Archive for the ‘kilimanjaro’ Category
« Older Entries
Those of you who have taken part in any of our high altitude treks will know the feeling: you’re short of breath, legs feel like lead, and you’ve slowed to a mere shuffle. Then a group of porters pass you, carrying at least four times the load that you are, yet moving at four times the speed!
The work that porters do is often key to the success of a trek, and yet not all operators recognise this. On Kilimanjaro in particular, local crews carry loads of up to 25kg up the mountain, before pitching tents, setting up the dining tent and catering area, collecting and boiling water and preparing a hearty meal for the trekkers. They often still find the energy to sing and dance, to welcome the group into camp!
At Across the Divide we are committed to the fair treatment of porters on Kilimanjaro, and work closely with our local agent, Good Earth Tours, to improve the working conditions of porters on the mountain and ensure that they receive a fair wage for their work. We are therefore delighted to announce that we recently became a Partner for Responsible Travel with the International Mountain Explorer’s Connection (IMEC). IMEC created the Partnership for Responsible Travel Program to recognize those tour operators committed to fair treatment of porters on Kilimanjaro. In order to become a partner you must consistently meet IMEC’s guidelines for proper porter treatment on Kilimanjaro: this is monitored by IMEC’s local initiative, the Kilimanjaro Porters’ Assistance Project.
(more…)
August 10th, 2011 | Adventure Travel, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, Charity Events, charity trek, Comic Relief, Comic relief Kilimanjaro trek, Corporate Event Solutions, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, Endurance, fund raising ideas, fundraising, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Team, Team Building, teambuilding, Trek, trek for charity | No Comments | 
Our emphasis on safety means we are not the cheapest but we think we are one of the safest out there. The benefits of going with ATD are:
- 7 days to summit (+1 more than our competitors) meaning better acclimatisation. Benefit – participants will feel better with our ascent profile and have a much better chance of summiting.
- We are open and transparent. Benefit – no hidden costs and you know exactly what you get for your money ££££
- A leader experienced at managing groups at altitude, and managing risk in wilderness environments. Benefit – brings UK safety standards to the event, gives a higher chance of summiting and reduces the health risks of climbing Kilimanjaro
- An UK trained doctor with experience of working at altitude. Benefit – dramatically reduces the risk of serious injury or death due to altitude related illnesses
- Gammo bag and O2. Benefit – immediate treatment for life threatening Cerebral and Pulmonary Oedema, reducing the risk of death.
- Route is chosen for rapid decent. Benefit – means better casevac options and reduced risk of serious complications resulting from altitude related medical conditions
- Fully inclusive – need to list all of the inclusions and tally them up to give the potential hidden costs of other suppliers. Benefit - no hidden costs ££££.
- Flights into Kilimanjaro airport saving 7 hours of transfers. Benefit – Chance to recover from the long haul flight leading to a better chance of summiting.
- Porter protection. We ensure that local staff are paid a fair wage. Benefit – peace of mind, and ethical
- Local agent with 30 years experience – benefit – Peace of mind, slick and well run event.
- 100% safety record on the mountain, even with some incidences of serious illness. Saved lives of other groups that did not have the same high level of support. Benefit – the highest medical support offered should you fall ill.
- High levels of support, advice and knowledge given to participants. High focus on getting you prepared fully for your challenge. Benefit – better chance of summiting.
Book now!
June 27th, 2011 | Adventure Travel, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, Charity Events, charity trek, Comic Relief, Comic relief Kilimanjaro trek, Corporate, Corporate Event Solutions, Corporate Experience, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, Endurance, fund raising ideas, fundraising, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Social Enterprise, Team, Team Building, teambuilding, Trek, trek for charity | No Comments |
We have just received some great feedback from our recent trip to Kilimanjaro with Oxfam Ireland, it was a fantastic trip with a great group and with 100% success rate. Whoo Hoo!
Grace O’Neill from Oxfam Ireland who was on the Kilimanjaro Trek, 26th-9 March 2011 – “ALL SUMMITED”. Re Paul Collins the Expedition Leader – “motivational, inspiring and commanded confidence”. “Paul was great – took the time to know everyone in the group and was excellent at encouraging us to work together as a team. The group all acknowledged post-summit, that is was great they all made it up together, which is something very different to other groups experiences we had heard of. He inspired confidence in the team’s ability. He also was good fun in the evenings and kept people’s spirits up when they were tired.
I think he genuinely bonded with quite of few of the pax – it didn’t seem to be just another trek to him, he took time chatting to individuals.”
Tim Farrelly - “Summiting Kilimanjaro was a lifetime achievement which was only made possibly by ATD’s excellent itinerary and expert leadership.”
(more…)
June 14th, 2011 | Adventure Travel, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, Charity Events, charity trek, Comic Relief, Comic relief Kilimanjaro trek, Corporate, Corporate Event Solutions, Corporate Experience, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, fund raising ideas, fundraising, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Social Enterprise, Team, Team Building, teambuilding, Trek, trek for charity | No Comments |
Our Operations Manager recently headed up to Kilimanjaro and has written up a fantastic account of the trek.
One of the expedition leaders has been ripping the innards from the leader files, and we suspect it may be a certain Ceri Williams. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to accompany Mr Williams to Tanzania and to find out whether he is indeed the Leader-file-Ripper. And so it was that I found myself on the Cancer Research UK Kilimanjaro trek with Ceri, Sonya and Julia: my first overseas trip with Across the Divide.
The 7-hour bus journey from Nairobi to Moshi gave us a sense of the scale of the East African plains, and several opportunities to buy some small carved wooden animals. I had imagined that we would see Kilimanjaro looming on the horizon as we crossed the border into Tanzania, but it was not until the following day when we stopped at Mshuwa shop for Coca Cola that I got my first glimpse of Kilimanjaro poking its head out of the clouds.
(more…)
June 13th, 2011 | Adventure Travel, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, Charity Events, charity trek, Comic Relief, Comic relief Kilimanjaro trek, Corporate, Corporate Event Solutions, Corporate Experience, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, fund raising ideas, fundraising, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Social Enterprise, Team, Team Building, Trek | No Comments |
I have now managed to clock up a total of 140km. The last 50km really put the shoe to the test on the dusty high trails of the Annapurna region in Nepal, from Birethanti through Gorepani, Tatopani and on to Beni. The trails were steep ascents and descents on rocky, uneven steps, hot and dusty 4×4 tracks and local mountain trails. This is definitely the type of terrain that the shoe excels in. They felt remarkably stable, and had excellent grip. They were cool in the heat, and the sole is looking surprisingly new without any detectable wear and tear. The shoe let in a lot of dirt, but nothing big enough to cause rubbing or blisters. So far I am impressed and thinking of the next place to put them through their paces.
Steve Clark
http://www.ukgear.com
April 5th, 2011 | adventure race, Adventure Racing, Adventure Travel, cancer run, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, charity dog sledding, Charity Events, charity run, charity trek, Comic Relief, Comic relief desert trek, Comic relief Kilimanjaro trek, Corporate, Corporate Event Solutions, Corporate Experience, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, desert trek, Dog Sled, Dog sledding, Endurance, Everest Base Camp, fund raising ideas, fundraising, fundraising marathon, Himalayas, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, Marathon, Namib, Namibia, Nepal, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Runner, Running, Social Enterprise, South Downs Way, Team, Team Building, teambuilding, Trek, trek for charity, ultra marathon, wilderness running | No Comments |
We are delighted to announce the launch of our 2012 Overseas Just Events. We think we offer an exciting range of events from a London to Paris bike ride to a trek and rafting trip in Costa Rica or a charity desert trek in Sahara. We hope there’s something here for you.
March 28th, 2011 | Adventure Travel, cancer run, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, charity dog sledding, Charity Events, charity run, charity trek, Comic relief desert trek, Comic relief Kilimanjaro trek, Corporate, Corporate Event Solutions, Corporate Experience, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, desert trek, Dog Sled, Dog sledding, Endurance, fund raising ideas, fundraising, fundraising marathon, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, Marathon, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Social Enterprise, Team, Team Building, teambuilding, Trek, wilderness running | No Comments |
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE PT-1000 ROAD AND TRAIL RUNNING SHOE
So far I have covered 90km with equal mix of road and trail running. This also includes the extremely wet and muddy South Devon Costal Marathon in February. First impressions are very good. It appears to be a very robust shoe, perfect for racking up the mileage in training. I love the idea that these shoes are built to last as I always get very attached to good running shoes and often mourn my loss when they disintegrate after a couple of months splashing through the soggy trails of Devon and Somerset
For a robust hard wearing shoe, they are comparatively light and the first thing I noticed is how comfortable and stable they are to run in. Personally I would say that they are better suited to the roads, rather than the winter trails I use. Dry and hard trails would be no problem, but they tread doesn’t cope well with wet, slippy and muddy hills, but you can’t expect a shoe to do everything, and they are a very good all rounder. They are definitely my new choice for racking up the training miles, before putting on a more specialist shoe for grip in muddy trail races. So far so good, and looking forward to putting them thoroughly to the test over the coming year. Next stop this month is the hot dusty trails of Nepal to see how they cope with an adventure race. I imagine that they will do much better in this environment.
Steve Clark
http://www.ukgear.com
March 8th, 2011 | adventure race, Adventure Racing, Adventure Travel, cancer run, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, Charity Events, charity run, Endurance, Everest Base Camp, fund raising ideas, fundraising, fundraising marathon, Himalayas, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, Marathon, Namib, Namibia, Nepal, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Runner, Running, Trek, trek for charity, ultra marathon, wilderness running | No Comments |
If you’re about to embark on an overseas challenge or are planning too, we have some excellent tips from a group of trekkers who have recenlty returned back from Nepal.
Top Tips
- bring lots of loo paper
- ear plugs in case your tent buddy snores
- train lots – up and downhill especially on your thighs
- fleece liner for sleeping bag, it’s very chilly at night
- lip salve
- be prepared to go to the loo ANYWHERE
- jokes/stories for the evening
- gifts for local school children
- don’t listen to the EL when he says sleep naked!
Why not join us on a challenge in 2011? Choose from : - Peru | China | Kilimanjaro | London to Paris
January 12th, 2011 | Adventure Travel, cancer run, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, charity dog sledding, Charity Events, charity run, charity trek, Comic relief Kilimanjaro trek, Corporate, Corporate Event Solutions, Corporate Experience, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, Endurance, fund raising ideas, fundraising, fundraising marathon, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, Marathon, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Social Enterprise, Team, Team Building, teambuilding, Trek, trek for charity | No Comments |
Why not set yourself a challenge for 2011? We all set New Year’s resolutions some we keep some we don’t but why not go the extra mile and set yourself a challenge that will not only get you fit but also raise funds for a charity close to your heart.
We have some great trips for 2011 including a Norway Sea Kayak trip, dog sledding adventures, Namibia Ultra marathon, climbing Kilimanjaro or Just Walk – all allowing you to raise funds for the charity of your choice.
We’ve just had a trip come back from Nepal and the feedback has been excellent. So if you join us you too could be saying….
- Amazing
- fantastic
- trip of a lifetime
- visiting great places off the beaten track
- met some amazing people
- sunrise on the peak the most amazing I’ve ever seen, bought a tear to my eye
- life changing experience
- Doing something that matters, raising money for charity
- increased confidence
- increased self esteem as I reached the summit
So why not join us in 2011 on one of our fantastic adventures?
January 4th, 2011 | Adventure Racing, Adventure Travel, cancer run, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, charity dog sledding, Charity Events, charity run, charity trek, Chichester, Corporate, Corporate Event Solutions, Corporate Experience, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, Dog Sled, Dog sledding, Endurance, fund raising ideas, fundraising, fundraising marathon, Just Events, Just for Fun, Just Walk, kilimanjaro, Marathon, Namib, Namibia, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Runner, Running, South Downs Way, Team, Team Building, teambuilding, Trek, trek for charity, ultra marathon, West Sussex, wilderness running | No Comments |
We are increasingly aware that as more and more people climb Kilimanjaro travel companies, and amongst them a small number of the charity challenge operators, are occassionaly ignoring the standard number of days needed to safely summit the mountain. The issue with climbing Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak the summit sits over 6,000 metres, is the potential that trekkers attempting to ascend too rapidly run into problems with Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), or altitude sickness, which in extreme cases can lead to death. Anybody can get AMS – it is not significantly affected by age, gender, physical fitness or previous altitude experience. However, there is little doubt that AMS is 100% preventable if you listen to your body and by descending to a lower altitude at the onset of symptoms. (see below)
(more…)
November 8th, 2010 | Adventure Travel, Challenge, Charity Challenge, Charity Challenges, Charity Events, charity trek, Corporate, Corporate Event Solutions, Corporate Experience, corporate experiences, Corporate in the community, Corporate Social Responsibilty, CSR, CSR Projects, Endurance, Journal, Just Events, Just for Fun, kilimanjaro, open event, Raise funds for the charity of your choice, Social Enterprise, Team, Team Building, Trek, trek for charity | No Comments |
