We couldn’t agree more with the thrust of this article, Hail the Porters of Kilimanjaro, from an Australian newspaper.

As the article says, “For every foreigner who climbs Kilimanjaro, at least three Tanzanians, and often many more, swarm up the volcanic slope like worker ants, 50-pound bags perched precariously on their heads and baggy shirts flopping over their skinny frames.”

Embark Adventures was founded on the slopes of Africa’s highest peak, and we continue to work with some of the best porters on the mountain.

It’s also true, as the article points out, that many porters aren’t paid livable wages, and they often have to pay for their own food on the way up, meaning they often barely eat anything while hauling backbreaking loads, and refuse to turn back down the mountain when they experience altitude sickness because they cannot afford to.

So it is with great pride that we at Embark are a part of the great Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, the nonprofit that focuses on ensuring that porters make livable wages, are treated fairly, and that they actually receive the tips climbers try to give them.

Everest Base Camp, and the amazing high country around it, are high on the bucket list of hikers everywhere. Embark led a fantastic trip there in 2011, and here trip leader Jim Ronning narrates a series of amazing photographs from the trip.

In 2011 Embark led a climb of Island Peak, or Imja Tse, in Nepal. Here, trip leader Jim Ronning narrates a spectacular photo display from the climb. This is what being in the Himalayas is all about.

This, we think, is what technology and the Internet are for.

Embark has teamed up with a website called GPSFly.org to create an amazing video tour of our favorite climbing route on Mount Kilimanjaro, the Lemosho Route via the Western Breach.

You can essentially follow the entire route up Mt. Kilimanjaro, watching the landscape and the hills around you. You can determine your camp by watching the elevation in the bottom right hand corner.  You have to use Google Earth and have the plugins. And sadly, this doesn’t work on Internet Explorer.

Don’t forget to push the play button and you can slowly speed it up, by pushing the speeding button.

Amazing, huh? If the embedded video won’t play, use this link to see it on their site.

We read with much sadness an article from The Guardian about so-called “Human Safaris.” This is when local indigenous people are paid to act in a particular way to please tourists and put on a good show.

As awful as that sounds, it is sadly common. The Guardian’s previous investigation revealed not only payments to, but also bullying of a local tribe in India, all for the benefit of camera-toting tourists seeking a glimpse of “primitive” lifestyles.

We at Embark Adventures deplore this kind of behavior. We certainly understand that one of the lures of all travel is interacting with people and different cultures, but we have some very strict rules about this. For example, we don’t even give candy to local children, because it’s unhealthy for their bodies and their spirits. We do, however, support local efforts like the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project.

We want to visit cultures and help to preserve them, but do both in a sustainable and conscious way.

So good for the Guardian, and for the Indian government, which is starting to crack down on this nonsense. We hope this starts a trend that goes far beyond India.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming to our Portland office two representatives from Africa Bridge, whom we hope to work with in the future.

Africa Bridge helps build community in Africa, in particular by supporting children. In fact, their six-step process beings with “Listen to the Children.” From there, they help organize the community as it develops skills, builds economic co-ops, inspires entrepreneurs and investors, and creates access to education and healthcare. Find out more at AfricaBridge.org.

Their founder, Barry Childs, explains why he started Africa Bridge in this wonderful video:

We thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the people from Africa Bridge, and Embark Adventures looks forward to possibly working with them in southern Tanzania.

We have been following with some interest the exploits of professional baseballer R.A. Dickey as he and two fellow players climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Since Dickey plays for the New York Mets, The New York Times has given him a blog, and he and his party summited recently. Congrats to them for making Uhuru Peak.

What struck us, though, was that their summit photo clearly shows there’s a new sign on Uhuru Peak. It’s borderline neon green (was it designed by some Oregon Ducks fan?) and we think it’s pretty cool. Not that we needed another reason to climb Kilimanjaro, but now we look forward to seeing that fancy new sign.

We found this fantastic video of a local parade in Ladakh, and we wanted to share. It’s such a magical place, way up in the Indian Himalaya, so close to Tibet that the people there could easily pass for being Tibetan. We can’t wait to start leading treks to Ladakh.

If the embedded video here doesn’t show up, use this link instead.

Ladakh Festival 2011 from Ewa Zygarowicz on Vimeo.

This weekend, a mountaineering legend will take on one of the world’s greatest walks to raise awareness of one of Earth’s biggest challenges.

Apa Sherpa, who has climbed Mt. Everest a staggering 21 times, will walk 1,062 miles in 120 days to raise awareness of global warming. You can read all about it in this Reuters article, but we just want to say two things: 1, Go Apa! and 2, We are now officially dreaming of the Great Himalayan Trail.

Here’s part 1 of a three-part video on the GHT. You’ll find links to subsequent parts on YouTube:

A wonderful client of ours, Mary Steimle, got a chance to write up her experience after a three-week trip to Tanzania, including a climb of our favorite Kili route, the Lemosho to the Western Breach.

She wrote a great report for travelblog.org’s Africa section, which includes this touchingg summary:

My 3 weeks in Tanzania was the best trip I’ve ever taken. The natural beauty, challenge, adventure and diversity made it a really unique trip. The selflessness of the porters and crew was an experience in humanity that I needed without even realizing that I needed it.

We can’t recommend enough that you read the whole thing, which she calls Kilimanjaro Reflection.

Thanks and congrats, Mary!

Embark Adventures & Expeditions was featured in this month’s newsletter of the Multnomah Athletic Club. Embark founder Donovan Pacholl will give a a presentation on climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro at the MAC on January 26. It’s a members-only event but you can be added to the invite list by getting in touch with Donovan.

This event is just one of several upcoming opportunities to meet with us in person.

To read the article from the “Winged M,” just click the image below or follow this link.

Embark Adventures & Expeditions will be part of several great events in the coming months. Come say hello in person, and let us help you plan your next great adventure!

Photo of the Year

January 21, 2012 – Portland, Oregon

Embark Adventures & Expeditions is one of the sponsors of this event, and we will have  a booth at this event. Organized by Friends of Outdoor School and Uncage the Soul Productions, Photo of the Year showcases amazing photography from around the world and raises thousands of dollars for the Outdoor School Program. More details can be found on the Photo of the Year website.

Multnomah Athletic Club

January 26, 2012 — Portland, Oregon

Donovan Pacholl, founder of Embark Adventures, will give a presentation on climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. The is a private, members-only event. Please contact Donovan if you would like to be on the invite list.

Mazamas Presentation

February 29 — Portland, Oregon

Donovan Pacholl and Jim Ronning will showcase their recent trek to Everest Base Camp and the climb up Island Peak, a 20,000-foot mountain in the middle of the Himalayas.

See the Mazamas website for details.

Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show

March 3-4, Vancouver BC

Embark Adventures & Expeditions will have a booth at this event. This adventure show will bring together representatives from destinations in all corners of the globe, and they will be ready to assist you in planning your next great escape! More details can be found at OutdoorAdventureShow.ca.

Teva Mountain Games

May 31 to June 3, Vail, Colorado

Embark Adventures & Expeditions will have a booth at this event. According to the website: “Professional and amateur outdoor adventure athletes from the Vail Valley and around the world will converge upon the mountains and rivers of Vail to compete in eight sports and 23 disciplines including: x-country, freeride, slopestyle and road cycling, freestyle, 8-Ball, sprint and extreme kayaking, raft cross, World Cup Bouldering, stand up paddle sprint and surf cross, as well as trail, mud and road running, dog comps and the GNC Ultimate Mountain Challenge.”

More details can be found at TevaMountainGames.com.

We don’t mean to be Chicken Littles yelling about the sky falling, but when a bunch of scientists announce that Himalayan glaciers have shrunk as much as 20 percent in the last 30 years, we take notice.

The report said the highest rate of loss was in Nepal (21 percent) and Bhutan (22 percent). But another number jumped out at us, a new one which hadn’t been researched before: the best guess is there are 54,000 glaciers in the Himalayas, covering 60,000 square miles. We also read here that there are 25,000 plan and animal species in the area, and a larger diversity of forest types than the Amazon.

So no, the sky is not falling, but the glaciers appear to be shrinking. And the Himalayas are, and will continue to be, and amazing place to go touring and trekking.

Much has been written about Bhutan’s official policy of Gross National Happiness. It’s meant to ensure good governance, sustainable development, and the preservation of Bhutan’s ancient culture. But a government policy … how fun is that?

An American named Jonathan Harris decided to lighten up our understanding of Bhutan and of happiness. And he used balloons.

As this story from Bhutan’s news service tells us, Harris went around Bhutan with a camera and recorder, and he asked 117 people five questions relating to happiness and their dreams. He then took their pictures, holding balloons with their dreams written on them, and the results are posted at balloonsofbhutan.org.

We have to fight the temptation to think of Bhutan as a place frozen in time, filled with people from the past. It’s a beautiful country which has held off modernization for many years, but its people have the same dreams we do. And yet the relative simplicity of their lifestyle and aspirations can inspire us and remind us that maybe we don’t need to be so stressed out.

Yet another reason we love to travel, especially to go trekking in places like Bhutan.

In America, a new commercial air route is not generally a big deal. But in Bhutan, the recent launch of Drukair’s Flight KB 511 was filled with journalists and members of parliament, and the new route to the eastern town of Trashigang was hailed as “a move towards equitable development in the country.” Indeed, a rough 17-hour journey has been knocked down to 33 minutes with free red wine!

Someone onboard shot a video, by the way, and you can watch it here.

Embark is excited about this and other such development in Bhutan. We already one offer one trek, The Yeti Trail in Marek and Sakteng, in the country’s remote eastern end. We look forward to exploring and sharing even more of the area, so this flight is exciting news.

Maybe it’s just human nature that young people want to move on, go where the action is, and express themselves in a way different from their parents. Once they get a chance to do that, there may be no stopping them.

In Ladakh, a remote corner of the Indian Himalayas, this has created a sudden and dramatic change in the culture. Long isolated from the outside world, Ladakh saw its first road from the outside in 1960, and starting in the 70s, outsiders came in for amazing trekking, adventuring, climbing, and even mountain biking. To us, it’s a paradise; but to the locals, it’s home.

We read a story from ANI (basically India’s AP) called “Need to preserve Ladakhi Culture, amid “shifting sands,” and we thought a few things. One was that it’s hard to begrudge young people seeking greater prosperity in cities and the outside world; the nomadic or rural life probably sounds better than it really is. We also cringe when we hear about the problems that come in with irresponsible and unplanned tourism. Another thought was that maybe this is all inevitable, and one day just about all of us will live in cities.

But what really struck was how quickly these traditional cultures can disappear, once exposed to the outside world. So we applaud groups like the Charkha Development Communication Network, whose mission is “Improved social and economic inclusion of rural marginalized communities in development processes.” In Ladakh they are helping youth and women to make their voices heard, to encourage responsible development and preserve cultural traditions.

We want to adventure: to trek Ladakh’s valleys and climb its peaks. And we want to do it before it becomes just another corner of TouristLand. But we also support initiatives like these, to empower local people to have greater say over their future, and to remind everyone that no one wants the whole world to look and act like westerners.

Sometimes you hear expressions like “I could do that with one arm behind my back,” but nobody ever really means it. So when we saw this headline — Texas Woman Climbs Mount Everest With One Leg — we stopped everything to read the story.

Well, the more you read, the more impressed you’ll be. Turns out Rhonda Graham is 61 years old, and her leg was amputated due to a staph infection in 1980. She got a prosthetic with pictures of mountains on it, to keep the dream alive in her mind. And by the time she finished the climb, the altitude had taken out most functionality of the leg itself. She pretty much literally did this on one leg.

We think just trekking to Everest Base Camp is amazing, and walking the Khumbu Region a rare adventure for most people. To do any of that, at 61, and/or with one leg, would be a cause for wonder. But to climb Everest? Rhonda says she did it to inspire people, and it sure worked for us at Embark. We love her message: “A leg doesn’t define who you are.”

Next up for Rhonda? She plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in July. Go, Rhonda!

Embark is in the news again, but not for the adventures of recent lore.

This time, the Portland Tribune profiled our founder Donovan Pacholl. Interview highlights include Donovan’s infamously overpriced haircut–”I had a guy in Nepal shave my head like a monk and do something with fire; he was using some kind of a lighter, throwing fireballs at my ears to burn my ear hair”–and his proposal story in Tanzania. Check it out!

This valley system in the high Himalaya is defined by the course of the Indus river as it flows from its source waters in Tibet. Roughly the size of Scotland, Ladakh is home to about 260,000 people, most in high-altitude settlements and some still living nomadically. It is the largest and least-populated region of the Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir, within one of the remotest corners of the Himalaya mountains.

Although politically the possession of India, Ladakh remains strongly influenced by the culture and religion of its Buddhist neighbors to the east and its Muslim neighbors to the west. Eastern Ladakh, where most tourism and climbing occurs, has been a center of Buddhist teaching since the 3rd century, A.D. and until the annexation of Tibet by China, Tibet was the home of Ladakhi religious training. The continuing influence of Tibetan culture is felt here in a variety of ways: the nearly identical architecture; the strong presence of Tibetan practices in Ladakhi religious life; the absence of rigid class structures commonly found elsewhere in India, and the higher status and social freedom afforded to women. All of these factors make it easy for visitors to see why the area is widely known as “Little Tibet.”

When the Silk Road was in use between 200 BC and 1400 AD, Ladakh represented a rare point of connection between Central Asia and South Asia. As late as the 1870s, traders continued to travel on a two-month journey over 11 passes connecting Ladakh to Amritsar and Yarkand. In the 1850s recreational trekkers began to share these trade routes, and slowly Ladakh became a popular destination for European explorers. Today the nomadic tradition flourishes in Ladakh, with literally dozens of high mountain routes ranging from easy trips of a few days in length to strenuous journeys lasting months.

The climbing opportunities waiting in Ladakh are limited only by the climber’s own reserves of time, experience, and inclination. While no mountains here reach the record heights found in other parts  of the Himalayas, Ladakh gives climbers a wealth of options for their first or 40th Himalayan summit above 20,000 feet, involving as much or little technical challenge as desired.

Zanskar: the Crown of Ladakh

Sandwiched between the Zanskar and Himalaya mountains, the Zanskar valley is formed by a river of the same name and its tributaries. It is one of the highest, coldest, and remotest places in the world to be inhabited year-round by humans, with elevations beginning at over 11,000 feet and winter temperatures commonly reaching -22 Fahrenheit.

Despite its extreme remoteness, Zanskar is one of the more populous Buddhist valleys in this high-mountain region. Approximately 10,000 people live in the villages, farms and gompas (fortified monastery schools) spread out across the valley.

There is no easy way to get to Zanskar. In winter the valley is buried beneath thick snow and is almost completely cut off from the outside world. Some locals, and increasingly more adventurers, trek on the frozen Zanskar River to get in and out. In summer, you can take the 14-hour drive up the Suru river to Pensi-La (“Gateway to Zanskar”) or you can go by foot over one of the other nine high mountain passes that ring the valley. An ancient network of trade routes links these mountain passes together and crisscrosses the valley floor below. This network is still being used today, and forms the backbone of a world-class system of trekking routes.

Not sure what we can say about this photo, snapped by a client on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, except some folks are braver than others!

We really enjoyed reading this article on the monasteries of Ladakh.

We love trekking in the Himalayas because it brings us in touch with the natural beauty of the world’s greatest mountains, and also with the culture and lifestyle of the people there. And as this writer puts it very well, monasteries “are they custodians of wisdom, culture, artifacts and the Buddhist way of life (as well as) melting pots of art, spirituality and education.”

We can’t wait to start offering treks in Ladakh in 2013, so we can start visiting these monasteries ourselves.

The New York Times has a story about an adventure that has captured our imagination: The Chadar Trek on the frozen Zanskar River of Ladakh.

Yes, the frozen Kanskar River. In winter, when roads are covered in snow, the people of Zanskar, a high valley in India’s Ladakh region, can only come and go by walking an ice highway through a rocky canyon. They call this the “chadar” or “white blanket” trek. For them, it’s a necessity; for adventure-minded folks like us, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime dream destination.

In fact, Embark plans to begin offering this trek in January 2013. Stay tuned!

One of the things we like about trekking in places like the Himalayas is that it brings cultures together. We of the West get to experience not just the beauty of climbing mountains like Nepal’s Island Peak but also meet the people who live there and experience a few moments of their culture. Likewise, we get to tell them about our lives back home.

The arts do a great job of this, as well, and that’s why we’re excited about the just-announced Ladakh International Film Festival. According to this story from an Asian film magazine, the festival will be held in June 2012 and is calling itself “the highest altitude film festival in the world.”

In fact — and here are some things we can learn from Himalayan culture — they have built in a day of rest for visitors to adjust to the elevation of more than 13,000 feet, and the pro-ecology agenda includes time for guests to do some fish-planting . The mascot (and the biggest award of the show) is the Snow Leopard.

Films will be divided into four sections: Indian, International, Ladakh & Competition. You can keep up with developments on the festival’s Facebook page.

Their mission statement is “We endeavor to delight the people around the world to come and get exposed to the best of the world cinema in the magical Land of Ladakh.” And we at Embark say, that sounds like one more great reason to go enjoy Ladakh!

Trekking into the Mount Everest region and climbing the highest trekking peak in Nepal was plenty of adventure. But Embark’s 2011 Imja Tse Expedition had one more adventure before returning to the US: getting out of Lukla.

As KATU TV in Portland reports, weather held the group in place for several days — along with hundreds of other cold, tired trekkers. They eventually walked out, got scooped up by a military helicopter, and taken to an airport. Everybody returned home safe and sound. You can read all about it on our leader’s Imja Tse Trek Blog.

All in the name of adventure.

Sometimes you just have to step back and be amazed.

It’s one thing to trek in the Himalayas, which we at Embark are fond of doing, whether it’s to Mount Kailash in Tibet, Mera Peak in Nepal, or the Yeti Trail in Bhutan.

But for today, our hats are off to two Tasmanians who have ridden recumbent tricycles 1,100 meters across the Himalayas, from Lhasa to Kathmandu. They even made it to Mount Everest Base Camp!

The trip was a fundraiser for Braille Without Borders, and there’s yet another level to the story. Paul Pritchard was a world-class climber until a 1998 brian injury left him paralyzed on the right side of his body. He spent two years learning to walk and talk again, and now he’s ridden his tricycle across the Himalayas.

The adventurous spirit just won’t die!

Just the word “Kashmir” makes the adventurous soul smile. It’s a high valley, surrounded by tall peaks, dreamed of and fought over for centuries. And for the last 20 years it has been considered off-limits because of various military and terrorist action.

Now folks are starting to go back to Kashmir. A group of three accomplished female trekkers and mountaineers recently spent three months scouting the route for the Great Himalayan Trail and checking out a host of unnamed peaks.

An Indian news site has a story headlined Trio’s Bid to Put Kashmir Back on Trek, in which one of the explorers is quoted as saying, “We were overwhelmed by the hospitality showered by the local people on us. We felt safe though we were women trekking on the mountains in Kashmir.”

Another story, from the Kashmir Dispatch, reports that the group saw “brown bears, snow leopards and other wild animals, and we were simply amazed.”

Their trip is part of an effort to get people to return to Kashmir, and Embark Adventures supports this goal. We love adventure, of course, and we long for places where your average tourist can’t, or won’t, go. But more than that, we believe that trekking can be a means to bring people together, spread economic benefit, and close the gaps that exist between us as people, no matter where we live.

We welcome the potential re-introduction of the trekking world to the magical valley of Kashmir. ANd we hope to get there one day, as well.

This week Embark Adventures got six people on the summit of Nepal’s Imja Tse, also known as Island Peak. This 20,305-foot peak is the primary goal of our annual Island Peak Trek and a truly classic Himalayan trekking experience. The group also visited the Mount Everest Base Camp and, at the moment, is in Lukla, waiting for a flight out.

You can read all about their adventures on the group’s Imja Tse 2011 blog.

Here are some images from the trip. Congratulations to all the trekkers and climbers!

Mount Everest from Kala Patar viewpointOur base camp for Imja Tse, elevation 5,150 meters.

Our base camp for Imja Tse, elevation 5,150 meters.

Here’s a shot of our good friend Mark Weidman, flashing the Embark banner during a trek in British Columbia’s Whistler/Blackcomb area. We appreciate Mark’s support and admire his adventuring ways!

Embark Supporter Mark Weidman in the Whistler/Blackcomb Area

The goal: Nepal's Island Peak

This week Embark Adventures’ Island Peak trek is heading into the mountains of Nepal, where they aim to climb 20,210-foot Imja Tse, better known as Island Peak.

Already, the group has seen Kathmandu tourist sites such as Pashupatinath, a Hindu site of ceremonial cremations on funeral pyres along the holy Bagmati River, and the medieval town of Bhaktapur, one of the original three kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley.

Most recently they crossed the Dhud Khosi River on a bridge which Embark’s Ken Stober helped to build  in 1998 for the benefit of the people of Syangma village. They were met by a veteran climber of Mount Everest and K2, who took them to his home for a cup of traditional Sherpa sweet milk tea.

And lest you think it’s all rough and tumble on an Embark trek to Nepal, here’s a shot of two group members “roughing it in Lukla.”

It's not all rustic accommodations in Nepal!

Some folks have to go through a lot to remember something simple.

Slate Magazine tells the story of  the youngest person to ever hit all 321 spots on the Traveler’s Century Club’s checklist. But “hit” was the right word; some of those places he barely spent five minutes in — just enough to check it off the list.

He wound up being the record-holder for most countries visited, as well as the record-keeper for an actual ranking of the world’s most-traveled people. Sounds crazy, but it’s real.

Then something funny happened; he realized his list was being taken too seriously, people were starting to compete with each other, starting to bicker. As he said, travel is “supposed to be enjoyable and fulfilling and about bonding with new people, not creating walls.” Indeed.

Along the way, he realized what we all know in our travel souls: that travel is really about getting out there to see the world and its people, which in turn is about the depth and quality of the experience. As another “competitor” put it, “visiting the countries in a proper way, overland.”

We couldn’t agree more, and it’s what we’ve been doing all along, anyway: traveling to new and interesting places in ways that are rich in quality and human interaction, whether it’s roaming the Himalayas or scaling Africa’s highest peak.

We’re glad the “World’s Most Travelled Person” has come around to agreeing with us.

A Himalayan Times story reports that an association of trekking agencies is urging the Nepalese government to open several areas of Nepal which are now restricted for trekking. Other changes being urged are reductions in trekking fees and a simpler permit process.

Embark Adventures supports this effort. We agree with the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal that more trekking equals more economic opportunity for the people in areas such as Upper Mustang, Upper Dolpo, Manaslu and Kanchanjunga. Currently those areas are listed as Restricted.

Embark considers each of these areas to be among the great trekking destinations of the world, and in fact one of our 2012 Nepal treks will be to Mustang and Everest Base Camp in October.

Mustang is politically part of Nepal but geographically and culturally much more Tibetan. It’s a high, arid region — the name translates as “fertile plain” — hunkered in the rain shadow (and on the Tibetan side) of the Annapurna Massif and the Dhaulagiri Range. Though it was annexed by Nepal in the 18th Century, it had its own monarchy until 2008, and many people still recognize the current king.

Today only a couple thousand people visit Mustang every year, and it was only opened to tourists in 1992. Mustang’s history is still alive and well; the capital of Lo Manthang is a walled city dating to the 14th Century, and recently 800-year-old Buddhist paintings were discovered in cliffside caves. Whitewashed villages, unchanged for centuries, dot a desert landscape below snow-capped peaks, and Mustang’s primary river, the Kali Gandaki, runs through the deepest gorge in the world.

We can’t wait to get there, and we hope even more of it becomes open to the mutually-beneficial trekking business.

Starting this week, Embark Adventures will be leading a trip to Nepal, highlighted by an attempted ascent of 20,210-foot Imja Tse, better known as Island Peak. Trip Leader Jim Ronning has started a blog where you can read all about the group’s planning and preparations.

This trip is just one of many wonderful treks we have available, including the Island Peak Trip and another to the Mount Everest Base Camp.

You just never know where mention of Mt. Kilimanjaro might pop up these days.

Last week, fellow fans of Portland’s beloved Portland Timbers Major League Soccer team told their Kilimanjaro story to the writers of the Timbers Army blog. Why? Because they scarfed the peak with their ‘No Pity’ Timbers Army scarves.

Tara and Adam Meyer, both of whom played soccer at Lincoln High School–well enough to get them onto their college teams, too–joined their father on a six-day climb to the top. Both worked until recently in Washington, D.C., but Tara moved to Tanzania to study elephant and human interaction there. They say they both miss Portland so much that they just had to show their Timbers loyalty at Africa’s highest peak.

Legions of travelers come to Tanzania every year to explore the country and look for ways to “experience” Africa for the first time.

A trip to Tanzania can give you many different types of experiences: hiking on a massive mountain, wandering game reserves, interacting with traditional cultures, exploring fascinating cities and villages, and plunging into a welcoming population. For many, it’s a first time in Africa and a chance to step off the beaten path.

Many people, however, sit in safaris all day, have a controlled experience, and don’t get a real taste of Africa.

There are a few tips to enjoy your time in Tanzania, whether you are climbing Kilimanjaro, going on safari, or just exploring.

Develop the “Hakuna Matata” Philosophy

This saying is the essence of travel in Tanzania and you will hear it all the time in many variations. It’s a Swahili phrase, which translates literally as “no problem.” Think of it as saying, “When you come to Tanzania, relax, expect the unexpected, and go with the flow.”

What this means for you: everything tends to take longer, or happen at a different time and pace than your typical schedule. There is no instant gratification. If you adopt hakuna matata as your philosophy while you travel, you will have a much better experience as you explore the country. Just plan to expect the unexpected and your time in the country will be much more exciting.

Those who are on a very tight schedule and expect everything to happen on cue will have a much more difficult time enjoying the country and its people.

Visit Mount Kilimanjaro / Climb the Lemosho Route

Africa’s highest point is known as “the everyman’s Everest,” because its 19,341 foot summit can be reached without technical gear and can be done by an average, fit person with a few months of training.

If you decided to climb Kilimanjaro, follow the path less traveled. We recommend you consider climbing the Lemosho route through the Western Breach trail – and spend 8 to 9 days hiking through the many different eco-systems. This is the best, least traveled, route on Mt. Kilimanjaro and will assure you a great wilderness experience without the Kilimanjaro crowds on the other routes.

Additionally, by climbing the Western Breach, you will not only get to climb the most adventurous route up Africa’s highest mountain, but you will get to explore and see all the famed glaciers and the ash pit in the Crater Rim.

Make sure to watch the Kilimanjaro IMAX movie for more details about this route.

Go off the beaten path

Tanzania is one of the countries where it’s very easy to get off the beaten path, yet 97 percent of travelers follow the well-worn tourist path. If you see loads of other travelers, try exploring in another direction – in cities, villages and on safari. Stop in random markets, follow dirt roads to sleep villages, point your safari vehicle away from the masses, and drive.

Tanzania is a safe country, with people who are friendly and helpful. Much of the countryside sees little tourism and will be excited to see new faces. Much of Southern Tanzania and Eastern Tanzania see very little travelers, yet all of these places are easily accessed on buses.

One of the best areas to explore in Northern Tanzania is up on Mt. Kilimanjaro, before the Kilimanjaro National Parks but outside of the cities of Arusha and Moshi. You can explore tiny rural villages on the side of Mt. Kilimanjaro that see very few travelers and have a wonderful experience all to your own. Of course, there are popular villages like Marangu and Machame, but there are other less known as areas such Mbokomu. In these areas, there are schools, villages, waterfalls and a host of great adventures for those who like the road less traveled.

For example, the small island off the coast of Tanzania, and just 2 hours by ferry from Dar es Salaam is a dramatically different feeling that inland Tanzania. First and foremost, the Swahili Coast Island is a mainly Muslim island, with loads of spices, palm groves, and various other plantations growing around the island.

Historically, it’s also was the slave trading center for slaves that were brought from inland Africa and then shipped to Europe or America. Now, tourists flock to the beaches to relax after their safari or climb up Kilimanjaro. The capital of Zanzibar is Stone Town, an old world town, with wonderful architecture listed on the Unesco World Hertigage site.

Experience the Maasai

This colorful, large pastoral tribe still lives in very traditional ways. They are synonymous with Tanzania and will be seen everywhere across the countryside as you explore Northern Tanzania and Southern Kenya. Many of the Maasai wear a traditional red garb and beads, and are often see herding goats and cattle across the plains near the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater.

Try to visit a traditional Maasai village – not on the tourist routes – and wander through the village, asking questions about their culture. The Masai are a very welcoming people, and will be eager to show you around their villages.

Be courteous, and ask for permission if you want to take pictures of them.

Explore the Town & Markets

Some of the best experiences for travelers are those that are not planned. You should leave the safety of the hotel, or your big safari vehicle, and wander around the small towns. You will often find yourself doing anything from watching a cow get slaughtered, listening to children sing in school, or finding a local mosque or church where you will be invited in.

One of the best ways to have a unique experience is to check out the local markets where vegetables, fruit, rice, and grains are sold. Quite often if you see a large gathering of people in a village, it’s typically some kind of market.

There are some great outdoor food markets in Moshi, Arusha, and Dar es Salaam, and also on safari routes, like Mto Wa Mbu. In the markets, you can not only see the traditional vegetables, such as tomatoes and onions, but also get to test jackfruit, or large oversized avocados and pineapples. You can see and smell the butcher’s meat, freshly cut from that day. Often these are on certain days of the week, so inquire with locals in advance.

Eat Local / Drink Local

Don’t hang with the other tourists at the hotel eating Western food. Go to a local bar or restaurant and order local food. The best things to order in Tanzania are Nyama Choma (BBQ meat) and Ugali (maize), which typically comes with some type of sauce on it. This is traditional Tanzanian at it core.

To really make the plunge, buy a goat and have someone roast it for you. This will involve actually buying the goat, which typically runs about $40, and then having someone kill it and barbeque it. Yes, a goat; it’s the Tanzanian equivalent of a big turkey dinner, the way they mark big occasions, and the locals will love it, too. This is best done on safari, near a population center where you can buy goals. Talk to your outfitter in advance and see if this can be arranged. The safari drivers and cooks enjoy treating everyone to nyama choma.

If you want to really get a unique experience, try to wash your goat down with some mbege, a local beer fermented with bananas. Opinions vary, but everyone agrees it’s unique, and a pure Tanzanian experience.

Visit the Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which lies between the Serengeti and the Lake Manyara National Parks boasts the largest unbroken, inactive, unflooded caldera in the world. Perhaps having once been about the same size as Mount Kilimanjaro when the volcanic activity subsided, it collapsed inward, resulting in a crater 11 miles across.

Surrounded by very steep walls 2,000 feet deep, this natural amphitheatre covers about 100 square miles and is home to up to 25,000 larger mammals. Nearly half are zebra and wildebeest, while other species include buffalo, gazelle, eland, hartebeest, warthog, and the elusive black rhino. Lion, hyena, cheetah, and leopard are among the predators within the crater.

Volunteer

Although this would usually take more than just a few days, this is another great way to experience the culture and get to know people. You can volunteer with a local NGO or contact the headmaster of a school and offer to speak English with the children.

If you want to do an extended volunteer opportunity in Tanzania, try to find the right organization that meets you needs in advance, and realize that Tanzania is not in need of “warm bodies” but rather people who have specific skills, such as doctors and engineers.

Take a local bus

To know Africa on any true level, you must ride on a multi-colored bus, called a dala-dala, crammed to capacity. There’s no purer, or crazier, way to be a part of Tanzanian culture, and it’s wonderful if you adopt the Hakuna Matata philosophy during the ride.

Essentially, a bus that normally seats 12 people can easily seat 25, in addition to belongings and children. The travel is slow and cumbersome, but it truly shows you a slice of Tanzanian life that most people deal with on daily basis.

Learn basic Swahili salutations / greetings

Tanzania is a country that prides itself on greetings, often times greeting the person 3 to 4 different ways. Try to learn the basic greeting and responses, and practice on the locals. These are very easy to learn and easy to pronounce.

Locals love teaching people the correct greetings, which are very basic, but go very far toward respect and breaking down cultural barriers.

Photos: speedphotos/flickr, Chijs/flickr, kevinzim/flickr, geoftheref/flickr,

We at Embark always love to see and cheer on other Portlanders working on projects in the outdoors. The latest to come across our radar is a great little outfit run by three women out of NE Portland called Hungry Hikers. Their tagline says it all: “We fuel your adventure.” From classics like Beef Stroganoff (pictured) and Sheppard’s Pie to the more unique Forest Park Pilaf and Cascade Corn Chowder, this lineup is looking stellar. Check out their full line of yumminess via their online store, where one meal costs $8.99 and a 12-pack $97.10.

Climbers Amy Mendenhall and Bridget Martin share their photos and stories from climbing the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania this past February. Major props to both of them for giving us a view into a truly insane and unique climb. We hope it’s obvious why we recommend it.

Andy Schiestl has masterfully profiled his February Kili climb with Embark. Check out his step-by-step retelling here:

***

Arriving in Moshi

February 14th: Everyone got to town alright, we went on a tour around Moshi in the morning. Stopped at the Kilimanjaro coffee company again, there was coffee brewing class going on and a guy from Portland was one of the instructors, amusingly enough. Toured around the market (first the big market, then the slightly smaller more spread out one. Got to be a bit overwhelming, I split off to head back to the hotel for lunch. After a briefing that evening, went through my bag with Freddie and confirmed that I had the right gear.

Tree Camp / Miti Mikubwa

February 15th: Off we go! Stopped for a bathroom break on the drive up along dirt roads, had a couple of Masai come up and ask if they could get a ride (they weren’t going to the same place we were). It was kind of amusing to see one of them in traditional Masai garb chatting on a cell phone. Stopped to pick up porters (37 of them!) and get gear distributed at check-in station, then proceeded to the trailhead along a road that started out sketchy and quickly escalated to hair-raising (banged into a tree a couple of times trying to get past it on muddy ruts). We began climbing through the jungle from about 6000 feet at about 2 in the afternoon (with monkeys hooting in the background). Got to Big Tree camp just before it started pouring, thankfullly the mess tent and our tents were situated already. Dinner was amazing, much better than any of us expected. The whole scope of the group was pretty amazing, 58 people in total (cooks, porters, guides, “juice machine” operators, and the 12 climbers) heading up the mountain.

Tree Camp to Shira One

February 16th: Woke up at Big Tree camp at 9000 feet, and it was raining. It rained pretty much all of the previous night, and I was looking forward to a rather wet trip, but by breakfast it was only misting, and it cleared up about an hour into our hike. We had some of the crew come by with tea or coffee for us in our tents, by the end of our trip we had gotten use to the “Good morning! How did you sleep?” that they would greet us with. Cleared out of the jungle at around 10,000 feet, it was very noticable and happened within minutes on the trail. Got our first good view of Kilimanjaro coming over a ridge line onto the Shira plateau. It looked big, far away, and very snow covered. Stopped at Shira 1 at about 11500 feet, nice little river running nearby and great view of the mountain when it was clear. I started taking Diamox this evening, since I was getting close to the edge of the altitudes I was used to going to.

Shira One to Shira Two

February 17th: Got up and began trekking across the Shira plateau to Shira 2 camp. Got a mild headache while ascending to the next camp (at 13000 feet), but went away shortly after we got there. Fairly easy day, not much elevation gain and into next camp not long after noon. Had some time to explore the area, there was a very interesting creek with several waterfalls right near camp. Shortly before dinner, several people from our group ran into another group who was heading down without attempting to summit, they had multiple horror stories about icy conditions, other groups turning back, and groups of porters that had gotten snow blindness. Many people in our group were concerned, but Freddie (our lead guide) said not to worry and that we’d see what things looked like at lava tower when we climb there the next day.

Shira Two to Lava Tower

February 18th: Up in the morning and began hiking to Lava Tower at 15,000 feet. We start encountering snow at a little shy of 14,000 I would guess. The weather throughout the day was ridiculous, went from sunny and warm to mild hail and back to sunny again within 10 minutes. The temperature difference when the sun was out was incredible, at one point after we arrived at Lava tower, I was lying in my tent in just shorts (at 15,000 feet) and was almost too warm. We also had the incredible experience of looking down at the top of thunderheads. I felt fine when we got into camp (on the border of a headache again, a lot of people experienced that), but started feeling really tired just before dinner, and just crashed afterwards (on the plus side, got 11 hours of sleep). Jenny in our group had a pretty serious stomach bug as well, thankfully we had the rest day on the 19th.

Lava Tower

February 19th: When I get up in the morning, I try walking on the snow, it’s pretty solid after multiple warm days, but the surface is excellent, not slick at all. As part of the rest day, we hike up to Arrow glacier (about a 2 hour hike up) and get our first good view of the route up through the western breach. It’s looking pretty promising, and other groups are heading up ahead of us as well. I’m feeling pretty good about the climb at this point, the snow level appears to be receding and the forecast looks positive.

Arrow Glacier

February 20th: In the middle of the night when I get up to go to the batroom (drinking 5 liters of water a day will do that), I start developing a stomachache. Which gets pretty bad, takes me about 2.5 hours to get back to sleep, and when I’m waking up still not feeling too great, not much of an appetite. Jenny is better, but now her husband Eric seems to have the same thing. Just before we get started I’ve got some minor nausea, Amy, Bridget, and Christy hit me with a variety of remedies (Tums, pepto, acid reducers, ginger stuff) and the combination of everything seems to help quite a bit, still feel a little off but not bad. We head up to Arrow glacier and go through a safety talk, then after dinner everyone tries to get some sleep.

Arrow Glacier to Crater Rim to Uhuru Peak

February 21st: Summit day part 1. They start waking everyone up at 11:00pm, I woke up at 10:30pm (due to cold) finished packing and gearing up (3 insulating layers and 2 wind shells on legs, 3 insulating layers and a shell on my body, 2 glove liners and a shell on hands. From the sound of it I got more sleep than just about anyone else, went to sleep right at sunset so I got 3.5 hours. Unfortunately the wind has come up a bit, pretty cold out. We head out at midnight. The wind and cold are a little nasty (my fingers are occasionally getting numb until I warm them up, other layers holding up okay), but other than that conditions are pretty good, snow solid and good steps kicked in. Everyone is starting to feel the altitude after the first couple of hours, about 2-3 hours in Christy starts getting really dizzy and passes out, Celia ahead of me starts picking up a cough, I hear Alex is starting to get a little dizzy as well. Route is turning out to be more exposed than I expected, pretty narrow as well (really glad for the steps). About 2 hours in I stop looking up because it’s too disheartening. About 3 hours in, I stop looking down because the exposure is starting to get disturbing. About 4 hours in I stop looking at anything immediately in front of me, it looked like we were almost there, but someone asked and it was another 2 hours up. My camelback freezes up about an hour and a half in, my nalgenes freeze up to the point I can’t drink from them about 5 hours in, all my snacks are too cold to eat (except for the GU, it’s an extremely thick paste). “The only way out is up” becomes a mantra to me. We clear the crater lip a little before 6:00am, the wind starts blasting us (I’d guess sustained 25-30mph with gusts substantially higher), but I can already see the sky lightening.

Uhuru Peak to Mweka Camp

February 21st: Summit day part 2. As we clear the crater rim, we stop briefly but begin moving almost immediately to get to crater camp and out of the wind. Things are lightening up and we start moving out of the wind, I start laughing with tears in my eyes, from some combination of watching the sunrise and relief at making it to the crater rim. Christy starts heading down after they get to camp, she’s showing a lot of symptoms of rather serious altitude issues. Peter (her fiance) goes with her, as do Alex (he feels better a bit later, but we’re already making the last push for the summit) and Eric and Jenny. The remaining 7 of us and two guides continue. The last run up (even though it’s only about 500 feet up) is in a few ways harder than the climb up to the crater rim, we’re barely moving and I feel like I’m running, and I can tell I don’t have much left. We finally get to the top and congratulate each other, spend about 20 minutes taking pictures. The altitude is really having some interesting effects, standing still I’m taking more than a breath a second, and the side of my hand facing the sun in just a liner glove feels warm the instant it’s in the sun. I start bonking not long after we leave the summit, and about an hour later I actually start getting altitude sickness on the descent. We’re still at about 17000 feet, and I’m dehydrated, have barely eaten anything, and I’m 3 hours past when I should have taken my last diamox. I fix all three issues and continue descending, within 15 minutes I feel fine (although tired). We stop at 15000 feet for lunch, unforunately there was a miscommunication and our lunch is down at 12500. We take a half hour break to recover, then continue. After lunch, we continue descending to camp at 10000 feet, and arrive a little after 3pm (that’s a 15 hour day for those keeping track, almost all of it in motion). I’m so tired I sleep through dinner, wake up to brush my teeth, than go back to sleep.

Mweka Camp to Park Gate

February 22nd. Finish the descent down, goes pretty quickly. Almost feels anti-climatic, it took almost a week to ascend and only a day and a half down. Head back to town and clean up, turn in some laundry since heading out on safari the next day, and hang out at the pool for about an hour (have a couple of beers, local beer Tusker is an excellent lager) go out for dinner with the whole gang. I break out the schnapps from Pension Christina and share with everyone (turns out quite smooth and tasty). Back to the hotel and finish packing up for safari, ready to go.

These are the new tents Embark will be offering on all trips in Africa and Asia moving forward. The tent is a Mountain Hardware Trango 3.1–meaning it sleeps 3, although we only put only 2 people in each.

Embark is exploring trip options to Ladakh, a trekking region in northern India that borders Tibet and Pakistan. Ladakh plays peaceful host to Indians, Pakistanis, and such a great number of Tibetans that the region, so strongly influenced by Tibetan culture and religion, is called “Little Tibet.”

Embark adventurer Ken is currently reporting from the city of Leh in the Ladakh region, which is surrounded by the giant Himalayas. His colorful blog includes great photos and personal observations, including: You land at 11,580 feet and the affects of the altitude are immediate (headaches, chills); every other bag at baggage claim on arrival is a 50-pound bag of rice brought in by locals returning after a bitter winter; and the hotel provides a hand bucket for the toilet and a red bucket for bathing.

Clearly Ladakh is no tourist trap–in fact it is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Kashmir–which makes traveling there both hard (not as many restaurants, easy-to-read maps, etc.) and luxurious (no tourists). Embark is excited to continue to explore this rugged terrain in the hopes of offering up an affordable but breathtaking step off the beaten path.

Friends Bridget Martin, Amy Mendenhall, and Andy Schiestl faced heavy snow and freezing wind, and watched other groups turn back, but they managed to conquer the summit of Kilimanjaro, and it turned out to be beautiful. Bridget weighs in with the following account, which proves that the right climbing partner can make all the difference:

“Summit night was a challenge mainly due to two things:  the incredible cold temperature/wind and the fact the air is so thin. Each step was incredibly taxing on my breathing, especially when we had to do a couple quick moves in succession on the rock scrambles. And the fact that I was shivering for about 7 hours that night didn’t make matters any easier. When we got to the crater I was so excited I thought we were on the summit (I was ignoring the fact that there was another bit of ascending trail  to my left, the mind can play tricks when there is little oxygen). Amy said, ‘Come on, lets go,’ and I said, ‘Where?’ I was pretty happy just being on the crater. But she reminded me I didn’t come all that way not to summit so up we went the last stretch to the summit. . . pole, pole. Reaching the summit was a dream of mine for about 10 years and I am so excited I made it. What a spectacular sight to behold and sense of accomplishment to be standing on the highest peak in Africa!”

Thanks to Lisa Green for sharing her Embark safari photo, during which she learns some traditional dance moves with the Masai.

Kate Evans shares stories from her trekking trip to Bhutan with Embark Adventures

Stephen and Cindy Koester just sent us this photo from their Kilimanjaro climb at the Furtwängler Glacier near Crater Camp just 1,000 feet from their summit of Kilimanjaro. They came up the Lemosho Route and through the Western Breach. A couple people had to descend due to altitude sickness, and although they had bad weather much of the trip, it looks as though near the summit, the weather started to improve for these determined partners.

Big kudos to David and Ingrid, whom we sent to Kilimanjaro in August, for coming back with such great images and stories. David recorded himself describing some of his best images from the trip; check out the audio slideshow above, and our YouTube channel for more.

CNN has released its 10 best trips for every type of traveler in 2011–described as Foodie? Adventurer? Beach bum? No matter what type of traveler you are, here’s the perfect vacation for 2011–and one of our hot new treks is on it.

Exploring the Andes through the mountains and people of the High Antiplano and Lake Titicaca along the border of Peru and Bolivia, we enjoy the city life of some of the highest cities in the western hemisphere and trek deep into the mountains, where the stars have a dazzling quality and angle unique to the region. We even devote a few days to grade 5 climbing deep into our trek, but this it optional, and there are routes for any level, including first-timers and experts alike.

Interested in this trip? Have any questions? Send us your thoughts through our contact page.

Kilimanjaro has a few dirty little secrets. We’ve talked before about one of them—that the most popular routes can be absurdly crowded.

A far darker secret no on likes to talk about is that many porters aren’t paid livable wages, often have to pay for their own food on the way up and therefore barely eat anything while hauling backbreaking loads, and refuse to turn back down the mountain when they experience altitude sickness because they cannot afford to.

So it is with great pride that we at Embark are a part of the great Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, the nonprofit that focuses on ensuring that porters make livable wages, are treated fairly, and that they actually receive the tips climbers try to give them.

We sat down this week to Skype with Australia-based photographer Helen Osler, who became involved with the porters project when she climbed the mountain back in 2008. She tells us one thing that really struck her about the porters that helped her reach the summit was how interested they were in her camera, and how skilled so many of them were as photographers.

She began to wonder how she could get porters on the mountain to take photos, given they couldn’t afford the equipment. So she launched the Porters of Kilimanjaro Photographic Project, through which she had people all around the world who were traveling to Tanzania bring disposable cameras and then get them back to her weeks later.

Out of the 75 cameras delivered to Mt. Kilimanjaro, 55 came back, giving Helen more than 1,000 photos to sift through. She says she was struck by how thoughtful so many of the images are, and was inspired to develop a book, even though the resolution isn’t large enough for a truly large, coffee-table, glossy book.

Called Cameras of Kilimanjaro, the 104-page color book costs roughly $48, but money raised through the photographic project will be used to improve the porters’ working conditions. Helen’s drive to help the porters is truly admirable. Among her observations:

“There are incredible risks, the same as everyone who climbs there, yet they can’t afford to go down. Their families won’t be eating if they lose their job that day, so they keep going. When I climbed, we gave medication to two or three of the porters, but they refused to go down. And there was nothing we could do about that; it was their choice.”

Helen says the average wage each porter earns per day should be 8,000 Tanzanian shillings, but the porters association has found it goes as low as 6,000. This converts to $4 a day instead of $5, “which is well under what they should be paid,” Helen says. “Which in our terms is just nothing.”

Check out the book, and if you can’t afford it, spread the word about it and about the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, too. But the best thing you can do if you’re going to climb Kilimanjaro is to make sure that you find an outfit that works with the project and to do what you can to deliver tips to porters yourself. And remember: When you pay as little as possible to climb, the porters are the first to take that hit.

Aside from its expansive serentiy and Gross Domestic Happiness agenda, what sets the Kingdom of Bhutan apart from the rest of the world is its $200 daily travel fee required of all visitors.

The fee is essentially a permit, and it is a flat fee charged to any visitor regardless of income level, length of stay, etc. There is, simply put, no way around it. And the Bhutanese government plans to raise the rate to $250 a day in 2011.

But what many outsiders do not know is that this fee covers all the in-country basics: food, lodging, permits, etc.

Bhutan’s economy, incidentally, is the second-fastest-growing in the world, due in large part to a big hydroelectricity project. Even still, as of March 2006, the country’s per capita income was $1,321, so your incoming travel dollars go far.

Embark will be announcing more trips to Bhutan soon, but for now, our existing trip provides a great outline for what you’ll get out o f a trek through this magnificent, well-preserved, and tranquil landscape. The base cost covers the daily travel fee.

Alan Arnette doesn’t get much rest. It seems like the climber is barely back from his Everest 2010 season and he’s already announcing his next mission, and it’s personal.

The 7 Summits Climbs For Alzheimers: Memories Are Everything expedition is Arnette’s attempt to summit each continent’s highest peak, in just one year, all to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. His mother Ida, who passed away in 2009, struggled with the disease, and he first began planning this journey in the months before she died.

Arnette is off to Antarctica first, in just a few weeks, to get his start at the top of Mt Vinson (16,066 feet). He then heads north to Aconcagua in Argentina (22,841 feet), and then jets over to the Himalayas in time for that small spring window to get up to his old stomping grounds, the top of Everest (29,035 feet). He’ll then go for Denali (20,320 feet) in the US, Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet) in Tanzania, and Elbrus (18,481 feet) in Russia. He’s saving the technical climb of Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia (16,023 feet) for last, and he plans to throw in a bonus climb up Kosciuszko (7,310 feet) in Australia, as some consider this necessary to get to the highest point of every continent.

On his blog, Arnette writes:

I will climb the 7 Summits in 2010 and 2011 and conduct fund raising events before, during and after each expedition. My supporters are the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund and International Mountain Guides plus Outside Online following the journey with updates I send directly from the climbs. You are invited to join on a climb or a trek, help with a fund raising event or make a donation today. Together we can make a world without Alzheimer’s.

One suggestion is to donate a penny for every foot climbed on a particular mountain (up and down). Carstensz Pyramid, the shortest, would cost you $36 for the cause, while Everest, the tallest, would set you back $196. Kilimanjaro would total $140.

Big kudos to David and Ingrid, whom we sent to Kilimanjaro in August, for coming back with such great images and stories. David recorded himself describing some of his best images from the trip; check out the audio slideshow above, and our YouTube channel for more.

The Serengeti National Park is arguably the most beautiful national park in the world, one we do our best to tread through lightly when we embark on safaris after climbing Kilimanjaro. If the proposed road through it is constructed, that protected landscape will no longer be a place of refuge but a superhighway of vehicles that will greatly disrupt the wildlife that still heavily populated the region.

This week, scientists are now chiming in, with 290 of them from 32 countries petitioning for an alternate route that will better preserve the region’s wildlife and botany.

This signing comes on the heels of the group Save the Serengeti‘s call to action in June (pdf here), as well as warnings by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in July about various impacts, including: “The proposed road cuts through a critical wilderness area that is essential to the migration. The type of road surface matters little. The migration itself could easily collapse, with a devastating effect on all wildlife, the grasslands, and the entire ecosystem.”

Dr. Anne Pusey, an evolutionary anthropology professor at Duke University who studied lions in the Serengeti for 10 years, writes: “The Serengeti is a unique and precious ecosystem–one of the very few large-scale migratory systems of large animals remaining on the planet…. A road across the migratory routes will devastate the system for all the reasons listed in this [petition] letter and survey.”

Check out more detailed responses here.

RIP, Joe Puryear.

The Seattle-based Mount Rainier climbing ranger reportedly fell 1,500 feet to his death earlier this week on the 24,170-foot Labuche Kang in the Himalayas. His blog has yet to be updated.

The Seattle Times article says Puryear, who was 37, had been hooked on climbing since the early ’90s, and that he’s written several guidebooks as well. Details of the fall have yet to emerge, other than this passage from Puryear’s wife:

On Wednesday October 27, David and Joe started their route on LaBouche Kang. It was finally a clear and beautiful day. Joe was very excited about the climb as he and David set out. Early on in the climb they were ascending a knife edge ridge and Joe went ahead to scout the route. David said Joe was smiling and kept looking back giving the thumbs up. Joe went around a rock outcropping and disappeared from sight. David following came around the corner and what appeared to be a continuation of the ridge, had given way and revealed a cornice. Joe had apparently stepped out onto the snow, which gave way and he fell 700 feet to his death. David was able to repel down to Joe’s body. David reported that Joe died on impact and did not suffer. He was able to retrieve the SAT phone and call. David is devastated, but strong and in good health. He has returned to base camp and is awaiting help from Global Rescue.

The discrepancies in how far he fell have yet to be sorted out.

Puryear spent his life, up to his final moment, doing what he loved. Our thoughts are with his friends and family. Trust details, and a letter from Puryear’s wife, can be viewed here.

Polar explorer Eric Larsen reached the summit of Everest this week for his Save the Poles mission. He’s been blogging throughout his climb, and has two killer posts on the details: Everest Summit Story Part 1 and Part 2. As is inevitable during any Everest summit bid, the final moments brought a strong desire to turn around:

About the same time we were to reach the South Summit two things happened. One, we ran out of rope. Two, the clouds started rolling in – both did not bode well in my mind. To solve the rope situation, we cut some of the fixed rope from below us and relayed it forward. The impending whiteout, well, that just added to my stress.

At the South Summit, I seriously considered turning around. I could see the summit, but it was getting late – after 11 and the weather was turning really sour. We still needed to get down and now that we had removed much of the fixed rope through several dangerous sections of the route a hasty retreat would be slow and arduous. I asked Chhering what he opinion of the devolving situation.

‘No problem,’ he said.

Unfortunately, Chhering had slighty frost nipped his hand and therefore Nima (Kalla) led through the Hillary Step. I didn’t think we would get up. Slowly, he kicked steps and cleared snow and eventually made it to the top. We followed slowly and carefully reaching the summit about 200 meters later.

His success marks the end to his Save the Poles journey, with the goal of being the first American, and among only 15 people in history, to stand on all three poles (Everest being the third). Having stood on the South Pole on January 2, he also becomes the first person to ever stand on all three poles within 365 days.

A study has just come out confirming what many climbers already know: summiting mountains as high as Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro involves a high risk of acute mountain sickness, and steady acclimatization before the final ascent is the best guard against it.

The study appears in the current issue of High Altitude Medicine & Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) and Muhimbili University College of Health Science (Tanzania) evaluated the incidence of AMS among trekkers of Africa’s highest peak by comparing the effects of three increasingly difficult and rapid ascent routes, the option of a single rest day during the climb, and use by a sub-group of climbers of prophylactic acetazolamide.

The authors reported a similar rate of AMS among climbers regardless of drug use, a finding most climbers already know anecdotally. More surprising is that a mid-climb rest day did not seem to have an affect on AMS, although we’d argue it has an affect on physical and mental stamina. The only way the researchers found to protect against AMS, given the risk of it is so high, is to acclimatize before final ascent, which is precisely why it’s so important to take things one day at a time.

In the report, the researchers found: At 2743m 3% of the 177 climbers recruited at this altitude had AMS. Following headache, the commonest symptom reported on LLS sheets was fatigue (38%). At 4730m, sleep disturbance was the commonest symptom described (82%). 47% of the 189 climbers on all itineraries were AMS positive.

Climbing Kilimanjaro is no joke. Slow and steady definitely wins the race.

Shattered from getungrounded on Vimeo.

When climber Michelle Smith slipped and fell almost 60 feet while crossing the Valhalla Traverse in the Grand Tetons this summer, she and her climbing partner Stephen Koch decided to keep their camera rolling.

This nine-minute edit of their experience calling in for help and being airlifted by helicopter off the icy rock is pretty exhilarating; you can see the pain in Michelle’s face as she waits for several hours with a broken leg and thumb, but her ability to stay calm, positive, and focused goes beyond simply having experience on a mountain. She’s got real backbone.

We believe in taking our time up Mt. Kilimanjaro to maximize each group’s odds of reaching the summit, typically spending 7 or 8 days on the ascent alone. Still, it’s always exciting to keep track of just how fast the world’s elite athletes can conquer a mountain. Often these are endurance runners, with altitude being the ultimate challenge.

So the latest record just set on Mt. Kilimanjaro is a truly stunning one, because endurance runner Kilian Jornet was able (at age 22) to accomplish every hour what the average climber does in a day when he ran up to the 19,340-foot summit in 5 hours 23 minutes and then back down to base camp before the clock had hit 6 hours 29 minutes.

Jornet’s time beats two records: First, he beats Kazakh runner Andrew Puchinin’s ascent time of 5 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds by just a minute, which is, yes, insanely close. It also took Puchinin 4 hours 14 minutes to return to base. By contract, Tanzanian Simon Mtuy spent 6 hours reaching the summit but had held the roundtrip speed record of 8 hours 27 minutes, which Jornet absolutely killed with his 6.5-hour time.

According to an article in French on the feat, the day also featured a true show of sportsmanship, with Mtuy waiting for Kilian at base camp to embrace and congratulate the new record holder.

Most mountaineers will tell you not to climb Kili in fewer than 5 days. What havoc this exercise may wreak on Jornet’s body may take years to truly know.

In January 2010, artists and adventurers Renan Ozturk and Corey Richards packed up their bags and headed to the Khumbu region of Nepal to tackle Tawoche, a 21,463 foot peak that stands in the shadow of Ama Dablam.

But they decided to send their own dispatches, with their own footage, writing, edits, and production, literally as their journey happened, instead of relying on experts back home to take all their footage and compile it into a third-person narrative months after the action.

The result is stunning and intimate, not to mention all the more thrilling knowing that even they do not know what will happen next. Check out the compiled mini dispatches below. It’s well worth the 16 minutes.

Anyone who read Elizabeth Gilbert‘s travel memoir “Eat, Pray, Love” (and let’s face it, a lot of people did) knows the hunger for not just visiting a place, but experiencing it. Those with the luxury of time can actually carve out months at a time actually living in their dream destinations, but for those with only a week or two at their disposal, getting off the beaten path and finding what is real about a place is practically an oxymoron.

Which is why we at Embark were so excited to come across the travel piece, When ‘Real’ Is the Traveling Priority, in The New York Times this week. Because this is exactly the kind of travel we believe in–the kind that lets you try a place on and wear it for a while, test its pulse. Simply put, we are not in it for the T-shirt.

This is why we take people to more than just the mountain when we climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, and even on Kilimanjaro, we prefer the route less traveled (Lemosho), so that your path up what will arguably the best climb of your life will not be littered with tourist traffic. We’ve also taken several side trips to visit with the Masai, as seen here. We don’t just stare at and photograph the locals; we interact, share food and stories and laughter.

This is what real travel is all about.

Some like to put it this way: The mountain decides. And because so little is known about the high-altitude illness that claims the most lives at high altitude, the legend lives on. Because HAPE (high-altitude pulmonary edema) can strike anyone, without warning, on any climb.

Kathleen, who at 55 had been training for eight months with her niece Kami to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with Embark this past August, at first exhibited no symptoms that, without emergency treatment, she might have died up there. She was, quite simply, tired.

It really didn’t get tough until day three of the climb. Day one, they hiked from roughly 7,000 feet to 9,000, and again on day two they made it up to 11,000 feet. But on the third day, which involved another 2,000-foot climb in altitude, Kathleen, who had noticed exerting more effort with each passing day, was beginning to feel tired enough to wonder whether she’d summit:

When we got to 13,000 the third day, we got there in the afternoon, and I just felt tired. I didn’t have trouble breathing, I was just tired and glad to get there and relax. It felt like an effort to get to our tent. I remember talking to my niece in the mess tent and saying, “So what if I can’t make this?” At that point I was thinking it was more of a mental push, because I could see it getting progressively more difficult.

On day four, as they set out toward Lava Tower on the steepest part of the climb thus far, Kathleen began to really struggle. Steve, the assistant guide, noticed right away, and offered to carry her daypack. It couldn’t have been more than 10 pounds, and the fact that not having to carry it felt so good was a sign that Kathleen was really starting to struggle.

About an hour before reaching the tower, Kathleen was having to stop regularly. There was no scramble, but to Kathleen the grade felt steeper and steeper. And when they finally made it, all she could think of was lying down. But when she did, all she could do was cough, no matter what position she tried.

Later that night, after dinner and games, Kathleen went back to her tent to try again for quality sleep. But, she says:

It was the same thing. As soon as I laid down–just coughing, coughing. Terrible coughing. As the night wore on it got worse. I got up at 1 in the morning and felt really tired going 20 yards to the bathroom tent. I went back in and found that the only way to get relief was to lie on my stomach and prop myself up on my arms. I woke up a half hour later and my arms were killing me.

At 4 a.m., Kathleen had to get up and go to the bathroom again, and at that point she was so fatigued and worried about having bronchitis that she woke up Freddie, the head guide. What kept throwing everyone off the HAPE trail was that Kathleen was only experiencing fatigue and cough, without the very common nausea and headaches most people have to suffer through. But Freddie played it safe, put her on oxygen, and said they’d have to wait for dawn to head down.

At first light Kathleen had to say goodbye to her niece Kami and head down the mountain, with Freddie carrying her oxygen tank. It was tough to see the disappointment in Kami’s eyes, to know that Kami now had to push ahead on her own, but Kathleen was so exhausted she knew there was just no other way:

The assistant guide Steve came into my tent and packed for me. Kami of course is really sad that she has to go without me. And they gave me more oxygen. He measured our PO2 every day, and he would measure morning and night. It’s a measurement of how much oxygen your blood is carrying, so how much energy you have, and if everything is normal it’s 100 percent. Sometimes in the morning it would be 80, 84, just because you haven’t been moving yet. And that morning, mine was at 54. And when I came home my nephew said people are comatose at 50.

When she coughed up the color orange, Freddie knew for sure it was HAPE, but by this time they were almost back down to the emergency vehicle that would take them to Moshi.

“I’m not feeling bad about it now,” Kathleen says today, just a month after her return. “I had a great adventure.” Kathleen got to spend eight months preparing with her niece; got to travel to Africa; got to see the joy in Kami’s face when she came down from the summit. And she still gets to tell people she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. She just didn’t quite make it all the way.

Of the 120,000 or so trekkers who visit Nepal every year, only 5 percent go beyond the Annapurna, Langtang, and Everest regions. That’s just 6,000 trekkers actually trekking off the beaten path.

Since we at Embark are always seeking out the path less traveled (i.e. we climb the least-traveled Lemosho Route up Mt. Kilimanjaro), we are thrilled to announce that Nepal is about to open both the world’s longest and highest alpine trekking route as part of their Nepal Tourism Year 2011 initiative.

Called the Great Himalayan Trail, this route–officially opening in January 2011–will spread out across 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers), allowing adventurers to explore the far reaches of the Himalayan region. Eventually, this trail will connect several countries:

“The long-term aim is to connect the six Asian countries of Pakistan, China (Tibet Autonomous Region), India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar via a route covering more than 4,500 km of the Great Himalaya range,” said Lisa Choegyal, consultant to the project and Honorary Consul designate for New Zealand in Nepal.

Highlights of the route include views of the world’s 14 highest peaks, winding along the sacred headwaters of the Ganges in India, traversing the entire length of Nepal in the shadows of Annapurna, Everest, and Kanchenjunga, and dabbling in Myanmar and Tibet as well.

Technically the GHT, as it is being called, already exists in the form of several old and new routes. This recent unveiling and naming is the result of better connecting and mapping these routes for the world’s most ambitious trekkers.

See pics and stories from various portions of the trail here, and learn more about the Nepal section through trekker Robin Boustead’s stunning documentation of his journey in 2008, when he covered an upper section of 1,000 miles, a high-altitude portion that mixes high passes with alpine valleys. His guidebook is set for a 15 November 2010 release.

Nestled deep in the heart of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania’s legendary Serengeti lays the Ngorongoro Crater–a large, unbroken caldera that formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself a few million years ago.

Today, the 2,000-foot-deep, 1,000-square-mile Ngorongoro Crater boasts a richness and diversity of wildlife that lives up to its big bang start. Home to an estimated 25,000 animals, the crater boasts not only the Big Five (rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants, and buffalo) but zebras, gazelles, wildebeests, and more.

And yet the crater, because of its geographic enclosure, is also home to interesting genetic experiments. Some animals–most notably lions–face serious problems as the result of generations of inbreeding, and when migrating male lions try to dip into the local gene pool they are easily bested by the unusually large lions that have benefited from generations of abundant food.

Archaeologists estimate that hominids have also occupied the crater since its inception a few million years ago, with pastoral farmers replacing hunter-gatherers a few thousand years ago. The Maasai have roamed the crater since the 1800s, and still do, in a situation unique in Tanzania that allows for the human occupation of a protected conservation area. Since 1979, the conservation area has also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

For those who come to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, we at Embark are compelled to at least offer an extended stay post-climb to safari through the region, with the Ngorongoro Crater being the ultimate highlight. In the summertime, the area is witness to one of the largest migrations in the world as millions of wildebeest, 470,000 gazelles, and 260,000 zebra pass through the plains of the reserve, to name just a few. It should be noted that cheetahs, which are common in the reserve, have grown scarce within the crater itself, and that the African wild dog has all but disappeared from the crater and throughout the country, too.

With summer winding down, 2011 is quickly approaching–and adventurers are starting to plan their next faraway excursions. Embark has many adventure trips planned, including new treks through Mongolia and Bolivia as well as classic favorites up Mt. Kilimanjaro and to Everest Base Camp. Start zeroing in on your ideal travel dates and destinations now so that 2011 does not come and go without another journey of a lifetime.

April:
Nepal – Everest Base Camp
This 15-day hike up to Everest Base Camp is a classic for anyone hiking in the Himalayas or visiting Nepal for the first time. This trip can be completed by anyone in good physical shape, and does not require mountaineering skills. There is an optional Island Peak climb on this trip for those interested in mountaineering. This is a non technical 20,000 ft peak that looks at Everest.

June:
Boliva & Peru – Exploring the Andes
This trekking and cultural trip exploring the Andes, with visits to Lima, Isla Taquile, Isle Del Sol, La Paz, Tiahuanaco, and the snow-covered peaks around Tuni. This trip begins and ends in Peru, but spend a bulk of its time in Andes in Bolivia.

July through October:
Tanzania – Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb & Safari
This is Embark’s classic climb up Africa’s highest peak, followed by a wildlife safari through the Serengeti National Park. Our most popular trip includes multiple dates throughout 2011. We already have 6 scheduled groups in 2011 that others can join.

September:
Mongolia – Altai Mountain Trek
This exploratory trek will encompass 14 days of trekking in Western Mongolia’s rugged Altai Mountains, exploring the surroundings and meeting the nomadic Kazakh herdsmen, and keeping our eyes out for the elusive snow leopard. Email us to get on the mailing list.

October:
Bhutan – Chomolhari Trek
This trek takes us into the outback of Bhutan where we hike to over 16,000 ft, visiting remote villages, learning about the traditional lifestyles of yak-herders. This trek is one of the most popular trek in Bhutan that endows you with great variety of Bhutanese landscape and is considered one of the most beautiful & unspoiled trekking areas in the entire Himalayas.

As your sort through the following options, keep in mind that we at Embark pride ourselves in customizing trips around your dreams and logistics, so keep in mind that most of our adventure trips are available year-round and open for groups on any dates in addition to the ones outlined below. More adventures for 2011 will be added soon.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us, and as always, adventure on!

Over the weekend, travel writer Shawn Donley featured Embark Adventures in The Oregonian as the best way for Portlanders to find a local guide up Mt. Kilimanjaro. He has this to say of Embark founder Donovan Pacholl:

The Tanzanian government requires all climbs to be guided and supported. If you’re looking for a local option, I doubt you’ll find anyone in Oregon who knows Kilimanjaro as well as Donovan Pacholl. He spent several years living at the base of the mountain and in 2003 helped establish the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project. He now runs Embark Adventures (www.embarkadventures.com), which specializes in climbs up the beautiful Lemosho route.

Props also to Donley’s second local pick, Nicole Apelian’s Trackers International. She leads nature lovers on trips to Botswana’s Okavango Delta.

Occasionally, those who climb Mt. Kilimanjaro make it a mission to help the locals in meaningful ways through pledge drives, etc., as they work toward the summit. Embark is proud to be guiding a duo in late August that has founded Operation Elevation.

David and Ingrid are, in their own words, “seeking to give back to the country and community that we have the privilege of visiting.” So they’re partnering with Amani Children’s Home at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the hopes to raise money for Moshi’s street children and orphans.

The goals of Amani, which is Swahili for “peace,” are to provide healthy food, education, counseling, and medical care for every child who turns to the group for help. Since it was founded in 2001, the Tanzanian-run Amani group has rescued hundreds of children from the streets, where risk of HIV transmission, malnutrition, and abuse is high.

A small amount goes so far in Tanzania. Take the following list provided by the group as an example:

$20 – Feeds one child for one month
$50 – Provides medical care for one child for one year
$150 – Pays complete primary school fees (tuition, fees, uniform, school lunch, etc.) for one child for one year
$348 – Provides full care (school, clothing, food, medical care, and counseling) for one child for one year

If you plan to climb Kilimanjaro, consider setting up your own pledge drive with the Amani. And if you donate to the group in the name of Operation Elevation, it will be all the more inspiring for David and Ingrid to push to the summit of Africa’s highest peak.

At Embark we’re not shy about picking favorites–that’s how we decide where to go and what to do in the world–and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro sits high at the top of our list. But while in Tanzania, we consider foregoing a safari through the Serengeti truly lamentable. You just have to try to make the time for this unforgettable post-climb event.

The Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s first and most famous park and a major portion of the entire Serengeti region, which makes up 14 percent of Tanzania’s land area and comprises not only the park but also the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Maswa Game Reserve, the Loliondo, Grumeti and Ikorongo Controlled Areas and the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.

More than six million hooves pound the legendary plains of the Serengeti, which is renowned for its wealth of leopard and lion. The vast reaches of the park also help the black rhino fight extinction and provide a protected breeding ground for the vulnerable cheetah. Every year, triggered by the rains, nearly two million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle gather to undertake the long trek to new grazing lands.

At least 2,000 years before Europeans first explored what is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Maasai lived off this fertile, wild land that was eventually established as a protected park in 1951 and covers 5,700 square miles (14,763 square km) of some of the best grassland range in Africa. One of our favorite parts of the safari is spending time with Maasai–an honor few tourists have.

Serengeti’s ecosystem is also known as one of the oldest on earth, whose climate and vegetation have barely changed in the past million years. With plants that range from dry scrub and grasslands to towering baobabs, this park goes from burnt yellows in the hot, dry summers to a rainbow of flowerbeds that streak across green fields during the springtime rains.

You may have heard of the Big Five–lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and buffalo–and the Serengeti is one of the world’s only parks that boasts them all. Our guides are so passionate about their work they have been known to get a bit emotional if and when they are able to track down and show all five. But these impressive beasts aren’t the only wildlife to get excited about. Cheetahs, gazelles, hyenas, baboons, impalas, giraffes, and wild dogs populate the rugged terrain, not to mention more than 500 species of birds and 100 types of dung beetle, trees so beautiful and strange they’ll distract you from the animals, and a night sky so full of starlight you might not need your head lamp.

Check out our Serengeti Safari itinerary, our audio slideshow with John Leary on his recent trip, and details on the tents and lodges we prefer on what is arguably the greatest safari in the world.

We all know that ultimate adventure involves ultimate risk, but that knowledge rarely makes rough news any easier to take.

And so the world watches with bated breath as news of 16-year-old Abby Sunderland, trying to solo-circumnavigate, indicates that the young and determined adventurer may be lost at sea. She sailed into a big storm in the Southern Indian Ocean earlier today, and activated her emergency beacon locating devices after losing contact over satellite phone with her family. In her blog on 7 June, Abby reported that winds had reached 45 knots and that she was expecting gusts up to 60. Her older brother Zac (pictured) became the first person younger than 18 to solo-circumnavigate back in July 2009. Comments on Abby’s blog continue to pour in.

Today’s blog has a report from her family reassuring followers: “Abby has all of the equipment on board to survive a crisis situation like this. She has a dry suit, survival suit, life raft, and ditch bag with emergency supplies. If she can keep warm and hang on, help will be there as soon as possible. Wild Eyes is designed for travel in the Southern Ocean and is equipped with 5 air-tight bulkheads to keep her buoyant in the event of major hull damage. It is built to Category 0 standards and is designed to self-right in the event of capsize.”

At this point, Abby has set off two of her three emergency beacons. The third–a deep-water automatic beacon–is triggered by salt water and goes off when the boat has reached a depth of about 15 feet. We’re all hoping this means that in spite of what has clearly been an epic struggle, the 40-foot Wild Eyes is still afloat.

One of our favorite adventure writers, Kraig Becker of The Adventure Blog, has published his latest Himalayan High musings on Gadling today, and this time it’s about trekking to Namche Bazaar.

One of the most popular pockets of civilization on any trek through the Himalayas, Embark spends days 3 and 4 on our trek to Everest Base Camp in and around Namche as we acclimatize at just over 11,000 feet, resting and explore the hamlet. We also spend a night at Namche on our way back to Kathmandu on day 11.

Perched high on the steep slopes of the Khumbu Valley, Namche Bazaar has some of the best tea houses in the region, although as Becker points out, making your way around Namche does require stair climbing. But we don’t think of it as a hassle; getting around Namche Bazaar is a fun way to keep your legs moving in one of the most beautiful and quaint settings anywhere in the world.

Lemosho Route

With fewer than 10 percent of climbers on the trail and potential to see a variety of wildlife on the first day through dense jungle, the Lemosho Route is Embark’s favorite and most frequent way to enter the mountain. At 72 km (almost 45 miles), the longer route allows for more thorough acclimatization, resulting in a higher success rate from start to finish.

Starting on the western edge of the mountain, Lemosho is considered the route of rich flora and wildlife, with great side treks across the Shira Plateau and up to Moir Hut – from which climbers encounter some of the mountain’s most dramatic views. The Lemosho Route is also the best approach to the Western Breach, and the best way for those who want to enjoy each step of the way with the greater certainty that they’ll make the summit.

Western Breach

After five days up the Lemosho Route, the Western Breach offers the only ascent up the Western side of Kilimanjaro, and is one of the most demanding and impressive non-technical climbs chosen only by mountaineering-style companies. The scrambles and exposures up parts of the breach make this the least-trafficked and most rewarding way up the mountain. While most mountaineers choose the Western Breach with competent guides like Embark, less than 5 percent of the total climbers on Kilimanjaro take this route.

An optional stop is Crater Camp, perched high at 18,000 feet and just an hour’s trek to the summit, so you don’t have to launch your bid at midnight. The final ascent can then be slow, with the most epic morning views. With time to explore the mountain’s glaciers, the Crater Camp Route creates the strongest sense of adventure, isolation and wilderness of all the ways up Kilimanjaro.

Machame Route

Known as the Whiskey Route, the popular Machame Route follows the old climbing adage, “climb high, sleep low,” combining the beauty of what might be the most stunning approach to Kilimanjaro’s summit with the speed of steeper paths and faster elevation gain. The summit is typically sunrise of day 6, with a steady descent into day 7, but a few do the climb in 5 or 6 days, depending on the group’s level of fitness.

At 67 km (almost 42 miles), the Machame Route is ideal for those who want to take the safest trip up the mountain in the shortest period of time while camping outdoors. Like Lemosho, the trail passes through five ecosystems, from dense forest and heather up through moorland, alpine desert, and finally, the glorious summit. Soak up breathtaking views of icecaps, forests, and the massive base of Africa’s highest giant.

Marangu Route

Dubbed the “Coca-Cola” route, Marangu is considered the easiest, fastest (5 days), and most-trafficked way to the summit of Kilimanjaro. Those looking for serenity as they make their summit bid might find Marangu disappointing, as it can see hundreds of climbers at various stretches along the route.

Horombo Hut, at 3,720 meters, is more like a village and can fit 120 hikers, guides, and porters at a time. It is from the hut that most climbers make their summit bid at midnight, climbing eight hours to reach Uhuru Peak as the day breaks, only to turn around and head back down to Horombo before nightfall. With 14 hours of climbing in one day, Marangu is fast and easy until the end, when it turns into the most grueling ways to summit and descend.

Rongai Route

The Rongai route approaches Kilimanjaro from the northeastern side of the mountain, along the border between Tanzania and Kenya. Because of the long drive down a difficult road, it sees relatively few groups and is for the climber who wants all quiet on the eastern front.

Experienced guides consider the Rongai route to be both easier and more scenic than the more-trafficked Marangu Trail, which it intersects on the final day. Most climbers descend Rongai via the Marangu route, totaling 65 km (roughly 40 miles). Some descend via Mweka. If you want an extra day on the mountain, which usually happens at camp Mawenzi Tarn, this is the route for you.

“Climbing Kilimanjaro and going on a safari was a dream of mine and Embark made it so much more than I could have imagined! We could tell our guides, cooks and porters were the best trained on the trail. I will never forget the care and friendship they offered us. Every detail was thought of and we felt safe. We enjoyed every aspect of the Tanzanian country, animals, mountain, culture and it’s people. So glad we found you! Thanks again!”
Kami N, July 2010

“I was very impressed with Embark. Their staff were professional but very caring. Their whole focus was to help us reach our dream of reaching the summit. They monitored us closely treated us like family, not just clients. The food was incredible – Joseph could be a chef in a fine restaurant. Even though I didn’t make it to the top, I would recommend Embark as the best company to go with. We compared notes with other hikers and without exception, our guides and support crew treated us and prepared us the best. “
Kathleen N, July 2010

“My adventure in Africa, and especially my climb of Kilimanjaro, was planned, organized and executed by Donovan Pacholl of Embark. The trip progressed flawlessly, and I couldn’t be happier that I chose Embark to be my adventure travel company. I would definitely travel with them again.”
Jim R, Feb 2010

“Embark Adventures with Donovan Pacholl as our leader truly provided a trip of a lifetime for me to Tanzania. Donovan organized our trek to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, which everyone in our group reached successfully via the spectacular Western Breach route. He put together an unbelievable wildlife safari, which was beyond my expectations and arranged for us to visit several villages and interact with the local people. I can’t imagine that anyone else going to Tanzania could have had a more rich and unique adventure. The trip was simply amazing and a dream come true. Thank you, Donovan.”
Jann B, Feb 2010

“From start to finish, Embark handled every aspect of our climb with professionalism and aplomb. The guides were knowledgeable and friendly, the gear was top-notch and the meals on the mountain were the best we had in Africa. I’d happily recommend the company to anybody looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience on Kilimanjaro.”
Erik J, Jan 2010

“Taking the less-beaten path, Embark sets itself apart from other tour providers on the mountain as a company that isn’t just about getting you up and down the mountain, but doing it in a way that would give the best experience. While other groups slogged through barren trails packed with other climbing groups, we spent most of the trip hiking in peace and quiet, soaking in the gorgeous landscape. Embark’s experience and professionalism and unique itinerary ensured that we would have the best chance to summit – my entire crew made it to the top!”
Ben H, Feb 2010

Embark specializes in climbing Mt. Killimanjaro through the less-traveled Lemosho Route and up the Western Breach. The Lemosho route takes 4 to 5 days before it reaches the true base of the mountain, where the Western Breach section begins. This approach is the only one that travels up the western, steep side of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The Western Breach is an alternative route off the Lemosho Route, and can be taken on the final two days prior to the summit. The breach is essentially a steep, 3,000-foot scramble (from 15,000 to 18,100 feet in altitude) done by less than 1 percent of the total Kili climbers. It’s only mildly dangerous (all mountain climbing is, right?), and is typically only done by mountaineering type companies boasting high caliber guides who, if needed, can kick steep, with an ice axe for 11 hours up a route that is not visible by the snow.

We truly believe the Lemosho and Western Breach combo is not only the best, most advanced non-technical route up Mt. Kilimanjaro, but it also affords many things that the average person climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is not able to access using different routes. We are so committed to climbing this route up Mt. Kilimanjaro that we now lead this route exclusively.

There is a secret behind the Machame and Marangu routes that other outfitters do not share.

Authentic experience

Less than 10 percent of the Kilimanjaro climbers come up the Lemosho Route and less than 1 percent up the Western Breach. Why?

First, the Lemosho Route is hard to get to. It’s a three-hour drive from Moshi on a bad road, and as such it is difficult and expensive to transport gear and people to this side of the mountain. There is a forest fee for reaching the start of the Lemosho Route that makes it more expensive for outfitters. They would prefer you to climb the easily-accessed route. We believe the more remote and difficult to get to, the better! After all, you’ve traveled thousands of miles for this.

Acclimatize

On the Lemosho Route, you have to commit to spending more time on the mountain, as the Lemosho route is best done over eight days, whereas other routes requires only 7, 6, or even 5 days.

Should you climb up a 19,000-foot mountain in five days? Any mountaineer will tell you no. It is too high, too fast. You need to acclimatize your body in order to climb that high, and you have a much higher chance of success if you climb the Lemosho / Western Breach route and take a full day of rest at 15,000 feet.

For Mountaineers types

Most of Mt. Kilimanjaro is essentially a big hill hike. You hike to 19,341 feet while walking. The Western Breach, however, is much steeper, has a few places with exposure, and even has some fifth-class climbing.

It mountaineering terms, you sometimes use both your feet and hands to climb up various steep rocks. While the Western Breach can be done by anyone in good physical shape and does not require ropes, this type of climbing is much more suited for a mountaineer versus someone who just wants a hill hike The last day is steep, the trail is not wide, and you must take the climbing seriously.

Any mountaineer who has climbed Kilimanjaro will tell you to climb the Western Breach, as it truly affords you the best experience. If you are adventurous, we highly recommend the Western Breach.

Crowds

The dirty secret of Kilimanjaro is that there are loads of people climbing the mountain. During certain times of the year, you can easily be in a camp with 300 to 500-plus people. It is often dirty and loud.

Because the Lemosho route is more expensive, and because the Western Breach requires a certain caliber of guide and outfitter, most people do not use it. Therefore on the Western Breach, you may find a group or two, but not 500 people like the sheer volume of people on the Machame and Marangu routes. On the Western Breach you will hear the quiet mountain; on the Machame route, you will hear all the other people.

The Machame and Marangu routes see more than 80 percent of the climbers, which means you have loads of people on trails, too. It can be a sea of hikers, with hundreds of people at each camp.

Touch The Glaciers & Explore the Ash Pit

Most people want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to see the beautiful glaciers at the summit–the ones we hear are melting. Due to their locations and because climbers have been at it for eight hours by the time they summit, the Machame and Marangu routes afford climbers little opportunity to explore.

When you come up the Western Breach, you cross the rim of the mountain and into the inner cone of Kilimanjaro, and therefore can see all the glaciers, from the Northern and Eastern icefields to the Furtwangler Galicer. You can touch the famous Furtwangler Glacier, walk around it, and explore the Ash Pit of the Reusch Crater. Check out Embark’s picture at the Furtwangler glacier.

Crater Camp

The highest camp on Mt. Kilimanjaro is Crater Camp, which is best accessed through the Western Breach. It sits at more than 18,000 feet and is a great way to only have a one-hour climb to the summit. If you want to sleep at the summit, then you’re best off climbing through the Western Breach. This camp should only be used by those who take climbing Kilimanjaro serious

One of our clients’ favorite tented safari lodges are run by Tanganyika Wilderness Camps. From mobile tented camps to farm houses and full-on lodges, these are ideal for people who want what we’ll call luxurious rustic.

The mobile camp option moves during the migration, perched in private areas rich in fauna and wildlife and alongside local tribes and farmers. The company’s focus is on long-term conservation, and they’ve seen up these lodgings to ensure that the locals and the environment are benefited by tourism without resulting in communities that feel “touristy.” Check out more photos of different lodging options here.

The BBC has released a news report today that sherpas who regularly climb Mt. Everest say global warming is rendering traditional climbing methods with crampons and ice picks hazardous.

Mt. Everest, the earth’s highest point at just over 29,000 feet, is said to be experiencing a rise in temperatures faster than anywhere else in South Asia. As such, the sherpas say they are seeing snow and ice melt faster than in recent years, exposing sheer rock that metal objects don’t bite into.

It currently costs a climber at least $70,000 to pay for the climbing permits, guides, equipment, and travel to Everest, but if the mortality rate rises, guides (and likely permits) are bound to increase with those risks. The world’s highest point will still likely be climbable, but will require even more advanced rock climbing skills, the sherpas say.

Todd Merkel and Stephen Ashbrook embark on 14-mile hiking adventure in the Columbia River Gorge. Don’t worry, Stephen’s hair usually looks much longer, like a rock star, and Todd wants you to check out Portland Charcuterie Project for some information about charcuteries, whatever that is.

Earlier this week, we wrote about the Ndarakwai Tented Lodge, one of our favorite places to stay on the eve of our climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro. But where we spend our final night in Tanzania is of equal importance as we kick our feet up and reflect on the journey of a lifetime, and the Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge is at the top of our list.

What makes this lodge so exceptional isn’t only that it looks down on the town of Karatu with epic views, or that it is so close to the Ngorongoro Crater, or that it is the idyllic place to relax and rest before the long haul home. The Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge is ultimately great because of its mission: to provide a home for the children of Rhotia Valley who have none. The great folks behind the lodge call their project “two hills one goal,” and they currently care for 24 children, ages 6 to 17.

Traveling halfway around the globe to climb a mountain and witness an entirely new world of wildlife is not just the adventure of a lifetime, but a chance to truly connect with local people and local missions, and this is but one of Embark’s ways of becoming a part of the places we visit. Because like the Rhotia Valley lodge, Embark is not just a company – it is a philosophy.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Adventure Junkie blogger Kraig Becker recently returned from a trek to Everest Base Camp, and is writing a mini series of tales from the front for Gadling.

His first and introductory post, Himalayan High: A Trek to Everest Base Camp, came out earlier this week, and his second, Kathmandu – Gateway to the Himalaya, appears today.

Becker, who you can also follow via Twitter at KungFuJedi, is one of those casual, sentence-fragment writers who manages to share his wealth of knowledge about all sorts of adventure goings-on around the world without talking down to his readers. He also turns out to be a natural photographer (see above pic). In his musings on the chaos of 21st Century Kathmandu, he maintains a perspective on his place in the gateway to the world’s greatest mountain range:

All of these experiences in Kathmandu, both good and bad, are just a prelude to what really brings you to Nepal. A Himalayan adventure of a lifetime. In my case, that meant a trek to Everest Base Camp and a once in a lifetime hike through the most incredible scenery on the planet. Soon, I would trade the heat and smog of the city for clear blue skies, roaring glacial rivers, and incredibly thin mountain air. Something I was more than ready to experience after two days in the Nepali capital.

And in the end, we’re probably all better-equipped to handle the complexities of modern civilization after escaping to – and surviving – the parts of the world that remain so lightly tread.

Over the years, Embark has cultivated great relationships with all sorts of local resources around Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the Ndarakwai Tented Lodge is no exception.

Instead of driving three hours from Moshi to start our journey up Kilimanjaro, Embark much prefers to enjoy a night or two at Ndarakwai, which is just 30 minutes from the gate to the Lemosho Route. Big on character, the lodge is surrounded by wild animals (they report having identified more than 65 large mammals and 350 species of birds) that provide the perfect pre-climb open-air jeep adventure.

The privately-owned ranch calls itself “an experiment in self-sustaining conservation,” and works to preserve a variety of habitats that are home to the Amboseli / Ngasurai Basin eco-system, including helping preserve seasonal elephant routes. Starting the climb up Kilimanjaro from the Ndarakwai Tented Lodge provides us with a stunning contrast in scenery from day one to the summit.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Trek to the doorstep of the world’s highest mountain in what is arguably the highlight of any journey to Mt Everest. This 25 day outing will take us to the exotic and chaotic Kathmandu, and from there, on a strenuous and challenging exploration of Nepal’s magical Khumbu region, allowing for close-up views of dozens of Himalayan Giants as we ascend Island Peak, a 6189 meter peak just four miles S. of Mt. Everest.

Sleeping mainly in tea houses along the route, ease into the vibrant Sherpa culture, pose alongside friendly herds of yaks, breathe in the spring aromas of hedgerows and Rhododendrons bursting to life, and run your fingertips through the rush of glacial water as you approach that most illustrious of giants, Mt. Everest.

This outing will not only include a trek through the heart of the famed Khumbu region all the way to Everest Base Camp, but will also include a climb of Island Peak, known to the Sherpas as Imja Tse. At more than 20,300 ft. in elevation, Imja Tse provides unobstructed views of some of the world’s highest mountains, including Everest, Nuptse, Lohtse, the Lohtse Wall, and Makalu.

Costs, exclusive of your international airfare to Kathmandu, will range from $3755 to $3943 depending on party size, and will include all in-country meals and lodging, all trekking, access and climbing permits, and all guides, porters and equipment. Your application must be received by September 30, 2010, and a deposit of $500.00 will be required upon acceptance.

GorpTravel has just been revamped into the bigger and better AdventureFinder.com, a website that tries to help you find your own dream spots. Think of Amazon or Netflix helping you comparison shop–”users like you liked this”–but with destinations and activity types as the results. Even if you don’t plan to take advantage of the results anytime soon, it’s worth checking out; the experience is its own adventure, as far as websites go.

For those who have no idea what they’re looking for, AdventureFinder also showcases featured activities of general awesomeness, and currently points to some of Embark’s favorite trips as sure winners, from climbing Kilimanjaro to exploring Costa Rica by foot, bike, and raft. Beyond hunting by destination or activity type, the site also allows you to check out who else is going. Looking for adults only? Solo travelers? Seniors? Gay friendly? Narrow your trip type based on these parameters, too.

We wish AdventureFinder great success, and hope it helps more people discover their inner explorer.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Ethan-Todras Whitehill for The New York Times

The New York Times has a thorough and stunning account of trekking the world-famous Annapurna Circuit, Last Footfall in Nepal, as well as an update on the plans to build a road in place of it by 2012. This harsh reality is something that visiting writer Ethan Todras-Whitehill has no qualms bemoaning; he says it will be considered “the last nail in the coffin of what was once the greatest trek on earth.”

If he’d seen the 150-mile Annapurna Circuit by jeep, Ethan writes, he’d have memories of beauty mid-blur instead of swaying footbridges over thunderous gorges; rocky footpaths jammed with goats, donkeys and water buffalo; terraced rice paddies thrusting green shoots against the olive hillsides; and the low hum of chanting monks seeping out of brightly colored Buddhist monasteries. For an interactive, photo-filled map, click here.

Embark will be disappointed to say the least if cars affect the beauty, culture, and serenity of one of Nepal’s–and the world’s–most epic treks, not just for visitors but the locals, too.

No Finnish woman has ever reached the summit of Mt. Everest, so two on Everest this season are locked in a dead heat (or in this case, freeze) in the hopes to claim the top spot, according to Alan Arnette’s Everest coverage:

“The concern is that summit winds are currently in the 80 mph range. The forecast calls for a reduction on Saturday night and then regaining strength. Climbers like to see the summit winds under 30 mph at max. With extreme winds, if something creates a delay, there is a high likelihood of frostbite, hypothermia or even death–especially on the descent.”

Statistically, most Everest summits have occurred in a rather narrow window, between May 20 and  May 25, but summits have been recorded as early as February, so pushing this hard in mid-May isn’t out of the ordinary. Still, Peak Freaks’ Carina Räihä and Sky Climbers’ Anne-Mari Hyryläisellä are said to have summit fever, that stubborn mental itch that costs lives and is nearly impossible to shake off.

The latest reports indicate that all the teams stuck at Camp 2 amidst destroyed tents will attempt the summit on Sunday. For the sake of their own lives we hope the women will have enough time to reflect on their true purpose on the mountain to embark only when the conditions are right.

Adventurer Ripley Davenport embarked on the world’s “longest solo and unassisted walk ever completed” in Mongolia back in April, but unfortunately had to cut things short just two days in due to a “design flaw” in his gear. The good news is that Ripley shall not be deterred, and plans to re-launch on the 25th of May from the exact spot he stopped. Check out his site here and a regularly-updated team blog here.

Ripley’s Biggest Trek Ever will cover more than 1,700 miles as he travels west across one of the planet’s most rugged terrains. He’s likely to encounter raging blizzards and sub-zero temps at some points and desert conditions at others as he covers the Eastern Mongolian Steppe, the Gobi Desert (where he plans to celebrate his 40th birthday), and the Altai Mountains. How can he make it so far without assistance? He’ll be pulling a trailer of gear behind him. And if you want to know how he can manage that for 1,700 miles, check out his resume:

RIPLEY DAVENPORT
Adventurer | Humanitarian | Speaker

Ripley Davenport is a renowned explorer, adventurer, humanitarian, and
inspirational speaker and best known for his demanding expeditions to the
isolated areas of the world, notably accomplished solo and unassisted without
any machine or animal but on foot by hauling or carrying all his equipment.
He avoids the worn tourist paths, and eminent landmarks, favouring instead to
position himself unaided in potentially hostile environments. Without any film
crew, Ripley can continue to pioneer the filming of his genuine experiences
authentically in unforgiving surroundings as his journey develops.

In 2001, he completed a solo and unsupported snowshoe/ski of the Kungsleden
Trail in Northern Sweden from Abisko to Hemavan, via Kebnekaise, in 32 days.
In 1999, he spent several weeks in the company of the Air Tuareg of Niger. The
purpose was to learn about desert living and their culture.
In 1998, Ripley completed a solo trek across the Karakum Desert in 21 days.
Then in the same year, Ripley successfully crossed the Namib Desert, solo and
unassisted, with two camels in 82 days.

Since then Ripley has been fixated with desert exploration and adventure and
he intends on traversing across many of the worlds most isolated deserts.

Courtesy of PeakFreaks.com

It’s that time of year on Everest, that little window of opportunity as climbers launch their final bids for the summit.

And while the media go all-out to cover these bids, and the teams themselves boast ever-shinier blogs and self-reportage, little is said about the sherpas who are so key to every one of these missions as they help mountaineers navigate the world’s highest peak. But let it be known that, while we await the “first summits” of 2010, which some set out for this morning, a group of nine sherpas actually made the year’s first summit yesterday, along with a Himex guide. Western climbers are not allowed join this first group of sherpas even if they want to, but still, the sherpas’ purpose was not glory or news coverage but finishing fixing the lines to the top so that the glory can go to others.

We at Embark applaud the sherpas, porters, medical crew, and all who help any expedition team safely reach the summits of mountains worldwide. We could not do what we do without them, and their bravery, work ethic, and mountaineering skills are second to none.

Jordan Romero reaches the high point of his life, literally, at 24,900 feet on 1 May 2010.

Jordan Romero has had his eye on the summit of Mt. Everest since he was 9, but he didn’t start making headlines until he embarked to the mountain as a 13-year-old earlier this season. All the requisite arguments for and against such a young climber tackling such a dangerous peak continue to mount, but in the meantime, the kid is climbing Mt. Everest, and he’s climbing hard.

According to the Team Jordan blog, updated mostly by Jordan’s pops, the group made it to the North Col camp Saturday despite a lightning and thunder storm and then descended off the shoulder of Everest to hunker down and wait out a series of coming storms at ABC. Jordan reached his highest point over the weekend at 24,900 feet. His report is: “A tad tired and in need of sleep before we make the biggest climb in the world, but strong as expected.”

Listen to their most recent audio update:

Jordan’s Everest expedition is costing $150,000, supported by a pretty hefty group of sponsors. Jordan, his father and his father’s girlfriend are making the ascent with three sherpas.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s James Temple, who ordinarily spends his time on the paper’s business desk, recently embarked up the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and felt inspired to share his stories in the paper’s Bad Latitude travel section. He’ll be updating with new posts over the coming days; check out his first five installments under the title, The Call of Kilimanjaro.

Of course, Temple dutifully did his research, and he quotes from Hemingway’s Snows of Kilimanjaro as well as musings from George Mallory and more. While the experienced mountaineer may find Temple’s personal journey a bit smooth around the edges (there isn’t much in it about what was really going on in his head, and as we know, Kilimanjaro is a head game more than anything), it at least spells out the general outline of what a novice can expect, and well worth the time to follow as he narrates his way to the summit.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Athletes and mountaineers have long been familiar with the importance of hypoxic (altitude) training. Preparing our bodies to be able to continue working hard with less oxygen is every bit as important as maintaining a level of fitness necessary to trek and climb for hours on end. And some of the new devices hitting the market are a perfect combination of being both overkill and awesome.

First, the above image from the company Hypoxico‘s sleep systems page. Yes, this is an altitude chamber. Stick your desk or bed in there and you can get used to both sleeping and thinking in a hypoxic environment. And even though the idea is to train for, well, dealing with misery, this chamber boasts “the utmost in spacial and air conditioned comfort” that is “perfect for a completely unobtrusive night’s sleep or a long quiet day at the office.” Yes, it comes with air conditioning.

If a chamber is out of your price range but you really want to try out a little hypoxic training, you could always go for the simple sleep mask. And if a breathing apparatus is exactly what you are trying to avoid, check out their bed tent, compatible with a high-altitude adapter that will have you feeling like you are at 21,000 feet. And we thought our bed tents when we were kids were cool….

Hypoxico and other companies also provide a range of workout machines and training gadgets.

Embark mountaineer John Leery talks about the close calls on his otherwise easy safari through the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. “You get the feeling once in a while that there’s something going on here that’s between two personalities,” he says of the many animal dynamics he got to witness.

If you are interested in a company that offers Tanzania Safaris, please contact Embark, or visit our Tanzania Safari Tours section for more information.

Embark head guide Freddie walks us through a recent climb to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro with raw footage and gorgeous photography provided by the climbers themselves. Check out this rare, intimate view of how it feels and what it takes to get to the top.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

A rarely seen treat for visiting Westerners, this raw footage shows a group of Masai performing their traditional jumping dance in Tanzania, near the Ngorongoro Crater. Listen to those voices as they lose themselves to the music!

If you are interested in a company that offers Tanzania Safaris, please contact Embark, or visit our Tanzania Safari Tours section for more information.

Embark adventurer John Leary describes safari as being “like living in a National Geographic special … it’s unforgettable.” The most important part of the formula for a successful safari? John says it was his guide, hands down, who actually cried the moment he accomplished finding The Big Five for John’s group. “It’s a very emotional thing,” John says.

If you are interested in a company that offers Tanzania Safaris, please contact Embark, or visit our Tanzania Safari Tours section for more information.

This slideshow takes you on a trekking tour of the Annapurna Circuit, one of the most classic, high-value treks of Nepal – and oft-considered one of the top ten treks in the world. Hi-res version coming soon.

If you are interested in a company that offers Nepal Treks, please contact Embark, or visit our Nepal Trekking Tours section for more information.

Embark mountaineer Eric Jones shares what he says is the coolest thing about the mountain, something he felt before he even started the climb.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Embark mountaineer Eric Jones remembers taking the lesser-climbed Lemosho Route, the mountain’s most challenging non-technical route that carries the benefit of sleeping 1,000 vertical feet below the summit in a crater the final night. But Eric is not shy about some of the dangers on the way up.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Italy’s Reinhold Messner became the first person to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000-plus-meter peaks back in 1986, and has since been renowned as one of the world’s best (if not the best) mountaineers. A quarter century later, two climbers, Edurne Pasaban (above) and Oh Eun-sun, are vying to become the first woman to do the same.

Pasaban, of Spain, conquered the 8,091-meter Annapurna last Saturday, and has already left for Tibet to make her way up her final peak, the 8,027-meter Shishapangma.

Meanwhile rival Eun-sun of Korea is already on the slopes of her final challenge, Annapurna, where she is currently acclimatizing at Base Camp Two. Stay tuned this Saturday, April 24, when she makes what could become an historic bid for the top.

In a new twist, rumors are flying that Eun-sun did not actually reach the top of Kangchenjunga (the world’s third-highest mountain) last year in the absence of a summit photo, adding a dimension to the final days of this decade-long race that has left the world on edge to see what transpires this weekend.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Having thought about this trip for years, Erik Jones reflects on how it felt to stand on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro with his best buddies, who’d all dreamed of making this trip together since college. He cried at the summit, but then, don’t we all?

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Embark climber Mark Curran discusses standing on top of a continent and looking over the plains of Africa. Mark climbed Kilimanjaro’s Western Breach with Embark in 2008. From the effect of the altitude to the importance of baby wipes, Mark shares all from his “exhilarating” climb to the top of Africa.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

One of the most common questions we get at Embark is how to train for a big trek or climb. As with any goals in life, it’s always best to attain a certain level of fitness by setting a series of mini goals so that the end goal doesn’t feel so far away. And by taking things one step at a time, we are also mentally preparing for how to face a mountain.

If you’re looking for more specific tips, adventX out of Seattle is a great resource. Rooted in outdoor adventure fitness, their mantra is “challenge by choice.” You set goals based not just on specific activities and areas of interest, but also on the level of effort you are able to (and want to) invest. Not surprising, the ultimate goal that drives adventX is in and of itself spot on: “a knowledge of movement, physiology, nutrition and training techniques that can be applied to your lifestyle in a way that ensures that fitness is a source of joy, health and balance for life.”

Regardless of how close you are to Seattle, check out the group’s fitness activities (which include a 10-week fitness challenge and endurance cross-training) here and specific event training (which includes a Fit 2 Climb program) here. Specifically, adventX helps clients prepare for a wide range of climbs, including Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount Adams, Glacier Peak, Mount Shuksan, and beyond the Pacific Northwest any of the Seven summits: Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Carstensz, Mount McKinley (Denali), Mount Vinson, Mount Elbrus, and Mount Everest. Pricing info here.

Prior to 1989, hundreds of thousands of tourists flocked to the Indian side of Kashmir–known then as the Switzerland of the East–to trek through grasslands and forests and along glacier-fed streams and staggering peaks.

Then came the start of the separatist insurgency, and the saucer-shaped valley of fruit orchards and wildflowers saw fewer and fewer tourists each year, which further fueled the region’s poverty and violence.

But the Indian government announced this week that 2010 is “Visit Kashmir” year now that, thanks to the region’s peace process efforts that began in 2004, the security situation has so profoundly improved.

“We are optimistic that the decision will give a big boost to tourism and attract more and more foreign tourists,” Farooq Ahmed Shah, a state tourism official, tells The Associated Press.

Indian climbers have been scaling the peaks, which range from 9,800 feet to 26,246, for years. Now the world once again has its turn. The heavily militarized region borders not only Pakistan but China, and some 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed during the crackdown.

Opening the borders could be a major victory for the region’s civilians population, for whom a booming tourism industry could reap great rewards, both economically and in terms of local pride as the gorgeous region can once again reveal itself to those who love to wander.

Strapped for cash? Not enough vacation days in 2010 to venture overseas for a big climb? Outdoor Research has just unveiled its Climb a Northwest Icon sweepstakes, where winning may be a challenge but at least entering is easy. Just fill out their form here, and if you’re drawn for the grand prize, you get airfare to and from Seattle, $1,500 in Outdoor Research gear, and a 3- to 4-day guided climb up Mount Rainier. Two second-place winners will each get an Outdoor Research jacket, and five third-place winners will get gloves.

At 14,411 feet, Mount Rainier is the highest peak in both Washington state and the killer Cascade range, with a topographic prominence greater than K2‘s. Anyone who lives in the Pacific Northwest knows that it not only dominates the southeastern views out of Seattle, but on a clear day can even be seen from Portland. It’s also the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48, and great training for anyone setting their sights on higher elevations and bigger climbs, from Mt. Kilimanjaro to various treks throughout the Himalayas.

Enter by Sept. 30, 2010, and stay tuned as the drawing occurs on Oct. 5, and winners will be announced by email or certified mail on or around Oct. 10.

When he was just 9, California native Jordan Romero got it into his head to climb the Seven Summits–the tallest peak on each of the world’s seven continents.

By 10, he found himself standing on top of Kilimanjaro, setting his first record as the youngest American to climb Africa’s highest peak.

Now 13, little Jordan has defeated North America’s McKinley, which some consider more technical than Asia’s Everest, the world’s tallest peak and where he is now focusing what can only be described as determined eyes.

If he reaches the top, Jordan will be the youngest person to summit Everest. The current record holder, Nepal’s Temba Tsheri, was a 16-year-old Sherpa–and lost five fingers to frostbite in the process.

Jordan is young, but he is clearly skilled, with sights set quite literally as high as possible. (Please, mainstream media, don’t start calling him Air Jordan.) And while few of us truly believe we are mortal when we are tender 13-year-olds–which is a case against encouraging this expedition at such a young age–we can’t help but cheer the little dude onward.

While Mt. Kilimanjaro is not a technical climb, summiting Africa’s highest mountain is a huge mental and physical challenge. It’s not easy in any sense and should be recognized as a serious undertaking. 19,341 feet above sea level is not easy. Therefore, it is important to develop a comprehensive training program – 6 to 8 months in advance – to help increase you odds of making it to the summit. Embark has a training document that we recommend clients use; please request it if you are interested.

The general rule for training for a Kilimanjaro climb is that the more you exercise and prepare, the more you will enjoy the climb. The Lemosho and Western Breach climb – especially after Arrow Glacier Camp – is a strenuous, highly demanding scramble, and requires a proficient level of general fitness. The altitude makes it even more difficult.

If you do not exercise on a regular basis, you need to begin now. Try to incorporate jogging, overnight hikes, walks, swimming, or biking into your weekly routine. The more cardio development you build into your exercise routine, the better.

If possible, hiking at higher altitudes to see how your body reacts to altitude is extremely beneficial. The more time and experience at higher elevation, the better accustomed you will be to navigate the pitfalls that can come with altitude sickness.

Unfortunately, since many people live where there are no major hills or mountains, the next-best choice is repetitive hiking. One or two hikes on the weekend are fine, but try hiking every day. Add weight to your pack to make it more difficult, keep a training log, and try to find small hills to climb. When time permits, try to hike seven to nine miles per day and try to do this multiple days in a row.

Perhaps most importantly, the body will not adapt well if you don’t start training until a month or two before your trip. For example, it takes about four months of solid training to finish a marathon, and the vast majority who do not properly train never make it to the finish line. The same can be said for mountaineering.

Once you sign up for a climb, request Embark’s Kilimanjaro training plan to help develop a comprehensive plan for your adventure.

On every Embark trip – especially our adventure trips in East Africa – we take people way off the beaten path, in areas rarely visited by tourists. Our goal is to surround them with the unexpected, take people safely out of their comfort zones, and to see what transpires. It usually turns out great!

This is exactly what happened when we descended upon a remote village about 20 miles away from Mt. Kilimanjaro, way out in the bush. Within 20 minutes or arriving at the village, there were more than 50 Masai tribesmen surrounding us. This picture shows us Kellie Marshall, surrounded by Masai, who were intently listening to the Masai woman tell Kellie that she should come to the village and teach.

Here is a great rafting wipe out on one of our rafting adventures on the Deschutes River in Oregon. Not only did we hit this class 4 rapid in the dead center, we managed to eject everyone in the raft. We were able to catch up with the raft a half mile downstream. Fortunately, everyone was okay, and it turned out to be a great story.

John Leary shares his adventure and pictures while on a wildlife safari.

Before climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, most climbers often start worrying about the porter and guide’s tip before the climb starts. They want to know how much it will affect their budget, and to make sure they are paying a good tip. Embark’s philosophy is just like service in a restaurant, a climbing tip should only be given if you received good service from us.

If you have a climb planned through Embark or another outfitter, here are some basic guidelines, which are recognized as standard from Kilimanjaro’s Porters Assistance Project, which Embark is a recognized member.

A typical porter on an eight day climb, on the Western Breach or the Lemosho, should receive around a $40 tip; a cook could receive about $80; and a head guide could receive $100 or more. These tips are divided by the total number of people in the group, not per person. A porter on a seven day climb on the Machame route would receive around $35.

A general estimate, for your budget, per Kilimanjaro climber runs from about $175 to $250 per person depending upon the following factors: the number of people in your group, the number of the porters (which is often quite large), number of guides, cooks, and sometimes the route. It’s impossible to predict an exact tip in advance because it really depends upon how much gear is brought up the mountain, and how much weight is brought up the mountain. There is not a de facto standard of tipping for all companies, it’s only a recommendations from organizations, NGOs and the Tanzanian government. Some higher-end companies have seen tips in excess of these recommendations. Some budget companies have seen tips lower than this.

A couple things to remember when tipping Kilimanjaro porters:

• Tip directly to the porters, not the guides.
• Bring a packet of 50 letter size envelopes to distribute the tip
• Determine a tip for each component of your climbing group: the porters, cooks, assistant guides, and the lead guide.
• Distribute it on the final morning of the descent usually at Mweka Camp or the Park Gate
• Tip in either Tanzanian Shillings or US Dollars
• The average Tanzanian makes $40 per month. A $40 tip for difficult work for many days is a great wage and supports the local economy.

Generally speaking, an example of a tips break down like this:

• Porters $5 per day per porter
• Cooks $8 to $10 per cook
• Assistant Guides $8 to $10 per guide
• Kilimanjaro Guides $20 per day and up per guide
• Safari Guides $20 per day and up per guide

In other words, if you had four porters, 2 assistant guides and 1 lead guide. The total trip would be around $420.
4 porters X $40 = $160 Total
2 assistant guides X $80 = $160
1 lead guide X $100 = $100
Total = $420 / Number of people in the group

If you have any questions about tipping, please contact Embark before your trip, or contact the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project which is based in Moshi Town.

To find the best rates, start looking for your flights four to seven months in advance of your Kilimanjaro climb. Typical rates as of 2010 to East Africa run anywhere from $1,500 to $2,300. Several airlines service several airports in East Africa directly – from hubs in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Before deciding your route, it is best to first determine whether you are looking for the lowest cost, the fastest travel time, or a multi-destination route (i.e. do you plan to travel elsewhere in Africa?). Here are the three major airports into East Africa and the pros and cons associated with each one.

Kilimanjaro International Airport:

The closest, easiest route is to fly into the Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), located just outside of Moshi, the small town where you would be based prior to your Kilimanjaro climb or safari. Flights service Kilimanjaro most regularly from Amsterdam, London, and Ethiopia. Flying into Kilimanjaro International Airport is for those on a tight schedule, but not necessarily a tight budget. JRO enables climbers to land one day and begin climbing the mountain the next, as well as fly out immediately following the climb. Embark highly recommends that you use this airport unless you plan to spend considerable time in the country. This airport is best for those who have a limited amount of time in Tanzania. KLM Royal Dutch has the best flight structure, arriving and departing at night

Pros: Close proximity to Mt. Kilimanjaro allows for speed and efficiency
Cons: Can be more expensive

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport:

The cheapest way to get to East Africa tends to be through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi, Kenya. Most flights into NBO are via London through Kenya Airlines or British Airways. From NBO, several shuttle services will get you to the mountain in about six to eight hours.

Pros: Tends to be inexpensive – sometimes $500 cheaper than flying into Kilimanjaro International Airport
Cons: Requires an eight hour bus ride down to Moshi, which is arrange by Embark. It also requires a Kenya visa and several additional travel hours (for those arriving after the morning shuttle to Tanzania, you will likely have to spend a night in a hotel)

Dar es Salaam International Airport:

The last major airport into East Africa is the Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. DAR is even further from Kilimanjaro than Nairobi, but ideal for those interested in visiting Zanzibar in addition to Mt Kilimanjaro. Many people like to fly into Nairobi or Kilimanjaro for the climb, and then out of Dar to bet within a two-hour boat ride from the great beach island of Zanzibar. This option can be more expensive and time-consuming, but some find it well worth the effort.

Pros: Good departure airport for those planning to visit Zanzibar after the climb; great city to explore
Cons: Not conveniently located; can be more expensive

Airlines that service East Africa:

From Europe:

• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines: www.klm.com
• British Airways: www.britishairways.com
• Swiss International Air Lines: www.swiss.com

From United States

• There are no direct flights from the US, but several airlines have partnerships in other major hubs, i.e. Northwest Airlines partners with KLM to go from the US to Europe to Africa.

From Middle East and Asia:

• United Arab Emirates: www.emirates.com
• Qatar Airway: www.qatarairways.com
• Air India: home.airindia.in

From Africa:

• South African Airways: www.flysaa.com
• Ethiopian Airlines: www.flysaa.com
• Kenya Airways: www.kenya-airways.com

Domestic Airlines:

• Air Tanzania: www.airtanzania.com
• Precision Air: www.precisionairtz.com

Many of the Asia and Middle East airlines service Europe at very reasonable prices, so one cost-effective option is to fly from Europe to Africa through these airlines.

Embark is happy to arrange domestic flights between Nairobi, Kilimanjaro Airport, and Dar es Salaam, whether it be before or after the climb. Please contact us for details three months prior to departure.

We recently had some Embark clients who could not make the second flight from Jomson from Pokhara in Nepal due to weather. They were going to hike from Jomson back to Pokhara on the Annapurna Circuit. We had to detour them to Annapurna Base Camp which turned out to be a great trek.

The New York Times recently covered the future of the Annapurna Circuit, perhaps one of the well-known famous hikes for trekkers in the world. In Nepal, this 150 mile, 20+ day hiking loop, will likely have much of the route accessed by car in 2012, which will likely ruin the whole vibe of the circuit. Until now, the only way to access much of the circuit, and the remote villages was on foot. It’s a gorgeous hike, filled with remote villages, big rivers, suspension bridges, exotic cultures, porters, donkeys, pilgrims, and trekkers leisurely enjoying this remarkable route. Some trekker say this is perhaps one of the best treks in the world. If you can visit Nepal sooner than later, we highly recommend it, as the road will likely change much of the experience. Embark does offer trips on the Annapurna Circuit.

Embark finds the Annapurna circuit one of the most remarkable treks in Nepal. Fortunately, Nepal has so much more to offer the trekker that we hope to continue to find new routes, new villages, in areas like Mustang which are less visited by tourists. Until now.

It’s never too late to start planning your next adventure. We have started planning for a Bolivia trekking and climbing trip in June 2011. This trip will cater to adventurers of all experience levels. It will be an optional climbing or trekking trip with a 20,000 ft summit (again, it’s up to you if you summit or not), mixed with some great cultural experiences around the countryside and in the city. The itinerary should be listed in the next few weeks. Send us an email if you want to be on the list.

Here is my favorite picture from a recent “cultural” safari through Embark. The group got to experience the Wadzabe tribe hunting birds. From what I understand, they shot an arrow through a bird’s wing. When they caught the bird, this guy decides to bite its head off.

As if Nepal wasn’t mesmerizing enough, the country recently announced it is going rogue, marrying–gasp!–gay couples, according to The New York Times. ‘‘They are high-spending consumers,’’ a spokesman for the Nepal Tourism Board said of gay tourists.

Back in January, the Times predicted this move based on whispers about the world’s most famous base camp: Started by Sunil Babu Pant, an openly-gay legislator, Pink Mountain Travels and Tours promises to marry adventure travel[ers] with gay weddings. With talk that Nepal may legalize same-sex marriage this year as the country hammers out a new constitution (and, perhaps more importantly, deals with recent bouts of civil unrest), Mr. Pant is offering to hold nuptials at the Mount Everest base camp, jungle safari honeymoons and bridal processions on elephant back.

Whether these marriage certificates will be honored once back home depends entirely on where home is, but destination weddings to Nepal are about to become a whole lot more common, and adventure tours of such places as Island Peak and the Annapurna Circuit a whole lot more colorful. Let’s just hope those pride flags don’t clash with the Buddhist prayer flags.

Each year, Embark has a handful of adventure trips that are looking for extra adventurers.

One of our most popular treks continues to be Kilimanjaro as it has several departure dates this summer and fall: July 5, August 16, September 6 and a New Year’s eve summit. Find out more details about our climb up Kilimanjaro. We are looking for more people for all the departure dates – but are trying extra hard for the Sept departure!

Climbing and trekking continues in Asia as well. October 16 is the start date for the 19 to 23 day Island Peak/Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Climb Island Peak and explore Everest Base Camp in the best time of year to visit the country. Nepal is a great, affordable country for trekking, climbing and exotic culture

Embark is fortunate enough to be leading a group through Bhutan, a country that only allows a very limited number tourists in per year. Bhutan’s self-enforced isolation and contrasts never disappoint. Explore Bhutan on the Chomolhari Trek. The Chomolhari Trek in Bhutan departs October 31 and should not be missed.

Embark’s newest venture is into the world of adventure yoga holidays. Beginners, experts and complete novices can benefit from a practice while traveling. Our 14 day Nepal Yoga Trek offers trekkers the option to open mind and body on the Annapurna range and departs October 23.

And, as always, Embark has other adventure trips around the world: Uganda, Costa Rica, Tibet, Morocco and other destinations.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

If you have any questions, send us an email to inquire about any of our expeditions or adventures.

To many, planning a climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro seems like such a daunting task, with countless details and variables to consider. Each of us has a unique way we go about planning a trip, but Embark has developed a checklist of the most important highlights with planning an expedition to climb Africa’s highest mountain. Read and consider these tips carefully; most of the details are common sense, but can be easily overlooked.

1. Make A Mental Commitment

It’s too easy to start down the path toward an enormous, life-changing adventure, and then give up in the preparation stage due to logistics, cost, conditioning, family reaction, etc. For most people, climbing Kilimanjaro is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you make the commitment, even if it’s not going to happen until next year, stick to it and make sure you will follow through. You do not want to be plagued by regret or resentment for not putting all the pieces together to make it happen.

2. Begin Your Training

This is the central and probably most important aspect for climbing any mountain in the world. Start your training early. In fact, the earlier you start, the better. Try to start training at least six months in advance, in order to ensure the highest probability of success, even if this just means short jogs or climbing stairs in the beginning of your regimen. Embark has a training program for you to use prior to your climb up Africa’s highest mountain.

3. Save

Traveling half way around the world and spending 7 to 10 days climbing a mountain can be expensive. Make sure to start saving as early as possible. Including gear, airfare, and the climb itself, the trip can easily range from $4,000 to $8,000 per person.

4. Find Others Looking For a Challenge

It’s always exciting to include others in your adventures, as it build strong relationships, it holds you to your word, and it gives you someone to train with. Since climbing Kilimanjaro can be done by just about anyone (those who take their time), you should consider bringing friends, family, and others interested in an adventure of a lifetime. Just make sure the people you bring are people you can cope with under sometimes demanding conditions.

5. Pick Your Outfitter and Guide

Whether you choose to pick your outfitter when you arrive or in advance, it’s important to establish a relationship with someone early that can get your climb up Kilimanjaro organized. You should start having conversations with the outfitter 8 to 12 months in advance, as it gives them plenty of time to organize guides, logistics, permits, etc. There are times in the year that are busy (Feb & Aug) and sometimes the best guides are booked a year in advance. The earlier you book, the better.

6. Determine Your Dates/Routes

After you pick your outfitter, you should start to determine the following: dates, number of people, routes, and other important aspects of your adventure. You will need to make sure you choose the proper route up Kilimanjaro, as well as the right time of year. For example, you would not want to plan a trip during the rainy season (April & May), unless you don’t mind walking in the rain all day, ever day. Likewise, in terms of the climbing routes, an experienced mountaineer, or someone who likes a little adventure, would most likely do the Lemosho or Machame Route, with an option up the Western Breach, instead of going up the Marangu Route.

7. Keep Training

Again, the central point for a successful trip is training, training, training. However you choose to prepare, be sure you are consistent with your training program.

8. Purchase Your Airfare

Once your dates and outfitter is finalized, it’s time to sure your flights. It’s best to shop around, as you can find huge price variations. You will want to purchase your airfare 3 to 7 months in advance. Make sure to check alternative, non-US-based carriers such as Ethiopian Airlines or Qatar Airlines if you want to keep the prices low.

9. Get Your Immunizations

Talk to you local travel clinic about 4 to 6 months prior to your trip. This will be the time you decide which immunizations you should get. Make sure to plan this into your budget, as sometimes these shots can be a significant addition.

10. Prepare Your Gear

Test all your equipment in advance. Try your new boots and jacket. Determine if you like to use Nalgene bottle or a Camel back for your water. All of your equipment should be tested and used as much as possible in advance.

11. Organize Your Visas

As of the time of this writing, you could get your visa upon arrival at the Tanzania airport, or at any border crossing. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of organizing your visas upon arrival, you can get these sorted at the Tanzanian embassy in Washington, DC. Expect to take about 3 weeks to get your passport back.

12. Departure

The day has come. Say goodbye to your friends and family, and take off on your adventure!

Anyone who lives in or has traveled throughout Oregon knows that Mt. Hood and the Oregon coastline are two of the most dramatic destinations in a dramatically beautiful state. Which makes the famous, 197-mile Hood to Coast relay–the “mother of all relays” that hits 29 years this August–all the more suitable as the subject of a quirky and exhilarating documentary on what it means to push your body and mind, invigorate your lifestyle, and party with your friends for 36 straight hours in the process. The trailer was just released before the film will be aired at SXSW 2010 next week; watch it above.

We’re looking for a few more people to sign up for our October trip to Island Peak, a trek/climb that even a beginner mountaineer could handle but that offers up full views of Mt. Everest and a hike to the famous Everest Base Camp. Island Peak, also known as Imja Tse, maxes out at 20,000 feet at its peak in eastern Nepal.

Imja Tse was first climbed in 1953 by a British team as a training exercise in preparation for Everest and is today an insider trekking favorite the world over.

All 13 Mazamas made it to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. While most pictures you see of Mt. Kilimanjaro are at the summit, this is approximately 1,000 ft lower at the Furtwangler Glacier, inside of the rim of the crater, which is typically only accessed via the Western Breach. This group followed the gorgeous, quiet Lemosho Route, up the Western Breach, and arrived at the summit on a beautiful day with nobody else on the top. Thanks again for everyone at the Mazamas.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

The Lemosho Route of Kilimanjaro

Just back from an early February climb, Erik Jones talks about why the Lemosho Route may be the best way up Kilimanjaro.

If you are interested in Climbing The Lemosho Route, learn about Embark’s Kilimanjaro Tours.

Mercer Island’s Ang Chhiring Sherpa wants to help his native Nepalese people, 30 percent of whom live below the poverty line, according to the Mercer Island Reporter. So he is launching the Sherpa Seven Summit expedition, climbing the highest mountain in each of the planet’s seven continents, in the hopes of raising money and awareness for the health clinics, schools, hydroelectric project and airplane strip that he intends to establish in the Salleri area of Solu Khumbu, Nepal.

Sherpa, who is 37, has set his first sights on Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina on Feb. 22. Next up is Mt. Denali in Alaska, followed by Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mt. Elbrus in Russia, Mt. Kosciusko in Australia, Carstensz Pyramid (in Indonesia and therefore Oceania), Vinson Massif in Antarctica (he is climbing both since there is contention over which one should count), and of course saving the highest for last, Mt. Everest on the edge of his homeland, Nepal.

It remains to be seen whether climbing eight of the world’s tallest mountains will be tough for Sherpa, who spends four months every year as a sherpa and whose record in 14 years of mountaineering is just over 21,000 atop Mera Peak in the Himalayas. Sherpa says he is inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary, whom he trekked with once and who “gave so many things to Sherpas–four high schools, six medical clinics–in the district area.”

This is going to be a truly thrilling expedition to follow. Sherpa’s cause is noble, and he is clearly the right man for the job.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

While climbing Mt Kilimanjaro does not require specialized equipment, you do need to make sure all your gear is in order. Consider both standard and personal demands for comfort and safety before embarking up the mountain: Do you have warm climbing pants? A 10-degree bag? Trekking poles? Have you hiked more than 100 miles in your boots to break them in sufficiently? Each person we ask names a different item as the most important piece of equipment to bring, from the perfect jacket to a specific brand of baby wipes. Ask around, think about what it takes to keep yourself comfortable and happy, and get your checklist in order well before your departure date. Below is just a recommendation from Embark on the items that are best for Kilimanjaro.

That aside, one of the most important pieces of equipment you can bring is a waterproof pack/duffel bag, as it must hold all your gear for the entire trip, as well as keep it dry. Porters carry your main bag during the day, and you carry a smaller day pack with food, water, rain gear, and your camera. Be sure to test and clean all your gear in advance, including breaking in your boots. The worst thing you can do is try to sort out all the details in the days before you leave. NOTE: Embark provides tents, mess tents, chairs, lanterns, silverware, and a toilet.

Gear List

• 2 synthetic shirts, long sleeve
• 2 synthetic t-shirts
• 2 pairs of synthetic hiking shorts
• 1 pair of synthetic trekking pants
• 1 pair of warmer hiking pants
• 1 or 2 pairs of fleece long underwear/ trousers
• 1 pair of leg gaiters
• 1 pair of socks per trekking day, with at least 2 pairs of lighter (synthetic)
• 6 pairs of socks and 3 pairs of heavy wool/synthetic blend
• 1 pair of underwear per day
• 1 warm fleece jacket
• 1 goretex rain/wind shell
• 1 pair of goretex rain/wind pants
• 1 durable poncho
• 1 fleece sweater
• 1 pair of fleece glove liners.
• 1 pair of cold weather gloves or mittens
• 1 pair of light windproof gloves
• 1 warm hat
• 1 sun hat
• 1 balaclava
• 1 pair trekking boots (medium weight, waterproof)
• 1 pair of walking/camp shoes
• 1 pair UV-blocking sunglasses with side-gussets

Other Equipment For Kilimanjaro Climbs

• 1 soft duffel bag, preferably North Face Base Camp
• 1 daypack
• Plastic bags of different sizes (to protect clothes against rain)
• 1 warm mountain sleeping bag (10 degree rated (F))
• 2 trekking poles
• 1 head lamp (with extra batteries and light bulb)
• 1 emergency foil blanket
• 1 pocket knife
• 3 One-liter water bottles, or substitute with hydration pack
• Sun block. We suggest the highest possible SPF rating
• Water purification tablets or filter. We recommend tablets as the best and most fool-proof way to purify water.
• Helmet – if you are hiking the Western Breach

Gadling has just published a list with related videos of seven of the world’s scariest, craziest, most dizzying hikes. This video is from Angel’s Landing in Utah, which contains some of the most narrow portions of a trail with sheer drops on both sides anywhere in the world. The other six are: El Caminito del Rey (Spain), Mount Hua (China), Mount LeConte (Tennessee), portions near Machu Picchu (Peru), Mount Pinatubo (the Philippines), and Hua Shan (China).

Planet Fear has published a great photo montage of a recent journey up one of Embark’s favorite routes, the Lemosho Route. Kudos to writer/photographer and Planet Fear editor-in-chief David Pickford for a great glimpse of what the climb entails.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Kenna, Jessica Biel, and others raise awareness for clean water via their recent Summit on the Summit climb.

If you didn’t catch it the first time around last year, we’re taking a look back at an article in the BBC enumerating what is and is not hard about a typical Kilimanjaro climb.

The most notable comment comes from Jon Garside of the British Mountaineering Council: “You have got to walk so incredibly slowly; imagine an arthritic 90-year-old walking backwards–that’s probably too fast.”

OK, this may be something of an exaggeration, but as Donovan can attest to when he gets back online after this week’s climb, you do have to pace yourself, drink more water than usual, and keep your head on straight even as you battle the inevitable affects of the altitude.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Kilimanjaro Safari Journals has compiled a pretty decent gear list, pointing out that a Kilimanjaro climb does involve trekking through five climates. While a bit over-the-top in places (probably catered to those more accustomed to 4- and 5-star hotels), the list still has some valuable subsections, including this one on important docs:

• Cash (to buy drinks, tipping etc.) – USD or Tanzanian Shilling
• Other money: credit card (Visa is best) and/or travellers cheques
• Passport & relevant visa papers
• Flight ticket(s)
• Africa travel insurance policy
• Notebook & pen/pencil
• Your itinerary & Kilimanjaro operator contact numbers
• Emergency phone numbers
• Addresses and mobile numbers (postcards/e-mails/texts)
• Medical history
• Vaccinations certificates (e.g. yellow fever)
• Phone card and international access numbers
• Extra passport photos
• Copy of your passport, kept in a separate place than your passport (or scan a copy electronically and keep it in your e-mail box where you can access and print at an internet terminal)
• Back-up ID (e.g. driver’s license)

If applicable to you/optional -

• Kilimanjaro guide book – worth more to read prior to your trek
• International Youth Hostel card (depending on your type of trip and accommodation)
• Copy of marriage certificate, especially if you recently tied the knot
• Copies of prescriptions
• Business cards

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

The body of 52-year-old Joseph Bohlig, who fell into the crater of Mount St. Helens in Washington Monday when an ice shelf collapsed under him while having his photo snapped, has been recovered and airlifted.

According to this story from the Daily Mail, a Navy helicopter discovered Bohlig’s body on its second pass through the crater, although it was already partially covered with snow. It appears that he died of injuries sustained from the fall.

Bohlig had reportedly hiked to the top of Mount St. Helens 68 times, and was well-equipped with both gear and knowledge of the mountain. In what seems to be a cruel twist of fate, he took off some of his clothes and his backpack for the photo, so he fell 1,500 feet without most of his gear.

As Bohlig’s father says of the tragedy, at least Bohlig died doing what he loved. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Donovan and others are leading 13 Mazamas up the Western Breach of Kilimanjaro this week. One of the climbers is blogging the expedition here and describes Sunday as follows:

We headed back up to the foothills where Donovan had lived. We saw the house where he lived and offered a hostel type environment to travelers. We then hiked around foothills for about 2-3 hours, seeing many Chagga, touring a school and church and several homes. Tonight we’ll have our preclimb meeting and check out equipment. Tomorrow we head off the Londorossi Gate to start the climb.

Good luck, guys!

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

If you haven’t seen the documentary Everest: The Other Side, you are missing out. And if you have, and loved it, then good news–there is more, and it is called The Rest of Everest.

In September 2007, the final episode from the 2003 expedition was released. The podcast began as a way to expand upon the story told in the film but has grown into an entity all it’s own. Since launching the podcast in 2006, Jon has returned to Everest twice to film more content specifically for the show. Another return visit is scheduled for Spring 2010. More recent episodes of the show also cover an entire expedition to Annapurna IV which Ben Clark and his climbing partners Josh Butson and Tim Clarke attempted in 2008. That “Beyond Everest” series brought the podcast back to its mountaineering roots.

The Rest of Everest is far more than a look into the alien world of high-altitude mountaineering. It is a look at the places, cultures, people, travelers and mountaineers that call the Everest region and the Himalayas home. Watch a few episodes and you’ll discover that the world portrayed in this series is hardly alien at all.

The famous Summit on the Summit project–consisting of more than 200 porters, guides, documentary crew members, and famous faces–has just released the trailer for the documentary’s much-anticipated March release. It looks well-filmed and well-edited, and I’m not naming names, but it also separates the strong-willed from the whiners. And yes, there are some whiners.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Champion’s new technological feat was unveiled a few weeks back at the Winter Outdoor Retailer show, where it was hailed as a light, thin, and flexible 3mm wonder that provides the same warmth and weight as far bulkier, 40mm down jackets. Since its grand unveiling, however, the Supersuit has also pulled the skeptics out of their closets; some have even condemned the Supersuit to failure before trying it on. They just don’t believe that Champion can do magic.

Fortunately for all, Alan Arnette has decided to weigh in, and the latest post to his blog provides tons of info on how the Supersuit actually works. It uses Aerogel, a hi-tech product Arnette describes as “warmer than down,” “breathable,” and “unbreakable.” It is such a good insulator, he says, that it “keeps hots things hot and cold things cold.” He also points out that there has been other gear on the market that have used Aerogel in the recent past; climber Anne Parmenter wore a pair of Aerogel socks on her Everest bid back in 2006, and her main complaint was said to be that the socks were too warm.

Sounds like the Supersuit may be worth a shot.

An astronaut at the International Space Station has apparently been granted permission to tweet some of his photos from outer space, and man oh man are they glorious. This one is of Mt. Kilimanjaro, in all her looming glory. It’s pretty cool how mountains can look more like footprints from so high above.

Meanwhile, Flight engineer Soichi Noguchi is now sending back images via his Twitpic account as the ISS orbits the Earth, and astronaut Jose Hernandez, who flew on the Shuttle Discovery mission STS-128, has also posted to Twitpic from his mission as well.

We lowly earthlings are lucky after all.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

The long-awaited PBS documentary Extreme Ice is out, and Wend blogger Kyle Cassidy is glowing so hot he’s at risk of contributing to global warming:

Documenting melting glaciers in the most remote corners of the planet is no small feat, but when that documenting is being led by professional nature photographer and all-around badass James Balog you just know it’s going to be good. But Balog’s new film, Extreme Ice (which you can watch for free here), is more than impressive. It’s incredible. I’m going to risk hyperbole here and go ahead and say that it could be one of the greatest environmental documentary achievements I’ve ever seen.

Go check it out now. You won’t be sorry.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

John Leary shares stories from his recent safari with Embark. Thanks for the great pics, Leary!

How’s this for inspiring? Climber Erica Davis, who has been paraplegic for four years, and her partner Tara Butcher, who has been a below-the-knee amputee for almost 5 years, have just reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The women are both athletic to begin with, but by raising awareness of how to stay strong through injuries that would bury most of us emotionally, these two are not just athletic, but heroes. The project is still open for donations.

Check out the trailer for the upcoming documentary being made on their climb here:

Through the Roof – TEASER from Captured Life Productions on Vimeo.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Enjoy our latest audio slideshow, this one with John Leary telling tales from his safari with Embark after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.

BD athlete Colin Haley wears a helmet camera during a solo ascent of Aguja Guillaumet in Patagonia from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo. According to The Adventure Blog, he plans to climb in Patagonia for three months, and has already taken on some of the peaks in the Fitzroy Group, with even more ambitious climbs ahead.

They came, they climbed, they conquered the 19,000 ft peak. Although they did not get to see Jessica Biel while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro (only 2 days ahead of them), Erik Jones, Shane “Hello Kitty” Kimzey, Paul Matuch, Mike “Johnny Mountain Sausage” Wigert and dog whisperer Tae Kwon Do expert Shawn Riley all made it to top of Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro. Thanks guys!

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Sixteen-year-old Aussie Jessica Watson reports from her sailboat, Ella’s Pink Lady, that her recent sunny spell ended in a bang. You have to read her blog post, written in the storm’s aftermath on Sunday, to get a real feel for what the teenager trying to become the youngest to circumnavigate has just survived:

We experienced a total of 4 knockdowns, the second was the most severe with the mast being pushed 180 degrees in to the water. Actually pushed isn’t the right word, it would be more accurate to say that Ella’s Pink Lady was picked up, thrown down a wave, then forced under a mountain of breaking water and violently turned upside down.

With everything battened down and conditions far too dangerous to be on deck, there wasn’t anything I could do but belt myself in and hold on. Under just the tiny storm jib, the big electric autopilot did an amazing job of holding us on course downwind, possibly or possibly not helped by my yells of encouragement! It was only the big rogue waves that hit at us at an angle (side on) that proved dangerous and caused the knockdowns.

The solid frame of the targa (the frame that supports the solar panels) is bent out of shape and warped, which provides a pretty good idea of the force of the waves. Solid inch thick stainless steel tube doesn’t exactly just bend in the breeze, so I think you could say that Ella’s Pink Lady has proven herself to be a very tough little boat!

With my whole body clenched up holding on, various objects flying around the cabin and Ella’s Pink Lady complaining loudly under the strain, it was impossible to know what damage there was on deck. It was a little hard at times to maintain my positive and rational thoughts policy, but overall I think I can say that the skipper held up us well as Ella’s Pink Lady. It was certainly one of those times when you start questioning exactly why you’re doing this, but at no point could I not answer my own question with a long list of reasons why the tough times like that aren’t totally worth it!

So in the middle of all the drama, back at home Mum received just about the worst phone call possible from the Australian Rescue Coordination Center (RCC), telling her that one of my EPIRBs (emergency signaling devices) had been activated. One of the knockdowns had caused the automatic EPIRB mounted under the dodger to turn on without me knowing. Luckily I called in only a few minutes later before anyone could really start to panic. I was pretty annoyed at the stupid thing for going off and giving everyone such a scare!

Leave it to Jessica to worry most about whether her mom is worried, and to work so hard and so well to maintain her “positive and rational thoughts policy.” Her latest post from today shows Jessica in high spirits after getting her stove working again, and reporting that she is flying across the Atlantic so fast she worries she might hit the finish line before she is ready to actually finish. What a resilient young woman. Seriously. Major props.

One of the most common questions for climbing Kilimanjaro is “Where do we go to the bathroom?” Unlike most outfitters, Embark has its own toilets to bring up and down the mountain. Now Embark has its own personalized toilets on Mt. Kilimanjaro, complete with its own signage in case you can’t find it.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

The AFP reports that the new facility will be built in the Nagqu prefecture, at 14,554 feet (4,436 meters) above sea level—335 feet (102 meters) higher than the current record holder, which is also in Tibet. Nagqu, Tibet’s biggest prefecture, sits near the middle of the Tibet-Qinghai plateau and is home to a mostly ethnic Tibetan population of about 400,000, according to the Xinhua news agency. The airport, to be located about 140 miles (230 kilometers) north of the capital Lhasa, will be the sixth in Tibet, which has been ruled by China for almost six decades.

While on the surface this could be cool for travelers, critics argue the new airport, as well as the recently completed railway, allow China’s ethnic Han majority to more easily flood Tibet, exploit its resources, and consolidate political control. China argues it is helping raise the standard of living in the region.

Meanwhile, adventure travelers continue to trek–or in some cases kayak–their way through the mystical region:

Tibet Kayak Mission from Kayak TV on Vimeo.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour trailer is out! Check here for tour dates/locations (in Portland in April at REI). This collection of images is so inspiring; this is a festival you are not going to want to miss.

Climber Will Gladd heads to the island of Labrador off the east coast of Canada, finds himself a little ‘berg, and scrambles the fairly short way to the top. The 38-year-old tells National Geographic, “Soon after I jumped off this brittle, 10,000-year-old berg, a dump truck-size block broke off right where I’d been perched! We learned that mountain boys may well be out of their depths in the North Atlantic.”

Is this genius or incredibly dumb? You decide.

Good friend and intrepid adventurer Louis-Martin Guénette is demonstrating the new art of taking the “Embark” sign as far as you can on a recent trek to Mt. Hood.

Bring one yourself to wherever your travels take you, snap a photo for colorful evidence, and send it to us to enter into a yearly drawing for a variety of gifts we give away every year. Winners will also get 10 percent off their next Embark adventure. Dood. That’s some good savings.

National Geographic Adventure is dead (for now we have been told). Read Good-Bye for Now.

I find this really hard to believe, as I can pick out four of my immediate neighbors that actually receive a copy of this magazine (and I don’t live in the nice part of town). All my friends, and colleagues read it, and yet for some reason it must not have been doing well. They approached me about one year ago to pay $900 per month to advertise in the back, in the tour operator section. Funny, the last issue of the magazine is still jam packed with big fancy advertisers, so I am not quite sure what happened here.

I have it admit, there was a side of National Geographic Adventure that I despised. It felt too commercial; it’s like every issue was paying homage to all their advertisers. I mean, c’mon guys, I know you want to sell magazines, but how many times do you have to publish “Top ten adventure towns” or “Top 10 adventures of the year,” or “Top 10 outfitters,” with lists of the companies that serve them. Maybe I am too much of a purist, or an idealist, but it got old quick. I thought National Geographic (the original magazine) was dedicated to “education, research and conservation” and not to making a bunch of money off selling ads to North Face.

Although this magazine closure is bad news for the adventure travel industry, there are still some good things to highlight. First, I was at a bookstore the other day, and saw that Lonely Planet launched a magazine. It looked interesting, and wasn’t your standard bag of trips.

Also, we have Wend magazine, which in my opinion is almost the perfection of an adventure travel magazine. It seems to be written by real adventure gurus, with long lengthy articles of substance. And, they don’t have stupid ads in the back promoting millions of destinations around the world, paid for by tourism boards. Wend rocks, and I hope it succeeds. It’s online edition is nice too.

Rest in peace Nat Geo Adventure. I am sure National Geographic Traveler will take up some of your slack.

All right people, it’s time to initiate daily check-ins with the Summit on the Summit crew. You may know that the project, spearheaded by Kenna, has joined forces with the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, amongst others, and is hoping to deliver clean drinking water to remote places all over the planet as people sponsor a foot of their climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro. With Kenna are rapper Lupe Fiasco, actors Jessica Biel and Emile Hirsch, and explorer Alexandra Cousteau, among others. Sure there’s some eye candy at play, but they still have to put one foot in front of the other like anyone else.

And they can’t fake it. Because Summit on the Summit is also a well-documented climb; the super-slick site is updated daily with information on each team member, listing heart rate, O2 level, and even the grade of the trail they are currently trekking. Talk about pressure to make it to the top. You can also follow via Twitter at @SOTSK.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

In one of her last snowshoe treks on Mt. Hood, Quebecer Marie-eve Sirois joins the staff of Embark for a classic Glade Trail snowshoe. We will miss Marie and hope she returns to Oregon again.

Photo by Lonnie Dupre

Polar explorer Eric Larson on Saturday reached the first of three major poles he plans to conquer in 2010 when he stood at the South Pole’s Amundsen-Scott Research Station. After 47 days of dragging gear-laden sleds across the Antarctic ice, Larsen and his two partners, Dongsheng Liu and Bill Hanlon, toured the research station at the far reaches of the planet only to realize that he recognized one of the workers as an old friend from Grand Marais, Minnesota, which Larson calls home. Check out his audio dispatch here.

Before the end of 2010, Larson also plans to stand on the North Pole and the summit of Mt. Everest. If he succeeds, he will be the first. Larsen will be writing a first-hand account of his journeys for the first issue of Wend magazine this year, whose headquarters, like Embark’s, are in Portland, Ore.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive travel guide, replete with top destinations, activities, and a great group of ideas for what to do where, check out Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2010, which will set you back just $10.

The travel guide’s top 10 countries for 2010 are El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Portugal, Suriname. Of course, we definitely agree with Nepal, but would likely add Tibet, Mongolia, Bolivia and probably Ethiopia to the top of our list. All of these are upcoming destinations for Emark.

The guide’s best value destinations for 2010 are Iceland, Thailand, London, South Africa, Malaysia, Mexico, India, Bulgaria, Kenya, and Las Vegas. Clearly, this is the Planet’s most egregious mistake, placing Kenya and Vegas in the same sentence, so we’ll just encourage you to visit both and decide for yourself.

Finally, next year’s best activities in the world according to LP include witnessing the total eclipse of the sun on June 11 from Easter Island; watching the FIFA World Cup soccer championship games in South Africa; making a pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain; attending the Olympics in Vancouver; and visiting the Pushkar Camel Fair in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. Here is where we’d have to note the unfortunate absence of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, not just because we’d like to take you there, but also because the summit’s glaciers are melting. It’s kind of like recommending going to Venice before it sinks, although not this week, as it is currently flooded.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Do you think this looks bad ass? Wait until you are holding it on the Western Breach of Kilimanjaro, on the remote river trip in Bhutan, or while on a wildlife safari in Botswana.

Also, if you send us a picture with your Embark banner, not only will you receive 10 percent off on your next trip, but you will also be entered into our annual giveaway.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Check out this impressive footage of the sun rising atop the UK’s Skiddaw mountain, taken on Dec. 31, 2008. At just 3,000 feet, the summit is no physical feat to brag about, but this looks like one of those noteworthy climbs that requires minimal effort yet provides maximum reward:

NOVA is airing a fantastic series this week on a scientific expedition up Mt. Kilimanjaro as researchers measure how quickly Mt. Kilimanjaro’s glaciers are melting. They are taking the same Western Breach route that Embark does. Tune in and visit the mountain’s six ecological zones, from steamy rain forests to the arctic summit, as scientists explain what can live where and how those six zones are changing due to climate change in general and the retreating glaciers more specifically:

Ecologically, Africa’s tallest peak is a world in miniature. On what other mountain can you journey from dry fields and farms into steaming jungles, then up through exotic heaths and moorlands to an alpine desert and finally a glaciated summit? Each of Kilimanjaro’s six distinct ecological zones has its own climate and coterie of flora and fauna. Beginning with the band of rain forest that girdles the mountain’s base starting at about 6,000 feet, this microcosmic Gaia gets gradually drier, cooler, and more inhospitable to plants, animals, and people as one ascends to the sparkling summit at 19,340 feet…. By the end, if nothing else, you’ll know what kinds of clothes you’d need to bring for an ascent (hint: all of them).—Peter Tyson

The series airs on Oregon Public Broadcasting Thursday, Dec. 17, at 11 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 20, at 4 a.m.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Mountaineer Mark Curran shares stories from his 2008 trip up Mt. Kilimanjaro. For more, check out our Kilimanjaro page.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

The search for two missing climbers is now in its third full day after the body of Luke T. Gullberg, who at 26 had climbed the 11,240-foot Mt. Hood six times, was recovered at 9,000 feet on Saturday. Due to what has been called extreme avalanche danger, the search has been limited to helicopter surveillance since Sunday morning, and the only climbers who set out early Sunday morning returned by 6:15 a.m. due to the poor conditions.

Gullberg, of Des Moines, Wash., was found on Reid Glacier after what looks like an apparently big fall. Gullberg was thought to be leading his friends Katie Nolan, 29, of Southeast Portland and Anthony Vietti, 24, of Longview, Wash. On Sunday, searchers took out a Black Hawk helicopter, a Civil Air Patrol fixed-wing aircraft, and a Coast Guard C-130 plane, but didn’t find a single sign of Nolan or Vietti. Prayer vigils have cropped up in Portland and other cities, as well as online.

Mt. Hood has claimed the lives of at least 18 people, a number that includes Gullberg, in the past decade. This time of year tends to present not only risk of avalanche, but falling into crevasses as well. The search-and-rescue mission is complicated by the fact that there are conflicting reports of the route the climbers planned to take, so the search net has had to be cast wider than usual.

Pen Hadow became the first person to complete a solo and unsupported trek to the North Pole in 2003.

Tarquin Cooper, writing for The Guardian, “charts the daredevils, never-say-die attitudes and disasters that came to define the people who pushed themselves to their limits and beyond during the past 10 years.” From trekking, climbing, skiing, motorcycling, sailing, and sledding to distant and dangerous destinations around the world, these are the icons of a new era in adventure travel.

Equally fascinating is the “misadventure” list, detailing disaster, tragedy, and controversy when expeditions didn’t quite go as planned:

2000 Peter Bray’s first attempt to cross the Atlantic in a 27ft kayak ends after he capsizes off Canada.

2001 Brian Milton’s attempt to recreate Alcock and Brown’s 1,800m direct flight across the Atlantic in a microlight crashes on take-off.

2002 A few days into their bid to row the Indian Ocean, Simon Chalk and Bill Greaves are shipwrecked after hitting a submerged object.

2003 Jennifer Murray, 63, and Colin Bodill, 54, narrowly escape death after crashing their helicopter in Antarctica.

2004 Frenchwoman Dominick Arduin disappears a day into her attempt to become the first woman to ski solo to the North Pole.

2005 Sir Ranulph Fiennes’s first attempt on Mt Everest fails after he suffers an angina attack, 300m from the summit.

2006 Huge controversy on Mt Everest as climbers are accused of walking past the dying climber, David Sharp.

2007 Roz Savage gives up her Pacific rowing attempt 10 days in, after stormy weather causes her boat to capsize three times in 24 hours, losing vital equipment.

2008 The British-built Vestas Sail Rocket becomes the fastest boat on water after nudging 50 knots, but then spectacularly crashes.

2009 Olly Hicks sets off from Tasmania to row around the world, but gives up three months later, after getting no further than New Zealand.

Famed mountaineer Alan Arnette, still a full season away from his travels to Everest, announces Australian climber Gavin Turner’s decision to make one of the only double traverse attempts in history. If Turner succeeds, he will be the first. Arnette writes:

A single traverse is incredibly difficult – physically, mentally and logistically. A double amplifies the challenge…. To be clear what a double traverse entails, the climber starts from the north side, for example, climbs to the summit then, instead of returning to north base camp, continues to the south base camp. There they replenish their energy through excellent rest and food before the next phase in short order. They climb again, almost as a new expedition altogether, to the summit and continue to the original base camp. There is a reason it is rarely attempted and has never been done.

Climbers David Liano and Bill Burke have also told Arnette they plan to attempt a double traverse in 2010 as well. Good luck to all as they continue to push the limits of what is possible in the Himalayas.

Gadling has just released its top 10 adventure travel destinations for 2010, and we think they’re onto something with their number one choice: Nepal/Tibet/Bhutan. Here is the explanation:

Okay, so I lied when I said this list would include ten places for adventure travelers, but in my defense, when it came time to select a destination from the Himalaya, it soon became abundantly clear I couldn’t choose just one. The legendary mountain range is amongst the most breathtakingly beautiful places on Earth, offering great trekking opportunities, wild paddling expeditions, and the most challenging climbing trips anywhere. Throw in a healthy dose of unique culture and spiritualism, and you have the makings of a trip that can only be described as “life altering”. If any of that appeals to the adventurer inside of you, then you can’t go wrong with a visit to either Nepal, Tibet, or Bhutan. They each have their own unique appeal, and to visit any of them, you’ll have to go through Kathmandu, a city that is as eclectic and fascinating as the Himalaya themselves.

Check out our Asia page for trip details to Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan, where trekking, paddling, yoga, and more await.

Embark’s favorite new tented lodge for our Wildlife Safari in the Ngorongoro Crater is on the rim of the lush, dense Ngorongoro Crater shortly before reaching the Serengeti National Park. The Lhotia Valley Tented Lodge is doubly cool because it not only provides support to visiting adventurers, but also to its own community. Its “two hills, one goal” combines the Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge on one hill with the Rhotia Valley Children’s Home on the opposite hill. In their own words:

“At the lodge you can enjoy every comfort in a typical African atmosphere. With only 15 en-suite tented houses, it offers intimate charm and personal service. By staying at Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge, you directly contribute to the well-being of the children of the adjacent Children’s Home.”

Kayaking Metlako Falls – Headcam from Dave Hoffman on Vimeo.

Kayaker Dave Hoffman has just posted raw footage of his weekend kayak trip to Metlako Falls near Eagle Creek outside of Portland, Ore. There are plenty of videos floating around out there of kayakers taking this fall, but this is a unique view from Hoffman’s own perspective. If you’re wondering what’s going on at the bottom, the visor on his helmet broke and slammed into his face, and his spray skirt imploded. Hoffman writes, “I cannot wait to do it again.” Warning: This video is not for the faint-of-heart, or for kids who should not hear cursing.

We’ve found footage from a May 2008 Everest summit that should not be missed. The hi-def footage really gives you a feel for the immensity of the landscape as the sun rises:

Canoe and Kayak has just published part 1 in a video series following Ben Stookesberry as he navigates the waters of one of Embark’s favorite destinations, The Kingdom of Bhutan. The footage if breathtaking, and the editing is pretty slick, too. Check it out:

Enter Tawang Chu Part: 1 from Ben Stookesberry on Vimeo.

Embark organizes trips throughout Asia, with Nepal being our pinnacle destination. Experience once-in-a-lifetime adventures in a region that manages to preserve itself better than almost any other, and that begs for immersion not only culturally but physically. Whether you are here to trek, or just witness and wander, Nepal is a place to let yourself go, where edges blur and the mountains and people alike welcome you with looming curiosity. Embark has an upcoming yoga trek as well as an upcoming climb up Island Peak with an option to hike Everest Base Camp.

Mountaineer and all-around adventure addict Ryan Waters, who got his feet wet, so to speak, in the Himalayas, is trekking to–and perhaps across–the South Pole. He’s in good hands with Norwegian mountaineer Cecilie Skog, who is the only woman in the world who has climbed the highest mountain on every continent. She’s also reached both the North and South Poles unsupported on skis. It’s a good thing the two have so much experience between them, because their current mission includes skiing more than 1,000 miles to traverse the world’s least-hospitable continent: Antarctica.

Follow Ryan and Cecilie on their Dispatch blog.

If you haven’t heard that Jessica Biel, Kenna, Alexandra Cousteau, and other celebs plan to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro in January, you’ve been spending too much time out in the wild. The Summit on the Summit project is a celebrity climb trying to raise awareness and money for the need to preserve clean drinking water by asking that people sponsor a foot of the 19,340-foot climb. Today the group releases a training video that is meant to be funny. Whether it succeeds is frankly beside the point; the group’s rallying behind a good cause, and they’re having to do more than walk a few hours to make it all happen.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

NatGeo Adventure has posted a great piece on a pair of climbers helping archaeologists explore high-perched caves in the Mustang region of northern Nepal. Locals say they’ve seen old manuscripts fluttering out of one of the caves, but the altitude and nature of the rock made the task too daunting for anyone but the best to venture up.

“The challenges were daunting,” says Peter Athans, aka “Mr. Everest,” of scaling a set of crumbling cliffs—more mud than rock—for the benefit of science. “At times we were climbing what looked like overhanging drip sand castles. We’d kick at a feature that we thought was a massive boulder, only to watch it collapse and fall in a cloud of sand and dust.”

With special permission from the Nepalese government, Athans and climber Renan Ozturk fixed three-foot-long anchors deep into the crumbling walls. The going was slow: At one point, it took 14 hours to cover 328 feet. The duo eventually reached a series of tunnels and shafts, fixing a route inside the cliffs while dodging rockfall. “It was like climbing through a dust storm,” Ozturk says. After working their way to the top of the complex, the climbers traversed from one opening to the next and soon entered a large domed room littered with more than 8,000 ancient manuscript folios, the illuminated pages filled with images of pre-Buddhist Bön deities. “It was the first time in my career that I got to use climbing techniques for something other than mountaineering,” Athans says.

After the climbers lowered the manuscripts in rucksacks, at which point nearby monks did an initial cleaning, anthropologist Charles Ramble of Oxford determined that they date back to the 15th century. It looks like the region’s first kings actually practiced Bön, not just Buddhism, which is an unsettling discovery for the locals, who tend to consider Bön to be a primitive religion full of black magic.

Either way, hats off to the climbers, whose expertise was clearly essential in this impressive “rescue” mission.

Here is an outline of the basic gear for trekking in the Annapurna region of Nepal.

Walking boots and sandals
A water & wind proof jacket
Synthetic T-shirts
A thick pullover fleece
Shorts
Synthetic Hiking Pants
Thermal underwear
Water bottle
Warm socks(wool)
Pocket knife (Swiss army knife)
Flashlight with spare batteries
Extra bootlaces
Sunglasses
Sun lotion
Personal medical supplies
Small Towels
Day bag (for yourself) and rucksack or duffel bag (for porter)
Down jackets, sleeping bags (on your request, we provide)
Warm hat
Large plastic bag to line duffel

It is not necessary to buy anything in advance. It is possible to rent and buy many of the items in Kathmandu – for very cheap – as there many trekking equipment shops. If you do not like carrying sleeping bags long distances, you can find many of them here, both new and used.

One of the items travelers often overlook with their budget before visiting East Africa – and climbing Mt Kilimanjaro – is the price of the “recommended” vaccinations. One of Embark’s clients recently went to the travel clinic, and here are the recommended vaccinations – likely recommended from the Center for Disease Control – and their prices in 2009. If he were to get every vaccination, assuming he had none of these vaccinations in the past and no insurance to cover them, it would likely cost him near $800.

Office Visit $59.00
Vaccine Administration, first vaccine $19.00
Vaccine Administration, each additional $9.00
Hepatitis A – Adult $79.99
Hepatitis B – Adult $89.99
Influenza $34.99
Meningococcal Meningitis $134.99
Pneumococcal $59.99
Polio $54.99
Rabies ?
Tetanus $39.99
Typhoid Injection $69.99
Yellow Fever $109.99

Ultimately the choice is yours on what vaccinations you should, and should not take before entering East Africa. Remember, you will need proof of Yellow Fever. While it’s always smart to error on the side of being safe, it’s smart to do your research to determine if you really need all the recommended shots.

NatGeo Adventure is asking its readers to vote for the adventurer of the year, so check it out and have your say. Contenders include Iraq war vet Marc Hoffmeister, who led a team of injured soldiers up Denali; rock climber Dean Potter, who base jumps in that incredible wingsuit; surfer Maya Gabeira, the first and so far only woman in the world to nail a 45-foot wave; and astronaut John Grunsfeld, who fixed the Hubble telescope at zero gravity about 350 miles above earth.

Of course, whether you should try any of these feats at home is up for debate. Just last night a 40-year-old skydiver from Boston fell to his death in a wingsuit; his name has yet to be released.

National Geographic has posted this amazing point-of-view footage of Andrew Master from Rivers in Demand as he kayaks the eighth longest river in the world (2,920-ish miles). The swells are so big it looks like Master is battling an ocean. Be sure to watch to the end of the two-minute video; the kids who cheer his return to shore have got to be the best kind of finish line around.

If current conditions continue, experts say the glaciers that line the uppermost reaches of Mt Kilimanjaro will be gone in just 20 years, reports Azadeh Ansari for CNN.

“In a very real sense, these glaciers are being decapitated from the surface down,” reports Lonnie Thompson, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University. Thompson is co-author of a study on Kilimanjaro published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Previous studies of Kilimanjaro’s glaciers have relied on aerial photographs to measure the rate of the retreating ice. For this survey, scientists climbed Kilimanjaro and drilled into the glaciers to measure the volume of the ice fields atop the 19,331-foot peak. Kilimanjaro’s ice cover shrank by 1 percent a year from 1912 to 1953, then jumped to 2.5 percent a year from 1989 to 2007. Since 2000, Kilimanjaro’s three remaining ice fields shrunk by 26 percent, scientists found.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Growing up everybody wanted to be an archaeologist, just like Indiana Jones. Archaeologists have really exciting jobs, right? They hunt for treasure, while also dodging arrows, jumping over pits, being chased by house-size boulders, sliding under closing caves, being chased by tribes, and then swinging on tree limbs out into the water (while also being shot at with arrows and darts). It was Indiana Jones’ adventures that inspired my love for adventure, culture, and world travel, and helped inspire Embark.

A group of Embark’s clients are getting ready for their adventure climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain. We recently received a spoof picture from one claiming that he was getting his gear ready for the mountain. Check this guy out! This is exactly the gear you should not bring on the mountain. Cotton kills! No Leather. You might want to bring the hat and the whip though.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Trailspace.com is publishing a four-part series on how to plan for, and conquer, long-distance hiking. While the first article focuses on a few of the monster trails in the US, the advice–based on input from hundreds of trekkers–applies to just about any long-distance situation. In addition to this video of a family that hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail over six months in 2004, highlights include:

* Get by on as little gear as possible
* Train regularly, and with extra weight
* If you plan to travel alone, train alone

Meanwhile, Kiwi adventurer Malcolm Law is about to set out on his 7 in 7 challenge in New Zealand: Hiking 223 miles of trail (7 of New Zealand’s Great Walks) in just 7 days. He says he plans to “make pain my friend.” Good cause, good goal. Happy trekking, Mal!

Today we’ve found something different, but like all places rarely explored by humans, we thought it worth a nod.

Adam H. Graham reports for Travel + Leisure Magazine on the world’s creepiest abandoned places, from vacant medical hospitals (like the above one in Norway) to sunken villages and derelict amusement parks.

“Young creatives have made a hobby out of photographing derelict and discarded buildings and uploading the images to sites like Abandoned-places.com and Weburbanist.com, along with Flickr’s numerous user groups, like Abandoned Motels, Abandoned Sweden and Best of Abandoned. The most popular group, simply called Abandoned, has 20,000-plus members and remains a go-to source for those looking to find new terrain.”

Check out the slideshow here.

National Geographic Adventure reports on a cool new find:

An inflatable wing—part balloon, part paraglider—used in skiing or snowboarding to extend jumps, ease landings, and pull off absurd leaps over crevasses and ravines. “It feels almost as if you are on the moon,” says Laurent de Kalbermatten, 53, the Woopy’s creator. “You are weightless, like Peter Pan.” Though the Woopy is not yet available in the United States and is still in development for commercial sale, there are two “Woopy Parks” in Switzerland, the wing’s homeland, for test runs. There’s also a Woopy-Fly glider, for making Woopy in the summertime (woopyjump.com). ~Anne Hay

Whether Laurent de Kalbermatten knows what the moon feels like was not reported, but we’re going to trust him on this one.

Jessica Watson, 16, has set sail after a few false starts, including this widely-reported yacht collision on Sept. 9. The Australian left out of Sydney on Sunday, and hopes to achieve two goals: be the youngest person ever to circumnavigate (breaking the record set last year when 17-year-olds Zac Sunderland and Mike Perham circumnavigated as well), and doing it in just 10 months.

Jessica is sailing a 33-foot yacht, which she calls Ella’s Pink Lady, and is already reporting via her blog good winds and pleasant weather. She plans to head northeast toward New Zealand, past Fiji and Samoa, then out into the great Pacific before steering south to navigate beneath Cape Horn. From there she passes the Falkland Islands and the Cape of Good Hope, and then through the notoriously choppy waters of the Southern Ocean before steering back into Sydney. She sleeps on deck in brief spurts while having to navigate (aka dodge) the big ships, which she’ll soon be able to more easily avoid in the open waters of the Pacific.

Good luck, Jessica! May you have not only the physical strength necessary for such a rigorous journey, but the mental stamina, as well.

The Middle Fork of the Salmon is perhaps the best whitewater river in the Pacific Northwest. The beauty of the river is you raft 100 miles and there are a series of approximately 100 rapids. It’s rare, for many rivers in the Northwest to get a large amount of rafting days and get that many rapids. The best part about the entire trip is the hot springs at a number of the campsites. Our crew consisted of 20 people, and you could see we had to scout of a number of the rapids.

National Geographic Adventure published a story today on the Great Himalaya Trail, known as the “one trail to rule them all.” This is essentially a trail that covers 1600 kms and crosses the entire country of Nepal. It combines some of the classic trails in the Everest and Annapurna regions, but also gets into the remote outback of Nepal, which many trekkers never get the chance to experience.

While Embark organizes the classic treks, it also is planning to start exploring the Humla region of Nepal, which is a great access to Mt Kaliash in Tibet.

When J.J. Kelly and Josh Thomas met on the Appalachian Trail back in 2003, they ended up spending three months trekking those blue mountains together, and ultimately decided to plan an extravagant–and this time intentional–crossing of paths down the, er, river. What ensued promises to make for one of the best adventure films of the year.

Paddle to Seattle chronicles the adventures of these talented but let’s admit it, also lucky, friends as they paddled their way down from Alaska to Seattle in handmade wooden Pygmy kayaks. Three months and more than 1300 miles of some of the most remote terrain in North America later, the two braved all sorts of conditions, mishaps, and general raucousness suitable for this kind of adventure, which has been brilliantly edited into what Paddler Magazine calls “80 minutes of the best feature film about paddling produced in the last decade.” It’s their loss to not have made it just a bit further south to the brilliant paddling waters of Oregon, but still, we’re all very, very jealous.

Dave Watson navigates Broad Peak at 23,000 feet by skis.

Stephen Regenold has a great story in the Star Tribune on the world’s first attempt to ski down K2 this past August.

“It’s essentially skiing down a climbing route,” says skier Dave Watson of K2′s infamous Bottleneck Couloir, the crux section on the mountain’s freefalling southeast face. Watson, a ski guide and climber who has twice made it to the summit of Mount Everest, guides high-altitude ski trips in India’s Kashmir region and considers skiing an overlooked and important tool in conquering the world’s giant peaks.

For more about Watson’s feat, and to see pictures of his stunning descent, check out k2tracks.com.

Ama Dablam

Climber Alan Arnette writes about two almost-8,000-meter peaks in the Himalayas: Ama Dablam and Pumori:

“When people think of climbing in the Himalaya, almost everyone thinks of Mt. Everest. But the post-monsoon period of Fall is difficult on Everest with higher winds, more snow plus ever-shorter and colder days so many commercial companies turn to the lower and slightly logistically easier Cho Oyu, Manaslu and Shishapangma as their primary Fall 8000m expeditions. However, two other peaks, not in the 8000m club, come into focus: Ama Dablam and Pumori. With easy access completely contained within Nepal, these climbs offer something for everyone, including extreme danger.”

Not up for the “extreme” danger aspect of these summits? Consider Ana Dablam and Pumori as just two more breathtaking reasons to trek in the Himalayas….

Roz Savage, the athlete who dropped her management consulting gig after 11 years in the field to, well, row across the Atlantic, is now traveling by land to discuss her aptly named book, Rowing the Atlantic. She’s even taking part in an adventure series for National Geographic in DC, but if you don’t live there, you can follow her goings-on, on land and open water, via Twitter. Savage seems totally insane, which 100-plus days of solitude probably does to a person, but her giddy drive to roam the planet is irresistible. Now we’ve just got to get her to join us on the way climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.

Here is a crew from Embark Adventures at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. These four guys climbed the Lemosho Route, up the Western Breach, in eight days to Uhuru Peak. You can see also see their video climbing Kilimanjaro.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

If you haven’t been following Wired contributor Brendan Ross‘ masochistic mission to live in airports and planes for a month-long stretch, you are missing out. After 50 flights, Ross finally admits to fatigue.

“I’m really tired. Not tired of the trip, or flying, or anything like that, which surprises me. I fully expected that by this point I’d be fostering an unhealthy animosity towards all things related to aviation, picking fights with ticketing agents and leaving half eaten sandwiches in seatback pockets. But somehow it just hasn’t happened yet.”

It hasn’t been all bad. Ross did get to crash-land a jet airliner, after all. But even taking the time to glance at his Google Maps flight tracker, all domestic, is exhausting. Being a frequent flyer has never looked so tedious and tiring. But still, it’s a bizarrely fun blog to follow, much in the way we have trouble not staring down car crashes as we drive past.

One of Embark’s mountain bike guides took a recent weekend to scout future routes for mountain bike tours in the Pacific Northwest. This is near a route on the north side of Mt St Helens that has a nice 13 mile trail.

Gbenga Akinnagbe, who plays Chris Partlow in The Wire, has just published a travel piece in The New York Times on his journey through the Annapurna Circuit to climb Thorong La (17,769 feet).

It’s a great read, and includes such amusingly (on reflection) discoveries as the water bottle conundrum: “Sitting down for a break, I pulled out a one-liter bottle of water wedged in the webbing of my backpack. Frozen solid. I could not believe it. But then again, I could.”

Or the cold, hard truth about the last push to the summit: “Whenever I was short of breath, I hyperventilated and I slowed even more. I felt like the dying son of Krypton, desperately waiting the return of the Earth’s sun to give me my strength back. Adding to my distress, Tim and Diana teased me about my slow pace.”

But my favorite observation (spoiler alert) is his discovery upon reaching the top: “For the longest time, competition was the engine that allowed me to succeed. It was a loud engine, however, and my mind was always running. But at that moment, I felt a stillness and peace, and I realized that those could be a more powerful inspiration.”

New York representative Carolyn Maloney‘s husband, Clifton Maloney, 71, died in his sleep shortly after a successful summit of Cho Oyu over the weekend. The millionaire investment banker, who has been described as an “avid adventurer” into not only mountaineering but sailing and running (he competed in 20 New York marathons), became the oldest person to reach the top of Cho Oyu.

After the summit, Maloney’s team descended to one of their prepared high camps to rest after a long day at altitude. Reportedly he told one of the other climbers: “I am the happiest man in the world. I just climbed a beautiful mountain.” He then crawled into his sleeping bag for the night, and never awoke. Maloney is survived by several women–his wife, mother, sister, and two daughters.

Cho Oyu, perched a dozen miles west of Mount Everest and often considered the softest of the world’s 14 8,000-meter peaks to climb, is the sixth tallest in the world at 26,906 feet. Maloney’s family is working to get Clifton’s body down the mountain; due to his age and the extreme altitude, he most likely suffered from cardiac arrest or respiratory failure. According to this table, Maloney will be considered the 42nd person to ever die on Cho Oyu.

The North Face Cho Oyu Trilogy Team is posting great photos from their trek toward the mountain. Team climber Simone Moro posted great footage of himself discussing his previous Himalayan adventures out of Chhukung village. Check it out:

The Adventure Blog is reporting on today’s summit of India’s Satopanth (7,075 meters), where the weather was so cooperative the team made it from C3 to the summit in five glorious hours. The Field Touring Alpine team plans to head back down to C2 today and then base camp tomorrow. Check out their podcast from the mountain:

Diamond Peak is a small mountain in the Willamette Valley, just a few hours outside of Eugene. It’s a good mountain early in the season, coming up the west side, without being technical. It has a great section for glissading and for ski mountaineering.

The only downside to the entire climb was the sheer volume of mosquitoes located in the forest. Once we were above the timberline, we were fortunate to have peace. We slept just off the road near the base, and started early in the morning. Round trip, I think it took us about 10 hours.

Diamond Peak

Here is a team from Embark climbing Mt. St Helens in September. Three of us followed the Monitor Ridge route and it took us just under 3.5 hours to reach the summit.  We were above the clouds and could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainer.

Outside mag is following paraplegic athlete Chris Waddell as he climbs Kilimanjaro over the next few weeks. This is definitely worth following–especially for anyone wondering whether they can get in shape in time to climb Kilimanjaro with us this winter. Waddell serves as an inspiration for any body, literally.

What’s he up to today? In his own words: “We’re testing and putting the finishing touches on the winch—a self-tailing sailing winch that will allow me to climb a fixed rope. An alternate chain will attach my cranks to the winch. Through pedaling, I will pull the rope towards me, effectively moving myself up the mountain. The loose surface will matter less as I roll along the top instead of digging in with the back wheels.”

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

On a regular basis, we will update this adventure blog with trip reports, pictures of client’s trip, remote destinations that we are exploring, upcoming trips, and unparalleled commentary on the world of adventure travel. Check back each week, as we continue to explore to the ends of the earth.

We just added to two recent videos of our adventures in East Africa – one on safari, and the other climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro!

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Here is a group of clients who climbed Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro. We profiled their multi-day adventure.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.

Here is a group of Masai performing a traditional dance for our clients who were on safari in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.

If you are interested in a company that offers Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tours, please contact Embark, or visit our Kilimanjaro Tours section for more information.