Video: The Pride of Namibia - Conservation and Tourism

One topic that is of particular interest to me is conservation of wildlife, and the ending of illegal poaching, in Africa, a place I happen to love dearly. The video below is a success story in this regard, focusing on how the relatively young nation of of Namibia found a way to use tourism to boost conservation efforts, and instill a sense of pride in its people. As a result, poaching is significantly lower there than in other parts of the continent, and often seen as a blueprint for improving the situation elsewhere.

Walking The Nile Update: 400 Miles Missed Due to Conflict in South Sudan

Yesterday I posted an update on the Walking the Nile expedition, in which I shared the news that explorer Levison Wood saw his trek along the length of the Nile River disrupted by the ongoing conflict that is taking place in the South Sudan. Since posting that note, the interruption to the expedition has been confirmed, both on the Channel 4 website and the expedition's Facebook page. 

In a statement posted yesterday, Lev confirms that he trekked as far north as Bor, in South Sudan, where he came face-to-face with the conflict there. His description of the place is difficult to read, as it is clear that the civil war is taking its toll on the region. Lev shares his experiences in Bor, which he describes as a "warzone" that includes bombed out buildings, destroyed tanks, and mass graves. It is a sad report to read to say the least.

At the end of the report Wood writes:

"Whilst I won’t be able to walk this stretch of the Nile I will carry on with the expedition on the other side of the warzone - 400 miles to the north, and one day, in more peaceful times, come back and fill in the gap. 

I’m obviously very disappointed but it’s the right decision for many reasons and ultimately out of my hands. I only wish now for peace in South Sudan and hope that people can get on with their lives."

Clearly it was the right decision for Lev to skip over this section, as it is an incredibly unsafe part of the world right now. I'm sure he is gutted by the fact that he won't be able to walk that 400-mile leg of the river, and hopefully he will indeed be able to return, and fill in that missing part of this journey.


It is still a bit unclear as to where exactly he resumed his journey, and when. As I noted yesterday, I had a source that broke the news to me about the situation in the South Sudan who indicated that all of this happened some time ago. This is somewhat corroborated by the fact that the Channel 4 page that shares Lev's latest location, hasn't been updated since March 19, and still has him in Nimule in South Sudan. If this disruption did take place back then, I'm not sure why it has taken so long for the website and social media channels to be updated. In the past, Lev's team has done a good job of keeping us posted on his progress, but for some reason this news has been slow to make its way out.

Fortunately, it does seem that he is back on the river and continuing his journey. The Nile runs for 4132 miles (6650 km), so there is still a long way to go. The 400 miles that had to be skipped represents about 10% of the journey, which is not an insignificant amount. Hopefully, everything works out for the rest of the walk, and perhaps things will be a bit more calm in South Sudan once Lev has finished the remaining miles, so he can return and complete this elusive segment.

Walking The Nile Update: Expedition Disrupted In South Sudan

One of the more interesting and ambitious expeditions that has been underway over the past few months is Levison Wood's attempt to walk the entire 4250 mile (6839 km) length of the Nile, the longest river in the world. The journey began last fall in the highlands of Rwanda, at the Nile's furthest source, and is expected to continue until Lev reaches the river's mouth on the Mediterranean Sea. But, there are reports that his trek has been disrupted in South Sudan, and that the explorer has had to bypass a section of the hike due to the ongoing civil war that is taking place in that country.

I received a tip a few days ago that Lev saw his journey interrupted several weeks back while passing through South Sudan, and that he actually had to leave the country, flying to Nairobi briefly, before heading to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. From there, he proceeded back south to the river, resuming the journey, but missing a section of the Nile of indeterminate size. With this news, I reached out to Lev for confirmation, and he sent me an email confirming the disruption. He indicated that he was unable to walk from Bor to Malakal in South Sudan due to the fighting taking place there. He said that the South Sudanese government ordered him out for his own safety, after the UN mission in the region was overrun. He indicated that he hopes to return to complete the section he missed once calm has returned to the area, but that he was already back on the trail and heading north.

Considering how volatile South Sudan has been over the past few months, this news shouldn't come as a surprise. When Lev launched his expedition, the civil war hadn't started yet, but the ongoing unrest there has continued long enough to cause issues for travelers visiting the nation, which is the newest country in the world.

The odd thing is that in this day and age of instant access to social media from just about any place on the planet, that there hasn't been any indication of this on disruption on either the expedition's website, or Facebook and Twitter feeds. In fact, the "latest position" page hasn't been updated since March 19, and still has Lev listed as being in Nimule, in South Sudan. The expedition page is part of the U.K.'s Channel 4 website, which has been documenting Lev's travels. It seems unusual that they haven't updated his position, nor announced the change in plan for his route. In his note to me, Lev indicated that Channel 4 was running behind in their updates, and that news would hit the site soon.

I have asked him for more information about where exactly he had to stop his walk through South Sudan, and where exactly he resumed again as well. That will help determine just how much of the Nile he was forced to bypass along the way. I'll post an update as soon as we know more information.

Explorer Julian Monroe Fisher Completes Inaugural Trek Of New Hiking Trail In Africa

Explorer and anthropologist Julian Monroe Fisher has completed the first trek of the entire length of a new hiking trail in Africa. His journey, which was Phase Three of RailRiders 2012-16 Great African Expedition, covered approximately 805 km (500 miles), as he walked the Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail. The journey took him through South Sudan and Uganda, and marked the 150th anniversary of the Bakers' exploration of that region.

The new trail, which only just opened in January, begins in the South Sudanese village of Gondokoro, located near Juba, the capital of the country. From there, it runs south to Baker's View, overlooking Lake Albert in western Uganda, before pressing on to the top of Murchison Falls on the Nile River. In order to properly identify the route, historical markers were placed in fifteen local communities that fall on the trail. Those villages also represent the locations where Sir Samuel Baker, and his wife Lady Florence, camped on their historic expeditions through Central Africa during the 1860's and 70's.

Fisher embarked on this latest expedition back in January, just as the trail had opened. Having planned his expedition for months, he could not have foreseen that civil war would break out in South Sudan just a few weeks prior to his departure. While visiting the portion of the trail that falls in the Eastern Equatoria State, he was only allowed to travel by vehicle, and with an armed government escort. That allowed him to complete the task of delivering the historical markers to the six communities in that region however.


The civil war brought a series of challenges that had not been planned for. "There were tanks on the streets of the capital of Juba, checkpoints along the road where blurry eyed dicey soldiers were a bit too trigger happy and a 6pm to 6am curfew in place which insured nightly gunfire throughout the
city making it impossible to get a good nights rest," Fisher said. He also added "My fixer north of Juba in the land of the Mundari herdsmen was nowhere tobe found. I have never heard from him again."

Things calmed down after he was able to pass across the border into Uganda, and in mid-February Julian was joined by his teenage son Charley, who walked the rest of the trail with him. They reached Murchison Falls on February 24th, officially completing their trek on the Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Historical Trail.

While out on the trail, Fisher gathered content for OutWildTV.com, providing regular dispatches and images from the journey. Those dispatches give readers a sense of what this expedition was like, and what to expect on the new hiking trail. That content can be accessed by clicking here.

This new trail is meant to not only highlight the efforts of the Bakers, but also become a new form economic development for the villages that fall on its length. Sadly, the ongoing conflict in South Sudan will make that a challenge for now. But, the trail is open in Uganda, and safe for trekkers to explore.

National Geographic Presents 50 Tours Of A Lifetime For 2014

Earlier this week, National Geographic Traveler has released their annual selection of their Tours of a Lifetime, giving us 50 more amazing trips that we can take in our never-ending quest to explore the world. As in years past, the 2014 edition of this list offers some amazing tours, offered by some of the best adventure travel companies in the world, that anyone of us can book today. Provided we have enough money that is.

As usual, Nat Geo has broken down their selections by geographic categories. That means you'll find options for travel in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and the South Pacific and Oceania. This makes it incredibly easy to find new options for travel in a favorite region, or look for options for some place you've never been before. Each of the regions have a plethora of unique trips to choose from, offering up a wide range of choices that any world traveler will appreciate.

The editors of the magazine look for unique offerings that also align nicely with the organization's mission of immersing us in diverse cultures and delivering experiences that can't necessarily be found anywhere else. For instance, for those wanting to visit Africa, one of the suggestions is a trip to Namibia, offered by a company called Adventures in Africa, that sends you off to the Namib Desert to track endangered black rhinos and elephants that have adapted to living in that incredibly dry place. In Asia, there is an excursion from Wild Frontier Travel that takes you along the Trans-Himalaya Highway in India and another from Explore! that take travelers into Iraq (don't ask me why the Middle East falls under the Asia category). Have dreams of South America instead? How about going on a Jaguar safari in Brazil with Wild Planet Adventures?

There truly is something here for everyone, no matter what your style of travel or how you define "adventure." It is certainly fun to read this list and dream about all the possibilities. Of course, not all of them fall into the affordable category, at least not for most of us. Make no mistake, there are certainly some inexpensive trips to be had on this list, but others are quite expensive, putting them well out of there reach of the average traveler. Still, these suggestions are also a good launching point for hatching ideas for our own travels. While Nat Geo's specific suggestions may not always be friendly to our bank accounts, they do allow us to seek other options that are.

Video: A Tale Of Two Atolls

It is no secret that we, as human beings, have had a detrimental effect on the word's oceans. We have polluted them, over fished them, and generally treated them poorly in most regards. As a result, the creatures that live in the sea are not as plentiful as they once were. Recently, marine biologist and photographer Thomas P. Peschak traveled to the Mozambique Strait to shoot a story for National Geographic. What he found there was something extraordinary. Two atolls that remain protected and largely untouched by man's effects on the sea. The video below gives us a glimpse of what he found.

A Tale of Two Atolls from Save Our Seas Foundation on Vimeo.

Video: GoPro Captures The Life Of An Elephant

Ever wondered what it is like to see the world through the eyes of an elephant? Well, you can wonder no more thanks to this video, which was shot on GoPro cameras in the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage, located in Kenya. The footage not only gives us a glimpse into the life of an elephant, it shows us their more playful side as well. These creatures are amazing, and seeing them up close in the wild has been one of the greatest joys of my many travel experiences.

I, Elephant from Cristian Dimitrius on Vimeo.

Journalist Dies While Walking The Nile With Levison Wood

There was sad news out of Uganda yesterday when we learned that journalist Matthew Power died while on assignment there. Power, who has written extensively for Outside and Men's Journal, was in Africa to cover his next story, which was to be on the Walking the Nile expedition with Levison Wood.

According to reports, Power was traveling on foot with Levison when he collapsed and fell unconscious. All attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he passed away a few hours later. The exact cause of death is still unknown, but it is suspected to be heatstroke.

Matthew was a well respected adventure journalist who traveled the globe to cover the big stories that many of us follow ourselves. His travels have taken him to K2, the jungles of Costa Rica, the depths of the Amazon, and beyond. He loved his job and was always eager to find his next big story, no matter where it would take him. Levison Wood's attempt to walk the length of the Nile River was that next big story.

Sources indicate that Power and Wood were traveling through the remote Ajai Wildlife Reserve located in northeast Uganda when he collapsed. The team was being escorted by local rangers at the time, but due to the location, there was little that could be done to save Matthew's life.

My condolences go out to Matthew's friends and family. He died doing what he loved, but was taken from us at the far too young age of 39.

Walking The Nile Update: Into Uganda

It has been awhile since we checked in with Levison Wood, the British explorer who is walking the length of the Nile River in Africa. The journey began back on December 3rd, and Wood has been making steady progress through often challenging and difficult conditions. Starting at the furthest source of the river, located in the highlands of Rwanda and Burundi, the trek will eventually cover more than 4000 miles (6440 km) and require a year to complete, making it one of the most amazing expeditions in recent memory.

Currently, Lev is in Uganda, where he has been enjoying a bit of downtime in the capital city of Kampala. There, he has found himself to be a bit of a celebrity, and had a very nice welcome party a few days back. He even received a ritual blessing from one of the more well-known local witch doctors, that was performed to keep him safe and give him strength on his journey.

Wood has now been joined on his expedition by a local Ugandan man named Boston. He has been traveling with the Brit for some time, and was reunited with his family when they arrived in Kampala as well. It isn't clear how long Boston will continue to walk with Lev, but his addition to the expedition reminds me a bit of Cho, the constant companion of Ed Stafford, the explorer who walked the Amazon a few years ago.

Wood and Boston have now completed the first 1000km (621 miles) of the walk, which means they still have a very long way to go before they reach the Nile Delta in the Mediterranean Sea. They are expected to attend a large festival in the town of Jinja this weekend before returning to the trail next week to resume the walk. After they leave Uganda, they'll face the uncertainty of travel in South Sudan, where political upheaval and old rivalries are making things difficult at the moment. They are still weeks away from crossing the border however, so hopefully things will have quieted down by then, and they'll be able to pass without too much difficulty.

You can follow the Walking the Nile expedition on Twitter, Facebook and on a special Channel 4 page dedicated specifically for the journey. Lev is posted regular updates, with good information from the field. It should be a lot of fun to follow along with his progress.

Video: Aerial Shots From The Okavango Delta

One of my dream destinations that I haven't gotten the chance to visit just yet is the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The video below was shot in that amazing place using just a GoPro Hero3 camera mounted on a DJI Phantom quadcopter drone. I truly believe that personal drones are going to revolutionize the way we make adventure films, and this footage is a perfect example. The wildlife on display here is fantastic, and many of the shots would have been tough, far more expensive, to capture without the Phantom. Really cool stuff.

Aerials from the Okavango Delta, Botswana from Symbio Studios on Vimeo.

Video: Adorable Lion Cub Meets GoPro

By now, we all know that the versatile GoPro camera is good in a variety of situations. In the case of this video below, it's for getting very close to lion cubs. This particular GoPro was mounted on a remote controlled vehicle that allowed it to sneak up on a lioness and her young. The result is some great shots of the not-so-big cats, including an adorable close-up of one of the cubs who isn't too happy to see the camera.

Video: Kayaking The Zambezi River

Looking for a healthy dose of adventure to jump start your week? Then look no further than this video, which follows kayaker Mat Dumoulin as he paddles the amazing Zambezi River in Africa. The scenery is quite spectacular and the white water looks insane. What more could you ask for?

Kayaking the Zambezi river - Mat Dumoulin from Dumoulin mathieu on Vimeo.

Explorer Returns To South Sudan Despite Looming Civil War

If you have been keeping up on current events lately, you probably already know about the turmoil that is going on in South Sudan, the youngest country on the planet. The nation was formed following a long struggle against leaders in Sudan, but almost since the day the nation first gained its independence, political struggles and old rivalries have threatened to break it apart. That all boiled over in mid-December and now the country is in open conflict with factions that have been rivals for years falling back into old familiar territory now that their common enemy had been defeated. At the moment, thousands of South Sudanese citizens are displaced and hundreds have been killed. It is, at times, a violent and unpredictable place, where foreigners are discouraged from traveling to.

That is the environment that explorer and anthropologist Julian Monroe Fisher is facing as he returns to South Sudan to continue his work there. He departs Austria today to launch the third phase of his Great African Expedition, a four year, multi-phase plan to explore the ethnographical make-up of central Africa and study how it has changed over the past two centuries.

Julian has also been instrumental in developing a new long distance trekking route dubbed the "Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail." This new route, which begins in South Sudan and runs into Uganda, is more than 500 miles (805 km) in length and has been designed for backpackers and long distance hikers. The hope is that the trail will draw a much needed economic boost to the region, which lacks jobs and other resources currently.

On this visit, Fisher plans to hike the entire length of that route for the first time. That could be risky however, as the trail begins near the town of Gondokoro, which is located not far from the capital of Juba. That area has been hit hard by the current civil unrest in the country.


When I heard from Julian earlier in the day he was just preparing to leave for Africa. His contacts in the country assure him that he will be safe and that they will do what they can to securely deliver him to the trail. For his part, the explorer says that he is not concerned about his own safety and welfare but instead would like to call attention to what is happening in South Sudan. Much of the conflict stems from long standing ethnic disputes between the Dinka and Nuer people, which Fisher compares to the 1990's conflict in Rwanda. He hopes his efforts will help draw a focus on the South Sudanese conflict that will hopefully prevent another genocide like the one that took place in Rwanda.

The current expedition is set to last up to two months and Julian will post updates from the field as he goes. Hopefully he'll not only get the chance to hike the trail that he has been helping to develop but he'll remain safe along its entire length. His mission there is a good example of explorers visiting dangerous places with the hope that they can help improve conditions there in the future.

Video: Team MTN Qhubeka: An African Bicycle Dream (Episode 3)

Over the course of the year we have seen a series of great videos that have followed the progress of the new MTN-Qhubeka Pro Continental Cycling Team, the first all-African cycling squad to compete on an international level. The team continues to make solid strides in its first year of development and in the third episode – which you'll find below – we get footage from the Tour of Rwanda, which the riders recently competed in. The team has done so well in this first year of existence, that they are in the running to receive an invitation to the Giro d'Italia next year. If that happens, they'll become the first African registered team to ride in a Grand Tour. That would be a big step forward for the sport in Africa.

If you like this video, check out Episode 1 and Episode 2 as well.

Video: The Kuzi Project: Kitesurfing and SUP-ing The East Coast Of Africa

This past summer, adventurers Seth Warren and Kirk Hollis embarked on a 500-mile, unsupported journey up the east coast of Africa. The duo traveled by stand-up paddleboards and kite surfed from Pemba, Mozambique to Zanzibar in Tanzania, hopping between more than 50 island along the way. Their six week journey is now the subject of an online film series brought to us by EpicTV.  You'll find the latest episode of that series below, which gives us a glimpse at an adventure that is long way from the big mountains or the polar regions that I often write about on this blog. What an amazing way to explore the wild coast of Africa.

Video: Remote Controlled Buggy Captures Great Photos Of Lions In Africa

We've all seen how arial drones are being put to good use in capturing some amazing photography and video in remote areas of the world, but the video below puts the same concept to work on the ground. Photographer Chris McLennan, working with engineer Carl Hansen, developed a remote control camera housing that could be driven close to the subjects to get some very cool photos. In this case, that means driving up to a pride of lions to snap a few shots. The results are fantastic, although the images may give you a sense of what it is like for the prey just as the lion's pounce. This is really cool technology put to use in the field in an innovative way.

Kapp To Cape Cyclists Complete 18,000 KM Ride In 102 Days

Way back in August I wrote a post about Reza Reza Pakravan and Steven Pawley, two long distance cyclists who were embarking on an epic ride from Nordkapp, Norway to Cape Town, South Africa. Their plan was to cover the 18,000 km (11,184 miles) distance between those two cities in just 100 days. Yesterday they completed that ride and they missed their target goal by just two days.

Reza and Steven faced all kinds of challenges as they rode through 14 different countries on their journey across Europe and Africa. Along the way they faced nasty winds, surprisingly bad weather and unexpected illness. The latter of those challenges was what ultimate prevented them from completing the ride in the expected 100 days. Despite all of the difficulties they had to overcome on their ride, the duo still only missed their scheduled arrival by two days. That is pretty impressive considering the number of miles they had to ride in such a relatively short time.

The video below was shot following their arrival in Cape Town yesterday. Not only did that mark the end of the expedition, Reza and Steven also announced that they had raised £20,000 ($32,375) for Azafady, a nonprofit that is working to build schools in Madagascar.

Congratulations to Reza and Steven on completing their incredible ride. In order to reach Cape Town yesterday, they had to average 176.5 km (110 miles) for 102 days straight. Those are impressive numbers indeed.

Epic 4250-Mile Trek Along The Length Of The Nile Set To Begin

Way back in February of this year I wrote about two adventurers who were planning to embark on a trek along the length of the Nile River, covering some 4250 miles (6840 km) in the process. At the time, the team of Levison Wood and Simon Clarke were raising funds to support their efforts while aiming for a start this past summer.

That launch date came and went, and apparently so did Clarke, as Wood is now nearing the start of this epic adventure. He intends to leave the U.K. early next week and travel to the furthest headwaters of the Nile before officially getting underway on December 1. His starting point will be high in the mountains of Rwanda, where the Nile's earliest tributaries can be traced. From there, his path will take him into Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, and eventually Egypt. Along the way, he'll pass through mountainous terrain, deep jungles, one of the largest swamps in the world and of course the Sahara Desert.

Levison believes it will take roughly 12 months to complete the journey, which he says is inspired by Ed Stafford's amazing trek along the length of the Amazon a few years back. If he is able to pull off this expedition, the Nile walk would also rank amongst some of the greatest adventures in history as well. Wood won't face the overwhelming oppressiveness of the Amazon Rainforest of course, but he will have plenty of challenges to overcome none the less.

You will be able to follow Levison's progress on the Walking the Nile website as well as on Facebook and Twitter. This will certainly be one expedition that we'll be following closely in the months ahead. Good luck to Levison as he gets underway next week.

Video: Starry Night Over Kilimanjaro

What could be better than a timelapse of an incredibly starry night? How about a timelapse of an incredible starry night over one of my favorite places. In this case, Kilimanjaro – the tallest mountain in Africa. The mountain makes a dramatic backdrop as the celestial light show plays out over head. Quite beautiful. I hope you enjoy.

A Starry Night of Mt.Kilimanjaro from kwon, o chul on Vimeo.

Video: Cheetah Licks A GoPro

The title of this post pretty much says it all. Safari guide Matthew Copham set his GoPro camera down while out in the field and he managed to capture a once in a lifetime shot. A curious cheetah wandered up to take a look at the strange device and then gave it a lick. Fortunately, the big cat didn't find the camera tasty enough to eat. Still, pretty cool footage none the less.