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Sometimes fake profiles on social media (such as facebook and others) pop up now and then, pretending to be Elena Levon. These pages promising people they can chat with "me". The only way to have a private correspondence with me is through links displayed on this site.


Elena Levon


Me as a pirate by Louis Eliopoulos

✔ No tours, No guides, No guards.

✔ Life on the road (1990's - 2020's) has taken me across 6 continents, through 90+ nations. For almost 20 years traveling solo as a woman and full-time travel since 2015.

N. S. & C. Americas - 7+ years

Europe - 2+ years

Oceania - 1+ years

Asia - 1+ years

Africa - 3+ years

✔ Africa - 2011, 2012, 2017, 2019-2023 - Living and traveling overland in Africa - on KTM bike 12.000 + km, car with a roof tent 20.000 + km and solo by public transport, planes, boats - thousands of km.

With monkey “Jack” at Nukak-Maku tribe in Colombian Amazon

📌 From September 2023 will be spending most of my life at sea in my sailboat “Rebels” and not much online.

Mini bio -- Endocannibalism ritual inside malaria red zone, staring into loaded rifle in Mali, working with Hollywood directors, having my hand kissed by a prince and shaken by president, diving into madness of sex, drugs and jailhouse rock, waltzing through world famous red carpets, touching ancient worlds, fighting to stay alive... Living deep in Mauritanian Sahara desert with nomads, with cowboys in South and Central America, inside infamous "Darien Gap" alone, surviving category 5 cyclone with locals in Fiji, dancing with mummies in Madagascar, Voodoo rituals with locals in Benin, living with tribes from South America to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Africa.

Exclusive content - www.patreon.com/misslevon



Now - Africa. 📌 From September 2023 will be spending most of my life at sea in my sailboat “Rebels” and not much online.


A few past expeditions;

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Solo journey into the most dangerous jungle in the world – The Darien Gap

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Becoming friends with the main military of Panama - SENAFRONT. They combat drug trade and Colombian FARC in The Darien Gap Jungle. They were shocked… because they have never seen a woman by herself in their neck of the woods… To get inside the real Darien Gap jungle and not the touristic one, you have to get a written permission with a stamp from the Dir. General of SENAFRONT in Panama City.


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Racing with local cowboys, through the biggest wetland area in the world — Pantanal, Brazil

Near Caiman... Pantanal, Brazil.

Near Caiman... Pantanal, Brazil.


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“Dancing with the dead” ceremony (turning of the bones) - Famadihana.

I did not just dance with the dead (with their bodies around the crypt) .. I (being a woman) was invited to dance with the heads of families on the roof of the tomb holding the flag of Madagascar. It is not easy to find this ceremony, and especially to be invited to it by the family. Beneath me in the tomb bodies and souls of 6 men and 6 women, danced and drank this life with me, with every hit of my cowboy boots and the heartbeats of 500! people, who danced around the crypt. Dust drenched in eternity of this "red land" traveled all the way to infinity and back.

They believe that their deceased family members, have healing and special powers. They ask for guidance and blessings. If husband and wife were somehow in different crypts, they are being reunited at those ceremonies. Without tours, without guides, without a driver with a car (as a white person usually moves here) and translators. I experienced this otherworldly Malagasy tradition from A to Z with Malagasy family (whom accepted me as their own) Without knowing the language. I slept with them on the floor in the cold without electricity (only 30% of houses in Madagascar have electricity), pushed the car and plunged into a real Madagascar, instead of the one that you are shown on the TV and sold in tour companies.

After a couple of days, children and adults yelled my name from all corners of this village. (17.07.2017)
PS - This ceremony is called Famadihana. If you want to experience this ceremony, do it now, because in years to come, it will completely disappear.

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Her loud and brave "Ale!!!" echoed through mountains and nearby villages, while she sat on top of a chariot, leading bulls up the hills and muddy "roads", in order to get firewood for the house...

In villages of Madagascar women usually look after kids and home... but not this one...

Found this village by my 7th sense, it's not on the map and cars don't go here..


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Living with cowboys in Guatemala

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And they say that Monks don’t smile… yes, they do… (Cambodia)

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survived through category 5 cyclone in Fiji.

With Kim. Yalobi village, Waya Island, Fiji (Cyclone Winston, category 5. 2016)

With Kim. Yalobi village, Waya Island, Fiji (Cyclone Winston, category 5. 2016)


Living with Yanomami tribe

Me and the chief Geronco of Yanomami tribe. Deep in the Brazilian amazon jungle, where I lived for 3 weeks with the Yanomami.

Me and the chief Geronco of Yanomami tribe. Deep in the Brazilian amazon jungle, where I lived for 3 weeks with the Yanomami.

I was the first foreigner to whom this Yanomami tribe, allowed to stay with them. Had the opportunity to attend and participate (dances, songs, hunting, shamanism) at the traditional Yanomami funeral ritual, where at the end of the ritual, Yanomami Indians mix remains and crushed into ashes bones of the deceased with porridge made of bananas and then drink this porridge. (have not tried the porridge, because I didn’t know the person)

Tried “Parica” (yopo) with men, even though women are forbidden to do Parica. Chief and Shaman allowed me to join them.

This was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life. And I am forever part of this tribe and they are forever part of me.

The chief of Yanomami tribe Geronco, once told me a legend of a Yanomami woman. Her name was Adorini. She was the most beautiful and dangerous woman and all men would fight over her and she was very strong. When I asked him why he is telling me this, he smiled and said “you are Adorini”. It is definitely a beautiful compliment and I laughed.

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Nature’s daughter. This is how we do it in the Amazon…

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13 people total in a small boat ... 12 hours a day, side by side, 4 days one way, with malaria mosquitoes. (because I was in the red zone)
(In the photo; Chief of Yanomami tribe Geronco, teaches me how to do Parica/yopo)

Hunting with Yanomami Tribe

Hunting with Yanomami Tribe

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Chief Geronco of this Yanomami tribe, that is deep inside Amazonian jungle, gave me my own house to live in… made only out of natural materials. This military hammock was a gift to me from SENAFRONT lieutenant in The Darien Gap jungle in Panama.


When I travel, every single community profits from me being there. I bring supplies, medicine, gasoline, foods, clothes, toys, numerous gifts and / or pay a fee for my stay.
— Elena Levon
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Papua New Guinea

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family in Madagascar

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Uganda 2012

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Suriname

Her name is Nani. She belongs to Saramacca tribe (one of six Maroon peoples) — descendants of the African slaves brought by Europeans to Suriname to work on plantations in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1690 Saramacca rebelled against their masters, escaped and formed their own independent communities around the country. Saramacca carry themselves with pride and dignity.

A knife is used to make incisions on the skin and then a charcoal was placed in them, as a result, the wounds become raised scar tattoos. When I asked Nani how old she is, she said she didn’t know. I kissed her hand and told her that its wonderful that she doesn’t know her age. We laughed and gave each other a hug. In villages a lot of women (like this one) don’t cover their breasts and many kids run around naked. They are the truly free and happy ones..

- “Why did you come here?”

- “I came here to dance with you...”

Dance for Maroons is very important. They use dance for many occasions and ceremonies, even to this day. Saramacca tribe was the first group of 6 Maroon groups to rebel against slave owners in Suriname. Dance was used as secret messages to each other in time of slavery. They encoded messages of planned escapes within a dance so that slave owners could not understand them.

When I come to your country, I don’t come to steal your oil, gold or involved in deforestation of your jungles - that is what 1% of the worlds wealthiest people and organizations do...

I come to dance with you, hug you, laugh with you and help you in any way I can.

I come to tell you, that you are magnificent!

And to tell you “thank you” for letting me inside your hearts and your homes.

Dancing with Saramacca tribe. Jungle of Suriname, South America.

Dancing with Saramacca tribe. Jungle of Suriname, South America.


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Sitting near 12.500 year old! (read that again) cave paintings in the remote jungles of Colombia, where there’s virtually no tourism. This area of Colombia was once FARC nest. (Paramilitaries of Colombia)

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With the last nomadic tribe of Colombia - Nukak-Maku (unfortunately only about 400 of Nukak left in the world)

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Holding arrows with poison, that Nukak Maku tribe still uses when hunting for animals or birds… 2 of those arrows in a person and that’s the end…


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Living with Berbers in Sahara, Morocco 2012


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Touching rarely seen Nicaraguan petroglyphs. (a sacrifice for the gods petroglyph.)

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“The Last Outlaw” (Bolivia) This was a 4 day journey on a horseback to the oldest town in Bolivia - Talina. Surrounded by dust of true stories and myths of the most famous outlaws in American History - Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid... I lived for a bit in a fazenda, that once belonged to Avelino Aramayo - Very wealthy Bolivian baron. He was also robbed at some point by those famous outlaws. There are many myths about the deaths of those famous bandits and many believe, that actually they were not killed here in Bolivia, but were able to escape.

Back to the time I lived with local family at the Nicaraguan farm, tried my hand at milking a cow and also drank milk right from the source, just as it was done for hundreds of years by locals… yes, I have no filter, no fear and no shame.

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With local Nicaraguan family.

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Papua New Guinea

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First foreigner to dance topless with the tribes at the Madang Festival in Papua New Guinea. People were coming over to say “thank you” for upholding their culture in the way, that it is supposed to be done. The Papua New Guinean press of course, completely put a different spin on it. (surprise!)

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Women painting me with their bodies

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That time when I shook the whole Indonesian town to it’s core…

There is a reason they call me “Helen de Troya” …

Manado, Indonesia

Manado, Indonesia

Throwback to a time when me and my friend photographer, Dmitriy Komarov, with whom we traveled to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, left one of our travel bags with expensive photo cameras, documents and the laptop in a local shuttle bus.

We were rescuing it for about 24 hours and the whole town of Manado were helping us, because the news of American Actress losing all her things, traveled really fast on all social media and all the local press of Indonesia got involved too.

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(travel with me is never boring…)

Brothel Matuari, the tour guide Ko-Harry, privately owned armed police Manguni and a lot of other people were involved in it.

“We got it back...to be more exact-I've got it back, but....all those detectives Manguni attributed all the glory to themselves! All mass medias said that.” - Dmitriy Komarov

Oh well...This is mass media, my friend… and there’s nothing you can do about that…

don’t ever believe anything you see on tv, read in a paper or hear on the radio… it’s all smoke and mirrors, kids.

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All of it happened on the most criminal street of the city with the half of Matuari brothel in the middle of it.

Exiting!…

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Back to a time I met a very mysterious, very wealthy and very well connected Russian man by the name of S. by pure accident. He has a real tiger at home and not only one tiger.. this is me holding a gun that was a present to him from President Putin, while stroking a cat, that was a gift from Medvedev.…

Maybe someday I will share the story of this mysterious encounter.

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Yes, people think I’m a spy, because I have a Russian and American passports and look like that.…

A lot of people also think I’m “Margo” from the famous novel by Bulgakov - “Master and Margarita” (If you have never read it, I highly recommend it! It is a true masterpiece.)

If you read it, you will understand why I added a reference to it, between these two photos…

Wearing a crown made of jewels, that was worn by the most beautiful women in Russia.

Wearing a crown made of jewels, that was worn by the most beautiful women in Russia.


Garrobo Grande Pyramids & The Stolen Gold Of Nicaragua.

Garrobo Grande (Piramides de Garrobo Grande) is the pearl of Nicaragua and of all Central America. Only a few people know about it and it’s very hard to find.

It’s not just stones and grass, in the photo. This, my dears, is the oldest pyramid in all of Central America and is among the 5 oldest in all of Latin America.

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Next to this pyramid there are 4 small ones and other ancient traces carved from stone. Archaeologists worked here 25 years ago for the first time. And for the second time, just some 18 years ago, an archaeologist named Jorge / George / Jorge Espinoza (speaking Spanish and English) came to this area with a guard that was armed. He persuaded the local people in the villages to work and dig pits in all 5 pyramids, the local people were paid well and were fed 3 times a day.

This was the beginning of one of the biggest thefts in Nicaragua and Central America.

This is not written and not told anywhere. This information you can get only from the lips of those who 18 years ago witnessed this story.

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When you cross countries by boat in the Amazon or very long distances, sometimes you travel like that…


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With my Sicilian family. A family not by blood, but by soul. They are 5 generations of farmers and wine makers and their internationally famous Maltese Wines are exquisite!


“Captain’s daughter”

With my “papa”, Captain of seven seas. Philippines

With my “papa”, Captain of seven seas. Philippines

This was my home, where I swam naked everyday with turtles and fishes. I hired a local boat with captain and lived on remote islands, with no service or people for about 2 weeks total. “Papa" as I called him, taught me many things about the sea and how to fish with only a line. I camped right on the beach, fished, said hi to wild monkeys and lived my own incredible “blue lagoon” life.... with zero tourists! Coron Island, Philippines.

Don’t be afraid to step outside of the box and help locals directly, while enjoying authentic, fun, wild and otherworldly experiences for much less, than the official price tag of tourism industry, that robs local people of their deserved money. The captain of the boat treated me like his own daughter. He taught many little secrets of “how to survive in the wild”. Don’t be afraid to go directly to a local person with a boat and help the local families in need.

"Thank you for wonderful experiences with you. For me you are my daughter not by blood, but by heart. Thank you for treating me like your true father. - Your Papa"

This is written now forever inside my handmade notebook, that was a gift to me from an artist in Vietnam. From now on I ask people, who hold a special place in my heart, to leave me notes or anything else they want to place inside of it... perhaps a drawing or a smiley face or leave it blank...

I hold on to this notebook, as if it's my life vest, in the darkness of days, which sometimes enter without knocking. For so many years I was not able to call anyone "Papa" (father) ... until this journey in the Philippines.

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“I have been dancing barefoot on these endless roads across this world without you.
I waltzed and tangoed waves of oceans and seas without you... The silence, beauty, vastness of deserts and sounds of jungles I felt within my every cell without you... Without you, yet with you... The spark in your eyes, has found a shelter inside my eyes... Your intense passion towards life, now burns through the pages of my life, thrusts through deceptions of caged dreams, gives hope and joy to others and sometimes hides from storms within the castle of my soul..” - dedicated to my father whom I lost in 2002 to cancer.

(If you still have a person, whom you can call dad or papa, you are lucky... if you still have that person and you haven't talked to them in a long time for whatever reason, call them... if they did wrong by you, forgive them and give them a hug... you might not have that chance tomorrow...)


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Lived with local Cuban family in 2014 and 2015.

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Passion Tango in Argentina

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With my Manaus family, Amazon, Brazil. They have a wonderful house that is right on the water and a lodge deep in the jungle.


“The Wild In Me Honors The Wild In You”

At a rehabilitation center in Zambia. 2011

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Amazon Jungle

kissing caiman

kissing caiman

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With wild gorillas in Uganda 2012


Myanmar

Myanmar

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Kaieteur Falls in Guyana is the world's largest single drop waterfall



 

                Let There Always Be A Road...

 
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Travel is about the people you get to meet and the moments you get to share with them... Travel is about dissolving and melting with the soil your dusty boots stand on...

It's about the courage, love and lightness you are able to bring to someone else's heart...


Staying with Tatuyo tribe in Brazilian Amazon.

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Kenya 2011. Traveled solo through Africa by public transport only and without tours.

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Uganda 2012

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Skydiving 4000 m. in Russia

*** 

I also hope someday to sail around the world indefinitely... yo ho yo ho and many, many many bottles of rum… or whiskey..

Anyone wants to sail around the world with me?

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I even have a monkey “Jack”…

All we need is just to steal a ship...

2023 update — Well...we don’t need to steal a ship anymore.. I am now a co-owner of a beautiful sailboat “Rebels”. She is a true Vagabond just like me...

(Photo - at Nukak-Maku tribe, in Colombian Amazon)


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