Introduction

Born in France on December 3rd 1954, Pierre Constant was predicted by an Austrian astrologer to become an explorer by birth and by stars. His attraction to nature and wildlife started early.

As a student at Pierre & Marie University in Paris VI (1973-75), as well as in Grenoble, he did a degree in biology-geology, followed by a masters in Geology (1979). He also attended ethnology + anthropology courses at the ‘Museum of Man’ in Paris.

Serious travel started in 1974 at the age of 19, when Pierre worked as a YMCA camp counselor in Medford Lakes, New Jersey, then hitchhiked around the USA for 3 months, sleeping on roadsides and in national parks. In 1975 he discovered India, 1976 saw him hitchhike for 6 months through Latin America from New York to Tierra del Fuego and up to Brazil. In 1977-1978, Pierre realized overland trips to Pakistan, where he got interested in some ethnology work on the Kafir Kalash tribe –descendants of Alexander the Great- in Chitral valley, at the border with Afghanistan. He also got a passion for trekking in the Nepal Himalayas for many years after that.

In 1980, Pierre got to a turning point in his life, with a job working as a naturalist guide for an Ecuadorian company in the Galapagos Islands and subsequently in the Amazon jungle, ‘El Oriente’. Back in France, he published his first book (in French) on the Galapagos Islands’ natural history in 1983. The following year saw him working for “Explorator”, a French Tour Operator, leading expeditions to the Sahara desert, Mauritania, and north Pakistan. He also created the first trips and cruises to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, for that company.

Following his successes and the enthusiasm of his clients in the Galapagos, it was time to go on a new course. Two years later in 1986, Pierre decided to fly on his own and created “Calao Life Experience”, as a freelance tour operator. He started to organize and lead trips to the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Madagascar, Pakistan, Myanmar, Borneo (Malaysia), Indonesia, Palau (Micronesia), Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Sumatra, Botswana…

All these trips and explorations led Pierre to write as well. As a photojournalist and underwater photographer, he already published over 230 articles, worldwide, in French and international magazines.