Archive for the ‘ The Expedition ’ Category
On the road again!
20 Jan 7:27 am by Mark Kalch Category: The Expedition
Well, it is with some joy that I write this post. We have been in Manaus now since early Sunday morning. That’s when our ordeal began (no…hang on…that started September 1 when we arrived in Lima!). This is another long one and not overly exciting but the detail explains what we have endured over the last week.
Our stop in Manaus was to be a quick overnighter. Enough time to have a full night’s sleep and source a new set of navigation charts for our final leg to Manaus. It took Nathe just a couple of hours to find the equivalent maps in Tabatinga for that leg. How much easier it was going to be in a city approaching a population of 2 million? Answer: a lot harder!
Surprise Surprise!
15 Jan 2:46 pm by Nathan Welch Category: The Expedition
Well it is with much excitement that we report having just arrived in Manaus, Brazil. We have exceeded even our own expectations, arriving here some 16 days after leaving Iquitos in Peru.
We are absolutely knackered after paddling around the clock, 24 hrs a day, 6 hour individual shifts for almost 15 days straight. We have paddled just over 2000km in this period & we reckon we must be pretty bloody close to a world record for time/distance travelled in a whitewater raft on flat water!
With our bodies crying out for some rest & a few more equipment dramas that arose on our last stretch we will stop here in Manaus for the next few days or so.
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.
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