The Elephant in the Boat – Part II
“The definition of kidnapping is moving someone from one point to another point against their will, and that’s exactly what had happened to us,” says Ben Stookesberry. “But, to me, the most noteworthy part of the day was that, for the first time in the entire trip, we were actually all working together as a team and we were all spending an entire day together.”
Ben and Chris Korbulic are the expedition kayakers. The two of them have what is perhaps the longest running, most successful partnership not just in kayaking, but in the world of outdoor adventure. They’ve been at this together for over a decade now.
And, yet, in April of 2017, the two boaters wound up on an expedition on which the interpersonal dynamics grew so strained that being held hostage by an armed rebel group in the remote Amazon didn’t necessarily seem like the worst thing that could have happened.
We’ve broken today’s episode into two parts. In Part I, we followed Ben and Chris down a stretch of Colombia’s remote Apaporis River. Today, for Part II, we’ll get into the history of this epic partnership, what went so wrong, and what happens moving forward.
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Beg Me to Stay by Hopeless Jack • Crow Jane by Hopeless Jack • Hidden Eyes by Hopeless Jack
Tracks used with permission from the artists.
Still think it’s all about the girl. Great show!
Surreal. Your guests seem a little oblivious to the danger they were in. When I have traveled in areas controlled by illegal armed groups, I always had a logical explanation for being there. No doubt everyone for miles around were talking about the gringo expedition and you can’t even imagine the rumors about them.
I really enjoyed the issue of “group dynamics” facing Ben and Chris’s trip. I was wondering if there are any other episodes that explore this topic in depth, such as: What makes for a successful or unsuccessful group dynamic? How do groups adapt to crews made up of different experience levels and skill levels? What impact do gender differences play in a group dynamic? (For example, this episode mentioned how Jessie offered a female perspective on the trip, but it was just mentioned in passing as having a positive impact).
I’m not familiar with any dedicated outdoor partners like Ben and Chris where the team is made up of mixed genders. Has DD covered any teams where adventure partners are mixed gender, and not significant others? I think that would make for an interesting topic: Male and female team dynamics and what each partner brings to that team.
Keep up the good work. I love listening to the podcast.
-Michael
Glad you enjoyed the episode, Michael. We don’t have any other episodes that directly address group dynamics–particularly in a way that relates to mixed skill levels or gender dynamics, but we’ll continue to keep our ears open for the right ones!