British man completes Amazon adventure

Former soldier Ed Stafford has been through a lot in the last two years, fighting off animals and fearful locals he has become the first man to walk the length of the Amazon River.

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Former British soldier Ed Stafford has been through a lot in the last two years.

He has fought off snakes, creatures of the sea, spent time in Jail and been mistaken for a mining prospector, he has also become the first man to walk the length of the Amazon River.

The journey which began in April 2008, has seen Stafford suffer an estimated 50,000 mosquito bites, and hundreds of wasp stings in a journey that took 859 days to complete.

Stafford, accompanied by a Peruvian forestry worker known as 'Cho', has been humbled by the support he has received in his pursuit to show off the Amazon.

"The interest in the expedition has been mind blowing and all the messages of support have kept me going - that and the desire to bring life in the Amazon to the wider world."

Met with looks of horror throughout the trip by frightened locals, the travelling pair spent time in jail after being suspected of murder after a local man went missing.

The trek that began in Camana Peru in 2008, came to its conclusion where the Amazon River meets the ocean in Brazil.

Great British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has described both men's efforts as "truly extraordinary"


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Source: SBS, BBC


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