British man walks entire Amazon in 859 days
Source: Agencies |
August 10, 2010, Tuesday
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AFTER 859 days, thousands of miles and 50,000 mosquito bites, Ed Stafford became the first man known to have walked the entire length of the Amazon river when the waves of the Atlantic Ocean lapped at his feet in northern Brazil yesterday.
"It's unbelievable to be here!" Stafford said the moment he entered the sea. "It proves you can do anything, even if people say you cannot. I've proved that if you want something enough, you can do anything!"
Stafford said he hoped his feat would raise awareness of destruction to the Amazon rain forest - but that at its heart, it was simply a grand expedition of endurance.
"The crux of it is, if this wasn't a selfish, boy's-own adventure, I don't think it would have worked," the 34-year-old former British army captain said as he sat under the Brazilian sun near the jungle city of Belem. "I am simply doing it because no one has done it before."
There are at least six known expeditions along the course of the Amazon river, from its source high in the Peruvian Andes across Colombia and into Brazil before its waters are dumped into the ocean 6,760 kilometers away. But those used boats to advance their travel.
Stafford and a British friend began the walk on April 2, 2008, on the southern coast of Peru. Within three months, his pal left. Stafford carried on, walking bits of the route with hundreds of locals he met along the way. Eventually, Peruvian forestry worker Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera, 31, decided to make the journey with Stafford to the Atlantic.
Stafford said his journey, which cost US$100,000 and was paid for by sponsoring companies and donations, deepened his understanding of the Amazon, its role in protecting the globe against climate change and the complex forces that are leading to its destruction. He said he has seen vast swaths of demolished jungle.
He lived off piranha fish he caught, rice and beans, and store-bought munitions found in local communities along the river.
To relax at night, Stafford said he downloaded podcasts via Internet satellite phone by British comedian Ricky Gervais and episodes of the TV show "The Office."
Stafford and Rivera encountered every conceivable danger, from 5.5-meter long caimans, enormous anaconda snakes, illness, food shortages and the threat of drowning.
Stafford said he plans another expedition in September - something nobody has ever done - but will not provide details for fear someone might beat him to it.
Until then, a good, long rest awaits.
"It's unbelievable to be here!" Stafford said the moment he entered the sea. "It proves you can do anything, even if people say you cannot. I've proved that if you want something enough, you can do anything!"
Stafford said he hoped his feat would raise awareness of destruction to the Amazon rain forest - but that at its heart, it was simply a grand expedition of endurance.
"The crux of it is, if this wasn't a selfish, boy's-own adventure, I don't think it would have worked," the 34-year-old former British army captain said as he sat under the Brazilian sun near the jungle city of Belem. "I am simply doing it because no one has done it before."
There are at least six known expeditions along the course of the Amazon river, from its source high in the Peruvian Andes across Colombia and into Brazil before its waters are dumped into the ocean 6,760 kilometers away. But those used boats to advance their travel.
Stafford and a British friend began the walk on April 2, 2008, on the southern coast of Peru. Within three months, his pal left. Stafford carried on, walking bits of the route with hundreds of locals he met along the way. Eventually, Peruvian forestry worker Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera, 31, decided to make the journey with Stafford to the Atlantic.
Stafford said his journey, which cost US$100,000 and was paid for by sponsoring companies and donations, deepened his understanding of the Amazon, its role in protecting the globe against climate change and the complex forces that are leading to its destruction. He said he has seen vast swaths of demolished jungle.
He lived off piranha fish he caught, rice and beans, and store-bought munitions found in local communities along the river.
To relax at night, Stafford said he downloaded podcasts via Internet satellite phone by British comedian Ricky Gervais and episodes of the TV show "The Office."
Stafford and Rivera encountered every conceivable danger, from 5.5-meter long caimans, enormous anaconda snakes, illness, food shortages and the threat of drowning.
Stafford said he plans another expedition in September - something nobody has ever done - but will not provide details for fear someone might beat him to it.
Until then, a good, long rest awaits.
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