The Adventure Company: The Real Swiss Family Robinson

Ever wished you could wake up on a beautiful desert island, and not have to worry about work and doing the school run? Yep, us too!

We all know of one fictional family who actually did it: The Swiss Family Robinson.



So, when we heard about the new series on BBC featuring English families who are actually living on an island paradise to escape the pressures of the Noughties, we were intrigued.

The classic adventure story
To refresh your memory, The Swiss Family Robinson was a novel written in 1812 by a pastor named Johann David Wyss. His intention was to teach his sons the values of family, hard-work and self-reliance.



To do this, he created the story of a family who become shipwrecked in the East Indies as they make their way to Australia.

This enduringly popular children’s book classic has been adapted for the small and silver screen many times.



In 1960, Disney brought the adventure to screen, and followed the family as pirates force their boat into the path of a storm, find their island and begin to build their home. The family consist of Father, Mother, Fritz, Ernst and Francis.



Throughout the film, the elder boys help to construct the home, and the younger becoming the island’s David Attenborough as he tries to identify as many animals as possible. After helping to rescue a damsel in distress, fighting pirates with coconuts, and having races on animals, at the end of the film most of the family choose to stay on the island and live their lives in paradise.



Fast forward to 2009, where the words “recession” and “credit crunch” are constantly muttered, it is no surprise four families have turned to the famous tale and used it as a guide to swapping their humdrum lives in Blighty for an island adventure.

Watch the show

The new BBC series, The Real Swiss Family Robinson, which starts this Friday 26th March, follows four families who, after a tough year during which they have lost their businesses and struggled on tight budgets, have finally decided to jack it all in and to break away in order to rediscover what’s important in life.



Sounds ideal? Well, it’s not easy. The four families are transported for three weeks to far-flung destinations and instructed to fend for themselves. Destinations include Kirbati, Panama, Tanzania and The Cook Islands.



This week’s family, The Dyes are an Essex clan who have recently lost a business which put an end to their luxurious lifestyles. Dad Andy wants to get his family out of the smoke, and into more simple surroundings so they can re-evaluate what’s important in life. His daughters who are used to the best of creature comforts, don’t always agree with his decision...



Each week, the series follows a different family as they arrive in deserted paradise and try to make homes, find food and mingle with locals. Watch the families as they struggle to adapt to simple life in gorgeous surroundings.



Each family also gets their own “Man Friday” in their first week who dishes out a few essential tips and tricks. The second week leaves them totally isolated as they attempt to survive in the wild, and by the third week they have to touch base with locals and cook a big thank-you feast in their newly constructed homes. The programme also follows up with the families back home, to see how they’ve readjusted within society.

Book your own Swiss Family Robinson adventure!

If you and your family are feeling the pinch but need an adventurous break, or a gorgeous castaway destination to explore together, look no further!

Following the series, The Adventure Company’s Turtles, Islands & Mountains Family Holiday visits both Panama and Costa Rica where the kids can snorkel, save turtles, explore National Parks and walk amongst the leafy hills of the Highlands of Boquete.



Combine the Swiss Family adventures with The Jungle Book and visit Tanzania on the Safari & Spice family holiday. On this fabulous 10-day trip, you can scramble over the Uluguru Mountains, set up camp on a beach in a game reserve, and truly experience happy solitude.



Take part in a walking safari from here to see zebras, giraffes and elephants, and the kids also have the chance to visit a local school to meet other kids their own age. Your little adventurers will also get their own Man Friday who will take them on a “Safari Guide Course” and teach them some amazing skills.



If the kids (and you!) are fans of the book, then the best place for your brood is Trinidad, where the story was filmed in the 60’s. The Viva Cuba Family Holiday visits Colonial Trinidad where you can snorkel and explore unspoiled Caribbean beaches, and hike in the mountains where you spend a few days exploring the lush forests.

Find more family adventure holidays on the website.

Thanks for reading,
The Adventure Company

The Adventure Company: Comic Relief Update!

As many of you know, we excitedly posted news a few months back, after we heard that a gaggle of the UK's finest celebrities would be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief this year. If you didn't read it before, you can find out more by reading our past entry, "Follow in the footsteps of the Comic Relief celebs.



Since then, training has begun and the various celebrities included have dealt with it in very different ways. Chris Moyles has publicly battled in his attempts to shift the pounds, bring in the muscle and thwart his daily take-away dinners. Gary Barlow, finally showing SOME sign of aging, has had his back go into spasm, throwing the whole trip into chaos.

All climbers plan to leave on this Friday (27th March) with their efforts to be shown on Red Nose Day- Friday 13th March- make sure you tune in.

For all the Take That fans out there, here is an interview Barlow gave about the trip:



And just because we don't like to leave our male viewers in the dark, here is a lovely Q&A with Cheryl Cole and Kimberly Walsh:



Book a Kili Trip!
We recommend you head over and sponser the team but why not use this as a chance to really tick off a "must-do" for '09?.



As a goodwill gesture, The Adventure Company have decided to donate £10 to the Comic Relief team and their causes, for every booking made on a Kilimanjaro trip, if booked before the 15th March. To ensure your donation is made, you must also quote "Red nose" at the point of booking.



The donation is available on the following four climbing trips to Kilimanjaro:

Peaks of Tanzania Tour
A great trek for beginner climbers, as the itinerary includes an initial climb to Mount Meru, which helps climbers acclimatise and increases the chance of success of making it to the top of Kili.

Marangu Route:
Commonly thought to be the least strenuous route, it is also the only one offering the relative comfort of huts at night, so if you don’t like the idea of crawling into a tent at the end of a hard day’s hiking, this is a good option.

Rongai Route:
This route offers a different perspective of the mountain as it approaches from the north. Although you can expect a large number of climbers on Kili at any time, Rongai tends to be less frequented as numbers are more strictly regulated on this route and it can only be used for the ascent; you will descend via one of the other routes.

Machame Route:
Arguably the most challenging option, but considered to be the most scenic. The day-walks are longer and steeper than on the other routes, but your extra efforts are rewarded with breathtaking views while traversing the Western Breach.

The Adventure Company are keen to donate to the team, because their good cause touches an area of tourism we are keen to support. We offer many trips to Tanzania , and the Comic Relief celebs are climbing to help raise money to help fight malaria in the country.

If you've got any other madcap ideas on how you are planning to raise money for the big day, or if you have plans to climb, or have climbed Kili, get in touch- we'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading,
The Adventure Company

The Adventure Company: Nature’s Great Events on BBC.

Here at The Adventure Company, we clearly love mother nature, and hold a special place in our hearts for the animal world too. Therefore, we are naturally very excited about the latest show to hit the BBC, because Nature’s Great Events is going to knock the socks off the average nature programme.

Using the most up-to-date technology, the show has captured the earths most dramatic and epic wildlife spectacles, and the animals, which feature in them. Whilst these have been filmed many times before this is the first time that such grand migrations and occurrences have been captured in such detail.

If you have digital, you can also watch the series on BBC HD, and really marvel at the detail. This is because they have used cutting-edge aerial, underwater and ultra slow-motion filming techniques. For geeky fans amongst you, the series also used a rare and unique camera- a FrankenCam, a motion-control macro camera developed by Ammonite Films and capable of shooting extreme close-ups of tiny subjects.

Everyone’s favourite naturalist, David Attenborough also narrates the series. You can watch the first programme this Wednesday (11th February) from 9pm-10pm on BBC One.



Episodes are set in the most glorious of settings including the Okavango Delta in Africa, the Arctic, and the northern Pacific Ocean.

The first episode of the series focuses around springtime in the Arctic where everything begins to melt and thaw. The episode focuses on the challenges polar bears face as their habitat is thrown into disarray, and how others such as the arctic fox, beluga whales and flocks of birds adapt so well to the climate change,

This particular episode was also filmed during the largest “Great Melt” ever recorded, as during the lengthy filming 400,000 square miles of extra ice disappeared. We first see the baby and mum polar bear here as they look for food, and the episode also focuses on the Hudson Bay bears as they fight, out of hunger.



Aerial camera also follow a large group of narwhals as they travel along giant cracks in the ice, a nail biting mission due to the fact that if the ice slides shut, they would suffocate. Beluga whales provide one of the most light-hearted moments of the show as hundreds gather in shallow rivers to rub themselves on smooth pebbles and gently exfoliates away their year old skin.

Other episodes also focus around The Great Salmon Run which follows the 500 million salmon who travel 20,000 miles to return to the exact patch of gravel in the river from which they were born they fight to make it up river along the way, dodging the prey who want them as their next dinner before they finally spawn and die. Revolutionary camera film 100 times faster than normal and slow motion shots show specific hunting techniques the bears use.



The Great Migration follows the huge amounts of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles as they migrate across Tanzania’s Serengeti Plains. Using a gyro-stabilised helicopter mount, the team captures the action as the herds fight the odds and an erupting volcano whose billowing smoke and ash is hot on their trail.

The Great Tide tracks the hundreds of millions of sardines who are on the search of warmer waters in South Africa and the reams of ocean hunters, including dolphins, sharks and whales who are waiting for them.



The Great Flood tracks herds of elephants as they try to find water in the Kalahari Desert, and then have to adapt again as the Okavango Delta floods. Finally The Great Feast focuses on Alaska and British Columbia as the increased sunlight brings a wealth of nature including sea lions and whales. Using advance camera techniques the programme checks the growth of phytoplankton, which are the basis of all life in this vast area.



The Adventure Company also has a few tours, which take you to the same areas, and let you witness these fascinating events yourself.

There are 6 Arctic expedition trips to choose from, alongside our Serengeti Explorer Tour and we also offer 9 Tours To South Africa

Did you encounter any cool wildlife on your latest Adventure Company trip? If so, leave us a comment or let us know!
Thanks for reading
The Adventure Company