Earlier today Swedish explorer Christian Bodegren completed an epic paddling expedition across South America when he reached the beach not far Buenos Aires, Argentina. Over the past nine months or so, he has beeb navigating his way south along numerous rivers, often paddling upstream, in an effort to explore the rich biodiversity that inhabits the continent.
Bodegren’s journey began last September when he started paddling up the Orinoco River in Venezuela, which eventually led him to an interconnected series of other waterways that included the Guainia River, the Rio Negro, the Amazon, the Madeira, and more. Eventually he reached the Rio de la Plata, which led him all the way to the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina, where he sent his triumphant dispatch proclaiming the completion of the expedition this morning.
That final dispatch is a good one to read as it shares not only his joy in being done but sadness in leaving behind the jungles and rivers that he has paddled over the past few months. He’ll be returning home to Sweden shortly and will once again enjoy the comforts of modern living. But it is clear that he’ll miss this adventure and that it will only be a matter of time before he sets of again.
Christian’s little paddling excursion was certainly a challenging one, both in terms of logistics and the things he encountered while on the water. Crocodiles, piranha, biting insects and a host of other critters were constant dangers along the way and the dense jungles of South America are not easy places to visit for months on end. On top of that, he spent weeks paddling up river and often didn’t have the luxury of having the current work in his favor. That had to be incredibly challenging at times when progress was slow and he was physically drained.
Congrats to Christian for completing this amazing journey.
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Just wanna say to my friend Christian Bodegren…great job, this is a classic and I hope global outdoor media will see this and write about this! They spend so much work on Expeditions who are run by their sponsors, mainly not any real Expeditions, just ridiculous glitz, but this…this is a great job!
Agreed Mikael. This expedition is the very definition of EPIC. Such a monumental undertaking and for Christian to do it mostly self-funded and self-supported is all the more amazing.
Hope all is well in Yemen!
Thanks Kraig…fighting on here, but it seems Ansar Al Shariah (some kind of an Al Qaeda affiliate) is moving into our our area to get away from the drones. We are on the edge of one of the hottest deserts on earth, in summer….we can only afford one camel…well, I think this could become the most complicated Expedition i have ever made. Crazy really, but what to do? Somebody has to do it…see latest report http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/2012/06/14/expedition-yemen-by-camel-frustrations-and-understanding/