Everest season

This year's Everest season is producing yet more mountaineering firsts. Jordan Romero, at the age of 13, has become the youngest person to scale the summit, while last week Bonita Norris claimed the title of youngest British woman to get there. However, lest anyone think climbing Everest it is a pushover, the Observer printed an account of just how dangerous the mountain can be.

Another climber going for a record is Duncan Chessell who is aiming to become the first Australian to climb Everest three times. On the descent he plans to look for the body of Andrew 'Sandy' Irvine, which, if found, will prove an Englishman got to the summit 30 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Irvine and George Mallory were last seen on the ascent, a few hundred metres from top, in June 1924. Mallory's body was found in 1999 but certain pieces of equipment, including cameras, and personal effects were not located. The body of Irvine has never been found.

Reading about this reminded me Mother Goddess of the World, a 1980s account of young Americans looking for Mallory and Irvine. Don't worry if you haven't heard of this infamous expedition as it's one of four stories that make up Kim Stanley Robinson's Escape from Kathmandu. This Nepal-based fiction revolves around the misadventures of George and Freds, part of the US expatriate mountaineer/traveller community.

Mother Goddess sees George unwillingly roped into climbing Everest with Freds and an oft-reincarnated Tibetan Guru, while on a mission to hide the bodies of the 1920s climbers from an expedition - not unlike Chessell's. Other characters include some naive English climbers and a documentary filmmaker who specialises in voyeurism. It's a hilarious tale that should be read alongside all the po-faced news reports about Mallory's tweed jacket, lost film etc, etc.

Solo voyage round the world

After seven months and 23,000 nautical miles in her boat Ella's Pink Lady, Jessica Watson,16, has become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. While there is a dispute over whether or not she has sailed quite far enough to enter the record books, this is still a formidable achievement. Watson has hit back at her critics but whatever happens she's set to become a celebrity with a planned whirlwind "Meet Jessica" tour and soon to be published book.

This may seem a world away from Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world (1895-1898), but he also used the media by financing the three year voyage by a lecture tour en route.

No mention of Slocum is complete though without including the following stories. Firstly, the line that he sailed with only a compass, sextant and an old tin alarm clock which had lost its minute hand but which kept the hours after 'I boiled her.' Plus, the tale of how he once sprinkled carpet tacks on his ship's deck to deter barefoot pirates in Tierra del Fuego who boarded his boat as he slept.

On completing the Boston to Sydney section, the Guardian published the following on November 11 1896:

More detail followed on December 8 1896:

Wilfred Thesiger: A centenary exhibition

Next month sees the centenary of the birth of explorer, Wilfred Thesiger. On June 3 1910, he was born in a mud hut in Addis Ababa, part of the "barbaric splendour" of the Abyssinian Empire.

To celebrate the centenary, Wilfred Thesiger in Africa, a major new exhibition at the Pitts Rivers Museum, Oxford, will show a wide selection of the great man's photographs - many for the first time. These relate to his life and travels in the continent and will also include objects he donated to the museum. There is an accompanying book, comprising of his photographs and a collection of essays. Alexander Maitland, Thesiger's authorised biographer, is one of the editors. Read an article about the exhibition here.

The above photograph is by Jane Bown, the Observer's legendary photographer. For more information see a previous Thesiger posting.

Antarctic Research Bases

The May edition of Wired features some fantastic pictures or Antarctic research bases. As the article points out, these used to be "blubber-heated shacks", but now they come in all shapes and sizes. Would they look so good though if it wasn't for the dramatic scenery surrounding them?

Magnificent Maps

Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art is a major new exhibition at the British Library. The show brings together 80 maps, from 200AD to the present day, taken from the library's vast archive of more than four million. Many have rarely been seem, including a late 18th century view of Canton and, perhaps the earliest detailed map of Italy - displayed for the first time since it was hung in the Whitehall during the reign of Henry VIII.

As the title suggests, maps are as much about propaganda as they are about geography. Not all those on display are totally accurate represenations of the land, but instead are subjective images shaped by the political issues, desires and aspirations of the period in which they were drawn.

I had a quick look during my lunch break, although I'm planning a longer visit (the exhibition runs until September). Many of the maps are displayed in settings similar to those in which they originally would have been seen, such as bed chambers and the private rooms of rulers. Most are huge.

It's all very impressive, but the biggest crowd was to be seen peering at Stephen Walter's The Island, a map that sees London as independent from the rest of the UK. While more or less geographically correct, his view of the capital also offers a wealth of local and personal information. Visitors to the exhibition seemed to be keen to check out what Walter had to say about their favourite parts of the city. I was bemused to see Brockwell Park, my local patch of greenery, described as Cannabis HQ. Below is the Central London section.


See also the BBC's The Beauty of Maps - and there is still time to watch some of the excellent BBC Four programmes on iPlayer.

Mutiny on the Bounty

The Talisker Bounty Boat expedition sets sail today in a bid to recreate the 3,600 mile journey of Captain William Bligh after the Mutiny on the Bounty. After being cast adrift in the South Pacific in by Fletcher Christian in 1789, Bligh and 18 men navigated across the ocean to Timor in one of the greatest open-boat voyages in maritime history. While some conditions will be the same, the modern day sailors are taking a satellite phone and GPS for emergencies.

The following article from the Observer, December 31 1815, tells the story:

(click to enlarge)

The tomb of Sir Richard Burton

Good to hear that there are moves afoot to restore the mausoleum where British explorer Sir Richard Burton is buried. Last Saturday's Times reported that the Friends of Burton are aiming to return the Bedouin tent shaped building to something like its original state. Built in 1890 by his wife Isabel, the structure in St Mary Magdalen's churchyard, Mortlake, fell into disrepair during the 20th Century, although some repairs were made in 1975.

Sir Richard Burton was one of the most famous (possibly infamous) Victorian explorers, known for his travels in Asia and Africa. He was also a writer, linguist and translator of such works as the Arabian Nights and Kama Sutra. In 1853 he undertook a Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, in disguise and the account of the trip make him famous. However, it's an account of Burton's time in West Africa that made it into Those Who Dared.

A few years after reaching Mecca in disguise, Burton, having now joined the Foreign Office, was sent to Fernando Po, a small island off the West African coast, a place he was to describe as 'the very abomination of desolation'. From here he managed to make a number of excursions into the interior including a mission to visit Gelele, King of Dahomey (now part of modern day Benin). As well as making diplomatic moves, he wanted to investigate claims of human sacrifice and find the fabled Amazon warriors of Dahomey. He concluded that the former was exagerrated and was severely disappointed with the latter.

The full text of many of Burton's books can be read here and plenty of information about the man on this site.