#ESSEX2INDIA – Essex girls Densie Van Outen and Lydia Bright to cycle across India

February 21, 2012 / admin / No comments

First the immense challenge of reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro, a 6 day trek to Machu Picchu in Peru and now a 485km cycle for charity across Rajasthan in India. Much loved TV presenter Denise Van Outen is unstoppable! This time she’s taking her friends Lydia Bright from The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) and Kirsty Williams from The Insanity Group of Companies.

The girls have chosen to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital which desperately needs money to provide vital up-to-date equipment and fund research into better treatments for children.

The challenge is being organised by Charity Challenge, and Denise, Lydia and Kirsty started preparations in early January 2012 as they began their pre-event training.  They were each provided with a fantastic hybrid (road/mixed terrain) bike from Specialized and a top of the range indoor exercise bike from Hire Fitness; a nationwide company that hires gym quality fitness equipment to use at home.  The Hire Fitness bikes proved an essential part of their training as the snow fell outside and temperatures plummeted!

As they embarked on their strict fitness regime, they realised they were becoming hooked on cycling when they started turning down opportunities like VIP seats at premiership football matches in favour of checking out the best cycle routes!

“I’m turning into a biking geek” Says Kirsty, “cycling to and from work and at weekends and using my Hire Fitness bike at home”.  A quick 24 mile cycle is now nothing to them but it’s not been without challenges along the way! For one, It’s really NOT easy fitting 3 adult bicycles into the back of a car!! But the girls just about managed to squeeze them into Denise’s Volvo XC60.

So challenge #Essex2india is nearly here.  With just a few weeks left before the big event the girls are training hard, through everything the weather has to throw at them!

“Going cycling today to train for my Essex2India bike ride – I must be crazy it’s freezing out there!” tweets Denise.

They’ve prepared well but what they can’t prepare themselves for is the extreme heat that they will be enduring as they cycle across India.  And what will they do after all this with so much free time on their hands you may well ask?  Perhaps another Charity Challenge?

Click here to for learn more about our Rajasthan Tiger Challenge – the challege Denise and Lydia are so bravely taking on! To keep up to date on all our challenge news, and hear the latest updates about the Essex girl’s challenge, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list.

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Where does your carbon offsetting money go?

February 17, 2012 / admin / No comments

We are proud to announce we have now offset a massive 7,308.79 tonnes of CO2 on behalf of our passengers and our office here in North London since 2008. This is equivalent to taking 1,200 cars off the road in the UK for a year, or grounding 16 full flights from London to New York. Something we are very proud of.

With the help of ClimateCare, the money that we have contributed to offset the CO2 from our customers’ flights and office energy has gone to help such projects as efficient cook stoves programmes, which replace open fires or other less efficient stoves.

Nearly half of the world’s population still cook their meals on open fires or basic stoves and the smoke that fills the home blackens the lungs of mothers and children.  For years development groups have been trying to promote the use of efficient cookstoves, which bring a whole treasure-chest of benefits:  by burning more efficiently they produce less smoke and use less firewood; saving money, time and fast depleting forests. One of their greatest benefits is, quite simply, saving lives.  By cutting down indoor smoke pollution, these stoves help drastically cut instances of pneumonia, saving children’s lives:  according to the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia (GAPP), the humble efficient cookstove is a major weapon in the fight against this horrible disease.

ClimateCare is an independent profit-for-purpose company, and one of the longest established and leading environment-focused organisations in the carbon market, developing carbon credits on behalf of businesses, Non Governmental Organisations and Sovereign States.  ClimateCare uses carbon finance not just to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions but to accelerate sustainable, development, through innovative Emission Reduction Projects throughout the world

We would like to say a huge thank you from everyone here at Charity Challenge for the work that ClimateCare do, and we look forward to another year of mutual support!

To learn more about the responsible tourism work we do and to keep up to date on all our challenge news, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list. You can also read more about our responsible travel policy and practices on our website.

 

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Top 5 Romantic Challenges of 2012!

February 14, 2012 / admin / No comments

Happy Valentines Day everybody! In honour of St Valentine, we’ve put together a list of our top 5 most romantic challenges…

5) Etna Volcanic Adventure – coming in at number 5 is the Etna Volcanic Adventure, a challenge so hot that it’s literally bursting at the seams! (The last eruption was literally last week). With breath-taking scenery, real Italian Spaghetti, isolated shepherd huts in the wilderness and the chance to sleep under the stars, there was no way this challenge was not going to make the list! This long weekend challenge might not be as gruelling as some of our other challenges, but the fact that you need to carry sizeable rucksacks whilst trekking adds a whole new dimension to the trek (in fact, this is a perfect challenge to take your other half on, as you could do with someone to help you carry your bags!) Also this challenge is currently on special £75 promotion!

4) Great Wall Discovery – Anyone who’s seen the sun setting over the Great Wall will know why this challenge makes the list. It’s a truly unforgettable sight, especially if you have somebody to share it with. China is also the country steeped in myths and legends where beautiful Chinese lanterns light the sky. This challenge also has a £100 off offer running on it, and what makes a more romantic valentines gift than a discounted trek across one of the wonders of the world!

3) Kilimanjaro Summit Climb – On the surface this challenge may not seem as romantic as the previous two, but this is the challenge that has brought together the most couples out of our entire challenge catalogue! A few years back we even had a proposal at the summit of Kilimanjaro. And standing in footprints of past celebrities (Gary Barlow, Cheryl Cole and Chris Moyles to name but a few!), with the backdrop of a stunning African landscape and an inescapable long walk back down, you’re really not going to say no! Kilimanjaro is our most favoured challenge and we have various expedition dates throughout the year, click here to see them (note: all challenges with the red stars by them are currently on special promotion!)

2) Escambray Encounter – this is on the list for all the singletons out there, who are currently ripping petals of roses and ceremonially burning their ex’s stuff. We have it on good authority that our Escambray Encounter Trek is the ultimate challenge for people looking to have a fun trek. The city of Havana is alive at any time of day or night with music and street parties, the locals are friendly and there is even rumoured to be a free bar on offer to challengers once they’ve completed the gruelling trek! It’s not too late to sign up to our three current departure dates in November of this year and in 2013

1) Dog Sledding Challenge – This challenge had to be number one for so many reasons. As our Sweden Ground handler Jordana put it “What could be more romantic than cuddling together on reindeer pelts by open fire whilst hearing the sleddogs howl to the northern lights and full moon!” We simply couldn’t think of anything, which is why this challenge tops the list and gains the title of Valentines Challenge of 2012! So for the ultimate Valentines gesture, click here to view and book onto one of our upcoming Dog Sledding Challenges!

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Responsible Travel in Vietnam

February 13, 2012 / admin / No comments

Not a lot of people know that as part of our commitment to the local communities we interact with during our challenges, we donate approximately US$500 per group to a local community project. Indeed it’s part of our Responsible Tourism policy to give as much back to the local community as we can.

One of the charities we donate to is SOS Children’s Villages, the world’s largest orphan and abandoned children’s charity, who work towards a vision of “a loving home for every child.” Through a network of child sponsors and donors worldwide, they provide a family and home for more than 78,000 children in 518 unique children’s villages in 125 countries.

In connection with our Vietnam Experience and our Saigon to Angkor Wat Bike Ride, we currently contribute to one of their Vietnam based projects; a children’s village located in the suburb of Ho Chin Minh City. The village contains 20 family houses built in the local style, as well as a day care centre, a nursery and school – originally opened as a primary school but soon extended to offer classes up to secondary level for a total of 1,100 children. In addition the village also provides a youth home for older children, supporting them on their path to independence. These villages are so vital to the local community, as it is estimated that more than 2.6 million Vietnamese children need special protection, including children living with disabilities, orphaned children and children living in poverty.  This is a truly shocking figure in light of today’s society and advancements.

We are very proud of the contributions we make towards this cause and others in the destination countries we work in, and we are also aware of just how important it is to our challengers to know that their participation in one of our expeditions has such a positive impact on a country which will no doubt have an amazing effect on them too.

To learn more about the responsible tourism work we do and to keep up to date on all our challenge news, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list. You can also read more about our responsible travel policy and practices on our website”

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Snow in britain and snow abroad!

February 7, 2012 / admin / No comments

First the Northern lights made an elusive appearance over the skies of Britain, now it’s the turn of snow to coat the ground in an icy white carpet. It seems Britain’s weather is becoming more and more Norwegian!

This weekend saw the first cold blast of 2012, with much of Britain waking up on Sunday morning to the sight of snow. The big freeze brought up to six inches of snow, causing roads to close (leaving some motorists stranded overnight) , and causing havoc at many airports, with a third of all flights at Heathrow cancelled (and before you ask, we always monitor these situations closely in case any of our outgoing/incoming challenger flights are affected). In the wake of this, much of England is under a cold weather alert of level 3, which warns of “100% probability” of severe cold weather, icy conditions and heavy snow. According to the ‘MeteoGroup’, the weather division of the Press Association, the freeze is likely to continue into next week – meaning the snow isn’t planning on fading away anytime soon!

Britain has a love-hate relationship with snow. Black ice vs Snowmen! When the tiniest flakes of it appears, all work comes to a standstill as Britain collectively gathers round the window shouting “snow snow!”, but as soon as a couple of inches build up, it becomes a case of (to paraphrase the press) ‘Misery and turmoil as snow brings Britain to a standstill!’. It seems we like the idea of snow a lot more than the reality, but perhaps it is more apt to say that we love the vivid beauty and extremity of snow, but only when we’re prepared for it!

We can certainly vouch for that here at Charity Challenge, as our new ‘Snow and Ice’ challenge range has proved a great hit! This range includes the Dog Sledding Challenge and the Pyrenees Snow Shoe Challenge, along with the extreme North Pole and South Pole Challenges. There’s something particularly special about these challenges, with the their calm yet vivid landscapes and harsh unfamiliar environments, they really take you out of your comfort zone, and are both mentally and physically challenging! But for the same reason, these challenges are that much more exhilarating and rewarding, and making it through one of these challenges is an unrivalled and unforgettable experience!

To learn more about all these challenges and to keep up to date on all our challenge news, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list.

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Snowshoeing in the Pyrenees with Charity Challenge

February 3, 2012 / admin / One comment

An exciting prospect for 2013! Charity Challenge will be working with partner and team leader Kevin Albin in creating the ‘Pyrenees Snow Shoe Challenge’. A brand new and daring snowshoeing expedition!

Kevin has put a lot of work into this challenge, and is really looking forward to seeing how people take to snow-shoeing and the panoramic Pyrenees!

‘We chose this location because the Pyrenees tends to be less commercial, with stunningly beautiful scenery and amazing wildlife, which can often be seen as there are less people here than places such as the Alps. Where we operate, the area around Bagnees de Luchon, is ideal as it has good snowshoeing terrority and easy access into Spain

The expedition will be a three-day route in the high mountains of the Aiguestortes National Park, with accomodation in mountain huts. There will be a day of preparation before we leave where we shall learn about snowshoeing, the winter environment and avalanche assessments (which include training in the use of avalanche transceivers).

The area is remote and we shall be supporting each other while walking over frozen lakes and crossing high mountain cols. The area is also exceptional. There are few words that will describe the experience of being in these mountains with your companions, your snowshoes and your life in the rucksack on your back. That is until we make the mountain hut where we can count on some fine, filling meals and a warm bunk to sleep in. Then it’s out again the next day to experience the very best that Nature has to offer.

This trip is not for the faint hearted but equally if you are a reasonable summer walker with the keenness to push yourself a little with the duration of the day and some basic living conditions, then the rewards will be exceptional! And it’s not all hard work, you’ll be staying in a luxury Chambres d’hote for the first and last night, Le Chalet Chapeau Bleu, with fine cuisine and comfy beds. This is also the location for the amazing celebration meal at the end of the challenge!

The motivation for putting yourself through such a challenge? Raising money for causes you feel passionate about!”

To learn more about the ‘Pyrenees Snow Shoe Challenge’ and maybe even book your place, click here! To keep up to date on all our challenge news, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list.

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A Bookings Manager in Bolivia

January 30, 2012 / admin / No comments

Our intrepid Bookings Manager Carmel Hendry has been inspired by our new Andean Mountain Trek to come out from behind the bookings desk and reminise about the time she spent traveling across Bolivia…

“What does every traveller like doing? Talking about their travels! So when I was given the opportunity to step out from my role as Bookings Manager and write a little about my experiences in the fabulous county of Bolivia, I leapt at the chance.

We’ve added a number of new challenges to our portfolio this year – including an exciting Mexico Cycle and a rather different Snow-Shoeing Expedition in the beautiful mountains of the Pyrenees. So why not enthuse about Mexican macho men, or frogs-legs in France? Why Bolivia, the black-sheep of the Andean family?

To be honest, that was my first thought when my friends took the executive decision of outvoting me on one of our many ‘where to next?’ conversations. We had just spent the last 7 months working together in Ecuador, and were deciding whether to travel onwards to Chile, or across Peru and through to Bolivia. My preference was for the former. I mean, who’s ever heard of anything good in Bolivia? My friends outvoted me, and although I think their decision was more about money than their extensive knowledge of Bolivian culture (Bolivia makes Ecuador look outrageously expensive), I’d like to thank them and their stinginess for introducing me to the most extraordinary country I’ve ever been to.

 From our first view of Lake Titicaca on a hillside on the Peruvian border, I was hooked. We sat there in silence until sunset. The beauty was intense, and I never lost that feeling of awe in the many days we spent on and around the Lake. Although Bolivia is one of only two South American countries with no coastline, the Lake extends further than the eye can travel, creating the impression of an enormous sea stretching before you. You could almost forget that the sprawling metropolis of La Paz lies only kilometres away. I am not a spiritual person (believe me), but if you ever feel in need of tranquility then the intensity of the stars on the Isla del Sol provides the kind of extreme calm that you will never regain.

The peacefulness of the lake is the complete antithesis of the gigantic and frankly bonkers city of La Paz. Prepare to feel out of breath – the angles of the road are so steep that the tiny ‘colectivo’ minibuses feel like they are going to roll backwards each time they stop to let someone out. One such road leads up to the highest football stadium in the world – home to bizarrely-named Bolivian team ‘The Strongest’. If football isn’t really your thing, then you can take in the llama fetuses lining the shelves at the Witches Market. In La Paz you feel like there will be something interesting and exciting just around the corner. While I was there, I even managed a cycle trip down the most dangerous road in the world!

If THAT wasn’t enough to persuade the most staunch llamaphobe to visit Bolivia, the country’s biggest secret lies on the western Altiplano, a 12hr train and bus ride from La Paz. Don’t let that put you off though, what you are about to see could change your life (OK let’s not go that far, but it is awesome). The Salt Plains of Uyuni are an ethereal, other-worldly landscape where the sky and land blend into one white, disorientating mass. When the light catches the plains correctly, the reflections in the salt are so perfect that they will amaze and confuse you. This was honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been; it was literally stunning – the whole place is so… weird. You not only have the everlasting white landscape of the salt plains, which looks like a bizarre sci-fi film’s idea of heaven, but you can also visit the red lake, which plays home to hundreds of bright-pink flamingos, or the explosive geysers nearby.

The Andean country of Bolivia doesn’t deserve its obscurity, but I am grateful for it. In no other country in South America can you enjoy so much tranquility, and experience so much interaction with the locals, outside of the tourist throng. And after all that, I realized I haven’t actually mentioned the trekking at all. Three words: really huge mountains.

If you would like to challenge yourself in a country that enjoys altitudes rarely experienced on any of our other treks (you will be climbing up to 6,088m on Huayna Potosí), and take in the sights and sounds of one of South America’s most interesting countries, click here to see our 2012 date and find out more.”

Visit our website at charitychallenge.com for more infomation on all our challenges. To keep up to date on all our challenge news, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list.

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How to get the most out of your Kit with Cotswold Outdoors

January 27, 2012 / admin / No comments

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you can’t summit mount Mt Kilimanjaro without the right footwear, and that you would have a very unpleasant time of it if you tried to cross the Sahara desert in jeans and a t-shirt.  In these extraordinary climates of mountain winds, desert heat, jungle humidity and icecap colds, you need clothing and equipment that is a little bit extraordinary itself.

Here at Charity Challenge, we work with outdoor experts Cotswold Outdoors to create the most up-to-date and relevant kit lists and provide you with expert advice on what kit you need and how to use it.

Take a look at these two videos from Cotswolds Outdoors to see how you should be adjusting and fitting your boots and rucksacks before you set out on your challenge!

http://bit.ly/yUrsLa – how to correctly fit and adjust your boots

http://bit.ly/yUrsLa – how to correctly fit ad adjust your Rucksack

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Northern Lights shining over Britain

January 26, 2012 / admin / No comments

British Stargazers as far north Yorkshire and Northumberland have been delighted by the spectacular Northen Lights in the last few days and experts say that there could be even more impressive sights to come! We’ve got our fingers crossed in the Charity Challenge office that they might even be visible as far south as London!

The Northern Lights are a unique phenomenon, first discovered in 1621 by Pierre Gassendi, a French scientist, who named the lights “Aurora Boreas” – After the Roman goddess of dawn and the Greek name for the north wind. The colourful display may look heavenly and serene, but in reality they are caused by bursts of electrically charged particles which are given off by the Sun, these particles interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, causing explosions of magnetic energy which translate to our eyes as bright fluorescent colours.

It’s unusual to see the Aurora Boreas this far south, according to the experts the skies across the north of England were lit up because the solar storm, caused by the eruption of particles, was particularly powerful, making the Aurora Boreas that much more visible across the southern hemisphere. On Monday night, people living in Yorkshire, Northumberland and Scotland witnessed the spectacular display of eerie green light hovering over the northern horizon. If skies are clear the dazzling show is expected to be visible for the next few nights!

Some out our current challengers have been lucky enough to see this particular display of the Aurora Boreas in its more natural habitat of Sweden, whilst taking the Dog sledding challenge. For many people, seeing the Aurora Boreas is a once in a lifetime opportunity! 

“Seeing the Northern lights was one of the most awe inspiring moments of my life – they were beautiful and so peaceful out in the icy tundra!” Emma – Op’s manager

Dog sledding is one of our most popular and unique challenges, as not only do you have the opportunity to witness the wonder of the Northern Lights, you also learn to work with and take care of your own team of huskies, as you drive them mushing over 200kms through beautiful, frozen landscapes. This challenge has a simple and nostalgic quality (despite the fact that dog sledding is very hard work!) that puts it at the top of a lot of people’s challenge wish-lists.

If you’re one of these people, and you want to make your dream a reality, click here to see all our current departure dates (please note all out 2012 dates are booked up, but we do have some places on the 2013 challenges). Please click on the date you are interested in to get the day-by-day itinerary, fact file, kit list, q&a, costs, images and lots more.

To keep up to date on all our challenge news, subscribe to this blog by clicking on the orange RSS button, you can also enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list.

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Welcome to the Chinese Year of the Dragon!

January 23, 2012 / admin / One comment

Just when you thought the hubbub of Christmas and New Year party season was over. Here we go again with yet another celebration! But this one has a slightly more oriental feel, as today sees in the first day of the Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year, also known as ‘Spring Festival’, follows the lunar calendar. The origin of the festival can be traced back thousands of years through an evolving series of legends and traditions. One of the most famous legends is that of Nien, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast, which the Chinese believe, eats people on New Year’s Eve. To keep Nien away, red-paper couplets are pasted on doors, torches are lit, and firecrackers are set off throughout the night. Early the next morning, as feelings of triumph and renewal fill the air at successfully keeping Nien away for another year, the most popular greeting heard is kung-hsi, or “congratulations.”

Celebrations for this year’s Chinese New Year are particularly special, as we are entering the Year of the Dragon, which is a mighty and significantly symbolic creature in Chinese culture. Quite the opposite to the Nien and Western Dragon, the Chinese Dragon is a loving and benevolent creature. In ancient China, the celestial Dragon represented the emperor and power. Today, it is the ultimate auspicious symbol signifying success and happiness. It is even said that the mighty Dragon sent down his nine sons to help the first emperor of Ming Dynasty conquer China. These Dragons were invaluable to the emperor as they each had different attributes and appearances. For example, the second sons has large wings and is a strong warrior, and the seventh son has tusk-like teeth and seeks to uphold justice.  However, it is said that the Emperor found the nine sons such powerful allies that he decided to prevent their journey back to the skies by tricking them into spending eternity in China. Enraged by this, the nine sons decided to no longer to serve the emperor and instead turned evil!

Despite this rather unfortunate ending to the story, it seems China is still in awe of the nine sons, and they each play an important role in Chinese culture and architecture. For example, the image of the music loving first son can be found as a decoration for musical instrument, such as two-stringed bowed violin, and the image of the 5th son (who loves quiet and tranquillity) can often be seen on and around temples.

On our Great Wall Discovery and Cycle Challenges you have the opportunity to experience Chinese culture, and see the influence of the dragon and his nine sons first hand! The famous Forbidden City (which you have plenty of time to explore on both these challenges) is a whole world of dragons!  There are 19 dragons painted in gold on the throne, 79 carved in the folding screen behind the throne. Plus dragons carved in the golden table and other furniture, making a total of 590 dragons in the hall alone. Add on to that the 6 golden pillars swirled by dragons and the ceilings painted with golden dragons all around, and there are 40 doors in the hall and 5 wooden dragons on each door, which equal a massive 3, 504 dragons in total, which is only the tip of the iceberg  in regards to the Dragon’s influence and embodiment in China!

So if you’re interested in combining dragon hunting and exploring Chinese culture with exercising, raising money for charity, and frankly doing something incredible! Then click here to check out all available departure dates for our Great Wall Discovery and Great Wall Cycle challenges. For a taster of the spectacular Great Wall Discovery Challenge, click here to watch a video of the trek, filmed by China Operations Manager Jo last year.

To keep up to date on all our challenge news, subscribe to this blog and you can enter your email address into the adjacent box to subscribe to our mailing list.

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