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| Jungle explorer Benedict Allen: I did not need rescuing | Jungle explorer Benedict Allen: I did not need rescuing |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Explorer Benedict Allen has said he did not get lost or need rescuing from a jungle expedition in Papua New Guinea. | Explorer Benedict Allen has said he did not get lost or need rescuing from a jungle expedition in Papua New Guinea. |
| Speaking to his friend, the BBC's Frank Gardner, the 57-year-old said he had been struck by malaria for the sixth time and had encountered a tribal war. | Speaking to his friend, the BBC's Frank Gardner, the 57-year-old said he had been struck by malaria for the sixth time and had encountered a tribal war. |
| He said his worst moment was making a video will for his young family - but he insisted he had not given up and had been "gearing up" to get out. | He said his worst moment was making a video will for his young family - but he insisted he had not given up and had been "gearing up" to get out. |
| A search was mounted after Mr Allen missed several planned flights. | A search was mounted after Mr Allen missed several planned flights. |
| He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he never took satellite phones or GPS with him on expeditions, but might consider doing so in the future. | He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he never took satellite phones or GPS with him on expeditions, but might consider doing so in the future. |
| His family's distress at his apparent disappearance appeared across newspapers, TV and radio, and prompted the Daily Mail to send a helicopter into the jungle to rescue him. | His family's distress at his apparent disappearance appeared across newspapers, TV and radio, and prompted the Daily Mail to send a helicopter into the jungle to rescue him. |
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| He said he had spent two days under observation at a hospital in Papua New Guinea before the doctors gave him the all clear. | |
| Now, back in the UK, he said he was weak and "not that sharp mentally", but was "bouncing right back". | |
| Sodden tablets | |
| Mr Allen, who has filmed a number of his adventures for BBC documentaries, said his latest trip had been hampered by a massive storm which swept away a vine bridge over a river. | |
| He had also started to feel the symptoms of malaria and his tablets had become sodden in the wet. | He had also started to feel the symptoms of malaria and his tablets had become sodden in the wet. |
| The final straw, he said, was when he discovered there was a war going on ahead of him and he couldn't get out. | The final straw, he said, was when he discovered there was a war going on ahead of him and he couldn't get out. |
| "I had to make my way to the nearest airstrip and try to get any local plane to come in," he said. | |
| Asked if this latest venture had been part of a mid-life crisis, Mr Allen, a father-of-three, said he saw himself as a professional. | Asked if this latest venture had been part of a mid-life crisis, Mr Allen, a father-of-three, said he saw himself as a professional. |
| "On the very day the helicopter came, I had been gearing up to do a last walk out. | |
| "I thought I was 80-85% likely to be successful so I hadn't given up," he said, in an interview from west London. | |
| "I wasn't expecting to be rescued. | |
| "I never asked to be rescued but when it came - for the sake of my family - I thought 'I've got to do this.'" | |
| 'Imperialist' accusation | |
| Mr Allen was in Papua New Guinea to try to find the reclusive Yaifo tribe, who he first met 30 years ago. | |
| "People have been attacking me, saying I'm an imperialist going in to see a lost tribe. | |
| "It wasn't like that. I simply had the privilege 30 years ago to meet these people. | |
| "I wanted to see that they were alive and well - and they were. | |
| "It was magnificent - a great welcome." | |
| Mr Allen has previously crossed the Amazon Basin on foot and in a dug-out canoe, and participated in a six-week male initiation ceremony during which crocodile marks were carved onto his body. | |
| Who is Benedict Allen? | |
| First solo adventure: To the Amazon at 22, during which he was shot at by two hitmen | |
| Tough time: An initiation into manhood in Papua New Guinea. He was kept in a "crocodile nest" with 20 others and repeatedly cut with bamboo blades to leave scars that looked like crocodile scales | |
| Low moment: Eating his own dog to survive | |
| Travel habit: Always keeps loo paper in a back pocket. "You know how it is," he told the Lonely Planet | |
| Philosophy: "For me personally, exploration isn't about conquering nature, planting flags or leaving your mark. It's about the opposite: opening yourself up and allowing the place to leave its mark on you." | |
| Career: Six TV series for the BBC, author, motivational speaker | |
| Family: Lives with family in Czech Republic |