Sunday 15 September 2013

One mission, two cases of diarrhoea, three countries, four paddle boards.....


WE MADE IT - Thank you all for your support x ... here is the blog from the last week.....

Monday 22nd July – Took fast boat to Timicurillo then the rickshaw taxis back to Mazan. It is surreal concrete pathway 3 m wide that connects the Amazon and the Napo at its shortest land distance. We found our boat intact and in good order (we had been worried because we had rushed off and then had second thoughts about leaving the outboard attached even though it had a chain and lock), pumped up the boards bought some precooked lunch and fresh veg before setting off about 11am. This section that loops round to connect to the Amazon has much less traffic. Late afternoon we talked to Roy and his family who were returning by boat from a village meeting and he invited us to camp under shelter in their house. Beautiful sunset on bluff overlooking the river – our last night on the River Napo.

Tuesday 23rd July – after 5 hours paddling down some small channels off the main river we emerged into what could only be the Amazon - and saw our first ocean going vessel of the trip. The river is huge and lower than the Napo with exposed sandy beaches ideal for camping. That night we camped for the first time on a beautiful beach just west of San Salvador with dolphins on the shoreline and a small swamp just behind. As the light faded we learned a good lesson about camping next to a swamp... mosquito heaven.... At the turn of midnight we sang Marcia Happy birthday from the safety of the tents!

Wednesday 24th July – Pebas (Pevas) The day started fine and we paddled with a good current beneath us. As the day proceeded a headwind came up and grew and grew in strength. We arrived at the inlet to Pebas and were now making almost no headway on the paddle boards with the wind continuing to grow and getting colder. We decided to pull in to Pebas to have lunch and consider our options. This small Amazonian town lies on the north of the Amazon River. We pulled up on a fairly professional looking harbour and walked up the jetty. A few moto taxis waited – Sam chatted to one and said he did not like the feel of the town. Leaving Lorenzo to look after the boat we decided to have a quick scoot around town as the wind was going to make it almost impossible to continue. At the top of a flight of stair there was the recently painted main square, to the left we followed a path and along to a road where a portal to the left said ‘Grippa Art’. We wandered down into what can only be described as the perfect set for a horror movie. Walking though the creaking balconies on the relic of what once must have been a showpiece we suddenly came across a door and inside were transported into a magnificent art studio and face to face with Francisco Grippa ‘the Gauguin of the Amazon’. Magnificent paintings adorned the walls. It was indeed a surreal moment.... He offered us accommodation for the night and although some feared our blood might be drunk I was keen to stay. Looking around at the paintings one in particular caught my eye ‘The bull that fell from the sky and lived’ – a local myth. We collected Lorenzo – organised to leave the boat at the port and settled in. In the evening we went to the square where we drank a few beers in a restaurant run by the last of Grippas 7 wives and waited for a meal as the town prepared for the festivities of the 28th July (Independence day). The meal took hours and we were half cut by the time it arrived although it was the best we had had so far. We wobbled back to the house of horror and bedded down for the night with the wind howling around the rickety wooden structure. 

25th July: Pebas to Mosquito Island (Isla Zancudo) - At about 4am I got so worried for the boat that I wandered down to the dock to see if all was well. We were up at 6am discussed what to do – we decided to wait for the wind that had rendered the place grey and actually really cold (some 15C) to decrease before we headed off. I wandered round the gallery once more – I also decided that I wanted to see how much the painting I liked so much was and got into dealing with Francisco. We agreed on a price that included a couple of wonderful indigenous lithographs and he proceeded to wrap it up so we could carry it down the Amazon. After a breakfast at the Taverna with the wind still howling Daniel Lorenzo and Juan went to try and see what the state of the river was like and took the boat out of the protected harbour area. It proved to be possible to paddle but the wind was still strong so we decided we would buy lunch and leave at midday. We motored out of the harbour and began paddling – the wind had dropped but the wind against tide in the middle of the river had created waves of 1 m (wind against tide) that were incredibly choppy. At one point we decided that the paddlers would need to cross and the boat would look for a safer place to cross and meet us. It was an exciting ride across but as we did so we had forgotten that the river had really grown in girth and lost complete sight of the boat. With Mosquito island ahead of us and us headed to the left channel around it we waited and waited for the boat with no sign. We did not know what to do as we started to realise that the low draft of the canoe would mean that it might be very dangerous for the canoe (with Lorenzo and Marcia on) to cross. We paddled back against the current to try and see if we could spot the boat on the other side... after some 15 minutes we saw a shape coming across the waves. It was the boat – when it arrived we were so relieved and we learned another important lesson that we should always accompany the boat as the river could change character extremely fast and the river was now large enough to completely lose sight of boat or paddler from bank to bank. The crossing by boat had been risky with the motor lifted out of the water by the waves but Lorenzo was an extremely good pilot and had managed to get them across with only a few adrenaline filled moments. Although the islands moniker was Mosquito Island we found a beautiful beach and small inlet channel where we could moor the boat alongside us and began to set up our second camp. Thank god this place did not live up to its name.
Camp setup was getting more routine now – it did however involve setting up a goalpost type formation from drift wood (or more like drift trees in the Amazon!) over which we draped our 4 x 6m plastic sheets under which we set up our tents. Tents themselves were unlikely to survive a serious Amazonian downpour. Lorenzo went fishing with a machete and came back with a catfish.....

26th July – Isla Zancudo to Isla Santa Elena. An expedition is inherently stressful either physically and/or mentally. There is a saying I first heard when on a training course for disaster relief. When a group of strangers come together to work under pressurised situations there is normally a 4 stage process known as forming, storming, norming, performing. This can take weeks to work through and the storming – or arguing stage – is a natural step in the process of generating a team capable of efficiently executing a mission. In our case the fact that we all had up to 7 hours on a paddle board, allowing solitude, reflection and inherent meditation in this enormous river, meant that the storming (in its most extreme form!) never took place. Paddling through the various moods of the river from glassy surface to wind and rain blown mania calms the most tormented of souls! 

It is clear that the season on the Amazon is different to that on the Napo. The Napo was in full flood at the end of winter whereas sunny skies were more dominant of the Amazon. It is incredible thinking back on how much the character of the river changed both spatially and temporally. We were now paddling a vast river divided by islands that ended to give a real glimpse of the size of the river that discharges the highest amount of freshwater in the world and has more species of fish than the entire Atlantic ocean! On this stretch of Peruvian Amazon there is also more settlement. Juan had been asking about hunting and wildlife in conversations with local communities and it is also clear that the human footprint is also heavier here. At the upper stretches people said they saw primates within an hour’s walk – here people said wildlife and hunting could be found only after 4 – 5 hours walk. 


At about 4.30 we took a southern channel past Isla Pucaplaya and just after the village of Sargento Loreto we pulled into an island beach and set up camp. With a few swampy areas we were aware that today was going to be another mosquito challenge! Although we had a smoky campfire we were driven to our tents by 8pm... We had now used almost every tool we had brought with us as the mallet was put to use to crush peanuts for a satay sauce..

27th July - Now used to the routine we were up again at 5am to cook breakfast and take down the camp – to be off by 7am. Today we would paddle down with the aim of getting to Chimbote, a Peruvian naval checkpoint. Once again our total ignorance of the paperwork would be challenged. With flow beneath us speeding us along at rates that ranged from 7km/hr to 14km/hr when we would find the main flow and the river narrowed we arrived in Chimbote at about




3pm on this Saturday. We had planned to check in if the post was open but if closed for Independence Day would continue on to Colombia. Chimbote surprised us in being very small – no more than a village. We checked in with the police who asked us for passports then Daniel went to the naval office. The major challenges here, according to the police was drug transportation. This region is renowned for a history of Coca production and cocaine processing. In the past, especially during Pablo Escobar’s reign as the top drug lord the Colombian section was littered with illegal landing strips and cocaine processing plants – employing a large percentage of local indigenous communities. With Escobar’s fall and bombing of the airfields the Colombia region is now mostly under government control – but plantations are still common.
When I walked in to the naval section there was trouble... it was being explained to us that we could not move the boat because it was not registered (matricula) – the document we had tried to get in Ecuador was what we needed to proceed. Things were looking bad so close to the end of the trip and for a moment I regretted ever having stopped – imagining the drunken horror of having to stay in Chimbote for independence day as a foreigner! Fairly miraculously, as we explained the objective of the expedition the official relaxed and said he would give us a break and let us continue... as fast as we could we bought water and paddled furiously away before he could change his mind... we had been exceptionally lucky with officialdom! We paddled and approached the Colombian border. This region was suddenly less populous – a trend we had seen when approaching border regions. Juan and Daniel spotted a campsite for the night and we pulled over near a fisherman from whom we bought some fresh fish for the barbecue. At this stage I must admit that the culinary quality had been rapidly dropping and the thrill of rice and beans as a staple was again wearing off my western palette – dreamed of fresh salads...

28th July penultimate leg to Amacayacu National Park - Another 5am wake up and we all knew we could easily make the Amacayacu National Park by the end of the day and Lorenzo would get home in time for his youngest boys birthday party. With Colombia now on our north coast and Peru to the south we paddled a millpond Amazon in high spirits. We were going to pull in to the Colombia village of Puerto Narino to allow Lorenzo to pick up supplies, a present for his son and some huge community cooking plots that we had bought for community meetings as part of the project. In contrast to all the communities we had visited Puerto Narino was spectacular – it was well organised and clean (every morning the community got together in an inappropriately named ‘minga’ – a community work group to clear litter). This was a town that based its income on tourism and had dedicated to offering an organised jungle experience. In all my travels I had always been particularly impressed by Colombia – in a country with so many perceived and real problems I had always found the Colombians particularly organised and efficient... I slipped off the boat for a coffee and cake and brought some back for everyone and we set off for the hour or two to the inlet of the river Napatu (after which our boat was named). We pulled into this beautiful little river that marks the western limits of the Amacayacu National Park. It was incredible how at home we felt – most of us had visited, worked or lived in and around the park. For Daniel this was a real homecoming – he had lived for 2 years as a park ranger in Amacayacu and nearly everyone we passed was delighted to see him. Of course for Lorenzo this was home! We left the boards tied up to the rangers post at the mouth of the river and motored Lorenzo upriver some 20 minutes to his home at San Martin. As we pulled up his wife and a couple of his kids were washing clothes in the river. The Tikuna are not known to be over emotional and it appeared that Lorenzo had only just nipped down and back from the shops based on his initial reception! Apparently this was the Tikuna way – we walked up the street to his house where he showed us his latest developments ‘Boutique hotel Gregorio’ (his surname was Gregario) – a basic but beautiful ecohotel he had built! The family slowly gathered to sit around the kitchen when Lorenzo asked us all to join him at the table for a quick speech. Lorenzo said that he had had a fantastic experience with all of us where we had all been like brothers (and a sister) – with a tear in his eye that set Marcia off crying we hugged and said goodbye to the soul of the trip. All melancholy we motored back down the Napatu to pick up the boards for the last hour of paddle to the National park base where we would spend a couple of nights.
Some 50 minutes later we passed the entrance to Amacayacu National Park and paddled 100m up the small river to the left to the rangers section. We pulled in, delighted that we had made it this far. The after completing the paperwork at our final destination Leticia, a day’s paddle away, the boat would return to be moored here at the Park for use in conservation and sustainable development projects with local communities such as the one Lorenzo lived in – San Martin. For Daniel this was a real homecoming and we all settled in for 2 nights in real beds! Luxury!

29th July Amacayacu National Park – we slept in today, must admit the body was feeling the wear and tear of 21 days of travel and paddle. The boat was unloaded and we sorted out equipment as donations for the Park, Makuchiga (the primate rescue centre) and for Lorenzo and his community. In teh afternoon we took the equipment and a huge barrel of petrol we had not used up the tiny river some 20 minutes to where Maikuchiga were based. They had recently moved the house that had been close to the rangers station in the national park for 2 reasons – firstly the floods had damaged the housing and secondly recent changes in legislation had impacted on their work as they used to show tourists around the rescued primates. New legislation meant that it was illegal to exhibit animals in national parks – which has huge benefits but side effects on the efforts of this rescue centre! The house on stilts was now relocated to the only piece of land known to never have been flooded and on indigenous territory where legislation was slightly different. On arrival it seems that Pancho – the teenage rescued howler monkey took exception to my face and had a couple of good runs at attacking me – with huge teeth that could crack nuts a bite would have been a serious affair – the wounds from these teeth heal slowly and can leave terrible scars. Sarah, who runs Maikuchiga has had a number of injuries from primates over the years – they can be rather unpredictable! Talking to Sarah we could see that the closure of the park from flooding has had major impacts on the local economy.

30th July Amacayacu to Leticia – we woke up early with plans for a 5.30 start – we ended leaving about 6 am and started our last paddling day down to Leticia. Every day was different on the river – today a fog with the morning sun poking hazily through made for a surreal paddle. The fog cleared to leave blue skies and sunshine. We stopped at Isla de Monos (Monkey Island). The previous owner of the island had populated it will a zoo of animals – most had died out as the river islands did not have the carrying capacity to maintain populations of large mammals such as primates. The squirrel monkeys have survived and it is now used as a tourist attraction. We heard that a jaguar had once swum over and made the island its home – ate a few of the animals and terrified staff and tourists before swimming away again one day!
As we approached Leticia we popped the cork on some cheap imitation champagne ($8 worth) from Peru (not of the highest quality but sweet and bubbly ... and warm...) – we moored the boat up on a floating house that guarded the national park boats. The current around this floating home was very strong. Life on board seemed tough – the house needed regular tweaks to the anchors and poles that kept it mid stream and needed to be moved up and down the banks with the annual cycle of flooding and drying of the river. The boathouse owner explained that one particularly heavy storm saw only 5 houseboats remained (of which his was one) – the rest had been swept downstream!

With mission completed (and only the paperwork to hand over the boat to the NGO Entopika to do tomorrow) we unloaded the boat got to our accommodation and set about celebrating – a meal in El Cielo (Heaven) and a bottle of Black label later and we wobbled back to sleep – the wobble was a combination of the booze and the strange wobbling sensation one gets after being at sea for a time!
We hope to put together a small ebook of the trip that explores some the the themes we encountered in greater detail – the future of uncontacted tribes, conservation of wildlife and oil exploitation are some key themes that our team-members are working on...

Thank you all for your support of this project – the boat you bought will play a key role in allowing Entopika to carry out its incredible work in and around Amacayacu National Park. Thank you all x

Monday 12 August 2013

Week 2



16/07/13
In the morning we slipped off with the Apu unhappy with our meagre donation of school supplies. Saw a deer swimming across the river (at this point it was some 1 km wide. The deer probably scared by predators or hunters. Hard rain paddle in the morning and we pulled in to a traditional village (Sumac Allpa). Stayed in the friendly Apu’s (headmans) cousins house which was a raised platform with a thatched roof for protection from the rain. Very comfortable – Lorenzo commented that his Tikuna community has had much more contact with ‘white people’ but that the children in these communities are so fascinated by our presence – an indication of the isolation of the region. Cooked chips and Mandioca chips and in the morning just managed to clear out as the owner of the house and his family turned up – traded a night’s stay for a gallon of fuel. Although Lorenzo got up some 10 times in the night to shoo away the buffalo they managed to eat our bananas off the front of the boat. Drifting through huge bends in the river to aim fro Santa Clotilde – a larger town.



17/07/13
Santa Clotilde is a large and rather well organised town – we booked in to a rather simple hotel and ate a full meal. Lorenzo had just gotten his appetite back and had nipped off to eat duck then a meal of chicken... restarted his stomach problems poor chap. In teh morning the guy we had hired tried to charge us 6 times the agreed price for guarding the boat and in retrospect looks like we lost some equipment including a funnel and fishing gear. Previously Lorenzo had slept on the boat.

18/07/13 
Another hard day of paddling. Saw the largest pink river dolphin I have ever seen and it will stick in my memory. The pink river dolphins look very odd as they can swivel their necks and this monster of a dolphin came out to have a good look at us twice. We arrived in Bellavista about 5pm and waited for the President (we were out of indigenous territoru and in mestizo lands now) to return as we did not want a repeat of what had happened in Puerto Alvira. The village was full of children who carried our gear to teh school house life a group of leaf cutter ants with heavy loads on their shoulders. The village made its money by making aguardiente (firewater) and Sam went off to find some. He brought back the President who insisted we drink. I had already started to feel queasy and knew I might have stomach problems so held back a bit. In teh morning Sam found Juans passport and some money outside the school room. He had been robbed of money and his identify cards. Furious we talked to the president who suspected 2 kids who were always causing trouble. We need to be more alter in the chaos of kids running around. He promised to send the documents to the Colombian consulate in Iquitos if they turned up.

19/07/13
With a bad taste in the mouth and a nasty rumble in my stomach we headed off. I was dehydrated and needed rest in the boat. It was Friday and at Midday we motored to Mazan. Mazon is a loop in the Napo that connects to the Amazon by a mototaxi causeway – we left  the boat there and caught the last fast boat up to Iquitos. We plan to spend the weekend in Iquitos recovering as we are all exhausted and I am rather weak from dehydration. Started a course of ciprofloxacin in the hope that it is simply travelled belly. Concerns are that this is also a malarial region – in Bellavista there were recent cases.

20/07/13
Iquitos is the major gateway to Amazon tourism with a filthy waterfront but nice malecon (or boardwalk) and the tourist restaurants are pricey. Lots of tourists ready to experience the jungle lodges and Auyuhuasa (the local hallucinogenic used by shaman). Marcias birthday in 4 days so the treat for myself and her is a luxury hotel in the main Plaza – a great comfort after the 10 days in the wild! The rest of the team are also resting and relaxing although they took a trip to the local market to investigate the wild animal trade. They did not see any live animals (Sam had seen these a few years ago) but they found meat of red deer, land turtles, white-lipped peccary, white collared peccary, capybara, caiman, howler monkeys, coatis, and giant river turtles. I did not have the stomach for the market and Daniel also returned feeling queasy.
Planning to start again on Monday and should be some 8 days to Amacayacu National Park although it looks like we might have lowers flows and head winds to contend with.

Friday 26 July 2013

The first week

Look what happened on the first 7 days of the expedition (written by Mika):

9/7/13

Just passed Sushifindi in the Ecuadorian Amazon in the minibus we hired to get us and all our 

equipment down to the where the boat was being built. Spent the night in Lago Agrio as we were 

delayed by a landslide on the route from Quito. Huge amounts of oil palm plantations and oil 

extraction affecting this region north of the Napo River. Military checkpoints for arms and petrol 

rationing as only some 3 – 4 hours from Colombian border. Roberto in charge of building the boat 

met us in Lago Agrio and we split up to let Daniel (in whose name the boat is) go with him to Coca 

to sort out boat registry. The frustration of the bureaucracy is getting to us as it all remains unclear 

what we actually need as we will be transiting the ecocanoa through to Colombia. Also was unclear 

that we wanted built in fuel tank so that is being added now. We cross the Rio Agrio in a ferry and 

that was a bit intimidating as running at over 12km/h. Hoping the Napo will be a bit gentler!!



10/7/13

Spent night at Porto Providencia, where boats was built and had the first run last night. Beautiful 

craft and runs well with 15 hp motor. Last night I went with Daniel to buy the fuel – an adventure 

in itself – and today we had the first practise run with the SUP boards to practise rescue and get 

the group ready for paddling. Still awaiting a licence to carry the fuel (lack of this can mean 6 years 

incarceration in Ecuador!). We are desperate to get started tomorrow so expect it tonight... yet 

nothing arrives. 





11/7/13

Early morning and the licence to carry the fuel arrives. Irritatingly it is the same licence that was 

here 2 days ago but this time a photocopy is made at the port and we are ready to go. First day 

on the River Napo and it showed us both its beauty and a taste of what it can throw at you. The 

boat (Napatu – named after the Tikuna name of the destination river at the Amacayacu national 

Park) is bobbing outside the tent at the waterfront of a village called Panacocha. The day was rain 

free with the Yasuni National Park to our right and the Cuyabeno National Park to our left all day – 

approximately 60 km covered in a magnificent paddle – the boards are holding out well and we are 

averaging 8.7 km/hr with a big flooded Napo River beneath us. This is the end of the wet season and 

from now the river drops to show a maze of channels and beaches. 

The river also showed its teeth when Juan was paddling too close to the margins and got his board 

caught in a left over fishing line and hook. With his leg still attached to the leash he was struggling 

to stay afloat although the life vest certainly helped. The one that saved teh day was our Tikuna 

companion Lorenzo who paddled up to teh fishing line attached to the tree and bit through it with 

his teeth – his new name is ‘The Caiman’. We had discussed the pros and cons of using the leashes 

and we are clear now that it is safer not to have them in a fast flowing river... a lucky lesson learned. 

Our guide for this section, who we hired to help with the paperwork at the border (Nuevo 

Rocefurte), suggested that we needed to get there before the weekend otherwise it might be 

shut so we took the hard decision to motor to there tomorrow to see if we can complete all the 

paperwork and not be stranded for a whole weekend at the border.

12/7/13

Information is a shifting commodity in the Amazon... and we head off all rather glum to deal with teh 

authorities and hope that the paperwork given us in Porto Providencia would allow us to continue 

our journey through to Peru. We left Panacocha  that had been a kind and pretty stop, wher myself 

and Marcia had camped outside the ‘hotel’ on the pretty bankside. The hotel had scared even 

Lorenzo who slept curled up with a host of spiders inside his mosquito net! The 4.5 hour journey 

took us past Tiputini and a section made up of a maze of islands. Just approaching Nueva Rocefuerte 

we came across a homemade raft with an Argentinean and two European girls who were floating 

down the Amazon! They had already been floating a month – taking it slow from Misuahlli. Seemed 

the guy was craving male company and we said we would meet them in Nuevo Rocefuerte.

After all my worries about the paperwork the Capitanita (Marines) at Nuevo Rocefuerte could 

not have been more helpful! They were extremely supporting of our trip and gave us a letter of 

permission to pass and even organised a place with a roof where we could camp under for the night 

– the Amazon rains can be so very heavy and a roof is a godsend. The sad news was that there were 

a couple of primates as pets at the capitania that were bought at pantoja – and they did not know 

what illegal wildlife trade was when we explained the objective of our trip was. It is going to take a 

long time to address this side of biodiversity loss in the more remote parts of the forests.

Sam has given up smoking and is doing well so far.. so now it is 5am and we all get up – cook 

breakfast, take down camp and head off at 8am... long days.

13/07/13 – Miraflores (Peru)

The border section between Ecuador and Peru was incredibly quiet. In Ecuador there was a lot of 

activity with fast boats servicing tourist and oil and large barges transporting heavy machinery. 

Peace and quiet for the morning paddle as we shoot by the banks of the river on a section of the 

river that is hardly used. Saw my first grey dolphin today on a day full of parrots and butterflies 

transiting between the river banks and the river islands. The islands form a unique environment for 

birds and they are dynamic systems that grow and disappear so hold a complete range of flora from 

pioneer to old growth and less predators. I was once again nervous about what we might face in 

Peru at Pantoja when it came to paperwork. However, once again I was totally surprised – the local 

Marine was fantastic and offered us assistance for our trip – South America never fails to surprise.  

After lunch we launced again and paddled downstream some 30 km in the beautiful sunshine and 

are now camped in a tradition Malloca at Miraflores. This is a beautiful Kichwa village of 100 people 

situated on a small river running parallel to the Napo (we have passed through Hourani and Kichwa 

territory and 2 isolated tribe lands so far). The Apu (tribal leader) welcomed us with a twinkle in his 

eye – the price of stay was a go on the stand up paddle boards. We were left to our own devices to 

a beautiful sunset and a good cook up. Still travelling at an average speed of 8km/hr and hitting our 

60km/day+ target.

14/07/13

Fuelled with goodwill we paddled Peruvian waters all day – no rain and sunshine. In the 

afternoon while most paddled we discovered the sport of wake SUP and wasted a tank of fuel! At 

about 5pm we approached teh village of Santa Maria on the right bank and realised it was a Sunday 

following a regional football match – everyone was drunk. We arrived wary but the teacher was 

sober and let us camp in the school hall – with nerves slightly on edge we settled down for the night 

– no problems in the end and we left early at 7am.

15/07/13

Another full day paddling of over 60 km and we pulled in to Puerto Elvira. The kids 

jumped about on the SUP boards and I had my first taste of Chicha – a maize brew fermented with 

human saliva... they gave me a massive bowl... could not take it all – was happy to lose face as it was 

an overfermented batch.... my stomach still feels a bit violated and I need to man up! After Chica 

the teacher invited us to set up camp in the communal house and we settled in and Daniel started to 

cook up. Dark and about halfway through his preparations I saw Lorenzo enter muttering that ‘there 

was a problem’. Behind him was the Apu (the head man) furious that we had not asked him for 

permission – at that very moment Daniels oil caught fire and a ball of fire headed towards the roof 

of the school house... this was the time to explain that we come in peace.

Well after an entire night of grovelling and the Apu eating Lorenzos hard won gift of Peccary meat 

(he was missing his fish and meat so much) the Apu ‘Authority maximum’ left us in peace. Today ate 

the fruits of Inga edulis and saw more grey river dolphins. We had our first experience of an Amazon

windstorm and heavy rain paddling– this is a major risk to the boat as it has a canopy that can catch

the wind and flip it.

Lorenzo came down sick after being forced to drink more chicha... quite severe travellers diahorrea 

and eventually we decided to start him on ciprolox to get him back in shape.

Monday 8 July 2013

Landslide delays..

Lots of rain on Amazonian side of Andes ... landslide brought traffic to halt so we are overnight in Lago Agrio.. town in centre of Amazon oilwells. Highlight of day was Lorenzo seeing snow for first time as we crossed Andes at 4000 m altitude!

Bus driver heart attack

Monday and leaving Quito to pick up the boat in the amazon... driver was bit intimidated by the packing... last picture and internet till Iquitos in Peru. twitter updates by sat phone from now... wish us luck and thank you all for your support x.

Sunday 7 July 2013

Saturday 6 July 2013

Nearly all together and final preparation

Today myself, Marcia and Sam were joined by the Colombian contingent - Lorenzo and Juan. Met in Quito and went to collect food for the trip... Last member Daniel arriving tomorrow before we truck out to the Amazon to collect the boat on Monday...

Thursday 4 July 2013

Oil exploitation and the southern Ecuador Amazon

Met with the team at the University Simon Bolivar in Quito - we have been working on modelling the potential impacts of oil exploitation in the Southern Ecuador Amazon that still remains largely forested. The northern section has suffered from deforestation and pollution and there are major concerns for what will happen if oil exploitation occurs. Our journey will take us through oil exploited regions and untouched areas and we will update you in the state of the area.... Expedition starts next week....

Saturday 29 June 2013

Orellana.. First European to discover Amazon

Quito, Gualpi...

At the point where Francisco Orellana started his expedition in search for Eldorado ... He was the first European to descend the amazon river during a disastrous expedition with one of the Pizzaro  brothers .. He gave the river its name after claiming to fight giant 'amazonian' women. His reports of a heavily populated Amazon basin are only now gaining credit. See the search for eldorado ... There is a link in one of my first blogs.... Interesting to see scrubbed out graffiti on his bust saying 'shame on you Indian killer!'. 

Friday 28 June 2013

Pink river Dolphins

Image



We are glad to publish a great project made by Kailen (age 8) about pink river dolphins. He did an excelent job on his blog http://kaioamazon.wordpress.com/.

We hope the expedition team find a pink dolphin on the Amazon river. I'm sure Kailen will be excited and so will we!

Quito... Expedition preparation begins

In Quito.. Starting expedition preparation. Last 10 days out of email contact at Santa Lucia reserve leading the Earthwatch 'Climate change, canopies and wildlife project'. Photo from this beautiful cloudforest reserve below with Earthwatch volunteers working on a forest dynamics plot and a wee rescued spectacle bear...

Sunday 16 June 2013

Arrived in Ecuador.. Sans luggage...

Flew out on Saturday to Ecuador as have earthwatch project to run from 17th to 27th June. We arrived safely but the paddle boards and luggage stayed in Miami!! Getting nervous as have limited pant supply... Acclimatising on a quiet Sunday and took a trip up the cable car....

Monday 10 June 2013

Last week in UK

Training after a weeks flu.. Beautiful Brighton eve. One more week in the UK before off to Ecuador... Work in the Andes before expedition starts on 10th July... There has been a massive oil spill into the Coca river... We will report on impacts to river life as we head down...

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Carry on up the Adur..

Bank holiday spent training and worrying about the trip (i.e. Writing risk assessment). Marvellous trip from Parsons green to Shoreham on Saturday with Marcia and Alan... They both fell in... Then back on Sunday with my transylvanian friend Mirel... Marvellous...

Friday 24 May 2013

Testing the boards to destruction....

It was a great pleasure to meet the pupils of St Bernadettes primary school today to talk about rainforest conservation and the Stand Up for the Amazon expedition. I was soooo impressed with what the pupils knew about the situation facing these tropical forests... In the photo we are destruction testing the inflatable SUP board!!

Thursday 23 May 2013

Gore and more gore... Wilderness medical training course

Dealing with worst case scenarios is something important to consider. Any trip beyond the normal safety net of ambulance and hospitals must undertake wilderness medical training... This is the third time I have renewed my wilderness medical skills on the WMT and last time 2 audience members fainted at the 'desensitisation' imagery.... Only one went down this time allowing us to practise the recovery position! Below photo of the fantastic Tariq and Larissa.. Oh and result of polar bear attack.... Those of squeamish nature look away...

Sunday 28 April 2013

Waiting for the Source to sea Expedition to arrive at sharpness...

Howling head wind... Life boats at the ready.. Waiting for the paddlers to arrive!

Meeting the Severn Source to Sea Expedition as they break British Sup record

On Saturday I travelled to Glouster to join the Red Paddle Supported Source to Sea Expedition on their penultimate day. This was on a Severn bore day - a wave generated by a tidal surge that can be surfed for 24 km. We caught the tide down after the bore for a 17th mile trip to Newnham. The highlight, and complete surprise was seeing a porpoise heading back downstream with us!! An amazing day and was a privilidge to spend the day with them as they broke the British Sup record!!

Friday 26 April 2013

The Royal Geographical Society....

With time ticking away I went up to London to meet up with fellow Britain paddler Andrew Cooper at the Royal Geographical Society to get sonera detailed map planning. As always had coffee with the marvellous Share Winser who runs the expedition advisory service there.. Great conversation, support and advice as always!! Left London with a list as long as my arm of to dos... Tomorrow an early start as paddling the River Severn on their penultimate day of their source to sea expedition... Also a Severn bore day!!!

Friday 19 April 2013

Press release from University of Sussex

Well here we go for the funding drive to get the target for the Amazonian Conservation charities... on the 17th the University of Sussex launched a press release that also highlights an event at Hove Lagoon Watersports on Sunday 19th May - there will be a mass paddle round, chances to try stand up paddle boards from leading manufacturers (Fanatic, Starboard and of course Red Paddle).... barbecue fun.... 

To cheer you up - a picture of a Monk Saki monkey - one of the primates cared for at the rescue center 


Sunday 7 April 2013

Training on the River Arun

First real spring day and a sunday on the beautiful arun.. From black swan pub at Arundel up past Amberley.. the trick is to catch the river when tide is high at Littlehampton for a 3-4 hour tidally assisted mooch.. has more tea shops than the Amazon I reckon..

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Training off Brighton

Thanks to the great work of Tom at Entropika the website is now up and going! Thanks Tom... also time to get serious about training... photo of eve/night session around the piers of Brighton..

Sunday 24 February 2013

Meeting Red Paddle...

Weekend was spent meeting Red Paddle Company who are supplying their 'explorer' boards for the expedition. Incredibly impressed by the level of innovation and dedication behind the red paddle boards and the Devon welcome that included a stand up paddle session in 4ft perfection with Red Paddle John and 'Coops'... now an official member of the team (you have a week to change your mind... or the pressgang is on...)

Sunday 17 February 2013

The project is taking more shape now - we have the team together (a mixture of UK, and South American paddlers and conservationists) and working on the website that will take over/work in conjunction with this blog... more coming online in a couple of weeks.

This Friday I am off to Totnes to see the Red Paddle Company and get a chance to trial their expedition board....