Rafting the Amazon: A Summary

In 3 days of rafting on the Amazon River I paddled a partially submerged raft made from 8 crappy balsa logs non-stop for a total of 7 hr 30mins, 11hrs 39mins and 8hrs respectively, at times through choppy water and storms, in the dark, and for the last mile against the current. I got blistering sunburn on my fingers and was in pain every day. I worked to the point of collapse. I got heatstroke. I got mosquito bites ALL OVER my bum and thighs. I have sweated beyond what I thought was humanly possible. I had to pee in my clothes twice and sleep on the floor in a room with some 150 other smelly rafters with rats crawling over us. Oh yes and I caught ringworm off a street dog. I saw another raft get smashed under an oil ship, people get towed from the water after collapsing from exhaustion and one person suffer a heart condition out on the water. I have suffered, people! I worked so hard for those pennies!!! I also got mugged in Iquitos the night before the race so don't have my own photos, but promise when I get my team mates pictures sent to me I will be putting pictures up.

On the flipside from all the treacherous water and hard work, I had an incredible bonding experience with my team mates and met some amazing people. I saw swarms of yellow and green and blue butterflies and was surrounded by curious pink river dolphins on a daily basis. I saw birds of prey cruising the riverbanks and smelled the lush earthy scent of the rainforest. I rescued a huge huge spider from drowning in the water, I beat a storm and felt the rush of survival and extreme accomplishment each day. I dined on local foods in jungle villages and saw incredible sunsets and lightening shows, and I fell in love.

I met my Dad for lunch today and he said he has never seen me look so happy or healthy! My muscles are huge!

This is my trip in a nut shell, but I will fill you in on all the gory details in the next couple of days in a big post from my journal notes.

Thank you everyone for helping me get out there and for raising so much money for Action4Cancer. :)

I´m in Iquitos!

hi,`just to let you know I am in Iquitos safe- It was a mission getting here but we made it in the end, 3 flights and a lot of waiting around later. American airlines was great. Iquitos is as central in the amazon jungle as it is possible. It seems quite a big, busy city, about 30,000 people I think. Everyone rides honda 125´s converted into these rickshaw trike things. This is also the only city in the world not accessible by road!

My hands are blue where the deet fly repellant has melted the plastic on my water bottle. The humidity and heat are stifling. We had lunch looking over the edge of the sidewalk that drops down into the jungle, with huge vultures just flying about really close over the vegetation, and parrots in the trees.

We´d only been here for about 5 minutes and we were filmed for the local TV!! This raft race is a big deal out here!! They´re setting up a stage for a big welcome party tonight. We picked out own hand painted limited addition paddles for the race, mine has a piranha painted on it. These paddles are made from only one kind of wood, from a tree (whose name I forget) translates as meaning "paddle wood". We went by a hardware store to get supplies- machetes, a hammer, axe, foam pads and big screws All the stuff only came to about 20 quid!. We went to see Mad Mick, an english guy who originally set up the raft race. He gave us some good tips and advise and swapped us the foam pads for oxo cubes and fishing flies that we brought out for him.

Tomorrow we have the day free to do some sightseeing and then we build the raft on thursday. I think thats about it for now!! Apologies if it seems a bit disjointed, my brain is a bit fried from the time lag and humidity (it was monday for a very long time on the way here!!)

The time is nigh!

It's half one in the morning. I had a grand total of 3 hours sleep last night after a big one out for a mates birthday, followed by work today. I still have to do a water change on my tropical fishtank. I am very upset that the expensive wildlife guidebook I purchased from Amazon that should have arrived 2 weeks ago has not turned up so I feel shamefully in the dark about the nature I may be spotting out there, and especially bad that I've not had time to brush up on my snake identification...

Still the overriding emotion is excitement, and nerve of course. My lovely dad is picking me up at 5am to take me to the airport. I thought I'd add our schedule for the next few days to give you an idea of how it'll all be working out there...

I hear I may well get internt access on occasion, so I will do my best to throw a bit of info and/or picturs before I'm back, and will of course be doing plenty of blogging when I return to fill you in on how it all went.

Thank you so much everyone for your support, both marally and financially. I couldn't do it without you! Bethyn is so pleased with how successful all our fundraising has been, it is such a great way to kick off the "action" part that Action4Cancer are about in this way, the next few days are going to be an emotional ride in so many ways...

Thursday 23rd September
7:30 a.m. All teams leave by bus for the 2 hour drive to Nauta where there will be a civic reception at 11.00 a.m. in the Plaza de Armas.
12:00 noon . Lunch (provided)
1:30 p.m. All competitors cross the river by boat to Isla de Pescadores (Fisherman’s Island)
2:00 p.m Each team constructs their own raft with local help if required.6:00p.m. Dinner for competitors (provided)
7:00 p.m Fiesta with music and dancing on the beach.Sleep overnight on the beach in tents provided by the Nauta City Council.
Friday 24th September
7:00 a.m. Breakfast (provided)
8:30 a.m. Mass start from the beach to the isolated village of Porvenir a distance of 36 miles (average time 6.00 hours).
6:00 p.m. Dinner (provided).All participants sleep in tents. (provided).
Saturday 25th September
6:30 a.m. Breakfast (provided)
Mass start at 7:30 a.m. .This 2nd leg is to the town of Tamshiyacu, a distance of 41 miles ( average time of 6.30 hours).
6:00 p.m. Dinner (provided)
.8:00 p.m. Grand Fiesta .All participants will sleep in the school on mattresses (provided).
Sunday 26th September
6:30 a.m. Breakfast (provided).
Mass start at 7:30 a.m.This final leg is from Tamshiyacu to the Fishing Club at Bella Vista Nanay, just outside the City of Iquitos, at a distance of 41 miles (average time 5.30 hours).
Party and Prize ceremony will follow the finish at the Fishing Club.
8:30 p.m. Rafters Party at the Amazon Café .
Monday 27th September
Fly to Lima very early!

8' of rope in a bracelet = genius!

I was rudely awoken from my would-be lie in by the postie at 7.30am this morning, bringing me a parcel from my swordsmith and good all round buddy James (look up http://www.knightsgoneby.co.uk/). James always, without fail, sends me the most amazing birthday presents, usually handmade and or including a bottle of mead. This year my gift arrived early (today) and was a knife he made himself for me to take to the jungle, and also 4 bracelets (see left) woven from 8 feet of 550lb test strength paracord apiece, so we can look trendy and also have a decent amount of mega strong rope should we find we need it!! Needless to say I am chuffed to bits; well done James, and thank you, you are a star!

Whizzed into town this morning to pick up a few last minute bits- aluminium water flask, compact travel towel ( I have no idea how I've manage dthe amount of travelling I've done so far without these two items!!) and a waterproof bag liner. Ah and a set of combination locks for my bag, to replace the padlocks I already had, to remove the possibility of losing keys in the river (Beth's idea), which you know, if it's going to happen to anyone, it'll happen to me.

Have also invested in 4 multipacks of granola bars to keep up the old energy levels while we're pumping away with the paddles all day!

Tomorrow I'll be in town doing some fundraising, but for Cancer Research UK, rather than Action4Cancer. You see my friend Hilary, who did a lot of fandraising for me for my trip, mainly does work for Cancer Research, and was short staffed for a big thing called Painting the Town Pink this weekend in Cambridge, so she called in a favour and it was only right that I assist. We will be stationed on the Pink Bus, which will be functioning as a mobile treatment salon, where people can come onboard and donate a fiver in exchange for a back massage or manicure, things like that. I'll be dresing up in pink and going down there (outside the big Boots in main town), between12 noon and 4pm, come and say hi!!

combi locks, check! money in, check! travel towel, check!

Was rudely woken from my would-be lie in today by the postie at 7.30am bringing me a parcel from my buddy

cycling with bike lock still attached to wheel = bad idea

Since when did thursday become the night for everyone to get drunk? Ok so I may well have had a couple of glasses of red and a glass of port and then tried to cycle off with my bike still locked and ended up untangling a mess of cable, gear cogs, bike chain and spokes- BUT both at the station and then cycling home through Cambridge I couldn't believe how many drunk shouty people there were out and about!!

Bit of a day for mishaps actually, I ended up having to eat a huge yoghurt with a train ticket on the train this morning after buying it (and notpicking up a plastic spoon), convinced I had a teaspoon in my rucksack that I'd been carrying around for weeks, only to discover that I'd finally gotten around to removing it. And being desparate, had to make do.

It is moments like these that make me worry for myself in Peru. But hey, I am also capable of showing displays of resilliance and ingenuity, so perhaps I will fare ok!

my debut open mic appearance!

Eek! It's getting so close!! People have been asking me for a while now if I'm getting excited and the truth until now had been "not really, I'm too busy rushing around organising things, it won't really seem real until I'm on the plane".. I was wrong! I am bursting with excitement now!

Bethyn, Fyf and I have been in calls all week sorting out the final details, my fundraising heros Irene, Faye and Hilary are getting their funds sorted too (thansk for the cheque today Hil!)- Faye messaged me today to let me know she'd be waiting until friday to make the transfer as she and her partner Marcus want to have one last push for funds at the open mic night in their pub tomorrow night. I thought this was such a great idea a wrote a song (about what I'm doing and why people should sponsor me)on the train home, just recorded a video of it and am in the process of emailling it over so they can play it on their projector on the night!! I'll also put it on facebook so you can check it out here:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=535205704#!/video/video.php?v=10150274812595705&oid=134736266557666

Other raft race news is that we heard of some people who last year had the genius idea of buying plastic garden chairs, sawing the legs off and screwing them to their raft for comfort! So we have ordered ourselves some seats as 2 out of 4 of us have bad backs!! We have also put our names down for some limited edition hand painted paddles that we can take home afterwards! Well done Beth you are a marvellous captain!!

Life news I have been having trouble with two very pesky boa constrictors Talulah and Tyla who busted out of their tank a record 3 times within 2 days, the final time actually pushing a pain of glass out of the vivarium and breaking the runners! So DIY action needed and I'm currently awaiting the wood glue to set so I can return the snake to where they belong! They end up in some funny places when they escape- 'Lula went up on top of the viv and put herself away in her own carry bag and Tyla some how squeezed into a set of paperwork drawers!!

Help! Bad reaction to vaccines!

What a busy couple of days it has been- well, yesterday was really busy, today was pretty much a write off due to horriffic reactions to fridays jabs.

So I got my jabs (and DEET- mega fly repellent- and special powder to prevent foot rot- thanks Lizzy!- and Rescue Remedy, and a head torch, and pro-plus (well, the pound shops own version of pro plus!), and antiseptic spray, and new walking boots- bargain from TK Mazz and served by an exceptionally attractive young man :)- , and malaria tablets and a whole bunch of other miscellaneous crap that is neccessary for travelling to remote parts of jungle). I had forgotten what a faf and also how expensive it is organising exotic foreign trips!! In the last 5 years all my adventures (many unfortunately not written in this blog) have been within Europe.

By the time I was cycling back from town at the end of the day my right arm (yes right arm, and for the record I am right handed- because I'd already had one jab at a private travel clinic, the nurse at the doctor thought it kinder to put the other two in my right arm) was really aching. I stayed the night with my mum in her caravan and by bed time I was in agony. I couldn't sleep a wink for the pain every time my body moved and in the morning I even needed help dressing!! We were up at silly'o'clock so to a car boot sale. We pitched up at about 7am but only stayed about 2 and a half hours before the rain and wind got too much to bear, and as I started feeling really poorly. beyond just the dead (and painful) arm, I was going hot and cold, had a banging headache, lethargic and even my kidneys hurt! We figured since we did quite well (almost £40 for the charity) in a short time and didn't reckon it'd get much better, we called it a day and headed back to the caravan so we could chill out and watch a movie. Sure enough, by the afternoon it was hot and the sun was shining. Still it was wasted on me as I was a write off, dozing ont the sofa. What we did achieve though, was dying and braiding my hair in prep for Peru, as I figured Beth would appreciate some bright pink (for the cause) and also when it's braided I don't need to worry about it getting tangled, or having to wash it. Here's the results... what do you think?!

I totted up the money that has been pledged so far and I reckon I'm at around the £1500 mark- not bad for 6 weeks work guys! Thanks so much everyone for your support. It's not too late to donate though, just click on the blog link to the post entitled "how to donate to Action4Cancer".

Well my arm has eased up a lot now, as have the kidneys, so hopefully I'll sleep off the headache and remaining stiffness and be good as new for work tomorrow!

Only one week to go.. EEEK! :)

PS as you can tell I found my camera USB cable (and my guitar tuner!) so I've added pictures to the past few posts where appropriate, as promised.

jabby jabby!

OK so today I spoke with a travel nurse on the telephone and discovered I need about a billion vaccinations to protect me while I'm away. The nurse was exceptionally helpful as I had been feeling a little insecure after my team captain for the trip had said we only needed a yellow fever certificate and that it was our own choice about whether we take malaria medication or not but she wasn't going to bother...

I have discovered that I need the following:

• Hep A and Typhoid (given thankfully as a combined jab)
• Yellow fever (must book into a specialised travel clinic for this one)
• Swine flu- yep, believe it or not, some of the areas I'm passing through are only coming to the end of the swine flu high season this month. Although I would normally tough out something like swine flu, the idea of having it when I'm in a jungle over a thousand miles away from home does not thrill me, and for £10 I figure, what the hey, I may as well protect myself!
• Tetanus, polio and diptheria- again, thankfully a combined jab. I can't believe it's been ten years since I last had this shot! Thank heavans I get this one for free aswell!
• Malaria- I have found out that most of the areas I'm visiting are considreed "variable risk" and some places, namely Iquitos, are considered "high risk" with 98% of mosquitos actually carrying the malaria virus! Ouch! So I will be picking up some malorone for the journey then!
• Rabies - which I ought to have for work already really but have been hoping to get it payed for by the health service since rabies is pretty much an occupational hazard for me (especially with this new -wild- pygmy slow loris coming from China soon). Unfortunately it is too late for me to get covered for this one before the Peru trip as you have to take a course of 3 injections over a 28 day period. The nurse told me to "avoid bats" and "high risk activities" yeah right! She clearly didn't realise who she was talking to!!

I luckily got booked in for 3 vaccinations this friday so I am going to have one hell of a dead arm!! Unless they put any in my bum cheek of course. I think that's where they stick you with the yellow fever one. Eeeek!!

I am very pleased to hear that my wonderful Dad has been getting sponsorship from some of his collegues- many special thanks to dad's collegues for supporting me!!!!!

Also a donor who wishes to remain anonymous has also helped me with a very generous offering to the fund- extra special thanks to that person also.

Doing a car boot sale this saturday at Oakington (Cambs) to raise some more aswell so if you've nothing better to do very early saturday morning, come down and say hi!!

:)

wit woo!

This afternoon it was raining. But while I was in the emu field picking up poo I was delighted to be wolf whistled! OK so it was Ali, one of my Amazon parrots, overlooking me, who thought I looked pretty darn sexy in my oversized rain mac, but hey, it cheered me right up!

So I feel the summer is well and truly over. While cycling home from the station with water and road muck spraying up my backside ("new" bike is devoid of mud guards, must get on ebay for some tonight) I imagined how much more bearable it will be to be soaked with warm rain in a hot climate. I was fortunate enough to live in Hawaii for a while, and I remember going up north for a day to go hiking in some jungle, and getting absolutely poured on by hot rain water, and it being rather a bizarre and not at all unplesant experience!

So I have just got showered and dry, and am about to embark on a flat tidying mission, as it is well overdue. So cue a bit of Motorhead, and a glass of southern comfort (as am out of gin and tonic, which would be my preferred choice of house tidying fuel) and I clean out snake tanks (as I remembered to grab a ton of evening standard papers off the train, well done me!), do some water changes on the fish tanks, tidy my rooms and even hoover! Thats the idea anyway, and with any luck I will find my camera USB thingy to upload photos with, and hopefully also my guitar tuner! Watch this space...

Getting excited now...

Went and invested in a bunch of jungle appropriate clothing on friday, which is getting me quite excited! Have steadily collected a few more donations this weekend and will be getting in touch with some local schools this week about sponsorship in exchange for ,me taking some of my snakes in to meet the kids!!