When my sister asked me if I wanted to come with her to see our brother jump in the Heliboogie, I instantly got so excited about the possibility!! Wow! The Heliboogie is a prestigious BASE event and one I have always been super interested in. Add to this I have always wanted to go to Norway — and 4 flights later plus a long, slow and scarey drive over the mountain — here I am!! Natalie picked me up from Stavanger. Here are some scenes from the drive over the mountain, and I must say I was pretty impressed with Natalie’s driving – not only on the other side of the road, but also in negotiating oncoming traffic in full on fog and mist on roads barely wide enough for one car. Continue reading
Category Archives: ADVENTURES
Norge, her kommer jeg!
A new post for a new adventure! Well overdue. Not that I haven’t had many adventures since 2013 – just the adventures have been a little more dispersed and there are several posts owing here – very outstanding, you might say. But never too late to resume and what better than a trip to Heliboogie 2017! Will be meeting my sis there to watch our lil’ brother do his thing….. to give you a preview, here is Simon at 2’15” in the bright orange squirrel suit, in last year’s Heliboogie.
Watch this space for updates!!
Filed under ADVENTURES, Norway
Kilimanjaro: meeting my limits!
I have wanted to climb Mt Kilimanjaro since I can’t remember when, and I have no idea why. Possibly something to do with the many documentaries on Africa I watched as a child. Long before I went trekking in Nepal or climbed in the Andes, Kili was on my list of things I really hoped to do one day. Well the day came! Continue reading
Filed under ADVENTURES, Tanzania
A bumpy ride on the Tazara Express
Ever since I read Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari, I have wanted to travel on the Tazara Express – the railway line from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Kampiri Mposhi in Zambia, built by the Chinese in the early 1970’s. Whenever I mentioned this to anyone in Kenya, I was promptly told I was mad and given a zillion reasons why I should NOT take this train. It was deemed unsafe and unreliable and I was sure to get robbed! The trip could take anything from 2 days to a week, depending on how many times the train derails! Continue reading
Filed under ADVENTURES, Tanzania, Zambia
Victoria Falls from the air
Was I scared? Hell yes! The Microlite is really a hang glider with a lawn mower on the back! You are just dangling there in the open air, wobbling about. It feels terribly flimsy! My adrenaline was racing and my body tense the entire time, but I highly recommend it! Continue reading
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Filed under ADVENTURES, Zambia
On the EDGE!! Livingstone Island
I am so far behind with my posts, having climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and visited Zanzibar, travelled across Tanzania and Zambia on the Tazara Express, flown over the Victoria Falls in a Microlight and been on a river cruise in Chobe National Park in Botswana….. but I will put this one up for now — it is today’s little adventure, on Livingstone Island, at the top of the Victoria Falls, but best not watch it if you are scared of heights!. Enjoy!!
Filed under ADVENTURES, Zambia
Gorillas in Uganda: a lifelong dream fulfilled…
Sitting in the airport café, Ruth says to me “Don’t you think it a bit ominous there is a black out in an international airport? Too true – aren’t airports supposed to be secured against such things? Isn’t’ an emergency generator supposed to kick in at some point? I pondered the effects this might have on the control tower, but before I had time to dwell on this point, a loud “fuck” echoed across the café. We both glanced across at a well-dressed white businessman typing away on his laptop in the booth next to us. No – surely not! But yes – there it came again: “Fuck”! Or was it “farck”? No – definitely “Fuck” with a long drawn out American vowel and the volume to match. Continue reading
Filed under ADVENTURES, Nature, Uganda