The Green Ocean
Blogs sponsored by Piotr Chmielinski Canoandes.org Staying healthy on a tropical jungle expedition is vital. I’ve had all the inoculations (yellow fever, typhoid, rabies etc), but there are still diseases lurking for which there is no prevention other than awareness and luck – e.g. malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, and more. Over the course of this expedition … Read more »
Alas De Esperanza – Wings Of Hope
Blogs sponsored by Piotr Chmielinski Canoandes.org First and foremost, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated via Paypal or to the Fundrazr campaign to keep the expedition going. I realise I probably couldn’t have chosen a worse time to beg for money, post-Christmas and in the grip of … Read more »
The Elixir Of Life
Blogs sponsored by Piotr Chmielinski Canoandes.org I can’t express in words how relieved Pizarro and I were to finally arrive safe and sound in Pucallpa almost 8 months later than expected. The Covid pandemic and lockdown in Peru had made us prisoners of the forest, effectively, unable to move from community to community, and therefore … Read more »
Q&A for National Geographic Poland
Blogs sponsored by Piotr Chmielinski Canoandes.org I have not been able to blog for some time now, so I would like to share a copy of the Q&A I did during lockdown via Garmin Inreach messages earlier this year with Piotr Chmielinski for an article in Nat Geo Poland. Piotr was the first person to complete … Read more »
Marooned In The Amazon
Blogs sponsored by Piotr Chmielinski Canoandes.org This blog has been painstakingly recreated by a friend from 74 separate satellite text messages. Apologies for the lack of new photos – although I have many, I can only send text. UPDATE November 2020 i have now added some photos to this blog Now, where to start… Well, so … Read more »
Billion-Star Accommodation
Blogs sponsored by Piotr Chmielinski Canoandes.org Every delay in this journey leaves me feeling anxious. I left Requena knowing that I had to reach Pucallpa before the rivers flooded again. I could not have known that the flood would come early, leaving me a long way from Pucallpa and having to go further inland now … Read more »
Guardians Of The Forest
The crossing Walking (& swimming) from Nauta to Requena had been playing on my mind for months. I just could not see a way across, and even at low water the route seemed impossible. I met Jorge, an out of work maths teacher, when I was in Nauta standing on the bank of the Marañón river … Read more »
Rumble In The Jungle
As Diego and I headed into the low-lying, tangled jungle and said our goodbyes to the people of the tiny community on the Rio Orosa, our packs seemed heavier than ever. We were carrying two weeks of food supplies, and the pack straps were already digging into my shoulders. With the oppressive heat and humidity, … Read more »
Still Waters Run Deep
We were lucky it was raining… It was nearing 3pm, and I was looking for a suitable place to make camp. Diego and I, and Diego’s young son-in-law Liacon, had been walking through the heavy rain for the last few hours. We climbed a steep forested bank, cutting vigorously to reach the top, all the … Read more »
Eyes Of The Jaguar
Diego and I are currently at a large community only a few weeks walk (and swim!) away from the biggest city in the Peruvian Amazon, Iquitos. We have found WiFi in a school that is a mere hour’s boat ride downriver in Yanashi, where I had planned to re-supply food and rest a day or two. Diego … Read more »