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Mikael Strandberg was born in 1962 in Sweden. He started his professional career as an explorer 25 years ago. The multitalented Mikael is currently working as an explorer, a lecturer and a writer. Mikael has also produced three internationally renowned documentaries for television “PATAGONIA – 3,000 kilometres by horse” and “THE MASAAI PEOPLE – 1,000 kilometres by foot” and his much awarded, “-58 degrees – exploring Siberia on skies.” Expeditions 1986-1987 Mikael went by bicycle from Chile to Alaska, a distance of 27,500 kilometres. He crossed the El Darién Jungle, 800 kilometres of virgin rainforest between Panama and Colombia, without any roads. He carried his bike through swamps and a dense jungle for a month. 1989-1992 He went by bicycle from Norway to South Africa a distance of 33,000 kilometres, passing through the Sahara Desert. It took 3 months to push the bike through the dessert, with the help of only a manual compass. 1994 –1996 Mikael went by bicycle from New Zealand to Cairo traversing Asia, a distance of 90,000 kilometres. 1997- 1998 As a newly wed man Mikael was accompanied by his ex wife on his next expedition. This was also their honeymoon. Patagonia 3,000 kilometres by horse through an isolated, windy and painfully cold part of the world. 2000 Mikael walked through Maasailand in Eastern Africa, exploring all clans of the Maasai people. 2004 Mikael explored the unknown Kolyma River in North-Eastern Siberia. 3500 km:s by canoe and by skis in temperatures below -58 degrees Celsius. 2009/10 Expedition Arabia. On Hold! 12 500 km:s of travelling through the hottest inhabited places on earth, in the Arabian deserts and Sahara, with camel. Mikael has written seven books and numerous articles. He is frequently used by broadcasters for travel and adventure programmes. In Sweden Mikael has become a household name and Swedish Television SVT and National Geographic have made a documentary about his life. Mikael is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Explorers’ Club, Travellers Club and the Long Riders Guild. During the Siberian Expedition they carried Explorer Club´s Flag # 95 as a sign of it’s scientific interest and importance. He´ s an Honorary Ambassador of his native district Älvdalen. (2005) He´s also an Honorary Ambassador for Cappadocia, Turkey. (2010) He´ s the first Swede to lecture at the Royal Geographical Society since Charles John Anderson, 1867. And at the Explorers Club in New York, where he has lectured twice. He was awarded The Determination in the Face of Adversity Medal by the Explorers Club 2005. The Travellers Club of Sweden awarded him the prestigious Silver Medal in 2006. Travellers Club in Finland awarded Mikael the prestigious Mannerheim Medal at a ceremony in October, 2006. Mikael is considered as one of the worlds 50 most important and famous explorers, together with, for example, Sir Edmund Hillary, Jane Goddall, Reinhart Messner, Borge Ousland, Wade Davies, George Schaller and many more. They´re all featured in the book “Faces of Exploration”. Explorers Club in London considers Mikael “the best contemporary explorer in the world” at the present. Mikael has travelled to 117 countries. He has slept more than 2500 nights in his tent. Mikael is also a guide for various travel companies to places such as Galapagos, Patagonia, Siberia, Oman, New Guinea and the Polar areas. Mikael has also been included in the pages of Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives, with 120 other outstanding individuals, representing a Who’s Who of international exploration, relating those indelible moments in their youth when the dreams that launched their remarkable lives were born. Mikaels Siberian Journey was picked as one of the most important Expeditions in the 21st Century and was included in Explorers Clubs book, in the autumn of 2007, “They Lived To Tell the Tale – True Stories of Modern Adventure from the Legendary Explorers Club”.