Benedict Allen's more adventurous activities include:

• a 600 mile crossing of arguably the remotest forest on earth (NE Amazonia) by foot and dugout canoe with indigenous help aged 23 – during which, attached by gold miners and walking out of the forest alone, he famously was forced to eat his dog companion to survive.

• The first recorded crossing of the Central Mountain Range of Papua New Guinea, continuing by seafaring canoe over the Torres Strait to Australia (during which he and his two Papuan companions were shipwrecked on a rock without water or food, and were reduced to eating limpets).

• Becoming the only outsider to fully undergo the male initiation ceremony of the Niowra - designed to make boys into men "as strong as crocodiles" in what must be the most brutal such rite in the world. Initiates are beaten several times each day for as “long as it takes” – six weeks in his case - and their bodies patterned with hundreds of permanent “crocodile” scars.

• The only known crossing of the Amazon Basin at its widest point – a 3,600 mile journey which took seven and half months, with training from the Matses Indians. During this he was shot at by hit men from Pablo Escobar’s Medellin drug cartel. (Escobar himself was killed some time after).

• Making "first contact" with two threatened communities - the Yaifo and Obini (of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya) before gold miners and missionaries moved in.

• Establishing a new TV genre. In 1995 the BBC broadcast a “Video Diary” (Raiders of the Lost Lake) which gained more viewing figures than any before or since. Allen had filmed his three month lone trip into the Peruvian-Brazilian Amazon. Though not altogether happy with the resulting programme, which he’s said ended up over-emphasizing the dramatic, the exotic and “wild,” none-the-less it was notable for its honesty and caught on camera a traveller undergoing un-staged experiences – sometimes while in very real danger. This was something never seen before on television – as was the presenter undergoing, when appropriate, various rituals. This approach has since been widely imitated, adapted and adopted by a whole range of other immersive “anthropology” TV formats with camera crews, including the highly popular show Tribe.

• Becoming the first person permitted to walk the 1000 mile Namib Desert (“Skeleton Coast”) of Namibia – something he did with three camels. This was not exploration per se, but was groundbreaking none-the-less: it was the first authentic journey anywhere in the world recorded for television.

• A five and half month trek by horse and camel from the forests of Siberia, across the open plains of the Mongolian steppe and on to a 1000 mile lone crossing of the Gobi Desert. Again, not “exploration” – but this was the first major TV series on Mongolia and the Gobi crossing (which took six weeks) was probably the longest ever solo traverse on foot.

• Writing and presenting the first major TV series on indigenous healers around the world - the eight part BBC series Last of the Medicine Men.

• A thousand mile trek with dogs through Siberia (Russian Far East) in the “worst winter in living memory,” helped by two formidably-skilled Chukchi guides and a translator with a drink problem– ending with Allen’s impulsive attempt to cross the Bering Strait alone with his dogs. This he has described as “a spirited and mad sprint”: he got approximately half way across the Strait before he was forced to retreat, having temporarily lost his dog team and almost died.

Benedict Allen is proud to be associated with Friends of Conservation, a charitable organisation which he particularly hopes to promote.

Established in 1982, Friends of Conservation (FOC) works across the world to support effective community based conservation projects. In the struggle to help conserve endangered species and habitats, FOC is committed to working with local communities and partners to support and promote sustainable ways of living in harmony with wildlife, the natural habitat and ecosystems.

Benedict has also supported over the years Save the Rhino Trust, who took on his three camels (including the redoubtable Nelson) after his Namibian trek for their anti-poaching work. Also The Orang-Utan Foundation and Survival International.