benedict allen - The Natural Navigator

Expedition: Africa

19 June 2009 by Tristan Gooley

I watched the History Channel’s ‘Expedition: Africa’ last night, a retake on Stanley’s expedition to find Livingstone. It is quite enjoyable if a bit ‘light’, the interest certainly coming from the internal politics of the expedition team rather than the nature of the journey itself. One thing did strike me, one of their challenges is billed as ‘using only compasses and basic maps’, which could only be billed as a challenge in the age of satellite navigation. Even this seemed to rob the team of some of their awareness of their surroundings. Pasquale Scaturro, the navigator, takes a compass bearing and then navigates from ‘tree to tree’ despite numerous clues in the sky and ground to help him hold a course. To be fair Benedict Allen does point out that the river would give a line to follow, but Pasquale does not seem to want the river to get between…

Tags: benedict allen, compass, courses, expeditions, expediton africa, maps, mireya mayor, navigator, pasquale scaturro |

Share and Enjoy:

Welcome to the home of natural navigation on the Internet.

Natural navigation is the art of being able to find your way solely by using nature. It encompasses using the sun, moon, stars, weather, water, land, sea, plants and animals.

The Natural Navigator is the school set up by Tristan Gooley to research and teach natural navigation. It is also the title of his book on the subject.

If you would like to know more about natural navigation you can browse the website, read about Tristan’s natural navigation book, or listen to a BBC Radio 4 interview with Tristan.

beach birds book cloud clouds compass contrails courses dawn direction east equinox full moon gps horizon jupiter land rover latitude lichen moon moss natural navigation nature navigation navigation course navigator north orion polaris royal geographical society sea senses shadow shadows Sirius south south downs southeast stars sun sunrise sunset trees venus walkers wayfinding west west sussex wind wind direction

WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.

BBC Sciences & Nature
- Making money from Peruvian bird poo September 2, 2010
  An island off Peru is making money from selling bird poo to use as organic fertiliser. […]
- Hurricane prompts US evacuations September 2, 2010
  Evacuations begin in areas of the US East Coast likely to be hit by Hurricane Earl, which has strengthened to a category four storm again. […]
- Weather clash causes snowy winter September 2, 2010
  The collision of two major weather events can explain unusually large snowfall in the US and Northern Europe, researchers say. […]
- Greatest free-kick 'was no fluke' September 2, 2010
  Physicists explain one of football's most spectacular free-kicks, showing that Roberto Carlos's 1997 "impossible goal" was not a fluke. […]
- Old star wallows in 'steam bath' September 1, 2010
  Europe's Herschel space telescope spies an aging star that has surrounded itself in hot water vapour. […]
- Stone Age funeral feast unearthed September 1, 2010
  The remains of a huge 12,000 year old feast have been found in a cave in Northern Israel. […]
- Fishermen welcome new sole quota September 1, 2010
  Fishermen from Suffolk and Essex have welcomed a new quota agreement which allows smaller boats to start catching sole again. […]
- Video reveals Titanic's condition September 1, 2010
  New pictures have emerged of the shipwreck of the Titanic, almost 25 years since it was first discovered. […]
- Ancient reef uncovered in Pacific September 1, 2010
  An ancient reef may provide scientists with clues about what will happen to coral when sea temperatures rise. […]
- Earthquake recorded in North Sea September 1, 2010
  An earthquake is recorded in the North Sea about 155 miles east of Aberdeen. […]

Archives by Month: