ALEXANDRE & SONIA POUSSIN
Presenters of AFRICA TREK
Alexandre is a travel-writer, journalist and TV presenter. He graduated in Political Science (pre-Phd) and in 1994 went around the world with his best friend on a bicycle tour across 35 countries - 25000 kms in one year. A bestseller book (On a roulé sur la Terre) was issued afterwards and translated into German. His drive for travelling comes from his journalist's curiosity. "That's my way to report how the world, cultures, societies and people are going on." He used to say. "That's my way of doing journalism". That's why his work is truly articulated documentary.
In 1997 he walked the entire length of the Himalayan Range in six months; 5000 kms, the longest trek ever made without any assistance, without guides, crossing borders illegally, bolting from one valley to the other, from Bhutan to Tadjikistan, through Sikkim, Nepal, Tibet, Ladakh, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan... The result was another bestseller, helped by a film "Ils ont marché dans le Ciel" multi-broadcast on National TV France 3.
A year after marrying, Alxandre and Sonia left for three years walking in Africa on the first attempt to walk the famous Cape to Cairo route, unassisted. They were successful. They went a bit further as they walked to the Sea of Galilee, the end of the Great Rift Valley. They're aim was to follow to the end, "In the footsteps of Man". The resulting book, Africa Trek, has sold 105k copies so far and their films (a long feature and a series) have had a deep impact on the French public.
Sonia graduated with a Masters degree in Business Administration and moved into AIDS work. She managed an orphanage in Nepal for six months and worked afterwards on different missions for Unesco. In another diploma at the Sorbonne University she specialised in education in third world countries. She joined Alex and his friend on little stretches of their trips around the world and in the Himalayas. She masterminded the Africa Trek, and was at the same time the photographer and co-director of the 12 episode series, each episode 26 minutes in duration, selected from 300 hours of rushes. At the same time, 14,000 pictures where taken and 460 selected for their Photo-Album.
Sonia and Alex work and live together, and have a baby girl named Philae, in memory of the place in Egypt where she was conceived. Sonia walked pregnant for the last three months and 1800 km of their journey. She's planned for the next trip, of course. But the destination is still secret.