Elon Musk's grandparents were adventuring pilots who spent years looking for a lost city in the desert
The Haldeman family, often including the children, went on 12 expeditions to find the Lost City of the Kalahari
It's no wonder Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is the most interesting man in tech — he's got adventure in his blood.
Musk's maternal grandparents were Dr. Joshua and Wyn Haldeman, celebrities in their time for their expeditions to find the Lost City of the Kalahari, which legends held was located somewhere in southern Africa's Kalahari Desert.
In 1948, at age 45, Dr. Haldeman, a chiropractor in Sasketchewan, Canada and a leader in local politics, got his pilot's license. With his small, single-engine airplane, he could spend more time at his practice and less time traveling by train, according to an article by the Canadian Chiropractic Association.
By that point, he and his wife Wyn, a dance instructor, had three daughters: Lynne, and twin daughters Maye (future mother of Elon) and Kaye. The plane became a family hobby, as they jetted around North America so Dr. Haldeman could attend chiropractic conferences.
Then, in 1950, The Haldemans moved from Canada to South Africa, with only six months notice, despite never having so much as visited the country.