"By foot, it was an amazing feat; British man walks length of Amazon, reaches Atlantic" by Filipe Almeida, Associated Press | August 10, 2010
MARAPANIM, Brazil — Ed Stafford said his journey, which has cost $100,000 and is paid for by sponsoring companies and donations, has deepened his understanding of the Amazon, its role in protecting the globe against climate change, and the complex forces that are leading to its destruction.
He said he has seen vast swaths of demolished jungle.
“It’s the people in power who are benefiting from the extraction of the natural resources here,’’ Stafford said. “That’s why there are corrupt politicians and laws that aren’t enforced and loads of unconstrained deforestation still going on.’’
Despite the devastation, Stafford said he has hope that things will change for the better.
“I think the average Brazilian is a lot more environmentally conscious than the people in power. I’m optimistic, I’m not pessimistic,’’ he said.
He lived off piranha he caught, rice and beans, and store-bought provisions found in local communities along the river. To relax at night, Stafford said he downloaded podcasts via Internet satellite phone by comedian Ricky Gervais and episodes of the TV show “The Office.’’
Dangers encountered by Stafford and a Peruvian forestry worker, Gadiel “Cho’’ Sanchez Rivera, 31, included 18-foot long caiman crocodiles, enormous anaconda snakes, illness, food shortages, and the threat of drowning.
After they were welcomed in one Indian community in September 2008, the leaders offered to radio ahead to the next village for permission for Stafford and Rivera to walk through their territory. “The response came back crystal clear. If a gringo walks into their community they will kill him,’’ Stafford wrote on his blog.
He planned a route around the village, but he was captured by Indians from another village. After the two travelers were dressed down and had their possessions thoroughly picked over — only a machete was confiscated — their repeated explanations of the point of their expedition won over the Indians. They were allowed to walk on the land, but only if they hired guides from the tribe.Can we please stop the savage stereotypes, MSM?
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That's all that is going on on Brazil, Boston Globe?
Didn't take long to cut through that brush, if you know what I mean.
