Talking to RIA Novosti before leaving for Ecuador, Dudoladov noted that they first intended to travel across South America. They will use a yacht, a car and a raft, after leaving Ecuador. Long pedestrian routes are also envisaged.
The three-stage round-the-world trip's South American leg is to end in Macapa, Brazil on November 1, 2004. After that, Lysenko and Dudoladov will return to Novosibirsk, preparing for the second stage.
Lysenko and Dudoladov plan to travel across Africa, that is, from Libreville, Gabon and all the way to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia.
The expedition will feature communications-satellite phones, video cameras and photo cameras.
Dudoladov and Lysenko will are going to sail the World Ocean during the third stage of their journey, that is, in late 2005; both men will sail into the Indian Ocean from Kenya, eventually reaching Libreville, Gabon. According to Dudoladov, South Africa's Mike Horn had travelled the Equator in 1999 and 2000 with a deviation of 5.5 degrees, using various transport means in the process. Horn's record was registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. Both Siberian travelers plan to set a new record this time.
Vladimir Lysenko, 49, who holds a doctor of sciences degree in physics and mathematics, works for the R&D institute of theoretical and applied mechanics (Siberian department of the Russian Academy of Sciences).
In 1996 Lysenko was named the most daring Russian traveller, after sailing down mountain rivers from the highest peaks of all continents in a catamaran for the first time in history. He also sailed downMt. Everest, starting out at a 5,600-meter altitude. Moreover, Lysenko sailed down mountain sources of the Amazon and the Nile, which are the longest rivers in the world.
Lysenko drove on the first-ever Russian round-the-world journey throughout the 1997-2000 period, travelling via the remotest continental points. He travelled the 1897-1898 Gold Rush route in 2003, kayaking down the Yukon river all the way to Dawson, the famous Gold Rush center.
Businessman Sergei Dudoladov, 30, has driven all over the world more than once. He is a snowboard and mountain-ski lover, also preferring parachute jumps, diving, hunting and paintball.
