Mud, mud, mud….and a bit of hail and a long, long way to trek…we are finally back in (sort of) civilization (=a place where they serve beer) after hiking eight days into the midst of the heart of Africa. It all started in Kilembe, a small Ugandan mining town, derelict since Idi Amin ‘s regime and only recently revitalized by the Chinese (yet another mine in Africa they have taken over). Due to a very random flight path of our bush plane, which saw us visiting half of Uganda before ending at our final destination, we only started hiking in the afternoon – a delay with consequences, as the sky in the Rwenzoris tends to relieve itself of all possible weight by the latest of 2pm…. we walked straight into a massive thunderstorm, with floods, hail and torrential rain….try crossing a big river in that conditions… well, we did it and continued up the mountain, into a fauna that could be straight out of a fantasy novel – “shire” meets “avatar” – an abundance in green, mosses everywhere, giant ferns and heathers… and higher up countless huge (=4m+) senecias and lobelias. We were just waiting for an Ewok to come round the corner! And the mud – thats a total different story. Did I talk about gumboots in my last blog? Well, I would say you haven’t been in mud until you are stuck knee-deep, for hour after hour! What a pleasure it was to be on firm ground in the end again.
Turning bionic
Monday, 17 December 2018 Beautiful blue skies are greeting Esther and me as we hike towards Sharp Peak in Sai Kung Country Park (Hong Kong). I have been fascinated by the peaks steep, rocky West...