You forgot Uncle Travelling Mac from Fraggle Rock.
There's me thinking you were gonna say " Uncle Tom Cobleigh".
Your favourite explorer
- Thread starter firecrest
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There's me thinking you were gonna say " Uncle Tom Cobleigh".
Really? I hadnt known that. Yes finding time and money to follow your dreams when you have to work a terrible job that barely pays the bills is always going to set you back. Id like to read more about him.
I think that would be Willem Barentsz. A Dutch explorer who wanted to find the Northeast passage. He discovered Svalbard and Bear Island.
On the third voyage, while exploring Nova Zembla, the ship got stuck in the ice and they were forced to build a lodge on Nova Zembla, called Het Behouden Huys, to wait until the winter was over.
When I was a kid I read a book about it, and it was quite impressive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Barentsz
On the third voyage, while exploring Nova Zembla, the ship got stuck in the ice and they were forced to build a lodge on Nova Zembla, called Het Behouden Huys, to wait until the winter was over.
When I was a kid I read a book about it, and it was quite impressive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Barentsz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Powell
Major John Wesley Powell. One armed explorer and Geographer/geologist. Fascinating man.
Or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Fadlan
Ibn Fadlan
Ibn Fadlan was an Arab chronicler. In 921 C.E., the Caliph of Baghdad sent Ibn Fadlan with an embassy to the King of the Bulgars of the Middle Volga. Ibn Fadlan wrote an account of his journeys with the embassy, called a Risala. This Risala is of great value as a history, although it is clear in some places that inaccuracies and Ibn Fadlan's own prejudices have slanted the account to some extent. You migh have heard of the name mentioned in "The 13th Warrior"
Major John Wesley Powell. One armed explorer and Geographer/geologist. Fascinating man.
Or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Fadlan
Ibn Fadlan
Ibn Fadlan was an Arab chronicler. In 921 C.E., the Caliph of Baghdad sent Ibn Fadlan with an embassy to the King of the Bulgars of the Middle Volga. Ibn Fadlan wrote an account of his journeys with the embassy, called a Risala. This Risala is of great value as a history, although it is clear in some places that inaccuracies and Ibn Fadlan's own prejudices have slanted the account to some extent. You migh have heard of the name mentioned in "The 13th Warrior"
can somebody enlighten my poor soul please? who is/are the person(s) mentioned by ANDYRAF and leon-1 and who of the explorers on my list is so funny (for you two)???
Count Henry Russell -Pyrennean explorer, bon-vivant and mild nutter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Russell_(explorer)
In short, explored parts of the Pyrennees, lived in grottos carved out on Vignemal, asked his staff to bury him up to the neck so he could see the surprised looks on passing mountaineers.
Jay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Russell_(explorer)
In short, explored parts of the Pyrennees, lived in grottos carved out on Vignemal, asked his staff to bury him up to the neck so he could see the surprised looks on passing mountaineers.
Jay
Alexander Burnes (later Sir Alexander)
Navigated up the Indus River on the pretext of presenting four cart horses to the ruler of the Punjab whilst making secret maps along the way. He then carried on to Kabul and over the Hindu Kush.
Described as a heroic explorer by some and vain and arrogant by others, he enjoyed the company of various ladies on his triumphant return to London.....and enjoyed the company of Afghan ladies on his later posting to Kabul only to be hacked to death by their rather irate menfolk in the prelude to the First Afghan War!!!
I would love to go 'in the footsteps of...' but without the grisly ending.
Navigated up the Indus River on the pretext of presenting four cart horses to the ruler of the Punjab whilst making secret maps along the way. He then carried on to Kabul and over the Hindu Kush.
Described as a heroic explorer by some and vain and arrogant by others, he enjoyed the company of various ladies on his triumphant return to London.....and enjoyed the company of Afghan ladies on his later posting to Kabul only to be hacked to death by their rather irate menfolk in the prelude to the First Afghan War!!!
I would love to go 'in the footsteps of...' but without the grisly ending.
can somebody enlighten my poor soul please? who is/are the person(s) mentioned by ANDYRAF and leon-1 and who of the explorers on my list is so funny (for you two)???
I reckon papa smurf was probably what set them off!
I reckon papa smurf was probably what set them off!
WHAT is wrong with GRANDpa smurf- he travelled across the world for 500(?) years and has been to lots of places and seen many things in this time. does that not classify him as an explorer?
"disappointed by the monkeys, god created man. then he renouncedto further experiments." mark twain
Frederick Courtney Selous.DSO.
Born in 1850, he was a hunter of note in Africa mainly, Central and southern.
He was in the Matabele war of 1893 in then Rhodesia and saw service during the first world war in Tanzania where he was shot and killed by a German sniper in 1917.
Rider Hagard based his hero Alan Quartermain on Selous and also Wilbur Smith(writer) used Selous for a character in his books on Africa.
Born in 1850, he was a hunter of note in Africa mainly, Central and southern.
He was in the Matabele war of 1893 in then Rhodesia and saw service during the first world war in Tanzania where he was shot and killed by a German sniper in 1917.
Rider Hagard based his hero Alan Quartermain on Selous and also Wilbur Smith(writer) used Selous for a character in his books on Africa.
Sir Wally Herbert, who was denied recognition for too many years for waving the twin fingers of derision at the desk bound members of the Establishment.
Sir Ran, who is the best standup comedian going as well as an extraordinary explorer.
Sir Ran, who is the best standup comedian going as well as an extraordinary explorer.
BOD
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Understandably, but a bit sadly, the list is rather Anglo-centric and people like J. M. Stuart now claimed as Australian are in fact British.
To my mind, the truly great explorers, whether British or otherwise, are those who accomplished their deeds in pre-1800s. By the 1800s much of the world was known, and there was some chance of meeting a ship or another explorer.
When you are the only European ship in the Pacific Ocean e.g. Magellan or Cook that means a lot.
So a few Portuguese explorers like Dias(z) or Vasco da Gama are not mentioned
To my mind, the truly great explorers, whether British or otherwise, are those who accomplished their deeds in pre-1800s. By the 1800s much of the world was known, and there was some chance of meeting a ship or another explorer.
When you are the only European ship in the Pacific Ocean e.g. Magellan or Cook that means a lot.
So a few Portuguese explorers like Dias(z) or Vasco da Gama are not mentioned
Eric Shipton (1 August 1907 - 28 March 1977) was a distinguished British Himalayan mountaineer.
Born in Ceylon and educated in Britain, Shipton began climbing in the Alps. In 1928 he went to Kenya as a coffee grower, and first climbed Nelion, a peak of Mount Kenya in 1929. It was also in Kenya's community of Europeans that he met his future climbing partners Bill Tilman and Percy Wyn-Harris. Together with Wyn-Harris he climbed the twin peaks of Mount Kenya. With Frank Smythe, Shipton was amongst the first climbers to stand on the summit of Kamet, 7816 metres, in 1931, the highest peak climbed at that time. Shipton was involved with most of the Mount Everest expeditions during the 1930s and later, including Hugh Ruttledge's expeditions of 1933 and 1936, the 1935 Mt Everest expedition [1], and the pioneering 1951 expedition which chalked out the now famous route over the Khumbu Glacier. Shipton and Tilman also discovered the access route to the Nanda Devi sanctuary through the Rishi Ganga gorge in 1934. Their shoe-string budget expedition operated in the Kumaon-Garhwal mountains continuously from pre-monsoon to post-monsoon, and set a record for single-expedition achievement that has never been equalled.
Shipton's Arch is stunning
Born in Ceylon and educated in Britain, Shipton began climbing in the Alps. In 1928 he went to Kenya as a coffee grower, and first climbed Nelion, a peak of Mount Kenya in 1929. It was also in Kenya's community of Europeans that he met his future climbing partners Bill Tilman and Percy Wyn-Harris. Together with Wyn-Harris he climbed the twin peaks of Mount Kenya. With Frank Smythe, Shipton was amongst the first climbers to stand on the summit of Kamet, 7816 metres, in 1931, the highest peak climbed at that time. Shipton was involved with most of the Mount Everest expeditions during the 1930s and later, including Hugh Ruttledge's expeditions of 1933 and 1936, the 1935 Mt Everest expedition [1], and the pioneering 1951 expedition which chalked out the now famous route over the Khumbu Glacier. Shipton and Tilman also discovered the access route to the Nanda Devi sanctuary through the Rishi Ganga gorge in 1934. Their shoe-string budget expedition operated in the Kumaon-Garhwal mountains continuously from pre-monsoon to post-monsoon, and set a record for single-expedition achievement that has never been equalled.
Shipton's Arch is stunning
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