Mark Kalch — Solo Crossing, on foot, of the Islamic Republic of Iran<\/b><\/p>\n
Mark was proudly born in Australia and has spent the last 12 or so years of his life working towards becoming a professional adventurer and explorer. Expeditions have taken him from Everest to North Africa, from Ethiopias Omo Valley to the mighty Amazon and from AustraIia’s outback to the forests of South-East Asia. He has run rivers in Southern Africa and trekked for weeks on end in the Andes of Peru, forged trails through dense jungles in East Africa and explored deserted tropical islands off the coast of Australia by sea-kayak. A true Globetrotter…<\/p>\n
However this time round his plans for the club went askew an injury to Mark meant that he spent his return from Iran recuperating rather than being able to prepare for us…this meant he talked about his rowing epic down the Amazon. See http:\/\/www.expeditionamazonas.com\/ from more details of that trip or more generally about Mark on http:\/\/www.markkalch.com\/.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Barclay — Return to South Korea<\/b><\/p>\n
South Korea is often called the best-kept secret of Asia, with most westerners hearing more about the closed state to the north and the DMZ that divides them than the fascinating country to the south. Jennifer Barclay, author of Meeting Mr Kim, has been researching and writing about the country for years and went back in September 2009 to dig deeper. She was served strange fish by one of the oldest diving women of Jeju, went walking in a volcanic lava tube, got a rare view of North Korea, met a robot and watched old men playing chess. See for more details about her travel & writing career generally.<\/p>\n