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Hello and welcome to the Explorers Podcast.

Today is Part 5 in our series on British Explorer, Richard Francis Burton.

Just want to remind you that you can see maps and photos of our subject,

as well as links to resources on our website, ExplorersPodcast.com.

Let's get going.

Last time we left Burton and his fellow explorer, John Hannes Speak,

at the edge of Lake Tanken Yika in East Africa.

The lake is huge, 418 miles long and 45 wide,

or 675 by 72 kilometers.

Tanken Yika is the second largest lake in Africa and the sixth largest in the world.

It has more than 1,800 kilometers, or 1,100 miles, of shoreline.

The lake sits in the East African Rift and is confined by the mountainous walls of the valley.

It is a spectacular site and it was a momentous revelation to the rest of the world.

And so Burton was triumphant.

He and Speak had endured seven and a half months of misery to reach the lake,

overcoming malaria, fevers, hostile natives, torrential rains,

and mind-numbing heat to reach their goal.

At this point, Burton could barely walk, while Speak could not see due to eye inflammation,

but they had done it and Burton was thrilled.

Ideally, the expedition would sail around the lake,

and determine if there was a northerly flowing river connecting to Tanken Yika.

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