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ODYSSEY XXI
Goliath Expedition
"An odyssey worthy of Ulysses himself, a saga fit for the old Nordic gods " - Frederick Forsyth.
We are proud sponsors and suppliers of socks to Karl Bushby, ex paratrooper, who in November 1998 set off on foot from Punta Arenas in southern Chile with the sole intention of walking home to England . . . in unbroken footsteps with no assistance in transport what so ever.
He has so far survived everything that has been thrown at him including
the extreme weather conditions of mountain ranges (the
Andes) and the Arctic tundra, extremely inhospitable and inaccessible jungle
areas riddled with bands of Guerillas (The Darian Gap, between Colombia and
Panama), the searing heat of deserts (Nevada) and the extraordinary crossing
of the Bering Strait, - the 56 miles of sea between Alaska USA and Russian
Siberia, in March 2006 ( the first, and probably the last explorer to ever
achieve this feat) Not to mention fighting off gangs of thugs with knives
and avoiding being run over by trucks in Mexico and avoiding becoming breakfast
for Polar bears in Alaska.
He is currently being thwarted by Russian bureaucracy. Their system is so bureaucratic that it is taking such a long time to renew his permit to carry on walking from Bilibino (an old Siberian mining settlement) West and eventually out of Siberia and onto the road system again. This is complicated by only being able to travel across Siberia in Winter when the morass of fast flowing rivers and lakes are all deeply frozen and safe enough to cross.
He will make it back to England, -it is a question of when. He has conquered the two 'impossibilities' - the Darian Gap and the Bering Strait, and will return, walking through (the service tunnel of) the Channel Tunnel having walked 36,000 miles in unbroken footsteps - an achievement which will never be repeated.
Although Karl is generally travelling on a very low budget he is currently in the most expensive phase because of having to get in and out of Siberia by air etc. He is in URGENT need of a new MAIN SPONSOR to see him back home. He has had quite a lot of coverage from the BBC, which will continue once he is out of Russia ( absolutely no one else other than him is allowed on Siberian soil or air space ). For the relatively small amounts of money required for support, a new sponsor would have tremendous coverage because as Karl proceeds into Europe he will receive tremendous media attention. If you are interested in sponsoring him please contact us and we will put you in touch with Karl's father (ex SAS and still based in Hereford) who is in charge of the support team.
For further information about his incredible Odyssey and a very moving BBC documentary about the Bering Strait crossing please go to his website http://odysseyxxi.com
