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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Expedition Africa

Expedition Africa

by John Cole|  June 1, 200912:00 am| 66 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Television

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So I’m watching the first night of the new show Expedition Africa, and on the first day, their very first decision was to travel nine miles inland into Tanzania without any water. “We’ll just get some water when we get to our destination,” and off they charged into the wild. They also have one explorer whose job title is “navigator,” and presumably he is along to navigate the party, and NONE OF THEM LISTEN TO HIM.

I’m thinking we should probably start a pool on how many of them die.

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66Comments

  1. 1.

    Ruemara

    June 1, 2009 at 12:04 am

    Did I ever mention how “pro” I am to removing the stupid from the gene pool? This sounds like a program I’d produce. Then again, no one has released hunting tigers after them, so maybe not.

  2. 2.

    Will

    June 1, 2009 at 12:09 am

    Have you seen the ads for this thing? They’re all “Which of these fools is going to get eaten by a crocodile?”

  3. 3.

    WestVirginiaRebel

    June 1, 2009 at 12:11 am

    Maybe we should get to decide their fates a la “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!” It could be our way of keeping the gene pool safe…

  4. 4.

    OriGuy

    June 1, 2009 at 12:13 am

    Are they Republicans?

  5. 5.

    Ramalamadingdong

    June 1, 2009 at 12:14 am

    That’s why I have a navigation system in my car and two bottles of water at all times. Also a vast array or hair products. I’m a survivor.

  6. 6.

    AnotherBruce

    June 1, 2009 at 12:16 am

    Surely the camera crew will not just stand by and watch them die!

    Then again, if the phrase “reality show” is ever going to have any meaning, they may have to maintain a professional distance.

  7. 7.

    tavella

    June 1, 2009 at 12:22 am

    I saw the ads for this a couple of times before movies, and I kept thinking: who the hell “retraces the steps of Livingston” with an _all white cast_? Talk about emphasizing the colonial aspect.

  8. 8.

    gex

    June 1, 2009 at 12:35 am

    Well, you know the network isn’t going to actually let them die, right? As if we haven’t had enough recent examples about how implicit guarantees might lead to some, um, let’s say *bad* decision making.

  9. 9.

    Brachiator

    June 1, 2009 at 12:46 am

    I’m thinking we should probably start a pool on how many of them die.

    Sigh. If only.

    How did they choose these people? Do any of them have any outdoors experience?

    Then again, there is an obvious opportunity for a show called “Gone Galt” where someone who brags about being able to survive on his or her own is given a knife and a jug of water, set in the wild, and given 40 days to get food and shelter.

  10. 10.

    JGabriel

    June 1, 2009 at 12:51 am

    AnotherBruce:

    Surely the camera crew will not just stand by and watch them die!

    Only if they’ve gotten to know them well.

    .

  11. 11.

    cmorenc

    June 1, 2009 at 12:54 am

    on the first day, their very first decision was to travel nine miles inland into Tanzania without any water. “We’ll just get some water when we get to our destination,” and off they charged into the wild. They also have one explorer whose job title is “navigator,” and presumably he is along to navigate the party, and NONE OF THEM LISTEN TO HIM. I’m thinking we should probably start a pool on how many of them die.

    “Expedition Africa” builds on the same sort of behavioral plot elements as do teen slasher flicks, only in a much more exotic location and the role of potential psycho-monsters in “Expedition Africa” is played by the continent itself and its flora and fauna. Same sorts of obviously stupid tactical decisions about chances for safety/survival, same sort of obstinate stupidity against listening to the only group member who seems to have sensible understanding of the nature of the situatuation and how best to cooperatively proceed.

    The only difference is that the potential “horror” developments in this show actually involve exposing the humiliation, discomfort, and gross conditions and contriving narrowly averted true disasters to show on-camera, rather than anyone’s frighteningly gory death. I have a feeling this show will also, like many slasher flicks, develop a few unlikeable characters whom we will find ourselves WISHING would come to a picturesquely bad end, courtesy of a crocodile, snake, elephant, or charging rhinoscerous.

  12. 12.

    JGabriel

    June 1, 2009 at 12:55 am

    Brachiator:

    Then again, there is an obvious opportunity for a show called “Gone Galt” where someone who brags about being able to survive on his or her own is given a knife and a jug of water, set in the wild, and given 40 days to get food and shelter rape someone who secretly wants it, successfully invent something, and become a successful CEO of the company producing it.

    Corrected to reflect the true themes and expectations of Rand’s ouvre.

    .

  13. 13.

    BeccaM

    June 1, 2009 at 1:25 am

    I retitled it “Idiots in Africa: Thinning the Herd”.

    Then it becomes comedy.

  14. 14.

    Brachiator

    June 1, 2009 at 1:41 am

    @cmorenc:

    “Expedition Africa” builds on the same sort of behavioral plot elements as do teen slasher flicks, only in a much more exotic location and the role of potential psycho-monsters in “Expedition Africa” is played by the continent itself and its flora and fauna.

    So does this mean that we are going to see a hot couple start to have sex, only to be interrupted by a wild animal springing upon them?

  15. 15.

    Maus

    June 1, 2009 at 2:10 am

    Then again, if the phrase “reality show” is ever going to have any meaning, they may have to maintain a professional distance.

    A “Reality show” is carefully produced and edited and meant nothing from the beginning.

  16. 16.

    gratedrake1

    June 1, 2009 at 3:22 am

    my mothers maddin name was livingston wonder if there related

  17. 17.

    Warren Terra

    June 1, 2009 at 4:17 am

    who the hell “retraces the steps of Livingston” with an all white cast?

    retracing the steps of Livingston? Not nearly as interesting as retracing the steps of Stanley, plundering as he went and leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

  18. 18.

    Col. Klink

    June 1, 2009 at 5:00 am

    If they charged inland starting from the East Coast of Zanizbar they’re bound to hit a luxury resort sooner or later. Go for the grilled marlin with mango chutney!

  19. 19.

    asiangrrlMN

    June 1, 2009 at 5:07 am

    All of them. It’s the only way I would ever watch. Same with Survivor. It ain’t survivin’ if there’s no threat of death.

    I hate reality TV.

  20. 20.

    Michael D.

    June 1, 2009 at 6:38 am

    I was thinking how weird it was the Kevin Sites, former CNN correspondent in Iraq, was a participant.

  21. 21.

    jenniebee

    June 1, 2009 at 8:17 am

    Is this the show with the group of people who are crossing Africa with nothing but the barest necessities they can pack in and no way out, plus a full camera crew who are doing the same thing Ginger Rogers style (while holding a steady cam and walking backwards)?

    Please tell me that the producers put in some good aerial perspective shots to emphasize just how alone these people are and how they could not possibly be airlifted out, not even by the helicopter brought in to get the perspective shots.

  22. 22.

    grumpy realist

    June 1, 2009 at 8:26 am

    Wish they would have killed two birds with one stone and started off with a gaggle of libertarians going inland from the beaches of Somalia, ready to create their own Galt’s Gulch in no-regulation heaven. Now *that* I’d watch.

  23. 23.

    JosieJ

    June 1, 2009 at 8:30 am

    @Ruemara:

    Then again, no one has released hunting tigers after them, so maybe not.

    That’d be tough to do, considering there are no tigers in Africa!

    I vote for hippos. Yes, hippos.

  24. 24.

    grumpy realist

    June 1, 2009 at 8:30 am

    Oh, and when I got stranded on a camel safari in the Outback of Australia, what everyone kept commenting on was how un-Survivor-like it was, with everyone pitching in to help and keep the group safe and comfortable.

  25. 25.

    Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill

    June 1, 2009 at 8:36 am

    I’ve despised every fucking commercial I’ve seen for this “show.” Its stuck me as, yes, insipid, loopy, depressingly colonialist, and the exact inverse of “reality” — how the hell can you be “roughing it” with thousands of dollars of camera equipment, and transportation for same, bloody right behind you?
    I’m almost afriad to say this, but — and where are the peoples of the regions they’re trapising through, anyway? There’s not a damned thing on the ads about them, oh, maybe connecting with them, learning from them. Y’know, the things wise explorers might do…

    I’m glad to hear they’re as stupid on the show as the show itself. I hope it gets all the ratings it deserves — 0.

  26. 26.

    Johnny Pez

    June 1, 2009 at 8:49 am

    If they really want good ratings, they’d better introduce some giant killer robots.

  27. 27.

    The Other Steve

    June 1, 2009 at 8:52 am

    Really no different then the Great English Explorers of the last several centuries.

    you know the ones. The guys intent on climbing Mt. Everest so they hire 50 locals to help carry their stuff to the top.

    Always seemed odd to me that we credit the Englishman for the discovery, when he had to hire locals who had already been there to show him the way and make him tea.

  28. 28.

    The Other Steve

    June 1, 2009 at 8:52 am

    @Johnny Pez: Islamofascist Killer Robots!

  29. 29.

    Persia

    June 1, 2009 at 9:14 am

    @Woodrow “asim” Jarvis Hill:

    where are the peoples of the regions they’re trapising through, anyway?

    I have mixed feelings on this too. On the one hand, it’s nice to prove that hey, there are people around, and they do this shit you’re whining is so hard to do every fucking day.

    On the other hand, there’s only so many times I can a) hear the word ‘primitive’ without puking or b) watch some ugly white jerk talk about how ‘stupid’ the people are for not knowing English or Asshole Sign Language.

  30. 30.

    Karen S.

    June 1, 2009 at 10:07 am

    I caught maybe 10 minutes of this show last night and I was struck by how many black Africans (Tanzanians perhaps?) were carrying so much of the intrepid participants’ crap. I thought they were supposed to have only the barest necessities with them on their trek. I missed the beginning of the program so maybe it was explained then why they need so many native bearers, as they would have been politely referred to in Stanley and Livingston’s time.
    I noticed that one participant is a “survivalist” and another is a “wildlife expert.” Not sure that that actually means anything. Still, one can only hope that they will get in the way of some hippos, which, I learned while traveling in Tanzania and Uganda, are more dangerous to humans than any other animal in sub-Saharan Africa, with the possible exception of crocodiles. After all, what is the point of these so-called reality shows without the anticipation that a participant could meet a gruesome end?

  31. 31.

    IndieTarheel

    June 1, 2009 at 10:54 am

    They also have one explorer whose job title is “navigator,” and presumably he is along to navigate the party, and NONE OF THEM LISTEN TO HIM.

    Sounds like Michael Steele landed a second job…

  32. 32.

    Maude

    June 1, 2009 at 11:50 am

    @Karen S.:
    One has a granola bar and the other has a canary at home.

  33. 33.

    jetan

    June 1, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    Potential midseason replacement: “Donner Party”.

  34. 34.

    Jon H

    June 1, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    “We’ll just get some water when we get to our destination”

    Have fun with the guinea worm!

  35. 35.

    Rich c

    June 1, 2009 at 3:54 pm

    I watched the first episode. Do any of these people carry a firearm?

  36. 36.

    r€nato

    June 1, 2009 at 6:47 pm

    @grumpy realist:

    even better, some of the more prominent members of the 82nd Chairborne and Keyboard Kommandos.

    Then again, not much Mountain Dew and Cheetos to be found in Africa’s wilds… would probably be a two episode show.

  37. 37.

    The Watcher

    June 1, 2009 at 7:20 pm

    Funny, I just got back from Africa, where the black guys were always the trackers. Then I turn on this crap, and we have a white arrogant a$$hole ‘navigator’, allegedly ‘leading’ a pack of jerks who are as lost as he is. Then they start yelling at each other. As the black guys look on with an expression that could only be quantified as ‘concerned’. While very stylishly dressed, I might add.

    I got $100 on the Navigator. Eaten by Wild Dogs, after they chew his limbs off so he can’t get away (their favorite hunting method, so I heard while on the sub-continent).

  38. 38.

    average joe

    June 2, 2009 at 12:07 am

    @OriGuy:

    Are they Republicans?

    The first episode shows they did not plan well for the trek through the marsh, and each assumed others would care for them. Obviously they are not republicans; clearly they are democrats.

  39. 39.

    Erik

    June 2, 2009 at 3:45 pm

    Quite frankly, the only idiots are all of you that have only negative things to say. Did you know that Mireya Mayor is a Rhodes Scholar, has a PhD and actually discovered the worlds smallest primate in Madagascar?! She was able to create a wildlife refuge to save animals from the ever depleting deforestation in Madagascar. You guys all crack me up. You live behind a computer to just talk shit. I bet in real life your just a bunch of losers with no real life experience.
    I’d like to throw you in Africa and see how long you survive…then I want to hear you call them stupid. You wouldnt even last a day. Then I would print out your blog comment, post it on your forehead and read it to you as you wither away and croak. Long Live all true explorers that strive to help us understand history of this Earth.

  40. 40.

    Botswana Honeymoon

    June 3, 2009 at 6:11 am

    Any of these future Darwin Award candidates dead yet??

  41. 41.

    jamie

    June 4, 2009 at 10:15 am

    @Erik:

    i wouldn’t call them true explorers. Africas already been explored. I wouldn’t think walking in a circle, and paddling fast as hell to outrun a croc in a river is exploring either. Just because she may have be a rhodes scholar etc. dosen’t really mean dick. In fact, she looks rather afraid to leave the navigators side. She stuck to him like glue.

    On another note, your comment about sitting at a computer, you must have read every comment on here. You are obviously no better then rest of us.

    i’d rather be a dead monkey, then a monkey in a cage.

  42. 42.

    Topher

    June 4, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    I am planning on giving this show one more episode to see if the stupidity continues.

    When I first started seeing previews for this new show on History Channel, man oh man, I was so pumped. I thought, “sweet, a Man vs Wild/Survivorman/EcoChallenge all wrapped up into one big wilderness extravaganza!!! What could be better than that!?!?!” So admittedly, my expectations were very high. And I do have respect for just about everything that Mark Burnett has touched, so I was geared up!

    Wow, was I disappointed.

    What a joke. Leaving base camp WITHOUT water?!?! At that moment, I realized that this is ALL glamour and no substance. That was not true to life at all. Mark Burnett planned that from the beginning and there was plenty of water being carried by the jeeps that the camera crews ride in. If my last statement is incorrect, and they did indeed leave without water, then all of them are about as ignorant as a 7 year old child, that doesn’t know how to plan his morning. Sure, a lot of Bear Grylls stuff is certainly staged and planned, but that’s the point becasue at least he is trying to show the audience a skill or a method that might be needed an extreme situation. These four people are simply trying to trek across an expansive wilderness.

    Also, these four people are the worst possible personalities to make up a team. If Pasquale was hoping to get more work because the exposure he gains from this show, he is sorely mistaken. Who would want to be led by him anywhere? He may get you there, but it will be an awful experience. And isn’t that the point of adventure? It’s the experience, NOT the final destination right!?!?

    I’m hopeful, and we’ll see if next episode is any better than this first one, but it seems as though staged, ignorant, dramas are going to be the cornerstone of this series…

  43. 43.

    stan-2

    June 4, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    According to the show, they need to cover ~ 970 miles through jungle, swap, rivers, mountains (no paved flat roads) in 30 days.

    They must also carry all of their provisions (food, water(?), clothing, etc).

    Simple math 970 miles/ 30 days = ~32 miles per day. It ain’t gonna happen, unless there is a miracle.

  44. 44.

    Stanley

    June 6, 2009 at 10:41 am

    The answer is that Pasquale is one of the most experienced outdoorsmen in the world! The other three haven’t got a clue.

    “Benedict eats his dogs you know” arrogant Brit. If he doesn’t like Pasquale’s “American” tea perhaps he should help with the cooking!

    Mireya is cute in a tank top!

    Kevin is a nice guy but too lazy to carry water!

  45. 45.

    Stansalone

    June 6, 2009 at 11:53 am

    @Brachiator:
    Maybe one does! Does Kevin have a near death experience after eating survivalist Benedict’s insect sandwich? Hmmm, can’t wait for the next episode!

  46. 46.

    Halcyon1

    June 7, 2009 at 1:28 am

    I thought this would be a great show…
    I was wrong.
    Way to much bickering, I turned it off after a half hour.

  47. 47.

    Donna

    June 8, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    All they do is fight. I’m tired of it. Also, what nut job hired Kevin. He’s a total waste!!! He makes bad decisions, slows everyone down, gets lost, acts like he’s better than everyone else and is totally wrong for this expedition. I quess he’s too good to carry water. Maybe they should have put him on an assignment where he rode a bike. It looks like all he can do!!! Maybe we’ll luck out and the lions will eat him.

  48. 48.

    perry

    June 8, 2009 at 10:31 pm

    Benedict is completely worthless, the guy does nothing but complain about everyone else. He hasn’t offered ANYTHING to this show other than criticism. If he falls off a cliff and is eatten by hippos, that would be his best contribution to date! This show is pointless – they use some technoloigy but not all available, why bother – it’s like they got a group of cry-babies together and made them “lead” a bunch of 3rd world people. Did I mention Benedict is a chump? he spends 90% of his time trying to get into Miyra’s pants! Oh, wait, he did start a fire with his tampon…… Also, why is this Kevin guy along? To add a worthless liberal “journalist” point of view? The guy is appologizing to the porters for manking them carry a bunch of stuff into the mountains! Are you kidding me?

  49. 49.

    Jerry

    June 8, 2009 at 11:00 pm

    Okay – I watched the first one, and then the 2nd – intrigued by the Stanley/Livingstone premise. That hook resonated. Wait – produced by the same Mark Burnett whose long rap sheet includes a veritable cornucopia of “reality” crap too numerous to list which all boil down to basically annoying people bitching at each other in the foreground with some grand backdrop in the background. Swill. But, wait – what’s this? Defying one of he cornerstones of Burnett swill, the show is ~not~ stocked with hot babes and buff dudes who were in greater and lesser parts former aerobics instructors, ski-instructors, or aspiring models. There’s a twist – on closer inspection there’s a guy, a past war-correspondent possessing a square chin, healthy pecs, and that dishy two-day stubble some women swoon over until they guy rubs it on them somewhere but he must be sensitive or something because he writes stuff, right ladies? Another guy is an experienced “Survivalist” whose M.O. is to basically throw himself into the wild and counting on his skills, his ability to learn, his empathy and respect for the local natives, and perhaps his surly good looks spiced with his British accent to get through the next batch of, “What do I do now?” Got to have a lady along and Burnett doesn’t disappoint. Impressively (for Burnett) she isn’t particularly vacuous or bitchy, but seemingly quite centered, going with the flow, not afraid to voice her opinions, but not wrapped up in herself, either – which is refreshing. But, I have to mention that aside from her impressive background, PHD, war correspondent, naturalist and anthropology creds, she is also an attractive former NFL football cheerleader with a nice rack. Finally, there is the expedition “leader” which is a loose term with perhaps just a slight degree greater amount of relevance than mere lip-service, as this “expedition” is often a committee endeavor. The leader while often obnoxious and forthright, and given the bulk of the all-important cutaway shots showing him in equal parts, grimacing, rolling his eyes, and showing himself to be generally irritated most of the time, seems to be the only guy who has a clue about what the “expedition” is up against, what its goals are, and able to keep the big picture in mind as the other three bicker and bitch and whine while doing stupid things and later trying to rationalize the stupid things which they do. I feel for the guy – he is the goat – the symbol of authority which the couch-bound ultimately recognize as the one they love to hate. And that’s what it comes down to. There’s a sweeping shot, here and there, the group mucking about in boats, swamps, mountains, while always finding time for isolating someone or another somewhere on the trek with a camera pointed at them as they vent their spleens about one and another. Of course, by the end of the day, or at least by the end of each episode, there comes a little reconciliation with a little personal speech or two about how marvelous the whole adventure is – which immediately gets shot to hell when they roll the preview for the next episode highlighting adventure to come the following week, intersperses with cutaways and sound-bites of all of them bitching and complaining. It’s simply group dynamics and social politics against a sweeping backdrop with a little history and culture thrown in as a garnish and I found myself at times dreaming of bandits or armed rebels raising a little African havoc or simply the four of them having one final group bitch (and hug) as they sit neck-deep in a great iron kettle sitting on a fire being stoked by culturally fascinating and very hungry locals. I’ll likely watch the whole thing while making sure I don’t watch any of the commercials, and ridiculing some of the more evident staging and virtually all of the editing.

  50. 50.

    Lisa

    June 12, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    Miyera is an embarrassment to anthropology. How could an anthropologist not see how problematic it is to recreate the colonial domination of Africa; to glorify a man who beat, whipped, and starved his porters and then shot any who tried to run away; and to essentialize “Africa” as a primitive, wild land (never mind that they are going to part of one country). And don’t get me started on her and everyone else referring to “the Maasai,” as if the man didn’t have a name (and making him wear his ceremonial garb on a cross-country trek).

    As an anthropologist who studies Africa, I am so deeply offended by the whole project and particularly by Miyera.

  51. 51.

    Stansalone

    June 15, 2009 at 12:17 am

    Mireya, Mireya, Mireya….what to do about Mireya. Well, she isn’t very good at identifying snakes but she can smile and hike. Is she really an anthropologist, or just a self promoter? Maybe her agent will get her in Playboy!

    Benedict- Yes ah wellll… a bad cup of tea. Dog and baby goat slayer. Survivalist my ass, arrogant British egotist for sure! If Benedict is a survivalist, then I am too…..eating worms is stupid….I’ll go to the store for a stout and a steak!

    Kevin, you slowpoke! Get moving and quit blaming your slowness on the porters. It is obvious to the viewers that the porters want to get moving, but you are blocking the trail. And what is with the self-vid diary?….you should be embarrassed because you look like a dork!

    Pasquale, what are you doing leading these kids? You must be twice their age and yet they can’t keep up. You’d run them into the ground if you could. Have a little more patience. Maybe you should take a senior afternoon nap and let them catch up!

  52. 52.

    Flipper

    June 16, 2009 at 11:44 am

    Hoped this was going to be a good show -WRONG!
    They dont keep their fires going overnight,dont take water, and whats up with the goof with the bow and arrow?What does he think he is going to do with that shoot a lion or hippo? I wouldnt hike through a city park with these losers!

  53. 53.

    Ikonoblast

    June 21, 2009 at 10:59 pm

    This show is absolutely the worst. It is so bad, I have to keep watching to see how they will embarrass themselves next. Twinkie Kevin Sikes (“former” war correnspondent/journalist/EMT expert/etc.) whines about everything and apologizes constantly to the porters who must be totally amused watching these inept white dummies make complete asses out of themselves. He can’t even eat a bug without drama. Why are the Maasai there and how do they always manage to look like they just stepped out of a make up tent? This series is only saved by bush babe Mireya who is worried about hypothermia, but struts around in a tanktop. How did they ever assemble such a bunch of complete losers?

  54. 54.

    jakindabox

    June 28, 2009 at 7:58 pm

    Quoting Ikonoblast
    “whines about everything and apologizes constantly to the porters who must be totally amused watching these inept white dummies make complete asses out of themselves.”

    Inept white dummies? I hate racists like you. You must be a liberal. Lets see if we exchange a word here…Inept black dummies. Now does that offend your liberal sensibilities? Grow up racist.

  55. 55.

    old guide

    June 30, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    I’m an old guide and have gotten folks from point A to point B without making them feel incomptent, deserted or desperate. I would have fired Pascale on Day 1 when he ignored water and the well fair of the people just to get to where he wanted to be. He allows the fact that he has some experience and ego to cloud his judgement. He truly thinks he is right at all times. A wise person knows this is never true. An expedition often requires a change in plan. Pascale is narrow in scope and a dangerous guide.

  56. 56.

    ROM

    July 5, 2009 at 12:20 pm

    @tavella: Well, what I stupid comment to make. First, they are not retracing the steps of Livingstone, they are retracing the steps of Stanley who was hunting for Livinstone. Stanley set out with 2 other “white men” and about 150 native porters to find Livingstone. Would having a “black” retrace the steps of Stanley make more sense?? Just what is your point??

  57. 57.

    ROM

    July 5, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    @Lisa: Geez, how easy it is for modern day liberals to criticize the problems of a white explorer trekking through central Africa 140 years ago. Folks, Stanley dealt with real survival, not some fake “reality” show. He may have whipped and beat some of the worst characters of his large band of native porters at times, but without knowing or understanding his motives and circumstances, such criticism is completely unjust. His was a life and death situation, not only for his own life, but also for all of those in his expedition. The expedition was made up of a variety of natives and Arabs, some of whom were not trustworthy or reliable. Can you imagine such a thing in 19th century central Africa? Gasp!! Stanley WAS the expedition leader, make no mistake about it and it was required to have one leader in order to survive by any definition of that word. One only needs to watch one episode of the TV Expedition Africa farce to see what an expediton by committee turns into. For any of us to sit on our butts in the 21st century and denigrate what Stanley did at that time is absolutely stupid and ignorant.

  58. 58.

    ROM

    July 5, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    @Warren Terra: “Not nearly as interesting as retracing the steps of Stanley, plundering as he went and leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.”

    Where did you get your facts from?? This is a completely false statement.

  59. 59.

    TravelPsych

    July 5, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    Yes, it is too easy to criticize responsibly. As for me, I am glued to the tube, waiting for each week’s adventure. Just as ‘a camel is a horse designed by a committee’ and ‘they are us and we are them,’ strip away qualifications and pretenses and you have a group of four people (who could be anybody, really). No matter what each person brings to the group, it is always fascinating to see how they will interact and what they will accomplish. What draws me to the series is that I’ve had my own half dozen safaris, including one walking safari in Zambia–so this all reminiscent of my own experiences. Also in the mix is that I am ‘The Travel Psychologist’ with my own collection of nearly 1,500 interviews with world adventurers and travelers, some of whom have had some seriously dangerous things happen to them in their travels. I’ve collected maybe 5,000 or so travel stories, which I am trying to figure out what to do with … I would have given just about anything to have been one of the four included in this series. And, so might have you! And, BTW, if I had to vote for any of the four, I’d choose Pasquale, hands down! Kudos to the producers of this series for trying to tackle a very difficult concept. Again, easy to criticize, much harder to do!

  60. 60.

    Christie

    July 6, 2009 at 1:46 pm

    Tell me about it! Those two fools benedict and the cheerleader are the last people I’d want with me. Benedict seems stoned all the time, frolicking when they have a mission to accomplish and the chick is just a baby. I’d chose the guy who can lead people up and down Everest. The other two are morons, The photographer thinks he can just chose a job that he has no experience in and do it on his own. A bunch of babies, Pasquale deserves a medal dealing with these guys.

  61. 61.

    Ted

    July 9, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    Julius is the key. He is the “Head Porter”. They would be lost without him. Notice that he is the one who talks with the locals and “Arranges things”. Local dances when they get to camp,etc. I know Julius and he does go in front to arrange the path. Why no talk about the “local Tanzanian”. By the way his name is Julius Akyoo. I have worked with him and he is good.

  62. 62.

    Dave

    July 12, 2009 at 7:04 pm

    It is so embarrassing watching these people. They are advertised as having tremendous remote travel experience, yet they are so obviously inept. I wouldn’t take a trip anywhere with any of them. Pascale obviously has more direct experience than the other 3… and their egos are not allowing them to take direction and allow the leader to lead… that said, if Pascale worked for me, I’d have fired him day one. He may have experience with the travel and environments, but he has no skills whatsoever in leadership… and I doubt he has the ability to accept being lead by another. I would seriously find the show interesting if they ignored the childish, and embarassing behavior and actually focused more attention on the country and locals. Assuming the the audience of a History Channel show is so narrowly self-centered is not only an insult, I beleive it is a big miss for the channel.

  63. 63.

    Jim

    July 12, 2009 at 8:25 pm

    Having been in Uganda, DRC (when it was becoming the DRC), and Cote D’Ivoire:
    Moving without water. At this point I knew I would be watching just to see the babe.
    Crossing streams, “take your boots off”. WTFO? This guy’s experienced?
    Camping in the midst of three, count ’em three, wildlife trails.
    No weapons-this IS the outback of Africa; I’d rather be alive and politically incorrect than dead and the hero of PETA.
    Coming down with Malaria? Has no one heard of Doxycycline or Primaquin? Geez.
    Digging for water was EXACTLY right-excellent call. However he could’ve told the Journalist (who oughta just be along for the ride-frankly) how/what to do.
    AFA Pasquale, extensive experience can tell against you. He should be making decisions BASED ON INPUT FROM THE OTHERS. Being a retired military officer I fully understand leading-but that means you listen to others THEN make the decision.

  64. 64.

    Barry

    July 13, 2009 at 1:11 am

    I struggled with the personalities in this series; their conflicts seemed at times petty as well as overpowering. Pasquale’s comments that an expedition was not a democracy seemed appropriate. Consensus is not always the right decision-making process. Watching the team members struggle to assert themselves and establish their pecking order was fascinating. Conflict is inevitable in most any group, particularly one that faces the physical and mental challenges of such an expedition.

    These are some points I learned from the series:
    a. Henry Stanley’s 8 month search for Livingstone in 1871 must have been an almost unimaginable ordeal. Africa seems to show little mercy to its explorers.
    b. Africa is a magnificent and terrifying continent. The team trekked thru swamps, salt flats, mountain ranges. They slept with rhinos, hyenas, and green mambas just out of range. They traveled beside and on rivers and the enormous Lake Tanganyika. They dealt with malaria, foul water, and poor food. Regardless of the background safety net the History channel and producers may have provided, I’d say that’s still a fair accomplishment.
    c. Leaders can make mistakes, exercise poor judgment, lose their temper, and become petty at times. Pasquale’s role as “navigator” seemed poorly defined, at least to the team; “expedition leader” may have been a more clearly stated role for him. The team did not produce another clear expedition leader, as best as it tried, and Pasquale assumed that role naturally.

    I enjoyed the series.

  65. 65.

    Ordway

    July 13, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    It’s easy to sit behind a computer in your mother’s basement and spew of your ignorant absurd nonsense on a daily basis. You nerds wouldn’t last six seconds in Africa. Everyone’s an expert. If I’ve caught a big fish, youve caught a bigger one. Right? I underestimated how many of you angry overweight jobless degenerate virgins are actually out there. I really would sit down to watch them drag your dead asses out to Tanzania, throw you a canteen of water, a walking stick and see how far you make it. Now that’s TV!Unfortunately, the show wouldnt make it past the opening credits. Get a job losers!

  66. 66.

    Reality Critic at Large

    July 15, 2009 at 1:14 am

    These four reminded me of “The Wizard of OZ” in the final episode. The entire expedition for that matter. Notice how they skipped into OZ holding hands at the end???

    How much of this was staged or contrived we’ll never know, but like fiction you can bet that liberties were taken by the creators. Like Kevin, Benedict and Mireya in Africa; I got sick to my stomach from the phoneyness of the ending. I’ll bet they jumped on a plane and didn’t speak for weeks after it was over.

    Well, Mireya was definitely Dorthy. Hmmm wonder what she’d look like in the Kansas farm girl dress? (Bad thoughts, bad, bad, bad…;-)

    Benedict, the Lion (at least a legend in his own mind). He also had a thing for Dorthy (did you notice?)

    Kevin, definitely the Tin Man. A little empty, but his heart was in the right place. (A want-a-be expert, but allas, no content).

    Pasquale, well like the Scare Crow, you suspect he has a brain (perhaps a good one), but we’ll never know from the editing.

    But they all parted as sweet friends “looking forward to the next adventure together”……….give me a break!

    And Mark Burnett was the “man behind the curtain” in the Emerald City pulling all of the levers!

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