Author: manuela

Today I went hiking in Colombia – just two hours drive from Bogota you can find wonderful nature!

Laguna verde (“green lake”) was the destination. After getting out of the car, we walked through a high altitude plateau (3300-3700 m) with rare plants, the beautiful colours and the relieving fresh air that you only get in the mountains.

After around 2 hours hike we had chatted with each other and former strangers had become friends – the bizarre scenary made it possible.

Approaching Laguna Verde we saw a group of tents on the shore. A group of around 15 people in hiking gear were starting to pull down their tents. A bit late, we thought – how far can they reach if they start their day’s hike at 1pm?

We passed them with a few greetings and climbed up the mountain behind the lake to get the full panoramic view. Our guide decides to stay behind with a lady that got tired, but the majority of us wouldn’t return home without reaching the peak!

Of we go, climbing up around 200 steep metres. Just a few metres below the peak we couldn’t trace the path. High scrubs everywhere. “No hay un camino claro!” was mumbled by a lady. (“There is no clear path!”)

Of course we made it somehow – I lead the group upwards, to me the direction “to the peak” is clear enough when climbing a mountain. I remember the inspiring statement about leadership that I heard so often… About leaving a trail where is no path. I am not satisfied by the extend of my leadership, my impact – so I drop the thought quickly.

A stunning view and the well-deserved lunch break awaited us. Sandwiches and fruits were unpacked and munched… until a sudden rain hit us and we jumped in our rainjackets and hurried down the hill to find a shelter.

“Scrubs?” I am thinking.

Until we reached the campers, the rain had subsided and become a drizzle.

They shouted at us and waved us over to their camp. They had a pot of soup that they wanted to share with us. Moving closer I saw that the cook who was wearing shorts had only one leg – the other one had a prosthesis. Looking around I saw more of the campers with leg prostheses – many had two!

We are in the middle of wild nature. I see people wearing high-tech hiking wear. I see branded hiking boots. I see metal connecting the two. I am deeply disturbed. I can’t make it work in my head. I can’t even accept the soup that I am offered.

Nobody else seems to be bothered. The campers are fitting the last tent equipment back in their backpacks. My group mates are chatting and eating. They are teasing me that I don’t eat the soup – is it that I don’t like the intestines it includes?

The language barrier makes me shut up even more.

I remember: Colombia is the country with the highest amount of landmines victims worldwide.

The leader of the group himself has one prothesis. He explained to us that this is a group of former soldiers who are preparing to climb Kilimanjaro in August. A team of mechanics, psychologists and doctors will accompany them. They have been fundraising for the trip for long.

What big an inspiration can this group be to thousands of landmine victims?

What faces will they encounter in Tanzania’s airport?

Is it physically possible for them to reach the peak?

What looks will they attract from other hikers?

How many protheses could be fitted with the money that is donated for this trip?

Many questions could be asked. I don’t ask. I can see:

This man is a leader. He has the goal clear.

Go where there is no path – and leave a trail!

More about the hike: http://www.caminantesdelretorno.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110:the-green-lake-tausa&catid=11:short-hikes&Itemid=2

More about landmines: http://www.the-monitor.org/index.php/publications/display?url=lm/2004/colombia.html

A week of walking in rough and beautiful nature… Last week I hiked the West Highlands Way in Scotland. The famous Lochs, the foggy valleys, volcanic hills, the food and culture. A great time off from London and its buzz!

Preparations:

The Way is a famous tourist attraction and there is quite some infrastructure around it. We made reservations for all our accommodation beforehand (which was not necessary in April, but is well advised in the high season from May). We had a map, which is not required for the well-marked way, but nice because it gives you an idea of the distances and the names of rivers and mountains around you!

We only had 6 days, so we had to skip a couple of days (the hike can take 6-9 days).

There is a bus and train pretty much every day to give you a short cut of 4-7 hours walk, so it’s good to print the bus plan of C8 and 916. Also if you know your return date, have the train return ticket booked before to save money.

Regards Luggage you want to be prepared for any weather (snow through hail and rain to sunshine). We had Travel Lite transport our luggage from every hostel to the next (40 GBP, book here) and only carried our day pack with rain coat and food. What a luxury, but a great delight, especially on the hills!

Day 1: Arrival to Glasgow on train where we had a walk around the river and city centre. Then we took the 6pm bus to Drymen (we skipped the first Day from Glasgow/Milngravie to Drymen). We stayed in a pretty B&B (Elmbank), and had dinner from the supermarket.

Day 2 Our first actual hiking day from Drymen via Conic Hill to Rowardennan. You get to climb the Hill from the less steep behind and through pretty valleys filled with the famous sheep. After lunch on the hill with great views on the loch, we took a shortcut down the hills straight to lake (cutting out Balmaha) and spent the rest of the afternoon walking on the shores of the lake to the Rowardennan Youth Hostel. We stretched the 24 kms over nearly 8 hours, because we took all opportunities for photo taking, picnics and stops on the beaches of Loch Lommond.

Day 3: From the Youth hostel we took the first ferry to the other side of the Loch, an amazing 30 minutes which stunning views over the lake and the slopes. Then we got a bus to Inverarnan, where we had a quick lunch at the Drovers Inn (great pub!). From there we just had to finish a 3-hour through another valley walk until we got to the Youth Hostel in Crianlarich. We met Highland cattle, which can be frightening, especially as they are taking well care of their fresh offspring.

Day 4: A nice surprise waited for us: It has snowed overnight and our walk to Bridge of Orchy started in fresh white. After a warming lunch in Tyndrym we finished the 21-km-leg through light rain: A simple walk through a long valley with steep slopes on both sides and near the railway tracks. The old military road (build in 17xx) on which we were walking is held by an old wall and there are nice views to the wide river at the valley bottom. We also tasted the fresh spring water. The railway has an exciting horse-show form at some point, but we weren’t lucky enough to catch the train in this corner. On arrival in Bridge of Orchy we stayed at the Bunkhouse and had great dinner in the restaurant of the (one) hotel in the place.

Day 5: The next lag is a 5-8 hour hike over the moor, which we summed up in a 20-minute bus ride. Having gotten off at Kingshouse Hotel, we walked an hour or so until we crossed the Devil’s Staircase, which lead into another valley. The descend to Kinglochleven was as beautiful as diverse.  We reached Blackwater Hostel at 2pm and stocked up at the Supermarked, then relaxed there. With a bit more courage, we could have done the whole hike without the bus, just as most others who arrived at 7pm, had 🙂

Day 6 marked already our last day of the West Highland Way with a final lap of 24kms to Fort William. This was actually the most beautiful day and somehow the summary of the whole walk: starting with a nice climb and amazing views out of the valley to another long valley, through forests and volcanic moor until reaching the snow gaped mountains close to Ben Nevis and down to Fort William through the rain on (guess what… boring) car-wide tracks. After a photo at the official end of the track we had dinner on the High Street (Alexandra Restaurant has amazing BBQ chicken, what a meal after 5 days of hike!)

On Day 7 we went shopping for souvenirs, then walked to the old castle and visiting the distillery. Another alternative is climbing Ben Nevis, if the weather is fine.

The highlight and summary was the 4-hour train ride from Fort William back to Glasgow, which showed us the whole hike backwards and many more views over the moor that we had not seen before!

Full cost: 430 GBP incl. train return trip from London, a great deal that we achieved by making our own food and using hostels and early booked transport. You can save more by carrying your luggage, and sticking to hostels or camping.

Full experience: While the way is not too exciting for an experienced hiker in terms of its appearance and not technically demanding, it is highly rewarding for it’s beautiful landscape and the views are amazing every single hour!

An amazing holiday!

(And for some silly reason Channel 5 is showing Water Horse right now… the legend of the Monster of Loch Ness!)

 

The moment when you realize how long you have not seen the sea!

So I just took this random guess on google “Hike near London” and ended up on a website for “Surrey Hills”, downloaded the first hike and went…. after some weeks in London it felt great to get some fresh air!

One of the inscriptions on Chilworth Cementary read “Live is for living” and I could not agree more.