Running the Amazon

Kane, Joe. Running the Amazon. New York: Knopf. 1989. Print.

First Sentences:

Southern Peru, late August 1985.

Beneath a rust-colored winter sky an old GMC flatbed bounced slowly through the high Andean badlands known as The Puna. It is a lunar landscape, flat, treeless, ringed with bald dun hills and sharp gray peaks, bone-dry nine months of the year, beaten by frigid, dust-coated winds. 

Description:

I'm a sucker for any adventure book with humans pitted against nature, whether by their own choice or by accident, Exploring and surviving the arctic, space, jungles, mountains, wild rivers, and deserts all provide fascinating adventures and force me to wonder "Would I have survived this experience?" Probably not, but that only increases the admiration I have for these brave people and compels me to read more and more about such death-defying adventures.

In Running the Amazon, author Joe Kane recounts the only expedition to travel the entire length of the Amazon River, all 4,200 miles of it, from its source in the Andes mountains to mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. Kane was one of four members of this 1984 expedition to complete the entire length of the Amazon over the six-month trip by kayak, raft, and foot.. 

The Amazon Source to Sea Expedition consisted of nine men and women from Poland, Britain, Costa Rica, and South Africa. Members joined the expedion out of a sense of adventure, for the sake of science, and simply to be part of accomplishing a unique goal. One man was an experienced kayaker, one a doctor, one a photographer, and one a national park director from Costa Rica. Kane was along to document the journey for future articles and a book.

From the beginning, it proved to be a difficult endeavor. Simply finding the source of the Amazon at the 15,000 foot level of the Andes in Peru was the first challenge. From those freezing slopes to kayaking down to the humid jungles of the Amazon valleys, Kane documents their times of starvation, freezing, exhaustion, internal dissent, and small triumphs. He also includes fascinating local history of the region, the Incan dynasty, the Spanish invasion, and the indigenous people the expedition met along the river. 

Here's just one of Kane's many tidbits. While traveling down the wild, mysterious Apurimac river ("parts of it remain among the least-known areas on the South American continent"), Kane describes the hammered grass bridges of that region. They were once "two hundred feet long [with grass cables] as thick as a man's body...capable of supporting entire armies of animals and men." Imagine. Huge bridge cables made only of grass strong enough to support travel over vast chasms! The Incans eventually burned almost all of these bridges to slow the pursuit of Spanish conquistadors. Kane provides a photo of the last remaining Incan grass bridge, with expedition members crossing it with their kayaks floating in the river far below.

The group had to deal with local politics and cocaine traffickers, as well as the more severe problems of shelter, food, wild animals, biting insects, and drowning in the rapids they faced daily. You can probably imagine the other dangers presented on every page of this heart-stopping story.

I was completely transported into the rain forests along with these incredibly brave and stubborn explorers. Their dedication and perseverance inspired and drove them onward, overcoming every obstacle the environment could throw at them. A strong, inspiring book.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Goddard, John. Kayaks Down the Nile

Author Goddard used to come to my high school in California twice a year to give student assemblies recounting his adventures. I remember one of his best was his trip to be the first to explore the Nile River from origin to mouth. Hippos, rapids, and every other obstacle was met and overcome with a casual grace so evident in his talks and this book. Hard to find, but a must read for those with an explorer's soul.