Key actors — tap for context
Karl Bushby
British adventurer and former paratrooper who has been traveling around the world on foot since 1998
Why here: on Monday he swam across the English Channel and returned to England
Werner Herzog
German film director
Why here: is making a documentary about Bushby's journey and was on the beach for his arrival
Hull
city in northeastern England
Why here: Bushby's home and the destination of his entire journey
Punta Arenas
Chilean city in the south of the country
Why here: Bushby set out from there in November 1998
He had to swim across the English Channel because, according to Telex, which cites the BBC, the operator of the tunnel under the Channel refused his request in June to pass through the tunnel on a service connection. The swim took three days and about 20 hours in total, and he stepped onto British soil at 3:30 p.m. local time. Telex ↗ He had previously also swum across the Caspian Sea, which took him 31 days. VRT NWS ↗
It's not home yet. Bushby still has about 400 kilometers on foot ahead of him to Hull, and he is expected to arrive there in early November. He was also welcomed on the beach by German director Werner Herzog, who is making a documentary film about his journey. Spiegel ↗
*Illustrative photo: Shakespeare Beach near Dover, where Bushby came ashore. Photo by Tim Glover, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons, geograph.org.uk).*
