STORY OF THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURES

“And then the tiger rushed out of the bush and gave a mighty roar. Everyone ran helter-skelter. But I was the bravest of them all. I thumped my chest and grabbed the tiger by the tail, spun it round and round and threw the overgrown cat deep in the jungle.”

Come on Granpa, that’s a tall tale! But hey, we all grew up listening to the most outrageous, fantastic and fabulous adventure stories that our old (and often hilarious) grandparents could conjure. I was quite an adventurous kid (my folks say ‘trouble-maker’ is more apt). Wandering off on my own in search of stray lions or chasing waves of pirates on the ocean. Plagued by an overactive imagination, I was!

But what I could never imagine, even in the wildest of my dreams, are the death defying adventures of these three daredevils!

Photo Credit: Claudio Rossol

Drop it like it’s hot!

Indomitable Nick Selway and Audacious CJ Kaale – When I heard that two crazy guys chased around a lava eruption to take pictures of it, I thought – what were they thinking! Then I saw the pictures they took. My jaw dropped, my mind did somersaults and my heart thumped and pumped like a crazed baboon! The pictures were truly magnificent – beautiful, enrapturing and hypnotizing. Nick Selway and CJ Kaale took the risk of getting burnt to ashes in the wake of the gushing lava; the risk paid off. They chased around the lava, clicking pictures, from Kilauea through Kalapana, Hawaii. Again, camping around active volcanoes and chasing the lava flow is very dangerous. Others have died in this area and many have been badly injured attempting to do what Mr. Selway and Mr. Kaale have done. This makes their success all the more important!

Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky!

Fearless Felix Baumgartner – Mr. Fearless Felix became the first man to break the sound barrier unaided after jumping off from a capsule hovering 24 miles (38 kilometres) above the earth! He crossed over to the other side – from atmosphere to the stratosphere – and then dived right towards the earth. This was something that not many would have thought would be possible. First – it is very dangerous, the kind that gets one killed. Second – you have to be extremely fit and adept to even attempt something like this. Fearless Felix was up to the task. After all, this was his dream since he was five years old. A drawing he made then for his mother reveals his dreams of growing wings and flying away! I am sure Mrs. Eva Baumgartner (Felix’s mother) had a thing or two to say when her son returned to earth!

Photo Credit: Robb / Wikimedia

Danger lurks in the corner? Bring it on!

Brave-heart Toshifumi Fujimoto – So one day you get bored. What do you do? Play a game, go to a friend’s place, watch television or surf the internet (well, that’s for geeks like me). Mr. Toshifumi Fujimoto got bored one day, decided to bring some excitement in his life – and became a war tourist! Mr. Fujimoto, a truck driver by profession, puts his life on line on a daily basis to take stunning pictures of areas under war. Mr. Fujimoto’s adventures have taken him to Yemen, Cairo and most recently to strife ridden Syria. He braves the danger of being shot down by a sniper or a stray bullet almost daily. On being asked what he thinks of the dangers his hobby presents, he calmly replies – “I'm a combination of samurai and kamikaze”. Well, it would take more than a bullet to destroy the resolve and the sheer guts of someone who is both. Wouldn’t it?

And here I was thinking how good my adventures were – mostly consisting of night outs, boating and falling off horses or camels or buffaloes or donkeys. Living life right on the edge – these three daredevils are doing it in reality!

Felix Baumgartner, Nick Selway, CJ Kaale and Toshifumi Fujimoto – people plagued (blessed!) with crazy adventure seeking, daredevil genes!

What adventures have you lived? I would love to hear it. I might feature your story with your name in my next blog!