Words:
Caroline Dawson
Caroline Dawson
Photos:
Amazon Challenge &
SUP Lass Adventures
Amazon Challenge 2024
Team: Caroline Dawson, Jonathan Gill & Matthew Phillips
Why paddle the Amazon?
The Amazon is a unique place, a vast and primarily uncharted region spanning an area twice the size of India. It teems with adventure and mystery and hosts some of Earth’s most fascinating cultures and wildlife. However, it faces significant threats such as deforestation, narco-trafficking, illegal mining and wildlife poaching, with nearly 20% of the rainforest having been lost over the last 50 years.
What is the Amazon Challenge?
The Amazon Challenge is a unique paddle challenge for both canoes and SUPs. It involves navigating 335km of the Madre de Dios River, one of the main tributaries of the mighty Amazon that rises in the Andes. The challenge is a fully self-sufficient journey carrying all your own gear, including a camping kit, dehydrated food and water. Paddling swift currents and multiple rapids up to grade 3 whilst dealing with high humidity, temperatures 30c +, no-stop zones and uncontacted tribes.
Safety training and navigation day
Before heading into the water, all teams were required to complete essential safety training on the river. Our training included demonstrating self-rescue techniques and flipping a fully loaded board, carrying approximately 25 kg-30 kg of equipment packed into our waterproof Mustang bags.
A navigation session was held, providing each team member with a Garmin Inreach to load GPX files and a full set of 40-year-old paper maps. The river section we navigated was extremely remote and forever changing its course. Soon after starting our journey, we discovered that neither paper nor electronic maps gave much away! We had to go with the flow and utilise our river skills and knowledge.
Day one: 48km
Rapids, rescues and big cat paw prints
The first stage began with swift-flowing, high-volume water and within 300m of the start, we hit our first rapid. All teams faced a demanding test dealing with big boils and unforgiving eddy lines. Matt impressed everyone with his adept rescue skills, aiding
fellow paddlers.
For lunch, we savoured chicken, rice, and a hard-boiled egg wrapped in a banana leaf on a sandy riverbank adorned with jaguar paw prints. This peaceful break was interrupted by the arrival of pesky sandflies, a constant pest on our whole journey downriver.
Our journey commenced from Pillcopata to Shintuya, the land of the Harakmbut people. Here, we refreshed ourselves in waterfalls, listened to stories from village elders, and even got our first Jagua fruit tattoos by the campfire.
Day two: 34km
Boils, smiles and bowl fulls of Mascato
The day began with a Real Turmat breakfast sat in a jungle hot spring while we appreciated our new Jagua tattoos.
Despite being the shortest stage of the Amazon Challenge, it was filled with excitement, featuring some of the largest boils and whirlpools we had ever encountered as paddlers. The reason for the shorter day was to maximise our interaction with the Shipetiari community. They wanted to treat us to Masato, a traditional Peruvian drink made by boiling, peeling, and fermenting yuca. We were warmly welcomed in their village banana plantation and spent quality time playing with the children – did you know 11 kids can fit on a 14’ McConks board?
Day three: 55km
Tree graveyards, none-stop zones and pooping next to Tarantulas
Everyone felt a bit anxious as we travelled through the land of the uncontacted Mascho Piro tribe – make sure to research them! We had to paddle through almost 40km of continuous zones, with strict instructions to stick to the ‘river right’ side.
After navigating the non-stop zone, we entered what seemed like a forest graveyard. The Madre de Dios River deposited massive amounts of tree debris, some over 50m long. We had to stay alert, as the strong currents and debris posed challenges, particularly for the canoe teams.
We took a quick break at Boca Manu for a required medical check (to look for things such as foot rot – which the socks from Sealskinz certainly helped with), a refreshing beer, and grabbed some super sweet orange chomps, which had become a team favourite snack!
Resuming our journey down the river, we reached our forest camp for the night. Setting up our tents, we later discovered we had camped less than 10m away from a nest of tarantulas – Caz spotted them during her ‘trowel’ walk.
That evening, Brodie, a passionate photographer who has been working with the Manu Biological Station for the past year, led us on a nighttime forest walk. We got to use the red light on our waterproof Exposure Lights head torches. He shared a wealth of knowledge about Horned Frogs, Wandering Spiders, False Coral Snakes, and more!
Day four: 68km
Giant Amazonian otters, cocaine production and piranhas
From this point on, the river’s flow decreased while the meanders’ length increased. The temperatures remained above 30°C, with high humidity making it challenging to stay cool. We wore the UV tops from Mustang Survival, factor 50 suncream from Lifesystems and our Waterhaul sunglasses daily to cope. Every day, we consumed our full allowance of six litres of water from our boards and even more at camp, ensuring we replaced essential salts by taking our Phizz tablets. Water was a constant challenge due to pollution from gold mining operations affecting the river, so we had to rely on once-daily refills from the local support crew.
On day four, we had an unforgettable wildlife encounter, observing endangered giant otters playing in a nearby back channel. Navigating the river involved choosing the right channels, as some areas split into multiple branches, including cocaine laboratories emitting a distinctive silage-sweet odour as we paddled past.
Day five: 76km
Misty mornings, armadillo families and gold fever
The biggest and longest paddling day – nine hours on treacle-like water, which had by now turned orange due to mining activity. Today, the scenery changed quite a bit – it felt like we had left the untouched rainforest and entered an area on the frontline with man – the forest looked thinner, diesel engines chugged, and piles of waste stone heaps grew in size. We were now in the heart of gold country and nearing the wild west town of Bocu Colorado – a real hotbed of gold, poker and hookers! A place we left as quickly as we arrived to try and make the 17:00 checkpoint cut-off – we were the only team to make it on time, with 30 seconds to spare!
As the sun set, we watched as Macaws returned to their roosts – a truly magical sight! One of the most memorable sunsets of our trip.
Day six: 54km
Giant wasps, endless meanders and finish-line celebrations
On the last day of our adventure, we encountered our sole medical emergency while navigating the river. A swarm of large Amazonian wasps started chasing us, and unfortunately, Matt got stung on the hand – 10km from the end of the challenge. Caz swiftly opened up her Lifesystems first aid kit and administered antihistamines, possibly giving him a little bit more than needed! We alerted the safety team since we were uncertain about the seriousness of giant wasp stings in the rainforest. Despite the ordeal, Matt trooped on!
With one final effort around the largest meander of our journey, we spotted the finish line. Cold celebratory beers and the wide smiles of the support crew awaited us at the finish. It was a remarkable accomplishment for all who took part, especially for Caz, who had only a few weeks earlier had emergency surgery. She became the first woman to paddle this Madre de Dios River section on a SUP.
Our fundraising
As a team, we raised almost £2,500, which will be split between the indigenous communities and the biological stations we visited.
Our Supporters
We would like to thank the following businesses for their support: McConks, Mustang Survival, Ainsworth Paddles, Lifesystems, Base Camp Food, Kelly Kettle, Exposure Lights, Sealskinz, Waterhau,l Phizz, Hydration, Target Trees, Agronomic Digital Innovation.
FANCY GIVING IT A GO IN 2025?
Learn more via the Amazon Challenge website: https://www.amazoncanoechallenge.com Social media @amazoncanoechallenge
