Order and Progress

We must have looked a sight as we stumbled out of the jungle with our huge packs, our torn and filthy clothes hanging loosely from our emaciated forms. Everyone stared at us as we walked through the city in the afternoon heat to find accommodation, and it was no surprise to me when the police … Read more »


Bridge Over Troubled Waters

By the time you read this blog we should be on our way to Rio Jutaí – the last of the major tributaries of the Brazilian Amazon basin. Before we left Juruá, I sent photos for this blog to Clive Maguire in Manaus. I then managed to write some of the blog via a batch … Read more »


The Emerald City

After leaving Tefe (the city where the famous naturalist Henry Walter Bates based himself for several years) and following an exhausting 7.5K swim across Lago Tefé, my current guide Everaldo and I set off for the long slog to Juruá. Armed with Everaldo’s vast knowledge of the rainforest and my own very modest experience, we … Read more »


The lay of the land

It would have been much quicker walking along the exposed banks of the Solimões (Amazon) river, but the risk of encountering river pirates was very high –  so for this latest section, Coari to Tefé, we would just have to grit our teeth, sharpen our machetes, and cut our own path through the longer and … Read more »


Water or Gold

I could clearly see the sand banks of Jurura that the seasonal low water levels had exposed. The calm dark waters of the Nhamundá river reflected the blisteringly hot sun and deep blue cloudless sky, while in the foreground sprawled the lush greens of the jungle. Several times I had walked to this point contemplating and … Read more »


Swimming the Amazon & Joining the dots

After scratching my head for ideas and looking at all possible options, I’ve decided to continue walking from Almeirim on the North side of the Amazon river for now because it truly is impossible to cross the land or Islands on foot between Porto de Moz and Almeirim at the present time. I spent 4 … Read more »


Water world

Apologies for the lack of blog posts. I still have no satellite communications and I only occasionally get access to wi-fi when I arrive in towns or cities. Even when I do have access, most of the time it’s so slow I can’t even upload a photo. I can tweet from the Delorme Inreach from … Read more »


Buffalo, a fiesta and a walk

The small fishing community of Pesqueiro basically kind-napped me from the little hotel and insisted I stayed with them for free. What amazing and generous people. They were also having their annual festival at the weekend, and asked me to stay. I was planning to walk again, but how could I possibly turn down their offer? … Read more »