Dimitri Kieffer
Expeditionist
French native Dimitri Kieffer moved to the United States in 1983 at the age of 17 to pursue a college education in international business. He spent 5 years at the University of Washington in Seattle where he obtained two degrees, focusing on international trade. The 15 years to follow were spent honing his skills in international business while working in the software industry primarily in Hong Kong and Seattle. In April 2005, he gained a second citizenship to the United States, therefore becoming a “Franco-American”.
After completing his first marathon in 1985 at the age of 20, and his first ultramarathon in Hong Kong in 1990, Dimitri progressively took on more and more challenging races in the USA and overseas. Since 2005, Dimitri has continued to evolve, founding Nexus Expedition and transitioning from adventure racing to full blown expedition.
In 2009, Dimitri was invited to join the Explorers Club, and has remained an active member ever since.
Read More About Dimitri
Gulnara Kieffer
Expeditionist
Gulnara Kieffer, born Gulnara Miftakhova, is a Russian Tatar who was born in the city of Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. In 2001, she graduated from the Kazan Pedagogical University (Philology Department) with a Russian language and literature teaching degree.
In March 2006, Gulnara moved to Moscow, where she was hired by movie production companies. There, she organized and coordinated the creation of films and musical concerts. In 2008, she started working as a manager for a Russian music recording company.
Gulnara met Dimitri in 2009 while guiding Russian artists in Morocco.
Gulnara joined Nexus expeditions in August of 2011.
Together with Dimitri they cycled through Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman and United Arabian Emirates.
In 2021 they kayaked with Dimitri lake Malawi and then cycled together through Botswana, Namibia and South Africa until they reached Cape Agulhas, the most southern point on the African continent.
Karl Bushby
Expeditionist
Karl Bushby (born 30 March 1969) is a British ex-paratrooper, walking adventurer and author, currently attempting to be the first person to completely walk an unbroken path from the tip of South America to his home in England. Bushby’s trek is known as the Odyssey XXI Expedition, (previously known as the Goliath Expedition). Between February 2006 and May 2007, Karl and Dimitri trekked and skied together 1200 kms from Nome, Alaska, USA to Anguema, Chukotka, Russia. Along their way, they cross successfully the Bering Strait on foot in 15 days.
For more information on Karl Bushby, there is information about him in Wikipedia.
Nyurgun Efremov
Expeditionist
Nyurgun Efremov is a Yakut who was born in 1975 in the city of Yakutsk, Russia. In 2005, after five years of university, he graduated from the Law school of the Yakutsk State University. He lives in Anadyr (Chukotka) and works as a lawyer for the post office.
Among his interests are traveling, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, wushu, hitchhiking, and studying psychology and humanistic philosophy. In March-April 2010, Nyurgun joined Dimitri on Nexus Expedition and together they trekked and skied 310 kms from Vayegi, Chukotka to Slautnoye, Kamchatka, Russia.
Rice, Rex & Dunia
Roaming dogs…
Rice, Rex and Dunia were three faithful dogs that followed Dimitri in April 2010 for 140 kms in one week between Slautnoye and Kamenskoye, Koryak Okrug, Russia and this is why we count them as past expedition partners!