Amazon Extreme
Three Men, A Raft and the World's Most Dangerous River
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
The true story of three enthusiastic (but inexperienced) adventurers who attempt to become the first team to raft the entire length of the Amazon River–all 4,007 miles--and (barely) live to tell about it.
To a trio of twenty-something adrenaline junkies, it sounded like an irresistible challenge: tackle the Amazon with nothing more than a rubber raft between them and fate. But when Colin Angus, Ben Kozel, and Scott Borthwick embarked on their fantastic voyage in September 1999, just climbing to the river’s source nearly killed them.
Beginning with the dehydration that nearly did the adventurers in as they hiked the Andes to the river's source, Amazon Extreme is a breathtaking account of the daily challenges, dangers, and triumphs experienced over the course of this five-month expedition. With no money to speak of and inaccurate, fifty-year-old maps to guide them, this intrepid trio manages to persevere through violent rapids, guerilla gunfire, mosquito-infested drinking water, and numerous bouts of sickness. But in spite of several near-death experiences, including one particularly terrifying moment when their raft is toppled in the raging white water, Angus's crew finds a reverence for the compelling beauty that makes this region so renowned. Amidst the hardship are moments of pure pleasure, from graceful dolphins and lush forests to the intriguing, gracious people who’ve made their homes along the riverbank.
An inspiring tale of courage and exploration, this is the story of three guys who truly went off the deep end, and one who came back to write a riveting recollection of it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
If the word "ordinary" in the subtitle was changed to "irresponsible," it would be a more precise description of this wild tale of three young adventurers who decide to become "the first to extreme raft the Amazon." Beginning with a description of the team's disastrous dehydrating hike to the river, just "three gringos in a foreign desert, slowly dying," first-time author and one of the trio Angus presents himself as a none-too-intellectual buccaneer, "a doer, not a couch potato or an Internet geek." But a little time on the Internet would have helped Angus, since the entire trip is marked by the trio's inability to correctly calculate how much food and water they need, their almost total lack of mapping or directional information, a somewhat condescending attitude toward the poverty-ridden locals they meet on the river and a complete disregard for the dangers of the trip itself, especially the possibility of running into the members of the revolutionary Shining Path, who don't take kindly to strangers. Angus's "Wow, isn't this weird!" journalism is strangely undercut by knowledgeable factoids and historical descriptions of the Amazon's people and landscape that suggest Angus has more "geek" in him than he's let on. But if the adventuring na f conceit doesn't quite hold up, the well-paced, hair-raising tale should still please outdoor adventure junkies if they don't get fed up with the lunatic arrogance of its heroes.
