It’s been a few months since I posted an update on the Expedition Amazonas Team. The last time we heard from them they had reached Manaus and were down to just two team members still paddling. You may remember that this was the team that started in the highlands of Peru, and were attempting to paddle the length of the Amazon River.
I received word in an e-mail last night that Nathan Welch and Mark Kalch, both of Australia, completed their quest several weeks ago, reaching the Atlantic Ocean, some 4,270 miles from where they started. This article posted a few days ago at LivingInPeru.com has more information on how they finished up their expedition, which came to an end at midnight on Feb. 21st.
Along their journey, the team faced dangerous whitewater, passed though treacherous jungles with all manner of wild creatures and drug gangs. They repaired their boats on numerous occasions, lost gear, had bouts of nasty viruses and jungle disease. The team started with five members, but do to attrition and various other issues, it was whittled down over time to just Welch and Kalch.
In the end, the two became just the fourth team to complete the entire trip, which is an expedition of epic proportions. Since they finished up, they’ve now returned to Australia, but before heading home Welch decided to head back up the Amazon on a passenger boat. I guess he just can’t get enough of that river huh? Congrats guys on a job well done. What an amazing adventure.
And one surprising note on the Amazon that I learned last night watching a special on PBS. The river is so large and powerful, that there is not a single bridge the crosses it any where along it’s length. That blew my mind.
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I love adventure stories. Question…how long did it take them to reach their destination considering the fact that the river is known to be strong, and it's not an engined boat, they're just paddling? Anyway, nice blog and keep it more informative. i love it.
I forget the exact time it took them to run the entire length of the Amazon, but it was in the neghborhood of 5-6 months. It was an epic journey to be sure and when they were done, only two of the members were still with the expedition. Others got sick, injured, or had to go home.