MikeWilkinson
30-11-2010, 09:46 AM
After chatting with a few people in the chatroom it is apparant that not many people are familiar with the Great Benedict Allen.
He is in my opinion one of the worlds last true explorers and has probably discovered more previously unknown tribes and peoples than anybody else on the Planet.
His first book - Mad White Giant is excellent and kind of sets the bar in terms of his mentallity. In this he journeys across the Amazon basin on foot on a very little budget. emerging on his own some 6 months later having lost all his porters to disease and drug smugglers/barons, eaten his own dog and sewn up a nasty wound on his leg with his boot kit, all this while suffering from three types of malaria.
However I digress, I am here to tell you about another of his tales - Into the Abyss. After spending some time learning how to run a Chukchi dog pack, Benedict sets of to cross the Bearing strait on sledge, hoping to recreate the journey of our ancestors from russia to america.
As well as describing in detail the whole learning process with his Chukchi guides, Benedict has broken up the book with extracts and comments on some of the great explorers of history and the remarkable survival feats that they endured in discovering the world. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes reading about survival stories and not just skills.
His other books are also amazing - into the crocadilles nest, Hunting the Gugu, Through Jaguar eyes and the Skeleton coast.
Some of these have also been tv programmes - also worth watching.
He is in my opinion one of the worlds last true explorers and has probably discovered more previously unknown tribes and peoples than anybody else on the Planet.
His first book - Mad White Giant is excellent and kind of sets the bar in terms of his mentallity. In this he journeys across the Amazon basin on foot on a very little budget. emerging on his own some 6 months later having lost all his porters to disease and drug smugglers/barons, eaten his own dog and sewn up a nasty wound on his leg with his boot kit, all this while suffering from three types of malaria.
However I digress, I am here to tell you about another of his tales - Into the Abyss. After spending some time learning how to run a Chukchi dog pack, Benedict sets of to cross the Bearing strait on sledge, hoping to recreate the journey of our ancestors from russia to america.
As well as describing in detail the whole learning process with his Chukchi guides, Benedict has broken up the book with extracts and comments on some of the great explorers of history and the remarkable survival feats that they endured in discovering the world. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes reading about survival stories and not just skills.
His other books are also amazing - into the crocadilles nest, Hunting the Gugu, Through Jaguar eyes and the Skeleton coast.
Some of these have also been tv programmes - also worth watching.