Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Andy (A) - we were guided by EcoTours Georgia. I'll post the details & costs later - http://www.ecotours.ge/about.html. In our view in comparison to likely costs in any event, it was the right decision. The price included all accommodation, food, transport & assistance and it was £100 per day per person so I paid £600. We did spend some additional money on coffees and beer.
On the climb, the guys with those techno watches confirmed that it was a 3.5 km walk from the church plateau and they climbed 1 km from 2,000 metres to 3,000 metres but with some steep bits. It was really the clambering over shingle etc and the risk of the downwards leg that persuaded me to exercise caution. I could probably have made it but of my companions, one ended up waist high in snow a couple of times and also with some sliding down in mud for several metres heading back. I have had some right knee problems but it is strengthening again. Xrays confirmed some degenerative changes but I'll be fit enough to do that type of thing in the future. Hopefully Mark is making it look easy today.
I have posted some photos below. The first photo was taken on 7th May (day two - Monday - when my friends did the climb and I turned round) and the second photo was taken on 8th May (day three - Tuesday). In both the church can be seen in the front right of the picture and the ridge is in the top left of the picture. The third photo is me looking down at the church after I had turned round and the fourth and fifth are my companions covering the last several hundred yards and standing on the ridge.
Jeff - many thanks.
I intend to finish up the headline summaries of days four to six to complement those already done for days one to three, set out the itinerary & locations in a bit more detail (having checked the maps), set out the species list & occurrences & confirm the costings as well as post a few pictures.
All the best
Paul
Cheers Paul,
looks amazing
A