Peig enjoying her walk at Donadea

Donadea Forest Park now encompasses almost 250 hectares. The demesne was established by the Anglo-Normans as a Manor, and the demesne passed to the Aylmer family in 1558. In 1624 Gerald Aylmer completed the construction of a Tower House, which is now the oldest part of the existing structure, as most of the visible remains we can see now date to the early nineteenth century. 

Donadea House

Lime Tree Avenue

The Aylmer's became embroiled in the Catholic Confederacy uprising in the middle of the seventeenth century, and in 1642 the powerful James Butler, Earl of Ormonde, despite being the brother-in-law of Aylmer, successfully laid siege to Donadea Castle and burned it to the ground. The house was rebuilt by 1772, and in the early nineteenth century, Gerald George Aylmer began an extensive programme of renovation, reconstruction and modernization on the estate. He had the house remodelled in the fashionable Gothic style of the time, he had large walls constructed to enclose the demesne, with a grand new carriageway (today called Lime Tree Avenue) to lead into the estate.

You can discover some of these features (including a great example of an ice house), on the grounds of the estate. 
The ancient routeway of Ireland, the Slí Mhór (The Great Way), that traversed Ireland from East to West, passes through Donadea. 
Alongside this highway of ancient Ireland, a church was founded in the early medieval period. Very little remains above ground today of the church, but a new church named St. Peter's was constructed as part of the large programme of works in the early nineteenth century.

St. Peter's Church at Donadea

A lake was also created as a landscape feature and to provide work during the Great Famine. Today it's one of the busier areas of the park, with families feeding the numerous ducks and enjoying the tranquil surroundings. Close by to the lake, you can find a poignant memorial to those who lost their lives in the Twin Towers at 9/11.

The Donadea Forest Park is under the management of Coillte, and is a great place to enjoy a walk. There is an entrance fee of €5 per car, and if you plan on making a few visits I strongly recommend purchasing a Coillte Outdoors Card for €35 that allows you to access a number of forest parks around the country for a year, you can find more information on these cards here.

For more information on Donadea, see here. 

I hope you enjoy this blog, we're trying to cover as many sites as we can across Ireland. If anyone has any suggestions about sites you'd like us to cover please do leave us a comment. If you enjoy information and images of Irish heritage sites then do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+

If you'd like to support us then please consider downloading an audioguide to one of Ireland's wonderful heritage sites. They are packed with original music and sound effects and are a great way of experiencing the story of Ireland. They only cost €1.99 and are fun whether you are at the site, or listening from the comfort of your own home. Our latest guide is to Viking and Medieval Dublin, visit us at www.abartaaudioguides.com for free previews. 

All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com

After the long holiday weekend I'm back with some updates from the Antarctic. While I was away there have been some developments at the bottom of the world as more teams have hit the ice at last. But the weather window to deliver them to the frozen continent was a narrow one, as storms continue to cause problems across the region. So much so that many of the newcomers are finding it difficult to make much progress.

Perhaps the biggest news from this past weekend was the start of Richard Parks' attempt to set a new speed record for skiing from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole. Richard hopes to complete that distance in just 23 days, which would be an impressive feat indeed. But bad weather and poor surface conditions caused Parks to get off to a slower start than he intended and it soon became clear that he was already losing ground, even in the early stages of the expedition. Yesterday, Richard made the decision to return to Hercules and wait out the weather for a bit longer. He hopes to get a better window for his attempt soon so that he can make a serious run at the record. In the meantime, the folks at ALE will provide him with plenty of food and water while he waits so that he'll have his full supply for when he sets out for the South Pole once again.

16-year old Lewis Clarke has begun his South Pole attempt as well. He and his guide Carl Alvey were delivered to Hercules over the weekend and officially got underway yesterday. Lewis is attempting to become the youngest person to ever ski the full distance along the traditional route. He hopes to spend this first week on the ice finding his rhythm and getting into a groove. The early days of any Antarctic expedition are always tough and much of the time is spent skiing up hill, but once those early hurdles ae crossed, teams usually settle into a routine and hit their stride. Hopefully that will hold true for Lewis as well.

Daniel Burton, who is attempting to ride his bike to the South Pole, officially began his journey yesterday although he only covered a minimal distance. He'll have his first full day on the bike today as he begins the long, slow, painful slog up to the Antarctic Plateau as well. Pulling a heavy sled up hill can be challenging enough, but doing so on a bike is even more difficult. Throw in the fact that the storms have been dropping plenty of fresh powder on the starting point, and Dan has some real challenges ahead. If he is successful, he could become the first person to ride the full distance to the South Pole. I say "could" because there are a couple of other riders making that attempt as well. We'll just have to sit and wait to see who will be the first to complete the journey.

Chris and Marty Fagan have launched their South Pole expedition as well. The husband and wife team are also skiing from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole, although they aren't attempting any kind of "first" nor are they seeking records. Instead these two endurance athletes are simply on the continent to add to their resumes and enjoy the adventure. They officially got underway today and seem to be in great spirits now that their journey has begun. Tomorrow will mark their first full day out on the ice.

Parker Liautaud's Willis Resilience Expedition gets underway today from Hercules Inlet as well. A veteran polar explorer at the age of just 19, Parker and his guide Doug Stoup will be skiing to the South Pole while also collecting samples of ice that can be used to explore the impact of climate change on the Antarctic. They have a support vehicle riding along with them that will also help take a series of scientific readings about the weather and climate on the continent as well.

Finally, Antony Jinman has launched his South Pole expedition as well after arriving at Hercules yesterday. He will now make a solo and unsupported journey by skis to 90ºS while also interacting with students from around the globe while he's traveling. Antony's goal is to teach young people about climate change and the impact it is having on the Poles, which will eventually have an effect on other parts of the world as well.

That's all for today. There are plenty of other things to report now that so many expeditions have started, but I'll save some for the next few days. It looks like it is going to be an exciting season in the Antarctic with lots of activity to cover.

I didn't have much choice over our lunch venue today, which turned out to be a faux-Japanese place. And this was deep in American suburbia, meaning that chicken teriyaki and California rolls were all over this menu. I wasn't exactly getting too excited (why the heck did they put sliced cabbage in a bowl of udon??), but there were a few things that I ordered just out of sheer curiosity, such as those sashimi tacos above.

I cringed when I bit into one though, as it was surprisingly sweet...so sweet that I couldn't eat the second one. (I heard that Nobu does a sashimi taco too, although I can only assume that his is not sweet like this?) Another interesting item was a serving of jalapeno poppers, but fried in tempura batter and stuffed with tuna in addition to cheese. Again, it was only something that I could try once rather than going back for more.

They did have some Hawaiian pokē on the menu at least. And they definitely spiced it up, although the portion was unnecessarily large. Maybe I should have stuck to the chicken teriyaki. After all, it's been so long since I've been to one of these "Japanese" places in the US that it'd probably taste pretty darned good.

Last week I shared a video from the Red Bull Rampage that was shot entirely from the helmet cam of one of the competitors. That was an impressive display, although from a dizzying perspective. Today we have a more traditional view of this very cool event. The skill that these riders have is nothing short of impressive and it is fun to watch them go through this difficult down hill mountain biking course.

We've all seen how arial drones are being put to good use in capturing some amazing photography and video in remote areas of the world, but the video below puts the same concept to work on the ground. Photographer Chris McLennan, working with engineer Carl Hansen, developed a remote control camera housing that could be driven close to the subjects to get some very cool photos. In this case, that means driving up to a pride of lions to snap a few shots. The results are fantastic, although the images may give you a sense of what it is like for the prey just as the lion's pounce. This is really cool technology put to use in the field in an innovative way.

The Red Bull X Alps is a unique race to say the least. Competitors begin the event in Salzburg, Austria and must race through the Alps to Monaco, covering a distance of about 1000 km (621 miles) along the way. They can choose their own route but they can only travel on foot or paraglider, which means the athletes are typically climbing up snow-capped peaks, launching their paragliders and flying as far as they can go, before repeating the process on another mountain. The video below follows two-time defending champ Christian Maurer as he goes for his third straight victory in the race earlier this year. It is an amazing look at a very cool competition that few people know anything about. Great stuff and these racers are definitely in a class all their own.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been to Spain since the 60's. I love Spain-- the people, the culture, the language, the food, the history... Reading FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS in high school, right after seeing Picasso's "Guernica" at the Museum of Modern Art for the first time, helped me understand that the political right has always been and will always be the mortal enemy of humanity. Even when the fascist monster, propped up by American post-War hegemonists, was still in control, I used to love visiting Spain. (I even had my first UFO experience there some time in the '70s.) So in planning out my vacation in Morocco I was eager as can be to include a week in Spain.
I figured we'd fly into Madrid, kick some jet-lag, eat some great food, walk around El Prado, and then make our way down to the Algeciras-Tangier ferry via Cordoba and Sevilla.

Roland got all gung-ho on Toledo, so I squeezed that into the schedule too. I mean, how could I resist this rationale: Frommer-- "If you visit only a few Spanish cities in your lifetime, make beautiful, romantic Toledo one of them." Now that sounds like a pretty strong endorsement and it's so close to Madrid, a really easy day trip.

It's a nice city, probably worthwhile, nothing really wrong with it. But the Toledo Chamber of Commerce must have hired Jack Abramoff to get to Frommer for that quote! Toledo is worth a couple of hours, if you've spent enough time at El Prado, the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, and if you've wandered over all the neighborhoods of central Madrid and if you've already spent lots of time in the real treasure cities of Spain, like Cordoba, Sevilla, Barcelona and Granada. I enjoyed the Pamplona running of the bulls more and Ibiza was a way better experience too. But, hey, Toledo is ok-- kind of cold in December and desolate/lonely and... well, everything was closed and all you see is gaggles of camera-toting tourists...

We took the train; it's about an hour or so and the station was an easy walk from out hotel in Madrid. We had lunch in a beautiful setting, the highly-rated Hostal del Cardenal, "Toledo's best-known restaurant," according to Frommer, who even refers to a "chef." Although the restaurant is in the lovely hotel, that location is the best thing that can be said about it, and the idea of calling whoever is preparing the food a "chef" is patently absurd. This restaurant is a tourist feeding facility with nothing whatsoever to offer in terms of culinary sophistication (especially in light of Madrid's restaurant scene, one of the absolute most magnificent in the world). Del Cardenal reminded me of what I don't like about Venice: the food is for tourists who come and go and who don't really have to be catered to because the next day they'll be somewhere else. So you get a somewhat gentrified version of slop.

The Alcazar and the Cathedral were better but they don't hold a candle to what you see and feel in Cordoba or Granada or Sevilla. Toledo is better than mediocre but Frommer must have had a hot date there or something to rave about it the way he does. I'll write up some stuff about the places we loved-- Madrid, Cordoba and Sevilla-- in the next few days.

Photo © Ed Kashi/National Geographic-All Rights Reserved
Apart from joining the agency VII, Ed Kashi was also featured on NPR's The Picture Show in a piece titled On Photographing Pakistan. He also has more of his photographs on the National Geographic blog.

Ed Kashi's objectives were to show how the people of Punjab live, and how millions of Pakistanis just try to live their lives despite the threat of religious fundamentalism, especially as it's also home to the peaceful sect of Sufism.

I had the pleasure of meeting a number of young Pakistani women photographers at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul just last week or so, and I was amazed at how they just lived their lives to the fullest, worked and crafting their impressive body of work seemingly unperturbed by the events that get reported in our mainstream media.

The above photograph was made at the mosque of Badshahi in Lahore, which is the second largest mosque in South Asia and the fifth largest in the world. The way Ed Kashi photographed the scene by slightly tilting the camera seems to be giving motion to the barefooted man and his cane. Nicely thought out and it gives a different perspective to the mosque which must've been photographed countless times.

No, it's not like this place is anything that special. But it is cheap (two of us ate a small quantity at only S$10 or US$8 a head) and reasonably guilt-free as long as one is careful about what ingredients are being thrown up on that grill. Washing it down with some beer over ice always makes it kinda fun too.

Photo © National Geographic/Travis Dove -All Rights Reserved
Travis Dove interned on the photo staffs of several American newspapers including The Boston Globe and The Charlotte Observer, and was named the 2007 College Photographer of the Year by the Missouri School of Journalism. He also completed a prestigious photo internship at National Geographic Magazine.

His work has been awarded by World Press Photo, POYi, PDN, the NPPA, and the WHNPA, among others. In the fall of 2008, and appeared in the National Geographic, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, amongst many others.

I loved his photo essay The Holy Mountain made amongst the monks in Mount Athos, the spiritual center of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Mount Athos is a mountain on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece. It was established more than 1,000 years ago. Though land-linked, it's only accessible by boat. It's also home to communities of Christian hermits who follow a monastic rule, allowing them to worship in comparative solitude, while also affording them a level of mutual practical support and security.

Excellent work by Travis Dove!

A timelapse video shot in the wilds of Wyoming? Yes, please! Thats exactly what we get in this 6+ minute short film below, and it is just as spectacular as you would imagine.

Wyoming Wildscapes II from Nicolaus Wegner on Vimeo.

Not much tourism going on in Somalia

I'm putting the finishing touches on my return to Bali. I booked a flight from L.A. to Bangkok and then a hotel for one night in Bangkok, followed by a flight the next day to Bali, where I booked a beautiful villa on the outskirts of Ubud, far from the horrific tourist beaches down south. Last time I went to Bali-- about 3 years ago-- people were still frightened because of the 2005 suicide bombings in Jimbaran and Kuta, two congested and commercialized tourist areas.

I avoid places like Jimbaran and Kuta not because of terrorism but because they're filled with noisy partying tourists, mostly from Australia and Singapore but from everywhere. Bali has so much to offer and the southern tourist ghetto is a blight on everything good about the place. On the other hand, there are places I would avoid because of political danger. And last month's Forbes had a handy guide to the worst of the lot.

You'd probably guess that the worst of the lot, even beyond the tourist-unfriendly piracy, is Somalia. Most of the most dangerous states on earth are either Muslim or African. Somalia is both-- as well as a desperately poor failed state. The others in the top three are Afghanistan (one of the places I visited, in less unsettled times-- 1969 and 1972-- that I liked most) and Iraq. Also way up there are the Congo, Sudan, Pakistan, Yemen, Georgia (in the Caucasus, not the one in the U.S.), Nigeria, Algeria, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka (another place I've loved visiting, both before and even during the civil war), Palestine, Zimbabwe. And then there's parts of Mexico, although not the parts that tourists normally go to visit (unless you want to count swine flu as a danger). I don't usually care what officials say about what's too dangerous to visit and what isn't. They tend to be overly cautious. But not always. The U.S. State Dept. advises against Timbuktu but they're wrong about it. It's very safe. If, on the other hand you're reading about civil war and terrorism in the newspapers, it's better to stay away.


UPDATE: I'd Stay Away From Pakistan

Turns out Dick Cheney didn't order the hit on Benazir Bhutto after all. Still, you have to be a real pollyanna to go anywhere near Pakistan these days.

Conde Naste Traveler has put together a rather interesting list of places that are vanishing before our eyes, and may be completely gone, for a variety of reasons, in the not too distant future.

Places that made the "most threatened" list include Bagan, Myanmar where ancient temples are being threatned by newer, more modern, and cheap, knock offs. The Pantanal, in Brazil, which is amongst my places I'd love to visit, but the once vast rainforests there are being destroyed to make way for more farmland, and the Galápagos Islands, which is being overrun by tourists.

The article does a great job of describing these remote locations, why they are endangered, and why we would want to visit them. It also has tips on the best time to go, and other travel advice to consider. This is an amazingly well done article that I highly recommend to anyone who loves to travel and get off the beaten path some.

Thanks Gadling!

Another Everest Update today from MountEverest.net. Word is that despite the bad weather, teams are moving up and getting into position for their summit bids. The weather reports say it's very windy on the mountain right now, but that those winds are expected to calm down and a weather window will open sometime in the next four to five days.

Things are especially busy on the North side where some of the larger teams are waiting for their chance. Nives Meroi sends word that she is heading up today despite the weather conditions and that she'll wait for the weather window to open while camped at 6300m. There is also word that Wim Hoff, the so called Dutch "Iceman" has made it to the North Col in just his boots and shorts. You'll recall that Wim is the crazy man who intends to summit in shorts. Lets hope that nothing... er...vital...gets frostbitten. As for me, I don't think I'd want to take the chance.

On the South side things are a bit more quiet. Teams are said to be mostly acclimatized now, and are resting in ABC or even lower. There are still some fixed ropes to be put into place, and the weather window is still a few days away for them as well. Mike Haugen of the Coleman Everest Team is keeping his cards close to the vest and has elected to not reveal his team's target summit day.

You get the sense that on the South face it's much more relaxed and there is a "wait and see" attitude. Much more so than on the North side where the fear of traffic jams seems much more likely. Let's hope the weather turns on schedule, and these anxious teams can start to make their way up.

Update: Alan is reporting on his Everest 2007 Page that there are two teams on the South side making their summit bids as I write this. The teams are breaking trail and laying down the fixed ropes with the hopes that they'll make the summit today. I'm sure we'll hear more about these teams tonight or tomorrow. It looks like not everyone is just resting at lower elevations.

Here's a highly recommended 16-minute long movie documentary of Joey L.'s (and his team) excursion into the land of the Mentawai. It starts with the 10-hour crowded cargo ferry ride from Sumatra across the strait to the islands of the Mentawai, approximately 150 kilometers off the Sumatran coast.

The excursion took 2 years to plan and prepare, and we are treated to a behind the scenes look at the photo shoots along with snippets of the Mentawai's life. The amount of gear that Joey and his team had to carry was quite significant. This is not a destination where you show up with a couple of cameras and flashes. They had to lug heavy lighting equipment, large reflectors and lightboxes, cameras, lenses, video equipment, generators, food and so forth.

The most visible Mentawai tribesmen in the documentary are Bajak Tarason and Bajak Tolkot, who seem to have a pessimistic view of the Menatawai's future. They address the interference of the Indonesian government in their ancient tribal customs, and of the Christian missionaries who seek to change their belief system.

It's Bajak Tolkot who invites the world to visit the Menatawai islands, to witness their way of life before it's too late. I really hope very few people take him on this invitation. I realize that an influx of tourists could bring a much needed infusion of prosperity to the Mentawai, but it would also accelerate the demise of their way of life, or turn them into performers; wearing their loin cloths and brandishing their arrows for the tourists' cameras.

In the documentary, I've seen young Mentawai wearing graphic t-shirts, including one of Donald Duck, posing next to a traditional Mentawai tribesmen. So the infiltration has already started, and not before too long, the baseball caps will appear as well. It's a shame that similar cultures and traditional ways of life can so swiftly disappear.

My thanks to Cathy Scholl for the heads-up on this movie.

Photograph © Michael Rubenstein-All Rights Reserved
Michael Rubenstein is a photographer based in Mumbai to cover South Asia for Redux Pictures, having lived in New York City and Portland, Oregon. He has a degree in Environmental Policy and has studied at Ohio University's School of Visual Communications.

His clients include: Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Magazine, The Oregonian, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, Complex Magazine, The Paris Match, Bloomberg News Service and W+K.

Some of his work on Andheri, a Mumbai suburb being transformed into a hip neighborhood appeared in the NY Times. And it's interesting to see the stylistic difference between this photo sideshow and his India gallery on his website.

Photo © Trevor Snapp-All Rights Reserved
Trevor Snapp is a self-taught photographer with degrees in anthropology and African studies, and his work is syndicated with Corbis and Millennium Images. His clients include Stern, National Geographic Traveler, BBC, Time.com, Chicago Tribune, Marie Calire and others. He has also worked for a variety of NGOs such as Heifer International, Gates Foundation, and Intrahealth in Africa.

Now based in Kampala, Trevor photographed La Santa Muerte in Mexico, among other galleries of Central Amercia

The cult of Santa Muerte is unusual because it's the cult of the drug lords, the dispossessed, and criminals. There are many shrines to Santa Muerte in the capital city, but Tepito is where the most popular shrines are. Tepito is an infamous barrio and its tough reputation dates back to pre-Hispanic times. The neighborhood is a warren of mean streets and alleys, lined with auto-body shops and small stores. It's here that the prostitutes, drug dealers and petty thieves come to pay their respect to the saint. It's also where the common folk; housewives, cab drivers and street vendors come to make their offerings...tequila bottles, candles, money and flowers.

The gallery strikes a chord with me since I photographed in Tepito in 2008, along with two other photographers, when we were within a hair's breadth of being mugged.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic EL-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here's a couple of "on-the-go" photographs made with my brand-new Panasonic GF1/20mm 1.7 lens on Bleecker street in NYC's West Village. There was a couple of garbage bags on the sidewalk which I had to frame out of the top photograph by chopping off the woman's shoes. The second is of a woman balancing 4 (actually 5, I think) lemonades and seemingly on collision course with another...it didn't happen.

I shot these with the GF1's Intelligent Auto mode on; essentially the "point & shoot" mode, which I'm using for a couple of days until I get used to its handling. The IA mode allows me to photograph in both RAW and jpeg. The images above are the jpeg versions (out of the camera), and were slightly sharpened with CS. Click on them for a larger size.

In my opinion, the GF1 is a hybrid between a point & shoot and a rangefinder, and is ideal to carry on photo walk-abouts. It's probably a camera that P&S shooters will consider as a step-up, while DSLR users will view it either as a backup or as a carry-around tool. The shutter lag isn't too bad...in fact, I didn't find it to be much of a problem. It's there, but it's not significant.

It still bothers me not having a viewfinder (a Panasonic EVF or Voigtlander OVF may be my next purchase) to look through, but perhaps I'll get used to it. One of the notable advantages of this camera is, when photographed, people don't seem fazed (or threatened) by it as compared to a DSLR.

I carry it on a hand strap, and I find that it doesn't nestle easily in my hand. Maybe I'll get used to it in a few days.

Am I in love with the GF1? Not yet...I like it, and getting used to it...but it's not love (yet).

Photo © Stephen JB Kelly-All Rights Reserved
Stephen JB Kelly is an English photographer, currently based in Hong Kong. He obtained a diploma in Photography from the London College of Communication, which was followed by a degree in Documentary Photography from the University of Wales, Newport.

Aside from winning a number of awards for his photography, Stephen has been published in various magazines including The Independent Magazine, The Observer Magazine, D La Repubblica delle Donne, IL Magazine and The FADER Magazine.

One of his portfolios is of Qi Lihe, on the outskirts of Lanzhou which is the most destitute area of this heavily polluted industrial city in northwest China. During the recent years, there has been an influx of migrant Hui and Dongxiang Muslim minorities into these urban centers. The main cause of the influx is the desertification of their land, forcing these farmers and families to seek a better existence in Lanzhou.

The Hui’s ancestors were Silk Road traders, largely of Arab and Persian descent, who first came to China in the 7th Century. The Dongxiang are closely related to the Mongolians and as an independent ethnic group they arose through contact with Central Asians who converted them to Sunni Islam in the 13th century.

It is shaping up to be another busy week in the Antarctic as the 2013 season really begins to ramp up. There are more teams en route to Punta Arenas, Chile where they'll soon catch a flight to Union Glacier ahead of their Hercules Inlet start. Meanwhile, some of the teams that are already on the ice continue to struggle with progress.

First up, one of the more high profile South Pole expeditions that we've been keeping an eye on this year is Richard Parks' attempt to break the speed record from Hercules to the Pole. He hopes to ski that distance in just 23 days but in order to do so, conditions are going to need to be just right. So, with that in mind, Richard hasn't set out just yet. He's at Hercules and waiting for a weather window to allow him to get underway. Despite being out on the ice for more than a week, Parks is being patient with his approach. Hopefully he'll be able be able to launch his attempt soon.

The Scott Expedition is now more than three weeks into their journey to the South Pole following Robert Falcon Scott's 1911-1912 route. They intend to make the round trip journey that Scott never could. So far Ben Saunders and Tarka L' Herpiniere have been battling high winds and cold temperatures, but hey are starting to find a rhythm and are making solid progress despite their very heavy sleds. The past few days they've managed to cover in excess of 12 miles (19.3 km) each day, which may not sound like much but is good progress considering the conditions.

Joining these teams on the ice soon will be Lewis Clarke (I can't make this stuff up folks!) who hopes to become the youngest person to ski solo to the South Pole at the age of 16. ExWeb has a good interview with the young man, who left for Chile yesterday and hopefully will be on a flight within a few days. It will be an impressive feat if someone so young and relatively inexperienced can manage to ski the full 700+ mile (1126 km) distance on his own.

Also setting out soon will be the husband and wife team of Chris and Marty Fagan, who left for Punta Arenas yesterday. These two endurance athletes intend to ski to the Pole in about 45 days and with a little luck, they too will be heading for the frozen continent soon.

Right now it is just a matter of weather that keeping these explorers from getting started with their expeditions. They'll sort their gear and prepare their food as best they can over the next day or two, but the hard part will be staying patient while they wait for an opportunity to fly to the Union Glacier base. Regular flights have resumed, but the weather in Antarctica remains fickle, even at this time of the year. We'll just have to wait to see when they can begin. Lets hope it is soon.