Have you ever dreamed of climbing Mount Everest or visiting Antarctica? If so, you're not alone. Every year, thousands of people try to climb the world's highest mountains. In the past, explorers had compasses and maps, but today's adventurers have satellite phones and GPS. They use their travels to let the world know about climate change and help people in the countries they visit.
Ed Stafford from the UK is the first person to walk the length of the Amazon River. He started by a small stream in the Andes mountains of Peru and arrived at the river's mouth in Brazil, two years and four months later. Snakes, crocodiles and jaguars live in the Amazon rainforest. Luckily, he was just bitten by ants and mosquitoes every day. On his trip, Ed had to find food each morning. Sometimes the fruit, nuts and fish he ate were hard to find and Ed often felt weak and hungry.
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria fell in love with climbing as a teenager. Starting with Everest, she has been climbing all the world's fourteen peaks over 8, 000 meters. To increase the challenge, Gerlinde climbs without using oxygen tanks (氧气罐). Low oxygen levels can make climbers ill, so Gerlinde has to climb slowly. Gerlinde raises money for a charity for poor children and orphans in Nepal.
★ He's climbed mountains, ridden a bike through the deserts of Morocco and kayaked (划皮划艇) through the Grand Canyon. . Amazingly, Erik has been blind since the age of 13. Apart from his travels, he helps people with disabilities to live active lives and takes groups of young blind people on climbing expeditions.
Despite new technologies, adventurers still have to live with terrible weather, lack of food and wild animals. Preparation and training are essential, but if you have a sense of adventure, there are continents (大陆) to cross and hundreds of mountains to climb