Api: “So what you going to do in New Zealand?”
Ben: “Go into the mountains.”
Api: “ What, where the snow and ice is?”
Ben: “Yes, so that all we can see is white.”
Api: “Why you want to do that Peni?”
Ben: “Good question Api, I’ll tell you when I get back.”
Captain Api’s questions were understandable coming from a Fijian islander whose spent his life on tropical waters and beaches.
But I’ve always wanted to ‘go into the mountains,’ I’ve just never been quite sure why. I mean look at it – the mountains are cold, freezing places with little or no living things, with rapidly changing weather, unseen cliffs, cravasses and always the going up and the coming down, hardly ever a cruising, calm flat. So why leave a sunny island home for this loneliness and pain? Good question.
Back from four days of mountaineering in the two thumb range, above the spectacular lake Tekepo in the centre of the south island of New Zealand, I remember why.
The air – it tastes different, lighter, cleaner. Pushes you on.
The clouds – Up above and in amongst them you gain a better sense of their behaviour and how the weather that we all discuss so much everyday, actually works.
The peaks – sweeping ridges and vast valleys never look so alluring.
The snow – it changes as you get to know its different layers and formations. The way the white blanket deceives its crystal complexities is strangely fascinating as well as beautiful.
The sleep – sunken into your bag you forget the world and its worries. Its you, your warmth and the mountain silence.
The food – the blandest food can taste amazing, its the closest you come to feeling like you’re literally re-fueling your body.
The company – the people whose footsteps you literally and metaphorically tread in. The trust on the belay, the clinical communication and the shared experience. The stories of mountaineers past achievements shrink and inspire you simultaneously.
The body – takes a pounding. Realising that your gear is an extension of you – crampon spikes for toes, ice axes for fingers, avalanche transmitter for heartbeats. It is about as physical as it gets for me and I relish the challenge of burning muscles, straining lungs, and aching limbs.
The mind – the exploration, vacancy, numbness, inspiration, perspective, explosion. The mental journey in the mountains is wild.
The afterwards – the best shower and beer you can re-call. The satisfaction, the new-found focus, the sense of achievement. The warmth and sleep.
That’s why I go to the mountains. I remember now.
Giles and I did a four day introduction to moutaineering with Alpine Recreation, a brilliant company based in Tekapo, and we would thoroughly recommend them if your serious about ‘going into the mountains.’
There were just three of us plus our instructor and we stayed in a beautiful little hut above the snow line. As well as a decent peak ascent we practised self-arrests, anchoring, avalanche and cravass rescue, snow shelters and basic climbing. We bonded with our ice axes, snow shoes and crampons and ate a whole lot of museli bars.
alpinerecreation.co.nz
“Keene and James, both 26, had been brainstorming ideas for an Internet start-up, and Keene was used to receiving email messages full of improbable schemes from his friend. The business plan outlined in the current message didn’t disappoint: We will establish an online community and call it a tribe, James had written. Members will create profiles, post photos, and chat online – the usual stuff – and then do something with no known precedent in the history of the Internet: The virtual tribe will become a real one. We will travel to a desert island, James wrote, and form a partnership with an indigenous tribe. We will build an environmentally friendly tourist facility and show it off to the world as a model of low-impact development. We will be a 21st-century tribe, and you, Ben Keene, will be a chief.”
National Geographic Adventure Magazine, February 2006
After schooling at Malvern College, Ben took a year out working in a outward bound college in Australia before returning to study politics at university. Since graduating Ben has worked for 3 years as Marketing & Operations Director for Madventurer in both the UK & Africa, before founding Career Break Cafe & in 2006, Tribewanted.
Ben is now developing Tribewanted beyond Vorovoro, looking at ways to build communities globally (online) and locally (off) that focus on adventure, sustainability and what it means to be part of a community in the 21st century.
Since returning from Fiji, Ben has been invited to speak at travel, corporate, government, education, charity and even a CIA event! The couldn’t-make-it-up adventure that was the early days of Tribewanted as seen on the BBC’s Paradise or Bust combined with the relevance of the project to various trends in business and society; web 2.0, sustainable living, responsible tourism and social enterprise, are a great platform for Ben to share this remarkable story.
Contact Sophie Laurimore > SLaurimore@wma.com
or give me a shout…
ben@tribewanted.com
skype: benjaminkeene
Now we’re well over our festive hibernation and have welcomed what feels like a new World President, it seems like the right time to look forward.
So, in our little world of Tribewanted, here is what I am working on for the year ahead…
FIJI
We’ve had a tough month – bad weather has prevented some tribe members arriving and some even from leaving and not much project work going on, but at least unlike many villages in Fiji, we’ve not been seriously affected. I thought the tribe’s weather report was brilliant.
This combined with the cut-backs we have had to make because of the currency dropping and prices going up means that development resources have been more limited – Team Fiji are rotating their time on Vorovoro, rather than anyone losing their job and Kaivulagi team have all taken voluntary 20% paycuts. I am very grateful to all the Tribewanted team, and especially Jim, for managing this so well.
Jan-Aug 09: Goal is to keep island full and happy and complete as many of the sustainability and community projects as possible. If you are thinking of visiting Vorovoro during this time book soon as August already pretty full. We’ll also be running VITIKA trips from March when its a bit drier.
Sept 2009 onwards (the future of Vorovoro): Aim to start a proper discussion on this in February when Ulai and I will outline our hopes and ideas for the longer-term partnership between Vorovoro and Tribewanted and what might be achieved. Tribe members input into this discussion will be vital. Island lease provisionally agreed for extension pending Fijian bureacracy.
ANDINA
We already have tribe members booked onto this summers challenge : to visit the majestic Cordillera Blanca in Northern Peru and challenge and engage yourself with its stunning snow-capped scenery and its fascinating indigenous Q’echua culture.
LIVE EVENTS UK
Some great news in the pipeline for a unique summer event in the UK which I should be able to confirm by mid February. All I can say now is that I know it will cause much excitement…
Also hope we can have some more LIVE style events May-July in UK. If anyone would like to run an event in the UK or elsewhere or have ideas for them then please get in touch.
Tribewanted On Tour are also organising an alternative three year Vorovoro celebration at the end of August here in the UK. More info on facebook.
SCHOOLS
I have teamed up with David McQueen who runs leadership and enterprise workshops to kick-start Tribewanted: Schools will be unique one day social enterprise programmes for 14-19 year olds in the UK, sharing the story of a cross-cultural, on-line and on-island tribe and inspiring students to create their own tribe. I hope once we’ve trialled this, tribe members can get involved running these events in their local schools.
UNIVERSITIES
This week I am sharing the Tribewanted story with Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) at Kings College London who are going to help the tribe with some sustainable design challenges. I hope this can progress to other universities. If you are in London on Friday 23rd Jan please come along.
INCENTIVES
I have teamed up with Fiona Pelham at Organise This , the UK corporate events industry sustainable events specialists, to look into a new approach to corporate incentives. Watch this space.
SPEAKING & PROMOTIONAL EVENTS
The Autumn was a busy time for sharing the Tribewanted story. Upcoming events I’ll be at include: Furness Young Professionals 6th Feb, Broadcast Video Expo 18th Feb, One Life Live 13-15 March, Adventure Travel Show 20-22 March
DIGITAL & MARKETPLACE
Kaz and Sue are doing some great back-end research into building the online Tribewanted Marketplace and we’re looking to shake up our digital architecture and clean up the site in the coming months.
RUNNING FOR SURVIVAL & DREAM FOUNDATION
Giles and I will be running the London Marathon for Survival International on 26 April – any support financial or at the roadside would be much appreciated. The Tribewanted Dream Foundation meets at the end of this month so hopefully we can do some fundraises for Fiji as well this year.
TRIBEWANTED II…
Finally I am keeping in touch with all kinds of interesting projects and opportunities around the world that have shown interest in what were doing. Nothing is set in stone yet but when the time is right I’d love to look at getting a second major project off the ground.
If you would like to help develop any of these projects or programmes then please get in touch.
Vina’a va’alevu for your energy
Ben
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