Jacki has followed in the footsteps of Victorian explorers: Isabella Bird, who travelled by yak across the Digar-La in Ladakh, India; Mary Kingsley, who pioneered the route to the 13,255 ft summit of Mount Cameroon; and Kate Marsden who trudged from Moscow to Siberia in search of a cure for leprosy.  In particular, she tells of Isabella Bird’s dramatic arrival in Hong Kong, and her stunning photography.
 
Jacki has also braved piranha-infested waters, in a dugout canoe and small craft, to replicate the 1769 expedition of Isabel Godin, the only survivor of a 42-person, 4,200-mile expedition along the Amazon River.  She has also travelled twice across the Empty Quarter in Oman, crossed the Sahara Desert and filmed the Atlantic Rowing Race in La Gomera and Antigua.
 
Jacki tells of her own dilemmas and humorous encounters along the way, that make it an inspiring and exciting talk.
 
 

Jacki Hill-Murphy is from the United Kingdom and holds a MA from the University of Sussex and is currently completing her PhD at the University of Westminster.  She is an explorer, writer and speaker who has travelled to some of the most inhospitable places on earth to re-create the journeys of daring women adventurers from the past.  Jacki is the author of “Adventuresses” and ‘The Extraordinary Tale of Kate Marsden” and “The Life and Travels of Isabella Bird”. 

She was formerly the director of Under the Sky Events, giving adventure holidays to care for experienced adults to increase their well-being.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, of which she was previously the Chair of West of England region, a Patron of Womankind and a Fellow of the Explorers Club.

The opinions expressed in this talk are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of the Royal Geographical Society - Hong Kong.