OLGA NEDBAYEVA , Moscow | Friday
HEAVILY laden down with olive oil, chocolate, coconut and cereals — and a smuggled supply of vodka — South Africa’s Mike Horn, formerly a jungle explorer, is preparing to circumnavigate the world around the North Pole.
Horn begins his “Arktos” expedition on February 27 on an ice floe in Russia’s northern Cape Arktichesky, spending several months there to prepare himself for the bitter northern climate.
“I’m a jungle explorer. After travelling around the world along the equator, I wanted to go someplace cold,” said the 35-year-old Horn, referring to his last major venture two years ago.
Previous Horn exploits include sailing down the Amazon in a speed-boat and delta-planing from the top of the 6,768-metre Mount Huascaran in Peru.
Expedition sponsors include a private bank, an insurance company, and a producer of sports watches and other equipment.
The second stage of the expedition — the actual round-the-world trip — will take Horn on a 20 000-kilometre trek through Canada, Alaska, Siberia and Greenland, travelling on foot, on skis or by boat.
Horn has trained for up to five hours a day, “like an Olympic athlete,” to prepare for the challenge.
His sleigh will carry some 200 kilogrammes of provisions including “110 kilos of fat-rich food such as olive oil, chocolate, and coconut,” since “I have to take in at least 6 000 calories a day,” Horn explained.
“Alcohol is not allowed, but I will take a bottle of vodka and a bottle of Bordeaux wine to celebrate special occasions,” he added with a laugh.
Unlike other practitioners of high-risk professions, Horn claims he is not superstitious, saying he depends on thorough preparation and “listening to his body” to conjure up whatever luck might be necessary.
Fear is also an important component as it “protects me from death,” he stressed.
However, his cargo will not include any memento of his wife and two daughters, as Horn prefers “to cut all ties with home during expeditions.”
“One is alone and yet not alone, there are many things that pass through your head, and many things to do. When there is nothing to do, you sleep, and that’s a good solution to loneliness,” he explained.
As for emotional loneliness, sex drive is too low on his list of concerns to be much of a bother, he added.
Horn’s wife Cathy, a former nurse, helps him prepare for his voyages, but claims she is not athletic enough to share his adventures.
“I can spend three days in a jungle with him, because I know he will protect me, but I feel more at home at my computer,” she said.
A specialist in psychology and sports injuries, Horn left South Africa 12 years ago for Switzerland and has been travelling non-stop since then.
“I was earning too much money in South Africa. One day I gave everything to my companions, hopped on the first flight out and left without a cent in my pocket,” he said.
However, he did not rule out giving up his vagabond life for an eight-hour-a-day, five-day-a-week job once the Arktos expedition was over.
“Life is all about change,” he said. – AFP