The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Fears rise for explorer on trail of tribe
Jungle: Safety worries over Benedict
The family of a British explorer who has gone missing on an expedition to reach a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea have spoken of their concerns for his safety.
Benedict Allen was dropped by helicopter into the remote jungle three weeks ago and has not been heard of since.
He was hoping to reach the Yaifo, a tribe thought to be one of the last on Earth to have no contact with the outside world.
The author and TV presenter, who has made six TV series for the BBC, has no mobile phone or GPS device with him and was expected to begin his journey home at the weekend.
Mr Allen’s sister, Katie Pestille, said: “He knows all about that survival stuff. It’s just what worries me is there are bad people in these jungles. You would think that they were totally empty but there are people in there. I mean, I know more about the Amazon, but there are loggers and drug dealers and all sorts of bad people.”
Mr Allen’s friend, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, who travelled to Papua New Guinea with him twice last year, said: “I had supper with him just before he left and he said, ‘look, I’m quite certain I’ll probably be out of contact for quite some time and people shouldn’t worry about it’.”
Mr Allen’s agent Joanna Sarsby said his wife Lenka was “very worried”. She added: “He is a highly experienced explorer, very clever and resourceful and adept at surviving in the most hostile places on Earth, and he would never give up. He was trying to reach the Yaifo people, a very remote and reclusive tribe – possibly headhunters, quite a scary bunch. I just imagine he might have been taken ill or is lying injured somewhere, perhaps with a broken leg, and maybe being helped by locals.”
In a blog post on his website, Mr Allen wrote in September: “The Yaifo are one of the last people on the entire planet who are out of contact with our interconnected world.
“Just like the good old days, I won’t be taking a sat phone, GPS or companion. Or anything else much. Because this is how I do my journeys of exploration.”
“A reclusive tribe – possibly headhunters . . . scary bunch”