We were fantastically ahead of schedule for a while – open dry forest allowed us to stretch out – but we’ve been dragged back to a realistic pace by kilometres and kilometres of beautiful flooded forest. We are wading through water the colour of black tea that tastes acidic – vaguely lemony. The Atlantic is [...]

We crossed the Amazon for the final time without incident in our Alpacka rafts. They have been a God-send and are one of the new technologies that have made this expedition possible. They inflate in under two minutes and weigh less than two kilos. Large waves can fill them up with water to the brim [...]

I have a BSc honours degree in geography from one of the oldest English universities – but sometimes I wonder whether I’m the sharpest tool in the box… About three days ago Cho and I waded through an old rice plantation – kilometres and kilometres of reeds and rushes all with appropriate Amazonian spikes and [...]

In recent months, it seems as though Brazil has been the destination du jour for well-intentioned, eco-inspired celebrities who want to make a positive impact on the region, including longtime environmental proponent Sting, Al Gore, James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver. That’s why even British pop star Lily Allen is doing her part to help protect [...]

We have a self-imposed rule that if we paddle across any river then we have to walk back to a point on the far bank perpendicular to where we set out. This is to stop any allegations that we are using the inflatable rafts to advance ourselves downstream. The boats are just for crossing water [...]