Climbing Kilimanjaro with Roadmonkey

A few months back we wrote about travel company Roadmonkey, which offered unique travel experiences that combined adventure with the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the places you visit. For instance, one of their 2009 expeditions is a mountain biking tour through the remote jungles of Vietnam that culminates with a volunteer project to build a farm that will grow fruits and vegetables on the campus of a boarding school in that country.

Their other 2009 expedition combines a project to build a clean water system to a school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with a climb on Mt. Kilimanjaro. Roadmonkey was founded by Paul von Zielbauer, who formerly worked as a war correspondent in Iraq. He is currently in Tanzania and guiding the team up Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. Throughout the trip he is providing regular updates on their progress for the National Geographic Adventure Blog.

The first of Paul’s blog entires can be found here. He reports that the team has arrived in Moshi, Tanzania, where he and nine other adventure travelers were just about to begin their six day trek up the mountain. On the morning that the post was written, it was raining quite hard, but everyone was eager to hit the trail and begin their climb none the less.

Over the course of the expedition, Paul and the others are expected to check-in and report on their progress, both on Kilimanjaro itself, and again while they are working on the new water system. The dispatches should be very interesting to follow and give some good insights what it is like to travel with Roadmonkey. Check in with the NG Adventure blog over the next week or so to follow their progress, and to see “voluntourism” in action.

Gadling TAKE FIVE: April 25– May 1

During a week of swine flu travel news, and May Day, there have been other tidbits of interest. Here at Gadling, Catherine Bodry is back to blog some more. In her first post after her year hiatus she shares her #1 item she won’t leave home without when she travels.

Along with Catherine’s return, there are a number of posts to entice the thinking, sensitive traveler.

  • It’s not too late to win the copy of Step Back from the Baggage Claim. Book author Jason Barger traveled to seven airports across the U.S. to test his idea that if we could change airport behavior, we could change the world.
  • Roadmonkey, a company that mixes do-good projects with adventure travel offers experiences in Vietnam and Dar Es Salaam among other places. Kudos to Kraig for finding this gem.
  • Expats might be a more creative than most people according to a research study. The results are in this month’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Tom also includes an experiment question for you to test your creativity mettle.
  • Regardless of your guidebook preference, Brenda’s comparison of various guidebooks based on her recent Cuba travel is one way find a fit when you guidebook shop.
  • Even Mike, who’s our Sky Mall Monday funny guy, got serious and sensitive when wondering about the life of the modern day Maori’s in New Zealand. It’s a thought provoking read.