Upper Peru 1567: Two rival Spanish expeditions set off into the Amazon in search of gold. Both groups made it to the foot of the Andes and there they fought-for only one venture could have the King’s ‘right to conquer’. Simon Chapman set off to trace the conquistadors’ journeys through the forests of Northern Bolivia. […]
Simon Chapman
A grainy Illustrated London News photograph from 1929 shows a giant monkey known as the ‘Mono Rey’, inhabiting the jungles of northern Bolivia. The last westerner to attempt a sighting disappeared. Accompanied by an Englishman whose hobby is fighting mock mediaeval battles and an Australian who smoked the pages of his South American Handbook, Simon […]
Explorers Wanted!
The crimson red Titan Arum flower stands nearly 3 metres tall. It only flowers once every fifty years and is incredibly rare. And its only found deep in the rainforest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra- until now that is. Some prospectors searching for diamonds in the remote Rambataa valley on the nearby island of […]
Explorers Wanted!
Rediscover the Oolacunta desert rat kangaroo, a wallaby reputed to be able to outrun (out hop!) a horse at full gallop. It’s been ‘discovered’ twice but each time has disappeared. … Last time it was seen was in 1931 when naturalist Hedley Herbert Finlayson found a colony living in the ‘gibber’ plains and sand ridges […]
Explorers Wanted!
The Mission: Be the first person to climb ‘Dangiroba’. It’s not the highest peak or even the hardest to climb, but like many summits, until now it has just been too out of the way and difficult to get to. There are no roads within easy reach. There’ll be rivers to cross, perilous cliff-edge trails […]