A tour of the adventurer world
The heading " World Tour So begins with the presentation of the most extreme and difficult world tour that a man could realize: Mike Horn , an explorer and adventurer of Swiss and South African origin made the tour of the planet following Ecuador (on zero latitude), and this without using any means of motor transport.
As can be seen on this map, Ecuador crosses oceans, and difficult regions (climate, relief, war, political insecurity, etc.) that make the challenge even more complicated. Mike Horn is a former South African Special Forces lieutenant and has become over time an expert of exploits under extreme conditions (Amazone hydrospeed descent in 1997, world tour following the polar circle from 2002 to 2004, ascent of the Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II Mountains in 2007, and other expeditions...). It was in 1999 that he embarked on this incredible challenge to go around the world (40,000 km) following the Ecuador line.
He named his expedition Zero latitude .
A world tour in 6 steps over 1 and a half year
On 3 June 1999, he left Gabon west of the African continent to reach Brazil on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. For the anecdote, at the beginning, the custom is to break a bottle of champagne on the boat’s hull. Three times he tried, three times the bottle didn't break. As indicated in his book, some would have seen this as a bad presage, but he saw three oceans to cross. He took 19 days to travel the few 7 800 km of the Atlantic Ocean, alone on his trimaran.
The longest stage (in time) was the crossing of the South American continent where it had to evolve on foot, by bike, and by inflatable canoe. On this continent, he spent two summits of more than 6,000 m in the Andes, the Amazon forest where he got bitten by a snake after which he remained blind for 4 days, the rise of the Rio Negro... He was captured by drug traffickers in Colombia, then by the army. Note that he was feeding by hunting his own food. It travelled the distance of 3,626 m in 5 months and 4 days.
From Ecuador (country) he then crossed the Pacific Ocean to the island of Borneo in Asia, after passing through the Galapagos Islands, and crossed for 2 and a half months more than 16,000 km.
2 200 km in 2 months and a week it was necessary to cross the Indonesian islands until Sumatra to reach the edge of the Indian Ocean. This region is very wild, punctuated by many volcanoes. He made this part by boat and on foot mainly.
Then from Sumatra, he crossed the Indian Ocean to Somalia, including the Maldives Islands. A distance of just over 3,900 km travelled in 2 months and 4 days.
To reach his starting point, Gabon, he had to cross, for his last stage, Africa. On foot, by bike, by canoe, and by inflatable canoe, he escaped to death (tempest on Lake Victoria, death sentence by rebel soldiers, etc.). He spent four months doing the remaining 4,200 km.
Mike Horn tells everything in his book Zero latitude: 40,000 Km to start meeting the world , which is really striking. I invite you widely to read his story to understand what led him to achieve such a challenge, in which he risked his life, but which ultimately taught him a lot of things. You can buy his book to know the whole story of his incredible journey.
All photos come from Mike Horn's official website: mikehorn.com.
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