Climbing Kilimanjaro with Roadmonkey

by Kraig Becker on

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.

Blogger Stephen Greenwood

by Stephen Greenwood on

Introducing another new blogger at Gadling, Stephen Greenwood…

Where was your photo taken? This photo was taken on the way up Kilimanjaro. I had the chance to hike it last November at the end of my stay in Tanzania. It was a great challenge, and a good introduction to trekking above 5,000m.

Where do you live now?. SAR Hong Kong. I’ll be here through the summer, editing a documentary about a failed orphanage in Tanzania.

Scariest airline ever flown? Ethiopian. Not particularly because it felt unsafe, but because I never knew if my bags would make it with me or if my next route would get cancelled without notice.

Favorite city / country / place? I think Stonetown in Zanzibar is pretty high on my list. Its culture, history and location make it a beautiful and complex place.

Most remote corner of the globe visited? I’m hoping it will soon be somewhere in Southeast Asia. As of now: spending a few nights in a Masai village for a rite of passage ceremony, several hours from any major town.

Favorite guidebook series? Sorry to be cliché, but Lonely Planet has led me to some great places.

The ideal vacation is… a small backpack, no electronics, a good travel partner, and a sense of adventure.

Favorite trip? Beside the family trips I took as a kid…When I was 18, I bought a 3-week Greyhound ticket with unlimited stops. I started from San Diego and worked my way as far Northeast as Boston and back through the South. I spent hours talking to some of the most interesting people in the country…people with stories that you just wouldn’t find using any other mode of transportation. It was great.

Other jobs? I work as a freelance designer & videojournalist. I’m also just starting to work with nonprofits to provide them with fundraising videos.

Celebrity you’d most like to sit next to in first class? Steve Jobs.

Archeological adventures in East Africa

by Kraig Becker on

Ethiopian Airlines has teamed up with the Tanzanian Tourist Board to offer a unique travel experience to East Africa, in which travelers will go on an archeological adventure that will send them in search of the Lost Ark and to the depths of the Olduvai Gorge, believed to be the “Cradle of Mankind”.

The eleven-day journey begins in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, and quickly moves to the ancient city of Axum, rumored to be the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Legend has it that the holy relic was brought there by the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon thousands of years ago, and that it remains in an isolated chapel to this day. While in Ethiopia, travelers will also visit Lalibela, the site of 12 churches craved out of the very rock itself.

After exploring the mysteries of Ethiopia, the adventure will continue in Tanzania, with a visit to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Olduvai Gorge, home to the first humans and the very spot where the first humanoid skull was found 50 years ago. The journey will finish up with a Serengeti safari before travelers return home.

To find out more about this amazing trip, visit www.seeyouinethiopia.com/archeology. This special tour, which includes all transporation and accomodations, is offered for a limited time only.

Ten Mountains For The Amateur Mountaineer

by Kraig Becker on

A lot of adventure travelers also happen to be armchair mountaineers. They follow the worlds top climbers as they make bold attempts on impossibly high and remote mountains in all corners of the globe, and they cheer them on as they stand at the top of the world. Many of them secretly wish they could go on their own expeditions to these distant peaks, but for a variety of reasons, they never have the opportunity.

It turns out there are a number of great climbs that can give you the feeling of your own big mountain expedition, without the big mountain expense and the need to give up several months of your life. Forbes Traveler has put together a list of ten such mountains each of which will challenge the heartiest of travelers, while delivering a true mountaineering experience.

Several of the mountains on the list are icons that are already popular with amateur climbers. Mountains like Mount Blanc on the border Italy and France. The 12,000 foot peak is considered the birth place of modern mountaineering, and is one of the classic climbs of Europe. The 19,340 foot Mt. Kilimanjaro is also considered a classic climb, taking trekkers to the highest point in Africa.

The other mountains on the list, while possibly lesser known, offer unique mountain experiences that are sure to thrill any adventure traveler and would-be mountaineer. These peaks can be climbed in a matter of days, rather than weeks, and they won’t leave your pocket book quite so empty as say an Everest expedition, which can cost upwards of $50,000 and require two months of time on the mountain.

So, if you hear the call of the mountains yourself, and you can’t resist the lure, strap on your crampons, grab your trekking poles and head to any one of these peaks for an adventure of your own.

Dispatches from the pirate riddled Gulf of Aden

by Grant Martin on

Regular contributor and adventurer extraordinaire Jon Bowermaster just started an interesting series on passage through the Gulf of Aden over at his personal blog. The body of water connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean has seen a disturbing increase in pirate traffic this year, the most notable of which involved an American crew that retook their ship and killed three Somalians in the process.

To date, much of an outsider’s knowledge of that dangerous passage is limited to the factual data supplied by news outlets. Maps, news stories, facts and figures. Few have written about the experience first hand, which is what Dennis Cornejo over at jonbowermaster.com has started to do.

Late last week, Cornejo and his ship left from Tanzania headed north, complete with razor wire, water cannons, a six member special forces team and no lack of anxiety for the week long trip. Over the course of the next few days he’ll be checking back in with Jon and the rest of the world to update his progress. Take a look at the entire series over at Jon’s blog, or check out Bowermaster’s Adventures right here at Gadling.