RIVAL Group IS THE OFFICIAL COORGANIZER. EXPEDITION IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BENEDICT THE POLE REACHED ITS DESTINATION.
The expedition in the footsteps of Benedict the Pole set off from Warsaw on 4 August 2007 – four 4x4 Nissan cars took part in the undertaking. In two months time the participants covered 20 thousand km of wilderness following exactly the same itinerary as Poland’s first big traveller Benedict the Pole did in the 13th century. The aim of the expedition in the footsteps of Benedict the Pole was to popularize the figure of the Franciscan traveller who, in the company of Jan di Piano Carnini reached the court of the Mongolian Khan 25 years before Marco Polo managed to do it. This achievement, fully appreciated by international geographers and historians, is totally unknown in Poland. Expedition participants included TV presenter Krystyna Czubówna, celebrity traveller Beata Pawlikowska as well as a TV and technical crew (we will soon introduce the entire team)
Especially for the purposes of this expedition we delegated and supported for six months one of our men – Przek Maci±żek. In the meantime we participated in the everyday preparations and coordinated the cooperation with sponsors, partners and the media. Przemek acted as the Technical Manager of the expedition, he was also responsible for the off-road part of the project, navigation and running of the Mobile Press Office.
The itinerary of the expedition led through Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. By four cars, the participants got to places that are fascinating both from the historical and geographical point of view e.g. Kalmykia, Kazakh steppes, world’s second biggest canyon and historical battlefields. They also made an attempt to cross the high mountains of Kirgistan. This time for formal reasons and because of time shortage it was impossible to drive through the territory of China and the sands of Gobi desert – this challenge is still ahead of us! Another expedition may set off soon. The travellers faced a difficult challenge – not only did they have to go through a difficult and unknown territory but they were also there to collect materials for a documentary as well as a couple dozen of TV and radio appearances from the expedition in the footsteps of Benedict the Pole. The documentary is not just a relation from the contemporary travel but also an attempt to reconstruct the mediaeval voyage. It was Krystyna Czubówna, thus making her comeback to TV screens, who introduced the viewers to the fascinating Eastern lands, their current situation as well as historical background. Expedition in the footsteps of Benedict the Pole was the first one faithfully retracing the itinerary of the monk’s voyage from 750 years ago and its meaning for the contemporary Europe. Pro-Vita Jerzy Szkamruk was the company organizing the project. Preparations to the expeditions took many months – they were used to gather information about Benedict the Pole’s mission. There are no copies of Benedict’s report from his voyage to Karakorum. The relation from the expedition (known form two manuscripts – the Parisian and Viennese one) was translated into Polish only in 1986 and published in a low-circulation “St Anthony’s Calendar”. You are warmly invited to join the voyage by watching the current relations at the official website of the Expedition at: www.benedyktpolak.pl . --- RIVAL Group has for many years supported financially and as an organizer those Polish projects that combine team work with entertainment or adventure. The biggest ones included: BIG Brother, a two years long BELUGA Expedition as well as this year’s Expedition in the Footsteps of Benedict the Pole. The participation in this type of projects enables us to offer you new and interesting ideas for entertainment and team building purposes. We support loyalty, motivational and sponsoring programmes and organize similar projects for the needs of a particular company. You are more than welcome to cooperate with us!
