The Monthly Newsletter of Chelmsford YHA Local Group
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CYHA - NEW MAN AT THE TOP! 
Any of you who missed our AGM in October will be unaware that we now have a new Chairman to lead us into the 21st century. Trudi, having completed her 3 year stint, has passed the reins onto Jim. Trudi started the meeting with her Chairman's Report on our activities in the last year. Everyone was thanked for their support in our "dynamic, user-led organisation...". Special mention was made of several of our most memorable trips away: Millennium New Year in the Peaks (and that wonderful New Years Day on Win Hill); Durness in the far north of Scotland (yes it was worth the drive!); Sailing at Tollesbury (well done Nigel); Easter/Mayday 3 trips in one; Saffron Walden weekend with barbecue (our biggest cycling trip EVER); and the incredible August Bank Holiday at Bretton/Eyam which included some of the young families we've not seen for so long (the volunteer warden said he liked the group so much he wants to join us for a weekend again sometime!). Our hard work in the garden at Saffron Walden Youth Hostel not only earned us a Presidents Award but gained us lots of publicity in local papers, Triangle, and YHA News. Trudi thanked all of us who took part and especially Jim for doing the bulk of the organisation. Next came the Secretary's Report. Lorna reported on membership levels (all-time high at 76): the year 1999/2000 was the first year where cyber-recruits outnumbered telephone enquiries. Treasurer's Report: Dave said that in the last year we have been away on 14 trips - a total of 867 bed nights for the group! If you went on all the trips it would have cost you a modest £637, which works out at £13.55 per day including all petrol, food and accommodation. What a bargain! Subs will remain unchanged. Dave has now been treasurer for 10 years and reckons that in that time the group has got through something like 3000 sausages and 1500 loaves of bread. Doesn't bear thinking about does it! Other Business: Jim proposed a modest upping of the food budget to avoid the horror of "value" sausages. It was agreed that a budget of £2 per head for evening meals wouldn't break the bank. Neil had a question about the rising average age of the group. Lorna replied that there were "quite a lot of us here 10 years older than we were 10 years ago"?! Voting of the Committee: As mentioned before, Jim replaces Trudi as our Chairman, Trudi staying on as an ordinary member of the committee. All other posts remain unchanged other than Roz, who is standing down from the committee due to other commitments. Prestigious Polly Awards: Awarded by Trudi, our outgoing Chairman, with thanks.
A special thanks from all of us to Trudi for 3 years of inspiring leadership. A full copy of the AGM minutes is available from Lorna. Beautiful Badby
Badby YH is the only thatched hostel in the country and is situated on the Church Green in the heart of the village. The surrounding countryside is beautiful and both days we walked from the hostel. Saturday we headed off towards Fawsley Church, which has been left stranded in a field as the village moved away. Dave and Paul had to head off to fetch Dave's car from the garage (it had broken down en route Friday night), but in spite of the group fragmenting and going the wrong way we all managed to meet up again in Preston Capes. Reunited, we strode onwards to the splendid pub in Everdon where Lynn and Helen frightened anyone wanting access to the loos by playing a particularly violent form of bar skittles (quite badly). Lynn, Paul and Gerry mysteriously cut short the walk to get some "potatoes". Odd, but all was later revealed when Dave was presented with a Scalextric set for his birthday. This was put to extended use after dinner, as was Helen's chocolate cake. Gary led us on Sunday with a good long walk on the Jurassic Way. We didn't see any dinosaurs, but navigational challenges, abandoned railways, beer and giant fungi provided interest for everyone. Ali Kilimanjaro - Glaciers, Volcanoes and Buffalo On 23 September I set off for Tanzania with 3 others - Nick (an old school friend) and his mates Tom and Aurel (a naturalised Canadian citizen of Romanian extraction living in the United States ) for the long flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport for our assault on the three (not two as claimed by Monty Python) peaks of Kilimanjaro. PRACTICE PEAK - MERU
Organised by Tom, via the company Footloose, our plan included a preliminary target in the conquest of mount Meru (aka Socialist peak) which at 14,979 feet (4,566m) is the fourth highest in Tanzania, to aid acclimatisation. Meru is, like Kili, an extinct volcano, in fact a previous eruption blew out one side of the mountain and after climbing through grassland and lush forests the walk follows a dramatic route up the knife edge rim of the horseshoe crater. With us was Matei, our guide, at least 6 porters, a cook and Joseph our armed park ranger who had to accompany us in case we came across any buffalo or elephant - a common hazard on the lower slopes. The first two days both saw climbs of about 3,300 feet which were quite easy and also gave us our first views of Kili as its distinctive dome rose above the clouds on the horizon about 40 km away. We had by now arrived at Saddle Hut - high enough for the final assault which began at 1.30 a.m on day 3. Wrapped up against the cold of a starlit African night Matei guided us over exposed ridges and steep traverses, to the more severe approaches to the summit, which seemed to consist mainly of volcanic ash which made progress very hard. The altitude made the ascent one of the hardest I've ever done, I was using two walking poles as a pair of extra legs to drag myself up the slopes as my lungs gasped for non-existent oxygen. We paused briefly for a lovely view of sun rise over the ever present Kili and reached the summit at around 7a.m, although a struggle, this walk proved to be excellent training for the higher altitudes of Kilimanjaro. Lonely Planet describes the final ascent "along a very narrow ridge between the sloping outer wall of the crater and the sheer cliffs of the inner wall, is one of the most dramatic and exhilarating in East Africa. Some trekkers find this section too exposed for comfort, especially in the dark". Unfortunately (?) the true severity of the conditions were hidden by night on the way up and mist on the way down. GIRAFFES AND DROPPINGS The final part of the descent was wonderful, a walking safari through forest and savannah amongst the wildlife - a family of elephants were seen about 200 metres away, flashes of Columbus monkeys could be seen in the trees, hornbills flew close overhead and a group of giraffe watched us pass no more than 50 metres away. We also saw warthog and buffalo- the latter are the most dangerous animals in Africa. Joseph told us to lie flat if attacked so that the buffalo would be less able to gore you or toss you through the air with its horns (although it could still trample you!!). Incidentally we were also warned that buffalo can graze around the camps at night so you could find one between yourself and the lovely toilet hut so eliminating (albeit potentially messily) the need to go to the hut in the first place. Joseph also pointed out to us the droppings of hyena (full of bits of bone/fur,etc), leopard and of course buffalo (they are like cow pats but 10 times bigger). THE BIG ONE And so to Kilimanjaro, we were to use the Machame route an alternative to the more popular Marangu (or Coca Cola) route., taking five days to reach the summit
As an aside the mountain used to be in Kenya but when the European powers were dividing up Africa the Germans under William II complained that it was unfair that Britain had two snow capped mountains near the equator (Kili and Mt Kenya) so Queen Victoria got the PM to ensure that the carve up gave Kili to William, her nephew, as a surprise birthday gift hence putting the peak in German East Africa - present day Tanzania. One of the most interesting features of the climb is the variety of landscape: the walk starts in what looks like English woodland but gradually the forest becomes more tropical with huge leafed plants and trees draped in long strands of lichen, the forest then fades to giant heather and as altitude is gained the vegetation becomes more alpine. Higher up the plant life is more barren and Spartan with huge cactus like plants dotted round the landscape. It is incredibly dry up high and the paths a very dusty. Each day's climb was not too strenuous and at a relatively gentle pace to gradually allow us to become used to the thinner air. Each day the ice capped dome of Kibo (the main peak) got closer and more imposing Were we really going to climb it? It still seemed so far and high. FINAL PUSH Our last camp site before the top (and also past the last stream for water) was at Barafu (4,600m or about 15,000 feet). After a fitful 'night's' sleep we left at 12.30 a.m under another star filled and very cold African night (five layers needed plus 3 pairs of trousers) for the final 1,300 metres of climbing (4,290 feet). The pace was slow and after a bit we split into two groups (slow and very slow). We failed to reach the rim before sunrise but could see it from some way off in the half light of dawn. However it seemed to take an age to reach it as the pace was so slow - it had to be, a couple of times I tried to speed up to a snail's pace but within seconds the legs hurt so much that I came to a standstill and had to slow down to whatever pace is below snail's. It was carnage near the top: people projectile vomiting all over the place, others slumped with head in hands wheezing like old men , some being guided back down unable to take any more and others trudging zombie like uphill with glazed expressions. We reached Stella point at about 7.30 am and trudged for another hour for the 1km to Uhuru peak at 19,340 feet or 5,896m the highest point in Africa. The views are quite spectacular: blue hued glaciers, the dry inner crater, Meru on the horizon and the jagged profile of Mawenzi (Kili's second lower peak), the plains of Africa far below and the cloud base extending below you as far as you could see in all directions. We had only 15 minutes on the top as we still had the small matter of a 9,000 foot descent to undertake to reach our final camp before the final descent the next day - which we finally achieved at about 4pm - quite a day! NGORONGORO We finished our holiday in the Ngorongoro crater for some wildlife viewing. The journey from Moshi was long including the final 110km on rough tracks through Maasai villages and remote country. The crater was stunning and full of zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, warthog, hippos, flamingo, hyena, jackals, lions, elephants, baboons, vultures and best of all a black rhino spied in the distance. Although all the animals are familiar thanks to David Attenborough it was still special to see them in the flesh. Talking of flesh the most pervading thing in the crater was the number of corpses in varying stages of decay from half eaten zebra to bleached wildebeest rib cages. There seemed to be so much food on offer that the meat eaters could not be bothered to finish each meal off in true CYHA style! 
TRIP FACTS Distance walked: 94km Total height gain: 7,162 metres Smelliest/messiest toilet: Mweka hut Longest time without a shower: 5 days Most valuable equipment bought: second walking pole/balaclava Least used thing bought: soap Beer brands had: Kibo, Kilimanjaro, Safari, Elephant Most popular Swahili words used: Jambo (hello) and Poli Poli (slowly slowly) Dave J PS slide show to come... |
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Well
I for one had no idea that Northamptonshire was so nice. Lots of
quaint villages full of thatch and sandstone and traditional country
pubs.