"Expedition Africa" For Adventure, Not $

He created the mega hit "Survivor," now producer Mark Burnett is combining adventure and history in a new series "Expedition Africa: Stanley and Livingstone".

According to Burnett, this new adventure is not a competition, but it's really an "unscripted drama."

"There's no game, there's no voting off. No prize money," he explained. "I brought together four great explorers, three men and one woman, and we set them off from Zanzibar, a small spice island in the Indian Ocean where most great African expeditions head off from.

"Their mission was to go 1,000 miles west and find the place where Stanley found Dr. David Livingstone and that famous saying, 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' It was re-creating that journey, and a very, very tough journey."

The original journey happened in 1871, but this happens present-day.

What are the challenges they face today that are different or perhaps even the same? How much has it all changed?

Burnett says Tanzania was chosen because it hasn't changed that much. Modern day technology - GPS navigation devices were also removed "and we made them do it in the old way," he explains.

"The first thing was to hire an old 16th century boat to even get them from Zanzibar to the African main land," he said. "Then they had to hire porters. You've seen those movies, 'The African Queen.' They even hired Masai warriors to guard them from the lions and some trouble, and then head off. What really makes the drama is they all want to be leaders and they can't all be leaders."

With three of the four being real adventure explorers, they all possess the genuine ability to adapt to extreme situations.

"They're totally great explorers," Burnett said. "Pasquale, first man to ever take a blind person to the summit of Everest, and also the first person to ever river raft the river Nile. Benedict Aaron is a solo survivalist. He actually had to eat his dog once to survive on an expedition."

Burnett says these are really tough people, but on the flip side - they can't all lead.

"That's what makes the drama. The camera crews keep out of it. We're just documenting their journey," he said. "'Are they tough enough to do what Livingstone and Stanley did 200 years ago? Can they make it?'"

Now, all this, and there's no money at the end. What's in it for them other than the pure adventure?

"It's just pure, pure adventure, Julie," he explained. "And even with 'Survivor,' I have to say, yes, there's prize money. But I only put people in 'Survivor' who want the true adventure. I don't want people who want to be on TV. It's far too hard for that."

In the case of "Expedition," he says, they just want to recreate that journey.

"It's one of the greatest journeys ever. Stanley, an American journalist, searching for Britain's lost explorer, David Livingstone. And in those days, explorers were like rock stars. They were the most famous people in the world," he said.

"Expedition Africa: Stanley and Livingstone," premieres Sunday, May 31 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. Central on the History Channel.