Veteran South African explorer on his coming polar expedition and the difference between motivation and discipline
- Mike Horn has riverboarded the length of the Amazon, walked and sailed around the equator, and trekked from Siberia to the North Pole
- Ahead of his next polar expedition, he stopped in Hong Kong to help inspire schoolchildren with his tales of adventure
Explorer Mike Horn isn’t your typical visitor to Hong Kong. He arrives aboard his 105ft (32-metre) sailing boat the Pangaea, and drops anchor in the middle of Deep Water Bay on the affluent south side of Hong Kong Island.
Visiting him entails a phone call to his mobile so he can pick you up in his little dinghy.
The South African-born adventurer has made a number of gruelling expeditions, including riverboarding the length of the River Amazon, walking and sailing around the equator, and a 60-day walk on skis in complete darkness from Siberia to the North Pole.
He has scaled four mountains higher than 8,000 metres (26,250 feet), and most recently completed Pole2Pole, a two-year circumnavigation of the globe unassisted and with no motorised transport. He’s also appeared on French television, taking celebrities on survival trips in the wilderness – just like Bear Grylls.
Horn was in Hong Kong recently for a stopover between missions, and to inspire schoolchildren with an important life lesson he has learned – the difference between motivation and discipline.