Thuraya Out There competition

Be one of the first 30 people to submit a photo and win $100

To celebrate that you can now recharge instantly wherever you use your Thuraya satellite phone, we want to see and read where you have used yours.

Got a great picture (preferrably with your Thuraya mobile)? Or a story about how your Thuraya saved the day? Well, send it into us here at:

We'll show them here and if yours is judged the best out of the first 30 valid submissions received, you will receive $100 of Thuraya Airtime.

Competition Entries

Rescued after being stuck in the mud

I usually travel in the bush with my friends for camping adventure in the wilderness of Zambia in Africa. This one time me and my 2 friends went for a camping trip in one of the wildest game parks in the world known as south luangwa national park in zambia. We were deep inside the bush about 600kms away from mobile signal and we got stuck in the mud around late afternoon! We tried all our best to rescue ourselves but it was getting dark and we didnt manage to come out. And i remembered i had my thuraya sat sleeve. I decided to make a call to the city for help decided to send us help but only the next day as it was already around night time. We pitched up our tents and camped in the bush for the night. The next morning i called again from my thuraya sat sleeve to find out if they had sent us a rescue team and they told us that the rescue team has only left the city esrly morning. They had sent a tractor to pull out our car from the mud. The rescue team only reached us in the afternoon the next day after we got stuck. And finally we were rescued and our journey continued after 1 and a half day stuck in the bush with wild animals! I will never forget that day because if i did not have my thuraya sat sleeve i dont know how many more days we would have to spend in the bush for someone to find us and give us a hand. Im really happy to use my thuraya sat sleeve as it helps me in such situations. All the best to all the Thuraya users! All I will tell all the thuraya users is dont worry, be happy! Because you've got a gem!

Peace of mind to explore

This is Mabel, our entirely home built adventure travel vehicle. We love nothing more than finding places with no regular mobile reception - our Thuraya gives us peace of mind to explore that extra mile of track. Guy, Liz, Joseph (2) and Jess the dog

Calling when on the move

I travel more than 40,000 km every month, and my Thuraya Sat phone is a really nice piece of equipment to carry!

Butendiek Offshore wind farm in the North Sea

I work as a heavy lift supervisor putting up windfarms in the renewable sector off the coast of Denmark and Germany. It's between 40KM to 120KM from land, so my satellite phone is a life line to my family back home. Even on all these modern boats a lot of them don't have good communications where the crew can you telephone home on a daily basis. This is where my little baby, my Thuraya sat phone comes into it's own. It's good to call home!

Testing a new Thuraya Sat Sleeve

Testing my new Thuraya sat sleeve on the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan. We were conducting a GSM and Satelite test for the Bishkek-Almaty Ultra Trail Competition.

Our Maritime Action Force use the Thuraya XT

I work for a professional, small Swiss Security Company around the world. As private Contractors, our Maritime Action Force use the Thuraya XT for all our Missions on Sea. Also our Action Force on Land in other Countries are using Thuraya XT for communication. One of our jobs is, to protect yachts & merchant ships against piracy. Best Regards from Switzerland R.S. & Team

Roger Theron, Lunch in Rome (just outside the Vatican)

Roger Theron: After a week in Europe, trying to get my Cellular provider in South Africa to Open my Mobile phone for roaming, i decided to turn on my Thuraya XT which we were traveling with at the time. It got signal i about a minute and within seconds i was in contact with the family back home, all of who were wondering where we were. We happened to be on the street just outside the Vatican having lunch... Signal strength and call quality were very good. Awesome product, will never roam with a mobile phone again. (Thats me talking on the phone sitting down underneath the left hand umbrella.)

Lukasz Baran, Bieszczady Mountains

Lukasz Baran: This is me staying just at the frontier of Poland and Ukraine. Luckily Thuraya knows (almost) no borders and provided reliable coverage and quality in this area. The funny thing is that you don't really have to go to an African desert nor to Himalaya to really make advantage of Thuraya satellite phone - also in the middle of Europe there are still places where only Thuraya may connect you with family and friends.

Heike Sperner & Thomas Laemmle, Reaching Renjo-La

Thomas Laemmle: Reaching Renjo-La (Solu Khumbu-Nepal) and getting in touch with grandma who is taking care of our 2 year old son Michel, back home in Germany. In the backround one can see Mt Everest.

Lawrence Billson, Search and Rescue over the Indian Ocean

Lawrence Billson: When the call came to do an air search for survivors from a boat sunk in the middle of the Indian ocean; after my 'go' bag, the next thing I grabbed on my way to the airport was my Thuraya phone. Being able to call home, the rescue coordination centre and check a weather report over the Internet from 43000 feet above the Indian ocean was amazingly reassuring.

Eva Baranyi, Cho Oyu Tibetan Route, Camp 2, 7130m

Eva Baranyi: Being able to get in touch with family and friends is really heart-warming. In 2008 I was on an expedition to the Tien Shan Mountains, Kazakstan. For a whole month there was no communication at all between my family and me. When I got home, my father immediately bought a Thuraya phone, and since that, I'm not allowed to get out of the country without it :) Last year in 2009 autumn, I went on another expedition to Cho Oyu in the Himalayas for six weeks (where this photo was taken), but in this case with this Thuraya phone. It really was a big difference!

TA Loeffler, Mt Kilimanjaro Summit

Here's a picture of me using my Thuraya phone on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. As the group was taking individual shots in front of the sign, I was calling in an update to my website. It was an incredible moment since everyone of our group of 12 women aged 42-60 made it to the top after six months of training and preparation together. You can hear at call at www.myeverest.com/summit-day. That's me in the orange parka with the phone in hand. Marian Wissink and Abigail Steel posing in front of the sign.

Ralph Arbeid, Palau, Micronesia

Ralph Arbeid: Using my Thuraya phone to keep in contact whilst diving in Palau, Micronesia. We were on a liveaboard out in the Pacific doing shark diving.

Pavel Blazek, Kargyak, Northern India

Pavel Blazek: We have been using a Thuraya phone since the beginning of our project in 2005 to build the Sun school in Kargyak. It takes four days to get to the nearest city from the village of Kargyak where we are building the school, so the Thuraya phone is our only way to stay in touch with civilization. We are using the phone almost daily to communicate with people in India, with the base team in the Czech Republic and also we are using it as a modem to send the updates and pictures to our website suryaschool.org.

Mark Van De Velden, Wahiba sand dunes in Oman

Mark Van De Velden: Wahiba challenge 2007, a fantastic driving event organized each year across the Wahiba Sand Dunes in Oman, ME. Over 25 teams of 4x4 vehicles and 1 team of trial bikers took the two day challenge to drive 100 km across the sand dunes, take my word for it not easy at all ! Joanne (wife) and I were part of the motor bikers support team when the call came that one of the bikers had burnt his clutch and needed to be rescued. Bob our team lead with two 4x4's navigated the dune faces and safely transported the biker and his trial bike back to mid camp. Meanwhile Bob kept us in the picture using the satellite phone what was essential as they arrived back late at night. The dark brings a whole other set of challenges and it was important to know that the guys were on their way. The picture highlights the enormity of the Wahiba sand dunes in Oman. Mark Van De Velden

Mihaly Aba-Mark, Hunting in Krygyzstan

Mihaly Aba-Mark: I was last year in Krygyzstan for a hunting trip, near Peak Khan Tengri, and Peak Victory using freqently my thuraya phone to be informed from home about my family and the satelite weather conditions :-) It is verry nice that we can recharge our phone's in the field now! Mihaly Aba-Mark

Claudio Rosset, Everest Base Camp, Tibet

Claudio Rosset: At Everest base camp in Tibet in 2005, charging our two Thuraya phones with solar panels. Photo Claudio Rosset. I was helping Bruno Brunod from Italy attempt a speed accent of Everest. Unfortunantly Bruno couldn't make the top due to winds, but I was lucky enough to get to the summit. The Thuraya phones were very helpful to coordinate the teams assisting Bruno on the mountain. Later they were also helpful when an expedition of some friends of ours on Annapurna had an accident and we could coordinate the rescue. Claudio Rosset

Roman Pekar, Afghanistan

Roman Pekar using his Thuraya phone to send a report into a Czech news website during his six month long expedition from the Pamir-Hindukus through Central Asia and Afghanistan. He said "our phone was the sixth member of the team:-)"

To give you some more ideas, here are some pictures of the Thuraya Recharge team & friends using their Thuraya satellite phones.

Fiona Adler, 8000m on Mt Everest at the South Col

Fiona Adler from Thuraya Recharge at 8000m on Everest's South Col. She is getting her Thuraya phone ready to update her website, a few hours before leaving for the summit.

Fiona Adler

I was a bundle of nerves in this photo. After more than 2 years of gut-wrenching training, and 2 months getting into position at camp 4 on Mt Everest, and I was about to find out whether the conditions would allow me to test my abilities and make a summit attempt. The wind was howling outside my tent and I was already exhausted from the climb up from camp 3 to this beautiful but desolate and frightening place.

Throughout the expedition, I used a PDA and a Thuraya satellite phone to upload a daily dispatch (with photos) describing what was going on to my friends, family and a growing group of supporters from around the world. The process of writing helped keep me centred and the incoming messages of support were always the highlight of my day. Keeping in touch was a top priority - and one that I think helped motivate me to eventually reach the summit early the next morning.

Fiona Adler

You can read what Fiona wrote in her dispatch from 8000m on Mt Everest here.

Alan Arnette, 7000m on Shishapangma in Tibet

Alan Arnette calls into his website with his Thuraya satellite phone at 7000m on Shishapangma in Tibet.

Alan Arnette

I was overwhelmed sitting at 7000 meters on Shisha Pangma. Off to my right were the flat Steps of Tibet, brown in color yet a clear turquoise lake provided a striking contrast. Directly ahead was our high camp. The bright yellow and orange tents sat softly in the pure white snow. And of course, the 14th highest mountain in world served as my windbreak. The summit standing proudly against the harsh winds.

I pulled my Thuraya phone out of my pack, dialed the number and within seconds, followers of my website shared in this special moment as I posted my audio dispatch. It is memory I have forever.

Alan Arnette.

You can hear Alan's audio dispatch sent in from Shishapangma here.

Paul Adler, Everest Base Camp in Nepal

Paul Adler from Thuraya Recharge uses his Thuraya satellite phone to do a radio interview from Everest base camp in Nepal.

Paul Adler

It was my second attempt of Mt. Everest and I was nearing the end of the expedition. A group of friends had trekked into base camp and I took them up a nearby mountain to get a better view. As we were heading back, the weather turned and it started to snow. The snow was getting worse and we were still a way from base camp, when suddenly I remembered that I had to do a radio interview. I took out my Thuraya phone from my pocket, turned it on and we all sat around and waited for them to call. Much to everyone's relief they did, but then promptly put me on hold for about 20 minutes. Finally I did the interview, and one the trekkers snapped this photo of me standing on a rocky mountain slope in the snow, doing an interview on a radio station half way round the world.

Paul Adler

You can listen to this interview from base camp at Mt Everest here.

Conditions:

The competition closes when 20 valid entries have been received. All entries will be posted on this page as soon as they are received. You may enter more than once, however entries that are very similar will not be accepted. Judging is performed by the Thuraya Recharge team, and employees and their immediate families are ineligible to enter.