There are several modern adventurers who have made their mark in several activities such as trekking, cycling, snorkeling and others. Given below are the top 10 modern adventurers.
1. Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Sir Ranulph Fiennes and his 2 friends became well known for their expedition around the world using only surface transport. The expedition called the Transglobe Expedition could be completed in 3 years. Fiennes was named the greatest living adventurer in the year 1984 by the Guinness Records. Fiennes finished 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days in 2003.
2. Mike Horn
Horn, a South African modern adventurer started out on his expedition without the use of motor vehicles in 1999. Horn crossed South America on foot and traversed Africa by bike. He has also climbed 2 peaks of 8000 meters and reached the North Pole on foot. The Pangaea Expedition is a 4 year expedition led by him currently to foster the conservation of natural resources and protection o environment.
3. Bertrand Piccard
Piccard is a great adventurer and a scientist. He and his friend became famous for their balloon ride all over the world in 1999. This ride later came to be known as the “the last great adventure of the 20th century.” He is thinking of going around the world in 2011 in his own solar powered light weight plane whose development is under process.
4. Ed Viesturs
Ed Viesturs is a cautious climber and a high-altitude mountaineer who was almost successful in climbing the climb Mount Everest, falling short just by 300 feet. He was adjudged the first American to have climbed all fourteen of the world’s 8000 meter peaks in 2005.
5. John Goddard
He is a great adventurer who is known for various pursuits such as riding an ostrich, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and starring in a Tarzan film. He also has to his credit many world records as a civilian jet pilot. This modern adventurer has also retraced the steps of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo and has explored the Congo and Nile river beds.
Folklore claims that he was the first explorer from Europe to reach America, but the truth really is that he was the first one to show 15th century Europe the opportunities awaiting them in the New World. He set out to look for China and India by sailing to the west and found much more than that.
He cannot be really termed as an explorer but he was the first man to set foot on the moon and he opened up new vistas for all of us to dream about. He was part of NASA’s space program, and even though he was part of a team, he was the commander of the Apollo 11 team.
He was the first English explorer to circumnavigate the world, and while he was doing this he discovered many islands in the Pacific and the Atlantic. He claimed these for his sovereign and he also prevented Spain from taking control of many of the seaways of the world.
Born into a family of Norwegian ship owners, Amundsen led an expedition to Antartica and to a search for the North West passage. He was the first person to reach the South Pole and to fly over the North Pole
A naturalist of immense renown, Charles Darwin spent five years charting out the South American coastline. His travels and investigations into geology and natural history were the sources of his world famous book “The Origin of the Species”.
