27/05/2009
In this new three-part documentary series for ITV1, Stephen Tompkinson embarks on the journey of a lifetime across the African continent with a hot air balloon. His first hand experiences provide viewers with a colourful perspective on the amazing abundance and diversity of wildlife, but also the scarcity of some species, as he explores the relationship between Africa’s animals and its people.
Stephen has grown to love Africa during his four years filming the popular ITV drama Wild at Heart, and for him this is one of the most challenging and inspiring place on earth. His journey gives him the chance to discover more about this fascinating continent.
Inspired by Jules Verne’s first novel, Five Weeks in a Balloon, the documentary series follows Stephen as he travels coast to coast visiting Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.
Stephen’s route takes him and his hot air balloon through the Serengeti, past Victoria Falls, and over the Okavango Delta before finishing his journey on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast.
But the nature of ballooning means he goes where the wind takes him, so the unexpected forms part of the adventure.
Stephen experiences everything from crash landings and close encounters of a dangerous kind to crocodile hunting and tracking wild elephants, all amid the spectacular scenery across the continent.
Stephen meets some Rwandan orphans, and visits a stately home deep in the African bush, gets close to mountain gorillas and gives some of the locals, including a Masai warrior a chance to see their land from the sky.
Stephen is accompanied on his journey by pilot Robin Batchelor, who has flown in 30 different countries and is an expert at ballooning in African skies.
Click here to download the press pack (.doc)
