CheapTents Outdoor Gear Blog

Last month we posted about Ed Stafford who had just completed a 4000 mile, 859 day expedition along the entire length of the Amazon river. Yesterday, Outside Blog posted a great interview with Ed Stafford, which is well worth a read.

Ed Stafford walked the entire length of the Amazon. Source Flickr by Ivan Mlinaric.

Walking the Amazon

In the interview Ed reveals how he got the idea for the expedition on Google. However, he does not reveal whether or not the expedition was undertaken as a reconnaissance mission for Google’s River View project. Inspiration also came from projects that his contemporaries have undertaken. Ed goes onto explain that his experience in the military and leading conservation expeditions set him in good stead for the adventure.

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Going for a long walk takes on a new meaning…

Samuel H Gardner will trek four thru hikes, that's over 12,500 miles! Photo by Greg Maino.

Walking a long distance hike is undoubtedly something that many of us hikers wish they had the time and stamina to take on. In the United Kingdom trails like the Pennine Way, the West Highland Way and Pembrokeshire Coast Path typically take between one and three weeks, depending upon how many miles you want to walk each day. To walk from Land’s End to John o’Groats you are talking the best part of two months hiking, which is a pretty big commitment.

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Mt. Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain standing at 19,340 feet, thats almost 6,000m. It is due to the extreme altitudes that Kilimanjaro is considered be hard to climb. Earlier this month Matt Cutts (the head of Web Spam at Google) climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro for Charity:Water.

Matt Cutts of Google Source: Flickr by Tony Young

As a bit of a tech geek I have known about this trek for a while, however to explain why Matt took on this challenge who better to explain than himself.

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There are many mountainous regions in Afghanistan and prior to the Soviet invasion in 1979 it was a popular destination for climbers and mountaineers. In May 2009 the new democratic government created the Band-e-Amir National Park which it hopes will boost national tourism to the area. It should also help to encourage the international community to take adventure travel and hiking holidays in the spectacular and remote countryside of central Afghanistan.

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On April 2nd 2008, Ed Stafford an ex-army captain set off on what he thought would would be a year long hike along the Amazon. 859 days later Ed has now completed his epic hike from source to sea, along with his travelling companion Cho. Cho was only meant to be Ed’s guide for 5 days at the beginning, not an inseparable companion over the 2 years.

Alien or Spiny katydid nymph? Amazon Critter
Source Flikr by ggallice

Far from being a “boys-own adventure” Eds reasoning for his Amazon hike was “I am simply doing it because no-one has done it before.” he told AP.

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When it comes to finding out about adventures taking place across the globe one of the best places to look is The Adventure Blog. Written by Adventure Blogger Kraig Becker the main focus is on climbing expeditions in the Himalayas and polar expeditions in the Arctic and the Antarctic. However, it does not stop there. If there are any great adventures taking place anywhere in the world Kraig Becker will have it covered, from Ripley Davenport’s attempt to make a solo and unsupported trek across Mongolia to the Plastiki Expedition in which adventurer David de Rothschild is sailing his famous boat, made from more than 12,000 plastic bottles, from San Francisco to Sydney.

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Located on the south west coast of India, Goa is a well known holiday location due to its beautiful, golden sandy beaches. Yet there are also many hiking opportunities in Goa for people who like to explore the countryside on foot. Take a journey inland in this tropical region and the terrain becomes mountainous. The mountainsides are green, covered by moist broadleaf deciduous forests that support many species of flora and fauna. Goa is an area that is world renowned for its biodiversity.

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Berghaus have launched an online rock climbing flash game to give the general public a virtual taste of a major climbing adventure.

For most of the year the fjords on Baffin Island are filled with frozen sea ice, but for a short period in the summer the ice melts and with 24 hours of daylight the area becomes a climbers paradise with mile high granite walls and amazing scenery.

Last year, sponsored climbers Leo Houlding and Carlos Suarez tackled the Asgard Project, an ambitious expedition to climb the mile high Mount Asgard (named after the realm of the Norsk gods) on Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle, and then BASE jump from the top.

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In August last year we wrote about Birdfair and Birdlife International and their conservations campaigns, including the Save the Albatross Campaign. The Adventure Blog has reported that in February 2010 New Zealander Hayley Shephard will attempt to sea kayak solo around South Georgia Island in order to raise awareness of the threat which the Albatross is currently facing.

South Georgia is home to a number of Albatross species and to attempt a solo sea kayak journey for the Plight of the Albatross can only capture a fascinated audience to encourage protection of one of the worlds most precious of seabirds.

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Today marks the first birthday of the CheapTents.com blog! During this time we have published lots of gear reviews and interviews with outdoor professionals plus news and advice about camping, hiking, equipment and outdoor activities.

Best Ever Outdoor, Hiking, Climbing and Gear Posts!

In order to celebrate this achievement we have compiled a list of our favourite blog posts from the year. Some our posts are informative, providing useful information about gear, outdoor pursuits and travel. Some posts provide ideas about where to go hiking, climbing, cycling and mountain biking. The interviews with outdoors professionals provide an exciting incite into the adventures of people who take outdoors sports to the extreme and/or travel to the remotest parts of the world. And some posts are about things that are just plain daft! This brings me nicely onto…

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