Thread: British adventurer about to complete Amazon trek

Terrific effort. Well done Sir.

The Ed Stafford bloke, not you DD. Sorry.

Britain's Ed Stafford is first man to conquer the entire span of Amazon River

A British adventurer became the first man known to have walked the entire length of the Amazon river when the waves of the Atlantic Ocean lapped at his feet in northern Brazil.



by Our Foreign Staff
Published: 2:36PM BST 09 Aug 2010



"It's unbelievable to be here!" Ed Stafford said as he entered the sea. "It proves you can do anything - even if people say you cannot. I've proved that if you want something enough, you can do anything!"

A few hours earlier, Mr Stafford had collapsed at the side of the road, just short of his destination. But upon arrival at the Maruda beach - and his journey's end - Stafford had finished a walk begun 2 years ago



He jumped into the ocean and later hugged anyone in sight
The feat has gone down in the record books but Mr Stafford also hopes that it would raise awareness of destruction to the Amazon rain forest - but that at its heart, it was simply a grand expedition of endurance.
"The crux of it is, if this wasn't a selfish, boy's-own adventure, I don't think it would have worked," the 34-year-old former British army captain said. "I am simply doing it because no one has done it before."
There are at least six known expeditions along the course of the Amazon river, from its source high in the Peruvian Andes across Colombia and into Brazil before its waters are dumped into the ocean 4,200 miles away. But those used boats to advance their travel.
Mr Stafford and a British friend began the walk on April 2, 2008, on the southern coast of Peru. Within three months, Mr Stafford was on his own.
A Peruvian forestry worker Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera, 31, is also making the journey.
Mr Stafford said his journey - which has cost some $100,000 and is paid for by sponsoring companies and donations - has deepened his understanding of the Amazon, its role in protecting the globe against climate change and the complex forces that are leading to its destruction.
He said he has seen vast swaths of demolished jungle.
"It's the people in power who are benefiting from the extraction of the natural resources here," he said. "That's why there are corrupt politicians and laws that aren't enforced and loads of unconstrained deforestation still going on."
Despite the devastation, Mr Stafford said he hopes things will change for the better.
"I think the average Brazilian is a lot more environmentally conscious than the people in power. I'm optimistic, I'm not pessimistic," he said.
He has lived off piranha fish he caught, rice and beans, and store-bought munitions found in local communities along the river.
To relax at night, the pair listen to podcasts by British comedian Ricky Gervais and episodes of the TV show "The Office".
Stafford and Rivera have encountered every conceivable danger, from 18-foot long caimans, enormous anaconda snakes, illness, food shortages and the threat of drowning.
After they were welcomed in one Indian community in September 2008, the leaders offered to radio ahead to the next village for permission for the pair to walk through their territory.
"The response came back crystal clear. If a gringo walks into their community they will kill him," Mr Stafford wrote.
He decided to plan a route around the village, but he was still captured by Indians from another village and taken to their leaders.
After being dressed down and having their possessions thoroughly picked over - only a machete was confiscated - they were allowed to walk on the land.
Mr Stafford said he plans another expedition in September 2011 - something nobody has ever done - but will not provide details for fear someone might beat him to it.

Britain's Ed Stafford is first man to conquer the entire span of Amazon River - Telegraph

The guy's got true grit.............wouldn't know about DD but anyone who starts gardening without being nagged into it has something.