Inspiration, Responsible Tourism

World Water Day

March 22, 2012

We’ve heard about a very good cause that we thought we would post up on here for you all to get involved with – World Water Day. Which just happens to be today!

World Water day has been celebrated on the 22nd March ever since 1993 and is organised by the United Nations. It is the one day of the year when all UN member nations and NGO’s from around the world get together to discuss issues concerning world water resources and countries can speak frankly on water issues that specifically affect their regions and discuss how these can be resolved. On the 22nd March the day is entirely devoted to this subject.

The day is used by Charities and the World Water Council to highlight many problems around water we have at the moment. For example did you know that a billion people at the moment are living without access to any safe drinking water? The day aims to highlight these terrible facts to us all.

So what can we do to help – well the UN suggests the following;

  1. Stop wasting food and drink; did you know that 30% of the food we produce is wasted? That’s 1.3 billion tonnes a year of food and packaging that could have been put to a better use.
  2. Get a healthier diet; Did you know that an unhealthy diet is also a source of waste? Swapping to healthier, less processed and less packaged food you will be limiting waste packaging and reducing impacts on water.
  3. Try to eat and drink sustainably; a sustainable diet with organic or locally produced food will usually have a smaller water foot print and tends to lead to a healthier diet anyway.
  4. Get involved with protecting our forests; forests reduce the affects of flooding, droughts, prevent soil erosion, landslides and desertification. So if you know of a tree replanting project nearby or of a campaign to save a local forest – get involved!
  5. Try to reuse and recycle water at home; pop left over drinking water back in the kettle for tea, collect rain water to water your indoor plants and make sure taps are always fully turned off – there are many things you can do to make sure you are using water effectively.
  6. Don’t forget; there is also plenty you can do whilst you are away on a challenge, making sure that you don’t have your towels changed each day, keeping showers to a minimum in countries where you know water supply is a real issue etc.

In short there is lot that we can do and lots that we can learn, I know we here at Charity Challenge are open for picking up a few hints and tips and are looking forward to celebrating World Water Day!

For more information about how to get involved please go to; http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/

To learn more about all our charity challenges, and how else we get involved with responsible tourism. Please visit our website at www.charitychallenge.com, 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.

Challenges

Charity Challenge of the Week: The Rajasthan Tiger Challenge

March 21, 2012

Denise Van Outen and Lydia Bright last Thursday completed their epic cycle challenge, cycling 430kms through Rajasthan, Land of the Kings. Despite the limb numbing nature of the challenge, the Essex Girls had only good things to say/tweet about their Indian Escapade!

“Just finished our 485km cycling challenge around India Bst experience of my life Ill never forget…a dream” – Lydia

“I would also like to thank @charitychall for making this trip possible. You never let me down! Best experience of my life” – Denise

We’re glad they liked it! And we’re really pleased to see that, inspired by Denise and Lydia’s fantastic effort, more and more people are taking an interest in the challenge and are keen to follow in their glamorous Essex footsteps. So if you think an Indian cycling adventure might be for you, keep reading!

The first day of our Rajasthan Tiger Challenge begins in the hustling bustling capital of Delhi, where you have a chance to soak up the atmosphere and explore it’s labyrinth of streets and markets, crowded with exotic produce and a bewildering mix of people. Journeying on to Agra, the cultural exploration of India continues with a visit to the Taj Mahal, one of the most awe inspiring and extravagant monuments ever built. The serenity of the Taj Mahal is just the peaceful interlude needed before the real hard work begins!

Starting from Taj Mahal, the serene and classical Indian vision quickly becomes the wildest dream of a Mountain Biker, as the roads terrain turns from tarmac stretches, to country lanes to smaller more pothole ridden dirt tracks.

As days pass, the sheer variety of Rajasthan’s roads is matched only by the beautiful and imposing nature of its landscapes. Your eyes can’t help but stray from the road as you cycle through dramatic desert landscape, lively cities, tranquil country-side and old forts seemingly frozen in time.

On day 7 the roads and backdrop take a backseat to the spectacular array of Indian Wildlife that make their home in Ranthambore National Park. As your journey takes a meandering route through the park, keep your eyes peeled for sambas, cheetahs, wild boars, leopards, sloth bears, jackals, hyena and of course the eponymous and majestic Tigers, the namesake and symbol of this challenge!

On day 9, you’re forced dig real deep for the final 80km stretch from Bhanderej to Jaipur. For many these final few hours are turbulent, as emotionally and physically you’re spent, but glimpse of villages and locals waving to you in support spur you onwards on road to Jaipur. And what more jubilant place to celebrate the victorious end of the challenge than “the pink city”. Jaipur is  Rajasthan’s vibrant metropolitan capital, where colours, cultures and seemingly traffic combine as vegetable laden camel carts thread their way through the streets jam-packed with rickshaws, bicycles, tempos, motorcycles and traffic dodging pedestrians! If you’ve got the energy, there’s plenty to do in Jaipur, there’s lot of beautiful and historic sights to be seen or you can take a leaf out of Denise and Lydia book and hit the shops!

So if you’ve been inspired and want to take part in one of our Rajasthan Tiger Challenges, please click here to see all our available departure dates, and click on the date you’re interested in to see the itinerary, costs, kit lists, and much more!

This month, in honour of Lydia and Denise epic challenge, we’ve also got a £50 discount on our Fri 15 February 2013 challenge, check it out here!

You can also click here to see a Lydia and Denise Essex eye view of the challenge, and watch this amazing video that was filmed on location in Rajasthan last year.

To learn more about all our challenge, please visit our website at www.charitychallenge.com, 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.

Inspiration

100 years on from Captain Scott!

March 7, 2012

Here at Charity Challenge we thought we had a lot to pack ahead of the forthcoming expeditions to the North Pole later this month. Our team have been busy making up dozens of crates and hundreds of kilos of chocolate and freeze dried meals and soups, and packing up group equipment, including sledges, tents, clothing, ropes and skis. But this is the Twenty First Century and thanks to the advances of modern aviation and cutting edge polar technology, the preparations should run relatively smoothly.

And if we weren’t already aware of that, a recent trip to the Natural History Museum proved to us at Charity Challenge that we have nothing to complain about. Scott’s Last Expedition offers a fascinating insight into the explorer’s doomed journey to become the first man to reach the South Pole 100 years ago. They had to pack literally tonnes of equipment, horses, dogs, scientific equipment, and so on for a three year expedition, including even the building materials for their “hut” on the ice for the duration of the expedition.

The exhibition, which runs until September, promises to go beyond the familiar tales of Scott’s three-year journey to the South Pole (1910-1913) and it doesn’t disappoint. The focus is on the everyday stories and activities of the people who took part, their scientific work and unforgettable human endurance.

Visitors can easily spend a couple of hours in the exhibition, reading about everything from the mammoth task of planning the trip to the heart wrenching words of Scott’s final diary entries.

In planning the Terra Nova expedition, Scott had to approach dozens of sponsors who he hoped would help fund the trip. Some lent financial support, while others provided some of the many tonnes of provisions that were loaded on board for the epic trip.

The exhibition then moves into a reconstruction of the hut where Scott and his men lived for much of their time in this inhospitable part of the world. Once inside, you get to see exactly where the men slept, ate and passed the many days that they spent there.

In most people’s minds, Scott is known as being the ultimate explorer, but perhaps what is less well known is just how much scientific research was done while the men were away. The ambitious programme covered a broad range of specialisms including meteorology, zoology and geography. The exhibition features a lot of this work and emphasizes the significance of the discoveries made, even to this day.

Had Scott lived to tell his tale, his experience would have still been overshadowed by the success of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who beat the British team to the Pole by a month. Curators have compared the two missions, highlighting what might have made the Norwegian efforts more successful.

This extremely moving exhibition, which marks the centenary of Scott reaching the pole and his tragic death, features over 200 rare specimens and original artefacts. Many items, such as clothing, skis, food, tools and diaries are being shown together for the first time.

Simon Albert, director of Charity Challenge, said: “I had the pleasure of visiting the Natural History Museum exhibition last week about Captain Scott and his final Antarctic expedition that took place 100 years ago. It was absolutely fascinating and has totally hooked me in. I can’t stop reading about it now and I just wanted to strongly recommend it to anyone interested in adventure and exploration.”

To find out more or to book a ticket, visit www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/scott-last-expedition/index.html

Click here to for learn more about our very own North Pole Challenge, 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.

Inspiration

Happy 40th Birthday to Charity Challenge Director Simon Albert!

February 24, 2012

Happy Birthday to Charity Challenge Director Simon Albert, who is celebrating turning 40 today. In his honour, we have decided to take some time out to look back on some of his amazing achievements both in business and in life;

Few people have experienced the world as much as Simon has, not only has he summited Mt Kilimanjaro, Trekked in the Himalayas and scuba dived with sharks in Fiji, he has also  journeyed throughout the Far East, Australasia and Pacific Islands, motor-biked through Vietnam (before Ewan Mcgregor and Charley Boorman made it cool!), helped to build a youth hostel in Thailand,  went white water rafting on the Kali Gandaki in Nepal and helped build a road on Mana Island (which was and still is hereafter known as ‘Simon Avenue’).

In October 1998, Inspired by all his adventures, Simon decided to set up his own company that helps people have their very own adventures of a life-time, whilst raising money for charity. SmallWorld Adventures Ltd (soon to be known as Charity Challenge) started making waves and Simon quickly became known in the industry for his infectious energy and enthusiasm and his strict uniform of checked shirts, jeans and trainers.

In February 2009 Simon played an instrumental part in organising the Comic Relief Celebrity Kilimanjaro Climb, which saw several well-known faces such as Gary Barlow,  Cheryl  Cole and Chris Moyles summit Mt Kilimanjaro and raise over a whopping  £3.35million for comic relief! This was a massive game changer for Charity Challenge and since then it has gone from strength to strength! Charity Challenge has now helped thousands of people to raise over £30m for over 1200 different charities and our portfolio currently includes treks, bike rides, mountain climbs, rafting, sky diving, dog sledding, skiing and community challenges in more than 30 countries worldwide as well as two ground-breaking treks to geographic North and South Poles.

One thing that hasn’t changed is Simon’s vibrant enigmatic personality, drive to push the company forward and his passion for travel. Simon’s 40th Birthday has coincided with a very exciting and busy time for Charity Challenge, as (after a lot of hard work!) Charity Challenge has now launched a new operation out of Toronto, Canada for the North American market! Which we have very high hopes for!

So after 40 years of life and  12 years of Charity Challenge, Simon has become a recognised and respected face in the Adventure Charity Travel industry, his contribution to which was even honoured by her majesty the Queen herself last year at the Royal Celebration of British Adventure, but to all of us in the office, we’re always know him best for his infamous collection of checked shirts, bad taste in music and strange preference teas which are milky beyond belief!

Responsible Tourism

Where does your carbon offsetting money go?

February 17, 2012

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.

Challenges, Inspiration

Top 5 Romantic Challenges of 2012!

February 14, 2012

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!