A couple of videos of our foxes from Christmas until April. We believe these are the same two foxes starring throughout both videos. The Fox with the bushy tail is a dog fox, while the fox with the skinny tail is the vixen.
Hopefully the next video will be some fox cubs. Now the sun is out, I am assuming they will be venturing out from their den.
31st July 2022
The tolilets and showers were holding up at the campsite. The new generator, and waste water pumps were working well. Today we headed in early because R wanted to do a craft course and weave some willow into a shape. When she arrived she was disappointed in that most of the work had been done already. There did not seem to be much opportunity to tailor the course to your own needs. We moved on to the arena, stopping by the wild flower gardens.
We sat again in a similar place to before, but a little further back. There appeared to be rules depending on where you were located. In the tent/marquee area you could only stand or sit on the ground. Outside the tent you could or were expected to sit on chairs. These had be aligned in rows. If you created a round circle group, you were reprimanded and had to align your chairs in a row. Further back, behind a line, you could group your chairs in circles. There was one such group near us. We heard about the rules only when this group was told to line up their chairs. They refused and reminded the usher that they were behind said line at which she apologised and moved on.
I am not sure if this group actually saw or heard music, they spent their time chatting and drinking.
We watched and listened to all the bands on this stage. Enjoyed listening to Billy Bragg and N’famady Kouyaté. The Gypsy Kings were definitely very popular. I did not make any attempt to get near the front. They performed a good rendition of the Leaonard Cohen classic of Hallelujah. After they left, the crowds significantly thinned for the finale of St. Paul and the Broken Bones. I managed to get to front of the stage to watch them.
St. Paul and the Broken Bones – Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes – Billy Bragg – Legend Slot: Clannad – N’famady Kouyaté – The Spooky Men’s Chorale – Billie Marten Katherine Priddy
Orchestra Baobab – Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram – Sam Lee – O’Hooley And Tidow -Lilith Ai – The Mary Wallopers – The Honest Poet – Mishra – Kids Show: Jason Maverick
The Mary Wallopers – Trials Of Cato – Nick Hart – Flo Perlin
Fuzzy Lights – The Drystones – The Ocelots – Siv Jakobsen – Angeline Morrison – Judy Blank – Tape Runs Out – Daisy Chute – June Road
Today I was flying home. My two travel companions left at 4.00am for their flights. They were flying by Kenyan Airways, flying to Nairobi and then on to the Heathrow and would be home today. I had a 6pm flight with Ethiopean Airways to Addis with a 7 hour stop over before continuing to Heathrow, arriving on the morning of the next day.
A lazy day, a limited number of beers, reading a book, taking photographs of the weaver birds and ear wigging on the next group of Kilimanjaro trekkers who had arrived yesterday. Jimmy appeared and told me that I mustn’t leave it long before I attempt the climb again. Not sure if he meant that I mustn’t wait years, or months. If I did attempt again, I must do some strenuous practice trekking in the French and UK hills.
Elvis appeared at 2pm to take me to the airport. At the airport, I had some lunch and then boarded the flight. Addis was a pain, 7 hours waiting, and the flight was a little delayed. The duty-free shops did not sell the alcohol I wanted, so I was unable to take advantage of Boris Johnsons, ‘most generous duty-free allowances in the world’ of four litres of spirits. There was also only one terribly busy food outlet, so I was bored, bored and more bored.
Airline meals were fine, along with their wine. Arrived in Heathrow, not enough of those passport scanning machines, so long queue in the immigration hall. At least the luggage was waiting for me. The Piccadilly Line was good, so much cheaper than the rip off Heathrow Express, and gets you where you want to go. I was wondering if the Heathrow Express will disappear. The Elizabeth Line will get you into London as fast as the Heathrow Express. Will there be a premium on the Elizabeth Line? Heathrow passengers will pay a premium, but those Heathrow passengers who continue to use the tube on the same day will not pay more than the daily Zone 1-6 cap.
Arrived at Bicester village where I was met by Rosemary.
Millennium Camp (3790M) – Mweka Gate (1653M)
Today we had a five-hour walk (12km) walk down to Mweka Gate. We split into two groups, the fast group (mine) making it down 20 minutes before the rest. We sat around with some Internet and a drink. Pictures at the bottom. When the group was together, we visited a restaurant / tourist shop for lunch. The lunch was cooked by our chef. There was also singing (loudly this time).
After lunch, there was a drive back to Weru Weru River Lodge. On route we stopped at the bank for Jimmy to change the tip dollars into shillings. Finally arrived at the hotel for showers and supper. Before I could shower, arrangements were made with the Safari driver who was taking three of us on for a mini safari to see the Big Five.
Tonight, we sat and drank Kilimanjaro beer and ate a hot buffet supper in the bar.
Certificates were handed out to those who had completed the climb of Kilimanjaro. (I actually got one, but it wasn’t as ornate nor in colour as were those of the others.)
Trip to Morocco to climb Jebel Toubkal
Back in January 2020 I booked a trip to Morocco with Explore! to climb Mount Toubkal in May of that year, paying for the holiday in full early March. Well of course the trip was cancelled towards the end of March 2020. I then rebooked in March 2021 for a trip in October. The trip went ahead, and I travelled out to Menara Airport on the 9th October by EasyJet. I did not spot anyone else travelling on the flight. Although, apparently, there were six others.
A couple of weeks before I travelled, I hired a down filled jacket, crampons and a four-season sleeping bag. Also bought a nice 30 litre day bag. Toubkal in October should be cold, with ice and snow. As it happened there was no snow, and the shelter was not cold, so crampons and sleeping bag were a waste of money. The down jacket was worth it.
Because of COVID, there was some apprehension as to whether I had the necessary documentation. Morocco allows entries with no quarantine for those who are double jabbed, or have a negative PCR test. I am double (& booster) jabbed but decided to do a PCR test for the extra peace of mind. As it happens double jabbed was fine. Forms completed, vaccination certificate on phone and printed. EasyJet allowed me to fly, and Morocco allowed me in. Customs at Morocco was rather slow, and when one officer left his place, this doubled the number of people in my queue.
We were picked up by the tour company and driven to the hotel. A briefing at 6pm, and then we walked to the Souk and ate Tagine and bread at one of the outdoor restaurants in the market. There was a search for a bar, but this proved unfruitful.
We ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel, and then left on a minibus to Aquersiol where we started our walk to Tizi Oussem. On these treks we were always well fed. Our feeding routine was generally, breakfast to start the day, mid-morning break for tea and a snack, a lunch time picnic, afternoon tea and then 3-course supper. Our walk took us a little over six hours, including the picnic lunch break. We started at 1627m (5337ft), climbing to a maximum of 2290m (7513ft)
Our accommodation was very basic, there were showers. We were divided into four rooms. Some chose to sleep under the stars, they did not regret the howling wind which woke us at intervals.
Supper was served. We had our own chef who accompanied us, two guides, and five donkeys and their minders carting our food and bags around.
We set off on our trek a little after 8. Walking through the village with its assortment of traditional homes, often with sheep living above the living accommodation. Today’s walk took us up to 2545m, over the at Tizi n’Mzik (8350ft) before descending into Aremd where we stayed in a traditional home. On this walk there were some rainbows. The walk was 5 hours.
At Aremd we again were split across rooms, with shared hot showers. An attempt at rigging up a wifi repeater router failed, apparently the base station was off. This accommodation was far superior to the previous night, and we would be back here on our return from Toubkal.
We also had a couple of hours walk around the village, looking at all the bars and restaurants alongside the river. Tourism had not yet returned, so most of the village’s venues were closed. Harry, one of the two women on the tour, decided to purchase a shawl from a stall. She haggled hard, and when asked her nationality, English, was accused of being Scottish due to her haggling!
Apple harvest appeared to be in full swing. The trees were laden in apples, which are put into a cool store, waiting for the higher prices. Back at our overnight accommodation we had a lovely supper.
Today we left Aremd, walking down through the village to the wide river bed. Then it was an uphill walk all the way to Neltner refuge. Unfortunately I did not start my tracker at the beginning of the walk, so the maximum climb was not recorded The recorded climb about 1120m (3670ft) to the height of 3225m (10580ft). The walk was steady with no particularly steep parts. There were quite a few bars/cafes on the route selling refreshments including freshly squeezed orange juice. I had a couple of orange drinks on the way. We did not stop for lunch on the walk up, waiting until we made the refuge where there was lunch waiting for us. A relaxing afternoon, and then a brief walk to see the route we would be taking the next day.
It was lovely relaxing outside viewing the mountains around as the sun set, and the clouds rose in the valley. Then the sun dropped behind the peaks. It became bitterly cold in seconds.
The lodge had Internet, slow in the evening, but far faster when everyone had gone to bed or had left to climb Toubkal. The lodge was divided into a couple of dining rooms, showers and loos, and several dormitories. We had one dormitory for us, with bunk beds, that could host 12 people. Six slept underneath and three on top. I was one of the three on top, which was luxury, we had a space between each of us.
There were showers and loos, I admit to not showering for the duration of our stay in this lodge, it seemed easier. The lodge catered for the adhoc visitor with a menu of food. We had our chef, so were catered by him, and we also had our own dining room. As is usual we had an excellent meal in preparation for tomorrow’s climb.
It was decided we would start the climb as dawn was breaking. Other groups left very much earlier, and we were woken by people leaving at 4am to try and catch the dawn at the top of the mountain.
We started our climb after breakfast at 7:50 climbing 1046m (3431ft) to the summit at 4221m (13848ft). These are my measurements on the mobile phone which do not quite equate to the official heights in the brochure. We were out for 7 hours and 50 minutes and ate lunch on return. I was impressed by the guide (Mo) who set a slow and steady pace, lazily walking up and down the mountain with short steps and hands in pocket, occasionally looking over his shoulder to ensure there were no stragglers.
The walking was quite easy, with only one early scramble up some rocks. There were several groups walking up, and we also met those who had started earlier on their way down. There was no snow or ice on the mountain, and we were greeted by bright blue skies and very little wind. An absolute perfect day for a stroll.
There are three climbs to the summit. The summit remains out of view until the last 30 minutes. The first climb is the hardest and the longest, though the subsequent climbs were fairly exhausting because of the reduced air pressure. Two in the group had bad headaches, a sign of mountain sickness. We all made it to the top as one group with no stragglers. This old dude (oldest in the group!) was right behind Mo.
We remained on the peak for nearly an hour, taking pictures and eating a snack (dates and figs). It was then the return trip, using sticks. The return was only slightly shorter, and my legs were getting a little tired. Lunch (not very hungry), we watched the clouds come up the valley, and the goats being called off the hills or running down the valley to be fed. A lovely day.
Today our trekking holiday was drawing to an end. There was an opportunity of an optional walk before returning to Aremd. It was noticeable that attitudes were changing. A couple of days before there seemed to be a consensus we should try the second peak, Ouanoukrin (4089m 13415ft). Mo had been quite uncommittable about this and had been suggesting a lesser target of Tizi Ouanoums. Today most (all?) of us were quite happy to take the shorter walk up to the pass at Tizi Ouanoums at 3728m (12230ft). The walk up was still a 1 hour 30 minute walk. We then had the walk back down to the refuge and on down to Aremd (where the internet was now working).
The pass of Tizi Ouanoums was quite windy. The view of the lake was obstructed by the haze, and lack of water in the lake. On the walk down to Aremd we stopped at Chamharouch for lunch. A small village associated with the Shrine of Sidi Chamharouch. A boulder with a hole in it, associated with a mosque. The superstition is your woes will be cured by visiting this place.. While we were there a sheep was being herded to the shrine, and a man was sharpening his knives in preparation to slaughter the offering.
After lunch we continued our trek back to our village lodging for the night. We walked 11 miles in 9 hours 30 minutes.
Back at the village house we settled up the tips for the porters, chefs, drivers, and also had a demonstration by our chef of a Moroccan omelette. A very thin & delicious omelette which has more spices then eggs.
The showers were busy and afterwards we had, as usual, a wonderful meal.
After the meal we all spent an hour of our life trying to complete the UK contact and trace form, Luckily there were several of us doing this so we were able to help each other out with those questions that proved unfathomably obtuse.
The ingredients: Coriander leaves, ground ginger, turmeric, paprika, black pepper, salt, cumin, garlic, grated onion and tomato, eggs.
For omelette
Beat egg with coriander. Poor on top of spices. Do not beat. Leave to cook.
You get a layer of egg over the spices.
Meat Balls
Can instead add meat balls, coriander, onion, spices garlic, then put unbeaten egg on top to finish
Today we took a short walk down the valley to Imlil where we were met by two small buses and driven back to Hotel Almas. In Imlil we were harassed by street traders setting their bracelets and other tat. Once in Marrakech the group split up, some going to have massage in a Hamman. Others going to the souk. As for me I walked to the Jardin Majorelle-Yves Saint Laurent Mansion. Here I visited the garden and the Berber museum. (Had no idea of the YSL connection before.)
We all met up in the evening for an expensive supper at the Azar Moroccan restaurant. A very trendy place with plenty of eye candy. The small bottles of beer were in the region of £7. It was a nice meal, but we had been eating well throughout the Explore! holiday.
We had the morning free in Marrakech, which I used with others to visit the Ensemble Artisinal Marrakech. This is an array of craft shops near to the Souk. Prices here are non-negotiable. I came away with a puzzle box. Others with belts, wallets and bags. There were musical instrument, carpenters at work, light fittings. Many objects far too large to take away with you. The craftsmen running the shops were not pushy and showed you their wares. It was a pleasure to visit and to buy from them.
Now it was time for home, the flight home and the drive home. Marrakech airport is exceeding modern and beautiful. The duty free shops were well stocked with drink, good deals on Ricard. Should really have bought 4 litres, but how do I carry that much? Everything in the terminal is prices in Euros. I did barter down the price of a Starbucks coffee by offering the last of my Dirham.
One word of warning, if you have a drone, ensure its in your hold luggage, one member of our group spent an hour in the police office explaining why he had not declared his drone, and eventually having it confiscated.
Other than that hiccup all went exceeding smoothly, no holdups anywhere, no queues in the UK, the M23 / M25 / M40 were a dream to drive on, so much so I took the long route home through Bicester rather than the shorter cross country road from Thame.
On the 24th of July, we had the fortieth anniversary of KCRC. This started with a clay shoot. The shoot was interesting because we were able to shoot black powder guns. Additionally, there was a flurry to be shot by teams of three.
After the shoot, Mickey Rouse, the 1990 World FITASC Sporting Champion and FITASC World Cup winner showed us some trick shooting. Firing from the hip, hitting long-range targets, and firing at balloons, eggs, golf balls, cabbages and melons.
After the shoot, we were entertained to a fabulous roast BBQ with numerous side dishes, at Dawn and Brian’s home.
Rushbeds Wood
On the 7th of July, R and I went for a nearby walk at the BBOWT Rushbeds Wood. Rather muddy underfoot on some of the paths, so we forgo our normal route. The flower meadows were spectacular with the colour and insects. We met a couple of other people in the woods and fields. So quiet, except for the occasional London to Birmingham train.
There has been quite a bit of tree felling in the woods, the Ash trees are dying. There is replanting going on, which requires barriers against the deer. who appear partial to young trees.
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family and a pretty young black rabbit.
We’ve often have a few Partridge visitors, but lately, we were beginning to wonder if there was a pair. As ground nesters, they’d be tricky to spot. R had a thought they might be nesting in the road-hedge because of sightings as they came around the side of the house, from that direction. Then, one afternoon, there was a cry from R for me to get downstairs asap! Parent bird & chicks had made an appearance (from around the side of the house). The mother trailed them after her across the shingle drive, but would sometimes gather them all under her wings & sit down. I would have thought the shingle drive was awkward for the chicks to negotiate, but they managed. Later, other partridges arrived and a bit of a skirmish ensued with much chasing & wing flapping, all at tremendous speed. (Sadly, I did not have the camera ready.)
We both recalled a Forest Ranger’s advice not to count the number of ducklings or chicks in a brood, cos it only leads to distress as numbers decrease. (Although I can report that there were still seven chicks this lunchtime.)
R had been watching a rabbit when the Partridge Family made its appearance. Neither species took any notice of the other. The Partridges walked right around the rabbit, only inches away. While watching the mother with her wings covering her brood, R spotted a small black shape in the grass. Were the moorhens visiting? No, a small, very sleek & shiny pretty young rabbit emerged from the wilded grass. More than 20 years ago, a neighbour had a large black, buck pet rabbit. One day, he escaped his cage and was gone for two nights. He came home knackered. Ever since, we occasionally see a black rabbit. A dominant gene presumably.
Morrison was out again on Monday 7th June on a long trek to mid-Wales for four nights camping. We took the longer route there, crossing the old Severn bridge and meeting up with relations to view their Hill Fort. They have a dwelling down some of the narrowest roads imaginable. Thankfully we met nobody coming the other way. Leaving was not quite so lucky and I had to reverse back up the road to allow an oncoming vehicle to pass.
Their Iron Age Hill Fort is in a spectacular setting, you can see the major South Wales hills in the distance. The embankments to where the hill fort is located would take an athlete to scale. Their fields were wonders of wildflowers. After a nice lunch with some lovely Scottish cheese, we left to drive up to mid-Wales. (We have now ordered some of the cheese (from the Ethical Dairy)).
We arrived at Fforest Fields campsite, checked in, set up camp and went for a walk around their ponds in the lovely evening light. So beautiful and so quiet. I grabbed a few golden hour photographs.
The next day we went for a walk up the hills, visiting all the usual spots, such as Mobile Phone Mast, Look Out, The Water Falls. We did spot many red and blue Damselflies and a Broad-bodied Chaser who stopped long enough to be photographed.
Tuesday also appeared to be sheep herding day, all you could hear were the sheep being rounded up and moved from one field to another. Quad bikes and dogs doing the work. Lots of baaing sheep as they were moved from field to field. I don’t know what was happening to them, no shearing appeared to occur, some were penned away behind trees out of view for a while, where there was much shouting.
It was a lovely day, and after lunch back at Morrison, I decided to go for a hike up the hills and along the top to where I used to paraglide. Shot up the hill, (those Joe Wicks exercises worked well), along the ridge, along sheep tracks. I forgot how steep the slope was. Falling I would not have stopped for a while. Coming back I went inland along the vehicle tracks and back down. Aargh, the pain in my left leg below the knee was excruciating. Fine going uphill and level, but agony going downhill. Back at Morrison, a (pre-made by me) Negroni eased the agony. Some lovely evening shots of the buttercups in the long grass under the slope to the hills in the field where we were parked. The owners have kept up to the tradition of mowing a number of spiral paths in the long grass, making beautiful patterns when glimpsed from above.
Wednesday and Thursday a gentle few days of walking around the site. On Thursday R and I walked along the bottom stream towards the pub, then up the hill and back past the mobile phone mast. In the afternoon after lunch, I decided to walk up the hill, and then a walk south on level ground high up. It was a damp day, cloudy. Good day for walking as not hot. I made it to a trig point took a selfie and then walked back. Around 6 miles in a couple of hours. The same problem, walking uphill or on the level, no problem. Downhill, on the same path as Tuesday, my left leg was in agony. At the back of the leg, just below the knee. Thursday night we fired up the charcoal BBQ, and then resorted to the frying pan on the induction hob.
Friday we packed up and left. The site was full on Friday, would have liked to have stayed as the weather was good for the next few days.
What has changed at the site since our last visit three years ago?
There was a new check-in and shop built, separate from the main shower block and cafe. The shop had the basic requirements, milk, cheese, eggs, sausage and meat, items for a quick meal. The coffee shop was the same, now selling some (too) lovely chocolate brownies. Made in Wales, though Cardiff does sound a long way to bring them.
The new tree planting on the hill was growing well, the birds appreciated it, they were deafening, even from 300 meters where we were parked. Some mature trees at the top of the hill, behind the lookout, had been felled for wood. Some other pines at the top had also been felled, and the newly exposed pines had been damaged by high winds in the winter.
Around the swimming pond, the path had been built unmuddied with stone, and there was a little more grass cutting to open it up. Looked nice, but not so friendly to the wildlife. There were moorhen and coot families on the pond and we did see a fierce bust-up between two coots.
The foxes are still about, coming and going along their garden tracks to the compost heap and beyond. After reports of foxes by our field pond, I set up the camera looking towards the most likely holes. This time we were rewarded with the sight of some fox cubs during the daylight and at night. They were only there that one day. After all the people looking around, the vixen very quickly moved her family off somewhere else.