Jacek Edward Pałkiewicz

Pałkiewicz wrote fascinating pages into the book of worldwide adventure epic. He managed expeditions organized like last century ones: through deserts of Gobi and Sahara — aboard camels, though Borneo (from a coast to another one) – onboard a pirogue, through the desert of the Skeleton Coast – on foot, to the cold pole in Oimyakon — by deer sledges. He tried to refine the borderline between Europe and Asia and followed Dersu Uzala’s route. In 1994, under the authority of Trud newspaper, he organized an ecological mission through Krasnoyarsk Krai, consisting of astronauts from 5 countries, pushing all earthians for participation in maintaining of our still alive planet. But especially, he was proud of his ocean travel: in 1975, he crossed the Atlantic ocean in the role of voluntarily “wrecker” in an emergency boat (44 days).

Jacek Pałkiewicz was born during the Second World War in a labor camp in Germany. He started his traveler’s career as an officer in a commercial vessel flying the flag of Panama.  In 1972 — 1973, he was a diamond mining inspector in Sierra Leone and at gold mine in Ghana. In 1975, he graduated from the school of journalistic in Milan and after that worked as a journalist, particularly for a supplement to the well-known Italian newspaper Coriere della Sera. In 1982 Pałkiewicz, based on his professional traveler’s experience, founded first European survival school. He researched limitations of the human capacity in hard climatic zones under extreme loads. Pałkiewicz prepared anti terroristic brigades for actions in jungles and desert sands. He also trained rescue workers of Emergency Response Ministry in Southern America. In 1998, he won Amber Butterfly Grand Prix for the best travel book of the year. (TERRA INCOGNITA — Bellona Publishing House).

As a member of member of Russian Geographical society, Pałkiewicz, in summer 1996, made the last geographical discovery of the century under its flag. The international scientific expedition, which he managed, determined the precise location of head of the great river of Amazon. Results of this work allowed increasing its length which males up 7000 km, i. e. 300 km over the Neil length. For this discovery, recognized by Peru government, he was awarded with a title of Companion of Order ‘For Merit to the Italian Republic” and with Polish Golden Cross. In 2011, Peru government has unveiled a memorial with a commemorative tablet in honor of discovery, at the Amazon head.

Jacek writings include more than 30 books. His reports continuously attract attention of readers of well-known European magazines. In Russia, his works were published in such magazines as Itogi, Vokrug Sveta, Moskovsky Komsomolets, Komsomolskaya Pravda GEO, National Geographic Traveler, and Izvestia.

In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI has given to him the golden cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. He is the honorable ambassador of Mazuria in the worldwide competition “New 7 wonders of nature.” Andrzej Kapłanek described his achievements in biography Pałkiewicz: Explorer’s way.

Since 1972, he has organized a number of expeditions into different regions of the world:

- Sahara (1972)

- Atlantic Ocean (single voyage) (1975)

- Burma (1979)

- Amazon (1984 и 1996)

- Borneo (1986)

- Siberia (cold pole) (1989)

- Namibia (1990)

- Vietnam (1992),

- Upper Orinoco (1994)

- River of Mamberamo (Indonesia) (1994)

- Bhutan (1995),

- Roraima (Tepui) (Venezuela) (1997)

- Desert of Atacama (Chile) (1999)

- Amazonia (1999),

- Peru – searches of the Golden Town of Paititi (2004).

- Borneo – island from coast to coast (2006)

- Amazonas (Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil) (2007)

- Sarawak, Vietnam (2008)

- West Papua (2009)

- Patagonia (2010)

- Rio Negro (2011)

- Transamazonica (Quito-Belem) (2012)

- Takla Makan (2012)