Benedict Allen with his wife Lenka at the Harvest Help charity film launch at the Fleming Hotel, London
Explorer Benedict Allen’s wife spoke of her relief last night after he was spotted alive and well and said: ‘Tell him to get home – now.’
The missing adventurer was spotted by tribal chiefs in Papua New Guinea’s remote Enga province.
Mr Allen, 57, had failed to return from the dense rainforest following a solo expedition to find the ‘last people’, who have no contact with the outside world.
After hearing that the father-of-three had been seen at last, his 35-year-old wife Lenka said: ‘It is such a relief. I’m so happy, it’s amazing.’
An evacuation mission was being organised last night. In a message to rescuers, Mrs Allen said: ‘Just tell him to get home – now. Get home as soon as you can, because the kids are desperate to see you.
‘We have been having sleepless nights, and everyone has been thinking about him.’
Mrs Allen said: ‘They are making preparations to get a helicopter to him. I found out about two hours ago … It was a bit of a shock, but such a relief.’
The couple’s two older children, Natalya, ten, and Freddie, seven, were at school yesterday when the news came through. Daughter Beatrice, two, has been pining for her father after the children were told: ‘Daddy’s lost.’
Mr Allen left for Papua New Guinea in early October and was supposed to have returned to civilisation by Sunday.
Adventure: Benedict Allen (standing in the back) in Papua New Guinea with the BBC’s Frank Gardner (front) last year
It is unknown what happened to him in the days he was missing, but last night he was understood to have reached a hut belonging to an old mission station deep in the vast rainforest.
Benedict Allen during his expedition to Papua New Guinea
The author and TV explorer, who has set endurance records in the Gobi Desert, Amazon and Arctic, does not carry a phone or GPS tracking device, as he considers using the devices as ‘cheating’.
He was seeking to immerse himself with Yaifo headhunters but it is unknown whether he successfully located the ‘lost’ tribe before his quest went awry.
His family heard via a series of intermediaries that tribal chiefs in the area have reportedly spotted him, but they have not been able to make direct contact. Mr Allen’s agent Jo Sarsby said Keith Copley, the coordinating director for New Tribe Mission in Papua New Guinea, had confirmed to the family that Mr Allen was ‘safe, well and healthy’.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, who previously travelled to the country with Mr Allen, said the explorer’s planned route may have been scuppered by tribal infighting.
Mr Allen survived by eating his own dog during a 1982 trek across the Brazilian rainforest
He said: ‘Although foreigners are rarely the target … there is always a risk of being associated with one tribe that is at war with another.’ Mr Allen’s brother-in-law Paul Pestille said relatives will give him a ‘severe ticking off’ once he is back in Europe for leaving without a phone or GPS tracker.
Mr Copley warned the rescue would be tricky. He said: ‘The rivers are completely swollen and so the terrain is not very good.
‘Plus there are dangerous people out there who would take advantage of him. For the moment he is in the best place possible.’