But, I have only slept three hours per night!

————Actually, I was so tired, so I fell a sleep writing this, which means, three more days, we have gone from Cusco to Puno to Lima, where I am sitting at the hotel waiting to finish the trip with a half day tour of the town which Fransisco Pizarro made the capital of Peru, Lima.——-

There´s so many details, except supplying the group with as much interesting stories as possible and details of everything, but you have to tend to everyone in the group with lots of care, attention and love, plus settle the wake up calls, see to that all the luggage get  picked up and moved to the rooms, see to that you as a tour guide looks neat and clean, always in a good mood, no matter how tired, well, it does work.! But it would be so much harder, without the help of the local guides.the ones in South America is the best in the world. One ends up with quite a few new good friends! They´re knowledgeable, funny, helpful and kind. And you learn so much from them yourself!

Well, this trip has been really great, and this is due to the clients and the local guides. Of course, Peruvians and Ecuadorians are really great in every way as a people as well. Best of all was Metropolitans great Faride Altamirano which made our trip a dream!

Aah, as regards to the negative sides of travelling the world, passing through Schiphol in Amsterdam is a really bad experience. The border police there, is becoming as unfriendly and arrogant as the Americans in the US, which by ease are the unfriendliest on earth. These two countries must have misunderstood the meaning of officers being employed by the people.

Naw, better you watch the videos and see the photos here!

My answer to this email was simple and direct: “You lost motivation and you hadn’t prepared enough!”

His email was similar to hundreds I have received in the last 25 years. After reviewing all of them at length, I realised these failed expeditions often had three things in common: Explorers had lost motivation, and they had failed to understand the need for good sleep, and the benefits of good food.

When the going got too tough, they proved not tough enough to keep on going! Key to any successful expedition is understanding why you go through all these hardships – at the most difficult of moments remember what it is that drives you, and draw on this, it can be your motivation.

Good sleep and good food are the two most important pillars of a successful expedition. If you don’t know how and where to pitch your tent, you will eventually fail due to lack of sleep.

The tent is your fortress and your home, where you spend most of your exploring life. This is where you rest, feed and recuperate. Don’t set off on an expedition until you can sleep very well in your tent. I have spent over 2500 nights in tents – many of them before even setting off.

As important, is being able to cook a great meal. You need energy and rest to be able to make the right decisions. So don’t leave before you know how to cook a gourmet meal on your petrol stove!

That said, you could just get out there! Trust me, this advice is only complementary; you really need to be out on the ground learning the lessons of exploration, if you want to succeed.

The why and how I made interactive Google Maps of Historic Events

by

George Stiller

I began making interactive maps of historic events because I kept going to Google Map to find the locations in the various books I had been reading. It struck me that it would enhance my reading if I created my own Google Map of the book.  Thus, I was able to zoom in on and track the locations and people while I was reading  about in both fiction and non-fiction books. Having developed several of these maps, I decided that I should share them with others who might find them interesting and try to teach others to map their reading. So I created my blog MyReadingMapped.

After a period of time, I noticed that the maps that got the most attention were those of historic events. So, I modified my blog to contain only maps on historic events. Then it dawned on me, that without a college degree, I have no credibility and that I am not a recognized authority on history. To solve that problem, I decided to find 100+-year old eFree Google Books, or online journals, written by the explorers themselves and even Wikipedia pages on the exploration that my map locations could be linked to on a by page basis for credibility.  Thus, the map becomes a library portal to all the knowledge on the Internet.

My first map of this type was the Interactive Civil War Map. I knew there would be great interest in the subject and I found the links and coordinates I needed on Wikipedia’s List of Civil War Battles, which was very confusing to use and required the visitor to use a complicated and time consuming process to get to a Google Map for each and every battle one-by -one. On the other hand, my map was designed to be easy to use, enabled you to zoom in on the battle and made all the battles visible at once so you can see how they relate to each other without the complicated process.   These maps enable you to zoom in on the actual locations, see the buildings, the forts, the ancient ruins, etc. and read the actual words of the explorer, see the terrain as they saw it 100+ years ago in terrain mode, and what it looks like today in satellite mode. These maps can even provide directions, hotels and other points of interest. Some maps include links to National Archive photos, Wikipedia pages, and animations from CivilWarAnimated or AmericanRevolutionAnimated.

After placing a few referrals on various online forums, interactive maps of historic events began to take off. My hope is that teachers would use it to inspire reading and writing to students who are currently fixated on an online media, and that travelers and followers of explorers would use these maps to plan their next vacation.

My most popular maps are the following:

• Interactive Civil War Map
• Sunken Ships of the Atlantic
• Explorations of Charles Darwin, Marco Polo, Mungo Park and Henry Morton Stanley
• The American Revolution
• Environmental Disasters

Until recently, all my maps were about explorers who had died a long time ago. The map on Mikael Strandberg’s 2004 Siberian Expedition was my first living explorer who was kind enough to allow me to do so and provided the materials I needed.  I now have twenty-nine Google Maps on historic events and two Google Map games called “Day of Atonement” and “Prag’s Google Street Road Rally.” It is of interest to note, the research involved and the creation of these maps has uncovered some errors in commonly held facts on history. I have found what I believe are errors in traditional exploration maps on Wikipedia in regard to Marco Polo and Cortès, and located odd details mentioned in books that affected history and you can read about them on my blog.

So today, start experiencing history digitally by making your own maps of an historic events and uncover your own discovery of little known facts that only a Google Map can reveal.

George Stiller is a retired marketing communications manager who began his 35 year career in advertising and marketing as paste up artist. As an ad agency art director, George has helped to establish Agfa-Gevaert as a worldwide leader in diagnostic medical imaging systems. As a corporate graphic design manager, George’s workflow improvements helped United States Surgical Corporation to become one of the fastest growing companies worldwide.  As a marketing communications manager for MechoShade Systems, George helped to establish the MechoShade brand as the third most recognized brand in the commercial shade industry and helped to develop the ImageShades you have seen at Levis and the Gap. Now that George is retired, he developed his blog, MyReadingMapped, and its 30+ interactive Google Maps on history.

Visit him on Facebook!

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Adventure: A Man´s World?

by

Jeanie Davison

This week, I’ve been developing a new adventure series for television. While doing some research for the programme, I came across some really eye-opening attitudes about women and the adventure sphere.

There seemed to be a general feeling amongst the men I spoke to that the only women who tackle hardcore adventures are “big butch lesbian types”, and that women for the most part aren’t cut out for expeditions or challenges requiring supreme mental and physical strength. And, argued these same guys, men don’t want to watch TV programmes about butch lesbian women’s adventures – but if they were young, blonde and fit-looking….

As you might imagine, I found these comments very…provocative. After doing a straw-poll amongst some female colleagues (who retorted that men should try childbirth before consigning women to the adventure scrapheap!), I realised there’s still a widely-held belief that adventure is the domain of men – and therefore that adventure programmes on TV appeal largely to men, who want to watch other men having amazing adventures.

Sadly, I’ve noticed this perception stretches into the TV community – for example, Nat Geo Adventure (one of my favourite TV channels) http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/ regularly runs shows featuring male adventurers, but there are comparatively few documenting female stories. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching shows like Man vs Wild, Long Way Round, Danger Men, Graham’s World…but where are the women??

Why, in the 21st century – supposedly an era of gender equality – is there still this perception that any “serious” adventure is only worth talking about if men are at the helm? And why are men so disinterested in female adventures?

I’d genuinely love to know the answer, so please do post your comments below…

Jeanie Davison is an Australian TV producer, travel writer, documentary-maker, motorcyclist, 4WD enthusiast, and serial traveller…always looking for new adventures! Visit her site at http://www.jeaniedavison.com/

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My Testament of Life, so far…

by

Mikael Strandberg

I just love life!

I wake up every morning thinking: “Yes!!! I have another privileged day ahead of me! Another day to try to change the world!  And I am still alive and kicking!”

The Explorers Club in London believes I am the best contemporary explorer in the world at the present. This is of course utterly wrong. Nevertheless I do feel honoured! But why does Barry Moss, the great chairman of the Club, believe this? Well, not only is he one of my very best friends, but he knows my life story. He knows that the real explorer is the one, who explores every moment and every day of his, or hers, life. Not only on an Expedition. An individual, who understands that joy and tragedy, are part of being a human and fully alive. You have to dare, even in every day life, to be able to live life to its fullest. If there’s one major lesson of life I have learned exploring, this is the one:

“Life is very short. This is the only opportunity you will get. Just take it!”

The Explorers Club in London believes I am the best contemporary explorer in the world at the present. This is of course utterly wrong. Nevertheless I do feel honoured! But why does Barry Moss, the great chairman of the Club, believe this? Well, not only is he one of my very best friends, but he knows my life story. He knows that the real explorer is the one, who explores every moment and every day of his, or hers, life. Not only on an Expedition. An individual, who understands that joy and tragedy, are part of being a human and fully alive. You have to dare, even in every day life, to be able to live life to its fullest. If there’s one major lesson of life I have learned exploring, this is the one:

“Life is very short. This is the only opportunity you will get. Just take it!”

I am really trying to do just that. Therefore, on paper, my life has been a series of near tragedies. I was born two months early, in a taxi, 48 years ago and nobody believed I would survive. I did, kicking and screaming more than most kids at the hospital. Seven years later I was rescued on a ferry from Sweden to England by a couple of sailors, who pulled me up from my place, where I was hanging on with only my hands gripping a rope on the outside of this gigantic ferry, ten metres up from the deadly sea. When they asked why I, as they saw it, tried to kill myself, whilst my mother was crying loud of anguish, I answered:

“I just had to see what it was like on the other side.”

When I was ten I discovered books. We had only three books at home, a picturesque house located in a tiny village surrounded by a lush Swedish countryside. My dad, a bricklayer, had stolen them from the local library, most likely so that we would look more intellectual and cultured than our working class neighbours. It was the Bible, White Fang by Jack London and the Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. They opened the gates to the outside world and took me away, forever, from the safe harbour and a potential future rat race to be like everybody else. Since then I have tried to stay free from normality.

At the age of seventeen I hitch-hiked to India, inspired by Herman Hesse´s book “Siddharta”. It is kind of a story about Buddha himself and all the phases of existence he passes through to understand the meaning of life. Therefore, I wanted to become a Buddhist monk. But after ten days in a monastery I realized that being ad infinitum silent and scratching one’s bum in boredom, wasn’t my path to understanding.

Instead I cycled from Chile to Alaska. It made me understand that in order to live a full life, you have to venture outside the confinements of the safe harbour of the known. But, I also realized that I didn’t really understand anything and that I needed to continue cycling. Which I did. Another 5 years. From North-Cape in Norway to Cape of Agulhaes, South-Africa. And from New Zealand to Egypt through Asia. All together 90 000 km. During this time I had hundreds of punctures, too many diseases, some deadly one’s like malaria, I almost collided with a lion in Tanzania and a black bear in Alaska, but it was only an angered baboon in Congo which managed to injure me, I got robbed twice, attacked by Taliban’s in Baluchistan and I was one of the first in history to cross the Sahara by a bicycle and that piece of Jungle between Colombia and Panama called El Darién.

What was the most important lesson I learned cycling?

Two really. The most important, most human beings are extra ordinary and generous. Secondly, cycling is too fast to fully understand. So, I stopped cycling, went to Patagonia to follow my dream to live as a cowboy, bought 12 horses and during one year explored the unknown parts of this, one of the most spectacular places on earth.

Most of the time crossing the vast empty steppes of Patagonia I thought about human kind and become conscious at the end that I probably had to live with a people which was relatively untouched by modern civilisation. Because I understood a long time ago that we humans were a mere 150 000 years old as a species, and the last 5 000 years, we had lived in some kind of an organized society, but that we, in heart, still were simple beings. A species were the fire and freedom was essential parts of happiness.

With this in mind, I went to live with the il-purko clan of the Maasai and during a year I crossed the vast savannah to explore all sixteen groups which make up the Maasai tribe. It was a year dominated by drought, drinking nailanga (cows blood mixed with milk), lots of diarrhoea, living very close to the great wildlife of the African savannah and just getting very confused by a very restricted tribal life. Far from the freedom I was looking for. Suddenly I realised that I had to seek my roots, to understand. Four years later I went to Siberia.

Siberia changed my life completely. And it ruined it. It was the best time in my life. It had everything I have ever dreamt about. The enormous taiga and the extreme cold gave me and my partner Johan Ivarsson unlimited freedom. We hunted and fished to survive. We met the best people on earth, the native Siberians. It felt like I had finally understood. Also, I felt like it doesn’t matter one bit if I die now. I have seen all. Returning home was a disaster. It completely ruined my life for the next three years. A tragic divorce with the worst of consequences. I faced bitterness, hatred, shame and personal ruin. When I didn´t care anymore, I ended up in Yemen, with an idea to cross the two biggest desert on earth by camel. One of the reasons, as always, was to build bridges of understanding between cultures and peoples. Another one was personal; it would be my final pilgrimage. The goal was to find some rest for my battered soul. Instead I found one of the major reasons for better understanding the meaning of life. I met love in the shape of a young American woman, who a year later, well, 26 days ago, gave me a gift in the shape of a miracle. A beautiful and extremely calming baby daughter. Suddenly my soul calmed down dramatically. I found what I was looking for, even before leaving on a camel from Oman to Mauretania. The pilgrimage is now on hold. Because I know, that no matter how much control over life you think you have, it can end in a second and you find yourself back to wandering the streets of understanding.

So, what lessons of life can I share so far?

I think most important is, life is short. And we are here, only this time, why waste it not living to its full? Since I am privileged to try to motivate people to change their attitude to life and find some kind of contentness, because if people were content, they wouldn´t hire me as much as they do, I can say that the main question from the audience is:

How do we do it? How do we get a more exiting life?

There’s no real answer. Everyone has to reach their own stage at the crossroad of life, when they have to take a decision. What I know is that it can’t be a half hearted choice. Don’t worry what people think. Everyone will eventually end up in that cross road. Such are we thinking humans. We question. We want peace of mind. There’s no age to take the step. Everyone has its own time to take a decision. When I am starting to get to comfortable, I immediately think:

“Mikael, remember, and never forget, that life is to short. Get out there and live! Nobody is going to thank me for not doing it!”

No matter all the problems, near tragedies, real catastrophes and angst I have gone through in life, I don´t regret a second for choosing this life style. Most of it, however, has been a fantastic life, but one needs sorrow and tragedy to enjoy all aspects of life. So don’t give up if tragedy strikes! Just see it as an experience which makes you stronger, healthier, more humble and wiser. Just live!

One other reason is that this choice of life gives me a lot of self confidence when it comes to the future. No matter how bad things become, I only need a tent, an axe, a mattress, a few pots, and a fishing rod to survive and enjoy life. And I would than walk in to the forest somewhere on this earth, maybe the Siberian taiga, do a small, but warming fire after a few days of walking, not too big a fire to scare away the potential game, put on a pot of coffee, set a trap, feel the fresh air, shiver in the beginning winter cold, sense the total freedom and take out one of those cohibas I have saved for the occasion. Than I would smoke it, slowly, and look back at a very interesting life. And think:

“Yes, I have lived to its fullest capacity!”

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The need for Universal Expedition Standards

by

Alex Hibbert

I came up for the idea for Universal Expedition Standards whilst waiting patiently, or at times not so patiently, on the edge of the Greenland icecap this spring for the weather to clear in order to start a speed crossing. It was not to be and had to be postponed to August. However, the basis for UES had been in my mind in its constituent parts for months, if not years. In all areas of outdoor sports and activities, there are both national and international governing bodies. There are also a plethora of qualifications for the budding or professional climber, kayaker, diver and the list goes on. These tend to be controlled by groups or clubs without a vested interest or financial agenda and have grown to garner such respect that their name speaks volumes. For example, you know beyond reasonable doubt that an IFMGA mountain guide will be of the highest quality, should you wish to be guided or instructed.

What struck me, however, was the number of increasingly popular adventurous activities there are now available for those with the time and money to spare. This explosion in popularity may be for better or for worse, but that is a debate for another time. Most of these do not have a governing body, due to their obscurity, and have grown through word of mouth and shared experience, with the internet playing a major role. One example, apart from things like Stand-Up Paddle Boarding and numerous others, is my chosen specialism – polar travel.

As the desire for anyone and everyone to experience the polar regions developed, there became a need for guides from the late 1990s onwards and inevitably, a more than fair share of cowboys became involved in the industry, in order to make a quick buck. To secure insurance and indemnity to guide on icecaps or the Arctic Ocean, guides are still obliged to gain mountaineering qualifications, since it seems like the ‘best match’, despite the fact that many of the skills are irrelevant. It seems absurd that some underwriters require a guide to hold an IFMGA award, the pinnacle of mountain guiding qualifications and one that takes years of dedication, for another activity which bears only a slight resemblance to climbing.

Aside from guiding, which in the polar expedition world is a small slice, there are the independent expeditions. These groups venture onto the ice every year, expecting rescue cover from local authorities or private companies who operate aircraft, despite many having little more than hiking experience in the British hills. There was, until recently, no control over access but some authorities, such as Greenland Home Rule, have begun to crack down on novice expeditions due to the high chance of needing to rescue. Just this season I spoke to the Tasiilaq helicopter pilot, who services Greenland icecap crossing teams, and listened in horror to his stories of plucking bodies off the icecap just days before, following relatively mild icecap conditions. Greenland has borne the brunt of the post-credit crunch rush to undertake polar expeditions, cheaper than to either Poles, but by those without the understanding that Greenland is not ‘Antarctica-lite’. In spring, the temperatures are just as low, winds as fast and crevasses as treacherous. Anyone who sees Greenland as the easy option is either stupid or ignorant.

I use examples from my own area of experience but the principle applies to every remote or challenging endeavor - be it ocean rowing, open-water swimming, caving – the list goes on. It is very hard to apply conditions, control and rules to a group of people who thrive, myself included, on the lack of them.

This situation therefore spawned my vision for the Universal Expedition Standards - UES. I am aware of the plans for International Polar Guiding Association qualifications and other initiatives, but I believe that they have inherent problems. Not least, the fact that anyone who proposes a governing body will have an interest in how it is implemented. The rise in those wanting to ski in the Antarctic and Arctic is increasing and naturally more and more people will therefore offer services as guides. It makes sense that a small group will attempt to include their colleagues and friends, whilst freezing out those considered undesirable and thereby limiting competition for lucrative jobs. Not a healthy state of affairs in my mind for a market that should be dominated by quality and openness.

The UES is not a competitor or alike the proposed IPGA, the climbing IFMGA, MIC or any other example. It is not a guiding qualification. What the UES aims to achieve and become is:

• Non-proprietary - an open standard governed by the community
• Free – no money changes hands and so cowboys or business-interests are excluded
• Voluntary – not being UES approved does not stop you from getting flights, insurance or backing. Having UES approval can show a positive effort has been made, rather than disable those who don’t feel it fits them

The current criteria are:

• Expeditions of any style or discipline can apply, free of charge, to become approved as a UES project. In order to qualify, these criteria must be met:
• Press releases must not contain exaggerated or inaccurate information, nor omit information in order to enhance the impact of the statement.
• Expeditions must carry at least one form of emergency communication system, including VHF radio, EPIRB, EPLB or satellite telephone. The chosen system must have sufficient power sources for the duration of the expedition. In addition, communication must be carried aside from a beacon (e.g. EPIRB/EPLB). This is to allow assistance/advice to be sought for minor and non life-threatening injuries without necessitating use of a beacon (which involves significant expense and commitment from national authorities).
• At least one member of the expedition must hold a recent and valid nationally recognised wilderness first-aid qualification.
• The expedition must have a nominated representative in their home country responsible for coordinating rescue in the event of emergency.
• In order to state an expedition is ‘unsupported’, the team or individual must not receive external assistance which physically aids motion, including dogs, engines or sails. Skis, bicycles etc. are not considered support. An unsupported expedition will also not involve resupplies of any kind originating from a third party.
• Guides employed by a UES expedition must have at least 100 days of relevant experience.
• Approval is based on fixed, objective standards and does not involve subjective decisions.

The 100-day experience criteria for expedition guides, in order to be UES approved, is to combat the rise of companies and individuals who offer dangerous and inadequate services. Whilst not a supporter of open-source, crowd-sourcing or other internet generated movements (I believe in open markets where skills are rewarded with pay, not a credit-line), I do want UES to be self-policing. Criteria such as the one which attempts to rein in outlandish and uncontrolled press releases with exaggerated statistics is not there to make expeditions safer. It is included to try and re-introduce common-standards and honesty into the competitive world of expedition promotion and publicity. Something good for the future of the adventure and expedition community as a whole. At present, many who stick to the truth are out-competed by the claims of others – surely not a positive situation.

So, with the aims and hopes laid out in front of us, I welcome peer-review, amendments and comments to see if we can really make something of UES and the expedition world.

Alex is a world-record holding polar expedition leader and photographer. Only 25 years old, he has spent over one hundred and fifty days unsupported in the Arctic and has crossed the second largest icecap on Earth three times. His highlight to date was leading the 2008 record-breaking Tiso Trans Greenland which, at 1374 miles, is the longest fully unsupported polar journey in history. From 2008 Alex spent a period as a Royal Marines Officer and his first book, The Long Haul, was released in March 2010. He was elected a member of the prestigious Explorers Club shortly after. In the spring of 2010 Alex guided an international team 350 miles across the Greenland icecap. In 2011 he plans to break the world speed record for a Greenland icecap crossing followed by Arctic Ocean plans for 2012.

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Or are you an experienced explorer, who need help with the logistics? Like permits?

Or a film maker who need help finding a local crew or permits to film?

If you have had those thoughts, but don´t know how to get the Expedition on its feet, I can make your dream come true.

What do I offer?

• I can set everything up for you from the first contacts with the area you want to explore to the permits and contacts needed.
• I can help you find the right people, maps and help you plan the best route for your Expedition.
• I will help you set up a executive summary for sponsors and put you in touch with the right media to get attention for your adventure.
• We can also offer as part of the Expedition package, the setup of a blog, Twitter and Facebook pages, custom web development and a digital strategy that not only includes these channels of communication but the tools and means to track and grow users talking about your expedition. Todays sponsors expect nothing less.
• If you want your adventure to become a documentary or a movie, I can put you in the direction, from the film maker to the right broad caster.
• I will assist you in picking the right equipment necessary for your Expedition.
• An important and thorough risk assessment and security back up is included.
• I can help, or even do, the needed media work for you.
• I will even go there, if needed.
• And book your tickets, hotels and camp grounds!

Why choose me?

I have spent the last 25 years exploring most parts of our globe. Either as an explorer or as a tour guide.  Both jobs require a lot of planning, the right contacts and an ability to get things done. My best ability is always finding the right people to help out in an emergency.

1. My CV

2. Tour guide

3. Photo Gallery from my trips to give you an idea of the width of my travels.

Costs

I will, of course, find the best for the right price. But, I see the logistics in 3 parts:

1. The Expedition in itself.

2. The media work.

3. The production of a documentary.

Please contact me here! AND, to get a perspective, read this first and than see the lecture below.

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Adventure and science

by

Gregg Treinish

2008 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year

Throughout the expeditions I have been part of, I have often felt a sense of selfishness, like I could be doing so much more for the world with my time.  At some junctures it has almost led to the end of my adventures.

Currently, there exists a great void in our scientific understanding of our impact on the natural environment.   In order to protect the areas we love so much, it is essential that we understand the relationships, impacts, and condition of these places.

Continuously, corporations lobby government and throw millions of dollars towards minimizing restrictions that will impede their ability to make money.  Without us standing up and fighting back, the areas we love so much stand no chance.

We, as the ambassadors of the outdoors, the ones who are living in, moving through, and sharing the value of the wilderness with the rest of the world have a responsibility to do all that is in our power to protect our natural places.

Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation is a new non-profit that will give you the knowledge, tools, and skills to make your future expeditions have a tangible and lasting impact on conservation.

We ask that you consider collecting scientific data while you experience the outdoors. We will link you up with a scientist who is interested in similar interests to your own, and help you design a project that will do more than just inspire.  You need no science background, only the desire to make a difference.

Please join our effort at www.adventureandscience.org or on
Facebook : Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation

Thank You,
Gregg Treinish
Executive Director
Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation

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Regardless of where we were born, mankind’s urge to explore transcends all differences of nationality and faith. It remains an emblem of universality deserving of a wider global study.

Ironically, though the public has long yearned for fresh voices who could share their hard-won wisdom, in the corporate-dominated world, where finances always come first, meaningful dialogue with the world’s leading explorers has been passed over in preference to slick ads and predictable yearly awards.

That is why I am proud to announce the launching of this valuable new series.

The Voices of Exploration project is designed to be an ever-expanding data bank of interviews and wisdom. My friend, Basha O’Reilly, is one of the Founders of the Long Riders Guild, who has already launched the Voices of Authority equestrian educational program.

Christina was born in Nigeria, West Africa, and educated in England.  Her life of remarkable adventure began by chance in 1975, when she made a 20,000-mile journey round Africa by horse, camel and dug-out canoe.   She followed that up with solo journeys in Papua New Guinea, China, Siberia, Madagascar, Turkey and Iran.

Christina has made 3 television films and more than 40 radio documentary programmes for BBC Radio 4 – several have received distinguished merit awards. She has worked for the Consulate of Madagascar in London for fourteen years and in 1995 she founded The Dodwell Trust, a charity dedicated to the Third World.

Christina was awarded the Mungo Park Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 1989.

Like Isabella Bird and Rosita Forbes, Christina demonstrates enormous courage, a keen eye for detail, an insatiable curiosity about the local people and great respect for their culture.

As Chris Bonington wrote, “Christina Dodwell continues the tradition of many renowned travellers, of Gertrude Bell, Annie Taylor, Isabella Bird, Freya Stark and Ella Maillart.”

Who do you think was the most influential explorer in history and why?

Isabella Bird, as I remember she was the first woman invited to be a Fellow of the RGS, and therefore opened the field of exploration to the wider world of women, making it acceptable and respectable for women.   She may not be one of the most famous explorers, but she was certainly among the most influential.

Who inspired you to become an explorer and why?

My mother, she told me often that it’s OK to be different, not to want a sedentary life was OK too.  She was born and raised in China, where grandpa worked while grandma rode horses and mules on distant forays of exploration through China  –  during the time of the warlords.  After their marriage my parents moved to West Africa for 15 years, where I was born and raised in the bush.

When I was 24 I told her about my plans for a few years of travel, she said she had complete confidence in my ability to survive.  Her confidence in me gave me the confidence I needed to handle many tricky situations.

As to what would happen if I disappeared without trace, we agreed to keep in touch by letter at least once every 3 months, and that after 3 months of no word she could think about looking for me.  In fact it happened twice, the first time was while I was on horseback in Southern Africa and, instead of calling out Search and Rescue, she used ‘the Grapevine’ and she sent a message through friends of friends to the South African farmers and fishermen, telling me to write home urgently.  The grapevine worked because no one forgets seeing a solo woman travelling on horseback.  Her message only took 2 weeks to reach me.

What is your favourite exploration book and why?

None really, maybe Tschiffely’s Ride by Aimé Tschiffely, which I enjoyed in my teens though it had no immediate impact, or maybe Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de St. Exupéry that I loved reading and is the desert.  Not that I like deserts.

What is your favourite exploration film and why?

African Queen with Katherine Hepburn, and Humphrey Bogart playing a drunk chap.

If you were travelling to the South Pole in the “Heroic Age,” would you prefer to travel with Shackleton, Amundsen or Scott, and why?

Whichever got back with the least horrendous suffering, so it has to be Amundsen.

After having had so many adventures in so many countries, what was the most dangerous situation you survived?

Would it be bandits or are they less dangerous than rivers in flood and airborne engine-failures in dust storms? Hard to know, I think that nature is more dangerous than people.

What is the greatest sacrifice you have made to be an explorer?

Nothing I would not give up, willingly.

What is the single greatest change you have witnessed in the exploration world since you began?

People’s expectation of how things should work.  Telephones that work.  And of course technology today.

What modern technology or techniques do you find most helpful?

It would be helpful to have a modern map of Madagascar, my most recent OS maps are dated 1951.

What piece of equipment always goes with you?

Camera and film.

Please tell us what prompted you to found the Dodwell Trust.

Lack of others.  I like to do what others don’t or can’t do  –  and let others do the things they can do.

Back in 1993 when I found the model for radio drama serials for social and economic development, and I knew I could make it a national radio top rating show because I’d experience of radio production and enough contacts, I was given an honest and capable associate in Tana, and funds were offered by UNICEF and USAid.

Which book would you recommend to would-be explorers today?

The oldest books, to learn about what was there in 1700s and 1800s, and go knowing what used to be there and is probably still there.

What would you tell young explorers to be wary of?

Nothing, only their fears.  And maybe scorpions.

Why is it important for humans to continue exploring?

Creating friendships in third world, and creating awareness in the West about development issues.

Which of your many achievements do you think will be most remembered?

The effects of the Dodwell Trust in Madagascar.

What’s your greatest concern for the future of exploration?

Trivialisation, or package tour exploration such as the South American travel tours which planned to find uncontacted peoples – there were no restrictions about people travelling with colds and flu, though germs can be disastrous for those with no immunity.

http://www.dodwell-trust.org/

http://www.classictravelbooks.com/authors/dodwell.htm

http://www.aimetschiffely.org/welcome.htm

http://www.classictravelbooks.com/authors/bird.htm

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1. Ryszard Kapuscinski. He is my all time favorite. Never boring, always a page turner, educational, always dwells on the subject regarding the meaning of life, extra ordinary stylist and story teller. I especially like his book Imperium from 1993. In that book he writes a great piece on the subject of borders. Must be read. Every sentence has a profound meaning, can be read like poetry. Yes, lately he has been questioned for being a communist collaborator and embellishing the truth. Yawn. Did they miss reading the Imperium? Unfortunately he seemed to have irritated the great Polish film director Andrej Wajda who made a fool out of him in Without Anaesthesia. Otherwise, in my book, he is the third of the great Polish troika of Wajda, him and Krzysztof Kieslowski.

2. Peter Mathiesen. His book The Snow Leopard about Nepal and the search for this elusive animal together with George Schaller reads like poetry. It also deals with Zen Buddism, which once upon a time appealed to me a lot.

3. Laurens Van Der Post. Another traveler and great poetic story teller who´s work and life have been questioned profoundly after his death. His lovely book The Heart of the Hunter is a beautiful and thrilling read.

4. Bruce Chatwin. For me his book In Patagonia is in many ways all above mentioned ingredients of a classic have-it-all, even if it has been criticized for being to quite a substantial degree fictionalized.

5. Muhammed Asad, born as Leopold Weiss, Jewish in Austria, wrote one of the most accomplished translations of the Quran, but his autobiography about his travels by camel on the Arabian peninsula and his thoughts about the meaning of life, has it all.

Note my shortcomings in this selection:

These are books that I have in my bookshelf. And, yes, I know it is void of any female writers. I had Dervla Murphy there. And Robin Davidson, which I had in a previous list 10 best books about adventure and exploration to read over Christmas. I thought Freya Stark, but realized I didn´t remember that she could offer anything profound about the meaning of life. Karen Blixén is one of mine all time favorites, but she is not a traveler as such.

I also know that most books are from the English speaking world and this is a disaster. There´s so many books out there in other languages, Swedish for example, where at least one book would have made it in on the list. But Lasse Berg isn´t published in English. Neither is Marianne Ahrne. There´s loads of Russians, French, Latinos and Asians, but they haven´t been published in English either. So this list is far from perfect. But the English speaking world dominates not only the book scene, but also the exploration world. So a non-speaking explorer or author who actually makes it in on the English speaking global scene is normally so much better that many of the native speakers or English speaking explorers.

About books, the other day a reader sent me a link to a new book which is out about dead Swedish Explorers. I was intrigued to see I was one of them!