Expedition Pangaea
There was a time when Mike Horn simply took off with a view to discovering the world. He was the first man to walk through the polar night to the North Pole. He circumnavigated the globe around the equator using nothing but his own muscle power. In Pakistan he conquered four 8,000-meter (26,000-ft.) peaks.
Pangaea refers to the last supercontinent in our planet’s history, a landmass that existed 250 million years ago before the Earth’s crust broke up, leaving the continents as we know them today. It is also the name of the expedition boat with which Horn set out to sea in the fall of 2008 with the objective of circumnavigating the globe by the end of 2012. His voyage will cover 100,000 kilometers (62,000 miles): “This is not just some world tour. My aim is to do something that will help preserve the planet. Youngsters have energy, they are the future, they can make change happen.” Horn’s mission is to show them the beauty of planet Earth, “so that they know what it is they have to save — and that it is worth saving.” He sees the youngsters who will accompany him as fledgling explorers. “We’re not in the business of promoting a kind of extreme tourism. These young people are communicators; they will become ambassadors with a mission to save the natural world.” Before the expedition ends in 2012, Horn plans to carry out over ten different projects; anyone can apply. Mercedes-Benz is the main sponsor of the Pangaea Expedition. The Pangaea took over 22,000 man-hours to build. The 35-meter (115-ft.) sail boat is made entirely of aluminum, a material highly suited to extremes of temperature. . “We didn’t apply any paintwork to the boat, since that only pollutes the waters,” says Horn. “And the boat can be recycled when it reaches the end of its service life.” Onboard electricity comes from solar cells and wind power. The adventure begins in Ushuaia in Argentina, known as the world’s most southerly city.These are the last offshoots of the continental landmass before it breaks up into a labyrinth of islands, before Pacific and Atlantic meet up at Cape Horn, before the Antarctic ice begins. Horn will meet a different group of youngsters on each stage of the expedition. The circumnavigation begins with the voyage into Antarctica, before heading to New Zealand. Then Horn will explore the biodiversity of the islands of Indonesia, trek in the Himalayas and cross the Gobi Desert before checking on conditions at the North Pole. Finally, his journey will take him to Canada, along the Colorado River in the United States and the Amazon in Brazil, and ultimately to East Africa. The first environmental project saw Horn and the young explorers taking ice and snow measurements in the Antarctic. The crew also collected the waste left behind at former research bases.

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