Benedict Allen

Benedict Allen is one of the UK’s foremost explorers – and particularly known for his solo journeys through the jungle, desert and Arctic, these journeys famously achieved not with a satellite phone, GPS or any of the usual “backup” but after a period of training immersed in a remote indigenous community.

His ventures have been depicted in numerous books - including two best sellers - and six BBC television series. He is the only person known to have crossed the Amazon Basin at its widest, the first to traverse the full length of the Namib Desert, and also the only person to walk the full width of the 1000 mile Gobi desert, a six week lone walk with his camels.

More recently, he was the subject of newspaper headlines around the world when, in 2017, he became trapped in the remote Central Range of Papua New Guinea by two warring communities – and, unable to reach the outside world, contracted both malaria and dengue fever.

Few people alive have spent so long isolated and alone in so many different potentially hostile environments.