About Chaz
After exploring and hiking the globe for over 15 years. Chaz lives his life as an explorer and adventurer. He’s the first person in the world to walk along three of Africa’s major rivers by foot: the Zambezi, Gambia and Mangoky.
Born in Shrewsbury and raised in Newport, Chaz is a Shropshire lad. But given he’s always wandering somewhere outdoors, he classes that as his home.
Chaz is also an expedition leader, a bush craft instructor and mountain leader. He always wanted to travel and explore from a young age. Watching David Attenborough documentaries and reading wild stories from past explorations inspired him to visit exotic and remote places.
In 2016, Chaz spent just under 100 days attempting to walk over 2,000 kilometres from source-to-sea along the Zambezi River. He was often told it wouldn’t be possible due to the conditions. In the end, Chaz had to stop three-quarters of the way through due to security issues (civil war in Mozambique). Chaz went back in 2017 to finish the route and walked the final section, to the Indian Ocean, completing the entire source-to-sea trek in a combined 137 days. During the trip, Chaz had to fight for survival while getting lost and disorientated in one of the driest and remotest environments on the planet. He tried to take a shortcut while walking in the Zambezi gorges. In 50°C temperatures, Chaz moved away from the water and couldn’t get back down to it. After drinking his own urine and clambering down near vertical cliffs, Chaz managed to get to safety, but was lucky to have survived. Chaz is a huge believer that it’s possible to do anything you put your mind to.
In 2019, followed this up with a six-week walk along the Gambia river, over 1,120 kilometres from source to sea, and a one-month walk from the east to west coast of Madagascar along the country’s longest river, The Mangoky.
Chaz’s ongoing project ‘The Wildest Journey’ documents his journeys through Africa’s remotest and most hostile regions. By using exploration as a platform, the project mission is to try and raise awareness of these devastating crimes to help preserve Africa’s wildlife and wild lands for future generations.
Chaz’s list of places to explore is never-ending and the global COVID-19 pandemic makes things more challenging. He’s currently driving around the UK in his fully-renovated camper van and documenting his adventures. There are plenty of mini expeditions in different mountain ranges around the world coming up so stay tuned!
When does Chaz use LifeJacket and why?
I use LifeJacket morning and night to stay both protected throughout the day when exposed to harsh sunlight and also to repair and restore my skin whilst I sleep.
I feel it’s extremely important to protect myself on all my adventures and knowing that the guys at LifeJacket have my back, allows me to take on the most extreme of expeditions with the added confidence that I’m covered!
Where to see Chaz in action?
See more of Chaz on social or on The Wildest Journey website.
