Except for Robert Young Pelton's books, there are not a lot of books on the subject. Most "guide" books focus on the popular "adventure tourism" areas instead of going very remote, as we do. Adventure Travel in the Third World is simply a travel book that stresses common sense, nothing more. It could have been written by anyone who has spent enough time "in-country" working with indigenous cultures in remote regions.

QUESTION: DOES A CERTAIN ADVENTURE EXPERIENCED WHILE PUTTING THE BOOK TOGETHER STAND OUT?

Mike: A lot of the motivation for the book was a result of my first trip into the Amazon years ago when I had very little experience. I have never forgotten the mistakes I made and how lucky I am to still be here. I once walked into a remote river village asking for a few cigarettes. I was out of sight of my traveling companions, did not speak the language, and did not know the culture or people. I ended up running for my life back to the boat with half the village in pursuit angrily throwing sticks and mud at me. I still carry the lessons from that experience with me today.

Jeff: I've always been interested in what makes people "tick." Due to that I have traveled with all sorts of characters in Latin America, simply as someone in search of knowledge. My trips into the jungle and the Andean coca-growing regions have probably made the most profound changes in my life, and the book was spurred from those experiences. From being held at gunpoint on the road to Monzon, Peru by coca producers (simply because I wanted to go to Monzon) to my many trips with the military and National Police, I realized that adventure, in the true sense of the term, is not just climbing a mountain or running a Class-5 river, it's the whole environment and culture behind the scenes. Realizing that I have been to places and seen things that most folks only see on TV is the one thing that made me want to write a book. I wanted the rest of the world, regardless of who they are, to be able to have a rough guide for doing the same thing, and then go do it.

When it comes to overseas adventure travel, the best advice is to research your destination, learn some of the language, keep your politics and religion to yourself, and stay neutral when traveling outside of your "comfort zone." Be aware, not paranoid.

Basically, where tourists don't go. Heavy commercial tourism generally ruins a destination for someone that really wants adventure. Find the smaller towns and larger tracts of wilderness in undeveloped countries that do not advertise the infrastructure developed specifically for tourists. Any place that doesn't have a luxury hotel or a McDonald's is always a nice starting point.

Most of it came from our drive to have a world-class jungle survival school where students could learn hard skills while experiencing remote cultures (which is a big part of overseas survival). Some of it was being in the right place at the right time. We ran into the guy who started the original school for U.S. astronauts and special forces in conjunction with the Peruvian Air Force back in the 1960s. He encouraged us to take it up and helped make introductions. From there we developed our own programs and our own guides. We still work with Peruvian Air Force and Army personnel in our programs, as well as indigenous people who live the survival techniques as everyday life there. You also have to love the environment and culture--being laid back and able to deal with life as it comes helps a lot.

MIGHTY RIVER

Our school teaches the basics of jungle survival to people from all walks of life, be they military, law enforcement, or hardcore adventurers. Most folks usually hate us about three days into the school when they're nasty, hungry, tired, and walking around carrying half a million bugs on their back, but once it's over with they walk away with an experience of a lifetime. No one has ever asked for their money back, but, come to think of it, no client has ever made a second trip with us. One client even told us he was going to go home and burn his passport and never set foot into the Third World again, but he also admitted having an experience that he wouldn't take anything for.

	RAT CUTLERY

QUESTION: ANY ADVENTURES--OR MISADVENTURES--THAT STAND OUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE AMAZON PROGRAM?

We went out hunting with two village teenagers one night in a dugout canoe into the flooded jungle. They had a crappy old single shot 16 ga shotgun held together with vines and a cheap flashlight. I watched these two kids paddle a dugout canoe up to a huge palm tree and shine the light into the very top, about 60 or so feet up. The only thing you could see was the reflection of two eyes, and the one kid quickly raised the shotgun and shot up into the eyes. They followed a lemur down with the flashlight as it fell through the undergrowth and into the black water choked with undergrowth. We paddled and hacked with machetes through the bush and eventually pulled the dugout to where they thought it fell into the water. One kid stripped to his underwear, went into the water with no light and came up a few seconds later with the lemur. We had food.

Another time was the middle of the night going up the Amazon river in an old wooden boat with a gasoline motor. Not being able to see well due to no running lights, we ran over a makeshift raft in the middle of the river with hunters sleeping on top of it. As the boat jammed to a halt, we ran to the front to see what happened, only to be greeted by a hunter with a shotgun stuck under my throat. Luckily, we managed to calm them down, back away slowly, and resume our trip up river.

Mike: I haven't managed to see Eastern Europe since it has been opened up. I’d like to see some of it before the USSR is resurrected and it becomes impossible to see it.

Jeff: Having worked and traveled all over the world, Latin America is still the best adventure to be found. The Latin American countries are constantly evolving and changing, which makes them interesting every time I go back--I love the true expression of life found in Latin America, even in the poorest areas. There are also a lot of unexplored areas in the northwest sector, and setting foot on them is something that I have a deep interest in. Other than Latin America, Africa seems to be wide open for good adventure, both in its political climate as well as the environment.

MORE PROFILES:

ULTIMATE SURVIVORS JEFF RANDALL AND MIKE PERRIN
JOHN GLUCKMAN, CONQUERER OF THE SEVEN SUMMITS

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