'Freeze Mobbing' & Just Freezing

Having boarded a plane in 30 degree heat in Johannesburg, it only dawned on me that I'd made a mistake when Kimbo and I landed in Amsterdam in -3 degrees. The mistake was to have had a fair few beers before boarding the plane in t-shirt, shorts and flips and packing everything else in the hold untill Heathrow. A serious oversight but it did prepare me a little bit for the next day's 'freeze mobbing' promotion around London.
Having not been able to get involved as much with Everest over the summer, I was really looking forward to finally meeting all the people that had been clogging up my inbox all year. I wasn't surprised to meet some brilliant people during what was a fantastic day confusing crowds of tourists and policemen in Parliament Square, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. Playing out a dummy dismissal, dressed up to the nines in cricket whites and polar gear then holding that pose for 3 minutes (not that easy - especially if you overcommit to an enthusiastic appeal!) I was seriously impressed by the level of dedication and enjoyment shown by all and the interest it stirred in the large crowds that treated us as some kind of artwork.
A trip across town found us at Lord's for a tour update where I was blown away by the scale of the expedition and by the amount of work everyone had done just to get this far. Kirt and Wes led the meeting excellently but what amazed me most were the looks on everyone's faces. Anticipation and genuine excitement were etched across all and its certainly something that hadn't quite been conveyed this much over tinterweb.
It was these looks that have really brought home what a special thing we are all a part of and has inspired me to double my involvement efforts and aim to be the highest individual fundraiser. There's a long way to go but considering everybody's contributions so far I've got to be ambitious to feel an equal part of the attempt. Can't wait!

The Big Five

After the wedding, the Big Five flew to Jo'burg and picked up a safari tour heading into Botswana.

Little did we know how much driving there would be - just the near on 8,000 miles - but with only two other travellers in a minibus, each person had a couple of seats and with the windows open it was pretty comfortable despite 40 degree heat.

The roads are horrendous there for hundreds of miles but our guide, Coenie, did an amazing job and with some local wildlife trundling across our path the first 1000 miles went by and gave everyone a chance to recover from Cape Town.

First stop, the appropriately named Elephant Sands campsite in the middle of the enormous Botswanan salt flats. With elephants and other big game roaming free around us we had our first taste of camping totally unguarded. The sights and sounds during the night were phenomenal. I'd managed to get myself a tent on my own after the horrors of sharing beds and floor space with the others in Cape Town, and with everyone on a mix of hallucinogenic malaria pills sinking in, this worked out well for me later on.

The rest of the trip included a lot of activities amongst the quiet hours dozing, reading and daydreaming in the minibus watching endless miles of savannah blur past. We headed straight up to Victoria Falls and crossed a wreck of a Zambese river ferry into Zambia. This was a brilliant glimpse into Africa; loads of people, mini markets sprung up from nowhere, colour everywhere and nothing working or running to a system - just what I'd come to see. I loved it!

Vic Falls was very touristy eventhough we were still camping but we'd earned a few beers from all the driving so we settled into a cruise on the gigantic river and accepting a challenge to try and drink the booze cruise dry. The swede-ache didn't last long the next day as we plunged into a morning of white water rafting down the Zambezi. With a low river flow, the rapids were giant and managed to tip out Curry and G-man. It was 40 degrees again so ending up in the drink was welcomed at every opportunity.

A quick lunch then we crossed onto Victoria bridge which makes the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe so that most of the group could bungee jump and flying fox across the gorge. Admittedly, this is a fantastic spot to do crazy things like that but I was very happy to curiously watch the steady flow of people crossing to a from Zimbabwe to buy food and materials. Staring at the border patrol I did wonder what the hell was happening in the country that everyone says is the most beautiful in southern Africa.

The next step of our safari was the Okovango Delta, a massive delta system that is as big as Wales. We travelled to our campsite in skinny dug-out canoes, called mokoros, powered by an equally skinny local tribesman with a 12ft pole. They look so precarious but once you relax they are an incredibly peaceful way to get about in the crystal clear and clean water. I took the opportunity to 'pole' one when the others sweated through another walk and alhtough I didn't fall in the locals make it look immensely easy - it isn't!

Walking safaris were the activity for evening and early morning, again led by our amazing local guides, and we got very lucky with what we saw due to their incredible eyesight and talent for spotting movement. The longest walk was 5 hours and the Everestians took the chance to test themselves and settle into a demanding marching pace. I guess it was decent practice fitness wise but a difference of 50 degrees couldn't have been much further away from what we'll experience in April!

Afternoons in the sweltering heat were left to read, sleep or swim in our little watering hole - despite the very real hippos! And they were there as we went to watch them from our mokoros one amazing evening as they settle in for the night. Nights in the delta were an awesome mix of clear huge starry skies, one ferocious lightening storm and distant roars from hunting lions. The only unnatural sounds were Curry getting molested by G-man in the wee hours one night (Iwas safe in my single tent). The team took the chance to fly over the delta, after reemerging, which was a great decision to gain some perspective and a scale of the place we'd been wandering around in. It truly is a spectacular place and the people are so smiley and incredible.

With a quick night's stop in a rhino sanctuary, it was a long drive back to Jo'burg before the team caught their flights and went their separate ways. Here was a chance to buy souvenirs and presents for paople back home but, true to form, the time was spent drinking and reminiscing before heading off round the world.

Africa is an amazing place and I was really pleased to have sampled a range of what the area has to offer from living it up in the bars and restaurants of Cape Town, to the wine growing region and a brilliant wedding, to the wildlife and activities in Botswana and Zambia, some true chaos and a glimpse of 'real Africa'.

Since way back when...

...the 11th November to be exact. Anyway, a long time ago and a lot has happened. Where to start? Well the last time we spoke I was just about to jet off to South Africa with some other Everestians so I'll begin there.

Africa is a continent that I'd always wanted to visit and the three weeks didn't disappoint. It all started with a lengthy flight with Kimbo to Cape Town. Being a quiet bloke, I was apprehensive of spending 14 hours cooped up with the inane-random-chattiest-man-in-the-world but he was good enough to be suffering from a cold and the flight passed strangely booze-free and peaceful.

Arriving in the city at night didn't give much of a glimpse of how stunning the place really is so, having checked in and enjoyed the luxury of a bed for what would be the last time in 10 days, we woke the next day to find Table Mountain and its smaller counterparts staring down at us from a surprising height. I'd seen the postcards but they were all at least three times the size I was expecting.

Curry had done amazingly in setting us all up in an apartment at the Waterfront and the first day was spent looking round the Volvo round the world race yachts and taking in the sun and a few beers. Over the weekend we were lucky enough to get shown round by the bride and her father and spend some quality time with our good mate, the groom. After having the pick of Cape Town's best bars things started to get predictably hectic as the rest of the wedding party arrived.

In amongst the dinners, catch up sessions and the stag do I did manage to visit Robben Island, swim in the deceptively cold South Atlantic, fly in a Hughey helicopter and abseil off Table Mountain. Not bad despite sleeping on our apartment floor all week (9 people in a 3 bed apartment - you do the math!) and being molested by our fellow wedding-goers (Curry found out how this feels later in the tour so ask him. Thanks Twomit!).

Cape Town having been a success, the slightly hungover wedding party travelled 45 minutes north to the wine growing area around Stellenbosch. This is an amazingly beautiful area and the wedding was stunning. I'm not sure how to convey to you how good the wedding was but I really cannot think of a single thing that could have been better during the whole day and it was a fantastic party that night. It was an amazing effort for all to travel so far to get there but it was well worth it as spending the whole week with the wedding party, family members and other friends really added to the atmosphere over the day...

...despite England losing to SA in the rugby that afternoon!