Lost author rescued from jungle nightmare

Benedict Allen, a 57-yearold explorer rescued from the wilderness of Papua New Guinea last week, has spoken publicly of his ordeal — of being feverish from malaria, of trying in vain to reach a meeting point through the jungle, and of being caught in a war zone with electrical storms that felled trees around him.

“Don't try to rescue me, please,” Allen, a British author behind several BBC series, tweeted in October as he set off into Papua New Guinea.

Allen had travelled to Papua New Guinea in hopes of reconnecting with the Yaifo, an indigenous people he met three decades ago. After reaching them, he was expected to catch a flight from Port Moresby (the capital of Papua New Guinea) for a speaking engagement in Hong Kong. When he never made it to Hong Kong, his panicked wife set a search into motion. He did not bring a satellite phone with him on the trip, saying it hindered his process of immersing himself in a place.

The Daily Mail newspaper arranged for a helicopter to rescue him, after receiving word that Allen was recovering at an abandoned missionary camp.

“I have to say. I've been quite ill as well,” he said after being rescued. “My malaria tablets were soaked. Even my reserve ones were soaked. For the first time ever I took capsules and they just dissolved.”

After finding the Yaifo earlier this month, Allen set off back through the jungle to meet his flight. In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, Allen recounted how his trip then went sideways — with torrential rains, malaria taking hold of him and a war between rival groups breaking out, cutting off his route back to meet his plane. “Leeches, the constant rain, trees thumping down in the night, sleeping in a sort of swamp,” he said.

Locals he met along the way cared for him and helped him to the mission station. On the mend, he was planning to take his chances and walk out of the jungle just as the helicopter arrived.

Allen, a father of three, said his low point was making a farewell video for his family — in the event he didn't survive.

“Perhaps the worst moment of all was when I had to say to the camera: ‘If you don't find me and you find this footage take it along to the embassy.' I showed photos of my children.”

As for being rescued he said, “As I was rushed to hospital the day after the airlift it seems clear I DID need 'rescuing'.”

THE CONSTANT RAIN, TREES THUMPING DOWN ... SLEEPING IN A SORT OF SWAMP.