Page 31 - 2009 AMA Winter

Headquarters where we met the guides and porters that would be travelling with us. We set off from the Headquarters up a wide track to the Park entrance - the last stable walking surface for the next week!
At the Park entrance a single track lead down into the dense undergrowth of the jungle and we felt the expedition had really begun. We spent the next 4-5 hrs following this jungle track whilst all the time our guide relayed his knowledge of the plants and animals. One plant we were particularly interested in was the one reportedly used by the locals as a natural Viagra.
After a relatively short but steep day’s trekking we arrived at the first hut where we were pleasantly surprised, given the remoteness of the location. The bedrooms had wooden bunk beds and even thin mat- tresses, and there was a communal room to have our evening meal and briefings. At the hut the chef provided us with tea and toast before our main meal later in the evening, bizarrely probably the best meal we’d had in Uganda so far!
18 May 09
We left at 0845 hrs for a day’s trekking sim- ilar to the first, except we had our first taste of the bogs, which were to become both mentally and physically exhausting. Even the calmest of team members would be ‘flashing’ when a wrong step left you knee deep in thick bog for the 100th time that day.
We eventually left the bogs behind and arrived at John Matte in the middle of the afternoon. Not before the chef though who had beaten us to it. Thankfully he had a snack waiting for us. After some admin we had dinner, this time it was chicken, spaghetti and cabbage; a random combi- nation but nice all the same. The day fin- ished with the nightly brief by the guides which were becoming increasingly comical in length; they liked to summarise the day’s trekking in so much detail you felt you were reliving the day in real time.
19 May 09
We set off around 0830 hrs for another emotional day of trekking through bogs. The team crossed the Lower Bigo Bog, which thankfully had a small section of boardwalk over the deepest parts but was followed by a river crossing up to waist deep and then a steep climb up to the Higher Bigo Bog. This time there was no boardwalk so going was slow and tiring with many river crossings.
As a reward for the day of trudging through the Bigo Bogs the route took us around Lake Bujuku which surprise, surprise was also extremely boggy. The day was long and tiring and far in excess of the 7km the guides briefed. By the time we reached Bujuku hut some members were also beginning to feel the altitude; fortunately there would be time to acclimatize the fol-
The exercise doctor, Capt Tariq Ahmad pops Cpl Jim Mackie's shoulder back into place
lowing day. The day, and the effect of the thin air was aptly summarised by Sig Hingley as, “doing knees to chest in a peat bog, with a respirator on, and a hangover”.
20 May 09
Day 4 was an acclimatisation day used to revise the skills taught during the WMP Course. The guides from RMS were inter- ested in the skills and techniques used as they had some different methods which led to a few debates with the exped instruc- tors. After the skills revision the team had a short trek to the Shtulmen Pass and back, giving us views over the border into the Congo.
21 May 09
The team departed for the accent to Elena Hut. The journey started extremely boggy before the route took us up a steep gorge with a steel ladder on the final section. The route remained boggy until the end of the days trekking where vegetation became sparse before eventually giving way alto-
gether; a natural ceiling caused by the per- sistent effects of altitude and temperature. The final stage of the days climb was extremely rocky with a covering of snow making it very slippery underfoot. This slowed progress dramatically and started to raise doubts over the possibility of reaching the summit the following day. The ground was so slippery that some of the party wished they were back in the bogs! Elena Hut was at 4600m and the effects of altitude were really starting to be felt. Some of us were experiencing headaches, nau- sea and a lack of appetite. The doc hand- ed out some paracetamol and brufen, which was enough to alleviate most of the symptoms of the ’mountain weakness’ as it became known.
22 May 09 - Summit Day
Summit day was by far the longest and most challenging. It had been snowing all night and morning ensuring the ground remained extremely slippery. We left Elena Hut up a steep accent to a ridge; with the
Maj Ashton refreshing some skills and drills at Bigo Hut
ARMY MOUNTAINEER 29