Source: mongabay.com
Amazon River swimmer Martin Strel. Photo courtesy of amazonswim.com.Explorers have been making their way down the world's mightiest river for hundreds of years. Untold numbers of people have not completed the journey, drowning in its murky waters, being eaten by animals, losing their way, succumbing to tropical disease, being killed by pirates or hostile local populations. But today a trip down the Amazon is less special—it has even been rafted and kayaked by a few intrepid souls. Traversing the majority of the Amazon can be done easily by commercial boat, provided you have the time and a lot of patience.
But then in 2007 a Slovenian did something amazing: he swam the entire length of the river.The adventure took 66 days and exacted a heavy physical and mental toll, but Martin Strel survived and in so doing conveyed a simple, but powerful message to the world: we are part of the our environment.
Strel is the subject of a new documentary—Big River Man—which won a Best Cinematography prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film documents his 5,268-kilometer (3,273-mile) swim down the Amazon.
In a December 2010 interview with mongabay.com, Strel discussed his Amazon swim including his training regime, his message, his motivation, and the challenges of fatigue, illness and physical threats from caiman, piranha, floating logs, and fierce currents.
