Spanish Paralympics swimming champion, Dani Vidal, has remarkably succeeded in his attempt to swim the Strait of Gibraltar. I’m sure, you’ll have this question in your mind as to what is unusual about this; anyone can swim the Strait of Gibraltar. The unusual thing is that this man has no left arm and only half of his right. Yes, you’ve read it right! This swimming champion lost his limbs in a childhood accident when he was electrocuted. Nevertheless, this accident couldn’t crush his spirit and he made a successful attempt of swimming the Strait of Gibraltar without his limbs. Dani Vidal took 6 hours 20 minutes to make the crossing on Wednesday and facing side winds of 4.2 knots when two miles off the African coast, he completed his endeavor determinedly. Vidal is full of pride and contentment to have completed the test which was his personal ambition. Hats off to his heroic deed! Source: Spluch
Kate Stephens’s hard work has finally paid off! Her passion for skydiving has brought her the British championship crown. Kate threw herself out of a plane at 10,500ft with her Team Storm (Sarah Smith, Hannah Betts and Claire Scott) skydiving squad over two weekends in August. The championship was held in Lincolnshire where the Kate’s team completed 10 formation skydives within 35 seconds which is the time given to the skydivers from the moment they leave the plane to assemble themselves into different shapes. Team Elan (World and British champions) was the biggest challenge for Team Storm and it reigned by averaging 18.1pts in their 10 jumps compared to their rivals’ 16.5pts. The World Championship is the next big challenge for Miss Stephens and Team Storm. Source: Hunt Post
If you like rolling inside a bowl on a metal platform, skateboarding is your thing. A common misunderstanding is that this sport is for the teen punks only. But, the Clark county’s Pacific park proves otherwise. From young novice’s to older pros, you will find skateboarders of varied skills around here. Skateboarding has become one of America’s favorite pass time. I think this is a great sport. Having tried the local park myself and my rusty skills on a board, I think it can be fun but a little dangerous. The advanced level skateboarding is not for the faint at heart. You will see people from all walks of like in a skateboarding bowl like the one in Clark county. Working professionals, people in the management to kids who have plenty of free time goof around on their skateboards in these bowls. Along with boarders, these bowls or local parks accommodate BMX bikers as well. County parks are mostly free for all and they can be used by anyone as long as they are not vandalizing things inside and have safety gear on! Safety shouldn’t be undermined in a potentially life threatening sport like this. Helmets and knee pads are imperative. A fall http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2007/09/06/clarkskate_4646.jpg clarkskatecan just shatter your knee cap or cause head injuries. These days helmets are not just brain buckets. If you think they are not your style, there’s plenty of slick and cool looking helmets out there that will keep you safe and look cool on you. In the end, it takes a lot of adrenalin and guts to get into an extreme sport like this. But, almost anyone can get in. Image Credits: Accessclarkcounty
Looking for a kayaking and hiking trip in Crete? This is just the right time! Avail the opportunity of going on the adventure trip to Crete with hotel/tour packages. The packages feature kayaking along the southern coast of Crete, hiking along its majestic White Mountains and exploring seaside villages. Details about the trip: It’s an escorted tour package that includes seven nights’ accommodations in local hotels. The journey will begin in Chania. 98-room Kriti hotel is booked where the travelers will stay overnight. On the second day, travelers can explore Paleochora, erected on ancient Kalamidi ruins close to the Samaria, Agia Irini, and Anidri gorges. Kayaking lessons will also be given. After completing these lessons, travelers can spend rest of the day beach-hopping and splashing in the Mediterranean Sea. Third day will be fun as the kayaking skills of travelers will be put to use. They’ll paddle to Sougia, a secluded harbor and home to a beautiful beach, a village church with 6th-century mosaics and plenty of fresh seafood. Package: Seven nights’ accommodations, meals, public transportation and sea kayaking will cost $1,160 per person. The package is not for the single supplements. Booking: Booking depends on the availability, there’s no deadline. When: Depart Sept. 9, Oct. 7, 21, 2007. More Info The most spectacular sites in the world can be seen on kayaking, hiking and cycling trips in Europe. You can witness the incredible backdrop of the mountains and beaches of Crete and that also within your budget. Enjoy Kayaking and hiking in Crete without straining your wallet! Image [1][2] Source: MSNBC
Canyoning is one such adventure that is the dream of all adrenaline junkies. Known as kloofing in South Africa and canyoneering in the United States, it is a sport that generates the maximum thrill from a mixture of stunning mountain landscapes, rushing water and gravity. Canyoning involves traveling down creeks or streams within a canyon by a variety of means including walking, scrambling, climbing, abseiling and swimming. Not for the fainthearted, it requires skills in navigation, rope-work and climbing. Canyoning can be treacherous. There are risks associated with scrambling down uneven, slippery surfaces and abseiling in wet, cold conditions. It is one of the extreme fairground rides. You need to know the rules and techniques while you go trying this adventure. You should look straight, have your arms above your head and let your legs go floppy. This will help you enter the water safely and you won’t smack against the surface and hurt yourself. If you are a novice, then you should be escorted by guides who have an intimate knowledge of the canyon and the potential hazards involved. Try not to plan your adventure after heavy rain because it becomes potentially fatal after rain. While you start the ride and lose your footing slowly, you are seriously in the state of hyper-arousal and have increased blood rate but being swept away is literally part of the adventure. Dressed from head to toe in thermal neoprene suits and specialist canyoning equipment, you’ll experience the thrill of sliding through natural water flumes, swimming through pools and jumping and abseiling off water falls. An unforgettable experience! Images-[1][2][3] Source: Telegraph
I often stumble upon luxury blogs like Born Rich and read about products meant for the affluent and wonder how it would be to lead a life like that even if it’s for a day. I’m sure many of you like me would happily lap up an offer to be a celeb or to be with celebs and see how their life would be. Why not? After all, life is short and you have to experience life King size even if it’s for a day or two. There are a couple of ‘luxury lifestyle brokers’ who can arrange you couple tickets to the Emmy’s or the Oscar party, complete with a limo and accommodation at the Beverly hills, arrange for a thrilling experience of being a fighter pilot for a day. Want to rub shoulders with Page 3 celebs at the Playboy Mansion or get invited to a movie premiere? No worries, this can be done too. Wait, all these of course come with a price tag! Bluefish Concierge is one such company, that can secure impossible access to A-list events, set up that “I never thought I could do this” adventure, line up private charter flights and book luxury accommodations in every city around the world. They also exel at arranging outrageous, one-of-a-kind experiences available nowhere else from sending clients in a submarine to see the remains of the Titanic to providing exclusive access to the greatest award shows, fashion events, and arranged fighter jet flights over Moscow. Signature Days offers you a mind boggling variety of unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences that are out-of-the-box not only for you but also for your pets. So, you can have the ultimate music experience of the Rock ‘n’ Roll fantasy 5-day camp with professional rock ‘n roll stars for $16,000, be a fighter pilot for a day, climb into the cockpit of a real military aircraft with your instructor and experience the thrill of air combat! for $2,000. How does it work? These companies have connections with corporate sponsors, celebrity event organizers, charities and insiders who’ll arrange to give you the exclusive high life of the affluent. So, what if you are not ‘born rich’ or ‘made rich’, you can still experience their lifestyle at least once in your lifetime! Source
I’m sure you won’t believe me if I say that some people love to jump from the bridge you see in the picture above. Now you’ll wonder why anybody would want to jump off a perfectly good bridge but lots of people do and they pay good money for that. It’s the Bloukrans River Bridge that is the highest single span arch bridge in the world and has etched its mark in the Guinness Books of World Records for being the world’s highest commercial bungy jumping venue. At a staggering 216m this is the ultimate bungee experience! Situated along the Garden Route at the Tsitsikamma Forest Village Market (40km east of Plettenberg Bay along the N2 Highway), it’s a place where your heart pounds as you look over the edge of the bridge, your toes hanging out over a drop the size of a fifteen story building. Almost mesmerized by the dizzying height, you need to build up courage and commit to throwing yourself into the giant space below. A huge rush of adrenaline courses through your body when you jump, giving you the most thrilling experience. Images Source: Hotnez
Austrian Markus Stoeckl nicknamed Hercules has set a new world record for series mountain biking on snow in the Chilean Alps when he hit a speed of 210.4 km/h (130.7 mph). He shattered the previous record by an incredible 23 km/h (14 mph). South America’s springtime weather had melted away much of the snow alongside the piste, shrinking it to a narrow strip set up between bare mountain cliffs which made the test runs difficult to carry out. During the run, the protective visor on Stoeckl’s helmet kept steaming over, forcing him to hold his breath for 40 seconds. After tasting the success, Markus Stoeckl now plans to break Eric Barone’s other age-old records. Check out two more images and a video below. Images Source: Spluch
Sara Campbell, popularly known as Dolphin Girl, has earned her sobriquet for her unique free diving skills. She can hold her breath for astounding four and a half minutes. She holds world record for diving 90 m deep. She is planning to go farther and attempt what has been accomplished by the few. She is preparing to take over the most challenging of all, The Arch in Dahab, Egypt. It is a huge archway, or tunnel, connecting the Blue Hole – a massive abyss – with the open ocean. To complete the dive, Sara must first swim down 55 meters to the tunnel entrance. Then she will try to swim another 35 m through the tunnel and then up to the surface. In all she will be covering around 145 meters in all, while holding breath at the same time. If she manages to conquer the Arch, she will be the first ever woman to do so. The Arch has claimed countless lives so far, only few have managed to conquer it and all of them were men. She will need special contraptions to accomplish the unique feat, along with her famed monofin. Free diving is an endurance sport where ones mettle is tested against the sea. It is like subjecting your body to full workout while holding the breath at the same time. For a normal human being, holding breath for more than 1 minute is a torture. Though Indian Yogis have held breath for longer duration, but no one has combined scuba diving with it. Image Via: sundaymirror
If you are a true adrenaline junkie and love the thrill then I’m sure you’ll love reading this post. There are many daring adventures that will give you the thrill and true experience. Here, I’m discussing five most daring adventures. So, get ready for some real adventure to witness the thrilling experience! Diving Tectonic Plates (Reykjavik, Iceland): Reykjavik, Iceland is just the right place for you if you wish to get the mind-blowing experience of being able to dive between two tectonic plates. Completing this dive is truly a once in a lifetime experience and undoubtedly one to tell the friends about. A most spectacular experience! Go dive! The James Bond Bungee (Lake Locarno, Switzerland): Head to the Swiss and Italian border around Lake Locarno and enjoy a weekend of adventures. The Verzasca Dam was the site of the incredible opening sequence of James Bond film, Goldeneye, which saw the agent bungee jump 220 meters over the incredible dam. You can also enjoy some other outstanding adventures alongside such as canyoning, caving in the legendary Hells’ Caves and mountain biking. Shark Diving (Cape Town, South Africa): Shark diving is a thrilling experience for anyone who wishes to face up to their fears or experience the excitement and adrenalin that this activity brings. Shark dive in Cape Town is for the brave! If you are adventurous and love a thrill, then there is no greater thrill than to white shark dive in Cape Town with great white shark. Believe me, it’ll be a day to remember for the rest of your life. MiGs Over Moscow (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia): If earth-bound adventures do not make you feel contended then, try flying a MiG-31 Foxhound fighter jet courtesy of Sarasota, Fla.-based Incredible Adventures. You’l have to undergo security clearance, a medical check and flight suit fitting before taking off with the assistance of a Russian test pilot. If you have excessively high blood pressure, then I would suggest you not to apply. The Bolivian Challenge (La Paz, Bolivia): This sport is not for faint hearted. This is for those of you who thrive on a physical challenge, love to push yourselves to the edge and revel in huge surges of adrenalin. Beginning at El Alto Airport, the world’s highest and longest commercial runway, your trip will take a week of biking and ice climbing in the foothills and glaciers of Bolivia’s mountainous landscape. From here, you’ll go to the world’s highest oxygen bar, Ozone, where you will learn to breathe at high altitude. Bursting with confidence you will then face Bolivia’s Death Road also known as The World’s Most Dangerous road, with 800 plus foot drops off the side of the mountain. Adrenaline hits don’t come much harder and this will feed some of the best memories of adventure that you will ever have. Your next activity is one of the biggest downhill mountain bike rides in the world with over 14,000 feet of vertical descent. You will ride from the top of the Chacaltaya down into the dense lush jungle at the bottom of Zongo Valley. Huayna Potosi Mountain will give you the final thrill. Here you’ll go for ice climb where you will summit the mountain at 19,975 feet. Doesn’t this sound superb adventurous trip! London-based travel firm Black Tomato is a travel company that arranges these adventurous trips. Image [1] Source: CNN