“ I was pleased with only taking one swim over the whole 335km – on the first rapid , on the first day , less than 500m from the start !”
“ Meeting the families in the communities , including the children and showing them our paddle boards is an experience that I will never forget . Laughter surpasses all boundaries .”
10
Were there specific skills you practised for this challenge ? Caz : I spent time practising my fully loaded board flips on the Dee , including a swim on Serpent ’ s Tail to test if I could release my leash and righten my board . Ant Ing put me through my paces ! I had previously paddled with Jon and Matt , so I knew we all had each other ’ s backs should anything go wrong .
We had a crash course on the things that would want to bite , eat , or sting us in the rainforest , which Matt kindly delivered in a dodgy natural history and taxidermy museum in Cusco . Bullet Ants , Wandering Spiders , and Black Caiman were all recommended things to avoid , and we did !
Jon : Caz and I trained hard to ensure we would work together as a team and know the required skills for safety , rescue , self-rescue , equipment , first aid , and camp skills . I personally spent more time ensuring I knew how to use video technology , such as drones and 360 cameras , on our adventure .
Matt : What will and won ’ t eat you ? I have spent lots of time in jungles and rainforests , but each one is different … the Amazon didn ’ t disappoint .
Did you feel confident before you started on day one , and how was that day ? Caz : Really confident … not ! Paddling in the Amazon was the first time I had been on a board in almost a month , as before heading out I had emergency surgery , which wasn ’ t ideal . I had to be careful with any heavy lifting … the boys were great in helping with my kit and bags .
Jon : I knew we would have it in us . However , Caz has a different story that she hasn ’ t shared with anyone , but she ’ s flipping nails !
Matt : I felt great when we first hit the water . I had to get used to a brand new McConks board and Ainsworth paddle . Within 300- 400m of the start , we were straight into a rather big and boily rapid , which was fun and set the scene for the rest of the day .
Can you let us know about the indigenous people you met ? Caz : Just the loveliest , smiliest , happy people . Both tribes we met when paddling were welcoming and couldn ’ t wait to share their stories with us . A memory that will stick with me will be splashing around with the children on the boards … we managed to fit 11 children on a 14 ’ McConks board !
Jon : What a humbling experience to meet the tribes and people on our trip down . The background work that Carlos and Freya had done to ensure the barriers were down and the tribes wanted to work with us worked wonderfully . There wasn ’ t a language barrier that couldn ’ t be broken down with the medium of mime , a smile or pointing to something . Meeting the families in the communities , including the children and showing them our paddle boards is an experience that I will never forget . Laughter surpasses all boundaries .
Matt : I loved seeing the kids get the school supplies and enjoyed their excitement of being on the sups and playing games .
Anything particularly unusual happen whilst on the challenge ? Caz : Aside from eating alpaca and guinea pig and drinking masato ( locals chew yuca root and then spit it into jars for fermentation ), the most unusual thing was spotting a bright red crab in the middle of the rainforest .
Jon : Our dance – every 30km , we sang our “ We ’ re paddling the Amazon ” song , and as the kilometres rolled on , our board moves and paddle spins got more and more polished . We certainly impressed the North American canoe team !
Matt : I had to fish Jon out on a rope . We saw giant armadillos and spotted the endangered Amazon giant otters , which are 6ft long ! Everything in the Amazon is big !
Were the Amazon conditions anything like you had ever experienced before ? Caz : The Madre de Dios is one of the main tributaries that form the Amazon River as we know it . The eddy lines and boils were pretty huge and very unforgiving on the first couple of days . I was pleased with only taking one swim over the whole 335km – on the first rapid , on the first day , less than 500m from the start ! We had some big 70km + paddle days , which in the heat was totally energy-sapping . We had an alarm that reminded us to drink every 30 minutes . We all carried seven litres of water on our boards and got through it every day .
“ I was pleased with only taking one swim over the whole 335km – on the first rapid , on the first day , less than 500m from the start !”
“ Meeting the families in the communities , including the children and showing them our paddle boards is an experience that I will never forget . Laughter surpasses all boundaries .”