Returning to France

So, here we are again. Another trip has been confirmed. This one will likely be cold, windy, difficult to breathe (though not as difficult as on recent trips), more technical than I am used to and statistically a bit dangerous. And it doesn't even require a long flight to get there. Excitement all over!

Mont Blanc, here I come!

12^th – 13^th of June

As it was harder than expected to find a direct flight to Geneva from Copenhagen I ended up deciding on a flight Friday evening after work which gives me an extra day in Chamonix.  Meeting up with the rest of the group Saturday evening with briefing.

14^th of June

After a short drive to Italy we’ll trek through Gran Paradiso National Park up towards Rifugio Vittorio Emanuelle II hut at 2732m. After a lunch break we will be practicing using ice axes and crampons on the nearby glaciers. Always nice with a refresher, if for nothing else then to make sure I can still use my axe without accidentally stabbing myself. Staying the night at the hut.

15^th of June

The day is spent on climbing Gran Paradiso, 4061m, which is Italy’s tallest point. After completing the climb we will return to Chamonix.

16^th of June

Depending on the group and weather we will end up doing one of two things; In case of bad weather and/or people needing to rest we will take the Montenvers railway up to Mer de Glace; otherwise we’ll take the lift up to Aiguille du Midi at 3842m and traverse Vallée Blanche to further practice ice axe and crampon usage. The goal is to reach Pointe Helbronner from where we will take the gondola back to Aiguille du Midi and return back down.

17^th of June

Depending on weather and conditions we will today ascend to either Tête Rousse at 3167m or the Cosmiques hut at 3613m.

18^th of June

Summit day – weather permitting, of course. The ascent is estimated to take 6-7 hours, so nothing out of the ordinary. I’d image that if we stay at Tête Rousse the climb is going to be much harder, adding an extra 450m to the altitude. Coming down again we return to the hut we left from.

19^th of June

Return to Chamonix. If weather prevented us from ascending yesterday we will have an early departure today, summiting and going all the way down back to the Chamonix valley.

20^th of June

Departure in the afternoon, giving a couple of extra hours in Chamonix. This time I didn't manage to find a direct flight, but with a layover of app. 1½ hours it could have been worse.

3rd – 4th – Coming home

I ended up spending the day at the lodge and I took my own taxi to the airport, so it was sitting in the bar and spending time on reading and using the wifi. The trip the airport went better than last time; this driver did not run anyone over this time. What a relief.

The flight hone went well, too. Apparently, when sitting at the emergency exit you are not even allowed to sit reading during take-off and landing. Fair enough – closed the book and put it in the lap, but noo… Not even that was allowed. Nothing in hands nor laps during take-off and landing. I know that you have to be more aware when sitting at the emergency exit but this was taking it to the extreme, I think. Anyways, I made it home safely and another trip was successfully concluded.

Big thanks to our guides Patsie and Moses, and my fellow group members Monika, Daniel, Vince, Kyra, and Emily. It was an amazing trip (might be biased due to the sightings…) and I hope to get the chance to see you all again!

2nd – In the crater on the last day

As we would be leaving the crater at mid-day we departed earlier than usual. Breakfast was served at 0600 and departure when possible which ended up 40 minutes later. Getting out of the tent at around 0520 the sky was clear and you had – for once – an unobstructed view of the stars and Milky Way. Less than 10 minutes later it was all covered by a dense cloud cover. The sunrise was similar; beautiful colors and contrasts to start off with, and moments later it was all covered by clouds.

We drove off to the crater and before reaching the rim we came through several cloudy passages. After an hour, though, the sun had burnt through and the weather turned beautiful. We left mid-day and came back in Arusha 4 hours later where we checked back into the lodge.

We ended up seeing a rhino but unfortunately from a bit of a distance. We saw some lions, a lot of birds, zebras, wildebeests, buffalos and elephants. One saw a cheetah sneaking into some tall grass close to a herd of zebras, but they moved away before anything interesting could have happened. On the way out of the crater we saw 2 wildebeest fighting each other – that was a nice sighting to finish of an amazing safari.

Last time I visited the crater they had app. 25 rhinos. Now they have around 18; only 1 of them was poached, one died of natural causes and the last have been moved to other locations.

Tomorrow is spent on doing nothing; people are departing so they are picked up throughout the day to be brought to their next destinations. I have a flight at 2050 and another have one a few hours earlier – I might decide to join him to the airport; waiting there will probably not be much different from waiting at the lodge.

The zebra keeping a watchful eye on a lion passing by.

Rhino!

Grey crowned crane.

Two grey crowned cranes flying by.

Abdim's stork.

African sacred ibis.

Hippy keeping an eye out.

Yellow green vireo (I think...).

Speeke's weaver.

Pelicans.

Pelicans competing in the not-so-known discipline "Synchronized landing".

Great egret.

It's hard to see on the photo but these elephants were massive.

Close up.

Our last sighting in the crater; two wildebeest having a go at each other.

1st – They said they were hard to find

The day started at the usual time with breakfast at 0700. Camp was taken down in the meantime and 40 minutes later we were off on the last drive in Serengeti. We checked out at around 1400 and drove off towards the camp on the rim of Ngorongoro. It would have been an uneventful – albeit shaky – ride of 2½ hours if it hadn’t been for a flooded bridge. Like many other tours we stopped to assess the situation, and while doing that you could see the flow of water slowly but steady rise. If had rained quite a bit in the mountains – it is the wet season after all – and now all the water had to go somewhere. After some time the water level slowly decreased again, and after an industrial road worker-thingie had crossed proving that the bridge was only flooded and hadn’t disappeared it didn’t take long before the many cars began working themselves across. Arriving at the camp went without further incident. The crossing of the river was almost anti-climactic as after more than an hour’s wait the passing was completely problem-free.

So how did the game drive go? Well, we saw lions. We saw a serval. And we didn’t see a leopard. We saw 2. None were the one from a few days ago, they were independent from each other. The first spotted was close up, we parked just below the tree in which it was relaxing, the second was from a distance and photos were taken just to prove the sighting. 

Male and female ostriches.

Marabu stork.

Monitor lizard.

Lilac breasted roller.

Battle-scarred male lion.

Leopard!

Serval.

Female waterbuck.

Another pride of lions encountered.

Silverbird.