Adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, 74, sleeps in his Ford Mondeo instead of hotels to save money as he announces he'll be taking on sharks in what may become his last great expedition

  • Sir Ranulph Fiennes sleeps in his car to save cash on hotel rooms on the road
  • Despite raising thousands for charity, he says he is dealing with financial woes
  • On next adventure he will walk on sea floor in treacherous South Africa waters 

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, 74, reveals he sleeps in his Ford Mondeo to save money

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, 74, reveals he sleeps in his Ford Mondeo to save money

As one of the greatest living explorers, he's used to roughing it in remote spots.

And it seems the same applies at home for Sir Ranulph Fiennes – who opts to sleep in his old Ford Mondeo while in London rather than pay for a hotel.

Sir Ranulph, who turns 75 on Thursday, said there's no money in being an explorer and is perfectly happy bedding down in the back of his estate car rather than getting room service and a hot shower.

'The car is long enough for me to stretch out. It's not uncomfortable or anything. In London I park in a residential bay between 10pm and 8am,' he told the Sunday Times Magazine

'You save £300 for the nearest hotel or B&B. Normally, I'm parked between Ferraris and Range Rovers. I think they're all oligarchs and abroad and that's why there are spare spaces.

'I'll tell you that it's in Queen's Gate [west London] but I won't tell you more because it may not be strictly legal.'

On his next expedition, which may be his last, Sir Ranulph hopes to walk five miles form Robben Island to Cape Town with no protection

On his next expedition, which may be his last, Sir Ranulph hopes to walk five miles form Robben Island to Cape Town with no protection

Sir Ranulph's expeditions have left him in debt at various points, including £100,000-worth of bills for his 1979 Transglobe expedition in which he traversed both poles.

The Somerset-based Old Etonian writes and lectures to support his second wife and 13-year-old daughter. 

'As the breadwinner I need to write a book every other year. But with tax and literary agent fees and the often considerable cost of research, it's not enough,' he said.

'My only regular non-literary income comes from giving lectures. I can just about cope financially between expeditions.'

In contrast, he has raised £18million for Marie Curie, the cancer care charity which helped nurse his first wife Ginny, who died in 2004.

Despite raising thousands of pounds for charity, the explorer's adventures have often put him in debt

Despite raising thousands of pounds for charity, the explorer's adventures have often put him in debt

His next adventure will be to walk across the seabed from Robben Island to Cape Town in South Africa, equipped only with breathing apparatus and a sonic device to repel great white sharks.

He aims to raise money for Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital in Johannesburg and will only have a diving suit and special technology to ward off sharks.  

Despite being the first pensioner to climb Everest, growing old has meant these challenges have become much harder for Sir Ranulph.

He was was diagnosed with prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes and suffers from defective vision after his eyeball froze on a polar trek.

The explorer famously revealed how he was convinced to cut off his own frostbitten fingers by his late wife after she accused him of being 'irritable'. 

He was was diagnosed with prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes and suffers from defective vision after his eyeball froze on a polar trek

He was was diagnosed with prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes and suffers from defective vision after his eyeball froze on a polar trek

He was left with 'mummified' digits on his left hand after a failed solo expedition to the North Pole in 2000.

On returning to Britain he was told that the fingers needed to be amputated but added that he would have to wait five months for partially-damaged tissue to heal first. 

For a short while the former SAS officer lived with the pain, until his former wife Ginnie said he was 'getting irritable.

'We decided we would try to cut them off with a Black and Decker and a saw,' he said in a BBC radio interview.

Two weeks later the adventurer went to Frenchay hospital in Bristol where a plastic surgeon added the finishing touches to the job. The fingers healed without complications.

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