EXPEDITION ERDE: Die Vollzeit-Abenteurerin - In der Wildnis zu Hause
At the age of 28, the Dutch-born Tamar Valkenier traded her promising career for a life on the road – on a bicycle she had built from used materials. Thus, she embarked on a journey that was supposed to last about a year but is still ongoing ten years later. Although she lives far below the poverty line, she has never felt richer.
After two years on the bike, she also traveled many kilometers on skates, on camels, with a pulka and skis, with a donkey, and of course on foot to the most remote corners of our planet. She crossed the New Zealand Alps in three months, carrying only a rifle and a fishing rod to sustain herself.
However, her first trip into the heart of the Altai Mountains touched her the most. Far beyond the last city, cell reception, and toilet flushes, she traveled to the eagle hunters of Mongolia. She had to learn how to ride a horse (as a mode of transport), how to pack a camel (no supermarkets), and how to navigate the remote wilderness of these rugged mountains. With her own horse, camel, and dog, she set out on an epic four-month journey.
She crossed wild rivers, the Death Pass, and was confronted with snow as early as August. She learned the hardships of a nomad and earned the respect of a culture that was more hospitable, forgiving, and playful than any others she had ever encountered. While losing her animals in a storm, her horse getting injured, and her dog once killing a sheep, she learned the value of animal companions and recounts how her camel saved her life.
Tamar regularly returns to the Altai Mountains and has befriended a special family of eagle hunters. After years of training, she finally caught her first fox with an eagle and won first prize at a local eagle festival in August 2022. She founded a non-governmental organization to support needy nomads and wrote a book titled “Die Vollzeit-Abenteurerin”. To top it off, the local nomads organized an elaborate Kazakh wedding for her and her husband.
Admission: 14:30 Uhr
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
