The Río Platáno Biosphere Reserve, Honduras – home to the highest level of tropical biodiversity in Central America, homeland of the Pech and Miskito Indians, and keeper of hundreds of unexplored archeological sites – is in danger.   Non-indians are invading the Reserve from all sides, poaching endangered wildlife and fish, slashing and burning ancient forests to sow pastures, and forcing indigenous inhabitants off their ancestral lands.

Paradise in Peril follows an expedition organized to document the destruction of this World Heritage Site and collect testimony from the native peoples who rely on the Rio Platano for survival. Fewer than 400 individuals have ever completed the full decent of the Rio Platano river from its headwaters to the coast. Robert Hyman is believed to be the first member of The Explorers Club to do so, in fact Robert has done this expedition twice in one year.

You can also enjoy Robert´s photos from the trip here!

Robert E. Hyman, is a photographer-mountaineer-explorer who has organized, led and participated in numerous exploratory research expeditions. Robert is a Fellow of both The Explorers Club and Royal Geographical Society. His expeditions focus on scientific field research in the disciplines of archeology, conservation, ornithology, sociology, medicine and technology advancements. Robert has lectured about his expeditions before The Explorers Club in Washington, D.C., New York and Florida, The Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History and The National Museum of the American Indian, The Society of Woman Geographers, schools, and numerous civic and academic organizations. Robert served six years as President and six years as Vice President of The Glover Park Citizens Assoc. representing eight thousand residents. He has judged photo competitions for the Rockville, Maryland and McLean,Virginia photo clubs. He is the past Chairman of the District of Columbia Soil and Water Conservation District, Citizens Advisory Committee and currently serves on the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, Advisory Committee and The American Alpine Club, Grand Teton Climbers Ranch Committee.  Robert has climbed the western hemispheres tallest peak (22,834) and kayaked the world’s highest navigable lake in Bolivia (13,000). Robert has also been to the summit of 47 of the 50 United States state highpoints. He has had numerous photos published including a story in the Fall 2006 Explorers Journal. He has been involved in seven Explorers Club flag expeditions, four of which he organized and led. Robert is the past Chairman of The Explorers Club Washington Group (ECWG), former secretary and has been either an officer or a board member since 1994. He has represented the club as a speaker numerous times, previously maintained the Explorers Club Washington Group web site and has written the chapters submission the The Explorers Club newsletter “The Log” from 2005-2010.

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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 HUNT FOR HE WEN

by

Oliver Steeds

He Zhimin’s hands shake as he holds a small coloured photograph of his son. The shakes had started nine months ago, when his son vanished. On the back of the card, he has printed his son’s details. “He Wen, Age 35, 1metre 75cm. Missing…”

Unlike Ai Weiwei, China’s best-known dissident and artist who was arrested boarding a plane to Hong Kong, on April 3rd, He Wen’s disappearance has gone largely unreported by the world’s media and there are no high profile calls for his release. “Kill the monkey to scare the chickens” as the Chinese saying goes which may go someway to understanding why the authorities have arrested Ai Weiwei. But perhaps it’s He Wen’s story that holds the key to understanding China’s most repressive crackdown since Tiananmen 1989.

China’s inflationary squeeze is starting to hit ordinary people. The cost of living is up and many of the poorest are struggling to fill their rice bowls. Last year there were more than 100,000 protests across the country often sparked by individuals or communities rising up against local or provincial cases of corruption, land-development, employment or human rights violations. Most of those protesting have faced official disinterest, intransigence and violence.

Brick Factory - one of dozens that Mr He has been searching in - the building in the foreground with the blue roof is where the mud is mixed and packed and then cut into bricks

In January this year an unknown group, inspired by events in North Africa and the Middle East, launched their own Jasmine Revolution with calls on twitter and other bulletin boards for a united protest against the repressive, single-party rule of the Communist Party.

The Party fears a generalised, national protest could provide the focus and glue to the millions of increasingly marginalised and disaffected. It is these “faceless millions” who could pose the real threat to the government’s long term strategy and the cohesion of the Chinese state itself.

He Zhimin is one of them. He’s a farmer in Sanyuan Town, a few miles outside Shaanxi’s provincial capital of Xian.

Last June, a woman approached his son at the local market, offered him a job and money and then abducted him. Mr He says the woman was part of a trafficking gang and that his son was abducted and forced in to a life of slavery – like thousands of other mentally impaired young men.

He Wen's room - as it was when he was abducted. He went missing in the summer and Mr He has purposefully left the mosquito net and fan up as a constant reminder to the day He Wen went missing.

“My son is a kind-hearted child,” Mr He says. “He is as tall and strong as I am. He’s able to work but he has the mental age of a child. Our whole family searched the town for him but he never came back. I have to remain positive because one way or another I’ve got to keep looking for him. Whether I find him alive or his corpse, either way I must find my son.”

Mr He immediately reported the disappearance to the police, but he claims they refuse to take on the case. They refused to take witness statements and he wasn’t even allowed to register He Wen as a missing person.

Mr He is left to search for his son on his own, printing off thousands of ‘Missing Person’ posters and distributing them around the county. Within a few weeks, he began getting calls from eyewitnesses, many claiming they had seen him working in local brick factories.

“As my son is mentally impaired, they made him work in the kiln,” Mr He says. “It’s easy to control him. The bricks were still hot when they made my son move them. They told me he was beaten all over his body with bricks [ if he didn’t work hard enough?”]

With hundreds of brick kilns across the county, Mr He has an almost impossible task. In the last nine months he has visited 40 kilns and come across many other cases of mentally impaired people who have been abducted into slavery. As a result of his investigations, he’s been threatened and at times even violently attacked.

Mr Li holding up a missing persons card for his missing son.

A couple of months ago Mr. He got a call about a man fitting his son’s description in a village 50 miles north of Sanyuan.

It turned out not to be his son, but 32 year old Liu Xiaoping. He too was mentally impaired and had been abducted and enslaved in brick factories for 10 months. At times he worked with Mr. He’s son.

Xiaoping’s father says during the day his son had to work in a brick factory and by night he was chained to a bed. “If he wasn’t working as they wanted, the factory owners would get a hot metal rod and burn it across his face. Sometimes, they purposefully put hot bricks on the back of Xiaoping’s legs as punishment.”

Xiaoping’s injuries got so bad that he couldn’t do any more physical labour and he was thrown out onto the streets and that was when Mr. He found him. “If Mr He hadn’t found him then, he would have been dead within two days,” Mr Liu says

The hillside being devoured by the brick factory - earth being dug out here is then used to make bricks in the factory below.

When Mr He found him he had been tortured so badly the toes on his left foot had to be amputated. He spent the next 41days in a specialist burns unit at the local hospital until funds ran out. His family are now bankrupt and the State is doing nothing to support them.

Xiaoping’s parents and Mr He both talk in desperation of the state’s failure to help them. And they are not alone. The Beijing based NGO “Enable Disability Studies Institute” estimate that at least 10,000 people with mental impairments have already been abducted and 1.5million are at risk. At best the authorities are impassive, at worst they are actively trying to cover it up.

Yang Bin, from the charity says it’s incredibly difficult to prosecute the traffickers and the owners of the brick factories: “China’s legal system is weak. Modern day China is like a lawless jungle which enables the traffickers to prey on the weak and vulnerable and with impunity.”

In December last year, a local journalist broke the story that 137 mentally impaired people had been abducted from a government run welfare centre in Sichuan Province. Reports were horrific. A dozen people were found barely alive in a brick factory in Xinjiang Province, others were found dotted around the country, most often in brick factories. Survivors spoke of being tortured with electric cattle prods, some were beaten with bricks, some died, others simply disappeared when their slave masters took them away when their bodies were too beaten and exhausted to work.

Within days, the story went nationwide. People were horrified and wanted answers. As a local journalist started to dig around, the trafficking ring behind the abductions came into focus. A man had set up a front-company and claimed to be providing jobs and training for patients.

Mr Li's missing son - also mentally impaired like He Wen and abducted from the same village as He Wen in December 2010

At the time he was even lauded in the local press and given an Entrepreneurial Award by a local politician. Chinese journalists were quick to jump on the State’s failure to protect the mentally impaired – one of many cases where the country’s social safety net is creaking under the pressures of growth and change. A Communist Party Official was implicated and arrested.

Then, like so many other occasions when public anger rises and protests escalate the State police went in and silenced anyone reporting on the case. When we tried to investigate as part of an ‘Unreported World documentary for Channel 4, we too were arrested. In the eyes of Beijing, reporting on state failure cannot be tolerated.

Stories like these and the abduction of He Wen strike at the heart of China’s problems. Cracks are opening up as China feels the growing pains of massive social upheaval and economic development.

In name this is the People’s Republic where the state is supposed to protect all. But in reality, as China powers ahead the most vulnerable are being left behind and all too often exploited. This is the lack of ‘social harmony’ the Party fears most.

THE HUNT FOR HE WEN

But the hunt for He Wen is on. Where the state is failing, I believe we can help. Since making a film about Mr. He’s search for son that aired in the UK (available online – see below), there has been a wave of interest to support the search.

To that end, I have crossed over from being just an impartial journalist documenting an event, to now trying to have an impact. For some journalists, the ethics of involvement are questionable, but for me, this is a simple choice – I can make a difference, so I must. Silence and inactivity in this, smacks of complicity.

I have now launched a campaign called Finding He Wen. The money we raise will go to the ongoing search on the ground in China – going brick factory to brick factory, hiring a local lawyer to take the case on, register it with the police, ‘legally encourage’ them to conduct an investigation, whilst also engaging the local press to spread the word of He Wen’s abduction.

Oliver Steeds (www.oliversteeds.com)

MORE DETAILS:

FINDING HE WEN:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Finding-He-Wen/109111182511235?sk=wall

FINDING HE WEN: Donate:

http://www.justgiving.com/findinghewen/

WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY: CHINA’S LOST SONS: On YOUTUBE (available worldwide)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1W49Pzj-PY&feature=related

More Details about the Film:

http://oliversteeds.com/blog/ollys-world/chinas-lost-sons/

Reporter Oliver Steeds with the not so secret police in Sichuan Province. A team of 10 'undercover' plain clothes agents saw the team off at the station ensuring they left their patch.

Please visit my sponsors Termo who are making it possible for me to write 2 blog reports per week. Just click the logo to find the best underwear on earth!

I get loads of emails about these issues. It is obviously questions that tends to create debate, opinions and which many in the business talk about right now. In my opinion though, this is kind of an extra class at school, maybe not necessary for most, but important for some. Because I am for all kinds of adventures, no matter what! But since I have received so many emails and thought about it a lot since Ireland, and I have written about it earlier and it is kind of growing by the day on me, well, maybe we in the world of adventure and exploration have to find ways to set up some guidelines to define. It is normal evolution and development. With this article I kind of want to make these issues more clear and possibly more understandable. Let me than first talk about the subject of:

1. Who can call her- or himself an explorer?

The organizers of the 1st Adventure Filmfestival in Killarney made a quite clear distinction between what they see as adventurers and explorers. Basically, if you deal with people, cultures, animals, scientific or un-scientific research and anything else than yourself on an Expedition, you are in the business of exploration. If you, however, either ski to any of the poles or climb a peak like Everest, which basically is a personal thing where the essence of it all is oneself against nature, than you are in the business of adventure. (If you don´t do research in these areas) So, the organizers, the  Explore Foundation, wanted to concentrate on what they see as the exploration part and therefore hardly any of the films dealt with mountaineering or polar skiing.

However, everyone seem to start out as adventurer as a youngster, hoping to get into exploration, where the self is less important and the values of the world and life is a greater pull. This applies to me. I saw myself as a new Indiana Jones, but ended up today, wishing I could be Karen Armstrong (See film below) There´s no doubt that age defines. I guess the older you get, the more you understand, the less important one realizes that one is.

How do you define what is an explorer? Anyone seem to get away calling themselves an adventurer, because at the end of the day, that isn´t a chosen title that appeal to the world as much as calling yourself an explorer. Whatever that is. I have seen, especially in Britain, as quick as you have taken the diapers off and start to travel, you call yourself an explorer. It has a grand appeal in Britain especially. Which is fully understandable, since the UK, in my eyes, is still the worlds biggest exporter of adventure and exploration. But also the main part of the exploring world who use the words record breaking, unsupported and being first more than the rest of the globe.

But how do you define what an explorer is? Well, I call myself an explorer, because I have been doing this job since 1986 and I don´t know any other word which summarizes all I do.  Soon I will take it away.

However, I have talked to a lot of people involved in this business and it seems like if you are a Fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society, have featured somehow with National Geographic, have carried the Flag of any of the clubs, you have a reason. But, things have changed lately. To appeal to the Explorers Club, you need to have done years of work and have a scientific base to your explorations/adventures. Makes sense. The RGS seem to have lowered their standards a lot. Being a Fellow there isn´t as much an honor as ten years back. I think it is due to that explorers/adventurers are not wanted as much as geographers. The debate is still going on, see here. Check here what it takes to get in.  The word explorer is deleted and the high standards dead. Maybe the president Michael Palin can sort things out.

Others, like for example the important ExplorersWeb, who make a living out of the name explorer, has no clear distinction what defines an explorer, but have set up important guidelines on other important issues which deals with this odd world. They do focus primarily on climbers and polar skiers, though. They also go against the stream and Tom and Tina Sjögren have no interest being part of any clubs I mention in this article. Even if they´re more than qualified.

The Long Riders Guild have a long list of guide lines which has to be met to become a member of their guild. See here!

So, is there a definition? Not really. If you see yourself as an explorer, you are one!

This topic has been discussed and commented in this article, The need for debate on Expedition Arabia. And in CuChullaine O´Reilly´s excellent article on Ethical Exploration! And, of course, Arita Baaijens Exploration, an outdoor activity or not?

2. Unsupported.

I have to admit I had no idea really what it meant, when I planned my Arabian Expedition and I called it unsupported. Mainly because I had the idea, if you don´t have air drops or similar, but do all by yourself, it is unsupported. Than I talked to a legend at the RGS, Shane Winser, and she rightfully said:

“Hogwash! If you carry a satellite phone, how can you call that unsupported?”

So right, as always, Shane. ExplorersWeb has set up a great guideline on rules and definitions to be able to claim this and that, see here! It is almost perfect, but again, it deals with people who go for mountains, poles, oceans and nothing with Expeditions dealing with cultures, people and animals first hand. If you do that, it is impossible to call anything unsupported. However, they do think it is ok with a satellite phone and GPS to be able to claim an unsupported. So who is right?

This topic has been discussed in these two articles, Am I a fake and cheat?

3. To claim to be first.

This is a tag that follows many in the field. I have done those mistakes. You think it will give you more attention. You say; This is a first, unsupported and record breaking. Even if your idea is to photograph relatively unknown tribes in Africa or elsewhere, you still throw in those tags because you think it will draw more attention to what you do. Something I fully can understand. But is it needed to get the attention one obviously wants? And can one really claim to be first today in a way that actually makes a difference now when all the major (except the depth of oceans) geographical prizes have been taken?

I think so, if you choose to do something as challenging as Matvey Shparo and Börge Ousland by crossing the whole North Pole from one side to another in winter darkness. I think that is extra ordinary and historical.  So is Ed Stafford´s 2 year walk along the Amazon. Otherwise, to claim that you have been where no other white person has been or you have crossed Greenland in a shopping cart, it is just not true. And it isn´t worth trying to claim it. We live in a world of massive information possibilities and if it isn´t true, it will eventually hit back at you. Look at The Long Walk series.  And this article I wrote earlier called Fakes and Cheats.  And on top of all this, people are exploring and travelling more than ever.

So, do you need to use these massive words like unsupported, record breaking and the first ever to make a living?

Answer:

I hope not. I think that in the future, more interest has to lie in matters dealing with the well being of others, building bridges between cultures and creating understanding globally, and less with being first and unsupported. It has pretty much all been done. However, the world is forever changing, so new knowledge is always needed. And always will be. Do we need self occupied adventurers?

Yes, we do. We all have to be reminded that everything is possible. But, I hope, much less.

Initially, when you start a career in this genre, you do claim this and that, you are so full of yourself, I am talking from my own experience here, and possibly it can be a short time winner, to be able to claim that you have done this unsupported and it is a first. One or two sponsors can buy that.  But in the long run, if you need to live on it for the rest of your life, it needs to involve matters how we look upon this world and what we can do to sort out the problems we have created for futures to come. There´s only a few who can live on being the one who did the first. Whether it is true or not. So for most people, there has to be something more.

As an example, I had a general email from SVT (Swedish television) yesterday that they have absolutely no interest in self promoting adventures.  They get tons of emails from people all over the world who wants to do firsts and unsupported. It is of no interest to them anymore. Just as an example of the changing winds of society.

Maybe Killarney and Explore Foundation could become a hub of exploration and define?

As a final note, see this extra ordinary TED talk with one of my favorite scholars.

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]]> http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/2011/04/17/how-important-is-it-to-be-first-andor-unsupported/feed/ 21 http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/2011/03/07/voices-of-exploration-robin-hanbury-tenison/ http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/2011/03/07/voices-of-exploration-robin-hanbury-tenison/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:28:30 +0000 admin http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/?p=4237 Voices of Exploration – An ever-expanding database of exclusive monthly interviews with the world’s leading explorers.

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.

Robin Hanbury-Tenison, OBE, (74) is one of the Founding Members of The Long Riders’ Guild, the first international association of equestrian explorers.  He is also a Founder and President of Survival International, the world’s leading organisation supporting tribal peoples. Named as ‘the greatest explorer’ by the Sunday Times, and ‘the doyen of British Explorers’ by the Spectator, he has been on more than 30 expeditions, including as leader of the Royal Geographical Society’s largest expedition, taking 115 scientists to study the rainforests of Sarawak. This research and his book, “Mulu: the Rainforest”, started the international concern for tropical rainforests.

On Survival’s behalf he has led several overseas missions, including visiting 33 Indian tribes as a guest of the Brazilian government in 1971; Indians of the Darien in Panama and Colombia in 1972; tribes of the outer islands of Indonesia in 1974 and 1975; leading an investigation into excessive logging in Sarawak in 1988; assessing the status of the indigenous peoples of eastern Siberia in 1992 and 1994; and in NE India in 1995; and of the Bushmen of the Kalahari in 1980 and 2005.

A graduate of Oxford University, he has been a Council Member, and is a Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society; winner of the Pio Manzu Award; an International Fellow of the Explorers Club, Winston Churchill Memorial Fellow, Trustee of the Ecological Foundation and Fellow of the Linnean Society.

Among his many publications are: A Question of Survival, 1973; A Pattern of Peoples, 1975; The Yanomami, 1982; Fragile Eden, The Oxford Book of Exploration; Mulu: The Rain Forest; his two autobiographies: Worlds Apart and Worlds Within;The Seventy Great Journeys in History and The Great Explorers.

His 5 books on Long Rides are: White Horses over France; A Ride along the Great Wall; Fragile Eden; Spanish Pilgrimage; and Land of Eagles.

Says Robin: ‘I have consistently been proved right by events, often to the great surprise of those who know me. It is better, as Napoleon said, to be lucky than clever.’

I was lucky enough to catch Robin at his home in Cornwall, where he kindly agreed to answer these questions.

Robin Hanbury-Tenison in the Tenere Desert, Niger, North Africa

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

I would plump for Humboldt, as he was one of the first, and certainly the most prolific of the polymath scientific explorers, who studied everything.

Who inspired you to become an explorer and why?

Wilfred Thesiger, who I got to know well and who came on one of my expeditions, was inspiring because he was an absolute purist.  Difficult to be that today.

What is your favourite exploration book and why?

Peter Fleming’s Amazon Adventure set the tone followed by so many later British explorers of concealing great physical endurance under a self deprecatory insouciance.

RHT with Yanomami Children, Brazil, 1981

What is your favourite exploration film and why?

They just keep getting better and better. George McGavin, the splendid bug man, strikes exactly the right note to inspire others to explore.  His most recent film for the BBC was Lost Land of the Tiger.

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

I don’t do cold, but if I did it would have to be Amundsen, as he used dogs – and survived!

After leading so many expeditions to so many countries, what was the most dangerous situation you survived?

Probably when I tried to cross illegally from Brazil to Paraguay in 1965 in the little boat I had set out in from the mouth of the Orinoco on what was to become the longest river journey ever.  I covered the boat in water hyacinth to pretend I was a floating island, but got caught by the border military.  They were so impressed that I was travelling alone, that they put me up for the night and then let me go.

Camargue Horses at Cabilla Manor Farm, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall

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

It’s been a great life, but I would have earned a lot more doing almost anything else.

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

The almost total destruction of the rain forest, especially in Borneo, where it was virtually intact when I first went there in 1958 and now only 5% is left.

What modern technology or techniques do you find most helpful?

My philosophy has always been to take as little as possible and rely on local knowledge.  Although obviously incredibly useful, the GPS had destroyed true exploration, as it is now virtually impossible to be responsible and still get lost.

Robin started Survival International.

What piece of equipment always goes with you?

A sleeping bag.

Please tell us what prompted you help found Survival International.

Inspiration came while on a remote tributary of the Orinoco on an expedition.  I was travelling with an ethnobotanist called Conrad Gorinsky, who pointed out that Amerindian tribes were dying out rapidly, but there was no international organisation fighting for them.

Robin and the horse are soul mates

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

Any of David Attenborough’s about the natural world.  No one has inspired more people to want to do something about our vanishing ecosystems.

What would you tell young explorers to be wary of?

Believing that the showing off, which is the natural urge which gets most of them, including me, into the field, actually means anything.  They must move on to making a difference.

Why is it important for humans to continue exploring?

Because we haven’t begun to understand how the natural world works.

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

Getting Survival International going.

Robin and exploring wife Loella

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

That academics will take the excitement out of it.

Links of interest:

www.thelongridersguild.com

www.robinsbooks.co.uk/

Survival International

Royal Geographical Society

Explorers Club

Linnean Society

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This is the first in a series of three articles about Iceland and Kensington Tours exclusive offer of The Gentleman’s Exploration. I am an honoured explorer-in-residence at this giant of a true travel company.

Day 1-2

Rained poured down when I got out of the airport in Keflavik. A big dark cloud covered every inch of the sky, threatening even worse weather to come. I pulled up the hood and ran over to the guy from the jeep rental company who was waiting for me. He must have seen my worry, because he immediately said:

“Don´t worry, in ten minutes, you will have a different weather. This is Iceland.”

He shook my hand and started explaining all details concerning the Land Rover in front of me. The tires were huge and I wondered briefly what Jeff had planned for our Gentleman’s Exploration of this peculiar country. This vehicle was definitely what somebody would call a male symbol of strength.

When I left the airport heading for the capital Reykjavik, night fell over Iceland and the rain was still pouring down. Next morning, the capital was covered with snow.

“I´ll drive the Land Rover!” Jeff said happily as soon as we met in the hotel lobby.

He had brought a good friend of his, Tim Mechem. Together we were set to do a three day Gentlemen´s Exploration of Iceland. Jeff Willner is one of the kindest, most generous and interesting human beings I have ever come across. Last time we met was in Congo-Kinshasa in May 2010, setting up me as an Explorer-in-residence offering his clientele privately guided tours to the most exotic, challenging and rewarding places on earth. This trip would also be a break in his demanding schedule as the motor behind Kensington Tours. Driving the Land Rover was part of that scheme. Back in the early 2000 Jeff travelled the world in a Landrover Defender 110. Expeditions which formed the base of his immense knowledge of the travelling industry. So, when we left in darkness at 10 a.m. in the morning, snow falling down, Jeff was content just driving this giant of a vehicle. Tim, like Jeff, slightly run down with far too much work and responsibilities, relaxed for every meter we travelled the snow covered road.

Myrdalsjökull was our first stop. This glacier is covering Katla, the very irrational and extremely active volcano, which is located next to Eyjafjallajökul, famous for halting the worlds airlines not even a year ago. They both are set next to its giant brother, Vattnajökul, the biggest glacier in Europe, but is doing very well on its own. Since this was the winter time of the year, there where hardly any tourists at the glacier, and it would stay like this throughout our visit. Suddenly it stopped snowing, the sun broke through the clouds, the blueness of the glacier shined and it was one of the first glaciers I have seen, which wasn´t covered by heavy snow and I could see it was an easy glacier to travel on. Jeff was still impressed by the huge tires on the Land Rover, so we just climbed up the side of the volcano for a better view. Weather changed a couple of times during this time, but at this staged I was really appreciating this irregular mood swings of the climate. The light was impressive and it made photography a joy with no bounds!

The small picturesque town of Vik was our next stop. It is famous for its black basalt rocks shooting up from the unsettled sea, Reynisdrangar. Weather changed three times whilst photographing them. Snow, rain and sun. And a beautiful church placed at the top of a mountain, overlooking this former fishing village. We would see a lot of these well positioned churches in this Lutheran country and many times they were architecturally very different to anything I have come across before. However, when it comes to religion, apparently more than half of the population of around 320 000 inhabitants, still believe in elves and trolls! A fact which is very easy to understand. Especially when considering the continuous weather changes and spectacular scenery.

I would even consider Iceland an incredible success story in every way. Because, whilst travelling thru this almost treeless country, experiencing all faces of this harsh weather, appreciating the big rocky plains, mountains, rivers, its persistent active volcanoes, erupting geysers and thermal activity, it is amazing to see a modern society on top of it all.

The food at the road cafés turned out to be as bad as in the rest of Scandinavia. Luke warm, fat, tasteless, expensive and un-inspiring. And the coffee, for a Swede, it is coloured water. The next stop was Skogafoss waterfall. The fall in itself wasn´t anything to remember, but the light around it and the big amount of birds, especially ravens, made this a worthy visit.

We spent the evening in one of the countries few 4 star resorts, Hotel Ranga. After one or two, or a bit more, glasses of Glenlivet and a priced cohiba, we had one of the best meals I have had in years. I had very tender monk fish. It has to be experienced! The hotel is famous for good viewing of the polar lights, but the Glenlivet put us early to sleep.

Even you can be part of the Gentleman´s Exploration and private guided travel, read this!

Don´t miss this photo gallery from Iceland!

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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.

Interview with Basha O´Reilly.

Basha O´Reilly

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

As a publisher of one of the world’s largest collection of classic travel books, I am in the fortunate position of knowing about so many explorers.  Some are still remembered by the general public, like Columbus and Cook.  However, many fantastic explorers have been forgotten, like Frederick Jackson (1860-1938).  When Jackson led (1894-97) the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, the world of exploration was focused on reaching the still-inaccessible North Pole, so this Long Rider turned Arctic explorer led an expedition into the Arctic Circle, headquartering in Franz Josef Land.

Because he had explored Siberia, Jackson had witnessed horses being used in Polar travel conditions.  This led him to use horses when he explored Franz Josef Land. One of these horses was the first enthusiastic meat-eating equine recorded in Polar exploration!  It was Jackson who inspired Sir Ernest Shackleton to use Siberian horses on the latter’s attempt to reach the South Pole in 1907.   Likewise, Shackleton fed his horses a meat-based ration.

Jackson was the consummate gentleman explorer and expedition planner, who is best remembered today because he almost certainly saved the life of the first great superstar of Polar exploration, the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen.  In 1896 Nansen was returning from his attempted journey to the North Pole.  Starving and weak, he staggered into Jackson’s camp.  The Englishman revived, fed, clothed and restored his fellow explorer to health, then sent him back to a hero’s welcome while he remained in the Arctic Circle to continue his research.

During his astounding journey “through the heart of Asia”, Gabriel Bonvalot’s courage and resistance overcame all obstacles. On one occasion, as the illustration demonstrates, Bonvalot’s horse stumbled and nearly went hurtling over a 300 foot precipice. Bonvalot is one of the very few Europeans known to have ridden the famous meat-eating horses of Tibet.

I also regret that the English-speaking world seems to have forgotten Gabriel Bonvalot, (1853-1933) the French explorer and Long Rider. In 1889 Bonvalot set out to make an unparalleled journey from France to French Indochina. Accompanying the seasoned equestrian explorer was Prince Henri d’Orléans, a young aristocrat with a craving for adventure and a talent for photography. After crossing Russia, the Frenchmen mounted up in Siberia, then headed south towards Tibet. The resultant equestrian winter journey across the Tibetan plain and the Himalayan mountains is nearly too arduous to believe. The men routinely rode in weather so cold that their Siberian companions begged them to turn back when the mercury in the thermometer froze.  There is more information about Bonvalot in the Historical Long Riders section on the LRG website.

The reason I mention Jackson and Bonvalot is to demonstrate how rich the history of exploration is and how few names and accomplishments are remembered today.  This also explains why I think it is so important that we admire real heroes, not shallow imitators.

Who inspired you to become an explorer and why?

Colonel John Blashford-Snell, founder of the Scientific Exploration Society. I joined one of his expeditions to Mongolia and discovered it is possible to live in a tent. Before that I thought living rough meant staying in a four-star hotel instead of a five-star one!

What is your favourite exploration book and why?

My husband’s book, “Khyber Knights,” for sheer excitement and its amazing insights into Muslim culture.  Also “The Worst Journey in the World” by Apsley Cherry-Garrard because it has the most graphic descriptions I’ve ever read about travelling in extreme cold.

What is your favourite exploration film and why?

Without a doubt the 2002 TV drama about Sir Ernest Shackleton and his ship, the Endurance.  Entitled “Shackleton,” and starring Kenneth Branagh, I watch it every Christmas to remind myself how lucky I am to be warm, fed and with my loved ones, and not marooned on a piece of melting ice.

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

It would have to be Shackleton – he is one of my heroes, and I know he would get me out of any tough spot.   In 1914 Shackleton and twenty-seven men set forth on a south polar expedition, only to become trapped in pack ice and stranded for nearly two years in one of the most inhospitable regions of Earth.  Against almost impossible odds Shackleton brought his 27 men home safely.  Shackleton is more than just a paperback role model to me.  His courage in the face of exploration disaster was a beacon during the dark days of my own life in 2010.

Sir Ernest Shackleton’s compass.

This happened when CuChullaine and I were preparing to make the first equestrian journey around the world.  On the strong recommendation of the most trusted Long Rider in France we had entrusted our horses (Count Pompeii and Sikunder) to a woman in Burgundy.  Unfortunately when we rejoined the horses we found Count Pompeii had been starved and Sikunder physically and emotionally abused, so our journey has been delayed.  When we found our hopes shattered and our once-proud expedition struggling to survive, we remembered Shackleton’s courage and his refusal to despair.

Before we left London, his granddaughter, the Honourable Alexandra Shackleton, granted CuChullaine the rare privilege of holding the brass compass used by this greatest of explorers during his journey across Antarctica. We committed to memory Shackleton’s belief that blows which don’t break your back strengthen it.

What was the most dangerous situation you survived?

It may surprise people to learn that it’s bureaucrats, not bandits, that are most to be feared by equestrian travellers!  I rode Count Pompeii 2,500 miles through Russia, Belarus and Poland without any problems.  Then when we arrived at the EU border, he was grabbed by the bureaucrats and slammed into quarantine.  There he was starved for 17 days while an argument arose about whether they should take a blood sample or shoot him. It was only when I appealed to the chief vet of the EU in Brussels that Pompeii’s life was saved and we were able to escape.  More equestrian expeditions have been ruined because of the pen-pushers than for any other reason.

The times they are a’changing. Basha travels with a military grade laptop and a Swiss army knife with a USB key. This photograph shows the first radio ever used in a major equestrian expedition, a 1923 exploration of the Canadian Rockies.

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

When I was younger, the famous British explorers – Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Ranulph Fiennes, John Blashford-Snell and Wilfred Thesiger, for example – were all actually exploring.  Today it sometimes seems that the TV adventurers are just performing stunts.  The difference is that, with GPS and Satellite telephones, they are never as out of touch as my contemporaries were thirty or forty years ago.  Technology should be our ally, not our ruler.  You can’t explore your soul if you’re obsessed with posting on Twitter.

What modern technology or techniques do you find most helpful?

Google Earth!  Although one can never entirely avoid nasty surprises, one can plot one’s course very accurately.  Whereas every explorer delights in the element of surprise, when you travel with horses or other animal companions, their welfare becomes a critical need, so being able to avoid motorways and find grazing, for example, is a tremendous help to Long Riders.

What piece of equipment always goes with you?

My Swiss Army penknife with a USB key – an inspired birthday gift from CuChullaine.

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

Either of my favourites mentioned above, Khyber Knights and The Worst Journey in the World – the first because it shows how dangerous some parts of the world still can be;  the second because it sums up the legendary stiff-upper-lip British courage of the times and the men’s determination never to complain.

But for expert practical advice on a day-to-day basis, I would recommend “An Explorer’s Handbook”.   It is one of the many fantastic books written by my friend, the tremendous British explorer and Long Rider, Christina Dodwell.  After travelling everywhere and surviving enough dangers to curdle the courage of an army, Christina committed all her hard-won knowledge into this unique book.  Need to know how to cook crocodile?  How to buy a camel? How to deal with the head-man of the native village? Christina tells you all this, and much more.  She livens up the instruction with tales of some of her adventures, all told with modesty and a charming dry humour.

For equestrian travel, the book CuChullaine is working on now, The Horse Travel Handbook, will contain more knowledge about how to travel with horses than has ever been assembled before.

What would you tell young explorers to be wary of?

I think there is a danger that huge amounts of publicity can go to young people’s heads.  They should always remember how incredibly fortunate they are to be doing what they love.

It was bureaucrats, not bandits, that almost stopped Basha’s ride from Russia and threatened to kill her mighty Cossack stallion, Count Pompeii.

Why is it important for humans to continue exploring?

Because, even with books, television, photographs and films, I don’t believe you can understand a place unless you’ve been there.  I’ve never forgotten at the very beginning of my ride from Russia, some of the Cossacks joined me for the first few days.  One of them turned to me and said in astonishment, “I’m a Communist and you’re a Capitalist – but we’re just people and we both speak ‘horse’.”  You can’t have a life-changing experience like that by watching a travel show on television.

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

I think I am most proud of my part in the formation of The Long Riders’ Guild in 2001, which rescued equestrian travel from virtual extinction.  The LRG has now mentored 100 expeditions and equestrian travel is thriving!

Basha O’Reilly was born in Switzerland and has the blood of most of Europe running in her veins – as a result of which she has no nationalistic tendencies.  She attended school in Belgium and speaks five languages.

In 1995 Basha travelled to Mongolia on a scientific expedition led by Colonel John Blashford-Snell.  During this journey she discovered a taste for adventure.

The following year the life-long horsewoman bought a Cossack stallion, Count Pompeii, and rode him 2500 miles from Russia back to England, becoming the only person to complete an equestrian expedition out of the former Soviet Union.

In 1999 Basha made the longest known journey by a woman along Butch Cassidy’s infamous “Outlaw Trail”, riding 1500 miles from the Mexican border to Cassidy’s Hole-in-the-Wall hideout in Wyoming.

She is currently planning to depart on the World Ride, the first equestrian journey around the planet.

Since 2001 she has worked with her husband, CuChullaine, creating The Long Riders’ Guild (LRG), the world’s first international association of equestrian explorers, managing the Guild’s eight associated websites, publishing more than 300 travel books in eight languages and mentoring more than a hundred equestrian expeditions on every continent except Antarctica.

As a director of the LRG Academic Foundation, Basha was instrumental in creating a ground-breaking programme entitled “Voices of Authority,” an ever-expanding database of interviews with the world’s leading equestrian experts, including scientists, professors, authors, researchers, historians, social activists, crusading editors and artists.

A Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club, Basha has now launched a similar programme entitled “Voices of Exploration,” wherein she will be interviewing the elder statesmen, the rising stars, the famous, the obscure, the forgotten, the knowledgeable and the deserving voices of exploration.

At the request of her host, friend and fellow Long Rider, Mikael Strandberg, the normally very private Basha has agreed to be the first Voice of Exploration featured in the exciting new programme.

The VoE programme will feature a world exclusive interview, hosted by Basha, on Mikael’s blog every month.  The majority of the questions will remain the same, though each interview will focus on that explorer’s speciality.  All of the interviews will be publicly available on Mikael’s blog and the LRG’s Classic Travel Books website, so as to ensure that this valuable open-source collection of exploration oral history is preserved for future generations.

www.thelongridersguild.com

www.lrgaf.org

www.theworldride.org

www.classictravelbooks.com/authors/dodwell.htm (Christina Dodwell)

http://www.thelongridersguild.com/Historical_b2.htm (Bonvalot)

http://www.classictravelbooks.com/authors/cuchullaine.htm (Khyber Knights)

http://www.horsetravelbooks.com

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The last month I have almost doubled my readership. Especially from the UK and USA, but also Spain and Chile. I am really amazed how many genuine readers who find their way to this site! An honor, indeed, and it gives me energy to continue the search for the meaning of life….The article who has had the biggest amount of readers, is the one about Fakes and Cheats.  (See also the comment page following the article, which is full of opinions.) But also the article Thoughts after meeting a female explorer.  An article basically about how difficult life becomes, the one of an explorer, once the lights fade away. This compelled one of the most honest and genuine explorers on earth in my view, CuChullaine O´Reilly, also a very good friend, to write this much sought after article on the subject:

Ethical Exploration

by

CuChullaine O’Reilly FRGS

There have been a number of entries on Mikael’s blog recently which, though apparently unrelated, do in fact share a common thread – namely the theme of ethical exploration.

Mikael first released a very important article which examined the topic of “Fakes and Cheats.” Though the focus was on polar liars, the topic could have just as easily have been laid at the door of any type of exploration. Equestrian exploration and long distance travel, for example, has its share of frauds lurking in the closet.

The most notorious of these charlatans was the Old West impostor, Frank Hopkins. Though the fantasies which make up the Hopkins Hoax are too numerous to list here, his most ridiculous mounted deception involved the fanciful claim that he made a lightning-fast winter time ride from Germany to Mongolia, a journey which the ice-delivery man could not have undertaken as he was in fact living in New Jersey with his wife and four children. Hopkins abandoned his family at the depth of the Great Depression, absconding with a young neighbour woman, and spent the rest of his days lurking on New York’s Long Island. From there he peddled wild stories to an American press already addicted to lurid tales involving off-beat countries and phoney claims of resounding bravery.

Frank Wild, left, standing beside Sir Ernest Shackleton, after their first attempt to reach the South Pole.Born in Yorkshire, Wild is one those quiet heroes of Antarctic exploration whom we would do well to remember in this day of exploration chicanery. In 1901 this modest man accompanied Captain Robert Scott to Antarctica on the Discovery expedition. In 1908 he travelled with Sir Ernest Shackleton when that champion nearly bagged the South Pole. In 1911 Douglas Mawson placed Wild in charge of his Antarctic base camp. Between 1914 and 1916 Wild barely managed to survive the horrific series of accidents that crippled the Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Hopkins might have been a pathetic footnote to equestrian travel history, if the Walt Disney studio had not decided to release the movie, “Hidalgo,” which they perpetrated as having been based on Hopkins’ “true story.” In reality, the man couldn’t spell “truth”.

Hopkins lied, not by accident, nor to appease sponsors, but to fuel his maniacal desire to aggrandize himself at the expense of authentic heroes. Yet anyone who follows the exploration news released by ExWeb will have seen far too many current examples of people who have sold their souls in order to attain fame and fortune. For example, recently there was a well documented case involving a fraudulent mountain-climbing claim. As Mikael rightly noted in one of his introspective articles, people do make genuine mistakes, in which case, as our host suggests, they should apologize.

But what if it wasn’t a mistake? What if the so-called explorer was, like Hopkins, throwing out the rules, riding rough shod over the truth, chasing a buck, prostituting their personal integrity in exchange for a quick roll in the hay with that whore “fame”?

As Mikael’s sleepless night recently demonstrated, it’s easy to announce that you’re an explorer, yet how do you pay the bills without selling your soul? In an age of electronic media, instant news and the cancerous onslaught of reality-based television, how do individuals maintain their personal integrity in the face of a world who is willing, nay even eager, to wink at exploration exploitation? How can the public trust the media which aggrandises a liar like Hopkins?

The answer, if I may suggest it, is always a personal one. It is a concept which goes by various names, including ethics, morality, principles, standards, ideals.  Few men offer us a more dignified example of those rosy words than the Antarctic explorer, Frank Wild.

Born in Yorkshire, Wild is one those quiet heroes of Antarctic exploration whom we would do well to remember in this day of exploration chicanery. In 1901 this modest man accompanied Captain Robert Scott to Antarctica on the Discovery expedition. In 1908 he travelled with Sir Ernest Shackleton when that champion nearly bagged the South Pole. In 1911 Douglas Mawson placed Wild in charge of his Antarctic base camp. Between 1914 and 1916 Wild barely managed to survive the horrific series of accidents that crippled the Trans-Antarctic Expedition. This included being marooned on Elephant Island, where he survived on a diet of penguins and seaweed. Finally, in 1921 Wild returned to Antarctica for the last time. During that journey Sir Ernest died of a heart attack, yet his loyal lieutenant assumed command and completed the expedition.

What we mustn’t lose sight of, nor encourage to occur, is the base betrayal of exploration’s higher goals. As Frank Wild proves, and Mikael Strandberg recently learned, no matter how many medals a king hangs about your neck, when the fanfare fades you are still left with a host of unpaid bills and a crowd of vindictive enemies who will envy your success and even steal your dog.

Because he was a genuine hero of exploration, Wild was awarded the Polar Medal with four bars by the British government. The Royal Geographical Society awarded him their Patron’s Medal. The diminutive explorer was made a Freeman of the city of London and honoured with a CBE by Britain’s monarch. Cape Wild on Elephant Island and Mount Wild in Antarctica both bear his name.

So, I ask you then to ponder how cruel was Wild’s ultimate fate, as before he died in 1939, virtually penniless and largely forgotten, this brave explorer had been reduced to taking jobs as a storekeeper, cotton farmer, hotel barman, mine manager and railway worker? And what does it say for the true value of the man when I reveal that Wild’s Polar medal recently sold for £132,000 !

What we mustn’t lose sight of, nor encourage to occur, is the base betrayal of exploration’s higher goals. As Frank Wild proves, and Mikael Strandberg recently learned, no matter how many medals a king hangs about your neck, when the fanfare fades you are still left with a host of unpaid bills and a crowd of vindictive enemies who will envy your success and even steal your dog.

One should never be tempted to pawn exploration’s greater glories for a dose of fizzy, transitory, cheap fame. A recent case of exploration exploitation was revealed in Nepal, where a Sherpa announced that he is planning on taking his ten-year-old son to the top of Everest. Why? So that the child can beat the already dubious record set this year, when a 13-year-old California boy became the youngest person to climb that sadly soiled peak. This isn’t the act of a reasonable father. These are the actions of a money-hungry sperm donor.

What are we to make of the startling dichotomy between Wild’s genuine bravery and the Nepalese parent’s aggressive ambition? Why should we care? Because our frail planet is in desperate need of genuine exploration heroes. Allow me to explain.

In the summer of 2008 an area of the Arctic sea ice twice the size of Great Britain disappeared over a couple of weeks. Nor is our globe’s trouble confined to the Poles.

Five hundred miles off the coast of California a rotating oceanic current called the North Pacific Gyro is acting like an oceanic toilet bowl. Lodged within this plastic vortex, which is nearly six times the size of Great Britain, is an estimated 100 million tonnes of man-made waste and debris, including plastic bottles, tyres and chemical sludge.

Of equal worry are two other recently discovered facts. For the first time in the history of our planet, a single species, humanity, has become the dominant ecological force, and scientists predict that fifty per cent of all known species currently inhabiting the Earth will be extinct within the next fifty years.

In the face of what appears to be an on-coming climatic catastrophe, why do the wanderings of Arita Baaijens and Mikael Strandberg matter? Who cares if she disappears into the Sahara with her camels or if he ventures back into the frozen wastes of Siberia again? If their journeys don’t make a buck, pull in an audience or promote a product what good are they?

In the face of what appears to be an on-coming climatic catastrophe, why do the wanderings of Arita Baaijens and Mikael Strandberg matter? Who cares if she disappears into the Sahara with her camels or if he ventures back into the frozen wastes of Siberia again? If their journeys don’t make a buck, pull in an audience or promote a product what good are they?

This isn’t a new message. It is the cynical philosophy of transitory greed. It’s the siren song which every explorer confronts, in the dead of the night, when they awake, in a cold sweat and wonder, like Frank Wild, Mikael Strandberg, Arita Baaijens and others have done, why they’ve made such a difficult personal decision. This is the late-night soul-chilling moment when they wonder why they forsook a normal job, a dependable emotional relationship, a pension, in fact all the things that their peers sought, and found, embracing instead the explorer’s constant companions, personal confusion, emotional despair and financial loneliness.

As Wild proves, you don’t become an explorer because of the pay. That’s why in this day of celebrity authors, lying politicians, venial television stars and common day crooks, the handful of true explorers shine like bright stars in a world full of transitory mediocrities.

Ethical exploration has always been one of humanity’s sterling accomplishments, because lodged within that tiny cadre have always been a handful of men and women, like Mikael and Arita, who throughout the long march of our species, have summoned the courage to march away from the safety and taboos of their hereditary village, and set off into the unknown in search of scientific and personal knowledge.

Our species will always need ethical explorers who continue to seek the outer edges of knowledge. As Frank Wild proves, television can’t make you a hero of exploration. Only your own rock hard grip on personal ethical behaviour will steer you through the shoals of deceit and onto the shore of true spiritual bravery.

CuChullaine O’Reilly is the Founder of the Long Riders’ Guild, the world’s international association of equestrian explorers and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers’ Club. He is currently completing the “Horse Travel Handbook,” the most comprehensive equestrian exploration guide ever written. This is his second article as a guest writer. Read his first here!

First of all, congratulations to Mario Vargas Llosa for the Nobel Prize! Being a lover of the Latin american way to write, I am very happy. I hope this will mean he will stay out of Peruvian politics! Because, every person should do what he is best at, I think. Or not? Well, that brings me to the theme of todays blog report…

An academic I know very well asked me today, why is it that you explorers and professional travelers are pretty much unknown in the academic world? She continued:

“I have been listening to academics talking about Syria all day, most of it almost makes me fall asleep, and I ask myself, why don´t they invite professional story tellers and explorers to give a different perspective of a country or a cause?”

Well, that is a very good question. Because, reality is that it works the other way, academics get invited often to Explorer events, see most events at the Explorers Club for example. And, I have, personally, only twice been invited to talk in front of an audience of academics. I have done over 5000 lectures and talks in my life. The first one, which was cancelled because it turned out they didn´t like me, by Svenska Sällskapet för Geografi och Antropologi, and the second one, I will write about next week. Non-Swedish of course. And I know from my explorer friends, that this fact applies to them as well. I think it is pure protective measures by a club of members who doesn´t want to be challenged. And think that their research is the best and only existing regarding all the living topics on earth. Yawn. This issue has also split the historical Royal Geographical Society in two parts. Explorers versus academics. Right now, even though the president is the honorable and great traveler,  Michael Palin, a major part of the organisation is made up of academics who are into geography. It has gone so far that the organisation has removed the word Expedition from the agenda! This has caused a drama, of course, and the Beagle Campaign have been set up. The academics think that the money the Society has should go to what they consider is scientific Expeditions, because they say, and think, that explorers can get money from the media and sponsors in a way they can´t. Explorers disagree. The  issue is far from resolved. The honorable British newspaper The Times wrote in an editorial this about the issue!

Tim MacKintosh-Smith - accepted in both camps.....

I personally think it is a disaster separating the two! Instead we should connect and open each others horizons. But the academics disagree. And, oddly enough, it seems to be few explorers who are academics. or the other way around. I know, really, only about my friend Tim MacKintosh-Smith, who is a specialist on Yemen and is accepted in both areas. Amazing really, when both wants the best for everyone…..and I believe my friend Justin Marozzi, one of the founders of the Beagle Campaign, hit the spot when he wrote this article!

Anyway, next week, I will write about my great honor as a visiting professor, when I asked, professor of what…the answer was..PhD in Life and how to live to its full……an event which occurred two weeks ago!

Adventure Jobs- Some Questions to Ask Yourself HONESTLY

by Carin Kiphart

We had an overwhelming response to our blog post Why You Need An Adventure Job.  People are realizing they want and NEED more in their life.  While climbing the corporate ladder and living in cubicle nation is a great lifestyle for some, others are realizing there can be a different path.  Judging from the personal emails we have received there is a need for information on the what, where, and especially the how to on Adventure Jobs. Today I want to focus inward.  Before you go dropping resumes all over the adventure world,  it is important to understand your self first in order to know which direction to follow in the maze of the world of adventure.  Knowing yourself will help you steer yourself to the job best suited to you and give you the greatest opportunity for success. What KIND of an adventure job do you want?  Well, one with adventure of course!  But it comes in many flavors.  Let me pose a few questions. What kind of a communicator are you? This is one of the MOST important questions to answer.  The are really four basic communication quadrants and while most of us have a combination of these, one will most likely jump out at you and you’ll say, “yep, that’s me!”

1. The Controller-  The controller needs to be in charge and often needs to be right.  When the situation goes bad, the controller takes over.  Put a controller in a situation of “follower” and they will most likely want to break the rules and do it their way (have you met my husband?).  They are leaders and are the first to step up with a plan. They tend to dress for meetings.
2. The Supporter- The supporter is one who doesn’t like to say no, they want to help out with everything.  They can be good people to work as a support team to a controller.  They are often cause oriented.  A supporter likes the “feel good” and are can make great advocates.
3. The Analyst- The analyst wants all the details.  They need all the pieces to make a decision and will do lots of research.  They are more cautious decision makers, tend to be more formal and reserved.
4. The Promoter- Where’s the party?  This is the person who is the socialite, wants to meet everyone and tends to dress more flamboyant.  The promoter tends to be more organized in the head rather than on paper.  Don’t bother me with the statistics, let’s be sure everyone is having a good time.

Once you can place yourself into one of these categories you can have a better idea of what kind of an adventure job fits you.  For example, if you want to work at Club Med as an analyst, then perhaps you would be suited to the transportation department at an overseas club, doing the logistics of the arriving and departing guests.  They’ll probably let you make a spread sheet!  You can make spread sheets all over the world and enjoy the benefits of working for Club Med.  On the other hand, I am a promoter, don’t even show me the inside of the office (funny, I never WAS in the office at Club Med).  Get me out meeting the people, doing crazy pool games and teaching scuba.  That is where my strengths and my joy lie.

Do you want to “see the world”? Then perhaps working on a cruise ship is a good option, where you are in a different port of call every day. Or a tour director (you would probably want to have some promoter in you for that position!). If you want to truly get under the skin of another culture, a cruise ship job is not the way to do it, it’s more like a smorgasbord. You may want to consider teaching English overseas where you spend at least one to two years in one place. Consider what you want to learn about the world on your adventure, how much you want to see and how fast.

How Do You Want To Live?

This is a very important question to ask yourself.  If you are 20 years old, then you can take a job where you bunk up with a couple of other blackjack dealers on a cruise ship.  If you are a married couple, age 40, it’s going to be a different answer.  I worked for a high end tour company where, when my husband and I worked together, we shared a private cabin on the ship or when we worked apart, we had our own hotel rooms at the same accommodation level as the guests.  At this point in my life, I probably would not want to spend the summer in a tent with a couple of other girls.

How Do you Want to Travel?

Do you want to “see the world”?  Then perhaps working on a cruise ship is a good option, where you are in a different port of call every day.  Or a tour director (you would probably want to have some promoter in you for that position!).  If you want to truly get under the skin of another culture, a cruise ship job is not the way to do it, it’s more like a smorgasbord.  You may want to consider teaching English overseas where you spend at least one to two years in one place.  Consider what you want to learn about the world on your adventure, how much you want to see and how fast.

How do you live best?

This may be an odd question but here is why I ask it.  Can you live out of a suitcase?  Can you keep your life organized that way? Do you need to “nest” somewhere?  Do you need continual movement? These are VERY important things to know about yourself.  Personally, I love changing hotels every night but after about six months, I need a short break from it.  But I also LOVE movement so a cruise ship is a perfect environment where my view out the window changes but I keep everything arranged in my cabin (which is small….can you live this way?).  Of course, if you’ve never had an adventure job, how would you know?  Well, here is where I say, “If you DID know the answer what would it be?”  Think about how you travel on a vacation.  Do you tend to book one hotel and settle in or do you flit about the country.

How Much Time Do You want to Adventure for?

If you have never “done anything like this before” test the waters.  Don’t sell your house and all your possessions.  Give it a test run.  Take a short 3 month position somewhere and rent your house or have a friend live there.  Then see how it goes.  You might find that “adventure jobs” are not what you expected or you might find that it’s what’s been missing in your life all these years.  Don’t burn your bridges at first. However, if you have no ties and see adventure as a lifestyle then you will be more apt to take a position that you sign a contract for. Six months to one year contracts are fairly common.

Job Security

Job security is really a myth, no job is secure.  You can be sitting in your office one day and the next the company makes cuts and you are out.  Once you come to that reality, it is not so scary taking an adventure job for a short period of time. However, if you can’t grasp that concept and a steady paycheck from a fortune 500 company is your security blanket, think twice about taking the leap.  If you are flexible and willing to adventure your way forth, opening yourself up to the universe, you’ll find a way.

Decide What is Important in Your Life Things

Stuff is just stuff, just ask George Carlin who’s skit on “stuff” brings me to hysterical fits of laughter.  If you NEED stuff, if your life is about accumulating liabilities like cars and boats, think twice about going on the road.  I’m not saying this from a financial end, I’m saying there is no room for “stuff” on the road.  Stuff becomes a burden.  We traveled for ten years with everything we own in storage and when we came back, we had NO idea what was in most of the boxes. We hadn’t used it in ten years, guess we didn’t need it!

It is a wonderful world that Carin and Ridlon live!

People

Most adventure jobs include travel.  You will be gone for months at a time.  It’s not always easy to communicate with family and friends.  You will miss weddings and birthdays, graduations and sunday family picnics.  Your friends will continue to build their lives and their friendships while you are away.  You will come home to find you have less in common with your friends.  BUT, you will meet amazing people working in the adventure community.  You will have friends worldwide, you will see whole new perspectives on the world.  If you are open to this, it’s time to venture forth!

Finally, Let’s mention MONEY

You need to be realistic about what you need to live on.  You need to ask yourself what you want financially.  Adventure jobs are typically not the most high paying though some can be.  We’ve worked adventure jobs where we each made six figures a year and we’ve worked adventure jobs where we made three figures a month. You also need to look at what “comes with the job”.  While working on board a cruise ship for five years, we saved 95% of our income compared with 5% for the average American.  We invested all of our money for those five years because we didn’t need to live on it.  We didn’t drive a car, pay rent or utilities or pay for food.  We didn’t go “out” because our entertainment was on board.  We worked under special tax laws.  We worked six months at a time, seven days a week and then had two months off.  During our time off we took fantastic vacations for weeks on end.  We didn’t own a home and turned off the insurance on our car which we stored at a friends house.  AND we saw the world (I can now boast 106 countries visited) and enjoyed our life to the absolute fullest. If you are tied to money and live in a world of scarcity, think twice.  If you are open to the wonders of life, travel, and adventure more than financial gains, you will do fine.

Adventure Forth

Each one of these topics is worthy meal in itself, here I give you an appetizer to chew on.  Take a serious look at yourself before taking the leap but don’t dwell too terribly much.  Reaching your foot out can be a scary step but once you’ve taken the first step, you’ll find the road to the world awaits you and you’ll never look back.

To your Adventures!

Stuff is just stuff, just ask George Carlin who’s skit on “stuff” brings me to hysterical fits of laughter. If you NEED stuff, if your life is about accumulating liabilities like cars and boats, think twice about going on the road. I’m not saying this from a financial end, I’m saying there is no room for “stuff” on the road. Stuff becomes a burden. We traveled for ten years with everything we own in storage and when we came back, we had NO idea what was in most of the boxes. We hadn’t used it in ten years, guess we didn’t need it!

Read more at www.live-adventurously.com

CV: Carin and Ridlon Kiphart (aka “Mantagirl” and “Sharkman”), share a life of passion through adventure and underwater exploration, which has taken them to over 105 countries and all seven continents. Along the way, they have logged over 12,000 dives as professional Scuba instructors, shark feeders and photographers, climbed Himalayan mountains, and explored the planet from Antarctica to Oceania and back again. The Kipharts served as on board Directors for Ocean Quest International, Dive Directors for WindStar Cruises, Tour Directors for Tauck World Discovery, and are co-founders of Global Diving Adventures and Live Adventurously. They have guided natural and historical tours for over a decade in the US western national parks, Central America, Europe, and have led expeditions to remote areas including the Dahlak Archipelago of Eritrea and Niatoputapu in remote Tonga. Honors include membership in the prestigious Explorers Club, Citizen for Cultural Exchange Award, and the 2006 American Airlines Ultimate Road Warrior. They are avid supporters of ocean conservation and founders of the Ocean of Hope Foundation. Mantagirl is the author of, “The Ultimate Guide to Making