Ed
Stafford is an explorer. Like Captain Scott of the Antarctic and Sir
Ranulph Fiennes before him, he has a passion for discovering and
learning about the vast planet that we all live on. Today, so many of
the great expeditions have already been done by explorers of the past.
There are no longer many things that people can do and say, "I was the
first person in the world to do that!" [more]
Ed: 14 days to the next civilization. We have 10kg of food each over our usual 30kg. Our re-welded Macpacs are holding up well. - 10 hours ago - View »
Ed: We've been lucky to get away with passing this close to the river with only a couple of cheeky swims. Today we start 15 days of jungle. - 1 day ago - View »
Ed: I've just been asked why we switched to walking on the north side of the Amazon. Take a look... http://bit.ly/bizrwg - 2 days ago - View »
Ed: Arrived on Sao Sebastiao last night and bought some wellies as my Altberg jungle boots have finally given up. Cho and I are well. - 3 days ago - View »
Ed: Its quite rejuvenating to be amongst the green trees again. The air is so much fresher and cooler. We are relaxed and content. - 4 days ago - View »
Interesting Fact
Dangers Ed has encountered venomous snakes, floods, electric eels, piranhas and hostile local tribes, one of whom held him for questioning about the murder of one of their tribesman. The route is known for drug trafficking and illegal logging and white people are often feared and rarely seen in the area.
My current worry is a small one. I have a small, ulcer-like sore on my left bicep that won't go away. I think it was a wasp sting on New Year's Day that started it, which left a small open wound – about the size of a pea - that has been wet (weepy) for nine weeks now. It’s not painful and has a defined circular edge and just won't heal.
The exact cause of tropical ulcers is thought to be a bacterial infection. Small skin wounds allow bacteria (found in mud or stagnant water) to enter and this then releases nasty toxins that cause the skin to break down. Serious ulcers are very painful, give off a horrid smell, and may need skin grafts or even amputation. - (The International Foundation for Dermatology)
It’s very difficult to find the right medicines here and the ones that I’ve tried haven’t worked. I was using iodine on the wound (which stings a lot) but I’ve just switched to an antiseptic powder in the hope that a dryer medicine will do the trick.
Cho and I have reached the end of the road that we’d been walking down and have many weeks in the sweaty jungle coming up. We head into the trees again tomorrow.
18th February 2010 - Paddling across the “Meeting of the Waters” manpowered
On Tuesday Cho and I paddled 10 kilometres across the “Meeting of the Waters” in Brazil. We wanted to change sides of the river so we could walk on the north bank for the next few months. Watch the video below…
Why are the two rivers different colours?
The Rio Negro is a black water river and is stained black by the tannins in the vegetation that grows along its banks.
The Rio Solimoes is a white water river (actually it looks brown) and the water would be clear except that it carries huge amounts of sediment (mostly mud) and so this makes it look dirty and brown.
Why don’t the rivers mix?
The Rio Negro flows from the Guyanan Shield mountains and is a slow moving river on a gentle slope. Because of its speed and colour, it is warmer than the Solimoes by about 4 degrees.
The Solimoes flows from the Andes. Because the Andes are a much younger mountain range there is a steeper slope, faster water, and more erosion (water moving the soil downstream).
The differences encourage the waters to maintain their channels and they don't mix for many kilometres!
From this point onwards Cho and I are walking down the huge river that is made up of both the above rivers. It is now officially called the Amazon.
4th February 2010 - Damming the Amazon
Whilst Cho and I have been resting and repairing our kit in the small town of Itapiranga, Brazil's government has given the go-ahead to build a HUGE dam in the Amazon rainforest.
The dam will be built downstream of where we are now in the Brazilian state of Para. The following information is taken from BBC and Times sources:
The Belo Monte dam project is on the Xingu river, an Amazon tributary. The rock star Sting spoke up against the plan with tribal leaders, and urged the Government to consider the impact of deforestation on greenhouse gas levels and global warming.
The dam will be the third-largest in the world and could provide electricity to 23 million homes! Some people say that the flooding of 500 sq km of rainforest will damage fish stocks and wildlife and force indigenous peoples from their land.
The Environment Minister in Brazil, said on Monday that the land flooded would be a fraction of the 5,000 sq km originally planned. “The environmental impact has been weighed up, calculated and reduced,” he said. “Not one Indian on indigenous land will be displaced."
Indian groups complain that they were not properly consulted over the project, which Megaron Tuxucumarrae, a chief of the Kayapo tribe, said would destroy the environment that his people had taken care of for generations. “We are opposed to dams on the Xingu, and will fight to protect our river,” he said.
Whichever company wins the contract will have to spend $803million on reducing the impact and resettling about 12,000 people.
Brazil´s government says hydro-electric plants are a vital way to ensure electricity supplies over the next decade - and at least 70 dams are said to be planned for the Amazon region. This would change the face of the Amazon for ever.
Extracts taken from articles by Gary Duffy (BBC News, Sao Paulo) and Hannah Strange (Timesonline).
Ed
Stafford is an explorer. Like Captain Scott of the Antarctic and Sir
Ranulph Fiennes before him, he has a passion for discovering and
learning about the vast planet that we all live on. Today, so many of
the great expeditions have already been done by explorers of the past.
There are no longer many things that people can do and say, "I was the
first person in the world to do that!" 
My current worry is a small one. I have a small, ulcer-like sore on my left bicep that won't go away. I think it was a wasp sting on New Year's Day that started it, which left a small open wound – about the size of a pea - that has been wet (weepy) for nine weeks now. It’s not painful and has a defined circular edge and just won't heal.
