The 2011 Virgin London Marathon is now less than five days away…Fellow Gorilla (literally), Martin Palmer, talks us through the build up to his latest adventure:

Hi, I’m Martin, and I’m a gorilla…well I will be for the London Marathon. Best to start at the beginning, it all started in 2009 when I took part in the Great Gorilla Run where over 700 people dressed in gorilla suits to run 7K around London for a charity called ‘The Gorilla Organization’.

As soon as I discovered I was in the London Marathon I decided to create a blog to record my antics as a virtual scrapbook – if you wish to find out what I’ve been up to then go to http://marathongorilla.blogspot.com  or follow me on twitter @marathongorilla (http://twitter.com/#!/MarathonGorilla)

I joined in as part of the ‘Go Ape! Tribe’ and still have the t-shirt and bandana upstairs. It was an exciting and amusing day – the sight of 700 gorillas running over Tower Bridge is not to be missed. The charity works in Central Africa supporting both the human and gorilla populations and helping them to co-exist. Projects include agricultural training for the people, Ranger Patrols to protect the limited number of gorillas, and tree planting to help both.

Last July I was chatting to a friend who was planning to run the London Marathon in April this year – and I thought that’s great, I wonder if there are any places for the Gorilla Organization? In October the answer to my question was announced.

Two things I forgot to mention i) This would be my first ever marathon; ii) I plan to run the full 26 miles in a gorilla costume. So, for the last six months my world has been filled with running and gorilla fur. I have taken part in numerous different races including ‘Hell Runner’, ParkRuns in the snow as a gorilla and recently the ‘Reading Half Marathon’ where I ran in the ‘full suit’ and completed the race in under 2:30. In January this year I decided to make a short humorous film ‘mISSING pIECES’ of a gorilla running around Basingstoke noticing the changes to the human habitat – which in the last few days I discovered has been accepted for an international short film on April 16th (One day before the big race!!!).

From all of us at Go Ape we’d like to wish Martin the very best of luck and hope he ‘zips’ through the 26 miles of the Capital. If anyone is going down to watch on Sunday keep your eyes ‘peeled’ for Martin and maybe take a banana?

Finally you can support Martin by visiting www.justgiving.com/GorillaMan and I’m sure he’d love to hear some words of support and advice – So feel free to comment guys!

Camping’s not everyone’s cup of tea… but what about luxury camping?

When you’ve spent the day clambering up trees, whizzing along zip wires and swinging like a spider monkey through the canopy, it seems a shame to head back home, or worse still, to a boring old hotel… especially when you can continue your outdoor adventure.

Don’t worry, we’re not talking about camping – at least, not in the traditional sense. Banish those traumatic childhood memories of leaking tents, damp socks, and cold showers. It doesn’t have to be like that.

‘Luxury’ and ‘camping’ haven’t always gone together. But what else do you call it when a gramophone, a fully-stocked bar or a life-sized ceramic leopard greet you on arrival? You can wallow in a copper bath up in a treehouse or catch a trout for tea on your own private stretch of river at a luxury log cabin. Luxury camping, or glamping, as those in the know call it, takes the best bits of camping, and combines them with a few creature comforts. You’ll still wake to the dawn chorus and you’re still slap bang in the middle of the countryside, so you can enjoy everything mother nature has to offer – from kayaking and hiking, to blackberry picking.

After an exhausting and invigorating day exerting yourself, you can pour yourself a drink and just enjoy the magnificent scenery. And you won’t miss your flimsy rollmat and sleeping bag, when you sink into the king-sized bed, piled high with cushions. When prefixed with ‘luxury’ the definition of camping seems to shift to include all manner of outdoor retreats, from log cabins and Romany Gypsy caravans to treehouses and traditional shepherd’s huts… as well as canvas structures – think Mongolian style yurts and bell tents.

But as well as the proximity to nature, what unites all these special places is their low impact on it. The creativity employed in conjuring these magical retreats extends to their environmental approach, many offering an off-grid experience with wood-fired showers, solar panels or compost loos – even a shower made out of a kettle in a tree! Listen to the birdsong, and watch your campfire flickering away, all in a guilt-free paradise.

Thanks to our friends at Canopy & Stars for this ‘luxury’ blog post

‘Time flies’…A popular proverb used in everyday life and, well, quite literally at Go Ape! with our Zip Wires and Tarzan Swings.

The last few weeks have been somewhat chaotic at Head Office. We’ve been frantically getting everything booked in, signed off, ordered and packed before we begin Part I of our road trip, which sees us travelling to the North East of Scotland…Note to editor: remember drivetime playlist (check out the end of this blog). 

Our new adventure at Crathes Castle, near Aberdeen, opens its forest doors for the first time this weekend and we’re, well, very excited! Excited as this will be our third Scottish adventure; excited as this will be our first course to feature a brand new skateboard zip and excited as we’ll be travelling up in style courtesy of our friends at Wicked Campers.

So on Thursday morning we’ll be departing our Suffolk base in two unique hand painted Wicked Campers (packed to the rafters with bananas) and spending the day trekking across the English and Scottish countryside. We’ll be stopping off along the way to ensure the people of Britain get a potassium fix…so keep your eyes peeled.

Our colourful chums offer a range of reliable and affordable campervans to hire, which definitely get you noticed on the road, and are the perfect excuse to get out and explore our great British Isle. We’ll be testing them out over the next couple of weeks so will keep you all posted…

Crathes Castle 2011 Playlist
We want your suggestions to add to our Crathes Castle 2011 Playlist, which we will be playing on route to Aberdeen. The theme is ‘Adventure’ and we’ve started it off here http://bit.ly/edpSbj (please post your suggestions below)

Live updates on our Gorilla Rally to follow on the blog, facebook and twitter

It’s not the first time that Katie Price has ventured into the wilderness. From the jungles of Australia in 2009 to our tree-top adventure at Alice Holt near Farnham this week.

The A List celeb ‘swung by’ on Wednesday and enjoyed some play time with our Tribe in Surrey.

As bush tucker trials go (and you’ll all know this) Katie had no issue in tackling Alice’s Site 4 Tarzan Swing. Leaping from a platform into thin air requires nerves of steel and an iron stomach. A picture says a thousand words!

Finally Katie didn’t care that her bum looked big (in a harness).

(Left) From Tree-Time to Tea Time with our fantastic Alice Holt Tribe
(Right) Katie Price zips from Site 4 under the watchful eye of Sarah

 The countdown is on with 500 days to go until the capital hosts the 2012 games – a must for any Ape. And you can apply for tickets from today so get a piece of Olympic action now.

Here are the facts:

• There will be 9.6 million tickets for sale.
• 75% of the tickets will cost less than £50 and will give you free London travel.
• The Olympic Village will have 17,320 beds.
• The dining room will cater for 5,500 (That’s a lot of bananas!)

We all know that if Go Ape was an Olympic sport, everyone would be on the podium with a gold medal! Anyway, we can’t wait to get our monkey mits on some tickets. 

Let us know which events you’re wanting to watch…

We all know what makes up the perfect Go Ape recipe – One lush, green forest and a healthy dollop of breathtaking scenery; blend with a smattering of tree-top high wires, tricky crossings and zip wires; and finish off with a liberal dose of people in search of their inner Tarzan.

With so many pancake recipes out there, today is the perfect day to test them all out and find the perfect pancake combination … Maybe we need to rename it “Pancake Week”!

Check out this banana pancake recipe – perfect for any Ape!

125g Plain flour
85g Wholemeal flour
¼ Teaspoon Salt
2 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
335ml Buttermilk
2 Small Ripe Bananas Finely Chopped

1. In a large bowl, mix plain flour, wholemeal flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Stir in buttermilk and bananas until just moistened.

2. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over a medium high heat. Pour the batter onto the pan. Brown both sides and serve hot.

At Go Ape HQ, we can’t wait to get flinging those pancakes and topping them with the classic lemon and sugar combination!

We want you to share your favourite pancake creations with us so let us know what your choice of pancake topping is below!

Or why not show us (and make us jealous!) by posting your pictures on facebook!

Some of these animals ought to try out of one of our courses and get a Go Ape adventure fix!

Tortoises playing Chicken. A tortoise, rather appropriately named Freeway, made his way down the M25 ducking and diving under fast-moving cars. And if that wasn’t enough excitement for him, it turns out that he had travelled across the Atlantic to be there, having been micro chipped 3000 miles away in America!

High Diving Dogs. A daft dog was lucky to live to tell the tale when he leapt off a 100-foot cliff chasing a rabbit. He continued his venture and swam out to sea to be rescued two hours later by a passing jet-skier.

Coyote’s Hitch-Hiking. When a driver hit a coyote at 60mph during an American road trip, he did not expect to find it unscathed under the bonnet when he reached his destination eight hours later! That was one death-defying trip.

Using Up Those Nine Lives. One four week old kitten diced with death as it spent 24 hours stuck under a train. After climbing under the train late one evening, the little moggy was discovered the next day having enjoyed fare-free travel from London to the West-Midlands five times.

So it turns out that it’s not just cats that have nine lives as some of our other furry friends like to live life on the edge!

Do you know of any animals that like to live life more adventurously?

It’s no surprise to read that outdoor exercise is more beneficial than working out in a gym. My 8 mile run today along the sunbathed crest of South Downs Way between Steyning and Storrington cleared my head, lifted my soul, exercised my dog and didn’t empty my wallet. Gyms have their place, but they can’t compete with the solitude, serenity and scenery of the lonely trail. The best things in life are free.

We recently polled 4,000 people. Only two per cent said they felt their last rush of excitement whilst enjoying an outdoor activity. One third of parents believe their child is more likely to play on a games console than do something active outdoors this coming half-term. Are there dangers in replacing real adventures with virtual ones, and outdoor physical exercise with indoor treadmills?

Can ‘climbing’ 3560 ft on a cross trainer come anywhere close to the feeling of wellbeing and achievement that comes with summiting Snowdon? The benefits can’t all be measured in calories burned.

If embracing the outdoors can lower levels of tension and depression, we should be creating adventures and encouraging everyone to live life more adventurously. We should preserve public access to our countryside and forests too. Maybe if more of us championed this attitude there would be less need to fork out on gym fixes.

We’d love to hear your comments…

Tristram Mayhew
Chief Gorilla, Go Ape

So the first Half Term is nearly upon us and the question is: What have you got planned to entertain? Well, it’s an urban jungle out there, so you could do worse than helping your friends, family and colleagues discover their inner ape. 

Adventures open in Scotland from 12 February 2011:
Beecraigs, nr Linlithgow, West Lothian

Our tree-top adventure at Beecraigs (a stones throw from Edinburgh) will exclusively opens its forest doors on the 12 February for the Scottish Half Term.

Adventures open in England from 19 February 2011 include:
Alice Holt, nr Farnham, Surrey
Black Park, nr Slough, Buckinghamshire
Bracknell, Berkshire
Cannock, nr Rugeley, Staffordshire
Dalby, nr Thornton-le-Dale, N.Yorkshire
Delamere, nr Linmere, Cheshire
Forest of Dean, nr Lydney, Gloucestershire
Grizedale, nr Hawkshead, Cumbria
Leeds Castle, nr Maidstone, Kent
Moors Valley, nr Ringwood, Dorset
Sherwood, nr Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire
Thetford, nr Brandon, Suffolk
Woburn, Bedfordshire

So if you’re up for a challenge of ladders, bridges, tunnels, walkways and wind-in-your-face zip wires…look no further!

Book before you leap! Pre-booking is essential
Take a look and book at www.goape.co.uk or call 0845 643 9215
Please note a £1.50 fee will be charged on telephone bookings.

A Treehouse would be one seriously cool workspace!

Treehouses used to be for kids; all you needed was a couple of planks, a rope ladder, and plenty of imagination. Not any more. Treehouses are big business, and nowadays there are dozens of companies offering luxury, bespoke treehouses that adults find instinctively, inexplicably irresistable.

Stylish treehouses suddenly seem to be en vogue all over the world. Take Sweden’s Tree Hotel (www.treehotel.se) which opened in July 2010. With the help of a group of well known designers and architects, the Swedes have now turned the idea into a reality; a group of unique rooms created in harmony with nature, with ecological values.

Treehouses don’t even have to be in the trees anymore. The Free Spirit Sphere (www.freespiritspheres.com) was designed by Canadian carpenter Tom Chudleigh. Suspended in between the trees, using Go Ape-style steel cables, it looks like an alien spaceship trapped in the branches. Inside, however, it has full insulation, electricity and even some basic plumbing.

A Free Spirit Sphere will set you back around £80,000 (including shipping), but if you want to ‘try before you buy’, you can rent one on Vancouver Island, Canada, for $125 a night. Flimsy rope ladders are not required; imagination is still absolutely essential.

At Google’s Zurich, office conferences are held in reclaimed Antarctic expedition igloos; employees feel the grass between their toes at Innocent’s London offices and at Red Bull floating staircases and slippery slides.

Wonder if the Chief Gorilla will build us a Treehouse HQ?