Walking The Amazon Update: On The Road Again

The last time we checked in with the Walking the Amazon expedition, Ed Stafford and his faithful companion Cho, had made their way into the Brazilian city of Manaus. The pair planned to travel to a nearby town, away from the hustle and bustle, and rest up, repair their rubber rafts, and resupply before heading back out into the jungle. As of yesterday, they are back on the road (quite literally) and continuing their long march to the Atlantic Ocean.

In their most recent dispatch, Ed notes that they are walking the "line of least resistance", which at the moment means that they are sticking to some remote jungle roads that will carry them out of Manaus and towards the heart of the Amazon once again. On their first day back on their feet, the managed to cover 23 miles, but were feeling rather stiff and sore in the process. Walking the roads will help them make good time for the near term though, but Ed says that it is surreal to be walking in civilization again, after so many weeks in the rainforest.

Today is Ed's 681st day in the Amazon, as he continues his march to go end-to-end. If successful, and it's beginning to look like there is no reason why he wouldn't be, he'll become the first person to ever hike the length of the Amazon River. That's a journey of more than 4000 miles through some of the most dangerous, challenging and amazing terrain on the planet. The Amazon isn't referred to as "The Green Hell" for nothing.

I remain in awe of the ambition of this expedition and the tremendous efforts that both Ed and Cho have put into it. They still have a very long way to go, but they're on their final push now, and they'll be wading into the Atlantic before they know it. From there, they can finally go home, for a much earned rest.

Tweet

Walking The Amazon Update: Ed and Cho into Manaus

It's been far too long since we checked in on the Walking the Amazon expedition. You may recall, this is the unbelievably ambitious project in which British adventurer Ed Stafford, along with his companion Cho Sanchez Rivera, are attempting to walk the entire length of the Amazon River, something that has never been accomplished before. When they've finished this herculean task, they'll have covered more than 4000 miles through thick, oppressive jungle, often referred to as The Green Hell.

Ed and Cho have recently reached the Brazilian city of Manaus, which is the largest city along the Amazon. With more than 1.8 million people, this is a town where they can rest, recuperate, and resupply before returning to the wild. Considering the long days and weeks the pair have spent slogging through the rainforest, it had to have been quite a shock to see an actual large, thriving metropolis for the first time in months. Most of the other settlements they've come across while trekking have been mostly very small villages, although there are occasionally towns of decent size along the river.

According to their most recent blog post, Manaus was indeed a bit overwhelming. Ed writes:

Cho and I wanted a place to recover and rest before our last push to the Atlantic - but Manaus isn’t that place for us. The prices are over double that outside the city limits and the industrial sprawl (now electronics assembly) is dirty and hectic.

Because of this, he and Cho have hopped a bus to another near by town, which is smaller and much slower paced. They'll spend some time there repairing their rubber boats, used to ford streams and rivers, while they regain their strength and prepare to make the final push towards the Atlantic Ocean, which is roughly 900 miles away yet.

At this point, Ed has spent 667 days on this journey, having begun on April 2nd, 2008. I know that the original plan was to end sometime early this year, but the boys have been running a bit behind schedule, and the journey ahead of them will not be an easy one. I suspect they'll be out on the trail for awhile yet.

As I've said before, this expedition continually boggles my mind. It's such a massive undertaking, it's hard to not be impressed with the sense of exploration and adventure. I hope the last long leg of the journey goes well for both Ed and Cho.

Tweet