Mesa Legend - ARCHIVES - Vol. 39, Issue 6


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Volume 39, Issue 6
November 13, 2001

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Biologist follows call of adventure
Classrooms to share thrill of African trek

BY Sandi Matthews
Mesa Legend

A new MCC biology teacher, Dennis Wilson, may find Mesa less exciting when compared to his last teaching adventure – trekking 24,000 miles across 23 countries in a trip that started in Pretoria, South Africa, and ended a year later in the United Kingdom.

This journey was an educational project. In conjunction with the Information Technology/Instruction Support Group in ASU’s Department of Education, Wilson and Aaron S. Frick, a video producer for TCI Media Services in New Mexico, used the latest technology to create "The African Edventure."

Using satellite phone, computer, and digital photography equipment, Wilson and his companion sent back diary entries, photographs, and video clips. These were posted on a web site that attracted more than 100,000 visitors in an 18-month period.

According to Wilson, the project began with two months spent on rebuilding a 1971 Land Rover to accommodate their needs on the trip. "We added a pop-up tent to the top to keep away from the animals at night," Wilson said.

Wilson said that the most exciting part of the trip was the world’s highest bungie jump that measured 216 meters from the Bloukrans River Bridge on South Africa’s southern shore overlooking the Indian Ocean. Wilson described the jump as the most peaceful feeling he had ever felt.

According to Wilson, the jump was a lesson in gravity for the visitors to the web site.

Wilson and Frick encountered cheetahs, lions and penguins. In Sudan, Wilson also had the misfortune of encountering a virus, which he deemed as his least favorite part of the trip.

Just after they crossed the border into Southern Ethiopia, they were hi-jacked by 12 to 15 men armed with AK47s. One pushed his way into their car and demanded American money. They gave them $14 and were let go.

"The Ethiopian Mursi Tribe were very interesting people," Wilson said about the tribe that allowed Flick to film them. The video of tribe women with lip plates was later seen on Ripley’s "Believe it or Not" television show.

Wilson described the 6-day journey up Kilamanjaro as a major highlight of the trip.

Once they reached the 20,000-foot summit, they took pictures and sent them back to the web site via satellite phone.

According to Wilson, this was the first time that this had been done. "It was negative 20 degrees Celsius and I didn’t think I would be able to send the photos. My fingers felt frozen after I took my gloves off to type," Wilson said.

The modified Land Rover did its job.

It lasted the whole trip, though it did have a few problems. In Sudan, they encountered mud and clay so thick that they could only drive about eight miles a day. At one point in the journey, they only had the first and fourth gears working on the car.

Research specialist Angel Jannasch was in charge of the technology links and equipment for the trip.

She also maintained the web site.

According to Jannasch, the web site was used by schools around the world. The main target was students between grades K-8 but there were some high schools involved.

"The most interesting response was the several hundred home-schooled children throughout Arizona (who) participated (by visiting the web site)," Jannasch said.

According to Jannasch, the web site, www.african-edventure.org, contains the original diary entries, pictures and videos of the journey.

The web site will be updated by her team in January.

Wilson is working on a book and documentary, and will unitize his experiences in the classroom.

See more of Africa

Photos by Dennis Wilson.
MCC Biology instructor Dennis Wilson calls his wife in front of the pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, one of many stops he made on a yearlong trek of Africa.