Great Explorers talk in London, October 2010

The Great Explorers

28 Oct 2010

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Event information:

This event took place on the evening of October 28th 2010 at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Is the great age of exploration over? Has the modern traveller swapped Ulysses’ quest for the Happy Isles for a short break at the Holiday Inn? Maybe. But most of us still yearn for the rough, rugged and romantic places of the explorer’s imagination, places where no travel company has been before us…. And some of Britain’s greatest explorers and travellers will be taking us there, in mind if not in body, as they examine the past, present and future of great exploration.

Justin Marozzi will introduce Herodotus, the first explorer as well as the father of history, and follow his high-spirited travels through Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and Greece, examining sex, war and exploration in the fifth century BC.

Anthony Sattin will then guide us through the Age of Enlightenment, the greatest age of exploration, and the perfect intersection of knowledge and desire, possibility and challenge. Nowhere was more challenging than the interior of Africa, to which Sir Joseph Banks and his friends turned their attention, sending Mungo Park and other brilliant travellers in search of the lost city of Timbuktu.

Christina Dodwell will pay tribute to the great women explorers of the past, including her grandmother who made intrepid journeys by mule in China during the time of the warlords. Bringing us up to date, she’ll recount her latest horse safari in Madagascar where she’s setting up a new form of eco-tourism for the local economy.

John Gimlette will talk about his adventures in Paraguay, Newfoundland, Labrador and the Guianas. During his travels he has often crossed paths with the early explorers and will select a few of his favourites. Amongst them are great men who fail, and the occasional loser who mysteriously triumphs.

Benedict Allen famously pioneered the filming of expeditions for television, by doing away with a camera-crew and instead capturing experiences as they happened using a hand-held video camera. He’ll reveal the highs and lows of recording his hazardous journeys - from being thrown from his horse in the Andes on his first day filming, to being shot at by hit-men.

Robin Hanbury-Tenison will recount leading the Royal Geographical Society’s expedition to the interior of Borneo, which launched the rainforest movement and earned him the Society’s Gold Medal. He founded Survival International, of which he is President, and is a tireless champion of exploration and the benefits it brings mankind.

Ed Stafford became the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River in August 2010 - a trek that took him 859 days. He’ll tell how he ate piranhas, fended off deadly vipers and sustained 50,000 mosquito bites. His scariest moments weren’t with the wildlife, however, but when he encountered hostility from remote tribal peoples.

After the presentations the speakers will debate the motion "Exploring is good for the explorer but not much good for those being explored."

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Speakers

Benedict Allen

Writer and explorer who has journeyed to the Amazon, New Guinea and Siberia. He prefers to travel alone, immersing himself in alien environments.
Christina Dodwell

Explorer who has covered much of the world in the last 25 years, usually on horseback. She is the author of nine books and founder of the Dodwell Trust in Madagascar.
John Gimlette

Prize-winning author whose travels have taken him from Laos to Eritrea, and through most of Latin America. He practises as a barrister in London
Robin Hanbury-Tenison OBE

Named the greatest explorer by the Sunday Times, who has undertaken over 30 expeditions.
Justin Marozzi

Travel writer, historian and journalist whose journeys include an expedition by camel along the slave routes of the Libyan Sahara.
Anthony Sattin

Writer and broadcaster who has spent much of his adult life travelling in and writing about the Middle East and North Africa.
Ed Stafford

The first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River, a journey that took him two and a half years.