About Redmond O’Hanlon
Redmond O'Hanlon is a British travel writer and naturalist renowned for blending fearless exploration with sharp humor and intellectual curiosity. Elected to both the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Literature, he has ventured into some of the most remote and challenging environments on earth, from the perilous jungles of Borneo and the Congo to the merciless waters of the North Atlantic. His work balances scientific insight with wry self-deprecation, making even the most daunting expeditions feel both enlightening and entertaining. With an insatiable appetite for nature's wonders and a pen that drips with humor and humility, O'Hanlon transports readers to realms few dare to tread.
His debut masterpiece, Into the Heart of Borneo, set the stage for a series of gripping accounts, including In Trouble Again: A Journey Between the Orinoco and the Amazon and No Mercy: A Journey into the Heart of the Congo. Perhaps his most captivating departure from jungle exploration is Trawler, a heart-pounding narrative recounting his time aboard a fishing trawler battling the North Atlantic. More than just an adventurer, O'Hanlon brings to life the quirks of human endurance and the wonders of the natural world with a warmth and wit that make his journeys unforgettable, proving that his adventurous spirit knows no bounds.
Into the Heart of Borneo, by Redmond O’Hanlon
Into the Heart of Borneo is Redmond O'Hanlon's uproarious debut that chronicles his 1983 expedition deep into the uncharted rainforests of Borneo in search of the rare Borneo rhinoceros. Accompanied by the poet James Fenton and a colorful cast of local guides, O'Hanlon plunges into a world of leeches, venomous snakes, treacherous rivers, and suffocating humidity, all while maintaining a delightfully self-deprecating sense of humor about his own inadequacies as an explorer. The narrative brilliantly weaves together natural history, anthropological observation, and comic misadventure as the expedition encounters the indigenous Iban people and navigates the physical and psychological challenges of the jungle. What emerges is not just a travel account but a meditation on the collision between Western naiveté and wilderness reality, told with such wit and warmth that even the most harrowing moments—from near-drownings to encounters with deadly wildlife—become sources of both terror and laughter. O'Hanlon's ability to find absurdity in adversity while never losing his genuine reverence for the natural world and its inhabitants makes this book a modern classic of adventure literature.
Redmond O'Hanlon, No Mercy: A Journey Into the Heart of the Congo
“I hope to go on a great journey through the far northern forests', I said, liking the sound of the words, 'by dugout to the headwaters of the Motaba, where we'll abandon the boats, walk east through the swamp jungle and across the watershed to the Ibenga, take a chance on finding another canoe, and then, if we're lucky, paddle down to the Likoula aux Herbes and walk to the hidden lake, Lake Tele, where Mokele-mbembe, the Congo dinosaur, is said to live.”
PHOTO ATTRIBUTION: By Matthieu van den Berg (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Recommended Books - Redmond O'Hanlon
Recommended Books - Redmond O'Hanlon
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