Archive for November, 2007
Atalaya Ahoy
19 Nov 1:08 pm by Nathan Welch Category: The Expedition
We arrived in Atalaya early yesterday morning with a little bit of a surprise – a good surprise! We had anticipated the bowels of the Red Zone (from San Francisco to Atalaya) would take us somewhere in the vicinity of 10 days. We ended up doing it in a smidgen over 5 days.
Our logistics guru & good friend Petronio (Destination Peru) met us in San Francisco on Saturday (10th?) with our last support drop off for the expedition. I was not in a good way – again this mysterious swelling of the feet & ankles had hit me – this time spreading to my knees, aches in all my joints & to top it off I spent the night before & that morning emptying my insides from both ends! Unfortunately as the oar frame set up was my design & project – I was the only one who knew how to put together this intricate little baby. So it turned out to be a long long day for us all. We ended up camping up in the boat that night at around 12.00 – totally knackered!
Amazon Watch
19 Nov 7:07 am by Mark Kalch Category: The Expedition
If you are on this expedition website or have been following our journey you will be aware that we are partnered with action group Amazon Watch. This is in an attempt to raise awareness of their work in the Amazon region and help out in anyway we can. Since hitting the flatwater we are edging closer and closer to the Amazon region of Peru.
Approximately 11 percent of the Amazon rainforest lies in Peru, an area nearly twice the size of California that is home to some of the world’s most biodiverse primary tropical rainforests and some of the last indigenous peoples still living a traditional, isolated lifestyle.
Currently, deforestation around the world, but especially in the tropics, accounts for between one fifth and one quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, with the Brazilian Amazon alone accounting for an estimated 600 million tons of carbon emissions every year – more than U.S. automobile use.
Please visit the Amazon Watch website NOW and regularly. Their latest press releases concern a worrying new free trade agreement tabled between the U.S and Peruvian governments. This FTA grants new rights for oil companies to drill in the Peruvian Amazon, the results of which will be catastrophic for the environment and indigenous populations.
Focusing on Present Time
16 Nov 11:30 am by Nathan Welch Category: The Expedition
Well by the time you folks are reading this we have re-entered the Apurimac after fitting up our oar frame. We are now officially in the Red Zone – the heart of Coca growing & narco terrorist activity in Peru. We have been warned on numerous occasions re the dangers in this area. It is notoriously known as “the most dangerous part of the river in Peru“. As such the Apurimac now throws up a new set of challenges after the subsiding of the whitewater. We have to be on our toes through the Red Zone, especially considering the high’s of our most recent accomplishment on the whitewater.
San Francisco (no flowers in our hair!)
11 Nov 10:14 am by Mark Kalch Category: The Expedition
What a ride! What a river! What an experience! The team arrived safely to San Francisco on Tuesday with a chance to recover physically and perhaps more importantly emotionally and spiritually from a clinch with the Apurimac we will never forget. The last 2 weeks since our put-in back at Playa Rosalina near Cachora has been the most taxing of our lives. However we are now all safe and well, playing catch-up with posts, photos, video, expedition emails and by far the most important, contact with family and loved ones. Where to begin…
The day after we said our good-byes to Mario and Scotty, we began our 5 hour march down to the river and the put-in at Playa Rosalina. This was done with a mix of excitement and some nerves (well, I for one was shitting myself!). It had been nearly a week since we had been on river, we were a man down and about to face the most challenging and difficult section of the Apurimac so far.
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