The good news about windmills is that one could almost always find the road. It might be private, closed or bumpy, but it will be a road. This time it was a good gravel road and soon we reached the top of Povoinha, which is surrounded by windmills and has a raised trig pillar. We…
Alvaiázere
We climbed the third peak today and again had a tarmac road all the way to the top. There was a windmill farm, a lookout tower and a trig pillar on a 2m tall plinth. It was nice to be able to climb the trig pillar as there was a ladder on one side. The…
Ourém
This legend tells the story of a Christian knight, Gonçalo Hermigues, who kidnapped a Moorish princess named Fatima on St John’s Day in 1158. The knight took her to a small village in Portugal and she fell in love with him and converted to Christianity, taking the name Oureana. As a reward for her conversion,…
Aire
The highpoint of the Santarém region in Portugal. Rob and I found that neither of us had bagged this mountain, so there were few arguments against visiting it. We checked previous reports and expected to have to leave our car a few miles early, but when we arrived we found a reasonably good road all…
West Africa 2023
Our plan for Equatorial Guinea fell through due to bureaucratic problems. So we quickly came up with a new plan in the same region that would include an ultra peak and not be a long trip, preferably something that could be done over a weekend and self-organised to avoid tour operators. São Tomé and Principe…
São Tomé Island
This island is very green, with a few sandy beaches, delicious food and friendly people, even if many of them carry machetes. Everything went very smoothly and easily in this tiny country. Hiring a car from the local hotel was a great experience; we got the keys at the airport and they asked us to…
Sameiro
This is the last peak of the trip, a small hill with communication masts and a dirt road. We left our car at one of the forks, although with a larger car it might be possible to drive all the way to the top (rough road). At the top we found a trig pillar, a…
Muquinqui
The storm had completely stopped by the time we reached the bottom of the mountain. We parked our car on the main road and walked up the almost perfectly formed spiral road to the top. We were able to take in all the surrounding views at least four times; twice on the way up and…
Pico Boa Entrada
Today is a short day and we have to catch a flight home sometime this afternoon. We chose a couple of peaks within easy reach of the airport. The first was Pico Boa Entrada. It’s not very high, but it has a nicely shaped volcanic crater. Our first attempt to get close to the slope…
Cantagalo
The last of today’s summits was relatively easy, but harder than expected. We tried to approach from the south-east, but were turned back by some gentlemen, so we drove around the southern peninsula and parked our car on the side of a rough forest track. A stronger car could have gone a few more kilometres,…
Lama Porco
Before the second summit of the day, we stopped for coffee at the lodge cafeteria, which has a beautiful sandy beach lined with palm trees. The drive through the potholes was worth every minute. From the cafeteria we could see tourists getting into small boats and heading for Ilhéu das Rolas. This small island lies…
Aida
We started our day trip to the south of the island with a short and easy hike to Aida Peak. We left our car at the oil palm plantation and walked along a rough road, greeting a few locals carrying breadfruit on their heads. One of them followed us and later explained that he lived…
Diogo Vaz
After descending from Pico de São Tomé, we had about half an hour before sunset, so we decided to explore the west coast with no particular destination other than sightseeing. We soon stopped at the beautiful beach south of the village of Diogo Vaz and enjoyed the colourful sunset. Rob climbed some sea stacks, the…
Pico de São Tomé
The hotel offered us an early breakfast at 5am, but we politely declined as we were afraid it would take too long. We then drove for almost an hour to a resort where our guide, Zezito, was supposed to be waiting for us. When we arrived, the gates were locked and no one seemed to…
Lisbon to São Tomé
The journey from Lisbon to São Tomé is long, but the scenery is spectacular. The aircraft passes through Portugal and Spain before crossing the Mediterranean and entering Algeria. After flying over the Sahara, the route passes through Niger, Nigeria and a small corner of Cameroon before reaching the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea and…
Berlin
Berlin is the capital of Germany and one of the most vibrant cities in Europe. It is home to a rich culture and history, with a wide range of attractions for visitors to explore. From world-class museums to beautiful parks and gardens, there is something for everyone in Berlin. The city also has a bustling…
Pergamon Museum
The Pergamon Museum and Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, Germany is a fascinating experience for the curious traveller. It offers exquisite exhibitions of antiquities from different civilisations and contains over twenty different collections such as ancient Middle Eastern architecture, classical sculpture, Islamic art and Roman mosaics. We choose to go to the museum instead…
Central America 2023
Our main goal on this trip was to climb ultra and ribu peaks in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We plan to fill the time between the ultras with P600 or lower peaks. There will be plenty to choose from as we travel along the Pan-American Highway from north to south. Long flight from Prague to…
Zürich
Long stop at the airport. I check out the nearby mountains and peaks that might be accessible at this time of year. Nothing really attractive, so plan B – sightseeing in the city. I buy a return train ticket and in half an hour wandering around the streets of Zurich. There are not many people…
San Jose to Newark
The plane took off from San José in Costa Rica and flew over the east coast of the United States before landing in Newark. Many places can be seen from the plane’s window, including Cuba, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York. We also flew over parks, rivers, oceans, beaches and…