Not much father down we came to a Stupa that was dedicated to Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa who was with Edmund Hillary on the first successful climb of Everest. Soon after, we came around another bend and got our first glimpse of Cho Oyu, the 6th highest peak in the world. This would become a constant companion for the next few days as we followed the valley northward towards Gokyo, and one of those things that really makes you feel like you are some place special.

After about five hours of slow but steady climbing, we finally arrived at the village of Dole. Our guide was pretty impressed with our progress…according to him we were about an hour and a half ahead of the normal time to arrive. I spent the afternoon reading and wandering around. At this altitude the skies were not nearly as hazy, but the afternoons were bringing in clouds that covered the mountains, and the first really chilly weather we’d experienced. All heat in the lodges is produced by burning yak dung in a central stove, and I was very pleased when they finally fired it up and served dinner. It’s veggie fried noodles or fried rice for dinner from pretty much now on, but when you’re hungry it tasted like a real feast!

After coming from sea level to nearly 12,000 feet in less than a week, it was time to stop for a day and let my body adjust to the altitude. Nearly all trekkers stop in Namche for at least two nights; those who don’t have about a 50% chance of needing an expensive helicopter evacuation later on down the road! After yesterday’s uphill slog, the last thing I really wanted to do was to climb up some more, but working out sore muscles is the best thing for them, so it was off to do some exploring around the town.

Our first stop was at the Sagarmatha National Park headquarters where they had a pretty decent museum that talked about the sherpa lifestyle, the flora and fauna of the region, and the geology of how the Himalaya mountains formed. The museum doubles as an army checkpoint, and the helicopter landing pad gave us our first really good view of Mt. Everest and the other high peaks surrounding it.

The museum was only our first stop, and we headed up hill to the Syangboche airstrip, which was in even worse condition than the one in Lukla. There were two or three flights of 6 passenger planes per day in good weather, mostly ferrying rich Japanese tourists to the Everest View hotel where they can stay in rooms that have extra oxygen pumped in so they can mitigate the effects of the high altitude. We hiked up to a lodge near the Everest View where we stopped for tea and the best views yet of Mt. Everest. We hung out there for a while, just absorbing the scenery and taking tons of photographs. Eventually we decided it was time for lunch, so we headed back down to Namche for amazing pizza at a German bakery in town. The rest of the day was spent in happy relaxation and repacking as we got ready to leave the “lowlands” and really head up to the high country.

The next morning started out extremely pleasant, with clear skies and nice cool weather. Ian and I headed out at a nice clip, just lazily letting the miles go by and enjoying the scenery. The trail had a bunch of river crossings, which were made on steel bridges that had been suspended over the river and anchored into the banks with concrete. Impressive construction, and even more so when you consider that every bit of them had to be carried either on the back of a person or a yak. Many of the bridges had been designed and constructed by the Hillary foundation to replace older rope construction that had been washed out during monsoon floods many many times in the past. Modern engineering allowed the newer bridges to be built higher, avoiding this fate, not to mention just being inherently stronger. Crossing the bridges when yaks were around was always a challenge; several times we had to back up and retreat when a fully loaded train of yaks would come through setting the bridge swaying. The bridge floor had been designed to be solid enough to support the hooves, but it also had enough holes to let the worst of the yak dung fall down to the river.

After lunch, the character of the trail started to change pretty significantly. The nice gentle slope up turned into a steep ascent with lots of stone stairs. I found myself struggling more than I would have expected to at this point…being at sea level for so long had completely robbed me of my altitude acclimitazation, and this was the first time where I really felt it. I was amazed at the locals who were carrying 80 pound loads just climbing up the steps like it was flat ground…the adaptations of the Sherpas for altitude is truly amazing!

Eventually we made it up to Namche and found our accommodations for the next two nights. I went out for a wander and checked out the weekly Saturday market. That explained the large number of people and yaks we’d seen on the trail…each Saturday porters come from higher up in the valley to get their weeks supplies, and then head back up again carrying everything that all the guesthouses and locals will need for the coming weeks.

Namche is almost as touristy as Thamel, but twice as expensive. Still, its the last place to really stock up on supplies before heading out, and when you need cold medicine, or a warmer jacket it’s the best place in the world. It’s also the last reasonably priced internet service…at about a dollar for 10 minutes. Dinner was a tasty yak steak, which would be the last meat we’d have for the next two weeks.

After a couple of days in Kathmandu, I was so happy to leave that I  wasn’t even annoyed in the slightest by the 4:30 am wake-up requirement to get to the airport.   Myself, Ian, and Deepak our guide all headed out in a taxi, and I got my first glimpse of how nice the city can be before it really wakes up.  The temples were silent and empty of tourists, with only a few early morning worshipers there to add some real atmosphere.   Unsurprisingly, this didn’t extend to the airport itself which was jammed with trekkers all vying to get on a flight out to Lukla.  There are about four airlines flying the route, and on good weather days, there can be up to 50 daily flights!  This isn’t the absolute peak of high season so we didn’t have to deal with that many people thankfully.  The airport in Lukla is tiny, and the landing strip is usable only by small planes holding about 20 passengers each.  One end of the runway ends at a rock face, and the other is a 2000 foot drop off of a cliff.  Not much room for error, but luckily there hasn’t been a crash since 2008!

The flight into the Solu Kumbu valley is spectacular, with views of Himalayan peaks in all directions, including above the aircraft.  The pilots fly a complicated path into the valley, swooping down between peaks so close that you can see people in villages above you on the mountain.  Landing was interesting, with the pilot slowing down as much as he could, then hitting the brakes as hard as possible before we collided with the cliff face.

We stopped for breakfast at a restaurant just outside the airport where we met our 2nd guide and our porter.  After my first of many servings of scrambled eggs on toast, we started our first days walk towards the town of Phakding.   The overcast day was nice and cool, and as we followed the valley of the Dudh Kosi river.  We got our first looks at village life, and the way that everything is supplied in the valley.  There are absolutely no roads or motorized transport in the Kumbu area, so everything must be carried in by either Yak or human porters.  We’d pause often for yak trains coming down, and would have to huddle against the wall of the trail to avoid being accidentally knocked off into the river below. 

It was a nice easy four hour stroll to Phakding, and when we got there I was still full of energy and eager to keep moving.  I’d noticed a sign pointing to the Pema Chholing monastery high up on the valley face, and got our assistant guide to join me on another couple hours walk.  The trek was rewarding but tough, and the monastery up there was tended by one solitary monk who for a small donation let us in to wander around and take photos.   This was the quiet temple experience I’d been expecting but not finding in Kathmandu, and I was very glad that I took the time to make the extra excursion. 

Dark comes quickly to the valley, and bedtime was beckoning…we’d be up early again tomorrow for our next leg of the journey.

Kathmandu is one of the most surreal places I’ve been yet. 1700 year old statues that any museum or private collector would love to have are just sitting in open temples with absolutely no security. Hindu holy men wander around, trying to bless tourists for donations, Maoist demonstrators are rioting in the streets, and quiet peaceful courtyards are scattered randomly behind ancient doorways that provide a welcome escape from the chaos and pollution outside.  It’s magical!

 I’m staying in Thamel, the tourist ghetto of Kathmandu.  For anyone who’s been to Bangkok, it’s the equivalent of Khao San Road with lots of fake North Face gear for sale, incense sellers on every corner, touts loudly offering Tiger Balm and trekking, and whispered offers of pot and “sexy massages”.  Of course there are also a bunch of shops selling what I’m assuming are fake antiques.  I’ll probably pick a few of those up on the way out…some of them are similar to what you’d see in world market or Pier 1, but at least they’ll have a better story attached to them.

I’ve got about 30 hours here to kill before I start my trek.  I’ve met my hiking guide and the guy I’ll be traveling with. Ian is a Brit/Aussie with an interesting story, and like me, visiting Everest is one of his big lifetime goals.   I’m spending my time just wandering around, absorbing the atmosphere and chaos.  The downside to a chaotic country like Nepal is that there is absolutely no regulation of traffic, fuel standards, safety laws, etc.  The pollution here is so bad that many of the locals walk around with dust masks over their mouths and noses.  There’s no organized garbage collection, so the streets are strewn with filth…most mornings you’ll see individual shopkeepers sweeping the street directly in front of their stall, but within a couple of hours it is hopelessly filthy again.   The poorer citizens will rummage through garbage piles looking for things to sell, but the remainder is left to rot, or to be eaten by the local stray dogs and cows that wander the streets.  Anything left over after that is usually burned in place which just contributes even more to the grey haze over the city.  In the very early morning you can actually see a hint of mountains in the distance, but by 9:00 am the pollution is so bad that they disappear completely. 

There are a couple of temples that I’ll want to visit after the trek, but other than that I can’t wait to get out of this city and into the countryside for some cleaner air!

The third stop on our trip was at Genovesa Island.  This was the longest sail we’d have to do on the trip, and was the worst nights sleep any of us experienced.  Our boat was comfortably sized for the 16 passengers plus crew, however during long open ocean crossings, the engine noise and the rocking made for a challenging night.  Even the icebreakers I’ve spent time on in the Antarctic were much smoother than this! 

Once we arrived it was immediately obvious why this was nicknamed “Bird Island.”  Just on the beach alone there were hundreds of boobies, gulls, frigate-birds, and of course the famous Galapagos finches.  We spent about three hours walking around the beach, probably not more than two kilometers total, but never for a second felt bored.  I was really enjoying myself, playing with all the settings on my camera, getting up close to the birds, and just smelling the salt air.    We went snorkeling again before lunch, and spotted another black tipped reef shark, along with our first Galapagos shark.  Pretty cool!

After a quick trip back to the yacht for lunch, we came out to another landing called “Prince Phillip’s Steps.”  Apparently if you’re a prince, people tend to really be impressed by where you walk.  No one really seemed to take my suggest to rename them to Henry Malmgren’s steps very seriously… 

The steps led to the top of the island, where we spent a couple of hours looking for the rare short eared owl.  The surface of the island was pretty spectacular..it was all old lava flows, and had huge cracks and crevices running everywhere.  The soil was extremely poor, and the vegetation was pretty sparse.  It was surprisingly hot, but we got to see the cooling behavior of the birds as they vibrated their throat pouches to generate a breeze.   We’d just about given up on seeing the owl and were on our way back to the boat when our guide spotted one way off in the distance.  None of us would have ever seen it, and it took my longest lens to even come close to getting a shot. 

That evening after dinner we started sailing back towards our next destination…another mostly sleepless night, punctuated by a bit of excitement as we crossed over the equator.

Our second stop was small islet called Santa Fe off of the larger island of Santa Cruz.  This one was similar in geography to yesterday’s stop, but it had the largest variety of prickly pear cactus I’ve ever seen.  Normally they grow on the ground like shrubs, but these had evolved into tree like plants.  Their only predator on this island are the land iguanas that populate the island, but can’t climb up to reach the high succulent leaves.  Our guide said that the only islands where the cactus grow so tall are the ones that have tortoises and iguanas, both herbivores who treat their leaves as a favorite snack.  This has developed into an evolutionary arms race, where the tortoises evolved longer necks, and the cactus keep getting taller.  Unfortunately all the tortoises on this island were hunted into extinction by the 1800s era sailors, so it appears that the cactus have won this battle…at least until there are sufficient tortoises raised in captivity to repopulate the island!

After lunch we went for our first snorkel of the trip..the water was cool, but with a rented wetsuit pretty tolerable.  It didn’t take long at all before some of the local sea lions came over to investigate the new people who were hanging out.  They’re pretty curious creatures, but easily distracted…they see so many people on a daily basis that they don’t hang out very long.  I guess chasing crabs or relaxing on the beach is a lot more interesting to them than swimming with some pasty white tourists!  A highlight of the diving was our first shark encounter of the trip.  I’ve been fortunate enough to do more than my share of diving in a lot of different oceans, but these were the sharkiest waters I’ve ever been in.  I don’t think there was a day that we didn’t see a shark of one kind or another.

The final activity of the evening was going for a panga ride in a mangrove swamp.  It was pretty close to dusk, and we were on the lookout for sea turtles.  I figured we’d see a couple of individuals…never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we’d stumble upon a turtle orgy of bacchanalian proportions!   We’d apparently come during the hight of mating season, and the turtles were going at it everywhere we looked.  It was crazy…one on one, three on one, we even saw one poor female trying to get away from five very determined males who were chasing her like she was this year’s Sports Illustrated cover girl!

The first stop on the Galapagos trip was a small little island just off the coast of Isla Santa Cruz.  It’s not the most spectacular island, but for a group of tourists who are very eager to get their first wildlife experience, it is in just about the perfect location.  After leaving the harbor, it took about 20 minutes of sailing to get there, and then it was off to the beach.

The name literally translates to “Wolf Island”, but our guide kept calling it Sea Lion Island.  Whatever the real translation was, there were plenty of sea lions to be found.  It is also a nesting site for the Blue Footed Booby, and the frigate-bird.  I’m really glad that we stopped here, as this was the only place during the entire week that we’d see Frigate-birds displaying their inflated red pouches.  Apparently we’d just missed prime breeding time, and we were very fortunate to see the last poor unchosen males still desperately trying to find a mate.

After months of sitting in the same location in Victory Base, I finally had the opportunity to get out of the office, and make a brief trip to the International Zone in the center of Baghdad.  The IZ was once the main hub of the US occupational government, but has been slowly turned back over to the Iraqi’s.  There are two FOB (Forward Operating Bases) still over there, and to get between them you have to drive in an unarmored truck on roads whose legal status can be described as “murky” at best.

Seeing the sights was a nice break..we ended up at most of the “tourist” places…Assassian’s gate, the Hands of Victory monument, the roof of the former Republican Guard palace.  Lots of fun, and on the way back home to Camp Victory, we got caught in the first thunderstorm of the season…very cool…at least till I found out about the mud!

 Our final stop after leaving Swaziland was a lesser known park back in Zululand in South Africa called Hluhluwe Umfolozi.  To be honest, at this point in the trip I think a good many of us were starting to suffer from “Africa Fatigue”, where things that got us excited on the first few days wouldn’t even get us to turn our heads.  Another zebra?  Yawn…wake me up if you see a leopard making a kill.   Despite that, this park had quite a few things that kept our attention at peak performance for the entire day.

The terrain here was quite unlike any other game park I’d ever been to.  Most parks are in the “veld”…fields of grass, trees, almost always flat.  This park was so much more!  Hills, ridges, streams running down valleys..lots of interest and a good challenge for photography.  There were fewer places for tourists to stay in the park, but if I ever come back with someone “special”, I’ll definitely be staying at the Hill Top lodge..amazing views, beautiful furnishings, and what looked like a very fun bar.

From an animal spotting perspective, two events really stand out in my memory of this park.  First we spent about two hours stalking and following a large herd of elephants, trying to intercept them around the terrain to get us into perfect photo distance.  We eventually succeeded, but unfortunately the light was at the worst mid-day height.  Still, for a fun experience this couldn’t be beat.  Our most impressive encounter happened on our way out of the park…we ran across several rhino’s, two of which were large males fighting over a female.  We watched the battle for about 45 minutes, with the animals getting increasingly more tired and bloody.  Eventually the loser ran off in defeat, and we bugged out with the evening closing time right on our tail.

Cutting thru Swaziland on the way back to J’berg was something I wasn’t expecting at all, but turned out to be one of the highlights of this trip.  Crossing over the border, the difference between the third world conditions of Mozambique and the 2nd world Swaziland was immediately apparent.   The roads were in better condition, the street signs were in good repair, and there were modern irrigated fields of sugar cane, instead of scraggly patches of subsistence farms where one single family would try to grow their own food supply, supplemented by food aid. 

Swaziland is a fairly small country, but it has a remarkably  well developed  parks system.  They’ve done a great job of developing the park infrastructure for a wide range of tourist types; everything from grungy overlander (like us!) to luxury and family friendly places.   Hlane National Park is the overlander one,  so we stopped in for an overnight visit.  This place was fantastic compared to some of the previous campsites we’d stayed in!  Hot showers, electricity for charging our camera batteries, and even a very well put together cultural show in the evening, asking only tips at the end. 

Hlane has their wildlife fenced into two areas.  They’ve got one area that is for game driving where the big cats can wander around freely.  It was at this area that we got our first up close lion sighting of the trip.  We’d previously seen a lion or two way off in the distance, hiding under trees, but this was the first time we’d spotted one up close, and walking around. 

The other half of the park has relocated all of the dangerous cats elsewhere, and guests are allowed to walk with a guide.  The big attraction to this is the opportunity to get up close with rhinos.  We were not disappointed!   We found several groups of animals, one with a small baby that were happy to stand still and be photographed for a while.  Our guide was great at teaching us to read the wind, and sneak up on the animals so they didn’t detect our scent.  As long as they weren’t disturbed by our smell, their eyesight was so poor that we could get right up to them!

 Our next stop was another beach town farther south on the Mozambique coastline called Inhambane.  This was another fishing village (are there any other types on the coast?) that was pretty well known for its whale watching opportunities.    Whale watching is one of those  activities that are the bread and butter of many tour companies.  They love it because all they have to do is advertise the stuff that can be seen every once in a while, and if people don’t see the big attraction, you just have to say “Well, that’s nature!”.  Generally there are a few dolphins or other some such ordinary creature that still thrills the tourists enough that none of them complain too much about missing the highlighted attraction. 

This was kinda the way our tour went…we were told that there were whale sharks in the area, which if you are a diver will recognize as one of those holy grail type animals that everyone would be happy to see just once in their lifetime.  I’ve never been lucky enough myself (yet!), but was hopeful from the initial talk that our guide gave us.  Well, I ended up showing up early to the shop to chat about some diving, and the guide there told me that the chances of seeing the whale sharks this time of the year were slim to none..sigh, foiled again!  Anyway, we did end up seeing dolphins (of course!), and a surprising number of humpback whales right off the shore.  I’d seen humpbacks in the Antarctic before, but never this close, and for such a long duration!   We weren’t able to get in the water with them, but I did have a great opportunity to see one of the biggest manta rays I’ve been around.  Our guide spotted him below the surface, and told us to jump in with our snorkel gear.  I was the only one who was interested, and I was down in a heartbeat chasing him with my camera.  Unfortunately, I’m still learning how to shoot underwater, and chasing a fast moving animal on just snorkel gear isn’t the easiest thing to do, but I still managed to get at least one “decent” shot of him.

The next day the rest of the group slept in, and lazed on the beach while I went diving.  The coral was pretty sub-average, but some of the critters were amazing!  I’ve never seen octopus in the daytime before, but I spotted two HUGE ones crawling over the rocks, changing their colors constantly.  Eventually the two of them ran into each other and immediately started flashing their colors.  They extended an arm out, and did some kind of wrestling move, which I’m guessing was a type of courtship ritual.  After a couple of minutes of that, they split off, and I decided I was going to need a cold shower.   Unfortunately I fell victim to the most common of underwater photographer problems…dead batteries just before the most spectacular sight on the trip!   

After four days of bouncing over some of the worst roads I’ve seen in the world (I thought nothing could beat Cambodia!), we finally arrived at our coastal destination in the town of Vilankulo.  This was originally a small fishing village, but its proximity to the Bazaruto Archipelago has turned it into quite the backpacker hub.   We arrived at around three in the afternoon, and promptly headed for the nearest beach…unfortunately the hotel that our tour company (Drifters) use was in a pretty lousy location, and it took a while of scrambling past half sunken fishing boats and broken glass before we finally found a small stretch of sand that was clear enough for us to strip off and head for the water.  Once we got into the ocean, it was glorious!  The water temperature was a little cool, but for winter in Africa it was absolutely refreshing.  We splashed around for a while, and keeping in mind that we’d all had our tetanus shots, headed back to the hotel to explore the bar.

While the hotel might not have had the best location, the staff did a fantastic job of maintaining the beautiful landscaping, and the hospitality was superb.   Our group composition  was a bit older than most African overlander groups, and that definitely showed in the evenings.  We enjoyed a few beverages, had some dinner and then headed off to bed at a reasonable hour..definitely not something I’m used to on a trip like this.

The next morning we were up early for one of the highlights of the trip, a dhow trip out to Magaruque Island.   It took about 45 minutes using the motor to get out to the island, where I was surprised to find one of the prettiest beaches I’ve seen in a long time waiting for us.  Our itinerary was pretty simple…do a little snorkeling, some sunbathing, and maybe work my way through a chapter or two in the Wilbur Smith book I was working on.  The snorkeling was pretty decent, although the water temperature made it a little less enticing than the warm sandy beaches.   Lunch was served by the boat crew..they were offering some of the freshest barracuda I think I’ve ever had.  I hadn’t tasted fish that good since one holiday back in Texas when a couple of us went spear-fishing on the oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

After another nap in the shade, we headed back to the hotel, this time under sail.  There was something really peaceful and relaxing about just chilling out, listening to the waves gently slap against the wooden hull, and hearing the fabric of the sails snapping in the breeze.

The next morning Ula and I decided to go horseback riding before we headed out for another day of driving.  The riding was beautiful, although the guy we rented the horses from was a bit of a racist prick.  He’d been kicked out of Zimbabwe a couple of years ago, and had resettled with his wife in Mozambique.  He was full of opinions, mostly involving how lazy the locals were, and how they should be grateful for the white people’s generosity.  Unfortunately this was something that we’d encounter several times over the next week or two.  Still, despite his attitude, the beaches were beautiful, and we were able to get in a couple of  great gallops in across the sands.

Immediately upon leaving the South African side of the International Transfrontier Peace Park, the landscape changed dramatically.  We’d gotten used to seeing wildlife fairly regularly along the road..mostly impala and other antelope species, but as soon as we crossed over into Mozambique, they were no where to be found.  According to Neil, our guide, during the Mozambique civil war both sides had come to depend on bush meat for sustenance.   In addition, there are quite a few tiny villages still in the Mozambique side of the park, and between the hunting and the human presence, the wildlife just hasn’t returned.

Despite the lack of game, driving thru the back country was definitely interesting.  We were going on roads barely wide enough for our vehicle, with branches coming in the vehicle that would quite easily take out an eye, or even remove your head if you happened to not duck in time!

For the next four nights we ended up camping at very primitive campsites with no facilities.  Showers were basically wet-wipes, and toilets were pretty much pits that we dug in the ground.    We did spend one really remarkable evening with a local family who had built a very primitive campsite for overland trucks.  The head of the family was a friendly gentleman, but it was impossible to guess his age or his wife’s age.  The husband was blind in one eye, and spent much of his time sewing on an old manually operated machine that he had under a thatched hut.  We had a few things for him to repair, and for the most part he did a great job.   We spent the afternoon playing bocci ball with the kids using “monkey-apples” for balls..tons of fun, and lots of laughs when the fruit finally couldn’t handle it anymore and exploded in a sticky mess on someone’s hands. 

Still, despite the dust, noise, discomfort and the lack of ammenities, it was a good couple of days, although I don’t think any of us would have chosen to delay our upcoming beach holidays in order to extend the experience!

Our second day game driving covered the northern areas of Kruger park.  Conditions were better today, and I felt more confidient with the new lens.   The intital excitement of being back in Africa was starting to fade, which meant that I could concentrate on good shots instead of just trying to take a snapshot of every animal in sight.   The lighting conditions were significantly improved from the previous day, due to our getting up early to be able to head to the Mozambique border before noon.  The wildlife was pretty decent today, and we even technically spotted a lion feasting on a giraffe that had been killed, but unfortunately it was hidden by way too much brush to have any chance of getting a good photo. 

After we finished our morning drive we headed to Mozambique, via the Giriyondo border post inside Kruger itself.  In theory Kruger is just one section of a larger international “Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park”, but unfortunately Mozambique’s section is pretty poor.   As soon as we crossed the border, the road quality dropped a thousand fold, and we didn’t see any further big animals other than the occassional Impala until nearly 10 days later when we returned back into Swaziland.