Posted: Feb 27, 2008 08:03 pm EST
(TheOceans.net) Just after midnight February 21st 2008, Expedition Amazonas became the fourth ever team to successfully navigate the entire length of the mighty Amazon River from its ultimate source at Mt Mismi to where it meets the Atlantic.

Out of the original 6 team members only 2 made it to the end, in a muddy sandbank, where ExWeb caught up with Mark Kalch for the scoop on his and Nate's wild adventure. Here goes:

ExWeb: Who of you made it to the end and what happened to the other guys?

Mark: Just 2 of us made it to the end, myself, Mark Kalch and Nathan Welch. We lost our good mate and expedition medic, South African Phil Swart to a severe, unidentifiable illness in Iquitos, Peru.

Scott Martin, who we invited along to photograph and video the month long whitewater section lasted just 2 weeks on river before leaving the expedition with barely an explanation. To this day we are unsure of his reasons for leaving early. Unfortunately he left us immediately before we were to enter by far the hardest and most dangerous section of the Apurimac meaning both our safety as a team and our ability to record our descent were severely compromised. But we manned up and made it through.

Holly Tett had a delay in joining the expedition and managed to catch us in Iquitos. Unfortunately, this co-incided with our own delay waiting for replacement oarlocks. Poor Holly had to return to her diplomatic post in London before making it on-river! She was most upset.

ExWeb: What was the hardest section?

Mark A month ago, I would not have hesitated in naming the upper section, the Apurimac River and its class 5 and 6 whitewater as by far the most difficult. It is filled with rapids that are non-portagable and non-scoutable. Daily, without exaggeration we faced death and severe injury. Being deep in a canyon meant external assistance was hardly an option at times.

However the last 300km of the expedition really tested us both mentally and physically. Coming to the end of such a tiring journey meant both our minds and bodies were beginning to fall apart just a little. Tidal flow, massive headwinds, little to no river flow and dragging the boat through knee deep mud on a 2am shift really tested our fortitude.

ExWeb: And the toughest experience?

Mark: For myself personally if I were to name a single toughest experience it would be our flip at a place called Powac (please see the November post titled San Francisco (no flowers in our hair for details).

Here we came the closest (in my mind) for the expedition possibly grinding to a halt or at the least continuing in a much modified manner. We had lost our boat and everything we possessed. All we had were the clothes on our backs (wetsuits, drytops, helmets and PFDs). Video cameras, passports, money, food, tents, sat. phone and of course the boat were gone. We were at least a 6-7 hour straight up hill trek from the closest village that may have had a phone. We spent the evening in the pouring rain in a small cave shivering and considering our options.

Fortunately, we again pushed through such massive barriers, retrieved our boat and gear and marched on!

ExWeb: At one point you were shot at, what happened?

Mark: To tell the truth we were shot at if I recall correctly at least 3 times throughout the expedition! The first time we were nearing the end of the whitewater and deep in the cocaine manufacturing region of Peru. We were well aware of this fact that is for certain. The text below comes from our post at the time:

"We now hit more and more long stretches of flat-water. There was also a massive increase in the number of people by the river and many more small villages. In the early afternoon, 3 big, shiny and new Huey helicopters flew directly over us before turning off. We guessed them to be government choppers so generously funded by the US to fight the war on terror. Sorry I mean drugs."

"We found a decent camping area and set about erecting tents and making tea and dinner. At around 5.30pm, I was lying in the open on my Insulmat and the boys were around the fire. We all heard a definite crack or pop. It may have been a gunshot but it was along way off and we dismissed it."

"As night came it came again. This time much louder from the opposite bank and I heard the bullet whiz overhead. Oh shit, I hope that was a warning shot and not just a bad aim. What could we do? It was dark, our tents were up, dinner was on. We decided to stay put. There was nothing more, but getting around with headlamps on seemed to make one an attractive target."

"Throughout the night, there was torches roaming the hills, boats and not balsa rafts would motor towards us. When they were close they would turn off the engine and cut their lights to drift past. Once well past off they would go again. This was pretty freaky. After such goings on I figured the shot was just one to say, 'we are moving about at night now, so you "aventurers" stay where you are and everyone is happy'."

"No worries there fellas. We were not going to poke our noses about in this area for sure. Where we were and now also are is deep in the main coca and thereby cocaine producing area of Peru. Not the place to start getting a moral conscience regarding the harmful effects of drugs on society. Not surprisingly we were on the water in record time the next morning."

Next: Other shots, whirlpools, wildlife and gear

It took 155 days: but just after midnight February 21st 2008, Expedition Amazonas became the fourth ever team to successfully navigate the entire length of the mighty Amazon River from its ultimate source at Mt Mismi to where it meets the Atlantic.

It was a big undertaking: Mark Kalch, Philip Swart, Scott Martin, Nathan Welch, Holly Tett, and Adrian Ward, white-water guides from South Africa and Australia trekked to the Amazon’s source high in the Andes of Peru on what would be a five month, almost 7,000km trek on foot and by raft.

The team faced tough terrain on their way to the mouth of the Amazon on the coast of Brazil, including highly demanding whitewater sections.

The expedition partnered with environmental and indigenous rights action group, Amazon Watch, with the intention of highlighting “the absolute need for a balance between global, sustainable development and the protection of the earth's natural environment, along with its most vulnerable populations.”

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