Here's a video that is both heartwarming and a bit scary at the same time. It's a Sky News report on Kevin Richardson, an animal behaviorist who specializes in lions. Backpacker, whose blog I found this video on, harkens this to be much like the Timothy Treadwell story. You remember him right? He's the guy that was the subject of the movie Grizzly Man, who lived amongst the bears only to come to a tragic end. At least in the case of Richardson, he is trained to be with these big cats, although watching them manhandle him, it does make you wonder.
I can't help but chuckle at watching the video however, for two reason. One, it's clear that these cats have an affection for Richardson just by the way they interact with him, which is far different from Treadwell's experience. The other reason is that I have a big old house cat who exhibits the same traits as these lions. He just happens to way several hundred pounds less and fits in my lap.
I've been hearing about this climbing group for awhile now, but Backpacker has confirmed that eight blind climbers, along with their 17 guides, reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania last week. The team topped out on the 29th of June and in doing so, set two new records on the mountain, the most blind climbers at the summit at once and the youngest blind summitteer ever in the form of 13-year old Max Ashton.
The entire group was climbing as part of the See Kili Our Way organization, which is raising funds and awareness for programs designed to aid visually impaired babies. On the site, you'll find more information about the climbers, photos from the climb and their preparation hikes, and a blog that chronicles their exploits.
The team is back in the states already and were featured in video for Good Morning Arizona just yesterday. To check out their story and learn more about the mountaineers and their cause, click here to watch the video.
Text by Christian Camerota Surprise, surprise. It looks as if Lance Armstrong's charity ride has turned into something more: like, say, a legitimate run at his 8th Tour De France victory. Armstrong's Team Astana, favored to win today's 39-kilometer time trial in Montpellier, lived up to the hype, finishing the 4th stage in 46 minutes and 29 seconds. Their 40-second margin of victory over Team Saxo Bank means Lance Armstrong is now essentially tied for the race's lead, just milliseconds behind official leader Fabian Cancellara. Tomorrow's 196.5-kilometer stage 5 stretches from Le Cap d'Agde to Perpignan and is dedicated to surrealist painter Salvador Dali, who penned the 1959 Tour's official postcard. Read previous Tour De France posts >>
South African adventurer Riann Manser is finishing up another long distance solo expedition according to this story at Adventure World Magazine. Manser has just 200km (124 miles) to go to complete the first ever solo circumnavigation of Madagascar by kayak. He is expected to finish the 5000km (3106 miles) journey on July 11th.
Manser set off in August of 2008 from the town of Tamatave on the eastern coast of Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world. From there, he turned north where is 'Round the Outside' journey properly got underway, as he paddled an average of 8 hours per day in a counter-clockwise fashion around the massive island off the coast of Africa. Along the way, he's been updating his website regularly and sharing his thoughts from the sea and tweeting his progress as well.
This isn't Riann's first "Round the Outside" adventure. He also spent more than two years riding his bike around the outside of the entire continent of Africa. In the process he covered 36,500km (22,680 miles), across 34 countries. You can read about that incredible journey on his website as well.
Another cool adventure that looks like will be coming to an end in the next few days. Exploring the coast of Madagascar by kayak has to be an amazing experience. Very cool!
Update: Looks like I was off on the date of Riann wrapping up his adventure. According to a tweet on his Twitter feed, he'll finish up tomorrow, Wednesday, July 8th at 12:00 GMT. Congrats Riann!
Text by Annie Hay If there was ever a time to knock off one of the world’s Seven Summits, it’s now. This summer Alaska Mountain Guides International is offering a 20 percent discount on its ten-day Kilimanjaro expeditions, cutting the total price per person from $3,150 to $2,520. You’ll follow the Machame path to the top of the 19,340-foot behemoth and descend via the Mweka trail, taking in views from both the east and west sides of the mountain. Plan on ten days total from start to finish, and don’t worry about feeling rushed—AMGI attributes their 93 percent summit-success rate to the extra day they allow acclimation, which is something few other Kilimanjaro outfitters do. The Catch: You must book by July 15th to receive the 20 percent discount on the Kilimanjaro climb, and trips are filling up fast. The discount also only applies to trips on July 30th, August...
