The expedition is now over... It was an experience all of us will always remember. Who would believe that nearly one hundred years after Fawcett made his expedition to this fascinating Lost World nobody had ever bothered to follow up his claims, until now of course. We are 100% convinced that this indeed is the true inspiration for Conan Doyle's book. If you ever go there you will see why. We hope you have been enjoyed following our expedition. Watch out for the next trip!

The expedition has been featured in a major article in the Diario de Cuiaba (Cuiaba's main newspaper). Click here to view the article (Portuguese only - sorry!)

On July 11 2001, three teachers from Lancashire, England set out to rediscover a remote plateau in Brazil, which is believed to have been the inspiration behind Conan Doyle's famous "Lost World".

In 1908 an English explorer, Colonel Percival Fawcett discovered the Serra Ricardo Franco hills in the Matto Grosso region of Brazil, whilst mapping the Brazilian/Bolivian border. Simon Chapman (expedition leader), Dave Clark and Derek Roddenburg, will attempt to retrace the footsteps of Fawcett and investigate his claims of a remote and inhospitable jungle wilderness.

The expedition involved:

• an ascent onto the plateau, negotiating 200 ft high cliffs which flank the plateau on all sides
• a 150 km trek across the plateau to the source of the Rio Verde river
• a 100 km canoe journey down the Rio Verde

Go here for a full outline of the expedition and an itinerary.

The objectives of the expedition were:

• To investigate Percival Fawcett's claims (see right). More>>
• To obtain video and photographs for use in an immersive chroma key educational experiment with school pupils from the Knowsley area of Merseyside. More>>
• To explore the potential of SMS text messaging as a channel for educational context. More>>

The team have joined forces with Knowsley LEA and Interactive Solutions to develop the educational concepts and technical systems.