Range Guinea Highlands
After breakfast in a small street restaurant next to the hotel, we drive almost to the top of Leicester Peak. There is a checkpoint, but as far as I can see, all tourists are allowed to drive to the viewpoint on the western slopes of the peak. There is a fairly large car park and…
Range Guinea Highlands
We are sailing from the Banana Islands to the mainland and are very close to one of Sierra Leone’s three P600 peaks – Picket Hill. We are aware that the highest point may be a mile in south of where the trail ends. However, we hope to find a path between the two peaks. Hope…
Range Guinea Highlands
After climbing to Dublin Island Highpoint, we cross a stone causeway that connects two islands. We then walk just over a kilometre on a flat, wide path to the nearest point to the summit. From there we head straight for Ricketts Island Highpoint, the highest of the three Banana Islands. At the top we found…
Range Guinea Highlands
Situated off the coast of Yawri Bay, south-west of the Freetown peninsula, the Banana Islands are a group of three islands. The name comes from their shape, which resembles a banana. Dublin and Ricketts are connected by a stone causeway, while Mes-Meheux is privately owned and used as an adventure tourism destination. Dublin Island is…
Range Guinea Highlands
A great day despite not being able to start climbing Sankan Biriwa, the highest peak in Tingi Hills Forest Reserve. An interesting journey from Makeni to Kundema-Lei village and also interesting negotiations in Kenewa village. After breakfast at the Makeni Hotel, we get in the car and head east. The tarmac road is good up…
Range Guinea Highlands
Climbing Sierra Leone’s highest peak, the 46th most isolated in the world, is an experience not to be missed. It is also an ultra-prominent peak, one of the few in West Africa. Not only is it a beautiful natural environment, but the trail and cultural experience are also interesting. On this trip, Loma Mansa peak…
Range Southeast Baltic Plains
We decided to visit this peak unexpectedly, although I had wanted to go there for a few years. We drove fifteen kilometres from Vilnius and were still surrounded by houses, with construction going on next to the hill. First we tried the south side, but were stopped by the construction fences that ran all along…
Range Cameroon Mountains
Mount Cameroon is an active stratovolcano, it is the 31st most prominent mountain in the world and the 4th in Africa. It is also the 22nd most isolated mountain in the world, and a country highpoint. In short – it is a very interesting peak, and of course worth all the bureaucratic effort. Peter, Dave,…
Range Portugal-Galicia
Last peak planned for today, so we drove to the lower summit of Besteiros at 1080m to check out the views and a large black and white conical trig pillar. We then drove to the highest point where we found a huge concrete trig pillar (unfortunately impossible to climb) with two smaller ones on either…
Range Portugal-Galicia
Fifth of six summits today, and the fifth drive up. We reached the summit on a reasonably good road. An auto-moto-peakbagger would be excited as he or she could touch the base of the trig pillar with a car. Perhaps that is why the trig pillar has been raised by two metres. And the lookout…
Range Portugal-Galicia
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…
Range Portugal-Galicia
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…
Range Portugal-Galicia
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,…
Range Portugal-Galicia
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…
Range Bight of Benin
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…
Range Bight of Benin
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…
Range Bight of Benin
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…
Range Bight of Benin
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,…
Range Bight of Benin
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…
Range Bight of Benin
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…
Range Bight of Benin
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…
Range Costa Rica-Panama Ranges
I wanted to squeeze in one last adventure before my flight home. A great way to do this is a short hike up Cerro Rabo de Mico. Located near the capital city of San José, the hike itself is relatively easy, with a moderate incline, and takes about two hours to complete. I was following…
Range Costa Rica-Panama Ranges
Cerro Chirripó is a remarkable journey in Costa Rica, situated in the Talamanca mountain range. It stands tall at 3,819 metres and is the highest point not only in Costa Rica, but also in the Cartago, Limón and San José regions. Being ranked 36th on the "World Top 50 by Prominence" list, it is a must-see for all nature enthusiasts. The stunning views from Cerro Chirripó are part of the wondrous experience of visiting Chirripó National Park.
Range Costa Rica-Panama Ranges
Volcán Barva is an impressive inactive stratovolcano in the Central Valley region of Costa Rica. Located about 30 kilometres northeast of the city of San José, it is the highest peak in the Heredia region and the Braulio Carrillo National Park. The volcano's summit is covered in lush vegetation and is home to a variety of wildlife including howler monkeys, toucans and sloths, the Pristimantis altae frog and the poisonous Bushmaster snake. Our main interest is a real summit, less than a kilometre from the tourist viewpoint.