Mike Horn visited Namibia on his Pole2Pole expedition – we caught up with him before he left for Antarctica…
Most people fit into some sort of mold; a neatly-defined spectrum of their main characteristics. Fast forward beyond the artists, accountants or analysts and you eventually stumble upon a very unique group called “explorers”.
Mike Horn is an explorer. Although he may not look like the exploring type (think Kingsley Holgate) it only takes a brief encounter or chat with the man to confirm his wanderlust credentials.
It’s mid-morning and we’re in a fancy hotel at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, guests of Mercedes-Benz South Africa. The brand (internationally) sponsors Mike with two Mercedes Geländewagen when his feet are not busy climbing a huge mountain or trekking across a glacier.
Using the Waterfront as a preparation point for the next leg of his Pole2Pole adventure, Mike also brought his state-of-the-art Dahu sailing yacht “Pangaea” to Cape Town. While the team was in town, they used the opportunity to help out at socio-environmental projects around the peninsula.
It’s easy to see why Mercedes-Benz has aligned itself with the man; he may not be in his comfort zone around cameras and conference rooms but gives a mean speech and simply radiates enthusiasm when chatting about his expeditions.
Pole2Pole is the latest and greatest one, an elongated journey from the South to the North Pole with many noteworthy stops in between.
Starting in Monaco, the first stop was Namibia where Mike crossed the desert in various G-wagons with journalists in tow. He then walked across most of Botswana because, you know, explorers do that.
Mike and his crew left Cape Town late in 2016 and landed on Antarctica on 12 December – the Pole should be reached soon! Follow his progress by using any of the links below: