Our grading system explained
Help Mountain Kingdoms help Kerala
We were very saddened to see the devastating effects of the severe flooding in Kerala in Southern India last month. It is a destination which is very popular with Mountain Kingdoms’ clients and although none of our tours are affected, there are areas which have been truly devastated by the catastrophic flooding.
Mountain Kingdoms takes its responsible tourism remit very seriously and newly-appointed Responsible Tourism Officer, Julia Sharpe, has been in contact with a small UK-based grassroots charity, Kerala Partnership, which has been working in Kerala for over 20 years. Currently, the majority of their funds are allocated to schemes supporting the elderly living below the poverty line, who have no ability to work to sustain themselves. However, since the floods, Kerala Partnership will also focus on helping as many people as possible whose homes and livelihoods have suffered as a result of this disaster.
They are in constant contact with their volunteer partners in the area and after consultation with them, Kerala Partnership has identified some key areas including the repair of houses before the second monsoon season, and providing grants for small agricultural projects to be re-started to enable families to get back on their feet and help themselves.
Mountain Kingdoms has already made a sizeable donation to Kerala Partnership which will enable one family’s home to be fully repaired. If you are interested in helping in a similar way, rest assured your donation, no matter how large or small, will go to directly helping those in need at this time. Donations can be made direct to the charity by visiting:
https://mydonate.bt.com/donation/v4/chooseAmount.html?charity=66927&sourcePage=charitySearchPage
Related News
2021 Photo Competition Winner
We had a superb shortlist of monthly winners from which to select our
travel photo of the year, but after much deliberation and debate our
winner was this stunning festival image taken in Ladakh by Chris Martin.
We all just loved the colour, movement and energy of the dancers, as
well as the technical achievement in capturing that moment. Chris has
told us how he did it...
'I was travelling with my American photo friend and we had hired a 4x4 in Leh to drive us to spend a couple of nights in Lamayuru. We were up at first light to walk up to the Monastery. We were lucky to be the only foreigners on site amongst a small group of local villagers. Suddenly out of a doorway in the courtyard came monks dressed in amazing finery. They then started to dance in total silence. The only sound was the swooshing of their garments ! It was quite eerie ! The dance went on for around ten minutes in which time I managed to acquire some interesting pictures.'
Many congratulations to Chris, his prize is £250 towards a Mountain Kingdoms holiday. We look forward to seeing what brilliant images he captures on his future travels.
Costa Rica and the Green Planet
Winner of the Earthshot prize, Costa Rica plays a starring role in David Attenborough’s new, ground-breaking natural history series due to its extraordinary bio-diversity and conservation credentials. Watch Green Planet on BBC1 on Sunday evenings to see some of the country’s amazing plants and creatures including millions of fungus-feeding, leafcutter ants that form an essential role in the ecosystem of Costa Rica’s pristine rainforest.
If you’d like to discover Costa Rica for yourself there is availability on both of this year’s departures of our Gentle Walking & Wildlife Costa Rica small group holiday.
December competition winner
Our final winner for 2022 is Chris Holland with this superb photo of Ama Dablam in the Everest region of Nepal. Not only has Chris captured the beauty of this magnificent mountain but the stupa in the foreground (with its slightly cheeky expression) adds real interest and character as well as a sense of symmetry and scale between the man made and natural worlds. Many congratulations to Chris who wins our last Water-to-Go bottle of the year.