This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/15/british-explorer-benedict-allen-missing-in-papua-new-guinea
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| British explorer Benedict Allen missing in Papua New Guinea | British explorer Benedict Allen missing in Papua New Guinea |
| (2 months later) | |
| Writer and documentary-maker has failed to return from trip to visit remote tribe he last spent time with 30 years ago | |
| Damien Gayle | |
| Wed 15 Nov 2017 10.48 GMT | |
| First published on Wed 15 Nov 2017 08.16 GMT | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| View more sharing options | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Close | |
| A British explorer is missing in Papua New Guinea, having failed to return by the expected date after setting off to find a remote tribe he last visited three decades ago. | A British explorer is missing in Papua New Guinea, having failed to return by the expected date after setting off to find a remote tribe he last visited three decades ago. |
| Benedict Allen, 57, who has recorded programmes for the BBC and written books on exploration, was on a journey to locate the Yaifo, one of the few remaining tribes in the world who have no contact with outsiders. | Benedict Allen, 57, who has recorded programmes for the BBC and written books on exploration, was on a journey to locate the Yaifo, one of the few remaining tribes in the world who have no contact with outsiders. |
| He was expected to have returned to the capital, Port Moresby, by Sunday to catch a flight to Hong Kong, where he was scheduled to speak to the Royal Geographical Society. | He was expected to have returned to the capital, Port Moresby, by Sunday to catch a flight to Hong Kong, where he was scheduled to speak to the Royal Geographical Society. |
| The father of three, who intended to make a documentary about the Yaifo, was travelling with no phone or GPS device. | The father of three, who intended to make a documentary about the Yaifo, was travelling with no phone or GPS device. |
| Allen’s sister Katie said she wished she had insisted that he took a satellite phone with him. “It’s ghastly, but it’s not the first time it has happened,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme. “He was missing for about three months when he was young, when he crossed the Amazon on foot.” | Allen’s sister Katie said she wished she had insisted that he took a satellite phone with him. “It’s ghastly, but it’s not the first time it has happened,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme. “He was missing for about three months when he was young, when he crossed the Amazon on foot.” |
| On Allen’s website, the latest entry on his blog is titled: “I may be some time …” | On Allen’s website, the latest entry on his blog is titled: “I may be some time …” |
| In it, he writes: “The Yaifo, a band of people I made first outside contact with some 30 years ago, are still living in the remote Central Range of PNG. Furthermore, no outsider has made the journey to visit them since the rather perilous journey I made as a young man three decades ago. This would make them the remotest people in Papua New Guinea, and one of the last people on the entire planet who are out-of-contact with our interconnected world. | In it, he writes: “The Yaifo, a band of people I made first outside contact with some 30 years ago, are still living in the remote Central Range of PNG. Furthermore, no outsider has made the journey to visit them since the rather perilous journey I made as a young man three decades ago. This would make them the remotest people in Papua New Guinea, and one of the last people on the entire planet who are out-of-contact with our interconnected world. |
| “In October I’m hiring a helicopter to drop me off at the abandoned mission station, Bisorio … If – and only if – it seems ethical, I’ll try to assemble a small party, as I did all those years ago, and head off up-slope into the mists to visit the Yaifo in their remote abode. The aim is to create a brief record of their lives …” | “In October I’m hiring a helicopter to drop me off at the abandoned mission station, Bisorio … If – and only if – it seems ethical, I’ll try to assemble a small party, as I did all those years ago, and head off up-slope into the mists to visit the Yaifo in their remote abode. The aim is to create a brief record of their lives …” |
| Allen said that on his previous trip he was greeted with “a terrifying show of strength, an energetic dance featuring their bows and arrows”. He speculated whether the same would happen on this trip, or if he would even reach their home, given the “treacherous terrain”. | Allen said that on his previous trip he was greeted with “a terrifying show of strength, an energetic dance featuring their bows and arrows”. He speculated whether the same would happen on this trip, or if he would even reach their home, given the “treacherous terrain”. |
| He wrote that it was slightly worrying that he didn’t have any obvious means of getting back: “Either I must paddle down river for a week or so – or enlist the help of the Yaifo, as I did last time; together we managed to achieve the only recorded crossing of the Central Range. So, if this website or my Twitter account falls more than usually silent – I’m due back mid. Nov – it’s because I am still out there somewhere. | He wrote that it was slightly worrying that he didn’t have any obvious means of getting back: “Either I must paddle down river for a week or so – or enlist the help of the Yaifo, as I did last time; together we managed to achieve the only recorded crossing of the Central Range. So, if this website or my Twitter account falls more than usually silent – I’m due back mid. Nov – it’s because I am still out there somewhere. |
| “So, don’t bother to call or text! Just like the good old days, I won’t be taking a sat phone, GPS or companion. Or anything else much. Because this is how I do my journeys of exploration. I grow older but no wiser, it seems …” | “So, don’t bother to call or text! Just like the good old days, I won’t be taking a sat phone, GPS or companion. Or anything else much. Because this is how I do my journeys of exploration. I grow older but no wiser, it seems …” |
| Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent who travelled with Allen in Papua New Guinea last year, told the Today programme that a helicopter search was under way from Allen’s last known point in Bisario. | Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent who travelled with Allen in Papua New Guinea last year, told the Today programme that a helicopter search was under way from Allen’s last known point in Bisario. |
| “Benedict always expected something like this,” he said. “I had supper with him just before he left and he said: ‘I’m quite certain I will probably be out of contact for quite some time and people shouldn’t worry about it.’” | “Benedict always expected something like this,” he said. “I had supper with him just before he left and he said: ‘I’m quite certain I will probably be out of contact for quite some time and people shouldn’t worry about it.’” |
| But Allen’s agent, Joanna Sarsby, told the Daily Mail that his wife, Lenka, was very worried. | But Allen’s agent, Joanna Sarsby, told the Daily Mail that his wife, Lenka, was very worried. |
| She added: “He is a highly experienced explorer, very clever and resourceful and adept at surviving in the most hostile places on Earth, and he would never give up. He may not be a young man any more but he is very fit.” | She added: “He is a highly experienced explorer, very clever and resourceful and adept at surviving in the most hostile places on Earth, and he would never give up. He may not be a young man any more but he is very fit.” |
| She speculated that Allen may be ill or injured, and being cared for by local people, but “for him not to come back is really odd”. | She speculated that Allen may be ill or injured, and being cared for by local people, but “for him not to come back is really odd”. |
| Papua New Guinea | |
| Asia Pacific | |
| news | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Reuse this content |