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The objectives of the project will be to compare the 19th century Ethnographic documentation of the African tribal kingdoms gathered during the expeditions of the Victorian age with the realities of 21st century Africa. Phase one of the project will begin in March, 2012, with Fisher travelling on an overland journey up the Nile River from Cairo, Egypt, to Khartoum, Sudan. During Phase Two later this year the explorer will travel from Khartoum up the Nile and across the new nation of South Sudan to Lake Albert in Uganda. He will then circumnavigate Lake Albert, then follow the Semliki River to the Lamia River tributary that flows down from the Rwenzori Mountains. He will follow that tributary up to the glacier on Mount Stanley. For the expeditionary journeys Fisher will implore the use of dugout canoes, feluccas, ferry boats, camels, donkeys, horses and on foot.

Julian Monroe Fisher is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and an International Fellow with the British Chapter of The Explorers Club in New York City. Between 2007 and 2011 Fisher had the honour of carrying the Explorers Club Flag on five consecutive research expeditions to the African continent. In 2008 he and his team were accredited by The Ugandan Wildlife Authority for establishing a new route in the Rwenzori Mountains, the famed ‘Mountains of the Moon’. In 2011 the explorer walked large portions of the African continent between the Indian Ocean coast of Mozambique and the Atlantic Coast of Angola during an expedition dubbed ‘EQUATORIA – A Walk Across Africa’.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Official Website for ‘THE GREAT AFRICAN EXPEDITION – A 21st CENTURY ETHNOGRAPHICAL FIELD RESEARCH OF AFRICA’ is www.JulianMonroeFisher.com/greatafrica

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Distance

• During the challenge they will have walked, cycled and kayaked 1600 miles in 49 days.
• The average distance covered every day is 36 miles which is 10 miles longer than a marathon (and that is just the average day!)

Height

• They will have climbed an average of 6 Munros every day for 48.5 days continuously.  That is one mountain over 3000 ft every 4 hours, including nights!
• They will have climbed 81 miles vertically.  That is the equivalent of climbing the height of Mt Everest twice a week for seven weeks.
• According to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale if they had walked this high up a flight of steps they would have ended up 19 miles into outer space!

Time

• The average time the team have walked for each day is around 17 hours.
• The team’s longest day was 27 hours on the Isle of Skye and they were still up again a couple of hours later to climb another Munro!
• The shortest day on the move through the 49 day challenge was still 9 hours long.

Over the 7 weeks the team and support team mainly slept in tents, cow sheds, an outdoor meat cooler and the back of a van whilst completing an almost impossible feat of endurance.

Throughout the challenge they have dedicated each Munro to service men and women who have lost their lives over the past 10 years in Afghanistan.  They have been joined by an amazing mix of people including 40 members of 11 EOD (Bomb Disposal), HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and families of those killed in action from all over the UK.  It has been an extremely moving experience for all those involved and one which will be remembered forever.

Every penny raised by this, and all of the other DecAid events, is donated to two service charities: SSAFA Forces Help and BLESMA.

I’ve got a white strip on my left wrist, it’s surrounded by a deep brown tan – where’s this come from?!?! The answer is my Nite Alpha AL2 – why mention the tan? It shows I didn’t take it off!

I’m fortunate enough to be sponsored by watch company Nite Watches and they provided me with a tough little watch by the name of Alpha AL2. This watch was to be my time piece for my time paddling the Mississippi River this past month and a half; it would need to withstand the great heat, the water (submergence and splashes) and knocking against bags, paddles, stand up paddleboards and rocks!

I can honestly say that the watch has come back without a scratch and it’s kept time extremely well, not needing to be changed during the 5 week expedition. The strap was extremely comfortable, even when I was sweating and sand and grit got underneath it – it also stayed on extremely well, you’d struggle to get a Nite watch to come off your wrist by accident! This watch, and I’m sure the rest of their extensive and varied range, could deal with a lot of adventure over long expeditions or a day on the hills!

I’m very grateful to Nite for supplying me with a watch for the expedition and I look forward to a growing partnership. I can honestly highly recommend their watches, I’m not posting this to please a sponsor, I’m posting it to please adventurous souls looking for a decent watch at a great price!

To check out Exceed Possibility visit www.exceedpossibility.co.uk