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Legendary explorer bags Simpson Desert
Round-the-world explorer Mick Horn conquers Simpson Desert in G-WagenTo draw attention to the introduction of the G-Class Professional wagon, Mercedes-Benz Australia has arranged with South African-born explorer Mike Horn to run a leg of his ‘Pole2Pole’ expedition from Birdsville through the Simpson Desert in a convoy of G-Wagens.
For the eight-day drive across the desert Horn took with him three wagons and two cab-chassis models. Accompanying the Professional vehicles were two G 500 wagons in left-hand drive – supporting Horn not only for the Aussie leg, but right throughout his Pole2Pole circumnavigation of the globe from north to south.
Horn expects the expedition to take two years, all up. He set out from Monaco in May last year and has so far worked his way through Africa and across Antarctica after sailing there on a Mercedes-Benz-powered ice-breaking yacht. In Antarctica he rose to the challenge of being the first person to cross the widest part of the continent via the South Pole, unaided.
From Antarctica he sailed to Dunedin and explored the South Island of New Zealand around the Queenstown region before sailing to Sydney for the Australian leg.
“The Simpson Desert is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Horn said. “It is even more beautiful than I ever imagined, the variety of colours and terrain on each day and the stars at night are just some of the sights I will never forget.”
Horn leaves Australia this month to tackle Papua-New Guinea and continue north through South-East Asia and Russia. He plans to reach Monaco by the middle of next year and other than another solo passage across the North Pole and the occasional voyage, he will be transported the entire distance by beefy Benzes.
“The G-Class is the perfect tool to make my adventure a bit more human,” he says. “It enables me to go by road to certain destinations that I used to fly to. And that makes my exploration a bit more meaningful and rich.
“Now I can spend time with the local people, I can eat their food and try to communicate with them. I used to fly over them, now I can share with them.
“A journalist once asked me, ‘do you need the heated seats and the air-conditioning’? I said it’s not so much that I need it, I can live without it, but I think I deserve it. This is definitely the car that I would buy.”
Horn has embarked on amazing journeys over a 20-year period, starting with the Amazon in 1997. That expedition took him across South American from the Pacific to the Atlantic along the Amazon River. Two years later he circled the world at the equator, without motorised transport. In 2002 he travelled around the Arctic Circle on foot and by means of boat, kayak and ski kite.
Four years later during the arctic winter he slogged his way to the North Pole and back, accompanied by another explorer, Borge Ousland. From the following year right through to 2014 he made it his personal challenge to climb mountains around the world, up to 8000m without oxygen. In 2015 he led a G-Wagen convoy from his homeland of Switzerland to Pakistan, crossing 13 countries in total.
The 51-year old explorer’s current exploits are documented on his website.
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Written byCaravancampingsales Staff
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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