AUTHENTIC SOLO WOMAN’S GLOBAL EXPEDITIONS ON 6 CONTINENTS & ONE-ON-ONE UNIQUE GUIDANCE OPPORTUNITY
ELENA LEVON
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1 WOMAN, 6 CONTINENTS, 99 NATIONS: EXTREME SOLO EXPEDITIONS ACROSS THE WORLD
1000's of STORIES & SOULS
20+ years of adventure as a solo woman world explorer, artist and author.
Extreme, authentic and wild solo woman expeditions across the Northern, Eastern, Western, Central and Southern Africa. Asia & Southeast Asia, Oceania islands, Australia & New Zealand, North, South and Central Americas, USA, Canada and Europe.
Solo Woman Overlanding Through Africa, South America, and the Amazon Jungle: Surviving the Yanomami Tribe, Crossing the Sahara, Conquering the Darien Gap, and Exploring the Dangers of War Zones in Extreme National Geographic-Style Expeditions.
“Travel is about the people you get to meet and the moments you get to share with them... Travel is about dissolving and melting with the soil your dusty boots stand on...” — Elena Levon
MY STORY
Before my 40th birthday in 2024, as a solo woman, I have ventured into some of Earth’s most remote and uncharted territories—places where few dare to tread without guides, guards, or modern comforts. From the perilous jungles of the Darien Gap, where I lived with Embera tribe, to malaria-infested zones deep in the Amazon, I have immersed myself in worlds untouched by time, living among communities whose traditions remain unaltered by modernity.
In 2014 for the first time I ventured alone into the Amazon jungle, where I got to live with Tatuyo tribe, fish piranhas and eat with them a Jaguar for dinner, whom they had to kill during the attack on one of their children. In 2019 I was not only welcomed by the Yanomami (Yanomamo)—a tribe who have denied entry even to the BBC and National Geographic—but was given permission to film and participate in their rare and powerful endocannibalism ritual, take part in hunting, inhaling Yopo (Parica) with men of the tribe and experience other shamanic rituals. I ended up living with this non-touristic Yanomami tribe for 3 weeks in one of the most remote parts of the Amazon jungle — Cauaburi River, Yanomami Indigenous Territory. Just as I was embraced by nomadic tribes deep in the Sahara desert and African savannas.
I was treated as one of their own, learning their ways, their struggles, and their ancient traditions in the rawest, most authentic form. They told me their home is now forever my home, and that they will wait for my return.
First time I ever ventured alone as a woman to Africa was back in 2011 — as a twenty-something solo adventurer, using only public transport and help from locals, I explored several nations and got to live with authentic tribes before the tourism boom altered their ways of life forever and not always in a positive way. I have trekked alone, without guides or film crew, using only public transport, to the forgotten corners of Mauritania, Mali and the Western Sahara desert, uncovering their lost, but not forgotten legends of the past.
I have stood before the hidden 5 pyramids of Nicaragua, where a legend of one of the biggest gold heists from those pyramids, can be revealed by the locals who live there. In 2016 and 2017 I participated in mysterious death ceremonies in Madagascar (Famadihana - turning of the bones) and Sulawesi, Indonesia (Rambu Solo). I have also seen rare petroglyphs scattered across several continents, left behind by civilizations long gone.
Imagine riding on horseback through remote Bolivia, or living on an isolated, uninhabited island in the Philippines, hidden from the eyes of mass tourism. In 2016, I survived Cyclone Winston, a Category 5 storm, while stranded on a tiny speck of an island in Fiji. My journey has also led me to the untouched heart of East Timor (Timor-Leste), Vanuatu, the Colombian, Suriname, Uganda and Papua New Guinea jungles, where I lived as locals do, learning the natural rhythms of life from the last truly free people on Earth.
In West Africa, I participated in sacred voodoo rituals of Benin, uncovering spiritual practices that remain hidden from the outside world. In Djibouti, in the Gulf of Aden, I swam alone with whale sharks, witnessing the silent majesty of the ocean’s giants in a way few ever will.
Beyond adventures, I have sought the truths buried beneath mainstream narratives—stories of resilience, conflict, and survival. I have ventured alone, by public transport without any male escort into the deepest jungles, near the South Sudanese border, shedding light on the untold struggles of war-torn Ethiopia. In Mali, I have walked alongside those fighting against French occupation, learning firsthand the reality that mass media refuses to report on and giving a much-needed voice to the people of this country through my documentaries and my stories.
These are not just destinations; they are the last frontiers of the world, where only a handful of explorers have ever set foot. I have spent my life searching for authentic tribal communities, and in doing so, I have not only found them—I have found a home within their hearts. Many ask me “Why were you searching for them?, Why did you need all that in your life?”...
My answer is simple — Because in the end, these communities and the nature they call home can teach you more about life than any Harvard or Oxford diploma ever could. As the world races towards artificial intelligence existence, and the gap between the rich and the poor widens beyond repair, these ancient ways of life hold the real wealth—knowledge, skill, talent, and most importantly TIME...
In 2023 I became a co-owner of a fantastic yacht “Rebels” and started sailing in the Atlantic Ocean with my co-pirate, without any prior experience as a 39 year-old. Now we are gearing up for sailing expeditions in Africa and beyond as a double-handed sailing crew.
If you are waiting for the perfect moment to explore the world, it was yesterday... Just go for it. Before it’s too late...
You can do it alone—or with my guidance. The edges of the Earth are waiting for you.
With love and gratitude,
Elena.
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“TRUE ADVENTURE IS WHEN YOU DARE TO STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND LET THE WORLD TAKE OVER.” — ELENA LEVON
ONE-ONE-ONE UNIQUE GUIDANCE OPPORTUNITY
I can help you plan and execute the most wildest and authentic of your travel dreams. If you would like to just talk about life and other matters, I will always find time for you. Our correspondence will stay private and anonymous.
*Unique handwritten photo-postcard will be send to you by mail (Upon request)
*Access to private instagram account @realelenalevon with all archives from 2018
REVIEWS
"Because of you I had the courage to follow my dreams."
United Kingdom
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"Miss Levon, you’re like the female version of modern-day Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo, rolled into one, but with way more style and a lot less clothing. :) I was going to mention a skirt, but you rock pants, skirts, dresses, and sometimes, well...you’re too busy exploring the world to bother with any clothes at all. So, I’ll just skip the outfit comment and commend you on your brave and adventurous spirit instead."
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“Without a single doubt — Elena Levon raises hell and makes all the strings of this universe and others sing with maximum pressure. There will be explosions in one place or another... I truly believe she has Persian blood somewhere there deep inside of her invincible soul, from the times of ancient lands, its treasures and those who stopped at nothing to conquer them...
She’s ready to keep maneuvering the canoe along the impassable streams and passages days on end, to defend the rights of the local tribe and if necessary, remove the scalps... amazing natural ability to become “part of the tribe” without any sort of force or “trying”. Her ability to completely become “one of them”, is truly unbelievable at times. It surprises even the leaders of the tribes...
She must have fearlessly galloped naked, without a saddle on wild horses, while their wild hearts beat as one. She crashed and burned (enemies as well as hearts), she reigned, inspired, lied for her own gain, she lived in a saddle or in a carriage, she was an excellent gunman and had in her possession a lot of treasures...
Every time I ask her about the treasure and where she has hidden it.. she just laughs, while galloping away and leaving all the unanswered questions and reason in a cloud of dust. She will tell me someday... someday. Well, ladies and gentlemen of the jury... she’s pretty much occupied with the same things to this day. Thanks to the ancestors... of course.” - Photographer, World explorer and Author Dmitry Komarov.
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“Elena, I hope in ten years I am as influential to other writers, travellers, and women as you are.”
“And isn't that the reason we, the mad ones, fearlessly beat our dusty and worn-out cowboy boots into the uncharted breath of this life — to feel alive?” — Elena Levon