Trips. Presentation of the great travelers of Russia

9 chosen

If you think that with the passing of the Age of Great Geographical Discovery, outstanding travelers also disappeared into oblivion, then you are mistaken! Our contemporaries also made the most amazing journeys. Among them are scientists who went in search of confirmation of their theories, researchers depths of the sea, and simply adventurers who ventured into trip around the world alone or with like-minded people. Much has been written about their travels. documentaries, and thanks to them, we can see the whole world through their eyes, real, alive, full of dangers and adventures.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Captain Cousteau is a famous French explorer of the World Ocean, author of books and films, and inventor. The world's oceans have revealed many of their secrets and shown the previously inaccessible beauty of their depths to a huge number of scuba diving enthusiasts. We can say that Captain Cousteau is the father of modern diving, because it was he who created the main diving apparatus. While researching the underwater world of our planet, Cousteau created the famous floating laboratory "Callisto" and the first diving apparatus "Denise". Jacques Cousteau captivated millions of people by showing them on movie screens how beautiful undersea world, giving the opportunity to see what was previously inaccessible to man.

Thor Heyerdahl

The name of the most famous Norwegian of the 20th century is spelled "Thor" in his native language, just like the name of one of the main gods of Norse mythology, Thor. He made many trips on homemade watercraft to bring ancient civilizations into contact with each other. Heyerdahl proved his theory about residents visiting in practice South America islands of Polynesia, since the scientific world did not accept his ideas. Together with his team, he reached Raroia Atoll in 101 days, sailing 4,300 miles. This was one of his most famous voyages, the Kon-Tiki Expedition, on a homemade raft. The film he shot during his trip won an Oscar in 1951. And in 1969, he set out on a new dangerous expedition on a papyrus boat to prove, to prove the possibility of crossing the Atlantic Ocean by African peoples. However, Thor Heyerdahl's first voyage on the boat "Ra" ended in failure; the boat sank just 600 miles short of the island of Barbados. A year later, the stubborn Norwegian repeated his journey and sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 57 days. By the way, the doctor on this expedition was our compatriot Yuri Senkevich. Heyerdahl later visited Maldives, in Peru and Tenerife.

Yuri Senkevich

The popular TV presenter of the program "Travelers Club" Yuri Senkevich was on the list of the most famous travelers not only as the doctor of Thor Heyerdahl's expedition. His “track record” as a traveler is respectable:

as a medical researcher, Senkevich was trained to participate in space flight, participated in the 12th Antarctic expedition to the Vostok station in order to study human behavior in extreme conditions, traveled on the papyrus boat "Ra", then on the "Ra-2" and in the Indian Ocean on the "Tigris". Millions of Soviet television viewers were able to see the world, as they joked “through the eyes of Sienkiewicz.” By the way, the program “Cinema Travel Club” was entered into the Guinness Book of Records.

Nikolay Drozdov

More than 40 years ago, Nikolai Nikolaevich Drozdov became the host of the popular TV show “In the Animal World.” An avid traveler, a “gallant know-it-all”, who spends hours talking about animals as the most wonderful and beautiful creatures in the world - be it an elephant, a bug, or even a poisonous snake. An amazing and wonderful person, the idol of millions of viewers in our country, listening to his stories about interesting facts from the life of birds, reptiles, domestic and wild animals, about the beauty of our nature is an incomparable pleasure, because only a person in love with life can tell this way. Interesting fact about Nikolai Nikolaevich himself - his great-great-great-grandfather was Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, and his maternal great-great-grandfather Ivan Romanovich von Dreiling was an orderly of Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov.

Nikolai Drozdov has traveled all over the world, all zoological and National parks, studying the habitats and habits of animals in natural conditions, climbed Elbrus, participated in a long expedition on the research vessel "Callisto" and in the first Soviet expedition to Everest, went to the North Pole twice, walked along the Northern Sea Route on an icebreaker " Yamal", sailed along the coast of Alaska and Canada on the Discovery.

Fedor Konyukhov

A lone traveler who conquered what seemed impossible to conquer, who more than once overcame a path that was impossible to travel alone - the great contemporary Fyodor Konyukhov. The first among travelers who conquered the North and South Poles, seas, oceans and highest peaks world, as proven by more than 40 expeditions he made to the most inaccessible places on our planet. Among them are five trips around the world, a solo voyage across the Atlantic (which, by the way, he crossed more than once) on a rowing boat. Konyukhov was the first to cross the Pacific Ocean from continent to continent. But the life of our busy compatriot is not filled with travel alone - Fyodor Konyukhov became the youngest member of the Union of Artists of the USSR and the author of twelve books about travel. There were new plans ahead: a flight around the world on hot-air balloon and a circumnavigation of the world in 80 days for the Jules Verne Cup, as well as diving in Mariana Trench. However, having been ordained a priest in 2010, Fyodor Konyukhov decided not to travel anymore, but... the ways of the Lord are mysterious and famous traveler again at the helm. This spring, he “broke” the Russian record and stayed in the air in a balloon for 19 hours and 10 minutes.

Bear Grylls

Fame came to the young English traveler thanks to the highest-rated television program on the Discovery Channel, “Survive at Any Cost,” which first aired in October 2006. The TV presenter and traveler not only “entertains” the audience with beautiful views of the most amazing places planet, his goal is to convey to the audience life recommendations that can be useful in unforeseen situations.

The list of his travels is respectful: he sailed around British Isles in thirty days, crossed to inflatable boat North Atlantic, on a plane from steam engine flew over Angel Falls, paraglided over the Himalayas, led an expedition to one of the most distant unclimbed peaks in Antarctica and held... a gala dinner in a balloon at an altitude of over seven thousand meters! Most of Grylls' expeditions are for charity.

Abbey Sunderland

Not only men can boast of friendship with the wind of wanderings - Abby Sunderland, a young traveler who, at the age of 16, circumnavigated the world alone on a yacht, will give a head start to many men. The determination of Abby’s parents is surprising, because they not only allowed her to participate in such a dangerous enterprise, but also helped her prepare for it. Alas, the first start on January 23, 2010 was unsuccessful and Abby made a second attempt on February 6. The journey turned out to be more dangerous than expected: between Australia and Africa, 2 thousand miles from the coast, the hull of the yacht was damaged and the engine failed. After this message, communication was interrupted, the search for Abby's yacht was unsuccessful and she was declared missing. A month later, Australian rescuers in the area of ​​a severe storm discovered the lost yacht and Abby alive and unharmed. Who will say after this that a woman has no place on a ship?

Jason Lewis

And finally, the most original of modern travelers, who spent 13 years traveling around the world! Why so long? The simple fact is that Jason refused any technology or any achievements of civilization. The former janitor and his friend Steve Smith went around the world by bike, boat and rollerblades! The expedition started from Greenwich in 1994; in February 1995, the travelers reached the shores of the United States and, after 111 days of sailing, decided to cross America separately on roller skates. Lewis had to interrupt his trip for 9 months after an accident. After recovery, Lewis goes to Hawaii, from where he sails on a pedal boat to Australia, where he had to spend some time earning money for further travel... by selling T-shirts. In 2005, he reaches Singapore and then crosses China and India by bicycle. By March 2007, he reached Africa and also crossed the whole of Europe on a bicycle: Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany and Belgium. After swimming across the English Channel, Jason Lewis returned to London in October 2007.


Russian navigators, along with European ones, are the most famous pioneers who discovered new continents, sections of mountain ranges and vast water areas. They became discoverers of significant geographical objects, took the first steps in the development of hard-to-reach territories, and traveled around the world. So who are they, the conquerors of the seas, and what exactly did the world learn about thanks to them?

Afanasy Nikitin - the very first Russian traveler

Afanasy Nikitin is rightfully considered the first Russian traveler who managed to visit India and Persia (1468-1474, according to other sources 1466-1472). On the way back he visited Somalia, Turkey, and Muscat. Based on his travels, Afanasy compiled the notes “Walking across the Three Seas,” which became popular and unique historical and literary aids. These notes became the first book in Russian history not written in the format of a story about a pilgrimage, but describing the political, economic and cultural features of the territories.


He was able to prove that even being a member of a poor peasant family, you can become a famous explorer and traveler. Streets and embankments in several places are named after him. Russian cities, motor ship, passenger train and airflight.

Semyon Dezhnev, who founded the Anadyr fortress

Cossack ataman Semyon Dezhnev was an Arctic navigator who became the discoverer of a number of geographical objects. Wherever Semyon Ivanovich served, everywhere he sought to study new and previously unknown things. He was even able to cross the East Siberian Sea on a homemade kocha, going from Indigirka to Alazeya.

In 1643, as part of a detachment of explorers, Semyon Ivanovich discovered Kolyma, where he and his associates founded the city of Srednekolymsk. A year later, Semyon Dezhnev continued his expedition, walked along the Bering Strait (which did not yet have this name) and discovered the most eastern point continent, later called Cape Dezhnev. An island, a peninsula, a bay, and a village also bear his name.


In 1648, Dezhnev hit the road again. His ship was wrecked in the waters located in the southern part of the Anadyr River. Having arrived on skis, the sailors went up the river and stayed there for the winter. Subsequently this place appeared on geographical maps and received the name Anadyrsky fort. As a result of the expedition, the traveler was able to do detailed descriptions, make a map of those places.

Vitus Jonassen Bering, who organized expeditions to Kamchatka

Two Kamchatka expeditions inscribed the names of Vitus Bering and his associate Alexei Chirikov into the history of marine discoveries. During the first voyage, the navigators conducted research and were able to supplement the geographical atlas with objects located in Northeast Asia and on the Pacific coast of Kamchatka.

The discovery of the Kamchatka and Ozerny peninsulas, the Kamchatka, Krest, Karaginsky bays, Provedeniya Bay, and St. Lawrence Island is also the merit of Bering and Chirikov. At the same time, another strait was found and described, which later became known as the Bering Strait.


The second expedition was undertaken by them with the aim of finding a way to North America and the study of the Pacific Islands. On this journey, Bering and Chirikov founded the Peter and Paul fort. It took its name from the combined names of their ships (“St. Peter” and “St. Paul”) and subsequently became the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

On the approach to the shores of America, the ships of like-minded people lost sight of each other, due to heavy fog. "St. Peter", controlled by Bering, sailed to west coast America, but was caught in a severe storm on the way back - the ship was thrown onto an island. The last minutes of Vitus Bering’s life passed on it, and the island subsequently began to bear his name. Chirikov also reached America on his ship, but completed his voyage safely, having discovered several islands of the Aleutian ridge on the way back.

Khariton and Dmitry Laptev and their “name” sea

Cousins ​​Khariton and Dmitry Laptev were like-minded people and assistants to Vitus Bering. It was he who appointed Dmitry as commander of the ship “Irkutsk”, and his double boat “Yakutsk” was led by Khariton. They took part in the Great Northern Expedition, the purpose of which was to study, accurately describe and map the Russian shores of the ocean, from the Yugorsky Shar to Kamchatka.

Each of the brothers made a significant contribution to the development of new territories. Dmitry became the first navigator to take photographs of the coast from the mouth of the Lena to the mouth of the Kolyma. He compiled detailed maps of these places, using mathematical calculations and astronomical data as a basis.


Khariton Laptev and his associates conducted research on the northernmost section of the Siberian coast. It was he who determined the dimensions and outlines of the huge Taimyr Peninsula - he carried out surveys of its eastern coast, and was able to identify the exact coordinates of the coastal islands. The expedition took place in difficult conditions - a large number of ice, snowstorms, scurvy, ice captivity - Khariton Laptev’s team had to endure a lot. But they continued the work they had started. On this expedition, Laptev's assistant Chelyuskin discovered a cape, which was later named in his honor.

Noting the great contribution of the Laptevs to the development of new territories, members of the Russian Geographical Society decided to name one of them after them. largest seas Arctic. Also, the strait between the mainland and the island of Bolshoy Lyakhovsky is named in honor of Dmitry, and the western coast of the island of Taimyr is named after Khariton.

Krusenstern and Lisyansky - organizers of the first Russian circumnavigation

Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky are the first Russian navigators to circumnavigate the world. Their expedition lasted three years (began in 1803 and ended in 1806). They and their teams set off on two ships, which were named “Nadezhda” and “Neva”. The travelers passed through Atlantic Ocean, entered the waters Pacific Ocean. The sailors followed them to Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and Sakhalin.


This trip allowed me to collect important information. Based on data obtained by seafarers, a detailed map Pacific Ocean. Another important result of the first Russian round the world expedition became the data obtained on the flora and fauna of the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka, local residents, their customs and cultural traditions.

During their journey, the sailors crossed the equator and, according to maritime traditions, could not leave this event without a well-known ritual - a sailor dressed as Neptune greeted Kruzenshtern and asked why his ship had arrived where the Russian flag had never been. To which I received the answer that they are here solely for the glory and development of domestic science.

Vasily Golovnin - the first navigator who was rescued from Japanese captivity

Russian navigator Vasily Golovnin led two expeditions around the world. In 1806, he, being in the rank of lieutenant, received a new appointment and became commander of the sloop "Diana". Interestingly, this is the only case in the history of the Russian fleet when a lieutenant was entrusted with the control of a ship.

The leadership set the goal of the round-the-world expedition to study the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, with special attention to that part of it that is located within the borders of their native country. Diana's path was not easy. The sloop passed the island of Tristan da Cunha, passed the Cape of Hope and entered a port owned by the British. Here the ship was detained by the authorities. The British informed Golovnin about the outbreak of war between the two countries. The Russian ship was not declared captured, but the crew was not allowed to leave the bay. Having spent more than a year in this situation, in mid-May 1809 the Diana, led by Golovnin, tried to escape, which the sailors successfully succeeded in doing - the ship arrived in Kamchatka.


Golovnin received his next important task in 1811 - he was supposed to compile descriptions of the Shantar and Kuril Islands, the shores of the Tatar Strait. During his journey, he was accused of not adhering to the principles of sakoku and was captured by the Japanese for more than 2 years. It was possible to rescue the team from captivity only thanks to the good relations between one of the Russian naval officers and an influential Japanese merchant, who was able to convince his government of the harmless intentions of the Russians. It is worth noting that before this, no one in history had ever returned from Japanese captivity.

In 1817-1819, Vasily Mikhailovich made another trip around the world on the Kamchatka ship, specially built for this purpose.

Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev - discoverers of Antarctica

Captain of the second rank Thaddeus Bellingshausen was determined to find the truth in the question of the existence of the sixth continent. In 1819, he went out to the open sea, carefully preparing two sloops - Mirny and Vostok. The latter was commanded by his like-minded friend Mikhail Lazarev. The first round-the-world Antarctic expedition set itself other tasks. In addition to finding irrefutable facts confirming or refuting the existence of Antarctica, the travelers planned to explore the waters of three oceans - the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian.


The results of this expedition exceeded all expectations. During the 751 days that it lasted, Bellingshausen and Lazarev were able to make several significant geographical discoveries. Of course, the most important of them is the existence of Antarctica, this historical event occurred on January 28, 1820. Also, during the trip, about two dozen islands were found and mapped, sketches of Antarctic views, and images of representatives of the Antarctic fauna were created.


Interestingly, attempts to discover Antarctica were made more than once, but none of them were successful. European navigators believed that either it did not exist, or it was located in places that were simply impossible to reach by sea. But the Russian travelers had enough perseverance and determination, so the names of Bellingshausen and Lazarev were included in the lists greatest navigators peace.

There are also modern travelers. One of them .

If you think that all outstanding wanderers remained in the era of great geographical discoveries, then we hasten to convince you: our contemporaries also make amazing journeys. It is these people that we will talk about.

Photo: background-pictures.picphotos.net

If we talk about the great travelers of our time, then we cannot ignore the unique talent of Fyodor Filippovich Konyukhov to conquer what, at first glance, is impossible to conquer. Today Konyukhov is the first of the best travelers on the planet to conquer the North and South Poles, the highest peaks of the world, seas and oceans. He has more than forty expeditions to the most inaccessible places on our planet.

A descendant of northern Pomors from the Arkhangelsk province was born on the shore Sea of ​​Azov in the fishing village of Chkalovo. His insatiable thirst for knowledge led to the fact that already at the age of 15, Fedor sailed across the Sea of ​​Azov on a fishing rowing boat. This was the first step towards great achievements. Over the next twenty years, Konyukhov takes part in expeditions to the North and South Poles, conquers the highest peaks, makes four trips around the world, participates in a dog sled race, and crosses the Atlantic Ocean fifteen times. In 2002, the traveler made a solo voyage across the Atlantic in a rowing boat and set a record. More recently, on May 31, 2014, Konyukhov was greeted in Australia with several records at once. The famous Russian became the first to cross the Pacific Ocean from continent to continent. It cannot be said that Fyodor Filippovich is a person fixated only on travel. In addition to the nautical school, the great traveler has the Belarusian Art School in Bobruisk and the Modern Humanitarian University in Moscow. In 1983, Fyodor Konyukhov became the youngest member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. He is also the author of twelve books about own experience overcoming the difficulties of travel. At the end of the legendary crossing of the Pacific Ocean, Konyukhov said that he was not going to stop there. His plans include new projects: flying around the world in a hot air balloon, circumnavigating the world in 80 days for the Jules Verne Cup on a keelboat with a crew, diving into the Mariana Trench.

Today, this young English traveler, TV presenter and writer is known to an audience of millions thanks to the highest-rated television program on the Discovery Channel. In October 2006, the program “Survive at Any Cost” began airing with his participation. The goal of the TV presenter is not only to entertain the viewer, but also to give valuable advice and recommendations that can be useful in unforeseen situations.

Bear was born in Great Britain into a family of hereditary diplomats and received an excellent education at the elite Ladgrove School and the University of London. Parents did not interfere with their son’s passion for sailing, rock climbing and martial arts. But the future traveler acquired the skills of endurance and the ability to survive in the army, where he mastered parachute jumping and mountaineering. These skills helped him subsequently achieve his cherished goal - conquering Everest. This event occurred at the very end of the last century, in 1998. Bear Grylls has simply irrepressible energy. The list of his travels is huge. From 2000 to 2007 he sailed around the British Isles in thirty days to raise funds for the British Royal Water Rescue Society; crossed the North Atlantic on an inflatable boat; flew over Angel Falls in a steam-powered airplane, had lunch in a balloon at an altitude of more than seven thousand meters; paraglided over the Himalayas... In 2008, the traveler led an expedition organized with the goal of climbing one of the most remote unconquered peaks in Antarctica. Almost all expeditions in which Grylls participates are charitable.

If you think that long journeys are the prerogative of the strong half of humanity, then you are deeply mistaken. And this was proven by the young American Abby Sunderland, who at the age of 16 circumnavigated the world alone on a yacht. It’s interesting that Abby’s parents not only allowed her to undertake such a risky undertaking, but also helped her prepare for it. It should be noted that the girl’s father is a professional sailor.

On January 23, 2010, the yacht left the port of Marina Del Rey in California. Unfortunately, the first voyage was unsuccessful. The second attempt took place on February 6. Very soon Abby reported damage to the yacht's hull and engine failure. At this time she was between Australia and Africa, 2 thousand miles from the coast. After this, contact with the girl was interrupted, and nothing was known about her. The search operation was unsuccessful, and Abby was declared missing. However, a month later, a distress signal was received from the yacht from the southern Indian Ocean. After 11 hours of searching by Australian rescuers, a yacht was discovered in a severe storm area, in which, fortunately, Abby was safe and sound. A large supply of food and water helped her survive. The girl reported that all the time after the last communication session she had to overcome the storm, and she was physically unable to get in touch and send a radiogram. Abby's example inspires those with a brave spirit to test their limits and never stop there.

One of the most original travelers of our time spent thirteen years of his life on his unusual journey around the world. The non-standard situation was that Jason refused the achievements of civilization in the form of any technology. The former British cleaner went on his trip around the world with a bicycle, a boat and... rollerblades!

Photo: mikaelstrandberg.com

The expedition started from Greenwich in 1994. 27-year-old Lewis chose his friend Steve Smith as his partner. In February 1995, travelers reached the United States. After 111 days of sailing, the friends decided to cross the states separately. In 1996, Lewis, traveling on roller skates, was hit by a car. He spent nine months in the hospital. After recovery, Lewis goes to Hawaii, and from there sails on a pedal boat to Australia. On Solomon Islands he hit the epicenter civil war, and off the coast of Australia he was attacked by an alligator. Upon arrival in Australia, Lewis interrupts his trip due to financial difficulties and for some time works in a funeral home and sells T-shirts. In 2005, he moved to Singapore, from there to China, from which he moved to India. Having crossed the country by bicycle, the Briton reached Africa by March 2007. The rest of Lewis's journey takes him through Europe. He cycled through Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany and Belgium, then swam across the English Channel before returning to London in October 2007, completing his unique journey around the world. James Lewis proved to the whole world and to himself that there are no limits to human capabilities.

Photo: mikaelstrandberg.com

If you think that with the passing of the Age of Great Geographical Discovery, outstanding travelers also disappeared into oblivion, then you are mistaken! Our contemporaries also made the most amazing journeys. Among them are scientists who went in search of confirmation of their theories, explorers of the deep sea, and simply adventurers who risked going on a trip around the world alone or with like-minded people. Many documentaries have been created about their travels, and thanks to them, we can see the whole world through their eyes, real, alive, full of dangers and adventures.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Captain Cousteau is a famous French explorer of the World Ocean, author of books and films, and inventor. The world's oceans have revealed many of their secrets and shown the previously inaccessible beauty of their depths to a huge number of scuba diving enthusiasts. We can say that Captain Cousteau is the father of modern diving, because it was he who created the main diving apparatus. While researching the underwater world of our planet, Cousteau created the famous floating laboratory "Callisto" and the first diving apparatus "Denise".

Jacques Cousteau captivated millions of people by showing them on movie screens how beautiful the underwater world is, giving them the opportunity to see what was previously inaccessible to humans.

Thor Heyerdahl

The name of the most famous Norwegian of the 20th century is spelled "Thor" in his native language, just like the name of one of the main gods of Norse mythology, Thor. He made many trips on homemade watercraft to bring ancient civilizations into contact with each other. Heyerdahl proved in practice his theory about the inhabitants of South America visiting the islands of Polynesia, since the scientific world did not accept his ideas.

Together with his team, he reached Raroia Atoll in 101 days, sailing 4,300 miles. This was one of his most famous voyages, the Kon-Tiki Expedition, on a homemade raft. The film he shot during his trip won an Oscar in 1951.

And in 1969, he set out on a new dangerous expedition on a papyrus boat to prove, to prove the possibility of crossing the Atlantic Ocean by African peoples. However, Thor Heyerdahl's first voyage on the boat "Ra" ended in failure; the boat sank just 600 miles short of the island of Barbados.

A year later, the stubborn Norwegian repeated his journey and sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 57 days. By the way, the doctor on this expedition was our compatriot Yuri Senkevich. Heyerdahl later visited the Maldives, Peru and Tenerife.

Yuri Senkevich

The popular TV presenter of the program "Travelers Club" Yuri Senkevich was on the list of the most famous travelers not only as the doctor of Thor Heyerdahl's expedition. His “track record” as a traveler is respectable:

as a medical researcher, Senkevich was trained to participate in space flight,
participated in the 12th Antarctic expedition to the Vostok station in order to study human behavior in extreme conditions,
traveled on the papyrus boat "Ra", then on the "Ra-2" and in the Indian Ocean on the "Tigris".

Millions of Soviet television viewers were able to see the world, as they joked “through the eyes of Sienkiewicz.” By the way, the program “Cinema Travel Club” was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Nikolay Drozdov

More than 40 years ago, Nikolai Nikolaevich Drozdov became the host of the popular TV show “In the Animal World.” An avid traveler, a “gallant know-it-all”, who spends hours talking about animals as the most wonderful and beautiful creatures in the world - be it an elephant, a bug, or even a poisonous snake. An amazing and wonderful person, the idol of millions of viewers in our country, listening to whose stories about interesting facts from the life of birds, reptiles, domestic and wild animals, about the beauty of our nature is an incomparable pleasure, because only a person in love with life can talk like that.

An interesting fact about Nikolai Nikolaevich himself - his great-great-great-grandfather was Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, and his maternal great-great-grandfather Ivan Romanovich von Dreiling was an orderly of Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov.

Nikolai Drozdov traveled all over the world, all zoological and national parks, studying the habitats and habits of animals in natural conditions, climbed Elbrus, participated in a long expedition on the research vessel "Callisto" and in the first Soviet expedition to Everest, went to Mount Everest twice. The North Pole, walked along the Northern Sea Route on the icebreaker Yamal, sailed along the coasts of Alaska and Canada on the Discovery.

Fedor Konyukhov

A lone traveler who conquered what seemed impossible to conquer, who more than once overcame a path that was impossible to travel alone - the great contemporary Fyodor Konyukhov. The first among travelers who conquered the North and South Poles, seas, oceans and the highest peaks of the world, which is proven by more than 40 expeditions he made to the most inaccessible places on our planet. Among them are five trips around the world, a solo voyage across the Atlantic (which, by the way, he crossed more than once) on a rowing boat. Konyukhov was the first to cross the Pacific Ocean from continent to continent.

But the life of our famous compatriot is not filled with travel alone - Fyodor Konyukhov became the youngest member of the Union of Artists of the USSR and the author of twelve books about travel. There were new plans ahead: a flight around the world in a hot air balloon and a circumnavigation in 80 days for the Jules Verne Cup, as well as a dive into the Mariana Trench. However, having been ordained a priest in 2010, Fyodor Konyukhov decided not to travel anymore, but... the ways of the Lord are mysterious and the famous traveler is again at the helm. This spring, he “broke” the Russian record and stayed in the air in a balloon for 19 hours and 10 minutes.

Bear Grylls

Fame came to the young English traveler thanks to the highest-rated television program on the Discovery Channel, “Survive at Any Cost,” which first aired in October 2006. The TV presenter and traveler does not just “entertain” viewers with beautiful views of the most amazing places on the planet, his goal is to convey to the audience life recommendations that can be useful in unforeseen situations.

The list of his travels is impressive: he sailed around the British Isles in thirty days, crossed the North Atlantic in an inflatable boat, flew a steam-powered plane over Angel Falls, paraglided over the Himalayas, led an expedition to one of the most distant unclimbed peaks in Antarctica and arranged... a gala dinner in a balloon at an altitude of more than seven thousand meters! Most of Grylls' expeditions are for charity.

Abbey Sunderland

Not only men can boast of friendship with the wind of wanderings - Abby Sunderland, a young traveler who, at the age of 16, circumnavigated the world alone on a yacht, will give a head start to many men. The determination of Abby’s parents is surprising, because they not only allowed her to participate in such a dangerous enterprise, but also helped her prepare for it. Alas, the first start on January 23, 2010 was unsuccessful and Abby made a second attempt on February 6.

The journey turned out to be more dangerous than expected: between Australia and Africa, 2 thousand miles from the coast, the hull of the yacht was damaged and the engine failed. After this message, communication was interrupted, the search for Abby's yacht was unsuccessful and she was declared missing. A month later, Australian rescuers in the area of ​​a severe storm discovered the lost yacht and Abby alive and unharmed. Who will say after this that a woman has no place on a ship?

Jason Lewis

And finally, the most original of modern travelers, who spent 13 years traveling around the world! Why so long? The simple fact is that Jason refused any technology and all achievements of civilization. The former janitor and his friend Steve Smith went around the world by bike, boat and rollerblades!

The expedition started from Greenwich in 1994; in February 1995, the travelers reached the shores of the United States and, after 111 days of sailing, decided to cross America separately on roller skates. Lewis had to interrupt his trip for 9 months after an accident. After recovery, Lewis goes to Hawaii, from where he sails on a pedal boat to Australia, where he had to spend some time earning money for further travel... by selling T-shirts.

In 2005, he reaches Singapore and then crosses China and India by bicycle. By March 2007, he reached Africa and also crossed the whole of Europe on a bicycle: Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany and Belgium. After swimming across the English Channel, Jason Lewis returned to London in October 2007.


Without Russian discoverers, the world map would be completely different. Our compatriots - travelers and sailors - made discoveries that enriched world science. About the eight most noticeable ones - in our material.

Bellingshausen's first Antarctic expedition

In 1819, the navigator, captain of the 2nd rank, Thaddeus Bellingshausen led the first round-the-world Antarctic expedition. The purpose of the voyage was to explore the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as proof or refutation of the existence of the sixth continent - Antarctica. Having equipped two sloops - "Mirny" and "Vostok" (under the command), Bellingshausen's detachment went to sea.

The expedition lasted 751 days and wrote many bright pages in the history of geographical discoveries. The main one was made on January 28, 1820.

By the way, attempts to open the white continent had been made before, but did not bring the desired success: a little luck was missing, and perhaps Russian perseverance.

Thus, the navigator James Cook, summing up his second circumnavigation, wrote: “I walked around the ocean of the southern hemisphere in high latitudes and rejected the possibility of the existence of a continent, which, if it could be discovered, would only be near the pole in places inaccessible to navigation.”

During Bellingshausen's Antarctic expedition, more than 20 islands were discovered and mapped, sketches of Antarctic species and the animals living there were made, and the navigator himself went down in history as a great discoverer.

“The name of Bellingshausen can be directly placed alongside the names of Columbus and Magellan, with the names of those people who did not retreat in the face of difficulties and imaginary impossibilities created by their predecessors, with the names of people who followed their own independent path, and therefore were destroyers of barriers to discovery, which designate epochs,” wrote the German geographer August Petermann.

Discoveries of Semenov Tien-Shansky

Central Asia at the beginning of the 19th century was one of the least studied areas of the globe. An undeniable contribution to the study of the “unknown land” - as geographers called Central Asia - was made by Pyotr Semenov.

In 1856, the researcher’s main dream came true - he went on an expedition to the Tien Shan.

“My work on Asian geography led me to a thorough acquaintance with everything that was known about inner Asia. I was especially attracted to the most central of the Asian mountain ranges - the Tien Shan, which had not yet been touched by a European traveler and was known only from scanty Chinese sources.

Semenov's research in Central Asia lasted two years. During this time, the sources of the Chu, Syr Darya and Sary-Jaz rivers, the peaks of Khan Tengri and others were mapped.

The traveler established the location of the Tien Shan ridges, the height of the snow line in this area and discovered the huge Tien Shan glaciers.

In 1906, by decree of the emperor, for the merits of the discoverer, the prefix began to be added to his surname - Tien Shan.

Asia Przhevalsky

In the 70−80s. XIX century Nikolai Przhevalsky led four expeditions to Central Asia. This little-studied area has always attracted the researcher, and traveling to Central Asia has been his long-time dream.

Over the years of research have been studied mountain systems Kun-Lun , ridges of Northern Tibet, sources of the Yellow River and Yangtze, basins Kuku-nora and Lob-nora.

Przhevalsky was the second person after Marco Polo to reach lakes-swamps Lob-nora!

In addition, the traveler discovered dozens of species of plants and animals that are named after him.

“Happy fate made it possible to make a feasible exploration of the least known and most inaccessible countries of inner Asia,” Nikolai Przhevalsky wrote in his diary.

Kruzenshtern's circumnavigation

The names of Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky became known after the first Russian round-the-world expedition.

For three years, from 1803 to 1806. - that’s how long the first circumnavigation of the world lasted - the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva”, having passed through the Atlantic Ocean, rounded Cape Horn, and then through the waters of the Pacific Ocean reached Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. The expedition clarified the map of the Pacific Ocean and collected information about the nature and inhabitants of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.

During the voyage, Russian sailors crossed the equator for the first time. This event was celebrated, according to tradition, with the participation of Neptune.

The sailor, dressed as the lord of the seas, asked Krusenstern why he came here with his ships, because the Russian flag had not been seen in these places before. To which the expedition commander replied: “For the glory of science and our fatherland!”

Nevelsky Expedition

Admiral Gennady Nevelskoy is rightfully considered one of the outstanding navigators of the 19th century. In 1849 on transport ship"Baikal" he goes on an expedition to Far East.

The Amur expedition lasted until 1855, during which time Nevelskoy made several major discoveries in the area of ​​the lower reaches of the Amur and the northern shores Sea of ​​Japan, annexed the vast expanses of the Amur and Primorye regions to Russia.

Thanks to the navigator, it became known that Sakhalin is an island that is separated by the navigable Tatar Strait, and the mouth of the Amur is accessible for ships to enter from the sea.

In 1850, Nevelsky’s detachment founded the Nikolaev post, which today is known as Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.

“The discoveries made by Nevelsky are invaluable for Russia,” wrote Count Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky “Many previous expeditions to these regions could have achieved European glory, but none of them achieved domestic benefit, at least to the extent that Nevelskoy accomplished this.”

North of Vilkitsky

The purpose of the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean in 1910-1915. was the development of the Northern sea ​​route. By chance, captain 2nd rank Boris Vilkitsky took over the duties of the voyage leader. Icebreaking steamships "Taimyr" and "Vaigach" went to sea.

Vilkitsky moved through the northern waters from east to west, and during his voyage he was able to compile a true description north coast Eastern Siberia and many islands, received the most important information about currents and climate, and also became the first to make a through voyage from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk.

The expedition members discovered the Land of Emperor Nicholas I., known today as New Earth- this discovery is considered the last of the significant ones on the globe.

In addition, thanks to Vilkitsky, the islands of Maly Taimyr, Starokadomsky and Zhokhov were put on the map.

At the end of the expedition the First World War. The traveler Roald Amundsen, having learned about the success of Vilkitsky’s voyage, could not resist exclaiming to him:

"IN Peaceful time this expedition would excite the whole world!”

Kamchatka campaign of Bering and Chirikov

The second quarter of the 18th century was rich in geographical discoveries. All of them were made during the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions, which immortalized the names of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov.

During the First Kamchatka campaign Bering, the leader of the expedition, and his assistant Chirikov explored and mapped Pacific Coast Kamchatka and Northeast Asia. Two peninsulas were discovered - Kamchatsky and Ozerny, Kamchatka Bay, Karaginsky Bay, Cross Bay, Providence Bay and St. Lawrence Island, as well as the strait, which today bears the name of Vitus Bering.

Companions - Bering and Chirikov - also led the Second Kamchatka Expedition. The goal of the campaign was to find a route to North America and explore the Pacific Islands.

IN Avacha Bay The expedition members founded the Petropavlovsk fort - in honor of the ships "St. Peter" and "St. Paul" - which was later renamed Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

When the ships set sail to the shores of America, by the will of an evil fate, Bering and Chirikov began to act alone - due to fog, their ships lost each other.

"St. Peter" under the command of Bering reached the west coast of America.

And on the way back, the members of the expedition, who had to endure many difficulties, were washed up by a storm. small island. This is where Vitus Bering’s life ended, and the island where the expedition members stopped for the winter was named after Bering.
Chirikov’s “Saint Paul” also reached the shores of America, but for him the voyage ended more happily - on the way back he discovered a number of islands of the Aleutian ridge and safely returned to the Peter and Paul prison.

“Unclear Earthlings” by Ivan Moskvitin

Little is known about the life of Ivan Moskvitin, but this man nevertheless went down in history, and the reason for this was the new lands he discovered.

In 1639, Moskvitin, leading a detachment of Cossacks, set sail to the Far East. The main goal of the travelers was to “find new unknown lands” and collect furs and fish. The Cossacks crossed the Aldan, Mayu and Yudoma rivers, discovered the Dzhugdzhur ridge, separating the rivers of the Lena basin from the rivers flowing into the sea, and along the Ulya River they reached the “Lamskoye”, or Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Having explored the coast, the Cossacks discovered the Taui Bay and entered the Sakhalin Bay, rounding the Shantar Islands.

One of the Cossacks reported that the rivers in open lands“sable, there are a lot of all kinds of animals, and fish, and the fish are big, there is no such thing in Siberia... there are so many of them - just throw a net and you can’t drag it out with the fish...”.

Geographic data collected by Ivan Moskvitin formed the basis of the first map of the Far East.