Blogs sponsored by Piotr Chmielinski
“An end is only a beginning in disguise” ~Lounsbourgh
Well here it is, the last blog of the expedition – of my Amazon odyssey. I have reached the Pacific, a destination that at times during my trek I wasn’t sure I would ever see. I dreamed about this day many, many times over the course of the expedition, and now I have finally arrived at my ocean of dreams.
My little legs have gotten me through, up, down, around, over and under one of the most diverse and challenging terrains on earth, following the Amazon river from the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil to the Mismi source high in the Peruvian Andes and down again through the arid mountains and fertile valleys to the Pacific coast.
The final day for me was more emotional than arriving at the Mismi summit. It really began to hit home when I saw the ocean for the first time in six and a half years. I choked up a little at the sight, but managed to hold back the waterworks. Then, as I got closer, the amazing smells of the ocean hit me, and the sun came out – a rare occurrence during the winter season here, and it stirred my emotions even more.
I was pleased and honoured to be accompanied by a handful of people for the final five kilometres along dusty sandy roads. Colca Trek owner Vlado Soto, and Quechua guide Brendisi Cayllahua, both of whom travelled all the way from Arequipa just to be with me and help with the filming etc, Peru journalist Adrian Quicano from La Pueblo national newspaper, and three local musicians who at the last minute kindly offered to walk with me and play their traditional panpipe, charango and drum music.
It wasn’t quite the finale I had envisioned. Being winter season here, most beach hotels, seafront restaurants and bars were closed, leaving the place a bit like a ghost town. I had imagined hordes of people dancing to loud music and fuelled with lots of ice-cold beer, witness to the crazy gringo diving into a warm sea – but the crowds come only in the scorching summer months of January to March, and so we were more or less alone. But it’s okay – I have learned over the course of my trek that things don’t always go according to plan, and it is more than enough that against all the odds I have made it to my destination alive and in good health! It was a quiet but satisfying ending, with the crashing of the waves set to live music, a few onlookers – a fisherman, a few kids on bikes, several stray dogs and some seagulls surfing the ocean breezes.
As the musicians played, Vlado presented me with a special bottle of Pisco. I remembered first to drip some of it in the ocean as an offering to Pachamama, and we thanked the mountain gods for my safe arrival near the mouth of a small river that runs into to the ocean and – according to ancient tradition – flows ever on until it arrives with the gods themselves. Then I gulped down a good few mouthfuls myself!
I stripped off my shabby, worn-out clothes, and ran and dived into the cold-ish water of the vast Pacific. I confess to adding some salt from the tears in my eyes, before walking back to the beach and unravelling the flag displaying the Brazilian, Peruvian and UK flags plus the names of some more prominent supporters and of course all my guides. Overcome with emotion again after the journalist asked about my parents, the tears momentarily welled up once more, but they were tears more of relief and joy than of sadness.
I took a few drone shots and we all made our way back to Camana town where, after ditching a few things I no longer needed, I gathered up my belongings and travelled to Arequipa with Vlado and Brendisi. What a day! A day I will always remember.
I’m now in Arequipa, from where I need to go on to Cusco again to collect all my spare gear stored there.I made it onto the front page of La Pueblo newspaper thanks to the Journalist (see Photo)
Realization
I’ve come to realize this journey was not all about me and my trials and tribulations, but about the Amazon rainforest and the Andes and everyone and everything that lives there including all the vast interconnected biodiversity of flora and Fauna
I hope that when the whole epic experience has sunk into my soul, I can finally convey in a book what I have learned and how this realization has evolved during my travels. This will be a challenge of a totally different kind for me – prior to the blogging I have done over the past six years, the only writing I had done since I left school at 16 was on birthday cards, cheques, and the occasional contracts.
Thanks
Mega-thanks to all who have followed me and especially to all who so generously donated to keep the expedition going. Without you, I simply could not have kept going. You are all on my Partners page, and will be in the book if I get to write one. Thanks also to my kit sponsors including Fatmap, Altberg boots, Hennessy Hammock, and Water to Go. Also eternal thanks to all the people on the journey who have helped me along the route – especially the local walking companions I hired and the people in all the villages who let me pass peacefully and made me welcome – the indigenous Ticuna, Kapanawa, Ashaninka, Shipbo, Quechua and mixed-race peoples who live a cash-poor life but who are so wealthy in spirit and in the fresh water and fertile soil of the forests and mountains along or near the riverbanks. I also want to thank Piotr Chmielinski and Canoandes for their faith in the project and for the financial support that saved the expedition from an untimely end, and Clive Maguire for his constant moral support and practical help since 2009 and throughout the project – from seed to source! And not forgetting Miroslaw Rajter, Dawid Andrés and Guillermo Castro Escudero who helped me out here in Peru with various logistical issues I had. And a very special thank you to Luke Collyer, Nina Plumb, Ramona Marks and John Goulden for your support.
Thank you as well, to…
…all the trees I passed, for not falling on me during storms
To the lightning, for missing me every time (so far)
To the floodwaters, for not drowning me
To the mosquitoes, for not giving me malaria
To the aquatic denizens who allowed me to swim the Amazon unmolested
To the venomous snakes and other amazing beasties, for not biting me
To all the people of the forest who suffered me to cross their territory in peace
To the mountain rockfall, for not rock-falling on me
To Brazil and Peru, for the privilege of seeing first-hand the priceless, magnificent, incredible, most biodiverse and important part of this earth machine we all depend upon.
To the Amazon Rainforest and it’s labyrinth of rivers that will be a part of me for the rest of my days.
Web of Life
I know I’ve put this 170-year old quote in my previous blogs a few times, but I feel it’s worthy of repeating in this last blog, as it feels more relevant than ever now.
“This we know – the Earth does not belong to man; Man belongs to the Earth. All things are connected, like the blood which unites one family. Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” (Chief Seattle, 1854)
Dedication
I would like do dedicate this final blog to both my parents, who left the planet while I was away, my dad passing only two weeks before I finished. Also of course to my sister and her family who cared for them both unconditionally in their respective homes right up to their last day.
Also, to journalist Dominic Mark Phillips, a person like many before him who have lost their precious lives because they cared about the Amazon and were committed to helping save it and protecting the contacted and un-contacted indigenous – not just for their sake, but for the future of humanity. Rest In Peace, Dom.
On a final note
I am still seeking sponsorship to walk to the Mantaro source of the Amazon (the most distant source of interrupted flow) from the point I passed last year at the river mouth where it meets the Ene and Apurimac rivers This bolt-on expedition would take about 7weeks to complete. Please contact me if you are a kit sponsor or corporate or personal sponsor who would like this opportunity.
I would love to do this before I return to the UK.
I have just created an Instagram account to publish more images and reels from the expedition archives. Follow here
Also I plan to write a blog about the kit and how it evolved over the expedition. Watch my Twitter feed!
Support
My support page is still open for donations via the PayPal link below. Any donations of £25 / $30 or more will receive the special signed 2023/2024 calendar, with unique images from my trek – delivered anywhere on the planet.
Link to my Paypal on support page
📸PHOTOS📸
Header image: Journalist Adrian and I trying to stop the wind taking the flag. Vlado Soto holds up the Polish flag as I received a lot of support from Canoandes Polish team.
Finally arrive at a place I’ve dreamed about for years.
Some of the poorer residents in the valley live in these bamboo houses.
Accompanied by musicians panpipe music as I approach the sea.
Getting ready to ditch my backpack for the last time.
Jhon Alex Huayta Canaza, Víctor Royo Bojas López and Alvaro Mamon Paredes
Pisco to celebrate the finish.
Almost there
Unraveling the flag
I couldn’t stop looking at the ocean!
Arequipa town plaza.
Newspaper front page article in Peru 🙂
Garmin inreach tracking Map

@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 28
“There are always going to be obstacles that come in your way, stay positive” ~ Michael Phelps.
🏊🏻When I swam across the Amazon (several times) I drifted down river as I swam.
🏊🏻This shot was about halfway across a 13km swim downriver to Iquitos Peru.
🏊🏻I calculated roughly where I would end up taking into account to speed of the river flow.
🏊🏻This obviously added extra (walking) kilometers to the overall trek but to maintain an unbroken trail I had to do this, I then continued walking from that point on the opposite bank.
My then guide Diego was in an escort boat filming. He said “ I’m poor but I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars”
🎥Diego Santos Peru 2019
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Swimming #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Science #Amazon #Inca #Exploration @m_phelps00 @gopro

“There are always going to be obstacles that come in your way, stay positive” ~ Michael Phelps.
🏊🏻When I swam across the Amazon (several times) I drifted down river as I swam.
🏊🏻This shot was about halfway across a 13km swim downriver to Iquitos Peru.
🏊🏻I calculated roughly where I would end up taking into account to speed of the river flow.
🏊🏻This obviously added extra (walking) kilometers to the overall trek but to maintain an unbroken trail I had to do this, I then continued walking from that point on the opposite bank.
My then guide Diego was in an escort boat filming. He said “ I’m poor but I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars”
🎥Diego Santos Peru 2019
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Swimming #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Science #Amazon #Inca #Exploration @m_phelps00 @gopro
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 26
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” ~ Joseph Campbell.
I spent weeks meticulously planning and preparing for the walk along the riverbank of the stunning river Ene in Peru (Photo) due to repeated warnings of the very real risks of doing so.
But I had to do it to reach the Amazon source river - the Apurimac river.
The Rio Ene runs through lush green high forested valleys, still homeland for the indigenous Asháninka people and has been for millennia.
Myself and a local Ashaninka chief passed many Ashaninka villages.
In one I was informed that I was the first gringo to ever enter their village.
Another incredible leg of my Amazon river journey I will never forget.
Pasonki - thank you to all the Asháninka people🙏
Read the blog I wrote at that time.
Google ….
Ascent Of The Amazon. Apurimac “God Speaks”
My Website link is in my Instagram bio.
📸Casey Peru 2021
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Science #Amazon #Inca #Exploration @fabu_ashaninka

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” ~ Joseph Campbell.
I spent weeks meticulously planning and preparing for the walk along the riverbank of the stunning river Ene in Peru (Photo) due to repeated warnings of the very real risks of doing so.
But I had to do it to reach the Amazon source river - the Apurimac river.
The Rio Ene runs through lush green high forested valleys, still homeland for the indigenous Asháninka people and has been for millennia.
Myself and a local Ashaninka chief passed many Ashaninka villages.
In one I was informed that I was the first gringo to ever enter their village.
Another incredible leg of my Amazon river journey I will never forget.
Pasonki - thank you to all the Asháninka people🙏
Read the blog I wrote at that time.
Google ….
Ascent Of The Amazon. Apurimac “God Speaks”
My Website link is in my Instagram bio.
📸Casey Peru 2021
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Science #Amazon #Inca #Exploration @fabu_ashaninka
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 25
A Camouflaged mushroom.?
I encountered many different mushrooms in the rainforest but this unusual naturally military style camouflaged mushroom was hard to spot in the Peruvian Amazon.
🍄Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies or reproductive structures of a much larger underground fungus.
🍄Fungi are the largest life forms on earth.
🍄Fungal mycelium can grow and expand for miles under the ground as they go in search of food.
🍄Fungi allow trees to talk to each other.
🍄Mycorrhizal fungi have a special relationship with host trees and plants. The fungi interact with the plant’s roots and provide nutrients, getting sugars in return.
🍄They have been used to treat infection for hundreds of years and have many medicinal uses.
📸Casey Peruvian Amazon 2019
#fungi #mycillium #weboflife
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Science #Amazon #Inca #Exploration #House @paulstamets

A Camouflaged mushroom.?
I encountered many different mushrooms in the rainforest but this unusual naturally military style camouflaged mushroom was hard to spot in the Peruvian Amazon.
🍄Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies or reproductive structures of a much larger underground fungus.
🍄Fungi are the largest life forms on earth.
🍄Fungal mycelium can grow and expand for miles under the ground as they go in search of food.
🍄Fungi allow trees to talk to each other.
🍄Mycorrhizal fungi have a special relationship with host trees and plants. The fungi interact with the plant’s roots and provide nutrients, getting sugars in return.
🍄They have been used to treat infection for hundreds of years and have many medicinal uses.
📸Casey Peruvian Amazon 2019
#fungi #mycillium #weboflife
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Science #Amazon #Inca #Exploration #House @paulstamets
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 21
Time and patience.
For seven months in 2020 during lockdown I had to be patient, I tried to use my time wisely.
As I had no idea how long the lockdown would last.
I was fortunate I had the freedom to walk out of the house and into the wall of jungle behind.
Once they had gained my trust I helped the local indigenous Kapanawa villagers plant and harvest crops such as bananas, Yucca, (cassava) sugarcane, pineapple, etc.
I also helped construct a complete traditional jungle house with all materials sourced from the nearby rainforest tied together with vines (photo)
“Time is free but it’s priceless. You can’t own it but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it. And once it’s lost, you can never get it back” ~ Buddha
📸Casey June 2020 Peru.
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Amazon #Inca #exploration #House #time

Time and patience.
For seven months in 2020 during lockdown I had to be patient, I tried to use my time wisely.
As I had no idea how long the lockdown would last.
I was fortunate I had the freedom to walk out of the house and into the wall of jungle behind.
Once they had gained my trust I helped the local indigenous Kapanawa villagers plant and harvest crops such as bananas, Yucca, (cassava) sugarcane, pineapple, etc.
I also helped construct a complete traditional jungle house with all materials sourced from the nearby rainforest tied together with vines (photo)
“Time is free but it’s priceless. You can’t own it but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it. And once it’s lost, you can never get it back” ~ Buddha
📸Casey June 2020 Peru.
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Amazon #Inca #exploration #House #time
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 19
A scar to the forest and to the heart of a native Ashaninka.
I taught all my walking companions how to use a compass and follow a directional bearing in the jungle.
Here Miques my Ashaninka companion/guide and I had just stumbled out of pristine jungle onto a fresh cut road in Ashaninka territory that was not on any recent satellite imagery.
He was very sad to see the road and piles of logs stacked up at various points either side.
He looked down at his compass and said “I don’t think we need the compass to get to the next village now.
My heart is in pain to see this destruction of our forests”.
He then remained silent for the next few hours as we walked.
“If we go on the way we have, the fault is our greed and if we are not willing to change, we will disappear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by the insect”~ Jacques Yves Cousteau.
📸Casey 2021 Peru.
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Amazon #Inca #Exploration #Home #Deforistation

A scar to the forest and to the heart of a native Ashaninka.
I taught all my walking companions how to use a compass and follow a directional bearing in the jungle.
Here Miques my Ashaninka companion/guide and I had just stumbled out of pristine jungle onto a fresh cut road in Ashaninka territory that was not on any recent satellite imagery.
He was very sad to see the road and piles of logs stacked up at various points either side.
He looked down at his compass and said “I don’t think we need the compass to get to the next village now.
My heart is in pain to see this destruction of our forests”.
He then remained silent for the next few hours as we walked.
“If we go on the way we have, the fault is our greed and if we are not willing to change, we will disappear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by the insect”~ Jacques Yves Cousteau.
📸Casey 2021 Peru.
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Amazon #Inca #Exploration #Home #Deforistation
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 13
Insects….
Small but immensely significant.
“Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.”
Henry David Thoreau
The most dominant animal life-form I encountered in the Amazon was undoubtedly the vast variety of insects.
A single square mile of rainforest often houses more than 50,000 insect species.
“The Amazon rainforest may house as many as 2.5 million species of insects, although only a tiny fraction of this number have been described by scientists.” ~ Mongabay
“Insects are the food that make all the birds and make all the fish.
They’re the fabric tethering together every freshwater and terrestrial ecosystem across the planet.” ~David Wagner
Read the @Reuters article - Google….. The Collapse Of Insects. Reuters.
📸Casey Amazon Rainforest
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #insect #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #amazon #Inca #exploration

Insects….
Small but immensely significant.
“Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.”
Henry David Thoreau
The most dominant animal life-form I encountered in the Amazon was undoubtedly the vast variety of insects.
A single square mile of rainforest often houses more than 50,000 insect species.
“The Amazon rainforest may house as many as 2.5 million species of insects, although only a tiny fraction of this number have been described by scientists.” ~ Mongabay
“Insects are the food that make all the birds and make all the fish.
They’re the fabric tethering together every freshwater and terrestrial ecosystem across the planet.” ~David Wagner
Read the @Reuters article - Google….. The Collapse Of Insects. Reuters.
📸Casey Amazon Rainforest
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #insect #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #amazon #Inca #exploration
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 9
Amazon to Thames….
Still adjusting to returning to the geographical point where my Journey began over seven years ago, on this “Pale Blue Dot” 🌎
Perspective forever changed….
“We shall not cease from exploration, And the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time” ~ T.S. Elliot.
First flight in 7.5 years✈️
🎥Casey London 2023 October.
#amazonriver #Trekking #mountains #brazil #peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #wildlife #rainforest #indigenous #andes #conservation #expedition #adventure #rivers #Quechua #amazon #Inca #exploration #home

Amazon to Thames….
Still adjusting to returning to the geographical point where my Journey began over seven years ago, on this “Pale Blue Dot” 🌎
Perspective forever changed….
“We shall not cease from exploration, And the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time” ~ T.S. Elliot.
First flight in 7.5 years✈️
🎥Casey London 2023 October.
#amazonriver #Trekking #mountains #brazil #peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #wildlife #rainforest #indigenous #andes #conservation #expedition #adventure #rivers #Quechua #amazon #Inca #exploration #home
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 6
"The jungle speaks to me because I know how to listen."
- Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book.
📸Casey Brazilian Amazon.
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Amazon #Music

"The jungle speaks to me because I know how to listen."
- Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book.
📸Casey Brazilian Amazon.
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Amazon #Music
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 5
“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools”. ~ John Muir.
📸Casey Peru 2021
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Amazon #Music #Inca #Trees #Deforestation

“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools”. ~ John Muir.
📸Casey Peru 2021
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers #Quechua #Amazon #Music #Inca #Trees #Deforestation
@ ascentoftheamazon . Nov 4
Music, an integral part of life of Andean people🎶🪈
The eternal sound of an ocean shoreline accompanied by ancient music of the Andes. These were the final sounds of the expedition at Camana on the Pacific coast of Peru.
“During the third millennium B.C., well before the adoption of ceramic technology in the Andean area, groups of musicians used wind instruments made of bone at the ceremonial center of Caral on the central coast of Peru. Caral was the seat of various ritual activities, as evidenced by the discovery of sunken circular plazas suitable for mass public assemblies, shrines with ceremonial fire pits, and caches of offerings. Thirty-two tubular horizontal flutes were discovered in Caral. These instruments, made with pelican and condor bones, could produce seven different sounds. Most flutes were decorated with engravings representing stylized monkeys, snakes, birds, and anthropomorphic figures. The discoveries at Caral proved that music was an integral part of the ritual life of Andean people 5,000 years ago.” ~ Met Museam.
📸Brendisi Peru 2022
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #PacificOcean Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers

Music, an integral part of life of Andean people🎶🪈
The eternal sound of an ocean shoreline accompanied by ancient music of the Andes. These were the final sounds of the expedition at Camana on the Pacific coast of Peru.
“During the third millennium B.C., well before the adoption of ceramic technology in the Andean area, groups of musicians used wind instruments made of bone at the ceremonial center of Caral on the central coast of Peru. Caral was the seat of various ritual activities, as evidenced by the discovery of sunken circular plazas suitable for mass public assemblies, shrines with ceremonial fire pits, and caches of offerings. Thirty-two tubular horizontal flutes were discovered in Caral. These instruments, made with pelican and condor bones, could produce seven different sounds. Most flutes were decorated with engravings representing stylized monkeys, snakes, birds, and anthropomorphic figures. The discoveries at Caral proved that music was an integral part of the ritual life of Andean people 5,000 years ago.” ~ Met Museam.
📸Brendisi Peru 2022
#AmazonRiver #Trekking #PacificOcean Mountains #Brazil #Peru #Travel #Nature #Instatravel #Ashaninka #Sea #Jungle #Wildlife #Rainforest #Indigenous #Andes #Conservation #Expedition #Adventure #Rivers
10 comments on ‘Ocean Of Dreams’:
Lesley Magee
Congratulations on your amazing expedition, wish I had heard of it before but am looking forward to reading more and will watch for the book. What a dream to accomplish!
Casey
Thanks Lesley. Hopefully a book will have much more detail & events that I left out of the blog posts.
Mark Jelfs
Congratulations Pete, it’s been amazing following your journey for the past five years. I know you hopefully have a little 7 week ish excursion to do before the biggest culture shock of being back in the U.K. Good luck for that and please do write that book……
Casey
Thanks for following for so long Mark! Yes I’m sure it will feel strange to set foot on UK soil after so long. Book
Nina Plumbe
Congratulations. The book will be easy after all this !!!
Casey
A different challenge but much easier!
Ian Hemsley
Congratulations Pete on your amazing feat. Have a safe mini expedition and safe journey home. Look forward to meeting up, and reading your book when its published .
Casey
Thanks Ian. Ah, yes, i guess an expedition of any scale would be considered mini after this one
Mike Jenkins
Well done Casey!!! Your blog has been really inspiring to follow – I’m partly jealous and partly in awe! I bet being back home now must feel a little surreal. Wishing you all the very best!
Casey
Thank you Mike, only just seen your message. I’m still in Peru btw!