Leaders and Guides
Our Leaders are selected for their experience and ability to run exciting and safe expeditions to remote, unexplored parts of the World. They have a deep personal interest and knowledge of the area, its biodiversity, history and geography. They will show you many things an average visitor would miss – and take you to places where you may well be the first person to tread.
They also want the whole experience to be great fun. We firmly believe there is no point in not enjoying yourself - no matter how tough the going. Our Leaders make every effort to ensure everyone gets the most possible benefit and enjoyment from their expedition.
Our Guides will be local people who, of course, know the area better than anyone else. Their depth of knowledge and love of the environment provides a fascinating and inspiring aspect of the expedition. They are a key part of the team and will help the expedition run smoothly and safely.
Expedition Life and Itineraries
Expeditions are by their very nature unpredictable. Our aim is get off the beaten track, into remote, often uninhabited, areas where the encounters we have dictate the pace of travel. As we never repeat exactly the same journey, we expect to make new discoveries, to adapt the itinerary as necessary, to make the most of the opportunities or challenges that unfold before us.
Our philosophy is to travel further than others – but not to suffer unnecessarily for this! There is an old expression which says: “Any fool can be uncomfortable in the field” We aim to eat and sleep as well as possible given the situation we find ourselves in. Whilst there are times when there is work to be done, we share this work equally and use outside help when it is available. As far as possible we travel using the easiest form of transport, mostly 4 wheel drive vehicles.
Travelling in remote and developing parts of the World does not always offer great choices of accommodation but we use good standards of lodges/hotels where we can, and our tented camps are made as comfortable as possible. In camps, cooking is centralised, under the guidance of the expedition’s cook, normally with some help by members of the team.
Arrangements for meals and accommodation, and an indication of how challenging the conditions on each expedition might be, are given in their itinerary.Risks and Rewards
It would be impossible to run risk-free expeditions. The parts of the World we travel in are inevitably less well developed, often home to potentially dangerous wildlife, and frequently influenced by the natural elements.
The isolation, challenge and opportunities that such remote and unexplored areas offer are, of course, one of the main reasons for going there in the first place. The most interesting places are often those where there is no settled pattern of life and it is therefore necessary to accept a small element of risk to travel there.
We do take personal safety very seriously. We will provide information prior to your travel to help you prepare, and provide appropriate acclimatisation, orientation, preparation, guidance and support whilst you are on the expedition. Our planning always takes account of safety issues and we provide the best possible level of equipment and emergency back-up for the situations we expect to encounter.
The rewards of course are immense. You are going to see things that few, if any, other people will have seen. You will find yourself living life to the full, experiencing the thrill of true discovery, walking where no-one has walked before.
This is a truly matchless experience, worth striving for. The reasons for going on such expeditions cannot be better put than the reasons George Mallory gave for going to Everest: “If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to this challenge, then you won't see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the purpose of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life means and what life is for”.Participation and Fitness
The aim is to travel with people like you who share a desire to get into uncharted parts of our World, to make discoveries for themselves. Everyone is expected to ‘muck in’ and help the team succeed. In practice this means helping where necessary (for example with setting up and running a camp) but you will also have as much freedom as possible to do what you want.
Every expedition offers you time to pursue your own interests. For example you may wish to paint, write, photograph or merely sit and absorb the silence of the remarkable places we visit, and time will be available for this. Equally if you want to do something more physically challenging during your free time, subject to the agreement of the Leader in terms of safety and the interests of the whole expedition, we will try to make this possible for you.
Any normally fit person capable of walking cross-country for several miles would be fully able to participate in an Explorers World expedition. Our itineraries are designed to make it possible for the ‘average’ person to achieve an exceptional experience. The appropriate age group for this kind of travel of this kind is 16-65.
Please see our Booking Conditions for more on fitness and medical considerations. If in doubt about your fitness for such a trip, please ring us to discuss this.
Flights
Our itineraries exclude flights to and from the destination country. It has become much easier, and often much cheaper, for you to make your own arrangements for international flights. You can then choose when to travel, your own route and class of travel, and we then meet you at the expedition rendezvous or pick you up at the airport.
You do need to ensure you are there for the start of your expedition as it is not possible to delay the expedition’s departure. In the event of an unplanned delay, we will of course make every reasonable effort to help you join the expedition.
Insurance
In view of the special nature of the travel involved, we have arranged specialist expedition insurance with Campbell Irvine Ltd which is underwritten by AXA Insurance. Cover is automatically included in the price of your expedition. Details of the cover provided by this scheme are shown at Insurance Cover.
You are also strongly advised to check any personal life and other insurance policies you have to make sure you do not need to advise your Insurers of your participation in an expedition.
Booking Conditions
Please note further details on many of these subjects are given in our Booking Conditions. These should be read in conjunction with these notes as they are the contractual conditions which you agree when booking a place on one of our expeditions.