Archive for December, 2007
And then there was 2…
31 Dec 8:02 am by Nathan Welch Category: The Expedition
As you all read this we are finally back on the river. But things have changed…
The last 3 weeks have provided some intriguing twists to the Expedition Amazonas journey. We lost Big Phil to illness, then Marko became quite ill, we welcomed Holly & then we bid her farewell & we waited & waited & waited some more, for our oarlocks.
To fill in some of the blanks…
Our oarlocks which were ordered way back on the 11 of Dec, with a 3 day delivery timeframe, blew out beyond all reasonable estimations & it was only on Friday (28 Dec) that they were placed in our eager hands. This unfortunately had huge (more…)
I got you babe!
27 Dec 8:00 am by Mark Kalch Category: The Expedition
Well hello all! Time for another exciting post from Expedition Amazonas! No…wait…hang on…this post will not be exciting at all. Just some words to describe how I am feeling and where I am at mentally right now. (The post title is from the ace movie, Groundhog Day).
Please note – I know full well how fortunate that we are to even have the opportunity to undertake this expedition. I am so stoked to even be where we are right now. Who gets to do such a thing? I have seen everyday for 2 weeks on CNN and BBC what is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Who am I to complain? I cannot. I merely detail how I am feeling in context of the expedition. I am one lucky oke!
Farewell Phil
19 Dec 11:47 am by Nathan Welch Category: The Expedition
It is with much sadness that we report our team medicine man & good mate, Phil Swart is leaving the expedition & returning home to South Africa. Big Phil has experienced another trying week of headaches, joint pain & lethargy. More testing in Lima with Dr Caesar Sanchez (our team medical guru) has shown that Phil has some inflammation to the liver & his white blood cell count is low, meaning his immune system is down for the count. Due to complications with his present condition, he has agonised with the decision he didn’t want to make – but in the end his health is & should be, the main priority.
Testing Times – Part 2
14 Dec 1:18 pm by Nathan Welch Category: The Expedition
OK time to grab another beer or top up that coffee. Let’s finish what we started….
Phil Update: Phil has experienced the return of headaches & joint pain in the knees. The Big Fella has spent most of the week visiting hospital testing labs. The result of all those blood tests & urine samples… NADA. The tests have provided no conclusive evidence of anything - no Malaria, no Dengue, no Yellow Fever, nothing. We are all a little shocked by this outcome & as you can imagine Phil is in disbelief, finding it hard to accept that he has been so ill & there is apparently no cause. One of our greatest concerns now is that we get back on river & Phil experiences another outbreak of whatever he has in his system. If it was to happen again, not only would it be a huge burden on Phil’s system but medical facilities from here to our next major checkpoint (Tabitinga) are just not of the same standard as that here in Iquitos. (more…)
Testing Times - Part 1
11 Dec 9:20 am by Nathan Welch Category: The Expedition
Eish! What a 3 weeks it’s been since departing Atalaya. Anyways we are currently in Iquitos – so many stories, challenges & experiences to share so lets get into it. Grab a beer or a cup of coffee (if its a bit early in your neck of the woods), strap yourself in & enjoy the ride…
The journey from Pucallpa to Iquitos took us a smidgen over 9 days (about 9 days & 1 hr) seeing us arrive here just after 12.00 midnight on 6 December. It’s a pretty significant milestone for us considering we traveled over 1100km in that time & were put under the pump. The mighty river has again tested us. Different types of challenges to that we experienced in the whitewater but challenges none the less.
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