from a Samsung galaxy phone. The idea was good, it knew where you were and tried to show you what there was to see. In practice, most of the devices didn’t work for long. We could have been there longer, so much to see. We didn’t get to look into the church.
Back at the Cruis was our final meal. A continuous supply of pizza from the wood-fired pizza oven. The pizza oven was indoors and had been used for most of the cooking throughout the week. The pizzas were good, probably was one of the best meals we had during the week. Seems two of the chaps on our trip have built outdoor bread ovens. Much discussion as to design.
A small group of able-bodied strong males and females headed off down the mountain in Wiz’s 4×4 to try to rescue the stricken vehicle. They took a huge jack and rope. The rest of us stayed on the refuge for breakfast, and then walked back down to the one van at the barrier. Here some geology took place. Examining the map of the Geology of the area and trying to see it in the rocks. Only started to work when it was figured out exactly where we were standing.
Afterwards, some of us went down in the van, while the rest walked down to the D17. The stricken van had been rescued. The advice of the Anglo Saxons had been ignored, which was just to tow it out of the hole. Instead, fruitless work with rocks and jacks was performed. This would apparently have gone on for some time. Luckily some French foresters came along, they looked at the problem and advised towing the van out. This was done with no issues.
There was an ancient Roman wall near the junction, some bits were quite stable, other bits totally trashed. While the walkers came down, the guides asked a few to go mushroom hunting for supper. As I arrived down I heard the guide throwing most of the fungus out with cries of Toxic, Toxic.
We headed to the Otherside of the Verdon Gorge to Rougon. This windy road had a lovely stopping place where we could view, Belvedere de Trescaire bas. The cliffs were vertical and we were told this is the highest verticle drop in France. The French guide had climbed it with her father when she was five. The vultures were flying and I photographed some fabulous pictures of them. You could see their nests on the other side of the canyon. Oh, there was a sole climber, on the other side.
We continued down the gorge and at Col d’Ayen stopped. Here took a photo of a mating butterfly and other insects.
At Chapelle Notre-Dame de Beauvoir, we duly admired the star hanging between two rock outcrops.
Soon we were back at Cruis, where the rest of the group were dropped off, and we were left at our campervan for a well-earned shower and clean up. Soon we were back at Wiz’s for supper and wine.
Today we packed some extra clothes and sleep sheets. We were going to be staying out tonight. We were headed to a mountain lodge on top of Mount Chiran. There was a small observatory there where we would be able to observe the stars. The timing was such that the moon would be fairly new. Apparently we should have been there the previous day. Luckily there had been an error in the booking. The previous evening it had been cloudy, and the group who had booked the lodge that night had seen nothing, being covered in cloud. Well, there had been storms during the night. We had seen them and heard them. The new day was bright.
We headed to the Verdon George, stopping near to Blieux to examine some rocks. A short distance nearby was some Marne Bleu and Gres d’Arnot in Barreme flysch sequence. We continued driving East along the D21 and D4085 with views towards Lac de Castillon. In Castellane we turned back West and drove along the Verdon river and D952 stopping for lunch at a Le Mur D’Abeilles. We all had a jolly meal. The views of the gorge from here are fantastic. Several vultures were spotted. None close enough for a decent photograph.
After lunch, we headed to Mont Chiran. The drive was along the D17 road which soon became a dirt track. Somewhere along the D17, we turned off onto a smaller dirt track. Here only one vehicle would proceed, the track was too narrow for the larger van. We headed on up to be dropped near to the top vehicle access point. Van went back to pick up the others. Little known to us the other van was now stuck. the ground had collapsed under its rear wheels. A problem to be solved in the morning.
There was now a trek up the final track to the refuge which was at 1905 meters. The refuge was basic. Two bunk beds per room. There were a shower and toilet to all the rooms to share. They were not operational, no water. There was some basic lighting. The actual loo was a sawdust type loo with a view, perched on the edge of the mountain.
The refuge guardian prepared supper for us. A basic three-course meal, with huge gaps between each course.
The views from the top were gobsmacking, especially as the sun went down. In some of the pictures looking East you can see the shadow of the Earth which gives you the red and blue curved lighting effect.
After supper, some of us went to the observatory where we viewed the moon and various planets. Jupiter & Saturn were visible.
