John Goddard (adventurer)

In 1940, when Goddard was fifteen years old, he wrote down a list of one hundred and twenty-seven goals he wanted to accomplish in his lifespan, from learning to type on a keyboard to climbing Mount Everest.

[1] After serving in World War II with the Army Air Forces, Goddard spent the next few years traveling, and managed to join the Adventurers Club, an elite group who explored developing regions, of which he was at the time the youngest member.

Goddard served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Central States Mission, assigned to places such as Manitoba and Minnesota in about 1948-1950.

[2] He began pursuing the goals on his list in earnest, and in 1951 became the first man to navigate the entire length of the Nile river in a kayak; this and subsequent adventures, such as exploring the Congo River in 1956 and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 1968, fueled a successful career on the lecture circuit.

[5] Over time he came to have a much more positive view of medicine men in Uganda and surrounding regions, by the 1980s declaring they had a sincere desire to help their people.