
SOURCE TO SEA
What. A. Year. 2020 has NOT been the year of adventure any of us envisioned. Sure we’ve adapted to this new normal and continued to provide the TV and film …
What. A. Year. 2020 has NOT been the year of adventure any of us envisioned. Sure we’ve adapted to this new normal and continued to provide the TV and film …
Reindeer are like children. You guide them, graze them, protect them, they become your pride. They give you purpose, direction and identity, it is a primal, wild matrimony.
Judith Von Prockl shares some her favourite image highlights from the expedition.
There is no doubt about it, traversing the full length of Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail in the heart of winter on a bike is one of the most extraordinary and …
Towards the back-end of 2019, Secret Compass teammate Peter Wieninger gave us a shout with a unique request. Having previously joined our DRC expedition into the Virunga national park, he …
The draw of the unknown is a powerful beast – something with which over the years the Secret Compass team has developed a borderline unhealthy obsession. The idea of setting …
The latest episode sees host Eden Flaherty chat with Secret Compass expedition leader Patrick Barrow about the time he’s spent on the Yamal Peninsula in the Siberian Arctic with reindeer …
As I reflect on my most recent trip to the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, I remember saying as I flew out of Kabul in 2006 following a deployment in the …
For the hikers who join us as teammates on our Wakhan Corridor expeditions, Afghanistan never fails to leave impressions that last a lifetime. Joining our 2019 team of nine, Mark …
The Middle East might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of snow-capped mountains, but there’s one Middle Eastern nation where mountains rise up straight …
The porcupine caribou herd are a barren ground caribou with the longest land mammal migration in the world – covering 1,500 miles or 2,400 km each year – form the …
Within reach of neighbouring Brazil and Guyana, in the south east of Venezuela, some 700km from the nation’s capital city Caracas, sits Canaima National Park. Home to the iconic flat …
Considering where I was going, I was surprised how easy it was to get to. From London, a short flight to Vienna plus another connection and I’d landed in Erbil, …
In 1886 General Charles Gordon was killed in Khartoum by the forces of the Mahdi, the awaited prophet of Islam. A force of several thousand British with their camels had …
Outdoor educators by profession, Huw Oliver and his partner Annie aren’t your ordinary fat-bikers. Drawn to colder climates where cycle tracks don’t exist and battling temperatures of -20°C is the …
Today, claiming a first ascent means synchronising several key ingredients. Firstly discernible geographical knowledge. Unclimbed mountains aren’t readily available in the nearest national park. A mountain with zero footfall means …
It seems like just last week that we were putting together the highlights from 2017, but here we are. Another year has flown by. Twelve months of expeditions and adventures …
Guiding a 16ft raft down one of the world’s most famous water ways was surely going to be a steep learning curve, but despite his limited rafting experience, Tom soon …
In August of 2018, a Secret Compass expedition team faced rock, snow and ice to traverse this unforgiving landscape. Among them was Elisabeth Markham, who upon her return home to …
Before the game, the carcass is decapitated, gutted and soaked in water for the 24 hours ensuring it stays in one piece and sand is sometimes added for additional weight. …
Sandwiched by Tajikistan to the north and Pakistan to the south and lined by the high passes of the Hindu Kush, Pamir and the Karakoram mountains, a narrow finger of land …
Self-supported, human-powered journeys are where it’s at. There’s a lot to be said for covering ground under your own steam and when your line of travel makes a tangible mark …
In mid June, our alpine skills course returned from Georgia. Tackling the slopes of Mount Kazbek (the country’s third highest peak) and the Gergeti Glacier – on the Russian border …
A formidable constituent of the Sahara desert, the Bayuda desert is characterised partly by its people’s modern-day reliance on their camels. At the start of the year, a team of …
Remote and wind-blasted with a permafrost coating, separated by the Golf of Ob to the east and the Baydaratskaya Bay to the west, the Yamal Peninsula is home to about …
As a river person myself, I’m really interested in how river based communities interact with the river and the relationship they have with the watercourse. From the traditional names for the …
In 2016, David Marsh from London, was part of the first ever team to descend Djidji River within Gabon’s Ivindo National Park with Secret Compass. Over three weeks, the self-supported …
With a concoction of nerves, adrenaline and exhaustion running riot through their bodies, this is where January’s Venezuela expedition team faced their fears. Peering over the edge means the five …
“We sounded like a bunch of school boys as we splashed and shouted in the pleasantly warm pool filled by a small waterfall. Nine days of trekking across a hot, …
Four flights, one boat journey, one borderline off-road drive, one overloaded motorbike ride and six long, arduous days of seriously remote trekking later and our 2017 Burma team reached their …
Our yearly traverse of the Sinai desert has now returned home to normality. With cleaner lungs and clearer minds, after a welcome pause from digital noise with little more than …
The folks behind the Adaptive Grand Slam are expanding their portfolio of adventure opportunities for disabled people and in doing so, they’ve teamed up with Secret Compass. In November 2017, …
In mid-September of 2017, Financial Times journalist Martin Fletcher embarked on a mission to reach the summit of Mt Stanley and Secret Compass helped him achieve that goal. Below is …
Dividing the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west, Kamchatka is a 1,250 kilometre long peninsula of absolute isolation. It’s the home of Eurasia’s …
In Siberia’s far north, a remote peninsula known as the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region sits within the Arctic Circle. It’s isolated. Roughly 2000km north-east of Moscow and separated by the mighty …
On their journey through the dramatic volcanic landscape, the team climbed to the Nyiragongo lava lake, encountered the mighty mountain gorillas, and learnt of the local community’s grassroots activism to …
Upon the unzipping of tents, the serene mix of sublime weather conditions and stillness that comes with a 4am start high above the snow line, hinted at a successful day …
“ There is definitely a reason Secret Compass runs expeditions not tours. You couldn’t feel further from being a tourist, their expeditions are such genuine experiences. The guides were absolutely 110% …
Panamanian Rick Morales has done what very few trekkers would even dare to attempt, let alone imagine: mapped out a new hiking trail across the length of his country. As …
In 2016 Secret Compass expedition leader Paul Taylor joined Team Rubicon on Operation Trogon in Haiti, working to assist those affected by the most powerful Caribbean hurricane in several years. A disaster …
The best thing about the expedition for me was seeing parts of the world you would never see unless you hiked there. Only a few people will see the sights …
expedition snapshot
Adventurer Tom Allen on why Armenia should not be overlooked
expedition snapshot
new to Secret Compass? Read on…
to Tibesti and Emi Koussi
rafting challenge: accepted
packrafting in Sierra Leone
expedition snapshot