Toronto-based eco explorer Mario Rigby spent the first week of May, National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, redefining what it means to seek adventure during his latest physical mission. The Caicos Challenge, a five-day human-powered expedition, took him back home to Turks and Caicos to fulfill his dream of crossing the islands, from one end to the other, by land and water — doing nothing more than running, cycling, kayaking, paddle boarding and swimming.
By completing the mission, Mario has become the first known person to make such a crossing from Salt Cay to West Caicos — a 250-kilometre spanning feat. And this isn’t his first time making headlines: His original “claim to fame” came in 2018 following his Crossing Africa expedition, a two-year, 12,000-kilometre voyage from Cape Town to Cairo.
As he catches his breath from the Caicos Challenge, I had a chance to Take 5 with Mario and chat about being a “son of the soil,” staying focused, and always persevering.
Your remarkable adventures have taken you all over the map and you show no signs of stopping. What got you into this way of seeing the world?
I am an eco explorer and I focus on expeditions that are in line with covering social and environmental injustices, but at the same time they have to be really adventurous. A tourist goes to places with expectations; you’re going there to view the culture in a way that you would view a painting. A traveller is someone that goes with the flow, sees things for what they are and experiences the culture they’re around. The explorer is the one who unearths new experiences that no one else has seen before and kind of paves a way for humanity to follow, much like other great explorers in the past. Us explorers have an impact and a responsibility.
What I try to do is impact the places I’m at and the social causes I try to raise awareness for, and hopefully that inspires people. I also raise money for charitable organizations that are linked to whatever expedition I’m on. During the Turks and Caicos expedition, I was raising funds for the Turks and Caicos Reef Fund to help underprivileged youth learn how to swim and learn about marine life.
Thinking back to reaching the finish line of the Caicos Challenge, what did it mean to you to finally cross off your goal of completing an expedition where you grew up?
Ever since I was born, Turks and Caicos has been like my playground. One of my dreams was always to traverse the length of the entire islands. I think the combination of showing that there was an adventurous side to the place, raising money and awareness for marine life conservation and educating the youth, encouraging people to be responsible when they visit and understand the ecosystem of the islands, and at the same time making it fun really underlines the principles that I follow for all my expeditions.
Travelling through Turks and Caicos this way must have been an entirely new experience. What was one of the most breathtaking moments or views during the challenge?
The first one that comes to mind was when I kayaked from Salt Cay to Grand Turk, which no one has ever done before. I had met Chev (Dixon, a professional sea kayaker) — a young kid from New York, also born in the Carribean — on Instagram and asked him to come join me for the crossing. As we were kayaking, there were dozens of dolphins breaching beside us, which was a beautiful sight. But I think the most special thing that I witnessed during the expedition was the community aspect of it; really getting to see people come together and support the expedition, but also being very proud to see that their own people are doing this. They call me the “son of the soil,” so every day where I landed there was fanfare and people with flags and it was incredibly special.
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Given that May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, can you share how you prioritize physical and mental wellbeing during your expeditions?
What I do is really focus on the day-to-day aspects. You have to be wholly focused on what you’re doing, because as soon as you’re distracted it stops you from being able to push to your ultimate limit. I definitely pushed to my ultimate limit on this excursion traversing to East Caicos for 13 hours across sharp rocks over the sea. If you make one tiny mistake, that could be the end of your life right there, or you could be stuck there for a day. With all of these expeditions, I know mental clarity is the most important aspect of these huge, physical challenges. Once you have the mental fortitude to be consistent and to hone in, for everything else on the outside, let that distraction go and focus on the moment. I focus on every step, every breath, every heartbeat.
What message do you hope your challenges send to people who are following along from home or hoping to follow in your footsteps?
Perseverance is so important. Say you have a dream; many people give up before they even start and say, you know what, it’s just a dream, it’s just not realistic. If you dreamt it, it can be realistic just due to the fact that you fathomed the idea. The easiest part is to come up with the idea, but the second part is you have to do the work. Most people are afraid that with the investment they’re putting in, it might not pan out. Well, that’s the risk you have to take. At least half the expeditions I’ve planned didn’t even make it into fruition because it was just too difficult or the technology didn’t exist yet. You just have to do the work to eventually get there, and keep doing the work until it happens. Your doubts are distractions.