Mikael Strandberg

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Area of expertise

MIKAEL STRANDBERG-Swedens internationally celebrated explorer

Mikael Strandberg was born in 1962 in Sweden. He started his professional career as an explorer 19 years ago. The multitalented Mikael is currently working as an explorer, a lecturer and a writer. Mikael has also produced three internationally renowned documentaries for television “PATAGONIA – 3,000 kilometres by horse” and “THE MASAAI PEOPLE – 1,000 kilometres by foot” and his much awarded, “-58 degrees – exploring Siberia on skies.”

Expeditions

1986-1987 Mikael went by bicycle from Chile to Alaska, a distance of 27,500 kilometres. He crossed the El Darién Jungle, 800 kilometres of virgin rainforest between Panama and Colombia, without any roads. He carried his bike through swamps and a dense jungle for a month.

1989-1992 He went by bicycle from Norway to South Africa a distance of 33,000 kilometres, passing through the Sahara Desert. It took 3 months to push the bike through the dessert, with the help of only a manual compass.

1994 –1996 Mikael went by bicycle from New Zealand to Cairo traversing Asia, a distance of 90,000 kilometres.

1997- 1998 As a newly wed man Mikael was accompanied by his wife on his next expedition. This was also their honeymoon. Patagonia 3,000 kilometres by horse through an isolated, windy and painfully cold part of the world.

2000 Mikael walked through Maasailand in Eastern Africa, exploring all clans of the Maasai people.

2004 Mikael explored the unknown Kolyma River in North-Eastern Siberia. 3500 km:s by canoe and by skis. An Expedition which is globally hailed as one of the coldest ever in the history of exploration.

Mikael has written six books and numerous articles. He is frequently used by broadcasters for travel and adventure programmes. In Sweden Mikael has become a household name and Swedish Television SVT and National Geographic have made a documentary about his life.

Mikael is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Explorers’ Club, Travellers Club and the Long Riders Guild.

During the Siberian Expedition they carried Explorer Club´s Flag # 95 as a sign of it’s scientific interest and importance.

He was voted Explorer Hero by the National Geographic 2002.

He´ s an Honorary Ambassador of his native district Älvdalen.

He´ s the first Swede to lecture at the Royal Geographical Society since Charles John Anderson, 1867. And at the Explorers Club in New York, where he has lectured twice.

He was awarded The Determination in the Face of Adversity Medal by the Explorers Club 2005.

The King of Sweden and The Travellers Club of Sweden awarded him the prestigious Silver Medal in 2006.

Travellers Club in Finland awarded Mikael the prestigious Mannerheim Medal at a ceremony in October, 2006.

Mikael is considered as one of the worlds 50 most important and famous explorers by The Royal Geographical Society in London, together with, for example, Sir Edmund Hillary, Jane Goddall, Reinhart Messner, Borge Ousland, Wade Davies, George Schaller and many more. They´re all featured in the book “Faces of Exploration”.

Explorers Club in London considers Mikael “the best contemporary explorer in the world” at the present.

Mikael is at the present explorer-in-residence at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, which means he will be part of their lecture and guide team made up of the worlds foremost scientists.

Mikael also works as a freelance media strategic advisor for such global companies as Al Jazeera International, ABC News, Discovery Channel and others.

Mikael has also been included in the pages of Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives, with 120 other outstanding individuals, representing a Who's Who of international exploration, relating those indelible moments in their youth when the dreams that launched their remarkable lives were born.

Mikaels Siberian Journey was picked as one of the most important Expeditions in the 21st Century and was included in Explorers Clubs book, in the autumn of 2007, “They Lived To Tell the Tale – True Stories of Modern Adventure from the Legendary Explorers Club”.

www.siberia.nu

Preparing for the Next Major Expedition Blg

Recent reviews by Mikael Strandberg

Cycling the Sahara

Cycling the Sahara

Deserts in Tamanghasset, Algeria

It is a major challenge. Very few humna beings have been able to cross this biggest desert in the ...

Fishing at Korkodon, the Republic of Sakha in Russia

Fishing at Korkodon, the Republic of Sakha in Russia

Rainforests and Jungles in Far Eastern, Russia

I have fished and hunted most of my life and one major reason for doing an Expedition along the Kolyma River, see www.siberia.nu , to see if it was possible ...

Torres del Paine National Park

Torres del Paine National Park

Mountains in Paine Circuit, Chile

....that it rates amongst the best National Parks in the world. I spent a year exploring Patagonia by horse and never got really close to the wildlife, basically ...

Ndarakwa Hills, Maasai Mara

Ndarakwa Hills, Maasai Mara

Safari in Rift Valley, Kenya

A safari is for many people a lifetime highlight, but if you want to go a bit further, really get a feel for East Africa, the Maasai Mara and it's inhabitants ...

Penguin colony at San Julian

Penguin colony at San Julian

Wildlife in Patagonia, Argentina

A majority of tourists who want to experience magellan penguins, jackass penguins, visit Punta Piramides or another place of choice on the Valdez Peninsula. ...

Mikael Strandberg has written 8 reviews. See more »

Mikael Strandberg has reviewed 7 countries.