Kilimanjaro
Friday September 28th at 11am we set off from Athy. Our team consisted of Martin Chanders, Martin Reid(my father),Carlow man Michael Curley and myself. Flying via London and Addis Ababa (Ethiopa), we finally reach Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) airport at 7.30pm on Saturday 29th. The next day, following a good night’s rest in the hotel we set out on a 4 hour bus ride to our starting point. We met our guides and porters at the starting gate of the Rongi route up the mountain. As we made our way up through cultivated farmland and pine forest plantations, everyone was in good form and excited about the challenge ahead. Local children seemed to know only one English word, chocolate. I gave out some spare wine gums i had in my pocket and this bought smiles all round. The day was several hours long and as we made our way up through the lush vegetation and deeper into the tropical rain forest we caught sight of some incredible wild life. Birds of every size and colour packed the vegetation along with monkeys swinging in the trees. About 7pm, my good friend Martin Chanders and I reached Camp One and the rest of the team. Situated on the edge of the moorland zone we had a magnificent view down over the rain forest and out across the plains of neighbouring Kenya. It soon got dark, so after a hot meal we climbed into our tents for the night. I was sharing with Carlow man Michael Curley while Martin was in with my father.
Next day after a good breakfast and watching the sunrise we set out walking again. I noticed a substantial increase in the gradient of our ascent. We made our way up through the moorland, continually looking in awe at the magnificence of the snow capped peak in the distance. At resting points we could not help but stare out over the clouds and at the views back down the mountain. As we hiked along reaching a height of over 10,000 feet my mate Martin began to come under pressure. He had a stroke a few year back, was diabetic, and at 51 this was a huge challenge to undertake. Everyone on the team could not help but admire his mental attitude, determination and drive. This was said back to me on several occasions. We ploughed on for several more hours but by dinner time, Martin, in consultation with the head guide decided to call a halt to his part on the journey. It was a wise decision as no trip is worth risking your health for. He had climbed over three times the height of Ireland largest mountain – an impressive feat by any man’s standards - given Martin’s situation. My father and I then said our goodbyes to him and carried on. As we continued upwards, we entered a charred landscape. The moorland and scrub had been totally destroyed by wild fires the previous week. Sometime late in the afternoon we reached Camp Two.
Next morning following another beautiful sunrise we set off, making our way through the burnt landscape and entering a zone known as a high altitude desert. Vegetation was sparse and the steepness of the gradient was increasing. Most of the team were beginning to suffer from headaches. This was just from the altitude and was to be expected. Anti-altitude sickness tablets were available but my father and I opted not to take them. I wanted to get a true picture of the effects altitude can have on a person, given that I was never at a similar height before. The day was not as long as the previous two and we reached our camp situated in a collapsed volcano creator about 2.30pm. The next few hours were free so as to help us become acclimatised to the height. With little to do, I pullout a miniature rugby ball from my rucksack and with most of the team, we had a high altitude throw around. It was surprising how far the ball would travel through the air with so little effort at this height. Around 4pm we decided to climb a nearby peak to help with the acclimatisation process. At the top it was about a meter wide but the views back down over camp were superb. Our water supply at this camp was fa

The expedition started at Dublin airport on November 5th. Our destination, South Georgia Island to honour and retrace the footsteps of Ireland’s famous Antarctic explorer, Kildare man Sir Ernest Shackleton; along with Irelands other unsung hero’s. Getting to South Georgia took 7 days travelling by air and sea. Flying via Madrid to Bueno Aires, then onto Ushuaia. It was here we boarded the ship and set sail. The seas were relatively calm for the part of the world we were in, but never the less sea-sickness was experienced by most of us at some level. For myself I found it pretty bad and for the two days prior to landing on South Georgia I’d not eaten and was becoming very dehydrated. It was coming close to the option to put me on a drip to re-hydrate but luckily I managed to sip down several cans of gasless sprite over the few hours before landing. All our time on the ship was spent training and getting ready for the expedition. We checked our gear, erected our tents in the winds on deck and practiced rope rescuing over the 3 levels of the ships cabins.
Eventually we pulled into King Haakon bay. At approx 4am we bored the zodiacs and landed on the beach at Piggotty Bluff. It was covered in seals and penguins. The day was crystal clear and the weather good with only a strong breeze blowing. We made our way up the Shackleton gap with good progress taking turns to pull the sledges. Then we donned our snowshoes, roped up and across the Murray Snowfield. This was followed by the Briggs Glacier stopping for lunch about 12:30 which consisted of a Pita bread ham & cheese sandwich. As the evening wore on the weather got worse and we approached the Trident, this being three peaks along a mountain ridge. We stopped at the foot of it and put on an extra layer. Looking up we could see that it was going to be difficult. Half way up we experienced a white-out. The snow was very fine and winds very strong. It stung when it beat off our hoods or the very little parts of our face exposed. Climbing over the trident was very difficult not only due to the elements but dragging our sledges and carrying our 4 stone backpacks while still roped together. For most of the climb we were on all fours and preventing ourselves from sinking to the snow or slipping back down was difficult. Once over it and descending down the far side we undid the ropes and made our way down to the Crean glacier overlooking Antarctic Bay. We then began to erect the tents. We had trained so that two people could put up one tent in very strong winds but now it took all six of my team to put up each of our two tents. The wind kept blowing us over in the process and I took about 45 mins to erect both tents. The other five teams on the expedition did the same. By this time it was now getting dark and we needed to start cooking up soon. Also at this stage I was finding it very difficult to walk. I had incurred two groin strains during the days’ hiking and they were very painful now. I was looking forward to resting them. I think they were caused not from being ill prepared physically but from the unfamiliar snowshoes I was wearing. Also I had a lot of pain in my Kidney and the doctor on our team, Clear O’Leary recommended I drink one litre of water to flush it out. Once the tents were up and the 3 of us were in our 2man tent we started cooking up. My two team-mates got into their sleeping bags and this gave me little space to cook dinner. Dinner came in a dehydrated pack and all we had to do was add boiling water. However melting the snow along with bringing it to the boil was painfully slow and it was not long before it was dark forcing me to resort to using my head torch. Eventually we got dinner sorted despite the wind trying to blow the tent down around us. I can’t recall what the lads had but I remember the beef casserole I had. It was simply beautiful. I then drank a full litre of water and settled into my sleeping bag for the night. About an hour later one of

howya for the ninth time 17:26 on Sunday the 5th November, 2006
well gang, how ya all now. i'm just finished packing about two hours ago and just back form the swiming pool now. i think things are only dawning on me now that were actually heading off in the morn. i can't beleive how fast things came aroud. just doing a a last minute clean on me house here then its off to me mothers. i'm gonna spend the night there with all the reid gang. i think i might have to fight for a bed though. ah sure i'm sure the couch will be grand anyhow. i'm just gonna relax now for the evening up home and i've the auld shackleton dvd to watch and get me mind thinking. by the way did any of ye see the film borat that in the cinemas now. well to tell ya, i went last night and talk about the funniest film i ever saw. it was that funny that i could not sleep all last night cos i kept thinking about it and laughting. mad film. a must see. anyhow i've not much news. just kinda getting realy excited about the trip now. guess it's kinda like christmas or something. ( well the same excited feeling ya know). right so that about it. gonna cut stick now and sure i'll catch up with ye all tomorrow. have a good one.
keep it real
cliff