Over the years I have managed to get underground on several continents partly as a genuine explorer but sometimes as a caving tourist.

Morocco

My first proper expedition was to Morocco in 1976 with the Cerberus Spelaeological Society to the Middle Atlas Mountains to explore the further reaches of the Friouato and Chiker cave systems. We visited a few other local caves and then returned a few more times to the same area to explore the Chara River Cave and some other smaller systems in the area. Cave diving extended both Chara and another cave we think is known as Kef Rouadi although to be honest information on the area is quite hard to come by. We also briefly visited the pine forested Rif Mountains near the Mediterranean coast for a short foray into Kef Toghobeit, at just over -700 metres the deepest cave system in Africa.

Gouffre Friouato

The enormous entrance shaft lies on the side of the Chiker basin and the cave is open to the public as a show cave although pretty rudimentary. The nearest town is Taza and there is a circular tour from there to the cave and back via a rather attractive gorge. Friouato consists of a 100 metre shaft dropping into a series of large passages terminating in long static sumps. Exeter University Speleological Society explored these in the late 1960's finding more gigantic chambers and a terminal choke not far from the nearby Chiker cave to which it is presumably linked.

Grotte du Chiker

This cave system drains the Chiker basin to one side of which is the Gouffre Friouato. Chiker entrance is surrounded by a cylindrical dam and at one time was adapted to be a show cave. Relics of the original ladder system in the deep entrance shaft still exist and are now more of a hindrance than a help to explorers. At the base of the entrance pitches a muddy tunnel intersects a massive passage extending in both directions. Upstream leads to a static free divable sump beyond which is a large impenetrable boulder choke not far from a similar choke in Frouato. Downstream leads through large chambers past massive formations to what is marked on the survey as a terminal pool but which was totally dry when visited in 1976. A hole in the wall led down a short pitch and through a tight squeeze. This was passed by myself and other members of the Cerberus Speleological Society in 1976 to a rather unstable boulder ruckle beyond which a pitch into large passage with a stream entering could be seen. As far as I know nobody has ever been back there!

Kef Bere

This was thought to be a Cerberus SS discovery but after digging our way through a seasonal sump we found footprints in a side passage near the end of the system. The crawls through the entrance passage were enlivened by encounters with an assortment of local wildlife.

Kef Lahnash

This interesting system was a stream sink not far from our camp on the 1979 expedition. The main entrance was sumped part of the time but a dry entrance nearby bypassed the sump and a large colony of bats. A 20 metre pitch led through pools and sand filled tunnels before a stream came in and a series of short climbs and a ladder pitch led to a sump. On the first expedition to the area a small team managed to by pass the sump to a point where they could look down a pitch to see a stream cascading from the far side. On the next expedition the sump bypass was choked but with diving gear the sump was passed into a very aqueous passage known as Hydrophilia. It contained a range of ducks canals and wallows and ended in a very improbable free divable sump that immediately emerged at the top of the pitch presumably seen by the last expedition. Below the pitch much large passage led to a large sump chamber. We failed to pass the next sump although it was dived and was ongoing.

Iran

I have alluded to Iran already on the Travel page but plan to post some images of the caves we explored on the 1977 trip.

France

French caving has been in the role of tourist. I made two trips to the famous Gouffre Berger (in 1956 the first cave to be explored beyond the depth of 1000 metres) in the Vercors near Grenoble, once in 1978 with the Cerberus Spelaeological Society and once in 1986 with the Bristol Exploration Club. On the first occasion we only reached the top of Grand Cascade below Camp 2 but with the BEC I managed to reach the magical -1000 metre mark below Hurrican Shaft with my trusty camera. Apart from the Gouffre Berger I have made some trips into the Trou du Glaz near Chartreuse doing the through trips to the Guiers Mort resurgence and the Annette de Bouchacourt Grotto. On family holidays in the Herault region we managed the round trip in the Grotte du Sergent.

The Blue Holes of Andros Island, The Bahamas

In 1987 I was fortunate enough to be invited on the 1987 Blue Holes expedition to Andros Island by the late Rob Palmer where I met the now legendary cave diver Bill Stone. Apart from some original exploration a certain amount of scientific work and photography was carried out in these flooded limestone caverns.

The lava tubes of the Canary Islands

On holiday I always have my open for holes in the ground so naturally have poked around in some of the lava tubes on both Lanzarote and Tenerife.

Meghalaya, Northeast India

My most recent foreign trips have been with the Abode of the Clouds expedition in conjunction with the Meghalayan Adventurer's Association to explore map and photograph the extensive cave systems in the limestone hills of this Indian state. One of the wettest regions on earth it has to be visited in February which is dry season. Most cave systems consist of pothole type caves dropping into big 'main drains' about 150 metres lower although there are horizontal river caves and stream sinks as well. The expeditions over the last 18 years have explored and mapped hundreds of kilometres of virgin cave putting the region on the international caving map.