Workers display 4 Siberian tiger cubs that were recently born at the Dalian Forest Zoo in Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Photo: Reuters, Via: Telegraph

An African penguin swims in his pool at the Servion Zoo in Servion near Lausanne October 4, 2010. Photo: Denis Balibouse, Reuters

A handler holds the neck of a Lesser Flamingo during a vaccination exercise inside their enclosure at the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore June 21, 2010. The flamingos were injected with an H5N2 vaccine on Monday as part of an ongoing annual avian flu prevention program at the bird park. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

This Black Elephant Motorbike Tour in Ethiopia takes you to Gambela and Omo, two vast expanses of national parkland, allowing you to take in the natural environment just as it should be. The National Parks lie adjacent to 2 of the most important rivers in Ethiopia: the Baro and the Omo rivers.

Ethiopia’s poor road network has fortunately ensured the National Parks have remained inaccessible to all but the most adventurous travellers, preserving the balance of natural resources on which local tribes and their cultures depend. However, the areas remain accessible by motorbike, making this the perfect means to find and watch the wildlife on the Omo and Gambela plains.

The 16 trip (14 days on the bikes) is taking place this year on the 1st Jun, so although there isn’t much time left to nab a place, keen motorcycle adventurers will benefit from the relatively low cost of flights to Addis Abbaba at this time of year.

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Growing up in a small rural town, Tim, for lack of an alternative, spent most of his childhood in woods passionately reading and learning about the way that the Native Americans lived.  “I don’t think I heard the term bushcraft until I was in my early teens, although that’s what we had been doing.”

Having moved back to university for a masters degree in education with the intent of moving back to teaching, Tim finished his degree with the intention of running courses on bushcraft and offering guided trips figuring he’d get his teaching job the following year.  It’s now been ten years of bushcraft and guiding.

Tim’s passion for passing on his experience is clear – “I like teaching.  Not so much the lecturing or talking about it, but rather watching people learn.  Watching someone’s skill and confidence grow is an amazing thing to witness.  At its best, teaching should be invisible; a person who learns from a mediocre instructor will realize how talented their instructor is. The person who learns from an excellent teacher will realize how talented they are.”

Whilst there can be no doubt that Smith is a survival and bushcraft expert, he displays perhaps a surprising ambivalence about big-time adventure.  “Vilhjalmur Steffanson said that “Adventure is a sign of incompetence”.  Adventure implies you weren’t prepared.  If you’ve spent a lot of nights in improvised shelters in bitter cold weather, what would be a perilous situation to someone inexperienced becomes just another night in a shelter in front of a fire.  I’ve been on extended remote trips, I’ve been cold, I’ve been wet, I’ve been hungry, but I wouldn’t label any of these perilous.”

“A skill we’re lacking in the modern world is the ability to distinguish between a want and a need.  Learning the basics of survival teaches you what your needs are.”

Whilst quite obviously the outdoor type, Tim is under no illusions as to the importance the internet holds for Jack Mountain.  “It allows people all around the world to stay current on what we’re up to by letting us be a publishing house, film making studio and more.  It allows us to communicate ideas instantly – something that wasn’t possible in the days of print brochures and magazine ads.”

Find out more about Tim and Jack Mountain at www.jackmtn.com or contact him here.