An interview with a young explorer: 

Zombies and Aye-ayes!

I think it would be fair to say that we all have a spirit of adventure and a hunger to live a little on the edge. In some of us it might mean wearing those wild Homer Simpsons socks to work that your boss specifically said looked stupid. However, in a rare breed of others it means travelling to the wild and remote corners of the earth trekking rainforests, braving waves and crossing that rickety rope bridge you see in every Indiana Jones film. My good friend Chris Willmet is certainly the latter and on his journeys he has actually came across stories of zombies and demons. So here is a short but sweet interview with him that’s a world exclusive for wherezombiescome!

So can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well, I’m 21 years old and from South Wales originally. When I've got some free time I really enjoy rock climbing, mountain biking and surfing. I'm currently living out in Australia on a one year visa and having an amazing new time travelling round and meeting new people every day. 

Chris Willmett
(Image courtesy of Chris Willmett)

Where have you visited and what has been your favourite place and why?

Lets see I've been around parts of Europe and Africa and now like I said I’m in Australia. As far as my favourite place I would have to say Madagascar because it was somewhere I had always wanted to go as a kid. The terrain it fascinating as well from north to south it changes completely. Its one of the most isolated places in the world as far as animals are concerned and packed with incredible species exclusive to that one island. You can even still find egg shells from the extinct Elephant Bird that was around 10 feet tall just on the surface of the ground. It really is a fascinating place.

(Image courtesy of Chris Willmett)

What made you want to be an explorer and is there much of a living that can be made out of it?

Ha, no not at all really. I fund all my own trips so its not glamorous - I've not got an off shore account in the Cayman Islands with a couple million stashed away! I do hope to document some trips in a journal though and maybe I could look into getting that published. I just live as humble as I can at home and save up for my next trip. I think it would be pushing it to say I’m an ‘explorer’ too; I just grew up watching Steve Irwin, Steve Backshall and other wild life programs. Then I started to read books by Bruce Parry and Ranulf Fiennes and not really wanted to do much else other than make some great stories of my own. 

What zombie related stories have you picked up?

Well as far as zombies go, I think out of where I have been South Africa stands out the most. Some people do have very strong and serious beliefs in zombies and the dead coming back to life. In South Africa they link being made a zombie with small children and being possessed. In Madagascar they believe the species of lemur that is exclusively found there called the aye-aye is a demon and can kill with the point of its extended finger. When I visited a tribe in the jungle they thought that we were actually ghosts because they has never seen a white person before. It was amazing to see how they reacted to us and its an experience I really feel lucky to have. But yeah as far as zombies go I would say South Africa.

The lovely looking aye-aye
(Image courtesy of Amareta Kelly)

Where are you off next?

Well, I'm really enjoying Australia at the moment but I think next on my list is South America. That is a place I really want to go. In fact I may even pop over to Haiti and see what else I can find out about zombies for the next time you want to interview me. 

I would just like to say thanks to Chris for the interview and I hope it made for some interesting reading.

Zombie love.