Wheeler Expeditions was founded by famed explorer-adventurer Dr. Jack Wheeler in 1977, specializing in one-of-a-kind ‘adventures of a lifetime.”

In its founding year, 1977, Wheeler Expeditions conducted a “First Contact” expedition, locating a cannibal tribe in Papua New Guinea never before contacted by the outside world.  Calling themselves the Wali-Ali-Fo and inhabiting a small valley above the headwaters of the April River (a tributary of the Sepik River), they ate “man long pig” -- the cooked meat of a tribal elder so that “he would continue to live in the bodies of his friends.”

The following year, 1978, “Dr. Jack” led the first commercial expedition in history to the Geographical North Pole.  He has now led 21 expeditions to 90º North Latitude, the very top of the world.  He is in the Guinness Book of World Records for “the most northerly parachute jump,” the first free fall sky-dive onto the sea-ice at the North Pole.

Among the many Wheeler Expeditions conducted over the years have been:

• Retracing Hannibal’s route over the Alps, taking two elephants over the Col du Clapier (now on the French-Italian border), the actual pass Hannibal used to attack Rome in 218 BC.
• 4WD Tibet Overland expeditions from Beijing to Kathmandu via northern Tibet, Lhasa, and Mt. Everest;  Lhasa to Kashgar via western Tibet and circumambulating Mt. Kailas;  Kunming to Lhasa via Asia’s Great River Trenches (crossing over from the Mekong to the Salween to the Yangtse) and eastern Tibet.
• 4WD Sahara Overland expeditions across Niger to the Lost City of Djado, and the Tasili N’Ajer Plateau of southern Algeria.
• “Kalahari First Contact” expedition to reach a never-before-contacted band of !Kung Busmen in the Botswana-Namibia border area of the Kalahari Desert.

Wheeler Expeditions has conducted a number of Family and Father-Son Expeditions to Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, the Amazon, East Africa, and elsewhere.

Dr. Wheeler's son began participating in expeditions at age 5.  He has been exploring the world ever since, to Africa, the Amazon, the North Pole, and the Himalayas, has climbed four of the “Seven Summits” -- Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua, and Kosciusko – and has become an accomplished expedition leader. 

In the summer of 2005, He will lead a select group of adventurers on The Gods and Heroes Triathlon.

This is an adventure for the young and fit, and the young at heart – a  Fun Triathlon – not a competitive one.  The object is to have as much fun as possible experiencing and recreating the most legendary athletic achievements in history:  Swimming the Hellespont like legendary Leander in Greek mythology… Climbing Mount Olympus to the abode of the Greek gods… and running the original Marathon of 490 BC in the footsteps of Pheidippides.

Yes, you have to be in good shape.  But this is a personal challenge, a personal adventure.  The goal is to participate in history, not compete against it.  It is not to compete against your fellow adventurers, but to share legendary experiences together that you will all never forget for the rest of your lives.

In addition to leading a number of private expeditions during 2005, Dr. Wheeler will be conducting Conservatives on the Nile in March, and Conservatives on Safari in June.  That’s right – no liberals allowed!  (The Washington Post called Dr. Wheeler “The Indiana Jones of the Right,” while Outside Magazine labeled him “The Ollie North of Adventure Travel”!)

Is there an “Adventure of a Lifetime” that you have always dreamed of having?  We can design and run it for you.  Let us know what your dreams of adventure are!  Contact us at:  info@wheelerexpeditions.com.  And Click Here to be placed on the Wheeler Expeditions Mailing List.