Sadly for the taboloids, there’s little gossip to reveal.
Expeditions to remote places are great levellers Kilimanjaro proved no exception. The tough conditions, extreme weather and altitude sickness issues were the same as any other group might experience. And they put in the legwork – this was a long project that demanded months of training followed by an expedition under gruelling conditions. Critics might wonder whether it was right for the celebrities to have such a large entourage of porters, guides and support staff. Was it worth it What about the impact on local people Did the mountain environment suffer Behind the scenes, the nine celebs were joined by 25 people from the BBC, Comic Relief and Charity Challenge, as well as a 140-strong Tanzanian support team. Around 800kg of media equipment was flown out to Africa and two editing suites were set up at the base of the mountain. The Tanzanian support team, led by imposing chief guide Emanuel, were completely unfazed by the celebrities, who were mostly unknown to them. The team managed the logistics amazingly well, enabling everybody to summit. The environmental impact was light. The group climbed in low season, the portered loads were correctly divided, no fires were lit, no rubbish was left on the mountain, and all the support team were well paid, tipped and looked after according to the guidelines of the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project. The recession has led to a fall in foreign visitors to East Africa however, the Red Nose Climb has provoked an unprecedented interest in Tanzania and Kilimanjaro. Charity Challenge received more than ten times the number of enquiries they would have expected for this time of year. Should this interest lead to bookings, well-managed tourism could provide a huge boost to the local economy. June S&P’s are currently 7.50 higher at 890.50. As mentioned Friday my downside objectives for the near term has been reached and I rec…
Stock index futures extended losses on Wednesday as investors waited for key retail sales data for an indication of the mood of the U.S. consumer…