Explorer Mikael Strandberg

PRESS RELEASE!

WORLD FAMOUS EXPLORER JOINS KENSINGTON TOURS
AS EXPLORER-IN-RESIDENCE

Mikael Strandberg to support launch of Kensington’s new Expedition Series

“Kensington Tours' mission,” says Willner “is to provide private guided experiences to every corner of our world. For every budget, every schedule, every group size, and every interest, we can tailor a perfect tour. Our collaboration with Mikael and our Explorer-in-Residence program is another example of our commitment to truly special travel experiences – whatever your travel style.”

A professional explorer for the past quarter century, Mikael Strandberg is considered one of the 50 most important explorers on earth and The Explorers Club has called him “the best contemporary explorer in the world.” Strandberg will collaborate with Kensington founder and CEO Jeff Willner to design and develop this new product offering for intrepid travelers.  Strandberg will also be available to guide these expeditions as well as tailor-made expeditions, upon request.

“Kensington Tours’ mission,” says Willner “is to provide private guided experiences to every corner of our world. For every budget, every schedule, every group size, and every interest, we can tailor a perfect tour. Our collaboration with Mikael and our Explorer-in-Residence program is another example of our commitment to truly special travel experiences – whatever your travel style.”

Willner and Strandberg recently undertook a scouting mission to The Democratic Republic of the Congo to assess its potential and readiness as a destination for intrepid travelers.  Congo itineraries – featuring endangered Eastern Lowland Gorillas, Pygmy tribes and the Nyiragongo volcano – are the first in the Expedition Series.  Other itineraries under development include Antarctica exploration with polar explorers, motorcycle safaris in Kenya, Tanzania and Russia, deep dive submarine into the Cayman Trench and cultural discoveries in Yemen, Oman and North Korea. These itineraries will appeal to intrepid global explorers and will complement Kensington’s complete collection of affordable private guided tours to the world’s must-see destinations.

“It’s the places that people believe that they cannot go, these are the places where the hidden wonders of the world and breathtaking experiences await,” said Strandberg. “The Expedition Series will highlight many of these destinations.  I am indeed honored to be an Explorer-in-Residence for this brave company. Brave makes a difference, helps a country, builds bridges and creates trips which open people’s minds. With a visionary and a lover of humanity like Jeff Willner at its helm, Kensington Tours is really in the forefront of what good tourism should be today.”

“Some of the Expedition itineraries may require hard work, some may be expensive and some will feature unconventional destinations, but all promise a unique experience,” confirms Willner.  “Whether escorted by an Explorer-in-Residence or not, all of our tours will be carefully managed by our local offices and local expert guides to ensure a safe and supported adventure.”

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“It’s the places that people believe that they cannot go, these are the places where the hidden wonders of the world and breathtaking experiences await,” said Strandberg. “The Expedition Series will highlight many of these destinations. I am indeed honored to be an Explorer-in-Residence for this brave company. Brave makes a difference, helps a country, builds bridges and creates trips which open people’s minds. With a visionary and a lover of humanity like Jeff Willner at its helm, Kensington Tours is really in the forefront of what good tourism should be today.”

About Kensington Tours
Kensington Tours offers custom private guided tours to over 80 countries around the world. The flexibility of Kensington’s offerings allows for personalization of every tour at a wide range of price points – resulting in a handcrafted vacation experience at an unbeatable value. The company’s private tours are regularly benchmarked at 30% less than identical tours from premium group operators. Kensington Tours was named one of the ‘Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth’ in 2008 & 2009 by the editors of National Geographic Adventure magazine.

About Mikael Standberg:
He started his professional career as an explorer 23 years ago. Strandberg is currently working as an explorer, a lecturer and a writer. He has also produced three internationally renowned documentaries for television Patagonia – 3,000 Kilometres by Horse and The Masaai People – 1,000 Kilometres by Foot and his much awarded 58 Degrees – Exploring Siberia on Skies.  Frequently appearing in travel and adventure programmes, Swedish Television SVT and National Geographic have both made documentaries about his life. Voted Explorer Hero by the National Geographic 2002, Strandberg is an Honorary Ambassador of his native district Älvdalen and Cappadocia, Turkey. In 2005 he was awarded The Determination in the Face of Adversity Medal by the Explorers Club. The Travellers Club of Sweden awarded him the prestigious Silver Medal in 2006. The Travellers Club of Finland awarded Mikael the prestigious Mannerheim Medal at a ceremony in October, 2006.

About Jeff Willner
Kensington Tours is the inspiration of intrepid explorer and Royal Geographic Society Fellow Jeff Willner begin_of_the_skype_highlightingend_of_the_skype_highlighting. His thirst for travel stems from growing up in Africa where his parents worked for most of his childhood, and where he discovered the richness of global cultures. A veteran of global expeditions to over 70 countries, he has criss-crossed the continents to experience the extraordinary. During these years, Jeff realized the vast difference between a package tour and personal discovery — where deep knowledge and personal attention of a local guide can turn a trip into an experience. It is from these roots that Jeff began building his vision for Kensington Tours. With a commitment to rethinking the way we travel, and drawing on his years with McKinsey & Company and Wharton, he recruited a strong team of destination experts (with real in-country experience) and top IT professionals to build an award winning travel company that now spans the globe.

For more information please contact:
Jeff Willner
CEO,
Kensington Tours
jeff.willner@kensingtontours.com

“Some of the Expedition itineraries may require hard work, some may be expensive and some will feature unconventional destinations, but all promise a unique experience,” confirms Willner. “Whether escorted by an Explorer-in-Residence or not, all of our tours will be carefully managed by our local offices and local expert guides to ensure a safe and supported adventure.”

Chimanuka was the undisputed leader of this family consisting of him, 17 females and 14 young ones of different ages. He’s name meant Happy Swahili and had been given to him by the park rangers after he by pure luck was found after the very destructive civil war that plagued this area 199-

”Uff, uff!” he said and turned his back towards us, heavily slumped down on his back lazily and started chewing away on his main diet this time of the year, leaves. He wasn’t at all interested in our presence, almost seemed bored and fed up with being a star.

Suddenly, his wife gave a call of distress and Chimanuka, showing that his enormous size isn´t a problem, flung himself like an agile chimpanzee down the tree, hit the ground with a thump -30 centimetres from where we stood in a paralysed silence- and raced through the bush like a rhinoceros and growled his orders of silence!

When he had done his duty as the sole leader of this family of lowland gorillas, he just sat down in the thick under growth and the only part of his body we could see, was his gigantic head. Chimanuka was the undisputed leader of this family consisting of him, 17 females and 14 young ones of different ages. He’s name meant Happy Swahili and had been given to him by the park rangers after he by pure luck was found after the very destructive civil war that plagued this area 1997. A devastating war that killed at least 3 major family’s in this little area where these unique gorillas habitat and where reproduction isn’t neither an easy thing or taken for granted. The gorillas were basically killed as food. And in a war where a human life had little value, a gorilla, of course, even less.

“Uff, uff….”

They definitely feel very human with their behaviour and the way they look. I felt very close, almost protective of them and even though I am a hunter, who kills wild animals for food, I could never shoot or kill a gorilla. It would be like killing a human. Impossible!

Suddenly Chimanuka stood up on all four and slowly made his way just passed us and headed into the growth again, looking for a new feeding place. Very agile he then swung his way up a thin tree and it was hard to believe that his weight was at least 240 kg:s. (Approx. 500 pounds) There he stayed throughout our visit in Kahuzi-Biega National Park. We had an hour and a half to visit these our close relatives and it is a very profound feeling of seeing these primates which are so different to us, but still so very close. They definitely feel very human with their behaviour and the way they look. I felt very close, almost protective of them and even though I am a hunter, who kills wild animals for food, I could never shoot or kill a gorilla. It would be like killing a human. Impossible!

“We’re guarding them 24 hours a day” ,the chief ranger told us, “All rangers come from this are, so we know the forest well.”

Kahuzi-Biega National Park is probably the least visited gorilla habitats in the world. It is, of course, due to that it is place in what is globally seen as a volatile region of Congo and the world. For this reason, there’s very few tourists, it’s unspoilt and feels very fresh. In my eyes, I couldn’t have ended up in a better place to visit this closest of relatives for the first time in my life. It just has to be felt this feeling of meeting your original family!

“I can tell you” , the chief ranger continued, “that this is the only place were tourist always see gorillas and never, ever have to walk for more than an hour to find them. I have worked here for over ten years and always seen gorillas when taking tourists.”

Mother and daughter gorilla....

Just getting to the park entrance is an adventure and extremely entertaining! After leaving the bustling and magnificently located city of Bukavu, one follows the stunningly beautiful Lake Kivu, passing through these fantastically dramatic, lively Congolese villages on relatively good dirt roads and climbing up to 2200 meters to the park. One of the best rides in my life!

For me returning back to Congo after passing through here on a bicycle 21 years ago is very emotional. And do you know what? It is still the most exiting, lively and most African of countries on earth! Like Yemen, it is flaunted as extremely dangerous in media and by embassies on the Internet, but like Yemen, this is only in certain parts of these big countries and, I guess for the same reason, probably the two most entertaining, interesting and humane countries on earth right now.

Congo has to be experienced!

I just missed Olly by a day……will we meet on the active volcano Nyarangrongo? In a few days you will know! At least I have met Chimanuka!

Me together with the park rangers and my very good friends and sponsors jeff and Andrew.....

Kyle Anthony Foster and me at a kat chew in Sanaa, Yemen. He is one of the biggest personalities I have met. And very knowledgeable of yemen. He speaks fluent Arabic, is married to a Yemeni from Mukalla and has at least one child.

Guest writer number 5 is Kyle Anthony Foster from Nebraska, who is currently living in Yemen, and have been doing so for the last ten years or more. He is one of the biggest personalities and characters I have come across, a true story teller, survivor, human being and adventurer of the old sorts. Everything happens to this guy! Not one boring second with him. He is married to a nice Yemeni from Mukalla and they have a lovely daughter together. He knows the ins and outs of Yemen. An important voice to listen to, these days of painting Yemen as one of the most dangerous countries in the world!

I am writing to you from a long, white sands beach under swaying palm
trees on the south coast of Arabia, in Yemen. The sun is setting over the Arabian Sea in a blaze of orange and gold.  These days my sun also rises in Yemen.  In fact, Yemen has been the place I call home for
most of the last ten years.  I met Mikael here last year and we became
immediate friends; sharing a love of adventure and expanding our
horizons through travel.  It might surprise you to think of some of the world’s most pristine and beautiful beaches in Yemen.  It might also surprise you to know that the country is not a giant sand pit but a mountainous country, incredibly green in the rainy season, with incredible gorges and vistas throughout. So, when Mikael asked if I might write something about Yemen I grabbed paper and pen and headed straight for the beach.  It is here, where the blue waters of the Arabian Sea meet the white beaches and rocky headlands of Arabia that the story of Yemen and its people begin.

Rub Al-Khali - the biggest sand dune desert in the world....

Yemen has often been described by scholars as an ‘island’ surrounded by the Arabian /Indian Ocean to the south, the Red Sea to the west and the vast sands of the Rub al-Khali – the Great Arabian Desert – to the north.  This geographical isolation has kept Yemen apart and misunderstood by the rest of the world since ancient times.  And it has also spurred the people of Yemen to look across seas and sands in search of trade and resources.  The ancient Greeks called this place, ‘Arabia Felix,’ in the mistaken belief that Yemen, and not India and the far east, was the source of spices.  In fact, Yemen was the center of the spice route from the far east and its geographical position allowed for the Kingdom of Saba (reported home of the Queen of Sheba) to benefit from the spice trade through taxes collected on the spice caravans travelling through her land.  Yemen was relatively little known to the outside world until the 1960s, when the secretive and feudal ‘Imam’ or king was overthrown for a republican government.

Yemen has remained little known and misunderstood since the revolution. The recent barrage of international media attention Yemen has received is testament to the world’s lack of understanding regarding this country.  The international media is currently in the habit of calling Yemen a ‘hotbed of terrorism,’ ’the ancestral homeland of Osama Bin Laden,’  (So what???  He wasn’t born here and did not grow up here.) and a place of ‘widespread anti-American sentiment.’  Regarding the Bin Laden issue I pose this to readers.  I am a citizen of the United States and I was born there. Ireland is my ancestral homeland.  If I committed crimes against humanity would the media report anything other than that I was a citizen of the United States?

Yemenis, some of the friendliest and most peaceful people on earth.

Yemen is, in fact, a place of moderate, tolerant Muslims, both Shia and Sunni, and a place where the great majority of the population strive for a better life for themselves and their families and a better future for Yemen.  Yes, there is a small (and I would call it very small) percentage of the population here for whom the words ‘anti-American,’ ‘extremist,’ or even ‘terrorist’ apply.  It would be naive to deny this.  However, I am sure that the world could use a dose of reality right now concerning the real situation of Yemen and her people.

Yemen is a developing nation with many problems, a government struggling to cope with meager and dwindling oil resources and a booming population (up to 3.5% by international estimates), a severe water crises for which there is no easy solution, a severe lack of food security causing 50% or more of the country’s children to suffer from malnutrition and stunted growth and a struggling economy which relys heavily on imported trade and not enough on domestic production.  The literacy rate in the country hovers around 60% for men and women.

Yemen’s isolation has, since ancient times, caused her people to look abroad in search for resources and  trade riches.  The arches over the windows and the doors of buildings in Mukella, the city behind me, bear the unmistakable stamp of the orient, brought back to Yemen by traders who ventured from India to Malaysia over the Indian Ocean.  The people of this country also bear the diverse characteristics of populations from the coast of East Africa, the interior of Arabia and all the way to the far east.  This diverse mix has made Yemen a place of a very unique and distinct culture.  And this diverse mix of people, culture and their history may also  help to explain why the majority of Yemenis are surprisingly tolerant with a love of music,  art and dance all their own as well as a tolerance for and interest in foreigners.

So what does Yemen need now?  The country is facing political instability with a rebellion stirring in the north and an independence movement awakening in the south.  Political support and a degree of military support are welcome and probably necessary at this time.  However, the real need Yemen is facing is in development support and aid to help the nation through this period of economic change and population growth.  What’s needed is real development aid funding government, international and local non-governmental development organizations focusing on education, food security and income generating projects and training - especially for rural areas where 70% of the population live.  A sincere effort at supporting development in this country is the only way we can hope to bring about the stability the nation needs through increased educational standards and outputs, increased access to health care, rising levels of nutritional intake and increased economic production leading to increased income levels for the poor and middle classes.  No amount of military assistance can bring about the development and change that the people of this nation seek and deserve.

Right now Yemen needs to be seen in the right light and needs the right assistance, according to the writer.

Kyle Foster’s Arabian Notes. Regular updates from one of America’s wildest. High Arabian adventure including a few excerpts from his book in progress. fosterarabiannotes.blogspot.com

Finally meeting Dan Buettner after being in contact for 23 years in his spectacular mansion in Minneapolis. From left: Me (yes, adding on Expedition weight), Dan Jr, Dan and his brother Steve.

23 years ago I met three Americans on a bicycle in Costa Rica. I remember us putting up camp outside a farm and how impressed I was over their equipment which was so much better than mine. I had a 3-speed bike, an old, leaky tent and a thin foam pad to sleep on. They had cycling helmets, which I thought was hilarious, Therm-A-Rests, new modern tents and 18 speed bikes. It was kind of the old World meeting the New. They were heading down to Argentina and came from Alaska. I was going the other way. They were going to do all of it in 10 months, for which I used 1½ year. The group leader wasn´t here, neither his brother. The team leader, Dan Buettner had flown to Cordoba in Spain to meet his first child, a son, arrive in daylight. His brother Steve was waiting in Managua. Since this day I have been in contact with Dan on and off over the years, since he has cycled through Africa, Russia and much more. But it took us 23 years to meet and that at his son, Dan Jrs, 23rd birthday!

In these years Dan has become very successful. He writes for the National Geographic and his latest book The Blue Zones has been a huge success, sold in 250 000 copies and he has been part of all the big talk shows like Oprah Winfrey and more and after reading his book, which I enjoyed a lot, I have realized, once again, that all seems to be meant, maybe, like the Arabs say, it is written in the stars. It was meant to be, him and me meeting. He gave me a nice perspective on certain things regarding the meaning of life. Dan seemed to enjoy every aspect of life, especially having time to be with his extended family. One of the ten commandments of how to get over 100 years old according to Dan and his Blue Zone project!

Visiting the great area where Dan had his mansion, also offered some nice winter days with son and less cold....

It was great meeting Dan during the Minneapolis visit. Otherwise a lot of my energy has been trying to figure out how the latest developments in Yemen will affect the Expedition. As it is now, the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen is closed and I communicate excessively with my friends in this great country. Latest news comes from Brid Beeler, who is more updated than most people regarding the situation in Yemen, that not even the UN are getting through. So far, one of the better articles I have read about the situation comes from The Guardians Brian Whittaker here! This is of course, bad news, very bad news, so the question is, when will the border open up again? And do we need to re-route completely? That means we need more money and more time, which is not easy to acquire in these days of recession. Right now, the situation looks worse than ever and my big worry, is that it will develop even worse, that outside troops will move in and we will have a very serious situation. It smells Afghanistan and Somalia. And all borders will, of course, then be closed to Saudi-Arabia, the country the Expedition really needs and wants to pass through. Not possible, no Expedition. That is reality. We are returning to Oman at the end of the month to continue our work to put the Expedition on its feet. Until than, there are other worries….

And if I haven´t felt the global recession anything earlier, it is moving in everywhere. I get emails from colleagues all over the world who describes the situation more dire than ever. And it easy to see here in the US of A. The recession. It has, so far, been a very important and interesting visit, and the positive aspects of this great country is the multi-cultural society and the positive attitude of most people. I am in Philadelphia right now, and I really like its Afro-American population. On the negative side, this is not a place to be, the US, if things turn bad. No matter how often I have seen homeless people all over the world, it pains to see. I have taken one decision, if I ever, in shallah, become a father, Sweden is the place to be. I have re-evaluated my own country a lot during these last 6 months. I am beginning to feel full proud Swedish again. Especially after meeting all Americans with Swedish back ground in Minneapolis talking about the Old country.

William Penn´s beautiful City Hall in Philadelphia, a very interesting and livly East coast city.

By the way, if you have time to kill, why not come to see the Siberian lecture at Williams College in Williamstown on Friday? See http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=260366986429&index=1

My third guest writer is Tricia Nellesen who I met at Sabris school in Sanaa, Yemen, half a year ago and she had an insight to a world which i never will get access to, the one of Yemeni women! Tricia is a reputed cultural anthropologist specializing in Yemen and the Middle East. And after working 11 years as a journalist in the U.S., she returned to graduate school for her PhD.  She became interested in studying Yemen after traveling there for language training and have since her first visit, studied the Middle East for four years and Yemen for two.  And whilst in Yemen, she learned of the water shortage and wanted to help the people in some way—so she stayed in order to learn more.  She is currently in the U.S. writing and compiling her research.

Eyes That Speak:  Lifting the Veil of Yemen

By Tricia Nellessen

Lifting the veil of Yemen....

The day after Christmas 2009, I was surprised to find dozens of messages on my phone.  How nice, I thought.  People know that I’m home in the U.S. for Christmas.  I’d been away for many months, and I had not yet turned on the television.  I went about my daily routine intending to listen to the messages later.  I sat down in front of the TV and switched on CNN.  Suddenly all of the calls made sense.  Yemen was being discussed on every channel.  One, lone Nigerian man now had my country of temporary residence in the news because he had traveled to Yemen and then attempted to blow up an airliner.

Since then, everyone has become an expert on Yemen.  I watch the news and smile as I imagine producers scurrying to find video footage that will capture the essence of the nation.  Usually this includes the ever-exotic photo of a fully veiled woman with only her eyes peering out from behind the black cloth.  As the images flash across the screen, journalists constantly stumble over names while interviewing experts who seem to have gotten much of their information from Wikipedia.  The facts are basic.  Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East.  It sits south of Saudi Arabia and has the highest percentage of detainees from any nation housed in Guantanamo Bay.  The gender roles are strictly segregated, and women veil their faces in public.  Al Qaeda is growing in the region.  Oh yes, and Osama Bin Laden’s father was from an area called Hadramawt (which somehow seems to be pronounced Had-ra-mat, as if it were a laundry, on the news).  These are the facts that keep being repeated.  These are the basics, not the humanity.

I was first introduced to Yemen a couple of years ago at 2am after a number of long flights.  I was a thirty-two year old American woman traveling alone.  After years as a journalist, I had returned to graduate school for my doctorate in anthropology.  Yemen was to be my field site and a perfect place for further language training.  As I stepped from the plane, I took a deep breath and wondered what to expect.  I climbed down the steep stairs from the 747 to the tarmac and walked across the pavement through the glass doors lined by soldiers with rifles slung over their shoulders.  The majority of travelers were Yemenis coming home from trips abroad and my exhausted brain tried to comprehend the foreign words I heard.  As I went through customs, the man sitting behind the desk smiled as I spoke to him in Arabic.  “You are here to study?” He asked.  “Yes”, I replied.  “Welcome to Yemen,” he stated in perfect English as he smiled and handed my passport back to me.  I walked through the next set of doors and into what would become one of the favorite times in my life.

Tricia with a young Yemeni girl. One of many fantastic Yemenis she continually comes across and falls in love with.

When I’m asked about Yemen, I struggle to explain the spirit of the people.  How do I say that I wore a burqa because I chose to?  No one would ever think of forcing me to do that there.  How do I explain that Hadramawt is a beautiful, historic area with a library filled with ancient documents and some of the world’s best honey and dates?  How can I explain to those that have never been there that not everyone identifies themselves as Al-Qaeda, and in actuality Yemen is a nation living in poverty and simply struggling to survive.  I’ve traveled around the country and lived with the people, and the only way that I can tell you about Yemen is to tell you of my friends.

I met Noor at a women’s party.  These afternoons lasted for hours and were filled with music, dancing, and lots of conversation.  We would take our black robes and veils off as soon as we entered the house.  Then, the women would drink tea and eat different types of cookies.  It was during one of these parties that I met Noor.  She was a petite woman close to my age.  She smiled sweetly and offered me a seat next to her on the long pillows lying on the floor around a rug in the middle filled with tin trays of food.  Noor only spoke Yemeni Arabic, and we struggled to communicate between her dialect and my American accent.  Still, we became friends.  Once the food was cleared and the music began, Noor pulled me to the middle of the rug.  She was the first woman in Yemen to teach me belly dancing.  We danced for hours and everyone tried to help my American hips learn the foreign rhythms as we laughed the evening away.

After many such gatherings, I finally learned Noor’s story.  We sat drinking sweet Yemeni tea as others danced and I asked her about her family.  She said that she had a daughter and her eyes lit with pride.  I was surprised to learn that her daughter was seventeen years old.  She must have seen my look of confusion, because she quickly explained.  Noor had come from a poor village far outside the city.  Her father arranged her marriage to a neighbor when she was eleven, and a few years later she gave birth to her daughter.  I sipped my sweet tea and digested this information.  I asked her delicately about her husband.  “He’s dead” was the quick reply.  Noor’s face hardened and I knew that the conversation was over.  Months later she told me that he was fifty years old when they were married.  A few years ago, he passed on.  Noor retained his wealth and now remains single.  She is proud and intelligent and amazingly independent.  She moved her family to the capital city of Sana’a and her daughter attends the university there.  Noor even hinted that she might remarry in the future, but this time it would be a man of her choosing.

The window of Yemen, Tricia looking out at life outside her room...

The capital city of Sana’a which hosts the university is a fascinating mix of old and new.  I love walking the streets past the ancient walls of Bab Al-Yemen.  Bab Al-Yemen literally translates to the “door of Yemen”, and indeed it once was truly this.  Two gigantic wooden doors rest eternally open in the middle of a tall stone wall.  The wall used to encompass the entire city of Sana’a, but now it only contains what is lovingly referred to as the Old City.  I have wandered Bab Al-Yemen for hours.  Sometimes I’ve worn the abaya (black robe) and niqab (face veil), and sometimes not.  It really depends on whether or not I want to be noticed as a foreigner.  When fully veiled, I can blend into the crowd.  Why might I not want to be seen as a foreigner?  It is certainly not out of fear, but rather because of all the shouts of “Welcome to Yemen” and “Hello, how are you?”  If I walk the streets as an American, the children run up and scream “soora, soora?” Soora means photo, and the children always want theirs taken.

On the street where I live in Sana’a, the children from the nearby houses run and play in front of my door.  I live on a side street running perpendicular to a main road.  The children of my neighborhood know me well.  When they are out of school, they play marbles and soccer on the cobblestoned alleyway between our buildings.  Mustafa is twelve and is the oldest.  He is respected by the others because of this, and sometimes brings his three year old baby brother out with him.  Mustafa and his brother were orphaned when their parents were killed in a car accident.  His grandfather is raising the boys on a cab driver’s salary.  Ahmed is ten and always full of spunk, ready to play soccer.  He saves bits of change that he finds and sometimes buys me plastic necklaces.  I wear them and he smiles and tells the other boys that I am his wife.  Nabil is ten as well and shares his fireworks with me whenever they have them.  We toss the little caps on the ground and laugh as they pop.  The children’s laughter and shouts are always present outside my door.

Across the street from my house is a café set into a thick mud brick wall.  Its pink, metal doors beckon you in for kabob (fried meat balls) and fool (bean soup).  Ramsey runs the place and is sits by the door to welcome you.  When water became scarce in the countryside, he moved to the city to earn money for his family.  Ramsey is the father of six.  His wife and children still live on the farm, about four hours away.  He works for a month or more before being able to travel the distance to see them.  He doesn’t own a car, and the business needs him in order to stay open.   I always ask him how his family is, and he’ll pull out his cell phone and show me pictures.

"The capital city of Sana’a which hosts the university is a fascinating mix of old and new. I love walking the streets past the ancient walls of Bab Al-Yemen."

So, you see, as the exotic images of Yemen appear on television screens across the world, I can only think of my friends.  There are so many other stories that I could tell which would humanize the stark photos being shown across the world of the tiny little country that no one knew of but that now is in all the headlines.  The scenes the news agencies show are from streets that I have walked dozens of times.  As others see only mysteriously veiled women and foreign landscapes, I see my friends and paths full of memories.  It is true that Al-Qaeda exists in Yemen, but it is also true that the majority of people are simply trying to make a living in a country which was forgotten until this Christmas when one man suddenly brought the spotlight of the world to bear.  Yemen has faced Al-Qaeda attacks for years.  It sits on the brink of civil war as the South threatens to secede once again, and rebels to the north of Sana’a continue to fight the government forces.  Amidst all of this, Yemen is projected to become the first country in the world to suffer a complete lack of groundwater as its aquifers drain and the rains move away from the Arabian Peninsula.  Yemen and its people have been, and will continue to be, facing serious challenges.

I sat in Sana’a sipping tea with Michael a few months ago and he asked me what it was like to be a woman living in Yemen.  I remember telling him tales of my friends and experiences.  Michael understood, as explorers do, that societies are complex and varied.  To truly understand a people, one has to delve beneath the obvious and experience the everyday and mundane.  To me, the veil has yet to be lifted from Yemen in the eyes of the world.  Rather, the information coming out of Yemen from the outside media is vague and unsubstantial because of lack of attention in previous years and the newly escalating security situation with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  It is my hope, as days move forward, that a distinction will be made between the people and the destructive elements driving Yemen towards becoming a failed state.

Tricia can be contacted here!

At the moment we are living here, trying to figure out how we are going to get America on board the Expedition. Because without the USA, the Expedition will not reach its goal....

“Why do people join Al-Queda?”, my Arabic teacher in Yemen repeated my question to himself, “Well, because in most cases they don´t have a choice. Take this friend of a friend I knew from my home town. He couldn´t get a job in the village, came here to Sanaa, didn´t get a job here either…so he ended up in crime, got caught, sent to prison, treated badly there and when he came out, the only one´s which helped him, fed him and gave him some direction was the fundamentalists and the next time I heard about him, he was the suicide bomber who blew himself and some tourists up in Hadramawt. It wouldn´t have happened if we would live in a fair society.”

A day after I landed on the prairie outside Minneapolis in freezing cold, hauling snowstorms and a geographical flatness that made me numb, a Nigerian bloke once again caused serious harm to the way the west sees the Muslim world. And he put Yemen, once again, in the center of the worlds attention. I have spent pretty much all my time reading the global newspapers, both from the East and West, and what worries me the most, is that it seems like the Western media, at times, seriously thinks that most Muslims worldwide condone what is happening. And, as serious, is that pretty much all reporting from Yemen, comes from journalists who are browsing the Internet for information. They are not actually there themselves. And this is the picture reported to the West. As you readers know, I have devoted my life to do this upcoming Expedition, for the main reason to try to present a more balanced and real picture of this exiting part of the world. Therefore I have traveled extensively in the Arab World to prepare for this Expedition. And I have met a lot of people all over the Arab world. And, only a few have voiced support for Al Oueda and its violent cause and they have all, without exceptions, been people with no decent education. However, I have met many educated Muslims, who doesn´t like the one sided view presented in the West that we are the saviors of the modern civilization. But that is a much bigger philosophical question. I just want to add my own voice and experience here and my quest to do this Expedition is stronger than ever. But, the question is, what kind of a Yemen will it be within a year?

One of few signs of Christmas that I have encountered in this small village where we we stay right now....

There´s no doubt there is more obstacles to the Expedition now, compared to when I start planning it about a year ago. And on paper, it seems more difficult than ever to accomplish. And the major threat to it, is this continuous hatred between the West and East.  And pretty much all due to the lack of conversation and understanding. And misinformation. But, I am the first to say, that when you hear something many times, after awhile it sticks like truth in the back of your head. Therefore, when I arrived in Chicago and got briefly detained, I feared the worst, since I have come across so many travelers saying that the US immigration are the un-friendliest on earth.  I spent a long nervous time waiting to see what would happen and saw a lot of people being detained and not one of them was treated badly. Most of them time with kindness and respect. And I, as always, was lucky to come across a real human being, not judging, just trying to understand and help. And this scary visit taught me a very important lesson, never, ever stop believing in the good sides of humankind. They are everywhere.

Once again, this spectacular country is in the news again. In a very negative way. It is such a sad reality, when the truth is also that some of the best people I have ever met, live here, in one of the most spectacular countries in the world.

We have been almost ten days in Minneapolis now, we have once again set up a kind of a normal life with a temporary home, a temporary car, but most of the time we have been sitting inside watching TV, hiding from the cold and trying to figure out, once the bell of the new year have called, how to get America on board. There´s no doubt, if we can´t persuade America to believe in this vision, the Expedition, not a lot will change at all. There´s many obstacles along the way. The quest continuous.

We will return to Oman soon again. In the meantime, I will enjoy a traffic which is easy and uncomplicated, good bread and a state which has a Scandinavian presence which is very interesting. It means one can get lutfisk, Kalles kaviar, hard bread and ginger biscuits here! And the locals are really down to earth and in fact, where we live right now, it could be Särna, where I used to live and a place I loved. People are laid-back, big, comfortably dressed, hunt and fish, drive snow mobiles and don´t care that much for what life looks like outside their houses. So, in one way, it is like being home over Christmas!

Me, worth 2 000 000 dollars?

“I have put everything on hold” , Nasr told me with sadness, “My father wants me to get married. And since I am the oldest son, I am expected to stay around my family if I get married, so once I am married, I won´t be able to join you. I can´t hold off my father for much longer, I am already 25 years old!”

Another bit of a shocker since we arrived to Oman getting ready to leave in January! Not much has gone our way over here since arrival and I am trying to figure out what direction to take. It is of course just a case of patience and hard work, and since everything here is closed until tomorrow and have been for ten days, I will phone myself hoarse tomorrow…..Anyway, I have just returned back to Muscat after a trip back and forth to Ibra over the day to visit Nasr, one of the two Bedouins (or Bedu as they are called in the Arab World) who is expected to join us for the big overland trip to the Atlantic coast. It was one of the best, most informative and interesting days during this time of mine here in Oman. The reason: Well, just getting close to these great and gracious animals called camels, the flat silent desert and the peace it brings, just made me very happy! It affected all of us three who went there. I have a very good friend visiting me, the legendary coach of Swedens Ice Hockey Team, Bengt “Fisken” Ohlsson. He has done a one months tour of Iran, Dubai, Yemen and now Oman.

“Best day of my trip!” he said, “Fantastic people!”

Eating camel for lunch....From left: Nasr, Abdullah, P and me. Just before the shocking news!

Nasr works for Sultans Royal Guards and was off on leave over Eid and his brother Abdullah was home from his studies in India, which was perfect since his English is excellent. Finally we had the chance to sit down and have a good chat. Nasr is well trained physically, motivated and his family lives in a very nice home in village just outside Ibra. Since they are Bedouin, they’re extra-ordinary generous. We were served tender camel cooked in a hole in the ground for over 24 hours. We ate this great dish together with rice and lots of Arabic coffee and halwa.

“I don´t think we will be able to leave in January” , I told Nasr immediately after arrival whilst he looked at me with respect, “We have run into some problems with time, it just takes an enormous amount of time to get things moving here and we still haven´t found any camels good enough for this trip. So that is one reason we have come to visit you today. I heard your cousin had racing camels?”

“Yes he does” , Abdullah translated, “But they´re very expensive. Like a car. The best cost more than 2 000 000 dollars.”

The Wahiba Bedus way to carry equipment......puuuhh........

The cheapest camels are about 10 000 dollars and that is an extra-ordinary sum, but that is life in the Gulf countries. In Yemen of course, you could get one, as good, for a tenth of that price, but it would be impossible to transport them to Oman, the country where we want to start our journey from. We ain´t changing our plans, yet……but there´s no doubt, I want to leave as soon as possible! But January seems unlikely right now, which means if we don´t get started before the beginning of March, it will be impossible, due to the summer heat, to leave until Mid-August. Another bit of a shocker, realizing this. All of those worries left us, of course, as soon as we made it out in to the desert south of Ibra and meeting Rashad the cousin and his 50 racing camels, beautiful, but a little bit twitchy and nervous, like racing horses. We did a little tour around camp and loved it, but I doubt these can do a long trip.

“My best camel runs 8 km in less than 13 minutes!” Rashad said and than showed me how to pack 60 kg on a camel.

Didn´t look good at all. They don´t know, the Bedus of Oman today, about long distance travel. Rashad showed me a lot of techiques and skills how to take care of camels and I enjoyed his company immensely. Funny, street smart, knowledgeable about the camel, loved them, he had worked camels since he was seven and inspired us a lot. We need at least 1 month, maybe two, to live and train the camels we will bring. A time I look forward to a lot. We could easily have stayed at that camp for two months right now, it was that relaxed, silent and pleasant. And free from email, telephones and worries…..right now, am ready for tomorrow!

By the way, I had an email from a friend who said Geoffrey Moorhouse had died. He did an attempt to cross the Sahara in the 70´s and failed. He wrote a book well worth reading if you want to understand the difficulties and dangers involved in camel travel. I wrote this piece about him earlier http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/2009/04/01/the-fear-factor/ Another worry for us is the development in the region, see this about Dubai and this about Yemen

Rashad -very helpful camel owner and Bedu

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAH, I am really frustrated! We are running out of time!!! The death of an Expedition is getting closer!!!

But, first of all, this has started to happen, I get emails like these:

“Your articles from Yemen where extraordinary exiting! So full of life and joy! What has happened to you, Mikael? If you continue like this you will loose all your readers!”

Yemeni life,full of colors, passion, life and smells!

This is one of quite a few emails I have received since I have arrived to Oman regarding my blog reports. And I agree. I kind of have lost inspiration for the art of writing. There´s a major reason. I kind of have a hang over since Yemen.  Yemen had everything. Passion, life, joy, sorrow, drama, war, hate and love. Oman isn´t like that. Or I should say, Muscat. (Don´t get me wrong, Oman is one of the most fascinating places I have been to, outside of Muscat, see this slide show here!) What you see with your eyes whilst moving around the city and not getting in behind the curtains, is this:

It is kind of dead. Nothing much happening. It is a working city. People go to work, early, and they come back from work, late. But always working. One day off in general, Friday, when it is even more dead. The only places which always teems with people, very orderly though, is the shopping malls. Getting there involves lots of traffic and moving at snails speed. It is an extremely orderly city. Very silent, free of smells and totally void of any signs of disorder. It is safe, clean and modern. People are friendly, smiling and helpful. I have met some of the nicest people in my entire life here. Genuinely good, honest and warm human beings. Both amongst locals and the big immigrant groups like Indians, Filipinos and Pakistanis. But it is a place mainly for work. And that is what we are doing here, working from early morning to early night. Most of the time in front of the computer, writing proposals, phoning potential sponsors, requesting meetings or doing research on the Internet. And since we have to stick to the times of work in Europe and America, we also work Thursday and Friday. And since everyone is working, and due to that we are two and seen as a couple, we get invited much less to local people, compared to when I was solo here. So, really, our life here is work and on and off moving around to meet other Western people or buy food in the malls. So it is not as lively, dramatic and inspiring as Yemen! But than again, it is two very different worlds, even though they are neighbors! But what to do? Right now, not much. Because we are running out of personal funds and because this is a very expensive place to be!

Muscat - a working city.

Are we getting anywhere with getting the Expedition on its feet? Hard to say, people are very helpful, kind, accommodating and interested, but so far, nothing as we would like it. We would like to get going pretty soon, hit the desert, walk next to the camels, feel the spirit of the desert, but is seems further away each day. Soon we just have to move on and try another place, another country and hopefully get people there to fully understand the vision we have. To change the world, YES!

We are not giving up! Neither the issue of writing interesting stories. I will try to penetrate the wall of the Omani World and let you meet some local people and read about their lives! So, no more stories until this, or the Expedition doesn´t totally collapse or we will meet some interesting local people or as interesting immigrants. Thanks readers for the kick in my butt! Well needed! Back to the old craft! To live to its fullest!

Walking through Maasiland in the year of 2000, not donning local gear as usual, but called Olorogwa whether I liked it or not....

One of the main visions of the Arabian Expedition is to build a bridge of understanding between the West and the Muslim East and within the Arab countries themselves. No matter how one look upon things, this is one of the major problems that the world is facing today. There´s an enormous need for information, education and clear debate on both sides. One of our major hopes regarding this upcoming Expedition, of which 50% is Arab, Salim and Nasr, and the rest made up of me and Pamela, who is Asian-American, is to communicate via the Internet every third day, where debate will be one of the most important issues. We need to communicate. If this is possible, to create a forum for debate just like we wish, we don´t know yet.

The reason I bring this very exiting and important issue up in this report is due to this email that I received yesterday:

Know that the Bani Hasan tribe has been undertaking camel treks out of Yemen across Africa for centuries – guess that’s already been “explored” (without GPS receivers and sat-phones).

I’ve lived in Yemen for a while now and you are like every dick head tourist I’ve seen coming through here, donning local clothes and a jambiya (you know the locals laugh at foreigners doing that, right?), giving yourself a local name (priceless) and blogging about the place like you discovered it.

However, you stand apart in your unfailing ability to aggrandise yourself for doing what is otherwise standard adventure tourism. You’re no more of an explorer than the 1000th Yemeni traveling through Sweden can claim he is exploring stockholm.

Why not explore the mind of the self-important ethnocentric tourist? You’ve got a head start.

amelahodalt (this person did leave his or hers email, but no name)

Me an ethnocentric dick? Possibly....

During my 25 years of exploration, I have never, ever received an email as offensive and full of bitterness, jealousy and hatred as this one. I am sorry to, once again, find out that so many people feel bad in this world of ours and use so much of their joy to live to pour out their hate and bitterness for something they disagree with. I have received tons of letters, emails, phone calls throughout the years and I have been stopped in the street many times by people who disagree with what I do, who I am and how I see life. Of course, I wish everybody would love me, but that is definitely not the case! But I accept all kinds of critique. It is part of any life where you have personal opinions.

However, to be able to have a debate about anything in life, opinions have to be free and many. Within a limit. Offensive emails like this one, based on hatred, jealousy and bitterness, leads nowhere. But there are, after all no smoke without fire, and some of these issues this person highlights comes up a lot in my sphere, what is an explorer and what is true exploration, so I will start a debate by answering this persons accusations. Feel relatively free to come with opinions, but since I moderate everything, because I on and off get these type of emails, I will not allow more emails like this one, which is free of any reason, good research and thought.

About the Beni Hassan tribe, like the more well-known Beni Hilal tribe, and other Arabs who have traveled both ways, to and from Mecca, this is true, but there´s absolutely no written records that a full east to west trip has been done without a prolonged break. Especially not in modern times. However, one of the main ideas with the Expedition, is to highlight the Arabs as great travellers and their amazing journeys. One of them is the well-known Ibn Battuta. And that is why 50% of the members are Arab, so that they can become modern day Ibn Battutas and give the Arab world a voice from the exploration point.

Reality today, in the modern era of exploration,is that this is how most Bedu travel with their camels today...even the famous Al-Mahra tribe.

When it comes to satellite phones and GPS, it shows that you have no idea about my past history of exploration, feel free to read this. I have never, ever used a GPS and never will. However when it comes to satellite phones, I did have it on the Siberian Expedition and will have bring one on the upcoming Expedition. This is due to the need to communicate via Internet. Plus that authorities nowadays won´t let you into the country without one. It is considered another measure of security. But, I will never, ever, use the satellite phone to call for help or assistance. It hasn´t happened and it never will.

When it comes to donning local dress, I agree fully with you. This is the first time in my life, that I have put on local dress, and I agree with your assessment. The reason is as follows: I was given it as a gift from Pamela and our two friends Mohammed and Hussein, to wear for one day. From which all photos are taken. I felt very uncomfortable, but realized that there were many in the souk who actually felt honored and liked it that I wore there local Sanaani dress. But that was the only time. But, it could well happen again in the future. Once again, I wish you would have done your home work better. This is the thing with blind hate, jealousy and bitterness, it works over reason and research. Better to do something with your own life in stead. Enjoy it. Do it in a way you think is appropriate. Write about it. Because communication is the most important issue for a stable future for the globe.

Together with Hussein...yes, we are all laughing!

The giving of the name Ahmed Al-Hamdani was the same evening. It was Hussein and Mohammed who gave it to me. As a sign of their respect. For what I don´t know. However, many western tourists, adventure travelers and explorers have been given names whether they like it or not. Two well known ones are Wyman Bury and Wilfried Thesiger. I have been given local names, whether I like it or not, meeting other people, tribes, like the maasai. I was throughout my Expedition there called Olorogwa, which means the fiery one. Local names are always given by local people as a sign of respect and appreciation. Maybe that is why you have never experienced this.

When it comes to my love of writing, well, I will always write as I have just discovered a place! For me, I do discover all the time and for me it is a new discovery. It is about loving life. I really love life! And whether you like it or not, I have a following of readers globally who wants me to write the way I do. And its people. If you don´t like my writing, why bother reading it?

That last paragraph reeks of jealousy. I won´t even comment it.

To sum it all up, I see you love Yemen and the Yemenis, which I do as well and you have come across a lot of tourists and travelers that you don´t like. I am sorry to hear that. Why don´t you start a blog and write about your feelings? Find a solution to your anger?

Communication in minus 45 in Siberia......

Yemen was one of the highlights of my life in many ways. See the slide show from there!

Since Pamela and myself together with Salim and Nasr will face the upcoming debate together, Pamela, who is an academic look upon the email like this and will leave her comment as a comment! Start the debate!

…and he will travel the world.

That is what my sister said when she was pushing me around in a stroller 47 years ago, when she met a neighbor and briefly stopped and talked to her. I learned that yesterday when I visited my American sister Sarah and met the neighbor. Since than I have traveled to 113 countries and spent more than 2500 nighs in a tent, many of them in a tent which you see to the right here. Photo is taken in the Sinai desert and this was one of the scariest nights in my life. Soon I will pass here again and I will worry less. Since than I have already met the worst demon of all.

As you can see, if you click on the photo to enlarge it, I have even been able to get my bicycle in, the one I used when I cycled from New Zealand to Cairo 1994-96, The reason was that i had been attacked the night before and was worried beyond belief. And trying to sleep then, isn´t easy. I just lay there in the dark, shivering, frightened, listening to every movement, just in case, somebody had spotted me leaving the main road and hiding behind this set of rocky outcrops, coming there to rob me, kill me…well, that is how the mind goes. Eventually i fell asleep, probably an hour before the arrival of dawn. Suddenly it happened!

Somebody attacked me, hit me hard in the right eye, I screamed and yelled, kicked and fought back against the attacker, and I shouted:

“You shouldn´t have done that!”

The attacker turned out being…..my bike. Strong wind had arrived and the bike just fell over and I got the end of my handlebar in my right eye….I did manage to brake a spoke and make life even more complicated, since I still, after almost 90 000 km:s and 7.5 years on a push bike, I still didn´t know how to adjust a spoke properly.

Another voice from the past also turned up yesterday, Bengt, a guy I worked with 1984-85, when saving money to do my first Expedition, from Chile to Alaska on a push bike, at a workshop manufacturing saw blades. He was my boss than and he´s kept track on me ever since and remembers the day I left for Chile. It was the same day the premier of Sweden, Olof Palme, was executed on a street in Stockholm. He came to honor me, traveled a big distance to do that, and that is such a privilege to experience.

I wish I was in Chile right now, because strong winds, grey sky and damp, bone chilling cold has arrived to Stockholm. I thought about yemen this morning and than thi article by a friend, Tim, showed up. Read it here!