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!
The next morning we put the finishing touches on the oar frame, packed the gear & paddled off from San Francisco to the cheers & whistles of a huge audience of locals – somewhat bemused by the antics of these totally ´loco´ gringos!
Our first couple of days on the oars was a challenging – it took us a while to adapt to this new paddling genre, plus we needed to refine a few things with the overall set up. The rains have now started in full & there were times when we were trying to adjust the canopy in these hectic conditions at all hours of the day & night. We ended up donating quite a few screws, sockets & even a tarp to the river in our missions to adjust the canopy to suit the conditions. All in all, it’s been very frustrating & challenging for us at times adapting to the changes & this new environment. Seemingly, it’s little things that become big things in the middle of a storm on a swollen river late at night! There have been quite a few expletives being put out there over the last few days! But, Atalaya now provides us with the opportunity to refine things & that’s exactly what we are missioning with right now – sorting out leaks, extending the canopy, improving our onboard kitchen & just general practical living on the raft with 3 guys!
Perhaps one of the real positives over the last 5 days has been our quick improvement on the oars. Day one saw us travel about 30km & then we progressively reached close to 70km per day – of course the flooding river & rising water has helped our cause!
The other bonus for us personally has been a relatively trouble free passage through a lot of the Red Zone. Whilst you were always aware of a certain feel & sinister energy in the air, we had a pretty trouble free run. We were fired at on a couple of occasions, but this time around they were warning shots from local military & police – wanting us to pull over so they could investigate – & believe me, paddling that great big raft over to the side of the river from a pumping flow is a mission in itself! Other than that, we had a pretty sweet run – which we are super grateful for. Just in the newspaper this morning was a main news story telling the tale of how narco terrorists ambushed & killed 5 police officers in an area very close to where we had just paddled through. Again, all your prayers has seen the river gods look favourably upon us – thank-you!
One of the more hectic things we encountered over the last few days has been enormous whirlpools – some of them about 5m in diameter. With our Big Rig at the moment it’s scary to see the water just toss it around & on one occasion wanting to slip it. Thankfully we have transferred 2 of our thwarts to the wings of the oar frame & they act as outriggers & extra stability.
The river has gone through 2 name changes & is significantly wider than when we last posted. As the Mantaro River fed into the Apurimac, the river became Ene River. Then later the Perene River met the Ene to become the Tambo, which we are officially on right now.
As we speak we are moored at the navy base here in Atalaya – the Navy boys have befriended us & helped us out, sourcing the local people & equipment we need on our little refinement mission. They also took us out on the town to taste some of the local brews & scope out the nightlife. Atalaya has certainly been a friendly, cool little place. Our appreciation of the generosity & kindness of the Peruvian people continues to grow – we have experienced some truly wonderful, genuine people to date.
All things coming together with the raft & frame we should be outa here in the next day or so – next stop Pucallpa…the fastest growing jungle city in Peru.
20 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Subscribe to our RSS feed
To Nathan Heath- Happy birthday for the 18th.
Trent hoped you got to have a can of coke for your birthday!
Hope everything is going well,
luv Kozza,Na,Kimmie and baby bow in utero
Comment by kozza bow — November 19, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
G’Day Wizman & your wizard mates: Well we are back on
the air. Asi sit reading of the adventure & the enjoyment, also the shitty bits, of you 3 wizards Isay
to myself, Nathan you are one lucky bastard. There you
are, with great mates, doing something which a bloody lot of people only dream about. YOU are doing your thing,and we are bloody proud to call you No1.Grandson
As you can can imagine I am as Jealous as buggery,and
wish with all my heart that I was young enough and/or
fit enough to be patr of your team & experience what
you blokes are experiencing now. Our love and prayers
are with you all & will continue to be so untill journeys end. YOU are a credit to the CLAN. If your
mates have no objections we will adopt them into the
CLAN also.
Love from 20 Barton, Grumblebum, Marie & Margy.
Comment by Grumblebum. — November 19, 2007 @ 11:03 pm
I’m going to come online just to read Grumblebums post’s!! Love you Aussies!! Welcome back, we’ve missed you!! Stoked to hear you’ve got your computer fixed
Comment by Jess — November 19, 2007 @ 11:26 pm
yo dudes
Sounds like you’ve had and adventure so far with more to come
I’ve been brewing some serious alcoholic ginger beers at home, have to come over and have some when ya big adventure is all over.
Also Mark I have developed a bit of beard jealousy so I’m keeping my growth going, missus don’t like it though haha
Keep it going boys.
DC
Comment by Drew — November 20, 2007 @ 2:40 pm
hi guys,
well done so far… i get tired just reading your latest update, i can imagine you must have had quite a hard time, so glad your spirits are up. you must know each other pretty well by now. who is the main chef? send us some more pics of your house and daily life please! things here are well. we think of you guys all the time and i m still in the boat with you. let me know if you get tired of the food, i ll send you a mister delivery menu.
all the very best
fritz
Comment by fritz — November 20, 2007 @ 6:36 pm
Hi Boys , well Mark and Phil welcome to the family once Grumlebum has spoken then its becomes family law by his decree.Boys Grumblebum wasnt christened with that name, he worked hard for many years to achieve that title.
Phil amd Mark just be aware the gene of Grumbebum is heredity and the early signs of this medical condition may be festering in the no 1 Grandson as we speak. I dont mean to frighten you just alert you to the condition.
Phil try and convince Nat to take some medication for his condition .( stomach bug)
Well boys we are extrely proud of what you have achieved and we endose all the comments made by the other writers.
We look forward to the next post , stick together and stay safe . Love Bill & Toni xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Comment by Bill Welch — November 20, 2007 @ 7:35 pm
Hey boys one thing i did forget to remind Nathan & Mark when i was talking to you the other day, please try to keep the little floating house clean & tidy for goodness sake, I dont like to be reminding Nathan all the time about house keeping. If you need a hand give me a call. Talk soon be safe love & prayers going your way. Toni xxx (Grumblebums no i Daughter)
Comment by Toni-Maree — November 20, 2007 @ 10:29 pm
Cool Poem – originally written for an “English Friend in Africa” but I reckon a couple of “Antipodeans in America” might just fit the bill!! It is written by Ben Okra.
Be grateful for freedom
To see other dreams.
Bless your loneliness as much as you drank
Of your former companionships.
All that you are experiencing now
Will become moods of future joys
So bless it all
Do not think your ways superior
To another’s
Do not venture to judge
But see things with fresh and open eyes
Do not condemn
But praise what you can
And when you can’t be silent.
Time is now a gift for you
A gift of freedom
To think and remember and understand
The ever perplexing past
And to re-create yourself anew
In order to transform time.
Live while you are alive.
Learn the ways of silence and wisdom
Learn to act, learn a new speech
Learn to be what you are in the seed of your spirit
Learn to free yourself from all things
that have moulded you
And which limit your secret and undiscovered road.
Remember that all things which happen
To you are raw materials
Endlessly fertile
Endlessly yielding of thoughts that could change
Your life and go on doing for ever.
Never forget to pray and be thankful
For all the things good or bad on the rich road;
For everything is changeable
So long as you live while you are alive.
Fear not, but be full of light and love;
Fear not but be alert and receptive;
Fear not but act decisively when you should;
Fear not, but know when to stop;
Fear not for you are loved by me;
Fear not, for death is not the real terror,
But life – magically – is.
Be joyful in your silence
Be strong in your patience
Do not try to wrestle with the universe
But be sometimes like water or air
Sometimes like fire
Live slowly, think slowly, for time is a mystery.
Never forget that love requires that you be
The greatest person you are capable of being,
Self-generating and strong and gentle –
Your own hero and star.
It is love alone that is the greatest weapon
And the deepest and hardest secret.
So fear not, my friend.
The darkness is gentler than you think.
Be grateful for the manifold
Dreams of creation
And the many ways of unnumbered peoples.
Be grateful for life as you live it.
And may a wonderful light
Always guide you on the unfolding road.
Comment by Jess — November 21, 2007 @ 12:39 am
Keep it up boyz, sounds like your pushing hard.
My thoughts and best wishes are with you
look after yourselfs
Comment by scott — November 21, 2007 @ 6:17 am
Hi Boys – I’m in transit – have you in silent prayer with some Safa’s over he past few weeks. back on in a day.
God be with you – all is great my friends – keep it going
Mick
Comment by Mick — November 22, 2007 @ 9:59 pm
Mark, Nathan, Phil.
I was just reading the posts and it sound so scary.
It is just a tiny bit different to the Brisbane river!
I wouldn’t like to be there.
But all of you are great and strong, so you will finish it with each other.
Good luck and keep safe.
Alessandra, 11
Comment by Alessandra — November 22, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
Hey Mark, Nathan & Phil,
Your journey sounds amazing!
May you all stay safe and well, for the rest of your expedition.
…with love & many guardian angels to look after you…
Inta x
I’ll put it to Peter…”Milan or The Amazon, for our next trip darling???”
Comment by Inta — November 22, 2007 @ 10:21 pm
Nathe
Out of the million questions I have, this one keeps poping into my melon …. How do you keep so clean shaven?? he he you should have got gillette onboard….Good photos lads Seen any unique amazonian wildlife?
Comment by willow — November 26, 2007 @ 3:16 pm
Dudes, head cam video rocks… big swim I see. Mucho respect!
Comment by scott — November 29, 2007 @ 8:09 am
Hi Boys,
It is so good to see a leg go so well for you. I am back up and running in Bris again, Going to Cape Town seems ok, but I struggle when I get home – seems like I have been sleep walking for the past week.
Been thinking of you guys alot and sharing your story with some very strong men of faith who have you in their grasp now as well – a group of Pastors aged 50-75 who are now backing you my friends.
Last night when I am spending time with you in my thoughts I get the following:
Sometimes we look to spend our time trying to acquire skills and abilities that we want to have, which in itself is great but this can also be to our detriment as our God given talents and gifts can be left in iddle; we are to excell in a particular area – not all areas.
If we looked at what our core strengths are and made a solid focus on developing just these for a certain period of time, we will find that what we thought would be a problem no longer is. Solomon, the richest man who has ever lived this planet – (his gold reserve alone was worth over 1 trillion dollars in todays value) – “He said that a man who makes room for his gift will meet great men”
So boys keep focused on the gift that God has given you – each of you will suppliment each others gifts, this can be the only reason why you are all together for this adventure. Give room for your gift but also give room for the other two gifts in the boat aswell my friends and the three of you will be seated before great men – this is a promise that the one living God makes you – man cannot undue what has been stated as truth. Look to develop only your gifts and watch and see what happens.
God bless you all, hope some of this makes sense.
Go in Gods speed, grace and protection,
Mick
Comment by Mick — November 30, 2007 @ 9:36 am
hey!
This is just a happy friday, praying that you experiencing much grace, adventure, joy and excitement as well as getting adequate rest in between!
love
lexy x
Comment by Lexy — November 30, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
Hi boys just had you three on my mind logged in to say hello & hope all is going well. Hope the house work is done Nathan & you are all getting much needed rest. Love & Prayers going your way talk soon Toni xxx
Comment by Toni-Maree — November 30, 2007 @ 11:56 pm
Dudes just so u don’t freak out when you get home lookin all hippy and shit… to fill you in, even though u got the net, labour just got elected federale, aussies still kick ass in the cricket and a wallabies coach is proving just as hard to find as a socceroos coach (betcha de last one didn’t suprise ya)maybe u guys will learn some soccer over there…… excellent footage on the latest utube, keep it coming and full blades ahead
Comment by dork — December 1, 2007 @ 12:55 am
gday.. so glad to hear you re still going. wrote to phil already about your very challenging times you had and whether to continue etc.. but just to summarise – you have to finish! have to have to! you know why. ok, now more importantly.. s. africa demolished nz in 2 test series, odi s 1 – 1 after tonight, boks beat whales, australia.. australia.. mm not sure, think they re thumping sri lanka.
ek is nou in jeffreys by oom christo em mika en klarissa se hallo, en tannie miranda. hulle is almal trots en vol ondersteuning vir julle. ek ry sy rooi alfa romeo rond – baie vinnig! gaan goed met al die ander.
you guys rock. and did you hear it was chuck norris who let the dogs out!
go well, make sure you always go down stream, and give us some fishing news! also more photos of daily life, on the boat, eating, cooking etc. and fishing.
fritz
Comment by fritz — December 1, 2007 @ 8:15 am
Hi to that almighty team how is the rowing, bored yet? tired yet? what is on the menue for tonight? How is grumblebum junior?, behaving i hope!!!!!! We are hanging out for the next post. Love Toni & Bill
PS Jakki sends her love xxx
Comment by Toni-Maree — December 4, 2007 @ 7:29 pm